@rgumental @dvisor

Another year too coming to close.. Time is marching on. How was 2006 ? It had its own highs and lows... This year was very special to me ... It taught me a lot..I've begun to analyse myself much more...I've begun to appreciate the value and meaning of life much more... It had its own highs and lows... Jan - 2 was a high for me after eking out a call from B .. May - 9 was a low for me as I slipped out of their waiting list ... Another Jan - 2 in the reckoning.. I hope the ladyluck will be with me this time... Happy New Year to all... ( In Malayalam : Ellavarkkum ente Puthuvalsaraashamsakal ) Have a Gr8888 2007... Ajith

1. Have you ever come across an auto driver who demands exorbitant rates for the ride ? 2. Have you ever seen the auto's meter running faster than the auto ? 3. Have you ever faced abusive behaviour from Auto drivers ? 4. Have you ever seen an auto's meter running even if it is stopped at a signal ? If the answer to atleast one of the above questions is in affirmative , then checkout http://watch-auto.blogspot.com/ Move on if you don't care or feel nothing can be done ... Ajith

There seems to be a big void or vacuum in my life after CAT.. Till Nov-19 , I had lots and lots to prepare .. Now for the past one month, it has been nothing but reading some arbit books...Planning to get a Lappy soon. Any suggestions on how to go through the season till Jan - 2nd ? Every alternate day or so, I get back to the threadbare analysis of verbal questions and think about which institute has provided the right key..I've had enough of that. Now got to do something different... Ajith

Back to my favorite blogging topic -- Politics -- A sequence of events highlighted in media Date : Nov:29 : Baba Ambedkar's statue vandalised in Kanpur. Media reports indicate that it was beheaded. Immediate protests in UP, but police able to control the situation.. The detailed reports of the incident splurged across the nation by media. Date : Nov:30 : Angry protests rock Maharashtra. Stone pelting and rioting across the Marathwada region. Four dead, more than 60 injured as per the official estimates. Date : Nov:30 : Four coaches of Deccan queen torched by protesters. The burning coaches fuel disgust among the general public. Dates : Dec 1,2 : Blame game. .The uppermiddle class points the finger at police, Police blame the media, some people blame Dalits for getting into this hysteria ( if u can call that ), some blame politicians..This goes on. -- These are the main events that everyone came across..However, there is a backdrop to this. which was not highlighted very much...

Rating -- Just above average Daniel Craig -- Not as suave as Brosnan..But certainly good.. Plot -- Good, but by the end it goes into a typical Bollywood style .. Style quotient -- Not upto the mark.. Dialogues -- Classic.. Perhaps the best since Moore and Sean Connery.. Bond Gal -- mmm, should have been more exciting..But neverthless, was OK.. Direction -- Could have been better.. No match for the action sequences in "Tomorrow Never" dies or "Golden Eye". New urge -- I want to learn playing Bridge... With that, may be I would have been able to enjoy those better.. Locations -- Good .. The Montenegran splendour is a perfect backdrop to gambling . Overall view -- Perhaps the first Bond movie in which Bond puts his papers and get emotionally attached to a girl. But neverthless it was better in one more aspect that it didnt displa...

I think I've done well...The keys speak so .. [:)] Now fingers,hands,legs crossed till Jan-2nd . Ajith

Learnings 1. Kingfisher Airlines is haawt!!!!! 2. Understanding the traffic routes at b'lore is a pain.. 3. And, be prepared to ride for one hour for a distance of less than 10 KM.. Experiences 1. Venue :- ShivajiNagar Bus stand .. A kid of about 13 yrs of age with good uniforms,bags etc comes to me and asks "Sir, I lost my money to go to school..Can u giv a 10/- for bus-ticket.." I was about to give when another young man alertedme.."Brother, this is his daily job..Every day he comes here and says the same thing to strangers..I once fell prey to guy and gave him 10..Dont give.." ..We both cross questioned him..and he acknowledged thats his daily trick..And then ran away.. The very next day at the same place I saw this boy asking the same to another person at a distance.Before I could intervene , he collected the money and ran away from there... 2. I'm into a team that deals with something that can be described in layman's language as a software...

