Degree Discharged!!

My bike's battery being weak and in need of a recharge,I took it to a shop near my place,a small shop, but seemed to have what I needed.
When I Walked in I was greeted by this old guy seated in his chair like the rightful owner of the shop.
I asked if they charged bike batteries and he nodded in affirmation.

I parked my bike inside his shop like he had asked me to and he got up with a painful effort that comes with age and sat beside my bike.Once ensconced there,he,with languid ease,started removing the battery cover.
His dextrous hands at work showed that he would have no trouble whatsoever doing it blindfolded.

When he saw me curiously looking at him work he started explaining as to what was being done, like a Master to his pupil.For that brief 20 min or so he was the master and I was his pupil.
When he opened the battery he showed that the distilled water which was supposed to be full was almost empty.
I gave him a sheepish grin at the ill maintenance of my bike.He started explaining how a battery works, that it had several copper plates in them and filled with distilled water having sulphuric acid and when the bike is turned on the acid moves through the plates and the charge is generated.

Its then I remembered my school chemistry of charges moving from cathode to anode generating the current and the particles are nothing but electrons and protons. True that I know this and he may not know such technical terms, but I ask myself what is the use of this bookish knowledge that I have gained if I can't apply it.
The old man, who probably didn't have a formal education or a college degree knows more dynamic physics, chemistry and electricals than any engineering student passed out.I squirmed and felt embarassed when he asked me my degree and what I was doing now. That moment I felt that all the years of education was worthless.

This shows a gaping hole in the current education system we have where students like me are made to mug the text books and questionbanks to pass the theoretical exams and learn what is exactly needed to pass the practicals and viva and forget about it later on once its over. Whats the whole point if we can implement it only in our labs and not in our day to day lives.

The mugging method of studying is so implanted in the students here that it has almost become a culture, a culture which is getting harder and harder to change.
True there is no point sitting here and blaming the government or the education council about it, but i sincerely hope that one day our education system gets revamped and students go out and earn their degree than just sit and learn their degree.


-K.E.Alexander

Champions of World Cricket but not World Economy!

If some people still think that the saying Cricket is religion in India is overrated tell me where else at any point of time would you find people in every nuke and corner from all walks of life-From the elite business men to the small kirana shops, Politicians of every possible party, people dwelling in mansions, in slums, the conservative aunties and uncles to the gen-x kids, the most notorious criminals to the most holiest of priests, all standing in fervent prayer for one common thing -India’s victory in the cricket World Cup.
I was privileged to be part of an era when India got home the coveted world cup that was eluding us for 28 long years. The wait for the country was worth it as I saw some spectacular celebrations which I haven’t seen for any New Year bash ever. All the news flooded with nothing but about India’s victory .It was nothing short of a festival, a festival where religion, cast, creed, sex had no bar. All the differences were blurred at this point of time, forgotten in the zenith of exhilaration.


Cricket is also a great unifier-The same people I saw shouting their lungs out for a different state a few days ago were shouting for one country now-INDIA! People who you haven’t seen before come and give you a hug, young guns zipping past the roads giving you a high-five, people getting on top of their car and proudly waving the Indian flag with the feeling that we have won a great battle and have become a super power. The level of patriotism and unity the game of cricket can generate in this country is beyond comprehension.
As an Indian cricket sports enthusiast I am very happy that our country has brought home the cup but as a person who wants to be a citizen of developed India I should say I don’t share the same feelings.
I came across this article recently, unfortunately don’t know the name of the person who has written it but whoever it is , he sure has expressed his feelings strongly and is an eye opener for many. Read ahead.



-START
Do you know that, on average, 47 farmers have been committing suicide every single day in the past 16 years in our shining India — the next economic power, progressive with nine per cent growth?

Last month, on March 5, Friday evening, when Bangalore's watering holes were getting filled up, when all the DJs were blaring out deafening music, when we were busy discussing India's chances at the World Cup, sitting in CCDs and Baristas — just 100 km away from Bangalore, Swamy Gowda and Vasanthamma, a young farmer couple, hanged themselves, leaving their three very young children to fend for themselves or, most likely, die of malnutrition.

