Mumbai bleeds, yet again!

For some it was yet another blast (or was it something else!) as a friend casually says it has been long since there were blasts! (long??? It ain't a Shah Rukh Khan movie).

For some it is a butt of their joke, as a a freshie looks at AN Roy on television and says 'Arey isko nahi maara kya??' followed by a smirk of triumph.

While for others it was one those precious moments wherein they can happily flaunt about how lucky they are, not to be a Mumbaiite!

While for most of us it was time to come up with the much cliché'd lines “Patil must resign.” “UPA sucks.” “What the hell is the govt upto?” “These cowardly bastards.” blah blah blah.

Well for me it was pretty much the same, frustration and anger out of the death of those innocent people with whom I used to share a city with. People who survive the one of the worst living conditions in the world (be it train travel, peak time rush or the crumbling infrastructure) to just survive, live and may be if the city gives them a chance, prosper. Those hundred dead citizens on whom lives of more than a thousand depended and who were near and dear to thousands of others. People don't deserve to die waiting for their train at CST after hard day's work by bullets fired by the so called fidayeen.

For me it was not only running through the above lines, swearing at the pakis, then the govt., then us people... as usual but this time around a bit more. It was not a blast, it was a few mad men prowling the city armed with heavy ammunition and modern weaponry. You never never know when a bullet whooshes past you and you are dead.

For me it was seeing the same places that I have been to many times smeared in blood. For me its the fear that all these happen a few miles from my home.

How can a group of ten terrorist hold a the financial capital of the country to ransom?? What was the govt doing?? Could it possibly have done something to stop it?? What did those 125 do to deserve such a death?? Will this incident make any difference in the govt policy?? there are thousand more questions of such kind! Which probably nobody can answer. Well I am not searching for answers either.

But life always limps back to normalcy within hours. Its one of the finest examples mumbaiites set to to the world as they send a clear message to the terrorists: “Do whatever, Life ain't gonna stop here!” The terror attacks on the city all through the years costed hundreds of lives but failed in their primary motive : terrorizing the people.

While talking to dad yesterday I had a feeling of deja vu of the morning of 12^th July 2006 -- I had evidently failed in my attempt to keep my Dad from going to office, barely hours after the infamous 7/11 train bombings . Just before leaving he turns towards me and says “Be proud! You are a Mumbaiite.”

You bet I am!

Shailesh R Nadar.
1:52 pm, Nov 28, 2008.

Solar torture.

For those who know him, the words above state the obvious. And for those who don’t shall never be able to fathom the pain he inflicts. They say that one doesnot even curse his worst enemies a cruelty of this order. Naah its not a third degree torture its jus sitting through 3 hours a week of “You know who” (if u got it till here u surely don’t need the name!), which is way better than my Energy brethren who bear 7 hrs a week of his nonsense.

He stutters, he bulbs, he rambles, he gropes and finally throws at you a set of jumbled words and leaves it to you to rearrange them to form a meaningful sentence. And all this while teaching (or that’s what he tries to do!) one of the driest stuff ever known to mankind. Those eyes which sparkle and try to search for answers of life in every corner of the class, while clearly demonstrating how confidently lost he is!

Its said that his lectures are finding better use elsewhere:

Rumor has it that the CIA is using the recorded tapes of his lecture to torture Al qaeda terrorists. It seems to work well as jus half way through they admit to all the charges framed against them.

These lectures even seem to find use in Anonymous rehab communities of people who have tried to commit suicide. They find comfort and more importantly inspiration from the sheer determination with which “you know who” rambles through the dry and who-gives-a-damn courses and yet finding a reason enough to live for the sake of research in that field!

The lectures are also being used as a standard for measuring patience. The number of minutes you can sit through his lectures have been given a status of standardized SI units, while research is still on for the cgs system.

Whatever it is, we still gotta sit three more weeks of the gory You know who’s torture!

Shailesh R Nadar.
9:52 pm, Oct 29, 2008.

Of use, used and useful::: The holy Intern Viva!