This is my last weekend of my 2-year stay here at Hyderabad.. I'm leaving this city for Bangalore on monday night.. It has been an enriching experience here .. So, dedicating this post for the good old mystical city of Nizams... Increasingly cosmopolitan, good people to interact, reasonable cost of living , a blend of history and modernity ranging from the good-old forts of Golconda to the ultra hip-hop pubs, Hyderabad has everything.. More than eighty percent of the people know Hindi..So, not much problem on the language front.. If any of you are visiting Hyderabad, Dont miss these places... 1) Golconda Fort -- Easily the most captivating place that I've been here in Hyd.. The ruins of the fort has a great charm. The sound & light show at night in which the history of the fort is narrated by Amitabh Bachchan is really a lifetime experience... One photograph from our visit ( a bit old though ) 2) Eat street -- I haven't ever come accross a better ...

For the last few days, I've been extremely busy...A sudden increase in the workload with all those transfer pending matters, it was a bit hectic. This week also marked the first time when I gave bribe to a policeman :(( Till now, I've never had come across such a situation..But this guy proved to be a tough nut to crack.. For all people who are thinking of transferring the vehicles from one state to another , please don't run behind this procedure unless u know someone in police ..Its better to sell it off before you move.. The procedure to get NOC (No objection Certificate ) for transferring your bike from Hyderabad to another state is .. 1) Make sure that RC card has 'self-owned' ..i.e, if you have taken loan for buying car/bike, either close it or get a no-objection certificate from bank and change the owner to yourself rather than 'Hypothecated to ICICI bank' -- This costed me 700 2) Go to Police Control room, and you have to get a traffic police...

Two updates.. 1) Upgraded to blogger beta..No Issues till now. Very much satisfied with the 'label' feature for the blogs..I dug up almost all the posts and assigned labels. For my best posts, click on the label ' My take ' The editing of templates is remarkably better. 2) As the title indicates, I got a transfer ( rather..managed to eke out ) to B'lore..So, will be moving to the Garden city of India from the city of Nizams by this month end.. And yeah,lemme see if any response comes via this route..My office will be at Prestige Blue Chip, opposite to Christ college..So, if anyone in that area is looking for a well behaved, well mannered, etc etc roomie ( I know, a bit exaggerated....but, chalega ) in a 5 - 6 Km radius of that area ..( Koramangala, Madiwala, BTM etc ) , please let me know... :) Ajith

This seems to be a tough tag from sreejith ..I had to think a lot before writing this.. Weirdo 1: ) I hate jackfruit like anything.. I can't even stand its smell.. I've tried many times to tide over this.. This smell itself gives vomiting tendencies to me...I dont know why .. Weirdo 2: ) I can solve Rubik's cube in under 4 minutes consistently and, if luck favours it'll be done within 3 minutes..I dont think its a great feat..but then, solving it is thrilling Weirdo 3: ) I tend to make silly calculation mistakes very often..Though I'm reasonably good in maths, I've made blunders like 39 + 14 = 43 , 2+1 = 2 etc even recently.. Weirdo 4: ) I tend to realise some things in life a bit late.. Often, the learnings have made me to think like "If I knew this before, my life would have been different ".. Weirdo 5: ) I tend to win silver medal at almost all the times... Through out my school & plus two life, there was some girl/guy who use...

These are a few of mail / forum signatures that I've come across in the recent times.. Hope u find it interesting.. 1. Nobody can create or destroy a bug. A bug can only be transformed from one form to another 2. Hard work has never killed anybody..But why take a chance ? 3. There are only 2 kinds of ppl in the world: those who hv watched LOTR and those who haven't 4. 99% of the girls in this world are beautiful. The remaining one percent is in my college :) ( This is an old one ..was in some T-shirts during our final years.. ) And, the best one ........ I think am gay.. Wanna prove me wrong ??? Readers are welcome to contribute more to this list.. :) Thanks, Ajith

The craziest Harry Potter fan has tagged me to write on books .. Now , literature is a field, where I'm very poor..My old quizzing partners know, I sulk at the mention of a literature round. I'd prefer magazines over books anyday.. Still, I'd give a try on this in a light way 1) One book that has changed my life Hmmm...I dont think till now any book that I've read has influenced me to this level..Maybe, 'Godfather' has influenced me a lot..But , no..no book has changed my life yet.. About 'Godfather', Mario Puzzo rocks..its really great..But I would recommend you to read it only after attaining a certain amount of maturity in your life..The values imbibed by a 15 year old boy by reading this book will be completely different from those imbibed by a 23- 27 year old guy. To me, the greatest learning from that ... "Its contacts and obligations towards you that'll help you in life the most and succeed in it " .. courtesy, Don Corleone...

