Insignia '08, Hackerdom

...And thus began Insignia '08, Hackerdom.

Day: 28th of August, 2008
Time: 10.45 p.m
Location: Room No. C1, Govt. Engineering College Men's Hostel, Thrissur

Scene1:
The work on video editing progresses as the darker hours of night close in. Midhun, eyes swollen with lack of sleep, continues into what seems to be his eleventh straight hour in front of the system. Sailesh, assisting and intermittently performing the job of waking him up from brief accidental siesta, looked as alert and enthu-filled as ever. The job was getting on my nerves. It was our fourth day with the process of preparing a trailer video for Insignia 08, Hackerdom, yet it was where we had left it last evening. The mixing was taking helluva lot time, what with the format conversion of video files, cutting out clips for back ground music etc.

Scene2:
It was 1a.m. The video files and picture slides have been successfully blended in. BGM yet to be added. Midhun on the verge of calling it a day or calling it quit, two others(Sethu and Arun Rushdie) and me peacefully sleeping at one corner of the room, satisfied that our job of filming scenes for the video was completed in time. Krishnanunni, Convenor, Insignia 08, Hackerdom, walks in to view our progress. Anxiety was evident on his face, as he inquired the sleepy workers about the status.
Seeing that there needs to be another two or three hours of work needed on the video to get it completely done, manipulations happen ( :P) , an offer of Puttu and Kadala from Double-X the only hotel open at night in Thrissur. We ( the words Puttu and Kadala woke me up from the slumber instantaneously!) agreed and a half hour later, there it was, steaming hot Puttu and Kadala. Another two hours and lights off....

Scene3:
around 6.45 a.m, 29th.
I was the first one to rise( quite an unusual thing). Woke up the editors and mixers and blah blah and went about my chores. Two hours of sleep taking its toll, as they moved like zombies to begin where it had been halted.

Scene4:
10.45a.m, Seminar Hall, Govt. Engineering College
The Chief guest and other people presiding over the function- Curtain Raiser of Insignia 08, Hackerdom seated on the podium. The official welcome speech, followed by all the other speeches..


Scene5:
12a.m
Time to launch the theme music for the event, prepared by Jain. That was some music! A melodious mix of keyboard, saxo and drums, and many more that I couldn't comprehend.
Our video followed. Cheers from crowd....

Scene5 re-take:
Time to launch the theme music for the event prepared by Jain. Wait! what's happening? a sudden commotion in the rear end of the hall, and there drifts out a large mass of third years.
Reason: Results of Third semester exams announced. Memories drift back to last March-April, the time when we wrote it. Adam's Apple stuck half-way in my throat. The results couldn't have come at a better time than this. Tense faces all around. People scurrying around, searching for internet access. Dubious emotions settling around temples. Eyes glittering, water in them ready to pour out given the green signal...

I hate results!!

A Giant Leap Year ahead!!

The day was 29th February year 2008. The only leap year in our b.tech life.
As decided before hand, almost all of us had worn black attire to mark this auspicious day.

(It is said that leap year is the time when its girls' turn to propose. At least I'm sure I wasn't proposed neither on this day nor on the valentines day that preceded it!!)

We were smoking our brains out deciding what to do to make the day memorable. There were suggestions of mass bunking(as usual!) for the entire day and going for a movie, having a gigantic snack-time at Wimbies and many more. As I could remember, It was our ex-rep Sailesh who came up with the idea of going all the way to Kaiparambu, where Vidya Engineering College is situated, to attend Perizia, the tech cum cultural fest organized by the computer Sciences and engineering department.

Despite some initial hesitation, we finally decided to give his plan a try. Soon a crowd, numbering between 20 and 30, stepped out from the ongoing Environmental Studies class( yes, we do have this!!).

As was obvious, the gathering of "blacks" caught everyones' attention en route. It so happened that, at Shakthan Thampuran Bus Stand, three people from our group strayed off to have some snacks. Not realizing their absence, the rest of us boarded a bus to our destination. The trio, upon their return were making frantic inquiries about us, when an elderly looking man asked them(obviously noticing the dress code)," Are you among the black cats who just left now??"