Why did they do it? Were they fighting? No. Were they drunkards? No.
Did they have incurable diseases? No! Then WHY? Because they were unable to repay a loan of Rs 80,000 (a working IT couple's one month salary? 2-3 months EMI?) for years, which had gradually increased to Rs. 1.2 lakh. Because they knew that now they would never be able to pay it back, because they were hurt, hurt by our government which announced a huge reduction in import duty for silk in this year's budget (from 30 per cent to 5 per cent).They were struggling silk farmers and instead of help from the government, they get this!
Decrease in import duty means the markets will now be flooded with cheap Chinese silk (as everything else!) and our own farmers will be left in the lurch.

On average, 17,000 farmers have been committing suicide every year, for the past 15 years on the trot. Can you believe it? Most of us wouldn't know this fact. Why? Because, our great Indian media, the world's biggest media, are not interested in reporting this! Why?
Because they are more interested in covering fashion week extravaganzas. They are more interested in ‘why team India was not practicing when Pakistanis were sweating it out in stadium on the eve of the match?' They are more interested in Poonam Pandey.

The media are supposed to be the third eye of democracy and also called the fourth estate, but now they have become real estate. Pure business.

So any attention from the media is out of the question. Who is left then? The government? But we all know how it works. The other day, I was passing by Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore and happened to read the slogan written at the entrance, “Government work is god's work”. Now I know why our government has left all its work to god!

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa announced plots for all the players. But land? In Bangalore? You must be kidding, Mr. C.M.. So he retracts and now wants to give money. But where will it come from?
Taxes, yours and mine. Don't the poor farmers need the land or money more than those players who are already earning in crores?

A government-owned bank will give you loan at six per cent interest rate if you are buying a Mercedes but if a poor farmer wants to buy a tractor, do you know how much it is charging him? Fifteen per cent!
Look at the depths of inequality. Water is Rs. 15 a litre and a SIM card is for free! For how long can we bite the hand that is feeding us? The recent onion price fiasco was just a trailer. Picture abhi baaki hai doston!

In 2008, Lakme India fashion show venue was in a Mumbai five-star hotel and was covered by 500 journalists and the theme was ‘Cotton'. A few hours’ drive from there, cotton farmers were committing suicide, 4 or 5, everyday! How many TV journalists covered this? Zero!

Sixty-seventy per cent of India's population is living on less than Rs. 20 a day. A bottle of Diet coke for us? The electricity used in a day-night match could help a farmer irrigate his fields for more than a few weeks! Do you know that load shedding is also class dependent?
Two hours in metros, 4 in towns and 8 in villages. Now, who needs electricity more? A farmer to look after his crop day and night, irrigate, pump water and use machines or a few bored, young professionals with disposable incomes, to log on to Facebook and watch IPL?


There was much panic when there was swine flu. Every single death in the country was reported second by second, minute by minute. Why?
Because it directly affected our salaried, ambitious, tech-savvy, middle-class. So there were masks, special relief centers, enquiry centers set up by government to please this section. On the other hand, 47 people are dying, every single day for the past 15 years.
Anybody cared to do anything?

It has been observed that within months of a farmer taking his life, his wife follows, either by poisoning the kids first or leaving them on their own. In Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, a distressed woman farmer went to the government seed shop, bought a bottle of pesticide, on credit, went home and drank it. She was under debt for most of her life and now — even her death was on credit!

Centuries ago, there was a Roman emperor, called Nero. He was a strong ruler and also very fond of parties, art, poetry, drinking and a life full of pleasures. Once he decided to organize a grand party and invited all poets, writers, dancers, painters, artists, intellectuals and thinkers of society. Everybody was having a great time eating, drinking, laughing, and socializing. The party was at its peak when it started getting dark. Nero wanted the party to go on. So he ordered and got all the arrested criminals, who were in his jails, around the garden and put them on fire! Burnt them alive, so that there was enough light for the guests to keep on enjoying! The guests had a gala time though they knew the cost of their enjoyment. Now, what kind of conscience those guests had?

