Filmmaking

I bought a digital camera last December, which fulfilled my long desire to click photos after photos without any guilt. Since then, it came very handy to cover many moments of celebration in the group treats that followed my getting a job. During one of the treats we had in Kolkata, we exploited the video capturing facility of the camera enormously. Later while going through the collection, we were very pleased by the video results that captured many priceless moments. So naturally, when Vivek proposed that we make a movie on ourselves, we were all very excited.

It was decided that the movie would be based on myself, Suman, Vivek, Aditya, Atanu and Vishal. The first phase of planning started in the last week of February this year. It was decided that we would make a musical documentary (based on a song) rather than a narrative of our lives. After going through a number of songs, we finally agreed on nostalgic tune of "Yaaron, Dosti, badi hi haseen hai..." by Kay Kay. The next part was to develop a screenplay for the song. We had two options in front of us. First was to develop a script independent of the lyrics, and the other was to create a screenplay based on the lyrics itself. Naturally following the lyrics was very difficult, more so considering the fact that the musical had many lines of romantic lyrics; and although some of us had girlfriends, we wanted to restrict the video to ourselves. After spending another couple of hours over the issue, we decided to make a video based on the lyrics itself, keeping the Plan B lest we fail to do it the way we planned. But whatever the case, we decided that we won't spend a penny on making a video.

First we listened to the song carefully, then again, and then another time to have a feel of the way the script goes. The next task was to decide the timeline of shots. We first started with the
first scene. My idea of introducing the characters as criminals sentenced to Hijli Detention Camp having their mugshot taken was readily accepted by the group. Vivek suggested that for the second shot (when the lyrics actually started), we can show a gear rolling in front of our faces; something that would bring a nostalgic look to the story as well as be in tune with our department. The idea was good, but had many problems. Firstly, gears (with teeth all over them) are not very keen to roll on flat surfaces. Even if we were to acquire a gear with 50+ teeth, it would hardly roll for a metre, and still would jerk all the way. The alternative to make it roll again and again for everyone did not find many takers as it would make the video look odd. Finally we decided to do it with a ball bearing. Procuring one was an issue, but considering our good reputation as students, the professor we approached readily gave us a brand new ball bearing.

We thought that our quest for that perfect shot ended there, but it was hardly the case. Getting the ball bearing to roll per our plans was no sitter. Sometimes the speed of rolling won't match what we desired, sometimes the bearing would deviate from the path we desired it to follow. Adding to our woes was the fact that synchronizing the camera movement, face positioning and eye gaze were all mission-critical tasks. Eventually, a satisfactory take was achieved after nineteen retakes.

The "action" part wasn't the only problem we faced. In fact one of the shooting sessions we had in Gyan Ghosh Stadium was nearly wasted since it was very difficult for us to do it seriously. One of us would falter and it would lead to a contagious laughter, killing precious minutes before the sunset would make the shooting difficult. The familiar faces among the evening joggers also did little to the cause of speeding up the movie making process. It was way too dark when we began shooting for the final shot of the musical. I personally wanted a retake to be done later, but some others found the effect created by darkness suitable for the shot.

Over the course of next three weeks, we shot at a number of different locations including the department, hostel room, roads, parks and central library, among other places. At one point of time, we thought that we had completed the shooting, only to realize that the interlude was so long that we didn't have enough fillers for it. Also, since most part of the screenplay was well planned, we even had a taste of what directors have traditionally faced for centruries: Actors not having dates free! Finally when the shooting was concluded, we had nearly sixty separate sequences.

Editing video was also a nightmare. When I sat to make the video on Windows Movie Maker, little I knew of the problems faced by editors when the shot is just not of the right size as compared to the words it is to be overlaid on. On certain occasions, just to compensate for a second-long mismatch, I spend nearly an hour to rip off the trailing and leading shots to perfection. The final video had nearly forty different sequences and although not perfect, it still gives me immense satisfaction even though I have watched it nearly a hundred times now.

See for yourself...

Dream come true

When I entered into the fifth year of my studies at IIT Kharagpur, I had two dreams that wanted to fulfill before I graduated out of IIT. The first one was a very long standing dream, something that I had constantly dreamt of since my first year in the campus: To attain a CGPA of over 9 (out of 10). When I managed to secure 8.81 at the end of my first year, I knew it was only a matter of time before this dream got fulfilled. I predicted that I would cross the magic-mark by fourth (if not third) semester. But the scare of second semester (in which I managed to score a mere 8.04 and 8.32 leading to my CGPA falling to 8.52) meant that my dreams were far from over. During that time, I had begun fearing inability to maintain my CGPA over 8.5, and thoughts of a 9.00 were taking a backseat. A lot of hard work for the next four semesters, in which I managed an average GPA of about 9.5, landed me at 8.96 bringing me awfully close to my dream. I knew my job was far from over. I recollected the experience of one of my friend, who even after coming numbing close to the magical figure at 8.99, couldn't manage to break into the 9+ club.

My second dream was to secure a job with Shell (the popular name of Royal Dutch Shell plc). Unlike the previous one, this was not a long-standing dream. Although I knew about Shell for a long time, it was only when it came for campus recruitments for my senior batch did I get interested in the company. Shell was opening an R&D centre in Bangalore and wanted to recruit fresh graduates for the job. Before I heard about Shell's offer, I had trouble deciding which company to prefer. I wanted to work for a large company, preferably in R&D related area. I wanted to be preferably based in India, and wanted a job which promised good growth opportunities. Of all the companies I knew that came for recruitments, none of them fitted the bill. I knew that fresh graduates can't be very demanding about job options, so accepting the situation while trying to figure out my preferences was the best thing to do. Thus, when I heard about the job description of Shell, I couldn't believe it as this was exactly what I had wanted from my job. What was more heartening was the fact that not only was their compensation package non-repulsive, on the contrary it was very attractive, much more than what was offered to Mechanical Engineering graduates in India.

Even with such a clear choice in my mind, the work was far from finished. Not only was I far from clearing the hurdle of passing their selection process, I also had to find a way of not getting placed before Shell came for recruitment. The easiest sounding option would have been to not sit for any interviews before the D-day, but even an amateur would say that this can be suicidal. So I decided to sit for HLL, the only company other than Shell where I would have been happy to get a job with.

I was shortlisted for the final recruitment process by both HLL and Shell. HLL was on Day 1 (as they say), and Shell was on Day 2. I fared well in the group discussion round of HLL, and even cleared the first round of interview. Only me and Sneha Prasad managed to reach the second round of interview, which I later realised was a stress interview. The big-shots of HLL did everything to stress me out, but even though I got stuck a few times, I never lost my cool.