We reached Kaiparambu by 12 and waited for the three individuals to catch up. Getting to the college was no piece of cake as we walked the 2 km stretch leading there under the scorching sun. A cargo jeep soon came by and some of us could manage a lift in it till the college. The rest, however, continued tirelessly.

Events at the college were ion full swing as we reached. Hiran came to meet us upon informing. Some of our seniors were already present, participating in various technical and otherwise contests. The participation was free and so I gave my name for Quiz, Programming in C and Mobile Photography, along with others.

Quizzing was never this easy. I was in and out of the lab where the event was being held even before I realized. One or two correct answers and that was it!! The words " You are terminated Mister" beamed at me!!

Next in line was the Programming Contest Preliminaries. Almost all of us took part in it. Vinu, Raman and myself were lucky enough to get through into the finals along with our seniors and some other guys. The final was a nightmare and the question was waaaaaaaaay out of my logics!! Sat for about 3 quarters of an hour and finally wrote the following and came out:

#include
main()
{
printf(" good luck with the event! with love from GEC Devidas\n");
}

:)


It was for the first time that I was participating in a photography contest. This event was more thrilling than the rest, frankly. The task was to click few snaps and present any two that were related to the event "Perizia". Here I include the photos I submitted:





Meantime Rushdie and gang were busy preparing for the Ad-Zap event. While we were "busy" with the programming finals , rest of our company left the place to Neetha's home. We soon caught up with them for the photo session that followed. Neetha's identical twin sister, Neema was also present.

The day had , unknowingly become, memorable with all these unexpected turn of events. There were certainly some newbies among us who would other wise restrain themselves to the class. And surprisingly, there were more girls in the group than us!!


Not all are here!

Another page added to the diary of GEC memories, bookmarked to cherish!!

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!!"

Om Shanti Om Rocks!!

King Khan proves it yet again!! He's the unbeatable prince of Bollywood. SRK's new venture, Om Shanti Om is yet another thriller with picture perfect scenes and Indians get a new sensational beauty to their actress List- Deepika Padukone.

Yesterday was a bad day to begin with.I was stuck in a traffic jam for the first time after coming here. Reached class late. Came to know that an exam that was scheduled for the day has been postponed. Immediate plans were made then and there. Upon enquiry, we received the reply that tickets for the matinee show of Om Shanti Om have been already sold out.

Hence we decided to watch Sawariya.Came out of the theatre half way in the film, I just could not bear the melodrama. Perhaps its not the type I would prefer to be a viewer of!! Rahul and me, started off immediately to the next theatre in the vicinity where O.S.O was being screened and unfortunately we had to satisfy ourselves with the front row tickets costing Rs.15. There were about 12 of us and we set in for the screening, eagerly waiting for the first glimpse of Deeepika.



The movie turned out to be hilarious and our joy had no bounds. We danced near the white screen for every song of the movie and it was my first experience tapping my feet in front of such a large crowd( though I wouldn't bet my chances on having been noticed ;) ! )

The movie has a song that shows 32 superstars of Indian Cinema, past and present. Here's a pic from the song..

Didn't realise the time flying by and soon we were out and moving to the next theatre.Yes, believe me, we were on a movie marathon last night. Settled in for Tamil Superstar Vijay's "Azhagiya Tamil Magan".This movie made me remember the earlier RajaniKant movies, contributing their stunt scenes and songs.Story seemed to be a distant image of a Hollywood movie I had seen long back but the screenplay by the Ilayathalapathi Vijay( Ilaya means junior and Thalapathi refers to Rajanikant, I suppose) makes this movie good enough to sit and watch for the 3 hours.

We were out of the theatre at 0030 hours(he he, a military touch!). I hadn't had my lunch nor dinner for the day and was hungry enough to eat up anything that wouldn't bite me back!! Roamed in the city searching for a hotel to be open this late in the night and having not found any, settled with two glasses of sweet tap water, apologising to my tummy for my negligence.

We all slept together in the hostel "Chandra Villa", better known in the campus as "Compsciz Hub". Woke up early in the morning(9a.m), and returned home.

Jobs for the Day:
1. Brush.
2.Have food.
3.Do a bit of studies for the day and for the internals coming up next week.
4.Write up an article for my brother's assignment on Indian Politics.
5.Sleep in between if time permits.
6.Call up pals and chat for hours.

