Memoirs

Shanghai from a tourist's perspective

2011-07-15T15:19:00.000+05:30

Shanghai, the economic capital of Asia, is a city that has both vernacular and contemporary character interwoven in the right proportions. Thanks to a two month summer internship, I was lucky enough to explore this vast city in detail. The Wikipedia page here will give you all the general details that you are looking for and the Wikitravel page here will give you all the information from a tourist’s perspective. I will be adding my personal experiences in the city right here, both from a general and tourist’s perspective.

First let’s look at the city from a tourist’s perspective. Since this was my very first visit to China, the Buddhist temples out here fascinated me. I had visited the famous Jing’an temple at the end of East Nanjing Road and Longhua temple in the south-eastern part of the city. Jing’an temple, thanks to the favourable location, has very many tourists visiting it than Longhua temple and also charges a greater entry fee. I should say that I personally liked the Longhua temple. The reason for this might be the fact that Longhua was the very first temple that I visited or may be because of the huge variety of Buddha statues that the temple had to offer. The one with thousand hands stood out in particular. One of the other interesting features of the temple is the hall full of statues of monks in various meditating and preaching postures. Jing’an temple on the other hand looks relatively new and has some good examples of Chinese wooden architecture. Being a multiple storey complex, it provides some good views for a photography enthusiast. The surrounding buildings of Jing’an temple are rather contemporary, quite understandable from its location in the centre of the city. Hence it fails to create that serine atmosphere that Longhua successfully achieves. The lanterns and multi storied pagodas are other noteworthy elements in the Chinese temple in general. Located close to the Longhua temple is the Longhua Martyrs Park and museum. The museum has a glass pyramid as a prime element, reminding one of the Louvre museum by I. M. Pei. The museum is solely dedicated to the Chinese freedom struggle and has some wonderful interiors. The park too is beautifully designed with symmetry as a key design element.

So let’s move on to another interesting part of Shanghai, the area around the Shanghai Science and Technology museum metro station. The huge steel sundial is the focal point in this region. Built as part of the Shanghai world expo, this interlinking metallic structure embarks the importance given by the Shanghai municipality to urban landscaping. Close to the metro station is the lotus shaped oriental contemporary art centre. All performing arts enthusiasts can enjoy free shows on the first Saturday of every month at this contemporary structure. The entry to the building is free and one can enjoy the elegant interiors spaces and some good views of the surrounding region. The Shanghai science and technology museum is the easily noticeable building in the region and is marked by the huge spherical element made of steel and glass. The plaza around the metro station is well landscaped, intermixing the vegetation and LED’s effectively. The night view of the whole region, especially the sundial is mesmerizing.

Shanghai is one of the finest examples of urban planning in the whole world and the Shanghai Urban planning centre is one place an architect in particular should never miss. The centre gives a deep insight into the urban planning concepts and gives a clear picture of how the city evolved through ages. Beautiful models of the cityscape and skyscrapers adorn each and every floor of this museum. The urban planning centre is located at the people’s square, which houses many of the important buildings of the region such as the Shanghai museum, grand theatre etc. The famous pedestrian shopping road, West Nanjing road is also located very close to this structure. The Shanghai Museum, reminds one of the soviet architecture style and has a huge collection of Chinese jade, calligraphy, sculptures, paintings and so on. The entry to the Shanghai museum too, is free.

The West Nanjing road leads one straight to the bund, a place marked by the European style buildings of the 1930’s. The region which was once home to the Chinese mafia provides the perfect spot to capture the famous Shanghai skyline. The Huang Pu River creates a virtual boundary between the traditional and contemporary regions of the city namely Puxi and Pudong. Other attractions in the region include the war memorial, a tall concrete structure with elegant lighting. The night view of both the sides of the river is something a tourist should never miss.

Next up is the Pudong region, the new face of the booming Shanghai. The region is marked by numerous skyscrapers with a new one overtaking the others in terms of height in a span of few years. The iconic oriental TV tower is located close to the Huang Pu River and provides a good view of the whole city. The elliptical elevated pedestrian road just behind the TV tower provides some good views of the structure. The landscaping around the road is also noteworthy and the LED’s play a key role in it. The HSBC tower and Bank of China towers located very close by, have appeared in the famous Hollywood flick MI-III. The Jinmao Tower and World Finance Tower are the most important skyscrapers of the city. World Finance Tower is the third tallest building in the world and also houses the world’s highest observatory. The elegant geometric design and smart use of LED’s on the facade are some other key features of this building. The Jinmao Tower, designed by SOM, integrates traditional Chinese architecture and the contemporary style. The beautiful interiors are another highlight of this skyscraper.

The water villages of China are quite famous and are often called the Venice of the East (Though I personally believe that Alappuzha in Kerala is the only place on earth that befits the name.) Qibao (pronounced Chibao) is one such water village located quite close to the city. Qibao is famous for its busy pedestrian streets filled with souvenir shops and food outlets. The place is mainly aimed at local tourists and hence the prices are quite reasonable compared to those famous water villages. A 15 minute boat ride in the canals costs just 10 RMB. Moreover you can find souvenirs like the brass dragon and Buddha at reasonable prices. Qibao is usually very crowded in the weekends with people from Shanghai city thronging the place. So if you are planning to go to Qibao, I would prefer you go there on a weekday.

Though the Yu garden is a must visit for a tourist in Shanghai, I decided to give it a miss since I had seen all possible variations of the Chinese gardens in Suzhou. Suzhou is a city located around 100kms from Shanghai, famous for the numerous private gardens and temples. I will write about Suzhou in detail in another article. Some other places I visited include the Shanghai F1 circuit, the Chinese Pavilion etc. The Shanghai F1 circuit is located quite far away from the city centre, at the north eastern tip of the city. The building might interest the F1 enthusiasts, but the others can give this a miss.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Chinese pavilion in the Shanghai world expo just before it closed for further renovation. The Shanghai world expo region covers a huge area in Shanghai and has pavilions of various countries located in the complex. The Chinese pavilion was the only one which was accessible to public and also stands out as the finest of all the structures. The interiors are much more fascinating than the form itself. The overall theme of the pavilion was the sustainable development of the city and the evolution of the country through ages. The whole experience of the pavilion was mind blowing and this being my first experience with a pavilion added to the enthusiasm.

For a person planning to visit Shanghai, the only advice I can give is that apart from visiting all the prominent tourist destinations mentioned above try to experience the city at night. The city seems much more vibrant and colourful at night and the elegantly lit skyline will surely fascinate you.

The Chopsticks affair

2011-06-16T07:12:00.000+05:30

I had always wondered how the Chinese or the South-East Asian community as a whole managed to eat almost anything with those two pieces of wood. I was aware of the fact that mastering the chopstick way of eating things would be one skill I would have to acquire for a perfect dining experience during my short stay at Shanghai. I never bothered to look up an online video tutorial on YouTube or something, but this thing was always there at the back of my head. Still I cared to ignore it. “Let’s take it head on,” said my ignorant mind.

The judgement day arrived sooner than expected. My colleagues and I were at this mediocre Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was the second day in office and I had decided to try out some authentic Chinese food. (Not the “Chinese” stuff you get in India.) While they were ordering the food, I came up with a hapless exit strategy."Do you happen to have any forks here? ” I asked."No,” said the rather startled waitress. I might be the first guy ever to have asked her a fork, it seemed.

While we were waiting for the food, one of the colleagues noticed me playing around with the chopsticks and volunteered to help me out. He showed me how to hold them in between the fingers and move them. This is how it looked like.

So, Level 1: How to hold a chopstick: Clear.

So finally the food arrived. A plate of duck curry, tofu, a boiled mandarin fish and so on with a bowl of rice. There was also a can of this Cold Chinese herbal tea. I was eager to try out my newly acquired skill. (God, I was missing the spoon and fork badly.) Picking up rice was kind of okay, but the hard bit was eating the duck curry. After endless futile attempts, I finally decided to take the help of the soup spoon. The food was kind of delicious and here I was, finding it difficult to eat it thanks to my beginner level skills (or rather unskilled) with those two pieces of wood.

So bit of an advice to anyone planning to stay in China for a while. Do watch this video beforehand, and practice a bit if you can.

And by the way my chopsticks skills have been moved up to level 2. I have sort of acquired the skill of eating noodles with those damn sticks.

Onam - Past Present and Future

2010-08-22T23:34:00.004+05:30

When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,

All the people had equality.

