Wrapped in an Indigo Mood

             Mood Indigo, the famous IIT festival has come to an end today. It was a festival of music, it was a contest among competitions, a collection of exhibitions, a flurry of workshops. Undoubtedly Mood Indigo was a hub of activity for four days from Boxing Day to 29 Dec. Most unfortunately not being able to attend the first day of Mood I, I missed all the major competitions I would have loved to take part in, especially Dialectics the national level debate. It was only mid way through the second day that I was able to attend the festival. The sand structure and Rangoli on water exhibits were to be marvelled at, but they were after all made by pros from across the country. The footlose competition was worth watching. It came as a revealation that the jungles of Powai held such a variety of wildlife (implied meaning) which is conspicious only by its absence in VJTI. The 3-D photography workshop however turned out to be a bit of a disappointment and after that we decided to call it a day.
               Day 3 was the big day, especially with the Shankar Ehsaan Loy performance scheduled for the evening. Fortunately or unfortunately my presence was doubtful. I learnt later that after waiting for 5 hours for the performance one of my pals was turned away from the performance only because he happened to have a bag with him. Seeing that I am always in the habit of carrying a bag with me whereever I go, I am glad I missed the performance since my fortunes would probably have been the same as my fated friend. Whilst IIT certainly has to be congratulated for attracting such great star performers as Shankar Ehsaan Loy and popular Jazz and Rock bands, the crowd management of IIT can be described as nothing but absolutely PATHETIC. Lines for the performances stretched for more than a mile and the students had to wait for hours on end just to get inside the OAT. The trouble to which they had to go to get passes for the concerts is another issue altogether. Even after waiting in the lines for hours on end the students are lathi charged by the 'security' before they are allowed to enter. The performance starts at 7:30 but most students gain entry only after 8:15. Looks like the huge OAT has only one entrance, similar to the Jalianwalla Bagh.
              On a brighter note I really enjoyed the fourth and last day of mood I. Earlier this year thanks to Pratibimb I realised how much I hate Rock music. I am certain that I will never attend a Rock concert again. On the other hand thanks to Mood I, I realised that I love Jazz, a type of music which I had never heard before till today. It was quite surprising to see that there was a ridiculously long line for the Rock show and very few people sitting for the Jazz performance, but the Jazz was really nice music. Even Loy of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio had come to listen to that performance. The Jazz performance more than made up for the regret of having missed the Shankar Ehsaan Loy performance the day before. All in all it was a good show put up by IIT at MI '07 except that they really seem to have missed an important lesson or two in handling large crowds of people.

Vacation = college festivals

         The vacations started long ago and the VJTI students (unlike their unfortunate MU counterparts) are now busy preparing for the avalanche of college festivals which can be expected in the even sem in 2008. Starting the avalanche will be Technovanza 08 followed by Enthusia and Pratibimb. With such a mammoth no. of activities it will be but natural that the curricular activities may as well be forgotten. Here is a glimpse into the activities going on in the Hub.
Disclaimer: All the comments and people mentioned are purely imaginary and any resemblance to real persons is purely co incidental.
    Technovanza
Mr. B(Name withheld due to obvious reasons): Technovanza publicity must be done in all the leading newspapers across the country. Give Technovanza publicity articles for the classifieds pages also.
Mr. N: Yes the publicity should also be seen in the Matrimonial pages of all leading papers.
Mr. R: If we get a space for Technovanza in the classifieds pages and matrimonial columns then the obituary coulumn cannot be missed.

Pratibimb:
Mr. S: Aarey yeh PC pe se Photoshop ud gaya lagata hai. Oy Mr. A idhar aa. Search for the photoshop install file and install it on this PC again
Mr. A: Sure. (After some time) There is no photoshop install file available on this PC. The only other install file on this PC does not run. Pls ask Mr. R what is to be done.
Mr. S: Aarey Mr. R has gone for lunch and I want this done today.
Mr. A: Gee sir, but the file is just not there and besides I got to visit the Doctor, (u r) pain in the (...)

This concludes the insider's report of an imagined college festival Hub. More details later.