After a good 2 months after the intern, it was time to present it to the Gods of Mechanical Engineering (read Profs) and convince them that you really ‘did work’ all through your intern.
The start was never going to be good as expected. Within the first few seconds the word ‘ANALYTICAL’ in my first slide sparked a illogical sense of disapproval among the panelists which would give the Al Qaeda hating Americans a complex!!
“Analytical huh?? That’s what we teach you to do here. Why do it again in GE??”, with special stress on each of the two letters.
I mustered some courage and said, “What use would be the theory of if it has no application in the industry.” The very moment I knew I said something really preposterous and hurt their ego big time. Fortunately they didn’t pay much of an attention and still seemed unconvinced.
With the lack of presence of mind to come up with any better explanation, I said “Wasn’t I supposed to do something that would profit the company?” How lame of me!! How can I do an obvious mistake twice… back to back!
That was followed almost immediately by simultaneous and not-so-quiet smirks, as if I just made the most ignorant statement of the decade!
Suddenly I was being eyed like a sixteen year old girl who lost her virginity to multiple guys after getting drunk in a prom night.
“How could they USE you like this. How could you let them USE you?” I could feel the unnecessary stress on the word ‘use’.
Why on earth will a company pay me 10.5k per month (and 11.33% TDS cut) and treat me like their own employee if I am of no use to it! Wasn’t this what an intern meant?? Of showcasing your use, being used and be useful!!
It took me the next ten minutes of continuous blabbering, racing through the slides and a dry throat at the end to bring a smile onto their faces and somehow convince them of the fact that I really ‘did work!’
The Intern.
Rest In Peace!

Shailesh R Nadar
6:59 pm, Sep 24, 2008.

Memoirs of my tryst with HoD!

It’s the last one week of my intern and I am already done with the much hyped Technical Presentation. With just a fraction of work remaining, I can at last heave a sigh of relief.
I never thought I would do such satisfactory “Analytical” work in Heat Transfer, the course in which I heavily messed up the End-Sems to pull out a C grade from the jaws of an ‘A’. No wonder that’s one Q-paper I preserve till date, for the sheer way it left me clueless and pretty jobless in that 3 hr endsem. Anyways I would diplomatically refrain from going into the details of the project which was psuedly titled “Analytical treatment of Circuit Breakers to study Heat Transfer in its components”… Cuz I very well know you don give a rat’s ass about my project and more so, what I did in it!!

Just about some 10 weeks back I remember I was this f***ed up, internless, hopeless, jobless, aimless, pathetic guy making my rounds to the HoD office every bloody morning in desperate attempts to get myself a decent intern. The GE offer letter was quite a surprise and left me thinking that it was too good for me!!! But going back and just imagining the daily torture I suffered in the hands of the HoD left little doubt in my mind about the same. This guy single handedly made a Hell hole out of my life. The b*****d had me doubting my own capabilities, with my self confidence already down in the drains. Some of his notable face to face Quotes include:

“I will make sure you get (the intern) at the end” with special stress on the END part!!!

“Don’t worry... people above you (CGPA wise) will get, people below you will get… then it will be your chance!!”

“Believe me!! I will get you a summer training!!” where?? In your patented company Guindy Machine Tools!!

“Why staying here (in insti)? Go home, we will intimate you as soon as you get an offer!!” When??? Well you sure must have meant next year dear Sir!!

Damn!! the lone mental picture of the guy still races my blood to boiling temperatures!
But the thing that matters: I got an intern, and a good one at that!!
Don’t they say:

Its only those tough enough to fight through the night (read HoD!!) shall stay to see the light of the dawn!!

Shailesh R Nadar
10:44 pm, Jul 21, 2008.

Mad Mad Bang Bang!!!--The tale of two cities!!

Its been 5 months since I last posted... I almost forgot I even had a blog. Sometimes life, in my case intern renders you so jobless you start writing again.
Life (mine) is as miserable or as happening or as rocking as it always was... the only thing that had changed is the location... It used to be Bombay, then it was Chennai, now its Bangalore.

I have stayed in Chennai for the past three years and here in Bangalore for two months.
Abt the things I like better in Bang.
1) Ultimate cool weather (Being a resident of Mumbai and studying in Chennai) I d never slept under blankets during summer!!
2) Wide footpaths... understandable development was late and hence more planned.
3) Though its not a problem for me in Chennai.. being a tam but ppl in Bang almost everyone understands Hindi(added advantage!)
4) Lot of decent neighbourhood to stay in and city is far better planned with whitefield being a completely indus area. and is blessed with possible expansion in all directions.

