Ticket to Cloud Nine

Vishu just came and went. It was not the old splendour that accompanied it, but with a couple of cousins, we burst crackers and celebrated. The best part of the festival is getting what is called "Kaineettam" ( means the elders give you money ). But the best kaineettam I could ever ask for came 2 days later. To be more precise, it came today.

It all started with a message that our S3 results were out. Oh my God!!! It has been 5 months since that exam, and that exam had it all. All the drama, and all the excitement. So much so that an exam had to be put off twice. It was in January that the exam finally happened. And there was the EC lab exam. An exam I nearly flunked ( refer my previous posts ). And as I jumped on the computer to check out the results, my heart was pounding. Will I fail EC lab? I have never ever in my life failed an exam, and I do not want to start now. All of the things I had ever worked for were on the line. I usually don't settle for anything below a GPA of 9. But now, I was willing to settle for anything, as long as I passed. I clicked on the link, and the list slowly unfolded. By now, my heart was trying to leap out of my rib cage. I scanned the document, down and down, cursing the fact there are so many other students, and I finally saw my roll number. And I saw the number scratched by its side. My breath got caught in my throat.
9.31.
The adrenaline that pumped into my blood stream now served another purpose. I couldn't control my emotions.  It was a feeling like no other. Here I was, praying to God to just help me scrape through, and here I was, getting 9.31. Thank you my King for Saving Me.
My eyes scrolled down my class. As far as I could see, not her person had got as much as me. I scrolled to check the guy who has beat me last semester. 9.13.
I was the class topper.
Finally!!!
Having topped my class for 7 straight years, I was dejected when I was relegated to second place my first year in college. And now, finally, I have done it again. And I've got no words to describe how I feel.
Oh God, Thank you so so so much, for being there for me every bit, and for saving me.
I am on cloud nine, and I never want to go down again. 

Gangster Cut...and Other Stories

I cut my hair yesterday. I know, I know, you are probably thinking what that has to do with anything...and you are right. But it has something to do with me. I cut my hair so short that it now resembles a gangster. I never dreamed of that similarity, but a lot of people told me that today, so I think it pretty much holds...and come to think of it...I learnt a valuable lesson today...something I never knew. I learnt that gangsters cropped their hair short. Who'd have thought of it that way?? To me, to this day, the image of a gangster brings out an image of a scarred face with...come to think of it, hair isn't a problem. You've got gangsters with short hair, and you've got gangsters with long hair...I mean who cares????
Years ago this must have troubled me. I remember being in 1st standard. Back then, for the little children coloured umbrellas were the norm. One day, I fail to recall why, I took a black umbrella. I was ushered with catcalls of "Appooppa" (meaning grandfather), and I was sickened. I felt like crying, and I might have. And I still remember the advice my mother gave me..."If they call you "appooppa" (grandfather), go right ahead and call them "makkale"(meaning children)...one of the best advice I have ever received, even though at that time, I thought it was rubbish.
Now, this hardly concerns me. I don't care if people call me a gangster (called goonda). I know these things don't matter. But I feel I could have lived my childhood days with the experience that I have now, it would've been a whole lot easier that way...but never forget that it is precisely these experiences that make us who we are today, and gives us our very definition. (I feel a great song that stresses the difficulties in our lives is the Climb by Miley Cyrus)...

Moving on...it's raining, it's pouring, and the old man is snoring...well you get he idea...
It has been sweltering here for days, literally like being stuffed inside an oven...it was unbearable. (Now I know how a chicken piece feels inside there, thank God it is dead...). Now, the heavens have opened, and it has been raining for nearly half an hour now, and I think it has still got plenty left in the tank to go all night...
I love the rain...ooooopppppsssss....I seem to have devoted a post on this sometime in the past...
Well, that is all...

Don't be an Ass Clown!!!

As promised, I am here to tell you a story. And this one is huge. Trust me.
It is about my first class with a power point presentation.
I had toiled for weeks on this herculean topic of UML. Actually, that is an insult to Hercules as well, because I am sure Hercules was not as boring and deranged as this topic I was forced to take. Yeah, I meant forced. Maybe coerced would be a better word. I was being forced to do something I did not believe in.
Let me tell you how this started. The teacher came to the class and announced that that someone who did not want to do a programming assignment would be given a seminar as assignment. And she asked who was good at taking classes. Naturally a couple of the boys shouted my name. Without a second thought she made me the scapegoat. But here is the funny part. I had absolutely no problem doing the programming assignment. In fact, I had completed it last month!!!