And people were joyful and merry;
They were all free from harm.
There was neither anxiety nor sickness,
Death of the children was never even heard of,
There were no lies,
There was neither theft nor deceit,
And no one was false in speech either.
Measures and weights were right;
No one cheated or wronged his neighbour.
When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,
All the people formed one casteless race.
The auspicious month of Chingam heralds the arrival of the greatest of the Malayali festivals, Onam. The return of their beloved king Mahabali (Maveli is the apt term I guess), the roots of which are embedded in the Indian epics. A demon who earns the envy of the heavens is seldom born in the epics. The day also marks the harvesting season, a day when the farmer reaps the fortune of his hard work. The achievements of the great Demon king is well described in the above poem (though the Malayalam version of it would sound more poetic and meaningful), and all those values long forgotten.
Onam now heralds the arrival of vacation to the school kids, a day off from work for all those employed in "Multi-National Companies". A day when the recent blockbusters is shown on the TV screens. Another day for the drunken state to booze.
A two or three bedroom flat has no space for a pookalam. Even if you manage a space for it where are the flowers? Who shall take the pain to go to the local market or road side seller to buy those at unaffordable prices at the time of recession? Thanks to the instant mixes available at the markets the appetite issue seems to be resolved. Else we would have resorted to the foreign junk food on that day too.
Well I may be sounding like a teacher of architecture who seems to have found all the mistakes in the design but with no solutions to the issues. The answer to how else should I look at the onam celebration in the present day seems to be the one that should be dealt with. Frankly I have no answer to it but some hypothetical statements which seems way beyond a practical solution.
But all I wish is that a day should not come when the kids would have to open up this link to know what actually was or is ONAM.

Why is it better to Wordpress than to Blogger ? Or is it?

2010-07-14T19:03:00.002+05:30

First of all, this post is not about wordpress.org but wordpress.com. Well, if you are someone who is still unclear about the org and com ambiguity, better visit this link and sort out everything ( http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ ).

V/S

This post is for all those who are new to the blog-o-sphere and are finding it difficult to choose between hosting sites like blogger, WordPress and other similar sites. Since my first hand experience is limited to WordPress and blogger, I would be comparing only these blog hosting sites here. The points mentioned are from my personal experience so some of them may seem lame or even wrong to all the techies around. So please do correct me if you find such errors.

It's almost two years since I have been using blogger for this blog of mine. Two long years, I believed Blogger to be the best and WordPress to be mere substitute. But this week finally the truth dawned on me. WordPress is far ahead of blogger in many aspects of blogging. Most of the techies are of the opinion that Blogger is best for beginners. But I believe the flexibility and tools that WordPress has to offer is far more superior to blogger.

So I have listed some features of WordPress that were different from blogger. Please feel free to add on to the list.

1. The all in all dashboard:
The dashboard of WordPress is much superior in comparison to blogger. The quick press option, the visitor stats, user comments, post management all at one place. To add on, it is completely flexible with a neat interface. What else can a common blogger like me ask for?

2. Webmaster Tools Verification:
Entering the meta key "content" value to verify blogs with Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo! Site Explorer, and Bing Webmaster Center is made very easy by the webmaster tools verification. For blogger you need to edit the template for adding these Meta tags. So search engines can reach you faster by the webmaster tools.

3. The media gallery:
The place where you can find all the images and videos, you have uploaded . Here you can edit, name or give description to your media hence helping in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and also in giving a direct web link to you images, files and video. Remember that it allows varied file types like pdf, doc, ppt, odt, pptx, docx.

4. Slideshows and Gallery:
Slide show and gallery are two useful tools you can find on WordPress. The give your posts that dynamic feel and lets you manage more media in an orderly manner. As a matter of fact this is one of the feature I seriously miss here in blogger.

5. Editing url option:
Well this helps in two ways. If you are someone allergic to long urls you can make it short and sweet using this option. The other benefit is for SEO. You can use precise keywords as the url extension.

6. Adding Pages:
Blogger lets you add only an about me page to your blog. WordPress on the other hand has options to add as many pages as you want. Very useful for those who actually need them.

7. The proof reading:

The enable proof reading option which lets you follow grammar and style rules when writing posts and pages is one very useful tool for people like me who make a lot of typos and other errors. Bias Language ,Clichés, Complex Phrases, Diacritical Marks, Double Negatives, Hidden Verbs, Jargon, Passive Voice, Phrases to Avoid and Redundant Phrases are checked using the proof reading feature. Well, some of them may be of little use but this seriously helps in rectifying the lame errors and typos that we make.

Well, this post was initially intended to be an all praise post for WordPress, but while I was researching on this topic I found out that blogger's got benefits too. Well this realization occurred as i pondered deep into the WordPress interface. So let me conclude by pointing out some of the benefits of using blogger. After all its blogger who managed my blog for two long years..

Benefits of Blogger::

1. The edit template option :
The most important benefit of Blogger. This feature can do wonders for all SEO buffs. Editing Meta tags at will, adding and editing code, all made possible through this very option. WordPress is seriously missing this option. Well this is the only option I think WordPress is missing.

2. Google analytic enhancement:
Well, this is in fact an indirect result of the edit template option were you can add the code for the use of Google analytic. Google analytic give a great deal of information about the traffic and visits of your site , clearly indicating what your readers like and what are the main referral sites to your blog. Although WordPress has a decent stats options its no as deep as the Google analytic.

3. A Google product:
Well Google is considered by many as the God of the 21st century. The one who has the answer to all their queries even the most obscure one. So anything from Google is like a god sent gift to Homo sapiens (For the time being forget about Orkut). Blogger as all are aware of is a Google product. So no wonder it's so famous. More over Google features like friend connect come in handy for those who wish to popularize their blog.

An Entrance Examination at the age of five

2010-07-08T18:40:00.002+05:30

There was a time when the aim of each and every Fertilizers And Chemicals Travancore (FACT) limited employee and his or her spouse was to get their kid into Udyogamandal school. An admission in Udyogamandal was a matter of personal pride and prestige to them. Only a lucky forty, who crossed the barrier of the entrance test managed to get an admission to the "English speaking", ICSE-ISC affiliated school. So at a wee age of five I had to write my first entrance test .

So when there's an entrance test there should be coaching centers too.The nurseries in the township took up this role and trained the 4 to 5 year old to crack the first entrance examination of their life. I was a student of the then most successful coaching institute, managed by the ladies club of the township, known as ladies club nursery school and my batch came out with a Bansal, Kota like performance managing to secure more than half of the 40 seats.

Talking about the school, it was located in the FACT Township in Eloor, the Industrial belt of Kochi, a place which Green Peace considers to be of the top toxic hotspots of the world. The dead fishes popping up once in a while in Periyar evidence to the toxicity of the place. Eloor is in fact an island surrounded on all sides by River Periyar.FACT was the biggest of all the factories in the area and had four schools under its management, the most important of it being my school.

Well there is little I can remember of my first entrance exam. One distinct memory of the entrance exam was the part when all the kids appearing in the test were taken to a room full of images and models, and on returning back to the examination hall we were asked to write down the name of the object we could remember, a memory test in fact.

Years have passed by and now the rat race is all over. The deteriorating economic situation of the company prompted it to give the school on lease to a different management. The change in management prompted many of the staff to move on to better private school. The new management opened more divisions making the entrance a mere formality and in a few years the exams were stopped.

The Evolution of Hartal- From Bapu to dirty politics

2010-06-26T06:15:00.000+05:30

Thanks to the new petroleum reforms of the central government, all my relatives, friends and the other "literate" junta of my very dear God's own country will be spending a day at home enjoying all the world cup prequarter action. Yeah the communist have called for a hartal bringing joy into the eyes of every kid and office-goer in Kerala. While they enjoy this surprise "holiday" one is forced to think on why is it just here that a hartal means public life on a stand still. It's either the fear of the hard hitting communists or the congressmen or lately the saffron men or the educated people smartly pulling a day off.

Well, hartals always remind me of those school days when confusion prevailed on whether there will be classes or not. All those calls from friends asking if you are going to school or what the teacher who lives next door had to say and all. And finally when it is known that the party men had burned down a public transport bus in the middle of the city, things are clear. No class.

Well, when our respected Father of the nation introduced this very concept against the British, never ever would he have imagined that our present day political maestros would utilize it to disrupt common public life. Do they even care about the daily bread of the common man who suffers the most? Seriously, who's going to cover up all those expenses? And all those public property you destroy and buses you burn down. Who is ultimately paying for all that? The very same public for whom you say you are doing all these protests. And they claim that all this is for the common man. Well it's high time you rethink your political actions.

Since hartals are something like a necessary evil lets look into the positive aspects or rather how to utilize a hartal day.

Is hartal after all blessing in disguise?? May be it is. For the present day nuclear families where parents get to spend very little time with their kids this can be an opportunity to spend a day with them. Now-a-days Television channels come up with a good collection of movies knowing the fact that most of the population will be glued to the channels. So this might be a chance to watch a movie of your superstar you might have missed.

Hoping you are making the best of the day. Happy hartal....

An Italian's perspective of India

2010-06-17T02:17:00.000+05:30

As the day of my first ever trip abroad was fast approaching ,one thought that loomed in my mind was "what would be an Italians thoughts about India ?" Part of my thought can be a direct influence of the inferiority complex that many of us Indians possess. The fact is that I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I believed that for them, India would be a poor, terrorism breading nation full of hapless beggars and snake charmers. May be part of this assumption was influenced by the reaction you get when you meet those random strangers over Omegle. So with all these negative impression in mind I finally step foot on those lands where I had ventured never before.

