The voice within.

September 15, 2002.

"Puttu..! Ent hodithu.. Lagoo elo..." ( Its 8! Get up..).. I was still shifting sides on my bed when I heard my mom say this for the 6th time that morning. Everybody knows its difficult to change something when you have been following it for quite sometime. I was no different. I was used to getting up at around 10 everyday during the holidays after CET. But that day, it was different. It was supposed to be my first day at Engineering! The moment this hit my head, I sat bolt upright on my bed. I was supposed to be at college by 10 and I was still in my bed! I got up and started getting ready while all the planning that we had done the previous day was running through my mind. Sameer was to come to my home at 9:15 and together, we were to go to Puttu's house. From there, we three were supposed to go to college. 

This part went as planned and we were in college by around 9:45. As we walked towards the main entrance, we saw that the entrance was fully crowded. There were parents and students, perplexed alike in trying to find the place where the welcome ceremony was to be held. Here and there, there were small groups of guys and girls, friends from PU college perhaps, looking for the Auditorium. Everyone was either seeking directions from the guard at the main entrance or going around looking for the Audi themselves. Finally, everyone started moving to the left of the main entrance, and we three, hoping that it leads to the Audi, followed suit. On the way, I met a few more friends of mine from my PU and tuitions, Vikya, Adi, Boka Vijya, Santya kulkarni, Sameer Joshi etc..

Very soon, the audi was packed and the welcome ceremony began. Invocation song, guests' intro, speech, chief guest addressing the students.. It went on for around two hours. I managed to gather nothing out of the those 2 hours except that we had a lunch organised and a department tour at 2 o clock that afternoon. I looked around and I saw the same "Lunch and Department tour in the afternoon" look on Puttu and Sameer's face. 

The best part of the ceremony ending was the lunch. :D I think the lunch was arranged at the hostel (I don't exactly recollect. Growing old you know. :) ). We all ate to our heart's content at the hostel and then started roaming around the campus. It was around 12:30 and we still had ample amount of time before the department tour. So, continuing our habits from PU, me, Sameer, Sameer Joshi, Puttu and Boka Vijya came out of the campus to the nearby Tapri. Vijya and Joshi went in and asked "eradu Raju kodri..". Little did we notice that there was a gang of around 6-7 guys sitting outside the tapri, smoking. When Joshi and Vijya came out, we started discussing what to do until 2. A dark tall guy from the smoking group overheard someone say "Department Tour" and that was enough for him to know that we were freshers. That's it. The guy got up and asked all of us to come into the tapri. Even after this, we never realised that they were our seniors.. Joshi, with usual arrogance refused plainly. Then the other guys from the group started getting up one after the other and soon, we had no choice but to follow them inside. Puttu, who was in a different world altogether, almost told the dark guy " Eh hogole..! chaa maaravne.." thinking that he was the guy selling tea at the Tapri. 

30 seconds into the Tapri and we all knew that this was going to be our first ragging session. The usual intros, tell me your name, "abey baap ka naam nahi bolega kya? Poora naam bata!", which PU college, which branch followed. Then came the worst part.While one of us was asked to measure the length of the tapri bench using a match-stick, the others were asked to say ABCD backwards. Some were asked questions like "what is the Integral of Body?". While everyone was struggling at their own tasks, I got pulled out of the lot solely for the fact that I was from Suku's tuitions. For the people who dont know, Suresh Kulkarni (referred to as Suku most of the time) is a slightly funny but brilliant Mathematics teacher and the founder of Suresh Kulkarni tuitions in Dharwad. Along with Hanchinmani tutorials, it is one of the top tuitions in Dharwad for PU students in Science stream. The guy who had singled me out was also from the same tuitions and so decided to get a bit of "Suku"ness out of me. Suku always had this funny way of talking to himself while teaching, turning towards the board and doing weird hand gestures while calculating something etc. We were so used to his idiosyncrasies in the tuitions that some of us used to do that everytime we spoke about Suku. The senior guy, who also knew this, asked me to do all these things in front of the 6-7 member senior crowd. The ones who knew Suku were laughing their heads off while the ones who were new to this were laughing hard just for the reason that it looked really stupid.! It was just so embarassing for all of us that we kept looking at our wrists all the time hoping that its 2. But as always, when you want time to fly, it seems to be running at half its normal pace. Finally, when we were let off, it was 2:15 and all of us were late for the department tour. Perhaps this laid the foundation for we never going to any class on time throughout engineering. Not even internals.

