Rest in Peace DP

I know that I am quite late in writing this but I couldn’t help it. It took me long to come to terms with the loss of one of my close friends. His name is Daidipya Kamble…..lovingly called as DP. He was a smart, suave and sober person who always looked dapper in whatever he wore. Maybe that was because he had an athletic physique which sportspersons generally have (he was the goalkeeper of the VJTI soccer team). I remember I used to make fun of his goalkeeping skills although at the back of my mind I knew that he was really good (that he was in the college team speaks for him). He used to take all that mockery in good humour. Even he used to get back at me for my antics and the way I speak (it’s the speed with which I speak). A couple of our friends and we had an absolutely great time during the ADSP (Advanced Digital Signal Processing) practical sessions in the 7th sem. That was the most memorable period in VJTI for me till today. Sometimes I used to show off my football skills (or the lack of it) to him and we used to have a hearty laugh about it.

Suddenly, these things were no more; never to happen again. It’s like some wicked witch has managed to rob me of a dear friend; and I was all too helpless.

It happened on the fateful evening of 14th May. Some of my friends and DP were in the college enjoying themselves as the final sem exams just got over. DP had got his bike all the way from Navi Mumbai (I wonder why). It was around 6:30 in the evening when DP decided to head for home and his friends saw him off. Sometime later, on the way, his bike skid through at Suman Nagar and he injured himself probably striking a tanker infront of him. Since no one was with him, we don’t know what exactly happened but he suffered severe groin injuries. He was reportedly taken to Juoy Hospital, Chembur (private hospital) but since this was a case of accident and might involve the police, the hospital’s authorities referred him to Rajawadi Hospital (govt. hospital). It was then that my classmates came to know about this from DP’s relatives and I came to know from my friends. To make things worse for the Kamble family, DP’s parents were out on a holiday to Nainital.

But there are a few questions still lingering in my mind: when did DP exactly succumb to his injuries? Was he brought dead to the Juoy Hosp. or did he die on the way to Rajawadi Hosp.?? was there any chance of saving him at any of the hospitals?? How did his bike skid in the first place?? Was there any third party involved in this fateful incident?? Because we surely don’t want to let the culprit roam around freely when our friend had to pay with his life. I cannot even imagine the excruciating pain that he had to go through before he met his end.

I am confused….really confused…..what should I do?? Should I mourn the death of my friend and feel sad that he had to depart for heavenly abode at such an early age when beautiful things were all lined up for his taking but he couldn’t even make the start?? Or should I sympathize with and console his parents and sister who are mentally struggling to accept the fact and are getting emotionally drained more and more with every passing moment. DP’s parents may be blaming themselves for not taking DP along with them as if that would have saved him (such feelings are natural when you desperately try to find out what could have been done to avert the situation). I fail to imagine the emotional turbulence that his kid sister must be going through as she will have no one to turn to to solve her maths problems or to talk her through tough times which generally occur during teenage times (children do not always confide in their parents). On whom will his parents depend when they grow old as that’s when people require the support of their children. DP’s father may be better off at handling this situation as he will stay distracted ( I am being optimistic) with office work but what about his mother?? It will be nauseating for her to spend time within the four walls of the house……..It will be claustrophobic. The person who is gone is gone……..it’s the ones he has left behind who have to suffer from the trauma.

I wish, hope and pray that DP finds peace wherever he goes but it will be difficult for him to find peace as he had a lot of duties to fulfill which the Almighty didn’t allow him to.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Well, this is how the old adage goes. However, does it hold true always??? Maybe the situation we have at hand will help us to decide this to a certain extent.

It’s a regular piece of news that female infanticide, female foeticide and other such heinous crimes are being committed in states such as Punjab and Haryana. It is commendable how efficiently the people over there keep at this activity as we can make out from the fact that we get to read about these incidents every week. (I have always felt that people over there do not have a sound knowledge of biology ; afterall they say ‘Sher da puttar’,’mard ka bachha’…….arre bhai it is the female of the species who give birth; praise the sherni not the sher.)