Well my presumptions were blown away on the very first day at office.

When they hear the word "India" the first thing that comes to their mind is Bollywood and Slumdog Millionare (thanks to Pussy cat dolls version of AR Rahman's Jai Ho). Believe me they love those colourful dance sequences unique to our cinema industry. Remember the song very good very bad from Trimurti . There is this Italian remix of this song about India quite popular out here.

Italians also travel a lot to India. Hence they know places like Rajasthan, Delhi and the obvious one Agra.And yeah they know that there are loads of people in India and since there is no room for all they come here.

The chief architect was aware of those outsourcing and call center works in India and considers India to be full of IT experts. Thanks to the dragons next door, for him India is this developing giants set to conquer planet earth. He also believed that Indian cities have those skyscrapers popping up like mushrooms at every nook and corner.

One thing that they admire about India is the fact that a lot of us can communicate quite proficiently in English language. This is one area where they fail miserably. Only a handful of Italians in a crowd can communicate in English. And their way of speaking the English was exactly depicted in the video "the Italian man who went to Malta".

So let me conclude by stating some facts about India which I really expected them to know and they surprisingly didn't: Cricket, caste system most importantly the holy cow concept.

First encounters @ Roorkee ----- The Ravindra Bhawan canteen

2010-03-07T10:59:00.000+05:30

The Ravindra Bhawan canteen managed by the one and only Bhuppi has offered me food items which may now seem a common element but which once made me look at in wonder or amazement. When the seniors order their Bhujia maggis and Dew shinkanji's one used to look at them in amazement but one always had the desire to try it out too.

So here is something on all those weird or rather interesting food stuff in the canteen:

Dew/ Cola Shikhanji:

Tag line: The real thirst quencher

Take a glass, fill it with Mountain dew or Coca cola or any other cool drink . Squeeze out the contents of a freshly cut lemon into that glass.Add some masala and a huge piece of ice(The one that reminds you of the iceberg that hit Titanic). Tada.. the innovative dew/cola shikanji is ready. (Also available in Sprite, Mirinda, Thump's up flavours.)

Samosa or Patti's bhujjia:

Take two samosas, break them up into pieces in a frying pan.Add some onion or cabbage or any junk you find around.Mix them up well and serve it to the one who ordered it.
Here are some interesting facts you must know about samosa Bhujia.:

When two of you friends go to the canteen both of them should not order samosa bhujia together.The canteen guy then settle for 3 samosas rather than 4 for your evening meal and adjusts the quantity buy increasing the quantity of the cabbage or any other junk he finds around. So wait for one of the samosa bhujia's to arrive before ordering the second.
Samosa bhujjia is one of those dishes where, if lucky you can find a piece of Maggi or scrambled egg and all this free ( Sarcasm intended).

Bun panga:

Tagline: The junkiest food ever.

There is something pretty interesting about Bun panga.

Of course its "name" and
Why Pav Bhajji a dish in similar lines with the bun panga cost almost double its cost.

This dish contains the gravy of Pav Bhajji stuffed in to a bun to such an extend that one can't manage to eat it without dropping the gravy on to the corners of your plate.

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Please do mention if I have missed out any of those innovative cateen food.
So let me conclude with the words of Nishith Singh, "There is a Roorkeefied version of every Indian food available." And the canteens do stand up to the quote.

Reply of the year

2010-02-21T11:15:00.000+05:30

It's intern season and you do come across some interesting/ weird replies. But this one is a masterpiece.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear (your name here) Nishith & R.S.,

Thank you for your interest in Shelter Architecture. We are currently… (Check all that apply):

☐ To dang busy to actually read your resume…sorry.

☐ So utterly amazed at your over qualification that we cannot bring ourselves to call you.

☒ Not looking to fill any positions at this time.

☐ In desperate need of help!

☐ Reviewing your application.

☐ Trying to figure out how you completed your thesis project using nothing but crayons and toothpaste.

☐ Would be glad to set up an informational interview.

As you can imagine we get ~~hundreds~~ ~~dozens~~ a couple of inquiries every ~~day~~ ~~week~~ month and are not always in a position to interview folks right away. Typically, if we are looking for new team members, we will contact you within one week of receiving your information.

If we currently cannot use your talents we do keep all resumes on file and review them from time to time. Please… (check all that apply):

☐ Don’t ever call us again.

☐ Keep a stiff upper lip; something is bound to turn up.

☐ Let us know when you would be available to stop by the studio.

☐ If you wish us to keep your resume on file feel free to send it (all formats, except papyrus, welcome)

☐ Consider another career; perhaps something in the field of “fast food”.

☐ Keep us informed as to you job status.

☐ Forget we ever met.

☒ Let us know when your contact information changes.

☐ Step away from the keyboard.

Best of luck in your career.

(Courtesy Nishith Singh and JK)

The Architecture of Happiness

2010-01-17T11:36:00.001+05:30

Disclamer: This post has nothing to do with the book "Architecture of Happiness" by Alain de Botton apart from the fact that the name of the book did fascinate me.

It's almost three years since I decided to take up Architecture as my future profession. It was rather not a choice but the only possible chance for me to enter one of India's most prestigious institution, the IIT. The day my home PC screen stated that you have been allotted the B.Arch degree at IIT Roorkee, my mind was thrown into a state of chaos. On one side I had to weigh all the math and physics I had learned and on the other side the IITian tag. Ultimately the latter proved the heavier candidate.

Three years of exposure to the field of architecture has had a substantial impact on me. Be it in changing the way I see things around me or in clearing the myths and truths of this 'creative' field. Well I may not be in the best of Architecture schools but a competitive atmosphere makes a lot of difference.

A few years back a building may not be of a great significance to me apart from its functional characteristics. But now its Architectural style, material, construction type is what fascinates me more.It is an obvious thing that one tends to relative things around him to what he studies.A few years back Qutab Minar to me, was only a tall tower built by Qutb ud-in Aibak . But today it a 13th century,five storied red sandstone structure built in a complex which once housed many Hindu temples whose each layer has a different plan designed to create a sense of dynamism to the viewer.

The biggest myth of Architecture according to me :"A good sketcher is a good Architect." A good sketcher need not necessarily be a good architect. There are examples but lets not discuss that here. What makes a good architect is still a debatable question. One may say its the knowledge of space, another the aesthetics and others may say the knowledge of function. Let's leave that to the experts to decide.

Architecture is undoubtedly the worst hit profession by recession but that doesn't mean Architecture will decay. As long as human being survive he would need a house to dwell , an office to work in ,a mall to shop in, a Multiplex to entertain him and an architect to design it. ( To be contd. at some later point of time)

AVATAR

2010-01-09T00:41:00.000+05:30

Thanks to the one who found out this striking similarity. I would have loved to mention your name here, if only I knew it. All my friends from Kerala are definitely gonna love this one.Here it goes.

Some call it the ultimate 3D graphic miracle. Masand did not mind giving it a 5 out of 5.Cine goers praised it as a never miss. The whole world appreciated not just the graphics but also the script of this Hollywood biggie. And definitely people would line up to kill me if i say AVATAR is the hollywood version of an old Malayalam Movie.

Yes. Avatar is the hollywood version of A Mohanlal starrer, Siddique-Lal directed, movie named VIETNAM COLONY!!!

To start of with, let me give the basic outline of Vietnam Colony, if you have no clue about it.The story line is based on a colony named as Vietnam Colony, where only gundas, goons, and below poverty line people lives. This colony is situated in the centre of the city and a construction company owns this colony. But the residents are not willing to vacate the place as they don't have any other place to go. Then the company makes a smart move by sending one person (Mohanlal) to the colony, to be one among them and to tactfully vacate the people. But knowing the reality and by empathizing on the poor residents over there, the man who was sent by the company, stands for the colony people and fight back against the company.

Striking something? Not Yet? Now replace the word Vietnam Colony with Pandora, the poor residents with Na'vi, the construction company folks as those scientists and Mohanlal as Sam Worthington (Jake Sully to be precise).

In Avatar, the Jake goes to Pandora as part of the mission of being one among the residents. Later on he realizes the value of their existence and fight back against the ones who had sent him.

In the beginning, Grace tells the hero that she was looking for his brother and has no confidence that he would finish the mission. Similarly, in VC, Construction Company first doubts the talent of Lal.

In VC, When Mohanlal reaches the colony, he has an argument with the Auto Rikshaw guy regarding the fare. The Auto guy tries to indulge in a fist fight with Lal. but then the main gunda of the Colony, Rauthar, comes and stand behind Lal. Seeing him, the driver flees and Lal thinks that the Auto guy was scared of him and when he turns back, he finds Rauthar standing behind him. Similarly in Avatar, when they reach Pandora a Rhino like creature tries to attack the hero and flee by seeing a much bigger animal behind him. Hero thinks the creature got scared of him and when he turns back he finds a much more bigger creature.