The moment we were out of the tapri, all of us rushed to the campus without even looking back once, fearing that we will be called in for one more session later. Once we reached the main entrance, I and Vijya left for the E&C department while Sameer left for the ME Department and Puttu to the CSE section. There was an intial briefing about the department in some classroom that went on for an hour post which, we were taken for a visit to all the labs.Finally, when the whole thing got over, it was close to 4. As soon as Sameer and Puttu were done, we rushed back to Sameer's place just to make sure that we are not spotted by any seniors in college.

That evening whizzed by with each of us recounting the ragging incident and each of our tasks. Puttu was still in a dilemma whether the dark guy was truly a senior or the chai wala at the tapri. I was still laughing at the way I imitated Suku. All in all, it was an eventful and unforgettable first day at college for all of us. :)

Hmphf... Its been a long time since my last post. And yeah.. Its 4 in the morning and I am awake.. Tho!

I am back in the deserts.. Hoping that this will be my last trip to the place and also, praying that this culminates in my project going live. There isn't much interesting here.. atleast for me..

Except for the occasional sandstorm and the rain, everything else is as boring as it can be..

Today being the 45th day, I was supposed to be on the flight back to Bangalore..! But as expected, extensions! Shucks...

Anyways, getting to hear that many people in Infy have been laid off in the last one week or so, citing Performance shortcomings.. So, you never know.. Mera number bhi aayega... 8-

By the way, Haranari Greenivasa a.k.a Korkesha is in Bristol after waiting and mulling for almost 4 months.. Really happy for him.. Enjaay maadi Mr. Motya.!

My cellphone craze has not died down.. And this time, I am trying to decide between the N95 8 Gig and the 5800 Express Music edition.. Touch screen or this one.,. Ummm...

Missing counter strike very very much.. Heard Rahul and others have hired a V-street server.. :O And I am not playing on it! Chey.. Wyaak thu..

**Yawn.... Dozin off now.. Will be back soon..

Meanwhile, check out these sandstorm pics.. This happened around a month ago.. And I was in the office.. Locked up for one full day.. :P

Ha! 5 hours.. It was worth the wait. India crushed the Gorey Langoors to a 4-0 series win at our own Bengalooru amidst all the rain that has been troubling the city for the last 2-3 days. I was expecting yet another carnival when Indians were put to bat by KP after winning the toss. But just when Veeru and Gauti were cruising through the innings, damn! It started raining and play was on hold for 2 hours and finally resumed at around 6 in the evening, only to last for 3 more overs. And this time, for 3 hours I was pacing around the TV room hoping that the match would start. Finally, the good news came at 9 o clock. Indians would get a crack at the English bowlers for another 5 overs as the match was reduced to 22 overs per side. I thought it was a bit unfair, considering the rate at which India had scored for the first 17 overs. England would have the advantage in that case. Anyways, as expected, Sehwag went after the bowling as soon as play resumed clobbing the first ball for a six over mid wicket. But then, pretty soon, he and Gauti departed with both finding James Anderson in the deep trying to go for the big one. Once again, the stage was set for Yuvi and his fireworks. With around 4 overs to go, and Dhoni and Yuvi at the crease, I was expecting something special from both the batsmen. Dhoni did exactly what was needed, a six of the first ball. Meanwhile, Yuvi at the other end, scored as though he had just taken a drinks break from the first match at Rajkot and come in to bat here. Sixes over mid wicket, deep square leg. There was just no stopping him. The last over however, was very well bowled by Samit Patel and Dhoni got out on the 5th ball for a well bowled york length delivery. Yusuf Pathan came at the crease with one ball remaining and Wham! The ball went sailing over long on for a biggie! Indians had made 167 in their 22 overs which was not so great a total given the 20-20 sort of game setup by the rain. Just when I was wondering about this, the revised target of 198 based on D/L method was announced which again brought back interest in the game. This method has been an enigma so far to me but in this case, I was glad that this method is there. :D 

The English came in to bat and scored at snails pace for the first 6-7 overs. Barring the Shah- Freddie partnership, they never looked like winning the game. When Munaf bowled the last ball to Broad , it was midnight and I was jumping on my bed, punching the air. Indians had beaten the English comprehensively, 4 times in a row and had sealed the series 4-0. :o)

I am back after a well-deserved break...:P Thanks to a certain Salmonella Typhae(read 'Typhoid'). And to be honest, it's real tough to be offline.. :D Last 10 days or so in Dharwad, I was completely cut out from all things that could help me be 'online'.. So, while I swallowed innumerable pills and drank syrups like water, lying down on the sofa, all I could do is watch TV, which surprisingly I do the least when I am in Bangalore. And to add to my woes, I had no clue as to what programs on the TV were good and when they aired. So, all I did was change channels, stall on one of them for a minute or so, and then start changing again. Thankfully, I had Star Cricket for company. So, I started watching all sorts of cricket matches that were being shown on that channel. Highlights of Classics, recent SA - England one dayers, Natwest Pro 40 County matches, Best Innings, Harsha Unplugged and Champions of the World (Quiz show).