The things I miss:
1)Biggest and the Best--- The Campus... the hostel and the times of lying idly on your chair watching sitcoms!!
2) The down to earth bus fares... Used to paying Rs 5 from IIT to Chennai Central i.e. 12-14 kms or roughly 1 hr of travel time. It seems unfair to pay double that for one fourth the distance.
And the small private vans!!! well they suck big time.. they thrust in 40-50 ppl in a small van.. don the traffic police notice it.. Try doin that in Chennai!!!
3) The Beach... a stroll on the Beasant Nagar beach and you forget everything... Even the torture in the hands of the HoD, or even the way you wrote your open book Finite Element Method End sem.
4) Retail prices slysha cheaper than Bang(I aint sure abt this) and way way cheaper than Mumbai (which is unfairly costly) with comparable facilities and a added advantage of a clean Beach.
5) Though it wont seem at the first look... infra is surely better. I have never been thrown of my feet standing in a bus and hit my head on the roof of the bus anywhere else in India except in Bang.. Not even during the times of travelling in the crapiest of the buses in Chennai.
6)I am pretty sure(not fully though) in most of the buses in Chennai its written in English... but ironically and shockingly i hardly find any buses with a speck of english in Bang..
Finally,
Being a tam, I have a psychological attachment towards Chennai and an instinctive attachment towards Bangalore... and well home sweet home "Aamchi Mumbai".

Shailesh R Nadar
4:15 pm, Jul 12, 2008.

A Tribute!! to wing-mates and wingmen!! :P

Its been almost three years since I came here… living with friends... away from family… well this kinda in itself is one… Its time to pay some tribute to the second family…Over a period of time of knowing people… their names don’t jus remain names… they signify complicated emotions :P …they ring a bell…
Well here are a few!
Lets start with
Chandu:
chan (v):
1. It refers to that novel way of RG ing in which u pain the shit out of people by saying nothing at all, well obviously unintended!! You are kept from knowing vital info, which apparently haunts you big time later.
2.This refers to joining someone in their endeavors, working on it and then kicking the main guy out and taking his place… For further info contact Satyaram… Cuz he sure has been brutally channed many times.
Usage: to chan, channing, to be channed, to have got channed etc. etc.

Hussain:
huss(v):
It refers to the plain, on the face lying with no apparent motive but just to make a fool out of the listener. It differs from fooling in the sense hussing is most often caught very soon… But gotta be aware while talking to him else “Dude!! You are so hussed!!”
Usage: to huss, hussing, to get hussed, etc. etc

Bulla, the great! (title the great is self proclaimed!!)
bulla (v):
to pull out a bulla(phr.)

MEANING DELETED BECAUSE OF PERSONAL DISSENT!!

Usage: “Gosh! You almost pulled out a bulla!”, “stop bullaying”, to get bullaed, to bulla etc etc.

The Big J
jayantise (v):
It’s a new found way of socializing, in which you befriend an almost unknown person in moments (by using all the PR skills u possess in one flow) that by the end of the day you are only a bit less than ‘langotiya yaars’
PS: Big J was a PR coordinator for Saarang ‘08
Usage: to jayantise, jayantising, to get jayantised etc etc

Pondy… (for those ignorant enough: Tummala Yashwanth)
pondy(n):
Refers to a person who despite of having all sorts of comforts luxuries and happiness, feels that he is the unhappiest person on the planet!
Eg. A guy studying in one of the premier institutes of the world, having a CG of more than 8.5, undoubtedly having a great future.. but still comes up with the most depressing status messages of all times!! Pure statistics… 9 outta his 10 status messages contain the creature :(

Here comes the Heavy weight
Poorna Chander Reddy (aka Reddy gaaru.. aka Full Moon Reddy)
to poorna (v):
Content too offensive to display… anyways for most of those reading this, the meaning must be obvious… for those who don’t it wd be granted only on personal request!
--- By the order of “ the one who is always right!”
Yet to come: to dopa, to black hole, revised version of “to poorna” and many more! :P

Shailesh R Nadar
3:20 pm, Feb 18, 2008.