Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year Guys!!

Currently writing this from a DELL Inspiron 2650 laptop borrowed from my dear friend Safir here.
Its been the four longest months of my life, since the last time I had been home. The longing for such a return had become unbearable over the last few weeks with dark clouds of exams hovering over our heads.

As soon as the Christmas celebrations at college ended the first thing I did was to stuff my back-pack and book the tickets back home.

Coming to Christmas celebrations at college, we had two distinct celebrations-one in our class and the other in the dept with all the students from the 4 years getting together.
Christmas celebrations in class were as colorful as it had been the previous year. The event started by 2 in the afternoon, with the representatives announcing it officially. Then came the moments of exchanging the Xmas gifts to the secret Christ-mate. The gift I presented to Ardra, my Christ-mate, was an assortment of 25 items, ranging from candles, ear buds, thread, soap to shampoo and pickle(??). A hoard of laughter followed every item that was picked out of the gift box.
Then followed the best part of the show, food. There were pastries for everyone and so was softdrinks. Don't know about others, but I surely got my tummy-full!!

Bristow and Denny showed up in the middle of the program. Bristow was dressed as a modern day pirate while Denny was Santa Claus.


Bristow looking a bit better than actual!!(Just kidding!!)

The pirate narrated the story as to how hard it had been for him to get all the way to Switzerland and get hold of Santa, convince him to make a visit to our college and stuffs...:)

The program winded up as soon as it started as there were the union games going on at the other end of the college, with second years(i.e, us!!) about to play fourth years in the finals of throw ball and volleyball. The former we won and the latter we offered as our parting tribute to the final years.


Human pyramid by the final years at the end of day 2, Union Games

Speaking of the departmental celebration, the thing that comes to my mind immediately is the preparation of the Christmas star. Seven of us took up this task with Bristow overseeing the whole process. It was finished in about four hours time.


Whats Xmas without the TREE!!

For the first time all the classes of the Compsciz Department were getting together to celebrate Christmas. Except for the food(pastries and soft drinks) everything else was arranged by us with assistance from our juniors wherever they could. Seniors condescended to help out wherever they could, in odd jobs. There were various cultural programs organised, with instrumental support from first years.


Late-nite practice sessions for the big day! Jerry rocked the Party!!

The students were seated on four corners in the order of the year they belonged to and a game like balloon bursting was organised. What was missing were the fireworks, and that started immediately!




Everyone, especially the first and the final years enjoyed the max. The programme was a giant success as could be comprehended from the praises we the second years received from others.



There were songs sung by students from all years. The one that received the healthiest applause was the one sung by the final years which ended up in cacophony and chaos.

As final word, Mobin from S7 thanked all the juniors for making his batch's last Christmas celebration at college memorable.

A photo session followed and that was the end for yet another wonderful day at GEC.

"We are what you dream to be!!"

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Hopes Alive...Again!!

Seriously, I don't believe in these online calculators that churn out computed oututs based on answers to multiple choice questions but of course what just came over as a result for one particular test is highly encouraging!!!

Check this link out if interested, and post the results as comments....





Your True Love Will Find You Eventually



You definitely put yourself out there a little - but you could be doing more.

If you're truly looking for love, try doing more things and meeting more people.

You don't have to actively look for love, you just need to stay active.

Be out there a little more, and the right person will find you!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Welcome, Stranger!!

This blog post may enter the records for being the fastest blogpost about a new born baby!

My cousin sister gave birth to baby boy today, at 4.04 pm. Since it was a Caesarian, I extended my help in arranging blood for the same. My classmate and dear friend George volunteered for the noble cause and we were present outside the op- theatre, waiting for the call.

The movies we see, often present such a situation ending in a relieving climax with the first cry of the baby crossing the halls, reaching its father and relatives anxiously outside. I guess, it is quite fake a fact as when the good-looking nurse( :) !! ) handed over the baby to my brother-in-law, it was peacefully dozing, intermittently yawning. Its lips as gentle as rose petals, the cute fingers clutched together, the curly black hair, the divine luminescence radiating all the world's innocence.