Usually, when people come out of their final interview, they expect that they won't get though, but pray that they do. With me, it was the reverse case: I expected to get an offer from HLL, but prayed that I don't. When the final results arrived, I learned that I couldn't make it to HLL. Looking back I feel that HLL wanted a person from thermal background, and while I was from a Dynamics background, Sneha was from Manufacturing background. All this was now irrelevant as I started preparing for the Shell Recruitment Day (SRD).

The Shell Recruitment Day was so much full of events that it deserves a post of its own. However, I will summarize what their recruiting strategy was. They gave a part of case study (background material) for reading the previous day, and on the SRD, the remaining part of it. After 80 minutes, we were supposed to present a 5 minute summary of our recommendations, followed by 20 minutes for questions and answers. The second round was a technical interview where we were grilled on a couple of our research topics for 30-45 minutes. The third round was group work where the candidates had to discuss and recommend a few projects for Shell to fund. Because of some chaos that resulted in last day's recruitment process, the results were held up till 3 am in the night. As you might have guessed, I got selected in Shell along with 16 other students. My joy knew no bounds when I learnt that after getting a 9.52 in the 9th semester, my CGPA finally became 9.02.

The experience of getting a job was most certainly a fulfilling one, and quite surprisingly, in the days to come, I found bitterness in it. Initially, the bitterness was because I came so close to being nobody. If I were unsuccessful at getting a job with Shell, it would have meant that I would have been left unemployed for many days to come. What was more painful was that I would have landed in a job I quite likely wouldn't have enjoyed in the first place. It is said that those who have seen death closely start understanding life a lot. I was not an exception to the rule. Whenever I tell someone about my job they either start feeling proud of me, or develop envy against me. But none realize how close I had been at being nobody. In the days to come, I saw many friends who were still hanging in that empty zone. While all knew that they would get "some" job, nobody knew which one. I saw so many people applying for every other job, with their aptitude taking a backseat. I saw each of those stories as my own, and placing myself in their shoes, felt the pain they themselves were going through. One of my favorite mantra is "Life isn't meant to be fair". For the first time in my life, I understood it from my heart rather than my mind. Things turned out beautifully for me, and I ought to be happy, but something held me back in enjoying things to the fullest.

Keeping these discussions aside, I often find people wondering why I didn't go for higher studies or pursued MBA at IIMs. It has been tough for me to explain these things to everyone, but I think that I should document my opinions on the issue once and for all. Most of the people who know me (but not closely enough) take it for granted that I will be going for higher studies. I must say that I often feel surprised at it as I have never said or done anything that remotely indicates my aptitude or passion for higher studies. The people who assume this about me either owe their belief to my intelligence, or the hard work that I put in studies that gets reflected in my academics through my CGPA. I never knew that using the Grey Matter was linked to going for higher studies. Also, while it is true that most people who put extra-hard work on their academics go for higher studies, I don't see any reason why the former should cause the latter. As a student, I feel that it is our responsibility to do well in academics, irrespective of the career line we choose to pursue later. The reason why I never went for higher studies is that I don't have aptitude for higher education. My experience with research has been that at the doctorate level, people become overly obsessed about a topic of a minor significance, something which I find myself incapable of handling. Also, add to the fact that the best you can do is choose the field of your major research, with the exact topic of your research decided by the whims of a professor you hardly know before start working with him. The atmosphere of indefinite detention also doesn't help. What lies beyond the Ph.D. degree also doesn't thrill me. One either goes for an R&D job at an industry or enters academics. If I were to choose the former, why not choose it at the graduate level (As a matter of fact, I got an R&D job with Shell). The latter is not something I relish. We all have heard about professors who understand their subject very well, but are unable to teach their subjects effectively. Some may respect them, but they get ridiculed by most of the class. This is something that I would not like happening with me. Those who wonder why I didn't go for MBA surprise me even more. Throughout my educational career, I have hardly done anything that would showcase my talent or aptitude for management. So when I have showcased enough aptitude and talent for technical job, why on earth should I move over to a field that I don't even know I would relish or not? I presume most of those who pursue the IIMs do it so because of money. They join the rat-race of getting more and more money, realizing little that money would stop mattering even before you turn 30. This is something that people from all walks of life would tell you. In the end, it is job satisfaction that matters. It is not that I am averse to management; but what is the point in jumping when you have no clue of what would greet you. Adventures aside, I consider it suicidal, not to mention outrightly stupid. I don't know if someone asks me this question again, do I repeat this whole story, or redirect them to this blog post.

Causal Fallacy

Another great story from Department of Logic.

In today's class we were asked to do derivations using First Order Predicate Logic. One of the problems was very tough and the proof went over a dozen steps. I was one of the first person in class to crack it, and Prof. C. Chakraborti came over to see my proof. After going through, she pointed out that I have made a mistake while applying the exportation rule, and hence would require modifications. After that, she went through the proof by Khushboo (who sat in a seat alternate to mine). When she finished reading it, she told "I was expecting this" and pointed her some error in her proof. When she left, I asked Khushboo what the error was and why was she "expecting it". She told that she had made a mistake while applying the exportation rule just like me, though her error originated from her class notes as against the memory failure in my case. Then, the whole incident dawned on me. The professor is used to seeing one person in a row doing the question, and all others copying it. She attributed the mistake made by Khushboo to this phenomenon and went ahead. Truly speaking, she committed a Causal Fallacy by wrongly attributing Khushboo's mistake to mine. Howsoever improbable this event may sound, it did happen, and thus exposed the fallacy committed by a professor teaching logic!

Moral of the story: Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Nerves of Steel

This true story may sound like one we keep hearing in forwarded mails, but don't have any way to verify whether it actually happened.

Last year, during the Training and Placement season of IIT Kharagpur, one of my wingmates appeared for the interview of a major steel company. The interviewer asked the candidates to tell the factors influencing establishment of an iron and steel plant at a location.

This guy thought for a while and told "लोहा बनाने के लिए लोहे का कलेजा होना चाहिए ।"
("To make iron/steel, one should have nerves of steel.")

Needless to say, the interviewer was impressed and he was selected.

Positive Vibes

Something has changed.

When I came to IIT Kharagpur four years back, the system was rotten like hell. It took nearly one and half hour to withdraw money from my bank account or post office, and three hours to get the semester registration done. Letters to professors/deans never got replied, and I got the scholarship money nearly two months after it arrived in the institute. No wonder, I wasn't happy about it.

