LORD OF THE MINDS

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Its been about 2 weeks now that we have started cooking food at our rented flat in Bangalore. By we, I mean my roommates and I. And this was after a lot of scepticism like whether we should be investing like this or not. We wanted a cook at first but eventually settled on cooking food ourselves.
The day (or rather night) when we started was rather eventful. It was a saturday and having been bitten by the MindTree bug of hard work, all three of us - Dipankar, Anirban and I had gone to office to work. After laboriously working till evening, Dipankar and I boarded the 6 o'clock shuttle from West Campus to Banshankari office. There Anirban joined us. We decided that it was tonight or never. So all three got into an auto to Jayanagar to buy the items to setup the kitchen.
At jayanagar, we realized that we had no concrete plan. We didn't know what all to buy and what not to. After a long debate, we freezed upon our essential requirements which needed to be addressed first. We chose a shop nearer to our flat not for the costs. But because 'agar koi problem hua to stove uthakar laa to sakenge wahan'! So by the time we bought all our utensils and headed home, it was about 9 pm. Now what we required was the food items. Dipanakar, being the most experienced chef amongst us (actually thats bcos the others know nothing about cooking, so its the case of 'andhon me kaana raja'), declared - 'What do you guys wanna eat tonight?' And then it started!
For 5 minutes, everyone started pouring in their requests. No one knew who would cook all that or whether anyone knew how to cook those dishes. What came out was the uproar after 5 months of eating those dosas(especially rava dosa), bhaths, roti curries and occasional fried rice at nearby Sree Upahar/Shanti Sagar! Finally we decided upon a dish of egg, dal and rice. So again we headed for the market, this time to the Reliance fresh shop. By the time we were back home with the grocery, it was about 10pm.
Then started our maiden venture of cooking. Dipankar cooked the egg dish (that was the only day the eggs boiled correctly, we have been struggling to get that same performance since). Anirban called up home to get the recipe for masoor dal. I helped him out in that. And finally the rice. It was at this time that I realized that the turmeric(haldi) packet wasn't opened. It should have been since we had used haldi in the dal, isn't it? Then came that deadly realization. I had mixed garam masala with haldi. So instead of haldi, I had added garam masala to the dal. Oh my god! Nothing to do now. All of us were laughing. The dal tasted fine, just a bit too chilly. Thus ended our first experience at cooking which incidently got over at 12:30am. So by the time we finished our dinner, it was 1am. A late but satisfying dinner.
The next week we prepared a number dishes ranging from matar paneer to simple paneer with gravy, from mixed veg dish to egg curry. It was fun at times and tough at times. Especially the idea of cooking at home after coming back from office so tired was tough. But we have managed to weather the waters till now. Its the team effort which has brought success.
The weekends are the days when we plan to have our favourite dishes. Like this weekend we decided to cook fish at home. So on sunday morning , Dipankar and I made a trip to the meat mart of 'Monday to Sunday'. We settled on Catla fish because it was the easiest to cook and the first try should be witht he easiest one (Also it was the least costly of all). I called up mom (as usual) for instructions. Now armed with her advice, we first marinated the fish with salt and turmeric(haldi). Then came the tough task of frying the fish. And boy was it hard! Dipankar really had a tough time. But eventually it came off well and we got the first taste of home made fish at Bangalore. The fish gravy dish was simply superb.
When I was discussing about this experience to my ex-Rich mates, they couldn't believe it. They were saying that a guy who never once went near the kitchen to cook, how come he cooks food at home everyday. But you know, thats life. It teaches you everything! So after a satisfying weekend, its back to work. I hope you all too have this type of a success in your life sometime or other.

I think this is enough for now. I shall continue sometime later, if possible.
Meanwhile, I need to get back to my work. These new technologies in my project are already killing me a lot. My tech lead said that these were meant to simplify the task of a Developer but using them has been such a headache I don't know when they will actually simplify my task and if possible, my life.