Perturbed by the cacophony of excited people all around, the baby gave short notes of cry, only to be peaced by his loving grand-parents.



Then came the moment when his elder brother, 4-year old Arjun, came around to see the newcomer in our midst. Curiousity at peak, he extended his forefinger to touch the little one, who had, by now amicably settled in the brighter world. On impulse, his uncle quickly grabbed the hand away, lest the little nails inflict a wound on the sensitive white skin. Shocked by the change of scenario, Arjun turns to his father, and enquires" acha, amma evide??"(Dad, where's mom?) When his father points towards the op- theatre, Arjun tries to free away from the grab on his wrist and attempts to dash off towards the room with a red light on its entrance.

His granpa takes hold of him, and calmingly whispers" Amma ippol varum, nee aadyam aniyane onnu nokk!"( Mom will come now, have a glimpse of your brother first!). His face now red with anger and desperation, he simply walks away from the crowd, obviously estimating in his little conscience that next moment they'll all come over to cheer him up....it didn't happen!

Someone had quoted" The only innocent man in the world is a new-born baby." Surprisingly, this was the first thought that came into my mind when I gently took him into my arms, cradling such a tiny little being for the first time in my life....

Feeling unmeasurably joyous today, despite a desultory hour spent in the morning scribbling through 6 sheets, the answers of complex meaningless problems, sense of hatred for exams overwhelming the desire to clear the paper for better sessional marks!!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Sneak Peak-Yanthra '07


Dedication- to all the motor freaks out there..

The place Cheruthuruthi is about 30 kms from Trichur, nearer to Vadakkancheri and Shornur. Located amidst the blissful scenery and in the lap of mother nature, is Jyothi Engineering College.

Today, on 8Th December, Rohit and me visited this college and its gigantic campus, to witness the technical exhibition by the Mechanical students of this college- YANTHRA 07. Primo facto for such a trip was the rumor that the meanest of the mean machines- Hummer H3 is at exhibit there.

I had been to Palakkad yesterday, to get a glimpse of my niece( yes I'm an uncle, to eight kids!!) who had just come down from Chennai. She's just over an year old, a chubby little being.



Later at night, plans were made to attend Yanthra the next day. I started off from Palakkad earlier this morning. As against my belief and to utter bewilderment, the National Highway connecting Trichur and Palakkad had been patched up, and the journey, that used to take 4 hours to travel just over 60kms,briefed to a mere one hour.

Soon after reaching home, i set out to meet Rohit and off we were to Jyothi. Climate being surprisingly pleasant at the pitch of the day, we cruised and reached at about 2p.m in Cheruthuruthi.



The quiz contest which we had plans of competing in, was scheduled at around that time, and, soon after finishing and returning the paper the same way as it was given to us... neat, clean and blank :), we paced up to see the exhibits.




The whole display had been categorised into Bikes and Cars section separately, and our primary initiative was to visit the former.

There was a long array of modified bikes, opallargely Pulsars converted to R1's and Hayabusas, without a trace of its actual self. For a moment, even i was convinced that the mo bike in front of me was the real Suzuki Hayabusa. Check out this pic before you exclaim.



There were more bikes and a few of them were really drop-dead gorgeous!



The Cars section, apart from the Hummer H3, had a Pajero for display, though the crowd was chiefly hovering around the former. As expected, the stupendous Hummer H3 was grandiose in appearance, imported from Dubai as the number plate read, and gleaming in bright yellow paint. Oodles of volunteers crowded around to keep the viewers from prying nearer.



Took some pictures of the Hummer and moved ahead for a view of Pajero. Though Pajeros are becoming increasingly common in our land, its still worth an eyeful to stand there and praise the sheer effort and excellence of people behind the creation of this magnificient vehicle, the 4x4 that rules the dunes.

Then there was the technical exhibition of the Electronics department of the college- Magnum Opus.

Surprisingly small as I am to admit, there weren't many attractions and it was largely an assortment of hardware stuff, from valve radios to DVD writer lenses.