I could have done this and looked less ridiculous!!!

Now back to the present. I was standing there, in front of the class,in a corner. This is in contrast to my usual practice of never getting down from the dais. I let the slideshow run. The first couple of slides were fine, they were just intro stuff. So far so good.
But halfway through it, I realized that what I was doing was futile. This no longer held my interest. and it is a fact that if the teacher is not interested in what he teaches, the students will never benefit. And I was desperate. I just wanted to end this thing and get off. And I started rushing things. And there, I made a cardinal mistake. I rushed through the topics because they were easy. What I forgot was that I had read all this stuff for one full week before it became easy. The people sitting in front were neophytes. But it was too late. And I made one more mistake. I mistook the timing and entered a slide before I introduced it. The effect was ruined.
The nail on the coffin came when I tried to open a software I had downloaded, that was sure to sweep people off their feet, and the goddamn thing would not open!!! I was standing there like an ass clown, and my brain was not working straight to figure out waht was actually happening. So I stopped and got off.
In all, I pulled off my worst show in history, and I have been to Bangalore to deliver a speech on relativity before I knew what relative velocity was, and I read off a sheet of paper, and that was better than this.
That's all...
Coming soon...
A Trip Down Memory Lane

Trolled...

It was supposed to be my first class using a projector, and I cannot impress on you how hard I worked to do it. It was about UML, which, if you ask me, is one of the most boring things in the whole wide world. It comprises of some of the most abstract ideas known to humankind, and I shudder to think people were actually credited for coming up with this piece of junk. Maybe I am misising something, but I don't know. Anyhow, being the kind of guy I am, I try to do everything I can to make my class a success. I desperately had to do something to make this thing interesting.
I had come up with a couple of ideas, but I had, on the whole, decided that this won't be on the same level that my other classes are usually on, and I had accepted that.
But, today was a strike.
And my class was rescheduled to the next working day.
Am I angry because I couldn't take the class?
No.
I am angry because I thought I could get this torture over with and move on, but apparently I have to take this for a couple of more days. With lab exams, series tests and University exams coming up, I am up the creek without a paddle...

My Fest Tech Fest Experience...(yikes)

Being a college student means that you get little perks like duty leave. What it means is that you can go to any of the tech fests conducted by other colleges and you need not worry about attendance. A lot of my friends go to these tech fests a lot, but refrained, because I felt the whole thing was pointless. People nagged me, including my parents to go to one,but I stood my ground, till now.
It was a Saturday, so I wouldn't be missing any classes. A couple of us made a decision to go to Aagneya, the tech fest organised by Barton Hill Engineering College. It was decided that they would leave by 9:45 and I would wait in the bus stop and board the same bus as them. I was in the bus stop by 9:55. I was waiting, waiting, waiting, did I mention I was waiting??? In case I missed it, I was waiting. And I was waiting for long. It would've been a big deal a couple of years earlier, where you would've no means of contacting others. But now we do have mobile phones. So I called them. It is funny how the answers were..."5 minutes, we're leaving","we're at the bus stop","hold on we're coming..." and the like.
They came. At 11:00. Our plan was to reach there by 10:30, and join coding and debugging, the only things I am good at. By now, it was doubtful if we'd make it before the events.
We reached there by 11:40. There was no enquiry desk, so we wandered here and there and found one deep in the confines of the ground. Isn't an enquiry desk supposed to be at the start? Plus they had no idea what was going on. The left hand didn't know what the right was doing. At last we managed to get our hands on a schedule, and we found out that the coding and debugging that was on today was micro-programming, and we has no idea how to do that. So we settled for a logic quiz called Brain Squared.
While the event was being called, we nipped out and had our "lunch". A pufs, and a bottle of slice, and later a chocobar. That was it. Hello, I am just not used to this!!! I hate this "on the road" lifestyle.
But I settled for it. We lost in the prelims itself for Brain Squared. I've got logic alright. But it needs time to work out. I can't do it in 25 minutes!!! Plus maths was never my strong point, in fact I hate maths.
So that's that. Then we left. I don't know about the others, but I was spent.
My first tech fest, and it had to go down like this (remnants of the Jericho cure, maybe??? for a jerichoholic??).
I learnt  a couple of things today.
1. When your friends say 10:00, they mean 11:00. It seems to be one of the unwritten rules in Kerala. Nobody is ever on time. And those on time usually end up being the fools.
2. This is how a lot of the tech fests are organised, but in their defense, it is not easy, coordinating this whole thing.
3. Skipping lunch for junk food gives you a crushing headache, if you are not used to it.
That's all, my loyal fans...
Do tune in soon for more of the action, excitement and splendor in my life...