"Is there any place here at Hyd where I can get a good OnaSadya on this tuesday ?? " .I've popped this question to many people, but still stuck up with a negative answer. Eitherway, the spirit of Onam survives..I'm far away from Kerala, but still I can feel the rhythms and celebrations there..Asianet relays some Onam special programs which gets me nostalgic. Those were the days when we roamed through our village seeing and participating in many programs like Pulikali , Vazhumarakayattam, thalapanthu.. etc.. Those were the days when we got to see most of our relatives spread far and wide across the nation .. Those were the days when we collected flowers and laid laid pookkalams in front of our ancestral home.. Those were the days of Ona Sadya with kaalan, aviyal , pappadam , pazham paalpayasam ..... Those were the nights when we sat...

Hmmm...finally the s*#king politicians are bringing up this stupid thing in Parliament even without the rider of Creamy Layer which will enable the wards of all politicians to get the benefits..This was not unexpected though...No party has the credibility or courage to put atleast the funda of creamy layer into this OBC reservation. I wonder what happened to the case that was filed in Supreme court challenging this legislation...To tell how sinister and undeserving this is, I can quote some incidents that I've come across.. Scene 1: NITC counselling Yr - 2000 Kerala is a state which has implemented OBC reservation. But,as it is, the benefits are always cornered by the affluent in the society. Being the premier college, the seats in our college used to fill up after the IITs.Fortunately or unfortunately I managed to hang on to the last csc seat in open category .On that day, I witnessed people coming in ultra-luxury cars and claiming seats under OBC quota showing inco...

Really, really touching one .. This is a cut and paste from a thread posted at http://www.egiridih.com/Forums.aspx. As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in software Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true. Here at last I was in the place where I wanted to be. I decided I would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India. My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.. I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee va...

Usually when I start writing an article,I usually think a bit about the issue, base my stand and then argue about the points..But then, I really couldn't arrive at a conclusion over this issue even after a considerable amount of thought.. Ok, lets get into the matter..A group of women lawyers have filed a PIL (public interest litigation ) against Sabarimala's ban on women . The women are taking on the Travancore Devaswom Board that has held that women between the age of 10 and 50 years are impure and hence cannot enter the temple .. Quoting Prerna Kumari , one of the advocates who gave the PIL -- "It's unfair that in this age women should be treated with such discrimination." A little bit background about the case A proper pilgrimage to Sabarimala means, 41 days of "Brahmacharya" , which means total abstinence from all kinds of pleasures. In its strictest sense, the men who are on the "Vratha" should lead a life of ...

1. I hate to chase cash, but I can't take my eyes off a Cheverlot Optra. 2 . I hate to compare myself with others, but I thrive in a competitive world. 3 . I can't help but admire the concepts of Leninism and Marxism, but I'm convinced that market rules. 4. I hate leaving my home @Calicut, but I can't help it. 5 . I love music , but I'm one of the worst bathroom singers and best back-bench singer. 6 . I'm reluctant to give up the comforts of this software life, but the joy of bunking classes, copying assignments and sleeping in backbench morethan anything else attracts me towards college life again.. 7 . I hate politicians like Arjun @#$% Singh, but I love politics. 8 . I'm all for idealism, but I'm very much convinced that its not pragmatic. 9. I love India very much, but the splendour of Eurpoe beckons me for a visit. 10 . I convince myself repeatedly that past is past, but my inner-self brings back those memories again and again. 11 . I'm con...