The Govt. of India has declared the embryo-test kit illegal and anyone using it and/or helping someone to use it is culpable and will be punished by the court of law. This means that the doctor, expectant parents and others who are a part of this fray will all be put behind bars or asked to cough up a hefty fine if caught. However, this has not deterred either the expectant parents or the doctor from conducting the sex-determination test. Infact, the doctors are giving the old saying ‘make hay while the sun shines’, a whole new meaning. They have started to charge exorbitant amounts to carry out the tests and the abortion process thereafter, if required.

‘If required’; now this is where the issue lies. This requirement has given rise to a new kind of crime. I am not trying to explain what this requirement means. The meaning is as old as the hills. ‘We do not want a girl child.’ Period. Everyone around wants a boy (if not all their children then atleast one…..”please God, help me get a boy….I am taking my share of efforts but you don’t seem to understand my plight”….This seems to be the prayer on people’s lips.).
(Forget about the value of a girl child…….atleast consider this: how are we going to start a family without a woman??? It is a genuine issue in Punjab and Haryana where the ratio of the number of females to that of males is not favourable……….and we say that homosexuality is a taboo in India.)

Before I get to the problem, let me just briefly describe the entire procedure that takes place. First nature plays its part. Then we have an expecting mother and the couple wants to know whether it’s going to be a boy (dowry earner, family name bearer) or a girl (dowry loser…..family name loser….what a waste!!!!!). If the test shows that the foetus is a male one then it’s perfectly fine otherwise the dreaded step of abortion has to be taken. Now, since there is a good demand of this thing doctors have raised their surgical charges.

But the doctors’ greed didn’t end there. They have started to falsely state that the foetus is a female one even though it is a male one. Now, this has been going on for some time now. (Even the poor woodcutter didn’t claim the silver and the golden axes when offered but took the humble wooden axe which belonged to him…….and look at our doctors… What a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) This entire scenario is the big, fat, dark, dense cloud I was talking about.

However, with proper and abundant media coverage this situation can be brought under control. If required the media should manipulate the data in favour of the law (just increase the number of crimes committed). People should be made aware of this malpractice (false detection) carried out by the doctors. I am quite sure that people will think twice before going to a doctor if at all they go after such incidents. The Govt. need not go about preaching the value of a girl child. This process will stop anyway ; to save the boy child.

So, the atrocious process if continued will surely lead to its discontinuity. Well, we can consider this to be the silver lining (although there will have to be quite a few foetus sacrifices in the process).

But, the feminists may not still be pleased for the simple reason that this process will not stop because there will be an increased awareness of the beauty of having a girl child but about the increased fear of losing the ‘precious’ boy child.

Saved my blushes but.......lost out on the whole

Yours truly is in final year BTech (Electronics) in a prestigious institute.I am still struggling to figure out just how I managed to get this far. Maybe I have the answer here..........

It was the morning of the day when the embedded systems' viva was scheduled to take place. I reached college to find out that my classmates were busy skimming and scanning through what is supposedly a book on ES. I, however had forgotten even the name of the book which I had got for this beloved subject. The class was abuzz with words such as memory, controller, operating systems, programmers and the like.
I was getting more anxious by the minute. Still I maintained a calm and composed look on my face but deep within I knew that apart from the fact that it was ES viva that day, I knew nothing else regarding the subject.
I was thinking and trying to come up with a smart, witty answer to wriggle out of the awkward situation which I was bound to fall in when I would be asked my share of questions. But...........it is so damn obvious that I failed to come up with one...................just look at the adjectives I have associated with the word 'answer'..................need I say anything more!!!!!!!
After having thought for a long time for an excuse and having failed to find one, I gave up and just prepared myself to meet my fate.
There were a dozen people before me. As they went in and came out, the usual practice of stopping each one of them and asking for their questions and answers begun. I realized that they were asked some simple questions but some very difficult questions as well (by difficult I mean it was difficult at that time; when people (barring a few) prepare for a viva by just glancing through the book, any in-depth question is bound to appear very difficult).
I panicked........I felt that I should glance through atleast one topic. I was doing so when a well-wisher of mine walked up to me and said,"Do you feel that you would be able to understand anything that you are reading now?". (Good question!!!!! why now........I never understood anything that I have read till today.......so today would be no different). I, almost instantly experienced mental peace and was able to relax(all this was happening while my well-wisher was busy answering people's doubts right infront of me) .
Then came my turn.............I entered and a female MTech student asked me to take a seat. I was about to say that there would be no need for that as I would not take much of her valuable time anyway.It so began

She: Have you studied ES????
(She must be awesome at face reading!!!!!!!! And I felt that God had answered my prayers without me even offering one........what a question!!!!!!!  now I could take it from there to anywhere I wished to.......)