In VC, the person who had been sent by the company falls in love with a girl of the colony. Similarly in Avatar, he fall for a girl in Pandora. At one point of time, the slum people realize that he is a person from the construction company and attacks Lal. Then the girl comes for his help. Similarly in Avatar, tsutey tries to kill the hero and its Neytiri who saves the hero.

In VC, towards the end, Lal gets back to the company and tell that he is no more working for them and then the company people comes to the colony. In the climax scenes, Lal fights against them along with the other Colony people.In Avatar, along with the hero, whole community is fighting against the villains.

Is this a mere coincidence ,hard to say with all theses striking similarities with a 1993 Indian regional movie.You can never rule out the possibilty of the Hollywoodisation of an Indian script here.But there is no denial of the fact that Avatar is the visual spectacle of world cinema and even if the script is a lifted one, it makes no difference at all.

In a Drunken State

2009-10-19T03:50:00.000+05:30

It is called God's own country. But apparently the god ruling Kerala seems to be Bacchus. Known as a model state for its excellent human development record, Kerala tops the country in alcohol consumption as well(followed by Punjab's 7.9 litres). The state breaks all records when it celebrates its traditional festivals-religious or otherwise.

As usual, the recent Onam festival, Kerala's biggest harvest festival that culminated on September 2, was no exception as it notched up a new record in alcohol consumption. The seven-day Onam week, excluding one dry day, saw Kerala gulping down Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 154.44 crore as against Rs 126.07 crore last year, registering an increase of 41.53 per cent. The sales peaked on two days before the climactic Thiruvonam when Malayalees guzzled IMFL worth Rs 34 crore as against last year's highest daily figure of Rs 23 crore.

No wonder one of the state's most revered deities is Parassinikadavu Muthappan in Kannur district whose favourite offering is liquor. These days, thanks to the large number of devotees working in the Gulf, Muthappan's favourite offering (as reported by the priests) is Scotch whisky rather than the traditional arrack or toddy.

If one considers the amount of toddy, a popular liquor sold through the 5,000-odd registered outlets, the total consumption would be staggering. Not just toddy, but the highly popular arrack, another country liquor banned since 1995, flows freely across the state. In fact, its value was put at Rs 13,000 crore a year . According to the industry sources, alcohol sales in the state are actually worth Rs 20,000 crore. Rum sells the most, followed by brandy and whisky.

While 15-20 per cent of the population consumes liquor in the country, the figure for Kerala is 30 per cent.The average age of starting consumption of liquor was 19 years in 1986 but it fell to less than 13 in 2001.

A recent study by the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, an NGO, says Keralites collectively spend most on marriages (Rs 6,787 crore annually), followed by medical treatment (Rs 2,800 crore). Clearly, spending on liquor, officially on IMFL alone, would certainly rank third in the list.

(I would like to thank India Today for all the valuable statistics and quotes")

Saying no to Bebo

2009-09-18T10:19:00.000+05:30

I have no personal grudge against either Kareena Kapoor or Akshay Kumar or for this case against Anu Malik . But how to turn a song into the most irritating element for one on earth was revealed recently by very own neighbour. Imagine a song (in fact a real pathetic one) being playing at a decibel level above 100, not once or twice but for a whole month and that too from six in the morning . Yeah this was the scrutiny I was put under by my very own neighbour .

A song may be irritating but to make it real real irritating is a task and my neighbour has done it to such a good extent that if you you read an article on Anu Malik being shot dead in tomorrow's newspaper , you won't have to look else where for the culprit.

It was 6 in the morning and all on a sudden the dreadful music starts. The song goes like " Bebo me bebo, Dil mera lelo, Dil dene aayi , Lelo Ji lelo(To add to all these he has forced me to remember the whole song by-heart ).I got up went to the neighbour's room to find him standing in front of the Gaint mirror and dancing to the tune of this awful song.I said nothing after all what can I say to such a man. One of my other neighbour who also was in a dreadful state as me came up with the English translation of the song which clearly reveals the deep meaning that the lyricist tried to portray. It goes like "Bebo I'am Bebo , Take my heart, I have come to give my heart , please take please take."

So, I suggest the upcoming Hitler's to try this method of human punishment.Considering the fact that Gas chamber's are old fashioned , the song chamber may be a good and innovative invention.

Directed by Sreekanth P.S.

2009-09-05T19:53:00.002+05:30

I was , I am and I will be a movie buff . And one of my greatest dream was ( I am still confused whether i should use the word is or was) to direct a movie(!!!!!). May sound outlandish but the truth prevails. And mind you there was a point in my life when I thought that if I don't get admission in some good engineering college , i would go to Pune film institute to study direction or cinematography(!!!!!)(Cinematography is the stepping stone to direction).

During my school time I used to think of many scripts which I would like to make into a movie.Here I'll describe some of which i still remember.

The first among them was "Stop the World" starring Abhishek Bachchan. (Yeah even the star cast was ready!!!) . Stop the World describes the life of a man who gets the power of Devil to stop time ( courtesy Constantine). The plot of the movie was how he uses his powers in a negative manner initially and later realizes the truth and makes killing the devil his aim. The script was complete expect for the climax part which become so complicated that the whole project got canceled.

Then came the psychological thriller " I'am Online."( Well star cast for this movie was not finalized). This movie deals with the life of a teenage boy who was in a do or die situation and the only way he could do it was through many random people he found online. The movie got packed because me myself was not convinced with the script.

Then came " Back Home", which deals with return of a successful business man to his home town after year's of workaholism in foreign. The movie describes how his old friends had changed and how he starts giving value to relationships. The movie was to include autobiographical elements as well. This was the one which was supposed to give me all those awards and prizes.

May be I am not aware of the ABCD of film making, put a passion for something can take you heights. I always wanted my movie to be different in all sense. Unexpected script, creative camera angles, variety BG, mixing of songs within the storyline and so on. ( Well i know that this is what all directors desire). And above all my movie will leave you touched for sure as a movie from the heart will touch another human heart. And if everything goes right you will certainly see the following words on a 75mm screen in the Cinema Hall near your home

Direction
Sreekanth P.S.

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS

2009-08-29T19:44:00.000+05:30

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS

Awesome trailer!!!!!

Starring: Heath ledger, Johny Depp, Collin Farrel and Jude law
and don't ask me how come Heath Ledger is still acting!!!

Priyadarshan or The art of copying movies

2009-08-25T12:26:00.000+05:30

Priyadarshan was a Icon in malayalam movie industry in the 80's and 90's . His movies filled with comedy and confusion was liked by all kind of audience . His movie 'Chitram' was a blockbuster in the history of Malayalam cinema and ran for over an year!! Priyan along with his college mate and now superstar Mohanlal created waves in malayalam movie industry. Little did people know that these movies were mere remakes of successful English movies.

After successful outing in Kerala, he moved to the more lucrative Bollywood, this time with a bag full of screenplays of malayalam movies ( even screenplays of other writers and directors) along with his usual Hollywood stuff. The Priyan magic continued. He produced hits after hits. He played a key role in making Akshay Kumar a superstar. Super heroes like SRK showed interest in his projects. Now priyan is a Icon in bollywood too.

Its not that he became all successful by copying screen plays. His biggest ever successes in Malayalam movie industry were original screen plays. Considering this fact I can't still digest the fact why he is not taking up original screenplays. The fact is that Priyan copied, Priyan copies and Priyan will continue to copy. If you don't believe me see the list below.

Garam Masala (2005 Hindi)--->Boeing Boeing (1985 Malayalam )---->Boeing Boeing (1965) (USA)
Kyon Ki... (2005 Hindi)---> Thalavattam (1986 Malayalam)---> One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (USA)

De Dana Dan 2009 Hindi ----------------->Vettom(mal).
Billu 2009 Hindi----------------------------------> Kadha Parayumbol (Mal.)
Mere Baap Pehle Aap 2008 Hindi -------------->Ishtam (Mal.)
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2007 Hindi ------------->Manichitrathazhu (Mal.)
Dhol 2007 Hindi --------------------------->In Harihar Nagar (Mal.)
Chup Chup Ke 2006 Hindi --------------->Punjabi House (Mal.)
Malamaal Weekly 2006 Hindi ------------------>Waking Ned (Ireland)
Bhagam Bhag 2006 Hindi ---------------->Mannar Mathayi Speaking (Mal.);
Vettom 2004 Malayalam ----------------> French Kiss (USA)
Hulchul 2004 Hindi ----------------------->Godfather (Mal.)
Hungama 2003 Hindi --------------------->Poochakkoru Mookkuthi (Mal.)
Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar 2001 Hindi ------>Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (Mal.)
Kakkakuyil 2001 Malayalam ------------->A Fish Called Wanda (USA/UK)
Hera Pheri 2000 Hindi --------------------->Ramji Rao Speaking (Mal.)
Doli Saja Ke Rakhna 1998 Hindi ----------->Aniyathi Pravu (Mal.)
Saat Rang Ke Sapne 1998 Hindi ------------>Thenmavin Kombath (Mal.)
Chandralekha 1997Malayalam -------------------------->While You Were Sleeping (USA)
Virasat 1997 Hindi --------------------------->Thevar Magan (Tam.)
Kala Pani 1996 Malayalam------------------> Papillon (USA)
Abhimanyu 1991 Malayalam -------------->The Godfather Part II (USA)
Vandanam 1989 Malayalam --------------->Stakeout (USA)
Hello, My Dear Wrong Number 1986Malayalam -------> North by Northwest (USA)
Ninnishtam Ennishtam 1986 Malayalam----> City Lights (USA) Hit

The Serpent Lord

2009-08-23T09:41:00.000+05:30

Kerala has many esoteric secrets of which many of them are hidden in the annals of its temples. One of the strangest of the temples to be found in Kerala is known as Mannarshala, which is a refuge for snakes of every type and description. It’s hoary past intrudes into the 21st century but it continues to retain the mystic magic of another age. It still clings to its ancient customs, which are as old as life itself. These traditions are centered round the belief in the power of serpents – their ability to protect as well as to destroy.