NERO'S GUESTS

What is happening in our country is not different from Nero's party.
We, the middle-class-young-well-earning-mall-hopping-IPL-watching and celebrating-junta are Nero's guests enjoying at the cost of our farmers. Every budget favors the already rich. More exemptions are being given to them at the cost of grabbing the land of our farmers in the name of SEZs, decrease in import duties in the name of neo-liberal policies, increase in the loan interest rates if the product is not worth lakhs and crores. Yes, that's what we are, Nero's guests!

I'm not against celebrations. I'm not against cricket. I'm not against World Cup. I would be the first person to scream, celebrate and feel proud of any of India's achievements but, only if all fellow countrymen, farmers, villagers also stand with me and cheer; only if they do not take their own lives ruthlessly, only if there is no difference between interest rates for a Mercedes and a tractor. That would be the day I also zoom past on a bike, post-Indian win, with an Indian Flag in hand and screaming Bharat Mata Ki Jai. But no, not today. Not at the cost of my feeders. Until then, this is what I say.
To hell with your malls. To hell with your IPL. To hell with your World Cup. And to hell with your celebrations.

Mysore Part2- A Sour Adventure! Sour Adventures of Mysore – The elusive 2 min

(The following contents may be hard to believe but they are absolutely true)

OK so we were 6 of us on our way to Bangalore, 2 of whom would get down at Bangalore itself and the remaining 4 would meet our friend Arjith who was already in Bangalore and catch the train to Hyderabad from there. We expected the bus to reach at Majestic by 5:30 max but my luck seemed to have gone on a tour of its own, there was traffic jam at not one, not two but three different points. If you want to curse someone saying ‘Go to Bangalore traffic’ is as effective as saying ‘Go to hell’. We were worried if we would reach there on time but more worried was Arjith as we had the train tickets : - p. We thought of taking a cab to the next station but it would be Mission Impossible in Bangalore traffic. We had no time to get down at the depot and then go to the station, the driver understood our predicament and dropped us at a signal near the railway station. I got down and in mid traffic, pulled open the luggage compartment of the Volvo and pulled out bags and suitcases outside and dashed towards the station, the rest of the guys followed suit. There I was on the streets of Bangalore holding my suitcase and running like crazy, I was sure even if Usain Bolt competed with me that time he would have lost by miles :-p lol. I was swerving around people avoiding collision and climbing up the stairs to platform 2 as quickly as I could but to my dismay I saw the tail of the train snaking away from the platform. We were late by 2 min. I called up Arjith and gave him the PNR number of our ticket; he told the train had started 5 min late because the TT himself pulled the chain for some reason. Even then we missed it. It was like my luck was teasing me today. I caught my breath and then caught up with the other guys. We went to see if we could cancel the tickets, line was painfully long, thought we’l do it online.

I and Shubam immediately went to book the bus tickets before they were all booked because of the weekend rush. Luckily they were available and we booked 4 tickets to Hyderabad. Guess my luck wasn’t so bad after all or so I thought at that moment. The bus was to depart at 7:30, the agent told us that we just had to cross the road to get to the boarding point. It was 7pm then and one of the girls wanted to withdraw some money, said she’l be back in 5 min and left. We had something to drink in the meanwhile at the adjacent restaurant. Ordered some nice cool badam milk which was taking time for some reason (Again Mr.Luck was having a good time with me) and so was the girl who went to the ATM, asked Shubam to go check on her. It was finally 7:25 when they arrived, apparently a long queue at the ATM. Anyway we followed the guy who was supposed to take us to the stand which was supposed to be just a road cross away, he took us from the subway and as soon as I stepped in there was a power cut and it was pitch black, people were using their cell phones to navigate. We just followed the crowd and reached the other side of the road where the bus guy was waiting for us, we continued following him, we walked and walked, I hoped it was clear to them that we intended to reach Hyderabad on wheels and not on foot. I asked him to call and inform them that we are on our way and he did so. After dodging several buses on the way, jumping over barricades and road dividers we finally got to the boarding point. I thought the bus dint come yet as it was not there.