I:No, ma'am........nothing at all........(Thank God!!! This is what I had been planning to say since    morning. I only lacked an opportunity...........and now I have been given that chance....)

She: Not even a single topic???

I: No, ma'am.........nothing......

She: When is the EST(End Semester Exam) ??

I: It starts on the 29th of April.......

She: So, it's just two weeks................when will you start...........what have you been doing all this         while?

I: Ma'am, I will start a little later as I am busy with the project work (I have heard that 'lies for a     good purpose are forgiven'). I didn't get much time to study because of this.......

She: Ok, so tell me something about your project................
(I got my chance and so I started to blabber about our project)

She: So, your project is mostly Matlab based........

I: Totally..........

She: Alright, you can go now........

Wow!!!!!!!! Absolutely wow!!!!!!!!!!! I might not have got a great grade for the viva but atleast I didn't feel embarrassed when I was in there. I was comfortable all the time. I didn't know anything about ES. So, I would have have never got a grand score anyway. But, atleast I escaped the pain I could have been put through. 
Now lets go back to the reason which prompted me to discuss this. How I managed to get this far. It is because of incidents such as this. The whole viva show is a farce..........the examination system is being ridiculed all the time by our institute. There are people who still manage to gain knowledge without complaining inspite of this mess. But there are students like me, who use the very first opportunity to shun away from studies.
The institute is certainly sparing the rod and spoiling the child.

Goa trip

The night before:

Our train was to leave at 5:10 am on Friday. Since I knew that it would be difficult for me to get hold of a taxi which would take me to Dadar station in such wee hours in the morning I decided to spend Thursday night at the hostel. Atleast I would have some company while going to Dadar and whatever problems we might face we would tackle them in a group. I was told by my friends at the hostel that there was a group of hostelites who had gone to Goa and was yet to return and possibly would return by Friday morning. So, there would be plenty of vacant beds for me to occupy.
Two days before I was about to set out I came to know that another classmate of mine had also planned to stay the night at the hostel. Anyway, that didn’t bother me as I knew there were plenty of beds on offer.
So, I went to the hostel on Thursday night after I have finished my dinner. I reached around 10:30 pm.There we chatted for some time and then we were about to hit the sack when my friend Kushal’s roommate entered at around 11:30 pm (his name is Harshad Phadnis aka Phaga).He had a smile on his face as if to say “Gotcha buddy, I know what you were trying to do”. Phaga was not supposed to come back before Saturday or even Sunday. So,there goes one bed………but no problem……..there were still many more. But Phaga not only brought himself but also news that Halbe was planning to come as well. I found out that Halbe called up Phaga at around 8 pm and then it was 11:30 pm. So, I thought that Halbe might not turn up. But as luck would have it, he did and with Sirsikar in tow.
Still no problem…………there were still quite a few beds left. But now I have to act fast so that I get the bed of my choice. I quickly moved to another room and to my ‘pleasant’ surprise I found that Deep, Ronak, Veera gossiping with Manish in that room. But…..I told myself not to panic……no…there is nothing to get perturbed about. The group of hostelites which had gone to Goa was yet to return. As I left Manish’s room, I found myself facing a group of hostelites talking to Bakshi who was sharing his experiences in Goa. As you would have guessed by now, he was a part of that group of hostelites which was yet to return.
Some really scary thoughts crossed my mind……….would I have to sleep on the floor or in the corridor (the hostel rooms are so clean that I would rather stay awake than to sleep on the floor or anywhere else) or on Dadar station’s platform. I was running from this room to that one and to the next one. By God’s grace I came to a room which Mudassar shared and since he was away to Alibaugh I got his bed. I thanked my stars. Had it not been for them, my so called friends had almost ensured that I did not go to sleep and ‘burn the midnight oil for no reason’.
I wonder what was so elusive about the hostel that night. Everyone lived at well connected places but I. There were no particularly great facilities or amenities available at the hostel that could possibly entice them (Even I thought about it 142 times before I leapt for it). Nobody watched any movie or listened to any music or gossiped to spend the night. Everyone slept; so why not at their home???

to be contd..........