Its been 2 days and about 9 hours but I still haven't been able to get this damn application to work on my system. Every time I compile and execute it it gives me this same *ing 404 error.
Actually the Technological Lead (TL) of our project gave us the introduction to the technological stack yesterday in our first technical ramp up meeting. So we 8 freshers in the team got to hear some cool but till now unknown terms like Struts 2, Spring, iLog etc. Now all these sound very hi-fi but unfortunately, we got to learn them all. So the TL gave us a simple task. To create a sort of a form using Struts 2 framework. And we are to know the framework and all about it too.
So from last evening we set about "Learning Struts 2". First, we checked out our most faithful pal in this area - Google. Got some links and started reading. Its then that we got the first shock. Most of the stuff was obviously going tangential. I stayed up till 8:15 in the night but to no avail. So I took some pdfs and printouts to read at home.
But as u all know, when at home who wants to study. As usual, I spent the time sleeping. No studies. So from today morning, we team members have been racking our brains to get something working but success has lured us till now. The TL had said that he would make us wait till 9 in the night but would make sure that each one of us executed that bit of code on his/her own machines. Lets hope we manage to do that before the timeline set.
Hey, I think I have wasted a lot of time writing this post and I better get done to cracking some code or else I may have to stay up for the night. :-)

क्या तुम्हें याद है,
बारिश की वोह रात ,
जब हम चल पड़े थे
हाथों में लेकर हाथ ?

वोह बारिश में टपकती
बूंदों की आवाज़,
वोह आकाश में गरजते
बादलों का साज़!

हम दोनों कुछ खोये से
कुछ घबराए से थे,
और राह ना देख पाने के कारण
असमंजस में थे !

क्या करे क्या ना करें
यह सोचने लगे,
और धीरे धीरे एक दूसरे
के करीब आने लगे!

फ़िर कहीं से एक आवाज़ आई
जिसमें तेरा नाम था,
पलट के देखा तो
खड़ा तेरा बाप था!

अब आगे लिखते हुए
मेरी आंखों में आंसू आ जाते हैं,
अस्पताल में बिताये हुए
वोह पल याद आ जाते हैं !!

Ek duniya ko chodd aaya hoon,
Ek nayi duniya basaane.
Yaadon ko samet laya hoon,
Kuch nayi yaadein banane.

Woh college ke din,
Woh hostel ki raatein.
Yaad aati hain yaaron se saath,
Woh idhar udhar ki baatein.

Ab ek naye shahar mein,
Naye sapne sajaane aaya hoon.
MindTree ki waadion mein,
Naye dost banane aaya hoon.

Its now been a week since I have joined MindTree and I must say it has been a wonderful experience. I had never expected this much amount of fun, participation and enjoyment from the 1st day itself.
The 1st day, 2nd july, we had an orientation programme at St. John's Auditorium. There were sessions by Subroto Bagchi and Ashok Soota. What was most fascinating was the FAQ session taken up by Subroto Bagchi where he took up the questions presented by everyone with great confidence. The answers were simply stupendous. A really enjoyable session.
In the afternoon session taken up by Ashok Soota on values and vision, we got to know our goals and key improvement areas. A real eye opener. The cultural programme following that was beautiful. We witnessed a group song and also a dance performance by senior MINDs. Totally enjoyable.
The sesond day was not so enjoyable but nonetheless very important. We had to create our profiles, ICICI Bank accounts, ID Cards, Hutch Corporate connections and other forms. I finally got my employee id card and I must say, I feel proud to wear it everywhere.
On fri, 6th July we had to wear our MindTree T-shirts to office. We had a group photo session to look forward to. But before that we had a really enjoyable session. In the afternoon, we had something called 'House Assimilation'. Here we had to introduce ourselves to the housemates but in an innovative manner. Our section 1 of House of Joy were divided into groups of 10 each. Each group was told to choose a theme. Then each member of the group had to choose a character related to the theme. Now when they came up to the stage they had to first introduce the theme, why they chose it and then descirbe why they chose the character they mentioned. The themes ranged from colours to jungle to cartoon characters. People chose characters like Goofy and described themselves like it - Someone who goofs up all the time. Also someone chose Leaning Tower of Pisa, saying that they want to be like it - leaning but not falling off in spite of pressures.
The next section were told to write some task for one other group. But when their papers were taken, they had to do what they had written for other groups. This was really hilarious. One group had to exchange shoes amongst themselves and then do a catwalk. The group had 3 girls and 2 boys and the boys had a tough time not only fitting into the girls high-heeled shoes but actually do the catwalk. Awesome fun. Another group had to enact a scene from Sholay etc.
The third section was divided into two groups and had to play a kind of virtual volleyball. 1 member of a group calls the name of one other member of the other group and moves out. If at any time the person called does not exist or has moved out or one fails to call a name, his/her team lost a point and also had to come up on stage to introduce. This was total enjoyment because towards the end when one ran out of names people really goofed up. So you see it was full timepass and masti. Finally we had the photo session of the entire batch outside the food court.
In this way our first week got over at MindTree. The pressure of the training had not set in yet but the schedule given told us that we were in for a tough time. But sincerely, I believe that even after the rigours of this Learning programme (MindTree prefers to call it Learning Programme instead of Training cos we LEARN at MindTree, we are not trained), we will surely get our share of enjoyment. Here's looking forward to some awesome times ahead.