Imagine my shock when he said the bus just left 2 min back. Everybody had an incredulous look on their faces, I was in total D-I-S-B-E-L-I-E-F. First train and now bus!!! Unbelievable man!!! (Guess my stars were not in their right places today). I know buses that have waited for half n hour for passengers and these guys very well knew we were coming and they couldn’t wait for just 2 min?? They had sold our seats to someone else in just these 2 minutes. That was a real underhanded thing to do on their part. We asked when the next bus was, he told me it’s at 7:45 and it was standing a little ahead. We didn’t want to miss that now at any cost so we hurried there and got onto it. Shew! Finally something went right. I just wanted to sit and sleep, we all did. But will Mr. Luck give me that? NO!!! Turned out there were only 2 seats available, I was told there was a seat in the driver’s cabin-the seat behind the driver, one glance at it I outright said NO and got down the bus. We asked when the next bus was and he said it was at 9:30 and there were no seats available. I didn’t know how far that was true but had to take his word for it now. I was very livid at the travel agency but didn’t want to waste time arguing with them, had to take a decision and fast. The current tickets could not be cancelled and we had to spend money on tickets again. Even then it was difficult to get tickets now at this time on a weekend. With not many options left and seeing the tired faces of the girls, I and Shubam decided to adjust there, what the heck. To our surprise we were not the only one, there was one more guy sitting on a small chair behind the entry door and we felt sorry for him when he said that he had booked his tickets 2 days ago.


So there we were adjusting in an unfamiliar seat, talking and cracking jokes and all the while profiling the driver, the substitute driver and the conductor. It was ironic because we sometimes jokingly call Shubam truck driver because of the music collection he has:-p. I got a call from mom at that time, didn’t want her to get worried so I just told her we missed our train and were coming by bus. Now my mom was apprehensive cause of my motion sickness so she told me to try sitting in the front seats. Smiling inside I affirmed that I was sitting right in the front (More front that this and I’ll be driving this bloody bus). Jokes apart about an hour into the drive the driver of the bus tells us that 3 more guys will be sitting there. I wasn’t even sure I heard It right, how could it? We both were barely managing there, no question of anyone else coming. We objected strongly to that. We wanted our money back, I asked as to why he lied to us that only we two would be sitting here. They told us to sit if we are interested else we can get down. We were totally furious. Shubam started to fight with them and I had to control him. He was the kind of a guy who couldn’t take his ego and pride being hurt, so are most of us but we didn’t want to create a scene and cause inconvenience to the other passengers. Soon the bus stopped and the people who boarded where some sort of daily wage laborers going home on the weekend. They paid the driver Rs.300 and they thanked the driver for the ‘huge favor ‘. My blood boiled looking at this. We were being treated as cattle herd just for a few extra bucks. Just when I thought it couldn’t get more uncomfortable than this, they started smoking their 555 bidis and cigarettes. It was damn suffocating. I was restless, didn’t know what to do, so I pulled aside the curtains behind to have a peek at the people sitting behind. I was very jealous when I saw them sitting comfortably, watching golmaal-3 and having a good laugh. OUCH to my Ego! Paid the same amount as they did and this is what I get. At this time many thoughts were running in my mind. When you’re in a group and something goes wrong it is very easy to play the blame-game, it’s but human tendency but neither did I want to blame the girl for the 5 min delay start from Mysore for missing the train nor the girl who went to atm for missing the bus. It was not their fault nor intentionally done.