Too bad......

Company recruiter (CR), Boss(B)

CR(to boss) :Sir, we have received around 250 resumes for this post.
        How should we go about handling such a large number of people??

B: Do one thing........Call only the first 100 people who have 
  sent their resumes the earliest.

CR: But sir, then we may lose some good candidates and 
  it would also be very unlucky for them.

B: Well, I am sorry to say but 
  there is no place for unlucky people in this company. 

 

Interviews

This is a process which people have to go through when they apply to a company for a job or to an institute to pursue a course. Generally people loathe it. Some get tensed over it. Tension rises and turns into panic for a few people. But what for?

If we just split the word into two, we get ‘inter’(involving two or more entities) and ‘views’ (opinion, a way of looking). So, it would mean that we (interviewees) need to present our views on topics which would be asked by the interviewers. I sounds pretty simple. There should not be a problem with that. Is there anything to be scared of when we are asked about ourselves……or when we are asked about our goal(s) in life????

Well, there is a reason for which people get perturbed. It is because of the ‘other’ meaning of ‘inter’------to bury. That is what we have to do during interviews…..bury our genuine thoughts and come up with well-prepared , articulate, diplomatic, ‘beating around the bush’ answers. And that’s the reason people spend hours (some even days and a few others even months; they are actually ‘men of few words’) to prepare what is to be said about themselves (forget the issues around the world).

When we would be asked about our hobbies, we should mention only those activities, the details (history, geography, why financial investments, why not financial investments in that sector etc) of which we know thoroughly. The general perception about ‘hobby’ is that it an activity of interest which one carries out during one’s pastime. If that person is grilled like this about his hobby and he fails to give the answers and loses out, then would that activity ever remain as his hobby? The poor chap might spend sleepless nights after the incident and when he gets some sleep, he might get nightmares.(hobby to horrible).

If we are asked for our views on some controversial issue, then we should preferably give a ‘sitting on the fence’ view. We can give our genuine opinion as well but very few of us can defend that stand successfully. And please……don’t get emotional about the topic and blurt out some extremist view….never…..ever.(Even if they say that you were tied up and your sister got raped and murdered infront of you and now you, with a pistol in your hand, come face to face with the murderer, it would be better if you say that you wouldn’t kill the criminal;; you should say that you will take the course of law, the ‘mighty’ law).

Then comes the question regarding the strengths and weaknesses………….great people used to say that one who feels oneself to be the most intelligent is the biggest fool of all………so, is identifying oneself to be smart, a strength or a weakness?? When we state a few weaknesses, are we actually displaying the rare strength of self-evaluation and self-identification??? Here again, we would be better off not mentioning any ‘strong’ weaknesses that we possess as they might outweigh the ‘weak’ strengths that we were once proud of.

Then the trick question---- why this job? If you say ‘job profile’ then they will catch you on the wrong foot saying that you would go to some other company if they offer you a better profile; in short you are not in the company to stay, so there is no point in recruiting you.(As if they themselves have sworn never to leave the company come what may). If you say ‘salary’… then only a miracle can see you through………..no,no…not through to securing the job but through the exit door, with any kind of dignity. They will make you feel that you are a needy, greedy person who drools at the sight of money. So, what will get you in or atleast leave you with a chance to get in??? Singing praises of your prospective employer------but don’t go overboard with it……..sing in tune or you might sound flattery and you would see your chances fluttering away.

Well, the interviewers have many tricks and questions up their sleeve. We should not let down our guard even for a moment. Boy!!!! This process is tough……….I guess this grueling session comes next only to the interrogation procedure carried out by the police(We all know how friendly the police are with the criminals, don’t we).

to be contd......

Sir Don

Interviewer(to Sir Donald Bradman) : Sir,what do you think about                                                       England's present bowling attack?
Bradman     : I think I would be able to score atleast 60 odd runs...........
Interviewer: But Sir, you are forgetting that your test average is 99.94.                        Dont you think that 60 is too less??? 
                       I mean, arent you rating them very high??
Bradman     : Well, you are forgetting that I am 80 now.