Almost a month of soccer frenzy which has really altered my biological clock.I wake up at 9, reach office by 11, and after the soccer matches, sleep almost at 3 .AM... This worldcup has not been really great, but it has been far better than Japan-Korea 2002. As usual my favourites Dutch and Czech crashed out early, but after playing some entertaining soccer.. Stage is now set for the semifinals.. Germany Vs Italy France Vs Portugal - - an all European affair since 1982. Lets go through some of the best matches that has happened so far in this tournament.. 1) Argentina Vs Mexico ( IInd round ) Maxi Rodriguez -- A name that the Mexican wouldnt forget for some time. His was perhaps the best goal of the tournament. Mexicans true to their fighting spirit really stretched Argentines ... This game brought back the memories of Mexico Germany prequarter in 94. Awesome game with flowing football. Latin American soccer rocks. ...

Well, I dont know what feeling should accompany this. Last week, I completed 2 years of cubicle life. Dont know whether to be happy or sad about that.. It has been a roller coaster ride. That last two years were definitely not the best, but at the same time not the worst.. Can't call it mediocre too. At times I feel I'm not made for this cyber life, but then, I havent found another avenue for myself. I hate to chase cash..but in the end, i may endup doing that. Life is twisting and turning from one phase to another. Even though I havent saved a huge amount or anything like that,I'm at a much better position financially than I was when I left NITC. Thats one aspect upon which I should thank Oracle.Honestly, I feel the salary to effort ratio is pretty high here. About Hyd -- a great city.. U have something here for all kinds of people. From great historical museums and forts to the marvellous hitec city and Imax , the list is very long. I'll put up a...

World cup...Nothing encompasses its spirit. It breaks all barriers of human civilization. Where else could you see Iran playing against United States ? Where else you see legions of fans wearing different colours cheer their favourites ? What else unites people across obscure nations in Africa to the hitec world of Japan ... The spirit of this festival is simply indomitable. My memories of this event --- 1990 -- Saw my first worldcup as a kid..I didnt know the true significance or the size of this . But that spirit was unique. The still lasting memories of this worldcup include Cameroon's play, Walter Zenga diving in vain to save Maradona's penalty, and finally Germany winning the coveted trophy. 1994 -- By this time, I had begun to read a lot on sports..And saw this worldcup acknowledging the true spirit . The memories include Andres Escobar's self goal and his subsequent murder, Diego playing magnificently against Nigeria and failing the drug te...

Most articles that I've come across over this issue of Reservations trace their origin to Dr.B.R Ambedkar and the framing of our constitution. However, in reality the concept of reservation in India was introduced by the Victorian British Government.Let us look into the reasons why it was introduced, what are the results, how it is abused, and what will be the future.. The Past - A caste ridden India Discrimination In India based on birth existed from pre-historic times. Being born in a Sudra section would automatically mean that the individual is denied of further avenues of education regardless of his merit.In 1850's based on a study by a British administrator - Monstuart Elphinstone ,various presidencies (Bombay,Madras etc ) decided to open the English education sector to people of deprived classes. Needless to say, the upper class people resisted this move. The very thought of education and jobs to people whom they have ruled ...

Over the past one month, state elections were happening in Kerala,TN,West Bengal..And the results came yesterday. As expected, Left won in Bengal and Kerala..Tamil Nadu went to DMK. Lets go through what factors were at stake and what influenced the electorate in each of those states Buddha Smiles In Bengal Taking this caption from one of the news paper reports that I read today..In the absence of a credible opposition, the victory of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was never in doubt..But the brutal majority of 230+ in a house of 294 is simply awesome..Whatever be the usual allegations of rigging,Bangladeshi voters etc, people in Communist heartland has given a strong thumbs up to the rule of Buddhadeb.. Touted as the modern Deng XiaoPend of India, the reformist agenda enacted by Buddhadeb against the backdrop of old patriarchs of communism has really gone well with the middleclass of Bengal..Backed up by a team of dedicated ministers and an acqueiscent Politburo, he's leading Bengal ...

Hmmm..Wonder why this happens again n again to me.. First it was NTSE , then IIT , then another one and now IIMB ..the last one like slipping between cup n lips.. Anyway , got some good lessons out of this... Ajith

When I chose engineering as my career option against the wish of my mother who wanted me to take medicine, my reason was " Look , I'm good in maths, I dont like bio that much..and a good engineering degree would get me a good job very quickly ".. I slogged through the 4 years @NITC, got what everybody said was a dream job. Now I'm here in this silicon jungle of India , typing obscure code in this system, well paid and doing something for somebody..I wonder what will this add to my life other than money.. Ppl say that I'll have a great career, great life etc..They say,with this profession I'll get a beautiful girl as my wife, lead a well settled life...I really wonder whether I'll get somebody to marry me understanding me as an individual rather than looking at my degree and money. My mother gave me a short lecture yday on how I should treat my wife citing the example of another software couple in our family..Whatever be it, I feel every individual is dis...