Since then, four years have passed. The banks and post offices had been computerised at least one year back, but it only worsened the situation as everything was now duplicated. The academic departments were re-furnished, but that can hardly be linked to change in mentality of the workers. Till the end of fourth semester, everything was same.

I saw the first difference during registration for fifth year. We were required to pay the fees at the undergraduate section. I knew that this process would take at least two hours, as the work involves copying of all the fees receipt, verifying, signing, and what not. On reaching there, I found that there was only one counter, and that too did not have any queue. The person simply took the fee receipt, tore off a part and returned me my half. (Time taken: one minute)

Thinking it as a one off case, and considering there aren't enough student registering for the fifth year, I went ahead with my life. The second incident that shook my faith in the incompetency of the system was with regards to payment of stipend to fifth year students. Last year, the fifth year students got their first installment of the stipend in October/November, while the stipend is given from the month of May. I was expecting a repeat this time also. But I was shocked to learn that the first installment is being disbursed as early as August itself. I and Suman decided that we will collect the scholarship later, avoiding the first day rush. Aditya decided to brave the odds and collect it on the opening day itself. In the afternoon, he came back to tell us that the transactoin didn't even lasted two minutes, and again, there was no queue. I went to collect the money the next day, and had a similar experience.

The next incident was my visit to the dean's office to get the address of an alumnus. I was expecting a lot of bureaucracy, form-filling, detailed explainations, repeated questioning, etc. But when I went to the office, the same lady that earlier took half an hour to compose herself before starting any (half-hearted) work, simply asked what I was looking for. I told her that I wanted the address of an alumnus, and gave her the name. She immediately recognised the name (the person was from 1955 batch), and took out a register. She also told me that his mobile phone number is wrongly stated. Meanwhile, it took her only 10 seconds for her to get to the address from the register. She told me that I can try getting the updated mobile number/e-mail address from the Alumni Office, though she doesn't think he uses an e-mail. Her in-depth knowledge about an alumnus puzzled me. Anyway, I went to the Alumni Office, and told the lady sitting there that I am looking for the contact detail of an alumnus, and told her his name. She too recognised the alumni and told her apprehensions about his mobile number being outdated. She opened a database, quickly located the alumnus concerned, and gave me his contact details. These incidents were marked different from my understanding of the bureaucracy in the IIT system. I also had to e-mail the duputy director of the institute twice for helping with the IIT article on Wikipedia, and on both cases, I received the reply within hours. Compare that to my letter to the dean (academic affairs) in my second year of study, where my genuine complaints about the course curriculum were un-answered.

No wonder, my experience with the IIT system this year has been pleasant; and I hope it remains that way. The only major problem remaining is with the mess food, and it appears that this too is on the track of getting fixed. Azad Hall's mess has been privatized, and others too are now in the line. Probably the change would come after I pass out of the institute, but I am really looking forward to it.

Amen.

Logic

...Intelligent, Simple and Intuitive.

One of the biggest problems with the generation today is that it considers classroom and the real world as two distinct places, that have no correlation with each other. Specifically, the people today don't think about applying what we learn in classrooms to the situations we find in real life. It can be argued that student life doesn't provide us with opportunites to unleash our creative self. But when it does, aren't the students expected to use the knowledge. One such oppotunity to explore how much theory people put into practice came during a class of "Symbolic Logic".

The evidence I have is quite unrelated to what we were taught, lest incriminating as the lead makes it sound. The beauty of the incident is that it captured failure to use logic in a non-academic problem during the lecture class of Symbolic Logic held on 22 August, 2006. To give a background, the course concerned is conducted as an HSS Elective, with students from virtually all departments, in different years of study taking part. The course is conducted by a faculty by the name of Chhanda Chakraborti, who has very recently written a book titled "Logic: Informal, Symbolic and Inductive". She strongly recommends (buying and) using the book for the course. On the first lecture class of the subject, when a student asked her the author of the book she is prescribing, she politely replied: "...certain C. Chakraborti".

Fast-forwarding to the lecture class held last Tuesday, I was sitting on the first bench with my brother Ankur, sharing the book with him. The row behind us had two girls, both without a book. Since the class strength for the course is about 140, Prof. Chakraborti prefers to circulate the attendance sheet, rather than taking a roll call. On the D-Day however, she had more issues to tackle. The lecture being a double-lecture (with two back to back lectures separated by a short break), the problem of students signing for both the lectures and heading back home during the break was not a possibility she had discounted. So while handing over the attendance sheet to the class, she made it a point to mention that students were to sign only for the first lecture class, and wait for the next lecture where the process will be repeated for the second signature. However, the students had become seasoned ^TM enough to ignore such advices, and most of them ended up signing for both the classes. Since the attendance sheet was passed on from the other side of the class, the attendance sheet reached me by the end of the lecture. Just before it reached me, it logically went to the row behind me. A girl named Lalita, who took the sheet, was aghast to see signatures on both the columns. She told (to us neighbours), that madame had specifically asked to sign on only column. Based on my past experience and reasoning that if all students signed on both columns, she wouldn't have any option but to accept the page; I noted that she shouldn't care about that warning and for the greater good of humanity (that included her), and sign on both the columns. She, being a very idealist girl, refused to partner us in the crime. Needless to say, almost all except her had signed twice. The sheet was returned to the professor and a good number of students left during the break.

When the next lecture began, and the professor lifted the sheet from the table, she noticed the trick that the students played. In an instant, her jaw dropped and she moved her lips in futility, unable to speak anything. Then, composing herself, she gave a beaming smile to the class, and lifting the mike to her mouth, spoke: "When I gave you this sheet, I asked to sign only once. Now, I am re-circulating the sheet again, and all of you should sign in the second column again. To see if things go differently, I am passing the sheet from other side of the class", giving the sheet to Ankur. Here, Lalita raised her voice and informed the professor that she hadn't done it, donning a proud look (quite unsurprising act to me, and easily foreseen). She couldn't get any appreciation out of the professor, though it was certain that everything said was clearly heard. Anyway, Ankur signed the sheet again, and I followed suit, finally giving the sheet to her. She had signed the sheet only once till now and so, this time she signed on the empty column. She was about to pass the sheet to her neighbour, when I intervened. I asked her to sign thrice as everyone is now supposed to do. She told that she did the right thing the first time, and now again she is doing what was expected of her. Then, I told her to contemplate what she is doing, and specifically think how would the professor distinguish her from those who signed twice in the first lecture and have now left. They would be having two signatures, and so would she; earning her an absent in the second lecture class. She tried to reason, but understood the chain of thought, and (hopefully, I feel) thanking me for saving her from a cardinal sin of not attending a lecture.