P.S: To all of you out there.. Happy Diwali...

buzzing off,

Three Cheers to the Men in Blue!! The Cup is Ours!!

An exciting finish to an exciting match. India wins the ICC Twenty20 World Cup beating their neighbour and arch rival Pakistanon Wanderers Stadium. And what a match it was!!

My classmates and I cancelled our daily class at Pramode Sir's to watch this match with great expectations. After reading the article by Md Mudassir Alam yesterday, i was eager to know the result of what he called the Mother of all Matches.

I spent time watching Indian batting at our all-time hang-out- Wimbies with my classmates and many other ardent Indian Fans. Towards the end of the Indian innings it seemed as though there were very little chances of snatching the Cup from the rivals.

I placed a bet(for a Burger :))with my friend on the odds against Indian win. I returned home soon after the batting of the blue squad was over, expecting only a miracle that could save them from stopping Pakistan.

Soon I heard the disheartening news of Sreesanth being hit for 21 runs in a single over. Thereafter, came the moments that will get etched in golden letters in World Cricket history, when Team India was lead on a path of Come back by the captain on the First ever Twenty20 World Cup and what a return was that!!! The final overs were nail-biting moments( as always when India plays Pakistan :) ). The first ball of the last over ,which the last man standing for Pakistan hit for a six,reduced the runs needed for their win to 6 from 4 balls and it seemed to be a nail on India's coffin.

Then ahoy! the ball that followed saw the same batter giving catching practice to our fielder thus pulling the curtains on Pakistan's Innings. Dhoni, captain of the team on this Foreign tour, was on cloud nine as the artistic cameramen rightly showed and the elated Men in Blue went about doing the renowned Indian Huddle and making merry.





The final score card was as follows: India 157 for 5 wickets in 20 overs.Pakistan bowled out at 152 in 19.3 overs. Man of the match awarded to Irfan Pathan and Shahid Afridi was elected the Player of the Tournament.

Team India was seen doing the lap of honour expressing their courtesy to us, the Indian fans for the centum support offered :).

This match proved to be one hell of an entertainer and the win is a great moment of pride for every Indian.Its been 30 minutes since the match has finished and I can still hear the bursts of crackers and other fireworks in the neighbourhood where there is no bound to the peoples' joy. :)

Proud to be an Indian!!!

I welcome all to express your comments on the joy of India's win...

Girls are Selfish !!

For those of you who don't know, I am undertaking coaching at the popular T.I.M.E MBA/CAT tutors.

I have my classes every Sunday from 10a.m to about 4p.m. The classes deal with various topics, ranging from Intellectual Ability Enhancement to that of Verbal Ability and from Data Interpretation to Logical Thinking.

Though the classes had commenced about 2 Months ago, I started attending them on regular basis only since mid August(You know college habits die hard:))

The reason why i started this post is to share my first experience in attending a Group Discussion or G.D, in short.
Our verbal Ability classes are taken by one of gifted teachers I've ever met, Mr.Joseph.Witty and jolly in person ,he has a unique knack of making us face the audience without fear of shame or without feeling shy.

Coming back to the session we had with him today, he introduced us to the Pros and Cons of G.D and the Do's and Don'ts while attending one.

We were made to stand in a circle and various topics were given.To list a few, we had discussion on "Making Dowry legal","Girls are selfish(how true :) !!!)" and "Boys are Mommy's toys","Subsidizing Junk Food" and many more funny, interesting topics.

People were eliminated after the end of 10 minutes and the discussion would continue with new people filling the gap.There were many funny instances as the discussion heated up,one of which was a comment by a fellow classmate saying that he has had enough bad experiences to say that women are mean and selfish.The whole class erupted in laughter.

Joseph Sir, however, told us that seldom do such topics appear in G.D and therefore asked us to be keen and more enthusiastic in reading newspapers,keeping track of various global events and many other stuffs.

Its been a long time since i touched a newspaper for reading a news article, though I've browsed it infinitesimal times to check out the new movie in town and whether there is a strike in any part of the city.. :)

Guess I'll have to start doing what he instructed in near future.But not now anyway :).

Tomorrow is the big day- the Finals of Twenty 20 World Cup where in India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in a death battle where only the true savage survives.
buzzing off