Well, well, well... I hope this one will give a positive answer. A borderline case infact.. No other way, Got to Pray n wait . Verdict on May-9th.Have got lot of stuff to write about this..But not now.. Ajith

Have been a little bit over-indulged in blogosphere during the last week..Read lots of blogs..Many of those weird, many good ones.. The next week is special to me.Got to do some work for that..Got to balance my office work with that...Perhaps its the most crucial point in my life. So for the time being , blogging off.... Ajith

Morning 6.30 : alarm in my cell rings... i get up ..I tend to wake up at the faintest of the sounds..Oh..its saturday.. Snoozes the alarms and again curled in the bed.. This went on for some time and finally I managed to get up at 8 .. Have been thinking of going to a temple for some time..So quickly finished the ablutions and went to a nearby Hanuman Swamy temple.. Prayed...Somehow my prayers are sort of different...When I pray with good concentration, I tend to ask questions at myself..These questions are not predetermined. They tend to come out in random.. And I do get most of the answers from my inner self ..The questions can vary from what should I do for some particular problem to whats the purpose of life...Today, it didnt go that way....This time I prayed for something which I really want. I've been giving my best efforts to this....Something which'll greatly influence the rest of my life. I came out...And the usual crowd of beggars were ther...

I've got stuck to wikipedia for some time as I'm in search for a vast variety of topics these days..Ranging from Probability distributions to Indian history, i've been reading a lot .. Compared to google, if u know the exact phrase to be searched, wiki is a better option. 99% of the searches in wiki will get the correct pages. If it doesnt have info , it clearly says that. And many of the google searches invariably lead to wiki. I think this is perhaps the tool which will challenge the hegemony of google once it gets popular among the average user... A bit busy, so an abrupt stop to the blog today... Ajith

True to the spirit of being world's largest democracy, you can find political parties of all sorts of names and fashions.... Whenever a split comes in a political party, ppl tend to form new parties taking bits and peices from the list of words which goes like this -- 'Nationalistic, Democratic,Rashtriya, Congress,Samaj, Dal,socialist....It goes on' .You can find parties which do sense or have no knowledge about their names.... The party formed on the ideals of erstwhile Ram Manohar Lohya, perhaps the greatest socialist India has produced indulging in caste based politics..The parties bearing a religion's name and even restricting the primary membership of that party to one particular religion claiming to be a secular party, people who were brought to the forefront by the great JayaPrakash Narayanan organising perhaps the second biggest corruption scandal in India ( The first place goes to Abdul Karim Telgi ,undoubtedly ), the so called NCP allyin...

There are two basic things that an average human being tends to strive for .. 1. To acquire money, position, fame ... 2. To find a companion of opposite sex ... I would say, these are complimentary. When the seriousness of career gets into one's head, the second tendency will subside... And once u find a companion, the first tendency will be very limited.. As today's globalised world implies, there is competition and marketing in all the segments. You cannot blame Archies or for that matter anyone , who popularised this concept in India. Its their right to do whatever business they want... But the bad point is that, this has influenced even children . Yesterday, i phoned home to find that my brothers( they're in 8th ) are excited abt these celebrations..They say that entire class ..mind you, 8th std ... is excited.. Isnt it a little bit early.. "The fourth estate doing too much ?? " . I dont advocate moral policing, because I'm a firm ...

A sea of information infront of me...It looks a bit intimidating at the first sight. It depends on how much I grasp, how well I present and above all, yes ..the divine factor. This is certainly more challenging than the first round.. The odds are heavily stalked against me in one aspect. Except that, everything looks OK..but, thats certainly a critical factor. Anyway, lets see..I've got time and talent and this is perhaps the best chance that I can ever get. Got to make the most out of it. Ajith

Felis Domesticus has given me a slim chance to make it big.. Got to work hard for that..Just an out of the blue happening :) And the next verdict on friday. Anyway, lets see... Ajith