And yes, before I forget, the professor became the first instructor to teach me who had the guts of admitting that she "wasn't paying attention in class", asking me to repeat a question I asked in the second lecture that she missed hearing.

End-note: The story goes like this. During the previous double lecture, when she tried passing attendance sheets for the first time, my friend Suman was the first person to sign it (only once). He passed it onto me, and I signed twice. Seeing me take the short-cut, he signed the sheet again, and passed on to the next person. The herd mentality of the class snowballed into everyone signed the sheet twice, and when it reached the professor in the end, she was speechless. Probably she thought it was her fault that she didn't clearly specify to sign only once, and would do it from the next class onwards. Who knew what future holds for us.

Bhatta At His Best

The picture below is of Hrishikesh's door. As expected, he jhaanpofied an unused label from the Sugar & Spice Shop.

I feel that I have posted one too many nameplate photograph. But what can I do if such things keep happening.

This Isn't Fair

Carlos has competition....a very serious one.

For those who don't know Carlos, he is R.P. Hall's Canteenwalla. He is very famous throughout Kharagpur for serving good quality food at reasonable prices.

Till a few days back, he almost had a monopoly in R.P. Hall. Not just because there can't be two canteens in one Hall, but also strategically. First we have the primary source of fodder for RPians, our Mess. This in fact is the primary source of income for Carlos. All of us visit Carlos mainly because we are 'fed up' with the fodder served to us in the mess and want to eat food. As most of us are dissatisfied with our mess food, its raining money for Carlos.

Then we had a supposed competition to Carlos, the Fruit-Stall ownner Monkai da (the undisputed king of a socialist capitalist). One who refuses to bring more/better food items because we eat and finish whatever he brings. This wasn't usually difficult as he rarely brought anything to his stall. All these conditions made Carlos a hot favourite for foodies. Not to mention that he opens even till past midnight and keeps the shop open till even three during exams.

Then the turning point came. The students of R.P. Hall decided that we have had enough of Monkai da. We don't care if he has Socialist or Communist (or whatever that CPI stands for) connection, and thus decided to kick him off. But he wasn't a cool customer. He was a shrewd businessman. He warned of police report and court case against his dismissal as he 'felt' that he did everything right and we don't have any proof of his wrongdoings. This was a serious problem, but had an ingenious answer. The next day, we RPians found a complaint book kept inside the mess and a notice saying that if we have any complaints against Monkai, we have to write them there. The complaint book was filled in record time. Even in the very first day, there were over 100 entries against him. This must have really pissed him off and while he was deciding on the future course of action, the winter break came and most of us rushed home.

By the time we came back, we came to know that we have a good news and a bad news. The good news was that Monkai's shop has been closed permanently; and the bad news that he himself did it. What his masterplan was that since he has not removed his belongings yet, and has put his own lock, the Hall can't break it open as this will give him an excuse to appeal in the court. So while the Hall authorities await clearance from Police and the Registrar, the new person being allotted the job, namely Rocky, brought his own infrastructure to be set up. Till the time this post was written, status quo remains.

But then, another development happened. The Hall gave clearance for a fast-food joint 'Sugar & Spice' to open inside the Hall's premises.

What was more exciting was the fact that he sold a lot of stuff...from Burgers to Pizzas and from Chana Masala to Tandoori Chicken. Don't go by the picture above. It was taken in late afternoon when half of his stock had been sold out.

Anyway, what I want to ask is that is it fare for him to open such a shop inside our hand's reach? I mean, as soon as you walk out of the mess after having eaten disgusting food, our eyes meet the delicious pizzas and buns and pastries. I foresee that a lot of our pocket money will get wasted on it before we are able to stop ourselves. Also think about Carlos. He will have to work a more to get back his lost ground as the fast food joint plans to stay open till past 10 pm. What more, with the new Fruit-Stall opening in a week or so, we RPians will have a lot more options to look into while deciding what to eat.

I ask: Is this fair? And will this smile last?

Alumni!! Alumni!! Come Again

Yesterday we had the Alumni Meet in our Hall. What interested most of us was not the opportunity to meet the alumni who had come, but to hog on to some food; something we rarely get to eat in our Halls. They used to serve something under that name in the mess, but it is yet to be proven food.

Anyway, alumni came and alumni went, but left behind some pleasant memories for us to cherish. Be it their stories on how the campus used to be in the sixties or the songs of their times. For some it meant greasing the hall's palm, as after all, our hall badly needs renovation.

But what caught my attention most is that the messand common room were cleaned thoroughly for the occasion. For the first time in my stay in R.P. hall did I see the mess chairs getting cleaned up without any emergency (such as a major spill). Mostly, either the chairs were not cleaned at all, or if done, only their base. On seeing this, one of my friends quipped: "If this is the effect of Alumni Meet, then we should hold more of these". Anyway, the food that was served in the football field was good, and even better were the snaps of Hrishikesh Bhattacharyya. Unfortunately, they didn't come very well due to poor light and shaking Hrishikesh.

We started with a normal Hrishikesh.....

Then we tickled him....

Then we tickled him even more...

Then it got nasty....

(NB:Published with permission.)


The moon also looked good with the clouds in front making it have a halo surrounding it. So took that pic also. No prize for guessing that this one also came poor due to bad light! Anyway, its not easy to photograph the moon with conventional cameras.

Who Is John Galt?

We all are. Well, almost 40 of us. I know you are not able to understand what I am saying at all, so I will elaborate on it.

Some time back, a guy in IIT Kharagpur sat down with friends to write an SOP for his friend. After considerable 'research', he found a good theme to write for the SOP. The theme was John Galt, the protagonist of Ayn Rand's classic 'Atlas Shrugged'. The SOP was a brilliant work that started with "Who is John Galt?" and proceeded with near perfection to elaborate on suitability of the candidate with John Galt being the ideal.

The friend in question was very happy to see such a wonderful work, and he proudly showed his SOP to his friends, some of whom asked for a copy. Soon after that, disaster struck. It was found that nearly 40 souls had started using the same SOP while applying to various places. The guy who drafted this SOP warned the one for whom this was originally drafted against using this SOP as this was no longer safe.

I wonder at how many places will there be a clash, and if it does, what will it do to the reputation of IITs. Furthermore, if such candidate are chosen for responsible jobs, the motor of the world will stop, proving that they truly are John Galt.