The Cricketing God's Next Miracle!!!

SACHIN : THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT HE DOES

I usually don't comment on sports on my pages for my fans to read and admire, but since the whole world is right now talking about this man, I figured I had to give him my kudos, and a big, deep bow myself.
I am talking, as you very well know, about Sachin Tendulkar (why am I getting red lines on his name? It should be in the dictionary by now...).
16 March 2012 will forever be known as the day the God of Cricket scored his 100th century. Imagine getting 10000 runs from centuries alone...that is a feat that will probably never be recreated again.
Beginning his career when he was just 16, the Master Blaster has virtually done everything there is to do in the cricketing world. He is the leading run scorer, in tests and ODIs and he hit the very first double ton in ODI and now he has scored his hundredth ton. What more is there for him to accomplish? Don't answer, because he will do it himself, pretty soon there will be another record to his name.
Recently there has been a lot of talk regarding whether Sachin should retire or not. Many have been telling him that he has hit the 40 mark, he can't do it any longer. But that is all codswallop on my opinion.Nobody, and I mean nobody can tell him when he has to retire, he can still get the job done. On any given day, he can still hit a ton and lead Team India to victory. He still got it. And as long as he can do it, I think he should. There will always be people to criticize you no matter what you do or how good you do it. Thy are just people who are jealous of you because they could never get to the position that you are at right now.
Maybe it is time all of us, critics and fans alike, look up to Sachin, and learn what makes him the best. If you ask me, it is just one thing.
He loves what he is doing.

CONGRATS SACHIN!!!
HOPE YOU CONTINUE ON YOUR MARVELOUS CAREER FOR A LONG TIME!!!

Seminar Time !!!

Today I had to take a seminar in front of the whole class on Shifter and Accumulator Design. So I thought that it would be nice to blog about seminars, an dhow they affect you...
For some people, taking a seminar in front of a whole load of people can be a harrowing experience. Your mouth becomes dry, you start sweating like a pig, and you stare around with a deer-in-the-headlights like look.
Thankfully, not me. I don't fall into that category. I know that I can go out there and give a good session. The only thing is, how good. Because each time I get on that dais, I want to outdo myself. I want to give the best seminar I have ever given. And I want each seminar of  mine to be my best so far. And with that pressure begins to build on me. I knew I could do it, but just getting through it is not enough, I want to do it great.
But the thing is, what I felt is not tension, or anxiety, or fear. It was excitement. You know that mix of emotions which surges through you when you are next in line to go on to a stage, and deliver a poem or speech you have worked very hard to get right? Not pure fear, but rather that sense of purpose, and direction.
I love it.
And all of this emotion lasts for so long that I get on stage. Once I am on, I am ON. There is no fear, no butterflies or caterpillars in my stomach, no nothing. That is what I am thankful about.
But one thing you notice is, people listen to you. People tend to listen to you speaking more than the teachers, but there is that occasional talk among a couple of students, and it gets on your nerves. You feel that you are working so hard on your seminar, and these people have the audacity to talk????
I would've loved to fire them on the spot, and believe me I could. But I didn't because I did it too. Not all the time, but even for a couple of times, I did it. Now you know why teacher's snap when people talk in their class.
I had just this one hour, imagine having to take 4-5 hours a day!!!
The output I got was fairly good, I think I gave it my best. Everyone appreciated it.
But now I have one more on 23rd, and I have to use a projector then.
To be frank, I hate the projector. As much as you can argue, it is not a good teaching tool. It is used only by people who are lazy to use the board, or want to finish portions fast. For efficient teaching it is a no-no.
Well, I have to use it, and I will.
My first class with a projector...
Coming Soon...
Only on Amit Forever...