The other people got off the bus when we stopped for dinner. At dinner I gave away all our valuables except cellphones-watch, wallet etc to the girls just to be on the safe side. After dinner we were alone again, so got to lay down a bit. Shubam dozed off for like 2 min when his leg accidentally touched the gear. The driver shook him and woke him up and started abusing him first verbally and then when he started to physicaly I had to intervene and stop the driver, it took a great deal of constraint for me too but I spoke as politely as I could and said it was an accident and he was sleeping and what do you expect in such a crammed place. What I have learnt over the years is that always stat off politely no matter how rude the other person is to you because anger clouds your judgment and rational thinking. But having said that don’t allow people to step on your toes and walk all over you, leave the Gandhigiri in the reel life. I don’t usually lose my cool that easily but If he had even touched Shubam I don’t know…I might have broken his teeth and sent to his manager explaining clearly step by step as to what lead to this.



Soon the next few guys were picked up from some random place and made to sit with us , I couldn’t even stretch my legs as there was a guy sitting right in front of me . The guys beside shubam started falling over shubams shoulders and drooling; disgusted he left and went back. He preferred to stand throughout the rest of the journey. Now I was alone with complete strangers. I had no scope of sleeping as the guy had completely fallen over shubam’s empty place. The other driver was sleeping on the floor of the bus at the back and the short- conductor had no trouble getting under the chair and sleeping on the steel steps there. They were all blissfully asleep. After spending an agonizingly long time thinking about various things and about how I ended up in this situation, I assumed it would be around 4 or 5 in the morning. With great difficulty I pulled out my cell from my pockets and saw the time. It was soo very painfully disappointing …..IT WAS JUS 1:45 AM!!!! I just prayed that this ordeal would be over asap. I tried staying awake, watching the road, thinking about my life, about how little I accomplished in life didn’t help much. I tried resting on the side bars but they were too thin and the screws jutting out from there didn’t help. I was in a semi-trance like state blaming life for how unfair it can be at times, how so little can make so much of a difference- 2 more min or 2 more seats or 2 fewer people or just 2 inches bigger rods. Too much was going through my mind at that point of time. I don’t know how I spent the remainder of the time, but I wasn’t asleep either. Somehow we managed to survive the night and it was about 6:30 when we reached Hyderabad. It was a great relief when I got out of the bus, it was like being underwater and coming out for fresh air. Stretched my legs, took my luggage, noted the dreaded bus’s number, bid adieu to my friends and caught a rick to my place. He asked for 150 bucks, was in no mood to bargain, just wanted to get the hell out of there and get home, had to get ready for office in time.

This is one ride I was not about to forget so soon. But then the experience was like a double edged sword. It just reminded me of how gruesome the world really is outside the Air-conditioned rooms and the protected walls and how strong we need to be to face it. I believe everyone needs to have these reality-jolting experiences once in a while, if u haven’t had yours THEN GET OUT THERE AND GO LIVE IT!!

PS:- Never ever ever use JABBAR TRAVELS! They suck BIG TIME!!!

Mysore- Soaring Adventures.

`There is nothing like a reunion with your friends after a yearlong toil. I was all excited to be heading back to where it all started- Mysore, so were most of my other batch friends from different DCs.


We were 5 of us from Hyderabad, 2 girls and 3 guys. We boarded the train from Kachiguda station and we reached Bangalore at around 10 in the morning. We were tempted by the cab drivers to be dropped right at the campus gate for around 400 per head. Instead we took a train to Mysore and a cab to the resort, the whole thing came up to 100 bucks per head, saving 300 bucks and it took about the same time. Wuhu!! We booked this resort called Palmyrah Resorts which is about 2 Kms from campus. It’s a lovely, decent and affordable little place. We freshened up and went to the campus; we were the last ones to get there. Nothing has changed-the same stringent security checks, bag scanning’s etc but this time we were reentering with black tags :-D. There is something about walking with a black tag in Mysore DC, among all the colored tags. For one you don’t get lost in the crowd and you have a hop in your stride, strutting with confidence and feel like a Big Brother…‘Kyon ki Production Waale bhi kabhi Trainee the’ (Production folks were also Trainees once).