Out of Business

I stepped down of the cycle-rickshaw at IIT Kharagpur Railway Station on Wednesday to go back to me home in Bhopal. I had two luggages with me. One was a backpack and the other a big suitcase. As I laboriously loaded the backpack onto my shoulder, a coolie came near me and asked whether I needed any help. A smile beamed on my face as I pulled the handle from underneath the suitcase and demonstrated the free wheeling motion of my strolley. Seeing me walk past proudly by him, he commented:

"अगर ये सब आप करने लगेंगे तो हम क्या करेंगे?"

("If you start doing all these things, what will we people do?".)

PS: I wonder why it's called strolley. Is it because it is combination of a suitcase and a trolley?

Bedtime Story

Every night as I lay down in my bed to go to sleep, I make it a point to look outside the window from its upper left corner. From the clearing of the trees, comes a bright white light. Though the size of a twentieth of a moon, the aura of the brightness equals that of the full moon. It has a special place in my heart. Just as a full moon reminds a lover of his beloved, it reminds me of my childhood love, the IITs.

The bright light that shines at the top of the tower of the Institute's Main Building has a lot of symbolic value for me. When I am lying peacefully in my bed with the lights turned off, it shines singularly in the desert of darkness. It takes me back to those days in my school life when my only aim was to clear JEE. It reminds me of the single-minded devotion I had for my studies, and even today I draw inspiration from it.

I wonder how many people have the privilege of this view and how many actually attach it so much value as I do. Fortunately for me, this privilege is not a nuisance. Just by shifting my position marginally in bed, I can go again to the state where my mind and my vision go blank, singing me a lullaby. On such occasions, I often remember the rhymes from my early school days as I go into the arms of sleep.

"This little guiding light of mine,
I'm going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine,
All the time, let it shine."

Correlation and Causation

Coming back after a long time, as I went to visit my uncle place for Diwali's. And I have a few blogs to write.

Let's start from the very beginning. Before going on vaccations, news came around that the IIT Kharagpur authorities are unhappy over a piece of article that came up in the students' newsletter (Scholar's Avenue). The issue concerned contained an explosive article about the sorry state of affairs in IIT Kharagpur's Hospital (I will not link this article now as I might as well be brought into the perview of board if I dare to do so). Apparently an executive took the case as a hint of corruption against him as the article indicated rampant corruption in the hospital. The issue was taken so seriously that there were news of disciplinary actions against the students who were behind that article and even a top student representative. The blog-mirror of the magazine was made offline and the angry officials even took off the gymkhana website, the Kshitij website and Spring Fest website offline.

While the authenticity of the news was investigated, it was found that all the news (by themselves) were though correct, they were not causation of the main event. The news till taking off the blog-mirror was found to be a direct cause of the article, the rest was not a related news. Apparently, during the same time, a hacker broke into a webpage of IIT Kharagpur (maintained by students) exploiting some security vulnerabilities, and posted some anti-pakistani comments. The authorities got alert and decided to take all student managed pages offline until the possible security flaws were patched. So this wasn't a case of causation but just correlation.

P.S.: I know that this isn't correlation but coincidence. Anyway, till the message goes to the audience, I don't mind such errors.

Bye...Bye...Monkai

A post after a long while.....I was unable to post for the last few days as I went home and the modem there committed suicide!

Anyways, back in business now in Kharagpur, I have a few things to cheer about. And one of my favourites is the Monkai story.

For the uninitiated, Monkai da is R.P. Hall's fruit-seller. And in addition to the fruits, he is also supposed to sell all other edible stuff like chips, chocolates, biscuits, etc. But what is probable and plausibe for us need not be for the greater good of humanity. This exactly was his opinion about his shop. All the fruit-sellers all over the campus keep a huge variety of eatables and make enough profit. But he somehow chose the divine path.

He decided that it will be better if he did not keep many things, kept them as shabby and old as possible and behaved badly with the students. For this purpose he chose to keep the shop open as less as possible (lest some students come in to buy something), and keep the shop as empty as possible. On entering his shop, what one can expect to find are a month old oranges, a few packets of mixture, a few biscuits of local companies and a few other 'profitable things'. These 'profitable things' include mixture, chikki, and a few types of biscuits. I choose to refer them as 'profitable things' as his perception of profit was to sell things as expensive as possible. As he had little say in goods marked with M.R.P., he chose to sell most of his goods loose at a premium price. What gets sold for Rs. 4 just anywhere else in the world, he would price at Rs. 10, sometimes even Rs. 15! But if some of my friends are to be believed, his ultimate motive was far more complex that earlier thought. There is a very famous true story in this reagrd.

Once, a friend of mine went to the shop to buy some chikki (one of the rare things that he sold that actually found buyers). This annoyed Monkai so much that he said: "What is this? Every time I bring chikki, you people come and finish it (by buying them). This won't do. I am not bringing them from this time onwards". I request any person in the whole blogoshere who understood the philosoply behind this message to please enlighten me.

Anyways, the story went on with a few twists and turns. Those one-off incidents involved a thrashing from the Warden to improve (timing and quality), and one incident in which a student stole his diary in which he kept records of dues from students. The whole story took a new turn this September when the G. Sec. (Mess) took an initiative to give him an ultimatum. He was presented with a long list of items that he had to keep in stock as well as strict timings that were to be adhered to. Everyone knew instantly that this is the end of Monkai. Although the list wasn't very extravagant (most hall's fruit shop even sell more), we knew that Monkai couldn't make it. To add to his misery, a register was kept to record any breach of the ultimatum. Not to much surprise, he faltered. Remembering the list brings into my memory another incident.

My friend Vikas Chandan once visited my hall and decided to buy a Dairy Milk Chocolate. Although Suman warned against it, he reasoned: "How bad can it be?", and went ahead for the purchase. Inside the shop, he couldn't locate any chocolate. Upon asking for it, Monkai took out a bar from an obscure corner. Vikas asked: "Why don't you keep it in display? That way it will sell more." To this he replied: "Its my shop. I will decide where to keep which thing." Vikas was silenced. And eating that was the worst thing Vikas could have done then. It was lumpy and sticky mass that was a duplicate for sure.

Coming back to the story (as well as from home), I was pleasantly surprised by a notice inviting tendors for fruit-shop and informing that a one month notice have been given to Monkai to clear the shop. The RPians couldn't have asked for a better Durga Puja gift.