J for.......

      Loser??? Useless??? Defeatist???? What nonsense…….. my name is Joyshurjo which means ‘victorious sun’ or ‘the sun which has achieved victory’………sounds strong, doesn’t it?? When the name is so strong, can the person bearing the name be anything different??……..I am still trying to figure out why my grandmother has named me so…what qualities has she seen in me to put such a heavy tag around my neck? (Neither I have any victory to my name till date and nor I have that glow to spread light in everyone’s lives) I am never sure of anything (every person I have come across has told me that I look confused)….in fact I am not even sure what I should say when I am asked my name (seriously!!!)..should I say ‘Jaysurya’(for others to be able to pronounce it easily) or should I say ‘Joyshurjo’(which is what my name is in Bengali)…….so, a person who gets addled when asked for his name,can he be sure of anything else??? Isn't it unfair that others expect confidence in me??
      But I can say one thing with surety that I am the black sheep in my family……….I pity my parents who might have thought that the family’s qualities would get brushed off on me but I have successfully managed to brush them off me….(my skin pigment is ‘naya Apex Ultima: bahari deewaron pe dhul ko tikne na de’).
     I stand last (almost) in my 70 odd strong class….well that’s consistency since I stood 70th in the mah-engg cet as well……..the 9 pointers feel that I am……err…(well actually they are unaware of my presence)……well, my pals sometimes refer to me as ‘baal ki dukaan’ (they say that I am hairy, very hairy)…..but my body hair actually adds only 200 gm to my weight (oops……..I forgot to add one more zero to the right).....my classmates are apprehensive about my temper (my message to them ‘please don’t tamper with my temper’…afterall tampering is never appreciated be it ‘ball tampering’ or ’evidence tampering’ or ’file tampering’)……my parents dote on me (I don’t exactly know what doting means but my pals say that they have doting parents; so I think that even I have doting parents)…….if I ask for a fancy meal then I am told to get used to plain meals as that’s what I would be able to get in future……my pillow was cut in halves to make a comfortable sleeping mattress for the pup my brother had brought home a couple of months back (is this doting???).
      My technical knowledge is as good as Rabindranath Tagore’s command over Hindi…….. …infact I don’t even have the nuisance value that a certain Mamta Bannerjee enjoys (don’t rub your eyes when you read that she has devoted followers…..although whether they understand or not what she says is a big question……whether even she understands what she says is an even bigger question…….but they all love her….and as we all know love is blind; in this case deaf)…well talking about deafness……it can be both good and bad……..in MB’s case it is good for her…….however when I speak my words fall on deaf ears which is not so good.
      Philosophers say that when you feel angst you should look at people who are in a worse state than the one you are in……..eg: when you feel that you don’t have much money to enjoy life then you should look at the roadside beggar(that’s common perception…….nowadays there are a few millionaire,multi-millionaire beggars as well….so choose your beggar properly)……so when my peers feel down and out they look at me and realize that they are far better off(in fact on top of the world)……so,I guess a few suicides get averted.
     Well,well,well………what do I have here!!!!!!………do I have a situation where I am worthy enough????......Guys……I think I do…….so,I am not worthless after all……now I feel good.

K for 'Hondya'

    
His name is Ketan.He is however known by his nickname 'Hondya' (courtesy to the 'thick' layer of hair all over his body like Anil Kapoor).
He is a sincere and industrious student who takes every piece of work seriously.And as you would have guessed by now he does accomplish every task assigned to him more than successfully.He stood 20th in the merit list in the SSC exams.He had a very good score in the HSC exams as well.He is successful at whatever he does. He is one of the few 9 pointers in our class. He is awarded the JRD Tata scholarship every year.But he is not proud of these feats (atleast he doesnt show his pride).
     If you need some info regarding anything then he is the right person. Its not that he knows everything but whatever info he has, you can rest assured that it is authentic (unless he says otherwise). If you need any advice or idea about something then you can approach him.He will tell you what he thinks to be right and will give the reasons for him to think so He is quiet by nature but occasionally cracks good jokes.And above all……..he doesn’t lose his temper.He is a perfect example of the saying ‘anger is the acid which does more harm to the vessel in which it is kept than in which it is poured’.
    