I was really elated to meet everyone after a long time. Some had a makeover and others remained unchanged. The training day memories came flooding in, the struggle, the despondence of getting a re-exam, staying late nights in the class rooms with your friends helping you out even though they didn’t have a re-exam, the joy of clearing it on the second attempt, celebrating it with friends and treating them in Gazebo, having pizzas in my room, prank calls to friends late in the night… the list is endless. As soon as we reached we went for lunch to our favorite food court-Oasis on Lady Birds!!! (I never thought I would say this..but I missed these little low-bar pinkies). I like Oasis because I like the food there and also because that’s where I met most of my friends in Infy for the first time. I tried the new item on the menu, American Chopsuey from fusion bistro. Having lunch together was nostalgic. We usually had a hurried lunch, talking about the modules, CGPA, java, single swipes, hands-on, compris etc. But today it was as relaxed as ever, all relationships broken and divorced with time we were talking about movies instead of modules, mocha instead of Java, single and the girl they ‘swiped’ off their feet :p, hands-on… the latest gadgets, girls about capris instead of Compris….well you get the point.


After lunch we went for taking the movie tickets. Some things never change, the same old looong queues for the movie. We stood in the non-membership queue and bought tickets for 50 bucks for the movie ‘Dil to Bacha he’. We had 1 and a half hour to spare before the movie, so we went to the bowling alley, luckily got the slot reasonably quickly (The Mysore DC Facility spirits were with us I guess). It was so good to be back into this A/c room with loud music, wooden floors and stinky shoe-racks. I didn’t win, I was a bit rusty and was concentrating on having fun (That’s my excuse & I’m sticking to it, lol :P). By the time we were done with bowling there was only 15 min left for the 8:30 movie and we were hungry, dinner would be only after 11 at least. The next 15 min is still a bit fuzzy for me coz everything happened so fast. We Rushed to Loyal world made someone stand in the billing line and shopped like crazy as if there was a happiness sale with flat 50% discount on all the eatables. We got anything we could get our hands on-cakes, chips, biscuits n cookies, chocolates, pet bottles of mazaa , pulpy, frooti , you mention it. We dumped everything on the guy who was standing in the billing line, people were staring at us in awe :p (Technically we dint break any C-Life, hehe). We had 8 minutes left to finish all the goodies as eatables were not allowed inside the multiplex. We frantically opened everything and ate like there was a hogging competition and the winner was promised a date with Shiela and Munni. People were still staring at us in awe but we didn’t care. We finally finished everything with 2 min left, rushed to the multiplex still munching the food and settled in our seats. The multiplex was as beautiful as ever, the polished wooden dais smiling at us, we missed her alright. I spotted the seat where I was sleeping..ehh.. I mean listening on the induction day. The movie soon started and around 90 minutes later we came out with a bad head ache. Sad movie man!!