"Women empowerment" or "Empowered by women"

Today began as an ordinary day of my life. But the only thing ordinary was the beginning. I woke up at quarter to eight as the first class was from 8:30am. But even as I stepped outside the room, Roshan (my wingmate) asked whether there is any class today.

All the sleep left in my eyes vanished by the prospect of this news. How's it possible? There isn't any declared holiday today. And it isn't either raining (let alone cats and dogs). Then why on earth will IIT take a day off. To this he told that CPI(M) cadres have gheraoed the main gate and are not allowing anyone inside. The people who had classes from 7:30am had returned without even crossing the gate. I dimly recollected that yesterday I had read an article about "Mother of all strikes" to hit India in the coming days. I didn't cared to see it was this near and that the IIT would be affected. I also remembered how some two years ago, the Trinmul cadres tried to do a similar thing but their attemts were immediately countered by the security of the IIT Kharagpur and it was a failure. Classes started as usual, though 10 minutes late. Nothing more. Period.

But this time the story is a bit different. I knew that CPI(M) is in power now, but still I didn't believed that such a thing can happen at IIT. Afterall, the IIT has its own security system. Then I noticed that even inside my hostel, I could hear the loudspeakers honking the CPI(M) tunes. After having the breakfast, I and Suman decided to go and check for ourselves whether is there any chance of the bandh lifting in near future. But even before we crossed the foyer, the returning people convinced us that there is no use going as there are hundreds of women staging a dharna at the main gate itself making it impossible to to through. Hearing this Suman chuckled. He started praising the homework the CPI(M) people have put into this strike. Based on past experience, they knew that they have to have innovative strategy to make the bandh successful. If they brought men for dharnas, they would be dealt strongly with the police. So they brought women for dharnas. The IIT police was unable to resolve this issue as it does not have the power to use force on women. They will have to wait till lady constables come from Midnapore district to set things right, and this would take time. It did, and the crowd was cleared only around 9:30am.

We had a class at 10:30am, but found that the classrooms haven't been opened yet. The same went for the afternoon class also as the department employees failed to turn up. Hence, it turned out to be a off-day, something that I hadn't seen in IIT in the last four years of my study.

Using the free time to my great advantage, I finished reading "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Lewitt. As the title suggest, it is about the freaky ideas of a rogue economist who explored the hidden side of everything (well, "some" things). The topics include "Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?", "How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?", "Which is more dangerous: A gun or a swimming pool?", etc. I would rate the book as a must read for all who haven't read "The History of Salt". Not because this book deals with it, but because who have read it will be looking for a central theme, which this book does not have. But one question that this book leaves unanswered is that how can a begger afford a $50 headphone.

On The Double

Today, during lunch hour, Prof. H.N. Mishra came to our mess to eat food with us. Not as an act of solidarity, but to fulfil his duty as a member of H.M.C. (or by whatever name it is called now). Now he made a surprise visit to inspect the quality of food. I didn't knew why he came today sacrifising his Sunday lunch, but my best bet is knowing that R.P. Hall serves special food on Sunday lunch, it is best to inspect it then.

While testing a computer programme, we try to see if it works for the special cases. Because if it does, it must also work for the usual cases. That being a Professor in Agricultural and Food Engineering Department gives this wisdom I wasn't sure until I saw it today.

If they can make good food for special occasions, they must be successful in making it for usual occasions. But unfortunately, R.P. Hall had a different platter for him. For the past few weeks, the special meal have beed shifted to Sunday dinner instead of Sunday lunch. So he was forced to rate the R.P. Mess food on a scale different than he had initially planned.

Anyway, my eyes followed all his movements. First, he commented on the Cereal (dal) and Sambhar bowls kept on the ground. Though I couldn't hear him, he must have said that they should not be placed on the floor as it has a chance of contamination.

"Please try our mess food...Please try our mess food...", I was continuously praying. My prayers were heard. Though with a grim face, he took a bit of everything on his plate and proceeded to eat at one corner of the table with Jyotendra Pallab (I hope the spelling is correct), the General Secretary (Mess) of R.P. Hall.

As soon as he sat, he realized he had no spoon. Noticing this, Pallab waved to Gopal da. Never before had I seen him run. Reminded me of the person he must have been in his early twenties. After making a running stroll across the mess, he presented the professor with a spoon.

He took a bit of curd on his spoon and tasted it with sufficient alert as he was having the job of a poison taster. He tried other dishes as well, but the gloom on his face didn't fade. He took some rice and was marvelled on how lumpy could rice be made. He tried it also but was not humoured. He called for roti and again Gopal da ran into the kitchen to fetch a roti. Maybe for water, Pratap da had to run. Here again, I must admit, that I had never seen him run. He called the assistant mess manager and told him his observations which he noted on his pad. He shook his head many times pointing to the various dishes he ate. Then he stood up and began to leave. He hadn't sat to eat for even 5 minutes and even for 3 minutes out of that, he was talking to either Pallab or the asst. mess manager.

Now the funny part. Even as he was leaving, I saw him (yes, Prof. Mishra) walk pretty fast (almost running). No offence to him but I feel that he had to reach home soon to tell his wife to make some lunch.

"Kuchh bhi banao. R.P. se accha hi hoga.(Make anything. It will be better than R.P. food)", I imagined him telling his wife and couldn't resist the smile. It is rare that I smile from the bottom of my heart while eating something like this. I knew I had to blog it.

बातें भूल जाती हैं।
यादें याद आती हैं।

"Baatein bhool jaati hain....
Yaadein, yaad aati hain...."

Epilogue of 6th Semester

Wednesday was preparation leave for the End-Semester exams, which started on Thursday. The first paper was Applied Thermodynamics. The refrigeration part was all right, but the main problem was IC Engines part, in which none of us knew what to study. I did most of my preparations from the html file provided by Prof. Ramanujam. Rest I left for God to worry. The question paper was divided into 2 parts of 25 marks each. I started with Refrigeration Part. Question No. 1 was a bouncer. So I jumped to question no. 2. Since then, I found that all of the other questions were "Bread and Butter Problems". I left some space for the first question and proceeded for the IC Engine part. I was anticipating another numerical, but there was not to be. All the questions were theoretical, and fortunately, there were choices. I selected the ones I knew well. The questions went like : One engine creates noise while the other doesn't, the first is nuisance to start while the other isn't. Identify which is SI engine and which is CI Engine.

Next we had the Fluid Machinery Exam on Friday. We were expecting a tough paper (on Mid-Sems lines), but all the problems were "bread and butter problems". So it was a cruise along paper. There were a few derivations, but they were so predictable that I was able to say which all will be asked.