The only exhibit that I was amused by is this:



Developed indigenously, this pic programmer could accommodate a number of various PICs with varying number of leads, and the only drawback was the lack of support for Atmel.
Front lawn of the college, if I may call it so!!


To sum up, i was thoroughly pleased by the college and its vast campus, a little less so by the exhibition. Sorry guys, it could have been better!!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Dhyuthi 07 - My Event Synopsis

Three magnificient days celebrating the annum mirabilis. Days that shall be embossed in golden letters in the history of the institution. Days that will remain afresh for years to come, in the minds of the people who witnessed it.



The Golden jubilee celebrations of the college, which commenced on the 28th of November have finally come to an end today morning, 1st December. The preparations for the same had started months back and the program was coined the name 'Dhyuthi' which means light. Over 700 colleges were invited for this grand event and the crowd that turned up was well beyond ten thousand.

I was a volunteer in the Reception committee for the program. There were other committees as well,viz., the committes for Local arrangement, Media, Food and Accomadation and so on. In addition there were general volunteers who took care of any odd job that turned up. The co-ordinated function of these committees under expert leadership of seniors is worth applause.

On 27th , at around 3p.m, we embarked on a bike rally through the city to proclaim the beginning of the function the day after. Two on each bike, carrying posters and leaflets , soaring through the heart of the city, beeping horns and catching attention. It was an effective mean to express, i must admit, as all around people craned their necks to see us passing.



The day One began with off-stage events like Painting and Creative Writing. The Inaugural function began at 6p.m. Noted South Indian singer Karthik( one who sang in 'Boys') and cine director Kamal were the guests. It was followed by a musical concert by Karthik himself which got the crowd tap to the beats played by music director Benet and his team.



As the rights for photography during the concert were solely for the media committee, I do not have any clips to put out here, but here is his autograph he signed for me during a break between the songs.



The Reception committee had put up an Information desk at the entrance to college and I was chiefly assigned to be there, reciting the Event Schedule and helping out people who seeked any kind of information regarding the program.



A remarkable feat I achieved during this program was to mingle with a new lot of friends, people whom I often see in and off the campus, but never known in person. They were largely from other departments, but the GEC-ian spirit was present in all of us that made us bind for the common cause, hand in hand.

The schedule of the on stage events for day 2 is as given below.



The only events I could manage to see were 'Step and Synchro' and 'English Drama'. Step and Synchro is a unique program in which two dancers, with a dark screen separating them, dance in perfect synchronisation to the music played. The crowd responded with cheers for perfection and mistakes were accompanied with booing.

Here is a design that was made in the Rangoli event. I was amused!!



College wore a festive look and colorful lights illuminated every nook and corner of the gigantic campus.



On day 3, another information desk was put up near stage 3 which evidently helped me in watching the Movie Spoof event. The characters from various movies acting for a common story was hilarious. Next in the list was the event which was most anticipated- Radio Mango 91.9 FM's RJ Freak-Out. Final participants for it were selected earlier in the prelims and the 16 finalists performed with excellence.
A minute was given for them to present any performance they wished and scores were given on the basis of the same. Singer Franko, Producer Shogun Ravi and the scriptwriter of the movie 'NAMMAL' which was shot almost entirely in our campus were the judges. The participants presented unique bits of humour and 7 ( +1 selected by sms votes) were let into second round.
In the second round they were to reply spontaneously to the situations presented, such as 'selling a pre-paid connection to Musharaff' , or reaction when 'you win a 10lakh rupee lottery'. The crowd roared with laughter and encouraged the best of the best.

The valedictory function which was presided by Babu Palisseri, M.L.A was followed by another musical concert. The programs that followed it were sensational and pulsating and as the events progressed to dawn of Dec 1, sleep was no where to be seen on any face and all that remained, once the event of all events finished was the unanswered question- when next??

Here's a pic of the masterpiece work that was set up in the college campus by some students.




It was a wonderful experience and a remarkable feat in my campus life, the memories of which will stay along with me for very many reasons than above. The sense of pride on being able to contribute my two penny worth in this jumbo event is not expressible in words.

Truly, proud and honoured to be GEC-ian!!!