It was dinner time. All Food courts were closed but luckily there were midnight meals at maître. We had our dinner there, it was the first mid-night meal for some. We were walking towards the gate2 on the well maintained roads thinking we have experienced everything there was to experience- Food courts-check, Pool-check, bowling alley-check, multiplex- check , Midnight meals-Check, when suddenly we heard a familiar sound after ages, the security guard was whistling at us for walking on the road. Ok so getting whistled at by the security again-check! Lol and finally getting out of Mysore DC after the curfew time- BIG TIME CHECK!
We started to head for our resort. We walked till the auto stand not expecting to find any at this time and our expectations were not disappointed. There was not a single auto driver or his uncle waiting there. One of the girls shrieked asking “Where are all the auto-waalas? ” It didn’t help when I suggested that they might have finished their 9 hours 15 min and wanted to go home. The security guards outside said that there are usually a couple of autos even at this time, but not today. It was not our day I guess. Well we were kinda mentally prepared for this, so we started walking towards our resort in the cold deserted night. Funny thing was that not one person knew the entire route. One person knew 50% of the way, somebody else knew the other 25% and yet another person knew the remainder. Sometimes the least of the planning are the times when you have the most fun. We were singing and dancing on the empty roads, taking snaps. There were silent moments as well when ever we passed a dark stretch of road and then suddenly one would sing “Andheri raato mein ..sunsaan raahon par”. We walked for about 30 min, for a moment I myself thought we were lost :-p . But finally when the resort came into view we were all relieved, it was like finding oasis in a desert. We rushed into our rooms and changed. I thought everyone would be tired but we sat down in a circle in the common living room, turned off the lights and placed a lit candle in the centre, playing the good old ‘Truth or Dare’ one of which made everyone do some pushups when one of our friend Shubam told he could do more pushups than everyone put together, not to mention he lost coz not to brag but I myself did almost 50 :p Then when we were bored with T&D we switched on to some dancing on music from our cell phones, songs varying from kishore kumar and rd burman to the Munnis n Shielas. All in all it was a fun filled night and it was about 2 or 3 in the morning when we retired to bed.


Next morning we woke up at around 9/10 and quickly freshened up and checked out. Took some last moment pictures at the resort and headed for the campus with our luggage. In the campus we visited our old class rooms in the GEC1 and the august GEC2. It was really a nostalgic moment, can’t put it in words but one can only experience it. Then we went to Gazebo and had some snacks as breakfast, nothing was changed, the same old samosa-bun, garden roll, veg roll, chicken roll, Hawaiian chicken etc. We wanted to try the 2 new mini food courts but one was closed as it was Sunday and the other was yet to be functional. Then did a little more roaming about and took pictures at places we so took for granted during our training days. Had our lunch at Fiesta, told my friend to call the other girls and meet at gate2. The train from Bangalore was at 6:20 PM from Majestic and it usually takes around 3 hours to reach Bangalore from Mysore and given the Bangalore traffic we would need at least an hour’s buffer time. We reached at the gate and got onto the local bus but one of the girls was yet to come as she was waiting for her friend who was going to Bangalore to come along with us, the bus driver was getting impatient as there was another bus coming so got out with our luggage and got on to the other bus. Finally they showed up and we started from campus, reached suburban bus stand and got onto the Bangalore bus and at around 2:15 we were off. One of our friends had gone to Bangalore earlier in the morning as he wanted to meet someone there, so he would be waiting for us there.


So this was about the Soaring adventures of Mysore. If you think I am going to say we went back home all happy, nice n comfortable with pleasant memories you are so mistaken. Some of you might find it hard to believe what happened next because the cascade of events that unfolded was a truly unbelievable.
….To be Continued

Life-Taken to a virtual reality!

It was a pleasant surprise when I bumped into one of my college friends the other day on my way back home from office. We were undoubtedly happy to see each other after such a long time ( yea when you are in IT days do seem longer let alone years ) .

We exchanged the usual pleasantries, about what we were doing and how life was, weekend plans etc etc. He told me he had gone on an outing somewhere last weekend and I said "I know man, I've seen your pictures on FaceBook." When I said that he gave me this disappointing look and I started thinking if I had said something wrong. With a hurtful tone in his voice he said "Yaar Tu ne comment nahi kiya???" (You didn't comment on them). I didn't say anything, I was lost for words. I mean how do you react to that? I obviously can't say "Na man! I din't know it was an unsaid rule or I dint know it was such a big thing for you or" I wasn't about to take another risk of a sentimental athyachaar.

This is when you realize the cyber age has taken over even your socializing etiquettes. A decade or so ago if your paying a visit to your village or hometown and you don't drop by the houses of your friends or relatives who are living in that area it would have been considered impolite. Now its this, visiting your friends profiles and not commenting on their pictures is considered impolite now.

Let’s see what’s impolite 10 years from now? Mapping into your friends thought frequency and not saying a 'Hi'? Who knows, one can only IMAGINE! ;-)