I can still remember the day I visited this temple. From the outside it seemed no different from any temple in Kerala. As I passed through the ornamental gate into the compound it appeared as if I had entered another age where nature and man lived in an amicable relationship with each other. There is a mysterious aura about the place, which is covered with medicinal trees, creepers and plants all favoured by snakes. It seemed that I had entered another world that belongs to another species. Rows upon rows of snake figures carved on granite sat on the walls and lined the grounds. There are also many snake pits made of sand in which numerous snakes live happily. These include snake families that have been brought here from other houses in Kerala, which have no facilities to keep the snakes in their own abodes. It is a common occurrence to see snakes slithering away into the bushes. We are brought to a realisation that this is their ground and we are the trespassers. They are totally unafraid and in turn they generate a feeling of awe and respect rather than fear and disgust.

Mannarshala is an exceptional place since the senior most female member of the family is the final authority on all matters pertaining to the puja at this temple. She is known as Valliamma (big mother), and is installed before the cremation of the previous Valliamma. There are many unique facets about the mode of worship in this temple. The Valliamma has to be a celibate and she is not allowed to go out of the temple compound for long. If she is forced to go she has to return before nightfall. She is not allowed to communicate directly with non-family members. Her time is to be spent exclusively in puja, prayer and meditation.

Mannarshala is really a place of mystery where the supernatural holds hands with the natural, where time seems to have stood still and nature and man live in harmony and peace.

The Hit Movie Syndrome

2009-08-14T12:59:00.001+05:30

I don’t know how many of you are aware of the fact that i’ am a real superstitious guy. Well if you are not here are some of the general facts:
I don’t cut my nails on Tuesday and Saturday or after dusk.I keep away glass items which have cracked from my room, even if it is a small crack or even if it is one of my favourite things. I don’t sprinkle water on people’s face even for fun and the strangest of all is the Hit movie song superstition .

The patent rights to this superstition is mine as I believe that this one is the grotesque creation of my very own mind. The fundamental rule of this superstition is that if your about to do something important like say giving an exam or an interview, never sing or think of a song from a flop or average movie even if it is a good one. The song which runs around in your mind should be from a hit movie never mind how idiotic the song may be. I developed this theory way back in 2005 when i was righting my tenth board exam . When my results came the theory had proved itself right. The superstition was an integral part of my success in twelfth board as well as in JEE and the magic continues here in IITR too.
It may seem strange that people ( i don’t know about you guys but i do) believe in similar outlandish superstitions. My theory of justification for such phenomenon is the human need for a element providing confidence and such superstitions are the minds way of making one confident. So never be bothered even if one is called a lunatic for such strange superstitions because eventually its your peace of mind that is essential in accomplishing a task

The Mafia Affair

2009-08-09T10:04:00.000+05:30

Never have I spent two entire days sitting in front of my lappy for a single cause.
Never have i thought of skipping sleep or postponing things for anything( Even Exams).
Never have I seen a more gripping online game .

Mafia @ Facebook has something in it that can really freak you out.

It was a fine Friday morning. Sun light pouring in through the courtyard of our department into the computer lab. The notorious Structures tutorial had just finished and all where releaved by seeing the rather unexpectedly easy questions. So here at this point my ex-room mate Rishabh Hajela enlightens me about the world of Mafia Wars , the game of endless possibilities. He described the game as a whole and about his breath taking adventures in the quest for the highest level. Wonder struck was I. I listened to all his achievements in amazement. And hence began my quest for glory in the land of mafia wars.

People told me ,"chal Ghana ghane chal ."
I told them ,"Ruk yaar. Ye level to khatam ho jane de."

People asked me," Civil Lines chalega?"
I told them ," Nahi yaar . Abhi mera energy full hogaya hoga. Jobs karna hai mujhe."

I had JK to compete with.
I had Vasif sir to advice me.
I had achievements and jobs to be completed.
I had numerous friends who sent me gifts.
I had numerous enemies , whom i looted and killed.

The war is still on. Higher levels continue to lure you. A mafia is born to fight and I'am no exception.

Never have I had so may interruptions while writing a blog post.
Clearly the mafia is controlling my thoughts.

Amul Hits

2009-08-05T10:19:00.001+05:30

I hope you people are aware of the Amul hits, advertisements of Amul products. Amul ads are a hilarious representation of the current affairs around the world. The most interesting thing about Amul hits is the way they relate these events to Amul. Here are some of the very recent Amul hits.

Growing popularity of Facebook and twitter- July'09

Popular T.V. reality show ( yeah its rakhi )- July '09

Indian cricket team refusing to sign the Wada clause which requires sportsmen to disclose their whereabouts in advance - Aug '09

Must watch videos - three

2009-08-03T20:51:00.000+05:30

I have always considered the art of advertisement making the most challenging of all visual media tasks as it invovles attracting the audience in a very little span of time. Creative and innovative ads have always brought benefits to the brands. The recent examples are ofcourse the vodafone Zoozoo ads. Here is a real creative ad by Coca Cola . In simple words this is indeed a must watch advertisement.

On the banks of the backwaters

2009-07-26T16:29:00.001+05:30

During my school days , my summer vacation destination used to be my native place in Alappuzha, Kerala. Alappuzha is a place of picturesque backwaters (its known as the Venice of the East) and you can always find tourist moving along in those famous house boats of Kerala. Yeah its true that house boats have deviated very much from their original utility as that of a transportation medium of rice from the Kuttanadan rice fields of Kerala to a fantasy for the tourists.

My fathers house had a Thodu ( malayalam for a backwater) flowing just along the eastern border. That particular Thodu was called the Kappi Thodu ( literally meaning the Coffee backwater) ,named so maybe because the colour of the water resembled black coffee. There was good vegetation along the side of the backwater letting in very little sunlight into it. This maybe a reason why the water has a black coffee-ish colour.

My grandmother and father have told me many a stories of this once active transportation route. Every household along the bank of the Thodu used to have a boat of their own . People used to sell things like vegetables, fish and even day to day stationary items in boats (a sort of mobile shop).As a kid i used to have a good time catching fishes using fishing rods from these Thodus . Apart fromthis every house used to have a private bathing ghat along the Thodu.

The state of the Kappi Thodu presently is pathetic thanks to those Chemmen ( malayalam for the aquatic living being prawn) merchants . Chemmen industry is quite famous in Kerala and is a very high revenue earner for the goverment as these products have high demand in foreign nations. Chemmen factories are generally built along these thodus so that waste dumping can be done easily. Thanks to there blind dumping the Thodus started degrading . The slow flowing backwaters transformed into stagnant smelly water bodies breeding mosquitoes.

Some people protested but were silenced by the Chemmen mafias. People started selling there plots along the Thodu. Now very little remains of this Thodu. All that is left are those fond memories that people tell about this once beautiful Kappi Thodu.

Must watch videos- two

2009-07-23T21:16:00.000+05:30

This one is must watch indeed( i stress this point because of the rave comments i got for the last must watch video). Many of you might have already seen this one but for those who haven't do watch this one. A true eye opener

Stroke of Luck

2009-07-15T12:16:00.000+05:30

I consider that I have been damn lucky throughout my life. There have been lot of incidents in my life that I would rather term as unexpected and unexplainable.

The first incident I can vividly remember was when my teacher (it was my second standard class teacher Emily ma’am) in second standard asked the class for the word which meant strong and courageous. Something made me say the word bold and I’m damn sure I never knew that word at that time and I don’t know how I said that.( for those who have a weak vocabulary I was right :P). The only bold I knew at that time was the word bowled in cricket which sounded the similar.