After the Fluid Machinery Exam, we had a 3-day break for the next exam, the Design Of Machine Elements (DOME). I did nothing the first two days. I got together with Suman and Aditya and bhatted for hours together on various topics. Then, on Sunday, I realized that I am in a soup and should start studying. As I had lost touch with studies, it was a slow start with very frequent breaks. So the Sunday also went without any significant progress.

I decided that I have to go full throttle from Monday onwards. And the day went with so hectic a schedule that I can hardly remember any break, except the ones for meals.

The exam was on Tuesday morning, from 9am onwards. That paper also was relatively easier than expected, although I didn't knew answer to a question. Thank God there was choice of one question. I was able to finish the paper just in time as the bell rang.

Then, after another day's break, we had the Casting, Forming and Welding Exam. I had some advantage over others as most other students had Enterprise Integration Exam (a subject taken by Prof. M.A. Farouqi) on Wednesday, giving them less time to study for this exam. The examination question paper was really tough, vague and long, although Prof. Surja Kanta Pal gave very easy questions from the Forming part. Prof. G.L. Dutta knows exactly what things are most difficult to mug up (owing to his experience), and he never thinks twice before striking the leash.

Just next day, on the 29th of April, we had the Biomechanics Exam, in N-201 of Civil Department. The venue is spooky, to say the least. It is located in some far-fetched corner of the department where no one would suspect that a room could be accommodated. But thanks to the series of signboards, it was easy to locate.

Unlike the mid-sems, there were other exams also held in the same room. So many people from the Biotechnology department were disappointed, as they could not cheat. Some tried, but were caught by other professors. Even Prof. Dhang could not suggest any answers to the questions. The paper was OK and went well.

What a tough time...

The week starting Thursday, the 14th of April was a nightmare. There was almost one test everyday.

Starting Thursday, we had the Casting Forming and Welding Class Test. It was as vague as can be. For the first time, I didn't knew the answers to even 50% of the questions. And for the first time, I was sitting in my chair till the last second, hoping a thought will strike home. But I did miserably, only respite being that everyone was miserable.

On Friday, we had our casting Viva. There was not much to prepare. Only three experiments: M/C Study, Riser Design and AFS Sand Testing. I was well prepared for the test and it went well. Prof. G.L. Dutta took the interview and asked questions that included the considerations for Riser Design, significance of AFS Grain Fineness Number, need to shake sand for 15mins, and need to take cumulative weightage. I felt that my test was good owing to the factor that before me, Amit Prakash, Sakya Acharya, Atanu Basak and Aniruddha Mishra went, who are not much serious about studies. He must have been prepared to have a similar student, only to find me. After asking me about 4 easy questions, expecting me to falter (which I didn't), he realized that he should raise the level of questions. But it was too late. He could ask me one more question, and he asked the Cumulative percent one. I gave a more or less satisfactory answer, and my interview was over. I was delighted. But if the theory was correct, it predicted disaster for Suman, and unfortunately, it did!

On entering, he found himself on the receiving end with Professor expressing unhappiness over his thin Lab Report. He enquired:

"Is this the work of just one night?"

My God, he's experienced. Very rarely does Suman postpone his work to the last moment, and it was to be the occasion when it was observed at a very wrong occasion. Next, he was prepared with some tough questions. He started by asking the significance of 'a', 'b' and 'c' in the Caines' formula. He was clueless. Although he knew the values of all the coefficients for all the cases, he couldn't explain the significance of either of them. I believe that this was the most difficult question that could have been asked, as nobody knew the answer to it. Poor Suman. Although in the rest part he did satisfactorily well, he wasn't much happy and it is understandable.

Next, on Saturday, we had the Refrigeration Class Test. It had three questions, of which I solved the second and third, but got stuck in the first. The first problem had a Refrigeration system with Q_e and COP supplied and I had to estimate on the condenser performance. I was clueless. After the exam, Suman told me it required use of the relation. Q_c=Q_e+W.

Oh God! I even forgot this basic equation. Only god could have helped me then. I had been such a fool.

Sunday was an off day (fortunately), but the unfortunate part was that on Monday we had Hydraulics Lab Test. A Biomech Test was also schedules, but being an institute holiday, we knew it would be postponed to the next working day.

On Monday, we got up peacefully, to celebrate (actually by Suman alone) Ram Navmi. I had a good breakfast, a long bath and started waiting for the lunch-hour to go and have my grub. But a surprise awaited me. Vikas came at around 11:45am and asked me why I haven't turned up for the Biomechanics test. I was shocked. Wasn't it supposed to be postponed as it was an institute holiday? But it was not a time to argue. Suman had yet not returned from his morning Puja and the time was running out. Vikas told that if I go fast enough, I might catch Professor Dhang before he left, and maybe he will take compensatory test. I tried calling Suman, but he had left his mobile phone in his room. So I took my copies and pen (as it was an open book test), and rushed to Civil Department. On reaching there I found that the test was indeed over and Prof. Dhang had left. Dibyendy Konar was searching frantically for him as he had failed to submit his answer-script to him. Apparently, unable to complete the test on time, he asked for a minute's time to complete. But Professor Dhang left the department immediately after the test and he was left with his unsubmitted answer-script!

I immediately came back to my hall and called his home; He hadn't returned. I was left with no option but to leave everything to the fate and proceed to lunch. After lunch, I waited for Suman to come so that we can decide our future strategies.

He came around 1:30pm. He was visibly nervous and panicking. Vikas left a note explaining what had happened on that morning and many of our wing mates had read it. They found Suman in the mess and informed him about his missed exam. He too, like me, had never bunked any exam, so it was a real shock. He couldn't eat well and rushed to meet me. We decided to call Prof. Dhang again, and were dejected to find his perennial absence from office as well as home. Eventually, we decided to write him an E-mail, explaining why we missed the test, and requesting him to take a re-test on Tuesday, and proceeded for yet another test, the Hydraulics Lab Test. We didn't get any reply till late night. Suman contacted Dibyendy Konar and found out that Prof. Dhang had been to JEE cell to do some work, and had been there since then the rest of the day.

Next morning, we attended our early morning DOME class, and after it, went to meet Prof. Dhang. He wasn't there even then. Coming back to our room, we found out that Prof. Dhang has mailed us that we should meet him in the afternoon, 2:30pm. So finally our attempts to contact him had succeeded. We had another test in the evening (6pm) of Refrigeration And Air-Conditioning Lab, so we were not sure whether to study for it just then or not. But in any case, we didn't get any time for it as we had another class from 11:30 to 12:30. We went to meet Prof. Dhang at 2:30 exact to find that he's not there.