Its the month of June and my life at BESUS is coming to an end. A roller coaster ride really but nonetheless a lot satisfying. Its this mood of joy, sorrow, belonging etc that is set upon all of us of the 2007 batch.
The past few weeks have been mostly spent on planning out all the farewell parties, joining dates, shifting etc rather than on the final exams. Anyways, who cares about the exams now. We all know that we shall all pass (Just kidding! Kuch to likhna hi padega baap, warna marks kahan se aayenge).
One such farewell was the Department Farewell organized by the 2nd years for us. It was awesome. Instead of the typical ragging wherein all that was asked was who flirted with whom or who had a fling etc, we had songs, ball dances, dances with accidents etc. Good fun. Also we had some innovative ideas like a video on final year students, video messages by the final years, Ulti Jalzeera TV News and Quiz on BESUS. Hats off to the 2nd years for organizing such a wonderful farewell. We shall all remember it for the rest of our lives.



The plans for the other farewells are on. Rich Farewell shall take place after the final exam. So lots of fun to be had before I catch the 30th June flight to Bangalore which would signal the end of life as a student and the start of a new phase.
It sounds incredible that the four years have come to an end so fast. I can still feel the tension of my 1st day way back on 4th August, 2003 when I came here with my dad. The threat of the famous Shibpur ragging looming large upon me. Life goes fast and so have the 4 years out here. There have been so many wonderful moments in BESUS. 1st year welcome, REBECA (all 4 years), Life at Richardson, Campus placements etc. There is so much to take from all this.
Oh-my-god! Its getting way too emotional. Lets leave that crap out for the fairer sex. Suits them more. As for me, I just wanna enjoy this last month of unemployment. Here's to the next step of our lives!

The past week has been a maddening experience for all of us here. We had our postponed semester exams then. And the authority decided to rub it in. 4 examinations in 4 days. This kind of torture was not even in the first year. And even then, I had started preparing well before. But this was just a one night effort.
Last saturday, when I started to study VLSI Design it appeared as Latin and Hebrew. And the greatest problem was that although I had attended some classes, I had heard and understood nothing. How could I? The classes were at 8 in the morning. As it is it is tough to get up for that class. And even if I could, I used to sleep in the class. I had even yawned in front of the teacher. No wonder I see a sure supplementary in that paper staring in front of me.
Of the other papers, the most satisfying was Broadband communication. I achieved maximum efficiency in that paper. I had Cellular technology well and had 4 questions from it. What luck!
Now that its over, there is a lot to look forward to. I have a workshop of Mindtree (where I have got selected) next week. And since I am the representative from my university, I got lots of work to do. Hope to have a good time then.
Also the annual fest of my university, REBECA comes up within 4 weeks. And since its our final year, we are going to enjoy to the hilt.
I think thats enough for today. I got to rush. I've to take take part in the next match on the LAN which I hope to win this time. Have been having such bad luck that the worst player in Rich defeated me 7-4 in the last match. I think its just not my day today.
Anyways guys, do come back to read my blog. And even if you don't, who cares. Ha ha!

Today I watched a movie which I have been awaiting for the past few months. Its named 300. Based on a novel by Frank Miller, it concerns the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae. There the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians. The battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy.
The trailer was very impressive and the movie actually lived up to the hype created. The visuals were breath-taking and the dialogues apt. The use of light and colours was very impressive. So much so that to the layman it is a greater attraction than the story.
There were quite a number of memorable scenes like the scene when King Leonidas kicks the messenger saying "We are Spartans!" or the fight scenes or when he says "Tonight we die in hell". The creaters have really worked hard and that shows. A movie fully worth the investment made.

Its been about a month since I have updated my blog. And I seriously feel you folks have been missing me (just kidding, I know you haven't. Who cares!). Well a lot has happened since I lasted posted. The year has changed!! (Poor joke, I know) But still, its been quite a time.
We friends have had a lot of parties, mostly for the various placements of the group. And without doubt, they have been a lot of fun.
On 19th, we friends went for a trip to some of the suburbs of Kolkata. The places we visited were Chandannagore, Bandel and Chunchurah. We had a great time together and the photos have come out fine quite accurately describing the joy experienced there.
For the past few days, classes in the department have been low and its only IMS that has kept me busy on the academic front. Most of the time has gone to watching movies, downloading them and perhaps.. sleeping.
I don't think anyone has any more patience to read any further. So I better call it a day here. See ya around.