Then there was this incident when I was in 9^th. It was the house vice quiz competition. Nikhil George (he was in 12^th at that time); my classmate Vaishak and I were representing the Viking house. It was a great distinction for two 9^th standard boys to represent their house and we were up against all those seniors from plus 2 section ( Manoj Madhu of sputnik house might sound a familiar name for many).

There was this very interesting connect round in which the quiz master Mr. Rajan ( he was the father of one my classmate but I guarantee you that it never created a bias) would say two or three words and we had to connect them. (Before I proceed I would like to mention that I never had any idea about English music or albums at that time( even now I have no idea!!!!) and the only English band I had ever heard of at that time were Back Street Boys, Aqua( thanks to their famous song I am a Barbie girl) and that’s it.

So the question was to connect the Ernakulam – Lok Manya Tilak express and Back Street Boys. Although I had heard of Back Street Boys I never knew a single album of theirs except one, Millennium. This was because a neighbour of mine Edwin had a cassette of this album. So I remembered having seen the cover picture of that cassette in which some teenagers stood in a completely white background. Since none of my teammates knew the answer we decided to go for a shot. With little confidence I uttered,”is it Millennium?” I was surprised to hear that I was right. Seems like Ernakulam – Lok Manya Tilak express was known as the Millennium express. I haven’t still figured out how the only album of back street boys I have heard of would come in handy and eventually helped me win that quiz competition leaving all the seniors in school dejected .

Well the biggest of all those strokes of lucks in my life would be the fact that I cleared the IITJEE. I had been a good student throughout my school life but all those who are associated with IITJEE know that to clear that exam there is something more that is required and frankly I never had it. I was quite average in my coaching. In fact there are at least ten people whom I can name who were much better than me there. Even the exam went pretty average for me. But when the results were out those who were expected to clear didn’t and I did. Interestingly my AIEEE and Kerala entrance results were pretty average clearly showing that I was indeed lucky. So when I entered the IIT I feared that I would be a big misfit here but thankfully I was lucky here too. It seems like people here (I won’t say all but mostly) are luckier than me.

Must watch videos - one

2009-07-08T09:54:00.000+05:30

So here i would like to share some of the videos that i would like you pe0ple to watch

This one is the most hilarious videos i have ever watched. Me and friends laughed like hell when we first saw this one. Truly awesome videos i recommend this as a must watch . And remember watch the complete video

B.TECH V/S B.ARCH

2009-06-29T11:05:00.001+05:30

Main characters:

The B.Tech guy (Mr. B) and the Archi guys (Mr. A).

After a long session of games and movies Mr. B is now ready to sleep.

Time: 4:30 am.

As he moves towards the toilet he finds someone working on a drawing table with a very long scale (the T-pulley or the parallel bar for those architecturally illitrate)and music playing at full volume in the background. He signs and tells to himself,”poor Mr. A.”

Time: 8:00 am.

Mr. B wakes up hearing some group of people rushing. He opens the door to find a group of Mr. A’s rushing with the very same long scales and sheets. Mr B signs and tells to himself,” poor Mr. A s.”

Time: 6:00 pm.

Mr. B goes to the ground to play football. On the way he finds a group of Mr. A’s sitting and making sketches of various parts of the institute. .Mr B signs and tells to himself,” poor Mr. A s.”

Time: 12:30 am

On his way to the canteen, Mr. B finds a group of first year Mr. A’s cutting sheets and making models for their seniors. Mr B signs and tells to himself,” poor Mr. A s.”

It’s exam time. Mr. B tired after getting the notes photocopied and studying in the reading room returns back to his room. As he walks by Mr. A’s room ,he finds Mr. A sitting in his room watching the latest Hollywood flick and he over hears Mr. A say, “POOR MR. B.”.

APL Final

2009-06-03T17:46:00.000+05:30

Sorry for being late in posting the result of the final. The basic reason being( as majority might have guessed ) the fact that we lost. I don't want to write on how we lost as that would be quite a tedious and labourious act fro me to do. But here is what i would like to say. I would like to thank umpires Ali and Neerav for their very good umpiring which took the match away from us. Good news for all Sreekanth fans, he is the purple cap holder . Khetan was the undisputed winner of the orange cap as well the man of the series award. And yeah the winners of the inaugural APL is Shanky's FLW's.

First encounters @ roorkee ---- Cycle Rickshaw

2009-05-15T18:24:00.000+05:30

Well it may sound weird to all my north Indian friends and quite normal to many of my Mallu ( oh i hate using this word, but there is no other jargon the common junta reading my blog can understand )friends that the first time i ever travelled in a cycle rickshaw was when i first came to Roorkee. I used this then unfamiliar mode of transport to reach the much hiped and prestigious institution of India(The then refers to both the rickshaw and the institute( Only an IITian can understand his or her feelings !!! ) ). The first thing i ever remember about the rickshaw was the sense of pity which i felt for the poor rickshaw wala who had to carry people around for money. I showed my sympathy towards him by quickly jumping down as we approached an upward slope. As i reached the destination all my sense of pity for him disappeared when he started asking for a lumesome( the scale is with respect to the rikshaw wala of course) for carrying as till the destination.

Rikshaws had given way to their mechanical counterparts the autorickshaw popularly known as auto in the early 90's in kerala. So I never had the privilege to see this mode of transport until I reached Roorkee. I remember my father once saying that he travelled in a rickshaw in 1987 when was coming back to his home from Ambalapuzha railway station. He also mentioned that they were the very few rickshaws left in the town then.

But once in Roorkee Cycle Ricksaw s were nothing alien to me. Students arguing with rickshaw wala's are one of the commonest of sites here. I go back home and tell my old classmates in school about this ancient mode of transport with due respect.

So Roorkee had the honour of presenting before me the physical counterpart of the Auto Rickshaw ,undoubtedly the cycle rickshaw.

Pre-match Anxities - Grand Finale APL

2009-05-09T23:37:00.000+05:30

(For those who are yet unaware of APL read the earlier posts)

So just one more day left for the Grand Finale of the APL.

We have seen it all in this APL. SuperOver , players shouting at umpires ,the favourites getting knocked out, the underdogs firing and some really nail bitting encounters. What more is in store , lets wait and see.

All eyes will now be on the Final to be held in Ravindra Bhawan , at 5:00 pm on the 11th of may. Two sides, the Calatrava's and the Fosters ,one lead by the best player of 4th year, Shanky and the other by the best player of 2nd year Sandeep .( It's a different matter that both of these players not lived up to the expectation of the crowd).

Head to Head Analysis:

Both of them share a one win one loss scenario . Remember, both the matches between them went to the wire so we are surely up for a great contest.

FLW :

Positives:

Inform Divyesh kumar, the guy who silenced his critics( "these critics called me a looser the said i can't bat and take catches, i have surely answered them for one part of it",Divyesh was heard saying) with some consistent performance.
Shanky - the skipper has surely impressed with the ball although his batting remains below average
Nishith Singh - the golden boy has certainly proved why he is the best with consistent performance in all departments of the game.
Krishna- he may be inconsistent but can give you some match winning spells and innings . Remember he was the man of the match in the last encounter between the sides.

Negatives:

Biggest concern for them is Shanky's inconsistentcy with the bat. The would be certainly looking forward for him to lead from the front in the final.
Shanky's bad luck in the final's( as pointed out by sandeep and approved by Shanky himself) may be a pshycological concern for the side
Maddu' poor show with the ball will be one of their other concern. Hope his dearth for wickets don't last too long.

Calatrava's:

Positives:

The big factor- in form GOURAV KHETAN . He is certainly the man standing between FLW's and the trophy. His consistent allround performance is the only factor which has guided his team to the final. Moreover he is the Orange Cap holder and the second highest wicket taker.
Srekanth's spell of luck in IPL Fantasy league extends to the APL. God knows how his medium pace deliveries are earning dividends for the Calatrava's . Whatever be the case he is the current Purple cap holder with 9 wickets in his kitty.

Negatives:

Sandeep's failure both in the batting and bowling department is a cause of worry for his side . Hope he live upto his expectayion in the final.
The overall batting lineup apart from Khetan has been a complete disaster. They have rarely been able to sustain the complete overs. They would certainly be looking into that matter.

So with all said and done all that is left for is the Final..... So be there to watch it yourself or else just read the detailed report of the Grand Finale right here.......

Archi Premiere League Day- 2

2009-05-08T19:47:00.000+05:30

Well well well , Second day of APL was a visual treat for one and all . A day of drama , desperation and anxiety. A day which saw a Super over, players shouting at the umpires and a player throwing his bat in desperation( no offenses meant :P). The day was crucial for the Foster's because even a single loss could result in their exit from the tournament.