Just then, I saw Prof. R. Karmakar coming in his scooty. He immediately asked me to submit the project, as Tuesday was the last day. I had completed it long back, but he himself had been reluctant to meet. So anyway, I had to go with him, foregoing the possibility of Biomech test. I asked him whether he'll be free to see the software, and he replied that he will be not (as usual). I immediately got my Project Report signed by him and went to the office to submit it.

On my way I met Suman who said that Prof. Dhang has come! I hurried with the submission and then we went to him for instructions. He told us to sit down and first tried to corner us by saying that we haven't read the holiday notice as it clearly stated that all the classes and tests will be held as usual. We told him that there wasn't any such notice in our department, as we actually hadn't seen it (Later, actually, Aditya told us that there was one such notice, is one of the notice boards we didn't see). So he asked:

"So, what's the solution?"

Even as we were thinking of suggesting that he cancel the test and give average marks, he took out an A4 sheet and started writing question. Even as he was writing, I was realizing the impending disaster. The problem he was writing, though had been covered in the class, I didn't had any clue as that was the only class I had to leave in the middle owing to stomach problems. I turned the pages and started trying to understand how to do it. As I had coped it from Suman recently, I didn't get ant time to understand it. So I murmured to Suman, asking how the solution was obtained. He hushed back saying something I couldn't get. I started getting frightened. By then he completed the question in addition to another question on Hill's Model. He took out two sets of three A4 Sheets and gave it to us after stapling them. Then he gave me Re. 1 coin and told me to get the question paper Xeroxed, find a convenient room, and submit the answer script after 1 hour.

We were delighted. I was particularly delighted as I was clueless regarding the exam. So we went to ME-307 and took 2 seats near the window. I told Suman to do question no. 1 and started doing question no. 2 myself. It took us approximately 1 hr 15 mins to complete our part. Then I went to check out if Prof. Dhang was still there.

To our delight, he had left. So we completed the exam in approximately 2 hours and submitted the answer-script in his locker. But there was trouble on collision course. At that very moment, approximately 4:45pm, we realized that we have a test starting in 1 hour, which we haven't prepared at all. So we rushed back to our rooms to mug up everything we could. We left for the examination after half an hour of study, i.e. around 5:30pm.

The question paper was very tricky, and I answered as much as I could. Later, I return to enjoy a special dinner (the day being a Tuesday), a particularly hectic day.

Reunion C/O PGDIT

Throughout saturday (2nd April), I was expecting Pragya and Sarika to turn up any time, but I was disappointed. At snacks time, I got a call from Pragya that she along with her friends are coming from the night train and will be reaching Kharagpur bu 3am in the night. The train was right time and they had to spend the night on the railway station but managed to find a place to sleep and get fresh for the morning. They came to RP Hall by about qaurter to eight and upon enquiring them I found that they still haven't eaten their breakfast. When I asked them to proceed for breakfast, they told me that they are waiting for one of their seniors (Samir Sathpathy) who is currently doing his MTech from IIT Kharagpur. They were 4 people, Sarika, Pragya, another Pragya (Shrivastava) and one of their batchmate. After he arrived, they along with Anirban Sinha and Prasoon Kumar proceeded for Harry's for breakfast. I decided to eat my breakfast in the mess itself as I know that Harry's serves no good and on top of that I had filled too many things for sunday breakfast.

After breakfast, I informed Suman that they have come, and proceeded to Harry's to join them. The breakfast came very late and was horrible in taste. Although I didn't eat it, I deduced it from their expressions. After breakfast they had coffee and then we proceeded to main building to find out the venue for the test. It was supposed to be held in F-127, to our relief as we were apprehensive that if it were in Vikramshila or some other place, we would have to go back a long distance. After bidding they bye for the manwhile and wishing luck for the test, we came back. I went back at 12 (when the exam was scheduled to get over) and found that Anirban Ghosh waiting for them already. He told me that Anirban Sinha told this to him and he's come to meet them. They refused to say anything on their performance, but on pressing told that it was upto their satisfaction. we had to wait again for their senior and Anirban Sinha, after which we took them to a brief walk to the Central Library. Later we proceeded for lunch at Sahara. The food was OK and we decided to stick to vegetarian menu as all the girls were vegetarians. After the lunch, they all proceeded to spend the rest of their afternoon at their senior's room in JCB Hall (B-212). I came back to my Hall to enjoyed my long missed siesta.

While we were coming back from Sahara, the news went out that Gymkhana Election results are out and the RP Hall pact has been defetaed. Arindam Mukherjee was to be our new VP. We found him on our way back and congratulated him. He was accompanied by a procession that was giving a loud tempo shout.

I joined the Pragya & co. later in the day when they came to my room at about quarter to 7 in the evening. I learnt that they spent their day at the senior's room and later were joined by another senior who came from Kolkata to meet them. They were also introduced to Pankaj Uike who is another student from Bilaspur.

Fortunately or unfortunately only Pragya, Sarika and Anirban came to my room while the others remained at Bidhan Chowk to arrange for the return conveyance. I offered my guests Maggi which they gladly accepted. I also had my Slam Book filled by Pragya. Later we went to Suman's, Anirban's and Prasoon's room for a brief period. Then we all went to Bidhan Chowk for joining others and having dinner.

We found that they were sort of harrasing the poor girl (Pragya Shrivastava) by asking uncomfortable questions like their choice of bride and her choice of groom. We stayed there till 8:30pm after which we proceeded to Little Sisters for dinner.

At LS, we decided to have a feast and even Non-veg dishes were ordered. The dinner was good and later we came back to RP to catch the Taxi that was waiting.

On our way back, I came to know that Sarika isn't much interested in joining the PGDIT programme as it is a diploma course and not a degree course. She's keeping it as a last resort if she is unable to find anything better.

The other Pragya (Shrivastava) wanted to meet my brother and I wondered how Ankur would feel if I tell him that some strangers (to him) want to meet him. She also requested me to sing the "2441139" song which I promptly refused saying that I will sing it for her if she clears this exam and comes to IIT Kharagpur for the next year. Her voice was still child-like and it reminded me of Rahul Pal, who also has child-like voice.

They went to the station by around 10:15pm to catch Azad Hind which was due to leave at 11pm. I came back to my room to sleep after another tough day.

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.