Dandiya Night

Friday, 12 October 2007:
Dandiya Night in VJTI.
There was no reason why anyone should not have enjoyed this day. The Dandiya night which was scheduled to start at 5:30 in the evening started at some time around 6:30, but after it started, the dancing only got more and more intense by the minute until 8:30 when the Dandiya eventually ended.
The students of the IT and Comps division, united as always, formed two concentric circles moving in opposite directions, dancing to the tunes of the songs being played, some of them being traditional Gujarati songs while others were remixed Hindi filmy songs (which would have been completely out of place had this been a traditional Dandiya Ras). Needless to mention some of the group were very good dancers while others like me were so pathetic that they would have made a Hippo look more graceful in comparison. While I enjoyed every moment of the two hours worth of dancing I certainly irritated some of the better dancers of our group (boys and girls) one of whom couldn't stop shouting at me "left - right, both" (as if we were marching) when the two of us happened to face each other.
One of my friends also happened to have her birthday on the same day. I wonder what she thought about the Dandiya as her Big Birthday Bash. Another one of my friends was complaining that he was not well and could not attend the Dandiya. I, and some other friends insisted that he come for at least a few minutes. He came, the "few minutes" came and went but he remained for the whole duration dancing continuously and forgetting that he was supposed to be sick. I just hope he did not run a fever that night after the intense dancing.
So all in all I think everyone had a great time. I would now like to thank the Indian traditions for their foresight in making Dandiya a traditional dance in which girls and boys dance together, else the extremely "traditional" (or orthodox would be a better word) authorities in our college would have dropped a curtain between the Girls and Boys sections and separated the two again. For me that evening was special for more than one reason.

Of lectures and commentry

         Students of VJTI who may read this post (?) don't need me to describe to them how lectures are conducted in the age old institution. The EDC teacher for the IT division is a typical example of the sub standard faculty at VJTI. (In her defense I will state that this is probably her first stint at teaching, and the subject is very dry.) The only good thing about her lectures is that she is hardly bothered about what happens in the class, which means that we get ample scope to complete journals, study some other subject, or persue any other leisure activity of our choice. It was not much different today on 11 October 2007. What was special about the day was that there was an India Australia cricket match on this day and when India elected to bat everyone was keen to listen to the commentry rather than be bored by the EDC lecture. I am afraid that those who chose to listen to the commentry probably repented over their choice especially since India played the most horrid game of cricket imaginable, and those who listened to the commentry may have thought as an after thought that maybe the EDC lecture was not such a bad deal after all. Now even though the EDC teacher is not much perturbed over the lack of attention, I am sure that she would not be impressed if she were to spot any one wearing ear plugs and listening to the commentry while she is teaching. So while I sat in front, my friend Paresh sat behind me and listened to the commentry. I screened him from the teacher's view and he provided a ball by ball update which I in turn relayed to those in front of my. More often than not the update was tragic rather than entertaining and even though the Indian team collapsed for a pathetic total I don't think that the teacher had a clue of how far the students' minds were, reaching from VJTI to Vadodara where the match was being played. But narrating the experience here hardly describes the actual feel of it. You have to be a VJTI IT student to know.

(I do not believe that this experience is unique and probably other students in other divisions of VJTI and other colleges may also have had similar experiences, but it is quite likely that I may be one of the few people to write about it.)

Those damned @#@##! exams again.

"As my friends, so I" - Anand Modi (myself).
Well Hardik says that exams bring out the blogger in him. U have got company Hardik. Halfway through the exams I feel in a mood for blogging as well. 4 papers gone, 2 to go and I can hardly wait for the end of the exams, so much so that I have started 'half-celebrating' already. The first paper was Maths and the Lap-lace transform sums may already have wrapped up my brains in laces, not to mention that the EDC exam came and went leaving me even more clueless about the E to C of EDC than before the exam. That was a disastrous Monday for me. Next came the two exams on Wednesday. Electrical Networks was a complete messy tangle of numbers and any engineering student will agree with me on that one, while the FIT paper reminded me strongly of a subject in school called "English" and I faintly recall writing page long essays for 8 marks in my SSC board paper. It was much the same with FIT. Makes me wonder if I should suggest to our teacher to change the name of the subject from FIT to something like "Engineering English". I am sure she won't mind the Engineering part of it, but English is bound to make teachers cry and students laugh, for the English speaking skills displayed by teachers in VJTI are truly amazing (apalling actually). Still we haven't laughed as much as we can, the only laugh the IT class ever got was when the prof. wrote "conversation" instead of "conversion" and insisted that process of conversion is called "conversation". Makes me wonder if prof. Billapatte would have been more fun. But I will leave the description of his English skills to my other friends who have first hand experience of his teaching.

Back to College

          Mixed reaction here." Yay!!!! Finally the college reopens." Or "Oh!! The vacations could have gone on a bit longer." And already plans for chilling out in the best ways for the first week of college have begun. Ok so its the second year at VJTI and all the divisions split into the various branches(sob!) Some people are waiting for the freshers to step inside the college. Some like me can see this July as nothing but the month of Harry Potter. While some others will continue holidaying even in the first week of college, after all "are lectures held in SE?" and practicals don't start till after the second week. Besides the Second and third years are supposed to be fun. Learn driving ( that training school car was a complete tin pot and now I find my car way too sensitive in comparision) or play the guitar, get into the extra curriculars, ice cream parlors near VJTI, hookah stands, etc. and have a blast. So all in all, can't wait for college to start, but I think I will miss the vacations too. Damn! I still have those mixed feelings.