So the stage was set for the first match of the day . The till then invincible Calatrava versus the team which would remind you the yesteryear's Pakistan , FLW. Both teams had made one change each with Mohit replacing Kshitiz for the Calatrava's while Kushal replaced Maddu. The lucky charm of FLW , Divyesh once again displayed an excellent performance with the bat adding 18 more to his covetted Orange cap. Shanky's dismall form with the bat continued as he was out on the very first ball of Sreekanth caught by Mohit in the covers. Krishna came to the rescue of the FLW's and added some valuable runs in the slog overs. Sreekanth came back strongly after his expensive first over by bowling two tight overs apart from adding two wickets to his kitty hence becoming the sole owner of the purple cap . Sandeep continued to leave no impression with his bowling. FLW added 57 on board meaning tough time for the Calatrava's . As expected Shanky struck early and Calatrava's were left staggering at 11/3 at the end of 2 overs. Krishna's dismall over full of wides and no-balls raised expectations of a win in the minds of the Calatrava's but they were shattered as he removed sreekanth of the last ball leaving inform batsman Khetan alone. Khetan showed great character as he played the FLW bowler with atmost confidence and ease . His occational boundaries eased the pressure of run rate. So the match was set for a thrilling end with 13 needed of the last 2 overs. To everyones surprise Shanky entrusteded Krishna to ball the second last over. Then came the most intersting point of the match ,Khetan Scooped a short pitch ball from Krishna and who was underneath it.... KUSHAL .Remember Kushal's a guy with the great distinction of having even not stopped a ball properly with his hand leave alone a catch. But seemed like the god of luck did finally bestow him with the ability of taking a catch . Kushal just held his hand up in the air and ball just stuck in his hand. FLW 's had won the match and were now through to the final. Khetan's 25 just went in vain as his team fell short by 11 runs. Krishna was adjudged th man of the match for his all round performnace. However Calatrava's now had both caps with Sreekanth with purple and Khetan with orange. This result made the next match between the Calatrava's and the Foster's even more interesting as the one to win would find himself closer to the final.

This was do or die situation for Neerav's Foster's. A lose could see them crash out of the tournament. What a pity state for a team which was the leading contender of the trophy before the tournament had began.

Winning the toss, Sandeep decided to bat first . Once again Calatrava's witnessed a batting collapse, thanks to some discipled bowling by Ali and Neerav. Khetan once again showed his superiority with the bat by adding some crucial runs. Sandeep( two sixes, atlast we got a chance to withness a glimpse of the master in act) added a few useful runs resulting in his team ending up with a meagre 44 . Now this one was sure to go to the wire. Sreekanth fired in some tight overs and took 2 wicket taking his wicket tally to 9 , the highest in the tournament so far. The match so some anxious moments too. The first one being the contraversy regarding a hitwicket of Neerav , the batsmen got the benefit of the doubt and escaped. The second one was the runout of Neerav. although the umpire and the major section of the crowd declared him out Neerav wasn't satisfied. Neerav did not forget to show his displeasure towards the umpire.Commosion and chaos continued when Sreekanth questioned the credibility of the decision of a no-ball of his bowling ,. Neerav stormed into the ground justifying the umpires decision a truly uncalled for act or better term it as an act of losing ones nerve. On the other hand the match was now turning to an interesting finish . With just 4 needed of the last over sandeep entrusted the dependable Khetan to ball the last over. And as expected he turned the table to Calatrava's favour by giving away just 3 runs resulting in a tie which lead to the Super Over.

Khetan was to ball the super over and Neerav , Golu and Ali were to bat. Khetan again displayed some tidy balling and got rid of Golu in the third ball. A contraversial last ball so Neerav hit a six of a ball he expected to be a no-ball. Umpire shanky however disagreed and didn't revert the decision under pressure. Neerav threw the bat in desperation and walked away shouting out at the umpire another of the skippers uncalled for acts. Now it was Calatravas turn to bat and they needed 11 of the superover. Neerav removed Sandeep of the first ball . Rohit took a quick single giving strike to the dangerous and in form Khetan. As expected Khetan took on Neerav by hitting the next two balls to the bounadary. The wide of the last ball ensured a victory and an entry into the final for the Calatrava's . Khetan was once again adjudged the man of the match for his all round performance. The disappointed Neerav continued his uncalled for acts by shouting out at the umpires Krishna and Shanky . Heated discussion followed which eventually resulted in the players seperating the two. (one peice of advice . Afterall we are playing a game. a game meant for shear entertainment . Never let yourself lose your mindout for these pity things)

Now that the Final lineup was decided , the last match between Foster's and FLW was just a matter of formality. The match was reduced to 5 overs due to bad light. FLW who had already made it to the final took it as an opportunity to test the bench. So Vasif got a call in along with Maddu. FLW put a decent 32 on board thanks to some brilliant and mindboggling batting performance by Vasif ( did i exaggerate a little??) . Neerav lead from the front in the final match of his side showing some great maturity . Maddu's poor form with the ball continued and even Shanky could not make any serious inroads. Nishith's absence was reflecting in the bowling lineup. So eventually Neerav took his team to victory by hitting Vasif for a six .

A consolation win for the Foster's. A tragic exit for a star studded team. May be the captain should have held his nerves a little . A thing to study from our very own Dhoni. Neerav won the man of the match for his all round performance

A pre-match report on the final to be played on 11th of May to follow soon.....

APL interesting facts - day one

2009-05-06T12:07:00.000+05:30

--------Please go through the post below this one to get a good idea about APL--------
Given above is the team line up and the bidding price of respecctive players.

-Costliest player - Nishith Singh, FLW ( before the match started experts commented that this was shanky's biggest blunder but nishith just silenced the critics with a brilliant all round performance)

- Cheapest player to play - intersetingly its Divyesh Kumar again FLW. The Rajput boy who grew up playing cricket in the streets of Baroda and Aurayia turned out to be the lucky charm for FLW. The present orange cap holder played a brilliant consolidated innings against Fosters .Not to forget he dropped a sitter in the first match.

-Highlight of Day one :

- The stumping of Golu by Sandeep of sreekanth's bowling in the very first over of the match against Foster's which distrubed the momentum of the batting side.

-The patient innnings by rohit singh whose beautifully propelled a solitary act to carve out a win against the foster's.

-A seventh bowl wicket of Sreekanth in the contravertial Neerav over , a blunder by the umpire Manoj Madhu . Eventually it didn't matter thanks to some good batting by rohit.

-

Archi Premiere League (APL)

2009-05-05T21:42:00.000+05:30

Prologue: Well if its Lalit Modi for IPL , Its Neerav Verma for APL .

APL, the Architecture guys version of the IPL started of with all pomp and show on the 5th of may. Amidst the endsems were the whole institute is generally found ghissing in the hostel rooms and library, the archi guys were busy playing the APL matches.

Between "Yeh Archi walo ko aur koi kaam waam nahi hai kya? Exams ke beech me bhi cricket khel rahe he!!!." one of the B.Tech guys was heard saying.

Day one of the APL saw some phenomenal performance from the Calatrava's(well thats my side) under the captaincy of Sandeep Sharma and manager(and coach :P) Vivek Vashishta. After crushing both FLW's and th Foster's ,they seem hot favourates for the title.

Well lets get to the details. In the inaugural match Calatrava's crushed FLW's by 16 runs(remember its a 7 over match with 5 players on each side). Star of the match ,undoubtedly Gourav Khetan with some brilliant all round performance. FLW's with a strong bowling lineup never managed to make serious inroads into the Calatrava batting lineup. Nishith Singh ,the costliest player of APL walked away with 4 Wickets While Khetan added 20 runs and Sandeep 18. In return Shashank Jain's FLW's fell short by 16 runs and were allout in the last over. Although strike bowler Sandeep Sharma was not in good touch Sreekanth and Khetan bowled beautifully to restrict the FLW's . Sreekanth walked away with 3 wickets while Khetan took the all important wickets of Shanky and golden boy Nishith and later walked away with the man of the match title for his great all round performance.

The second match saw hot contenders Foster's being beaten ,again by the Calatrava's( :P). Pressure showed as Sreekanth removed both Ali and Golu in the very first over. The key player Neerav never seemed to pick the ball and fell prey to Khetan. Khetan scalped two more to end up with 3 wickets. The Calatrava's recieved the shock of their life when all there batsmen except the second highest paid player Rohit Singh were out. Rohit showed some great temperament and finished of the match in style earning him the man of the match title. Ali's jerk bowling issue came up a few times but eventually didn't matter as he was never found threatening enough.

The last match of the day saw FLW's crush Foster by a by margin of 41 runs thanks to good batting performance backed up by some powerpacked bowling by skipper Shanky. FLW's put up the highest total of the tournament so far , 66 , thanks to some good batting performance a guy once considered an underdog, Divyesh Kumar. Krishna and Shanky did some good work in the slog overs to post a good total. Foster's formidable batting line up failed once again before krishna and Shanky who shared two wickets each. Divyesh Kumar's surprise with the bat earned him the man of the match award.

At the end of the day Calatrava's enjoy a first position on the points table followed by FLW's and then the hapless Foster's. The Orange cap is at present with Divyesh closely followed by Khetan while the Purple cap is being shared between Khetan , Nishith and Sreekanth .