    Ok.Now its time for some fun.
    Now that you know he is hairy,do you know that he has got a scary amount of hair on his back too??? It actually peeps out from underneath his T shirt sometimes.He has got a slight paunch (when I say slight it actually means more than slight).He keeps a moustache which actually makes him look twice as old as he is.(ie in the 40s).Infact once during his schooldays he was asked by a conductor about the number of times he has failed in school (mind it that he stood first from 5th to 9th).He tries to lose weight but the poor fellow only manages to gain some.He makes a hand gesture which is unique to him when he speaks enthusistically.He claims that he doesn’t view adult content although he has set a related site as his homepage.
But how does he interact with me??? An excerpt from our conversation
I: ketan,do you have this book? (book on some technical sub)
K: yes i do
I: so do you mind giving it to me for a few days?
K: why do you need it? What will you do with it?
I: (flummoxed)(what can a person do with a book apart from reading it) I need to study from it.
K: (burst out laughing)
I: what happened? What made you laugh so much?
K: nothing…….i could never imagine you reading a book………so when you said that you would read it i thought it was the biggest joke I have ever heard.

This is one of the many times he has humiliated me. He believes that I am an ill-informed, almost illiterate, useless, insignificant loser. (For any more of such adjectives you can ask him). And as I have said he is a person who puts his thoughts into action and so he ill-treats me accordingly. He treats people of his calibre very well, very politely.
    But I still like him.I still admire him.And there is no law which states that admiration has to be mutual. I am waiting for that day to arrive when he realizes that every person should be treated with equal respect be he a winner or a loser.

Life at VJTI

Well...................hhmmmm..................errrr.................................there is no such thing at VJTI.(without considering my friend circle)

Midsem Muddle

     It was a pleasant sunday evening and I was going about doing my pretty usual stuff (ie. doing nothing) when I suddenly realized that I had a midsem exam to appear for on Monday.And in order to appear for any exam you are supposed to know the time table of that exam.So,I rang up Ketan.He told me that the first paper might have got rescheduled to 11:30. (Rescheduled??? What was its scheduled time in the first place????) I got to know that it was supposed to start at 9:30.
     I didnt know how to react to this piece of news.If the paper got delayed then I would get some time to study for that subject which I was yet to start.However,that would reduce the time I would get for the second paper.Anyway,as it stood I would be able to write atleast one paper well instead of messing up both of them.
     Then Alok called me up to tell me the same piece of news with an added twist.He told me that Rohit had posted on orkut that the exam would start on Tuesday.I called up Sanjay to check the validity of the news and he told me the same thing but also mentioned that it was not from any reliable source.In other words,I should be in college by 9:30 or come late at my own risk.
     I started off next morning for college and reached by 9:10. (All the while I was hoping that the exam would start at 11:30) But it was hope against all hope.When I reached college I saw that students were running helter-skelter(which I realized later that they were trying to find their arranged classroom).Then came the jolt........exam would start at 9:30. Responsible people like the Comptroller of Exam told students that it would start at 11:30 but......................
    I was done with only 6 pages of chapter 2 and had to even look at the heading of chapter 3. (and yes,one more thing;chapter 1 wasnt there......this is for people who would start thinking that I was through with one chapter and started off with the next).
    Then I came to know that quite a few students didnt make it to the exam(actually they didnt want to). So,the college authorities had to arrange for a re-exam on friday.There were some adamant students who insisted that they take the exam that day itself.And so they did.
    The midsem exam has become a farce.This is not only my view but also has been concurred by some authority in the Comps department.(A few comps guys went to that person to tell him that they had missed the paper and would like it to be rearranged.The person initially refused.But on pestering he blurted out " arre midsem hi to hai,nahi diya to bhi chalta hai")
     I am not at all blaming him for making this kind of a statement.Infact he is the 'one' for me as he has been brutally honest.If only we had such people in the exam dept then we would have been saved from such harassment. (actually i am just exaggerating a bit; harassment??? what kind of harassment???  midsem or not,my time table doesnt change.I dont care a damn about it. Infact 'midsem' for me means 'less duration of college',so more fun)