I have turned nocturnal!

Most of us have a fear during exams that we might turn nocturnal as a result of night-time studying. But I am sure that exam period is the sleepiest of all and I have always slept early and got up late during exams. Sadly the picture has changed, post-exams. I manage to wake up late (after a good 10 hour sleep) but I sleep long after our watchman starts his nocturnal patrol with his whistle and stick(are they taught to do that?or is it hereditary?coz i have heard that all watchmans do that). Waking up after 10 am is not a good experience especially when your housemaid stares at you and giggles coz your hair is all messed up (too sad that she doesn't know that I always look like that). And then within no time it's lunch-time! Yawn! I think I need to reset my body clock.
Anand Modi seems to have taken a liking for being mendacious.Come on Anand, do u expect us to believe that u were shocked after seeing ur results! Yawn! For a change I am yawning at 12.37 am!Maybe its the driving lessons' effect. Bloody idiots who try to overtake from the left should be shot down using a rocket launcher!
P.S. Can someone ask Dr.Narayankhedkar to reopen the college early? I am missing my friends!!!

Results - they affect us all

Ok Sukanya, I am in town and even though I am not sure if anyone likes reading about results, that is all that I can think of writing at the time being, so for all those who think it is boring, sorry.
Well, the VJTI first year results are out. For different people, different reactions. Some look at the results and say "hey look a few 10s a couple of 9s and an 8, not bad."(not bad??? what king of a guy is this, a super human?) Then there are those who look at the results and let out that loud comical groan,"I knew I had messed up Maths, and BME was bad, but I could have got more in chem... blah blah blah."
Then there are those calm people who silently look at their results, maybe call up a few friends, and walk away, no expression on their face. The other kind(this time I fall in this category) come with high expectations, stare in horror at their results for a few long minutes, and then walk back slowly, shoulders hunched, completely depressed having tasted an utter downfall.
Well the list is endless. There are the so called lukkhas (most of VJTI is filled with them) who say that they expect very low marks and shine out with more marks than all others, the real lukkhas (hardly any in VJTI) who look at their ordinary results "Aarey chhod na, kya farak padta hai." and um... well cant think of the other categories at present.
Those who score well think that the entire world must be celebrating with them(I hope Arjun doesn't mind me mentioning his name), and those who are in the slush, desperately hope they have some mourning company(e.g. me)

Truly, Result time is the time to see the different reactions from all students in VJTI.

AWOL

This blog has 4 other contributors [who's mental havok btw??] and i know for a fact that at least 2 of them are in town and well within reach of their computers. So WHERE, i ask you, are the contributions to this blog???

For now - all i have to say is that Spiderman was irritating. The Terminal was interesting [but a wee bit cliched] . Cool characters, a slightly off plot and nice acting. Tararumpum sounds highly dumb and i hear its overly emotional. So unless you get a sadistic pleasure out of watching people around you crying at a sob story, don't bother to go.. [do note how there are sob stories all around.. but how many of us notice them? and how many of us cry about them?? it takes money-hogging film stars to make us cry.. the real thing doesn;t suffice somehow..]
Then there's Life in a Metro. Blah. No comments.
Paris, Je t'aime - Now i'd watch that one just to see what happens to the broth when there's too many cooks.

I have in my able hands a VERY large P G Wodehouse, a somewhat large Roald Dahl [more than half done] and a book of short stories by Saki. When i Do finish these - i shall duly review [whether you want me to or not =D ]

Yours oh-so-truly-and-verily-bored

Suks.

Hello World

I have taken it upon myself to inaugurate this wunnerful blog. (Its not wunnerful yet. But i'm sure it will be) Cause it looks all barren.. kinda like a midday's sun on a white desert.

Hello World, of course, comes from that lame-ass CP program we wrote last sem. Semester 1. When the world was younger... and we had everything to lose...
Notice how the IQ level required to do a program increases from one semester to the next. Last sem we were breaking our head over how to generate a sine series. Now we display "DONALD DUCK" on the screen.
Yes i DO know there's a point to the whole thing.. i'm just not willing to acknowledge it right now.


Anyways .. here's to a long blogging session which will last more than just our 3 years in this hell hole (which we all love.. or do we?)

- Sukanya