So for the latest updates on the matches to be played on 8th of May don't forget check out
sps4u.blogspot.com

A venture an adventure -- propogation

2009-04-25T10:49:00.000+05:30

With around 550 sweat shirts we were stuck in a place quite unknown to us.
While at roorkee our clients numbering around 500 were waiting for the sweatshirts .
And to add to the misery we were having our end semester exams the next day !!!!!
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The first challenge we faced at the institute was from the DANPARC ( DANPARC is a venture of 7 students of IITR who had had a very successful year last time around) sweatshirt which came up the within a few days after our sweatshirt had come up. It seemed that they were quite disturbed with the arrival of a competitor in a field were they enjoyed complete monopoly. The arrival of these seasoned guys did let us down and it reflected in the form of some orders being cancelled in RJB(rajendra bhawan ). So it was evident that we would have to face some stiff competition .

The benifits which DANPARC enjoyed were many. They used to get these clothes made and printed at Ludhiana a place considered the hub of garment industry in the north. While we had our dealers in Delhi who themselves bought these clothes from Ludhiana. So it was obvious that they earn more money per t-shirt than we would do. Moreover DANPARC had become a familiar thing to the students while we had no such brand name to boast off.

Our main trump card was the design. It was a well accepted fact that our design was far better than that of DANPARC and when two sweatshirts come up at the same time and with the same cost the major deciding factor would ofcourse be, the design . The other factor which favoured us was the poor quality of the recent t-shirts of DANPARC , which had displeased many a people.

One of the major problem we faced was that of sample. First of all we did not have a printed sample. All we had was 5 sample clothes all of the same size 40. This was were all our trouble began (Well you will get to know of this trouble in the next part). So we had to take around these samples from one bhawan to other.

There was one more day left for placing the orders. We had a decent number of around 200 all together. Divyesh and Sandeep were to go to Delhi the very next day and place the orders and give the advance money. Our dealer was the best known guy in Delhi , K.C as people called him. As the time to closed down approached there was an overwhelming response from people. The orders jumped from 200 to 500. Our happiness knew no bounds( moreover we never knew what was in store for us :P).

With 545 orders and 1.5 lakhs of indian currency in our hand ,we dreamnt of the profit we were about to earn and how we would spent the whole amount .

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"Sir hamare pass sirf 4000 rupai hai", I said( phew man i still can't get out off the tense situation i was put under).

The policeman's eyes lighted up. He knew his pressure tactics had shaken these college kids.

"mene 30000 bola tha 4000 nahi ", he screamed.

" 10 minute aur de raha hu tum logoko. tab tak kisibhi tara paise ka intezham karlena" he added.

As the policeman moved over to other people with our same faith, Sandeep said," tumhe 4000 bolne ka kya zaroorath tha".

"abe usne tho 30000 ka bath kiya tha ," i said.

Sandeep was obviously tackling the problem more bravely than me. And that was exaclty what he was supposed to do. That was exactly why he is in the team if i put in Divyesh's words.
Well i understood that i had made blunder by telling the poolice the exact amount we had.
Sandeep gave 2000 to the driver and told him to keep it with him.

( i'm omitting the incidents which took place in between as it may seem repeatitive and boring)

As the policeman approached us finally we handed over 3000 rupees along with some 10 rupee, 20 rupee notes and coins to reaffirm our pathetic state. First of all he returned all the coin
and small denomination notes back and counted the money in his hand.

" Maine to 30000 managa tha"he asked
" Sir hamare pass sir itna hi hai" Sandeep said.

He tried to Squeeze more money out of us but in vain. So he gave up and accepted the money we gave him( or better say the money he grabbed from us). Well his greed wasn't satisfied yet. He took 5 sweat shirts from the car and kept it with him.

Is he policeman or a criminal ???
The interesting thing is that he never checked what was inside the car . It was a car full of RDX we would have easily taken it across the Delhi for a pity amount of Rs. 3000 !!!!!!

So as we moved along .We were totally releaved . The hostel room in Roorkee was nothing less than paradise for me. We narrated our breath taking adventure to all our friends. We had an Exam the next day. So were to extend the distribution date by a day.
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Seemed like God hadn't tested us enough. Because he had more trouble in store for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

part 3: A Venture an Adventure - Termination.... will be uploaded soon.

A Venture an Adventure - Initiation

2009-04-08T19:05:00.000+05:30

Special thanks to divyesh and sandeep for having been a part of this ambitious project(well i'll describe this project later) . Thanks to all those people who in one way or other helped the three of us .Although the attempt didn't end up as a complete success it did help us in understanding the ground reality and provided us with some really tense situations.

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As sandeep and I stood at the U.P- Delhi border at Ghaziabhad waiting for that policeman(better term him as a Devil's manifestation), neither of us knew what to speak or how to deal with this situation. We were crossing the Delhi - U.P border with an Innova full of Sweat shirts without the form -31( a notorius form which shows that you have paid the required tax as you move from one state to another).

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It was an ambitious project by Divyesh to start a sweat shirt campaign in the institute. From our experiences in the institute we knew it was the easiest and safest business one can perform here, the reason being that there was no significant initial which was involved from our side and all we had to do was to sit and earn money(at least this was what we thought it would be.). The winter was fast approaching and the only competetors in this field so far, DANPARC, was yet to release a sweat shirt. Being B.Arch guys we were extremely sure that our design would out beat them if they came in for competition.

Divyesh came up with a design. One containing a lion, which in a way can be termed as the emblem of our institute. (Here i would like to add the first golden rule of T-shirt design in IITR . No matter how bad your shirt design may be ,if it has IIT Roorkee written in bold letters over it ,it would sell like pancakes.).The next thing to be done was to find people who can help us out in the various bhawans. We dugout contacts in each and every bhawan . Notice was put up at every bhawan. We consulted the taulya corner( a famous local shop in roorkee) regarding printing of shirts . Divyesh and Sandeep went to the markets in Delhi to finalize the dealings. All this happened within a span of two weeks.

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The policeman came close to us and asked ," Form kaha hai ?."
" Sir ,konsa form," Sandeep asked innocently.
"Tumhe pata nahi mai konse form ki baat kar raha hu !! FORM 31!! ," the policeman shouted.
"Andar kardo gaadi aur samaan.", he told his subordinate. " Rs. 30000/- fine bhardo aur lejao," he added.

The words of the policeman came down as a bolt from the blue.

With around 550 sweat shirts we were stuck in a place quite unknown to us.
While at roorkee our clients numbering around 500 were waiting for the sweatshirts .
And to add to the misery we were having our end semester exams the next day !!!!!

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part 2: A Venture an Adventure - Propagation.... will be uploaded soon.

Interpretation of Dreams: PART 1 The Killer Blue Bird Countdown

2009-03-29T14:53:00.000+05:30

It was a SUPW(Socially Useful Productive Work) class and all my classmates were moving in the region behind the school complex pretending to clean the area. It was then that the beautiful blue bird appeared. The girls as usual admired the bird and to their surprise it came and sat on their shoulders. All the girls gathered around looking at the beautifully coloured bird with a big beak.

All on a sudden the bird pecked one of the girls on the head and she fell down dead. Chaos and panic spread and to make things worse , a large number of blue birds appered. I looked at my watch and to my surprise my watch insted of showing time showed something quite weird.

No. of birds: 30
NO. of People dead: 1

The no. of birds increased exponentially and the no. of people dead was increasing at a steady rate. I looked around to find some of my classmates lying down dead. Some of my other classmates had by this time managed some clubs and started killing the birds. I rushed towards the open ground located across the area we were cleaning. I kept looking at my watch. The no. of blue birds were decreasing and the no. of students remaining were around 2 to 3.

As reached the ground I looked at my watch . The no. of birds were 1 while the no. of students remaining was surprisingly also 1. Just then i heard a sound beside my shoulders. I turned around....... PECK ........

where am i stuck

2008-09-06T21:44:00.000+05:30

Where am I stuck ?Where am I stuck?
The question looms all over my mind,
Where am I stuck ?Where am I stuck?
I always ask myself when all alone,
Where I should have been,and where I am,
What should have I been doing,and what I am doing.

The path of destiny is mysterious
Takes you turns you don't imagine.
Makes you do things you never know,
Drops you where there is no escape.
The only way out is to fight your way out,
Take the challenge destiny offers you.

And if you succeed you are mature and toughened
Else boy you are a big looser!!!!!!!!!
Never be a looser in your life
Fight it out and success will beckon you.
These things i say to console myself
But the question still looms over my mind,
where am I stuck????

introduction

2008-03-10T14:40:00.000+05:30

so after a long wait here i' am with a blog.........a place where i intend to write down those small but distinct events that happened in the now 19 year old life of mine......though short a period on earth there has been many incidents worthy enough to written and read.......the post will not be any chronological order......any personal references are not intentional...... i hope i can keep updating my blog at regular intervals....