Before I start writing, let me make my stance very clear :

1. I am not against bringing in youngsters into the Indian Team.

2. I do not support sacking senior players of the team without adequate and reasonable explanation.

On Monday I think,news was out about Dada being left out of the Rest of India Team that will play the Irani Trophy test match against Delhi later this month. Simultaneously, Sachin is declared fit for playing in the Irani Trophy match.

One of the selection committee members said in an interview to a website -- " We think that the senior players have received the message. 'Perform or Perish' is what we are looking at and we have made it pretty clear by dropping Sourav from the Irani Trophy team" ( Luckily for him, the website kept him anonymous on his request)..

When one of the press guys asked Niranjan Shah "Sourav Ganguly's name is not there in the team announced for Irani Trophy. Do you think that you have left him out by mistake??", all he could do was chuckle and walk away from the cameras. I mean, what the hell.. How short is the memory of the Selection Committee? Dada failed in the Sri Lankan test Series. So, is that a relevant enough reason to keep him out of the side? Sachin also scored the same amount of runs as Dada in the series. Why is he in the team then? Lets look at the stats of the recently concluded test series for the fabulous 4.

Ok.. Laxman and Dravid might be saved due to the odd 50 or so.. But is this table a good enough reason to keep Dada out of the side?

I happened to read this article on some website the other day.

"Why Ganguly, and why not Rahul Dravid or V V S Laxman? Laxman has the best record among the Fab Four in recent times, including the series against Sri Lanka. Dravid bats at the crucial one-down position in Tests and is a safe slip catcher. Ganguly is an embarrassment on the field and his bowling has declined over the years. Tendulkar is Tendulkar, he will time his exit, period. A phased exit of seniors will help the team management to build a new Test side without causing commotion."

Now what crap this is.. Nobody else to, so Ganguly.. Is that the policy??

The aforementioned 'anonymous' dut-head in the selection committee believes "We can't afford to do too many changes to the future side as we are yet to discover players who can fit in the shoes of the likes of Dravid or Laxman or Tendulkar. But at the same time, we have a bunch of talented upcoming youngsters like Raina, Rohit and Badrinath (for god's sake! Badri has played only 3 ODIs!) who need more exposure." So, which class does Dada fall into? Do we group him with the Odoyos, the Obuyas etc?? Before the Sri Lankan series, Sourav Ganguly was the Indian batsman with the best batting stats in tests for the last 12 months(1000 odd runs with an average around 44). His comeback after the Greg Chappell saga is counted as one of the best comebacks in the history of the game.

Coach Gary Kirsten says " Its your performance in the last 2-3 months that governs your selection in the team and not past laurels.. We had to get over this and its time to look beyond Sourav". Going by this rule, every player who has not performed well in the Sri Lankan series has to be kicked out of the team. Is the selection committee ready to do that? Why do we respect Tendulkar so much? Because his achievements speak for him. Same is the case with all the greats of the game. Ganguly is no different. A man with a combined 18000 runs to his name deserves more respect and credit.

The BCCI says they will give the senior players, 6 test matches to play on which their performance will be measured and further decisions on whether to retain the person in the team or not will be taken based on it. Looks like its curtains for Dada's career because the test side which will play Australia will be more or less the team that plays in the Irani Trophy.

The selection committee is due for a revamp after another week or two and I pray to god that there be more brains on the panel that respect the game and the players than a bunch of hypocrites and losers.

A player of such class, caliber deserves a more befitting farewell from the game that he has loved all his life and given it everything he has in the last 13-14 years. 

**A salute to the Royal Bengal Tiger**.

August 15th, 1947 

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."

-- Jawaharlal Nehru

(Source: wiki)

Frankly, this is neither my Independence day speech nor am I entering politics. The stuff written below is completely boring and its something that just crossed my mind. And if anybody has a problem with that, then I don't care...KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!!

For the first few years of my life, Independence day to me was:

Wake up at 6 in the morning.

Get dressed in my white uniform and rush to school.

Take part in the march - past, salute the flag when my school headmaster / chief guest hoists the national flag and sing the national anthem.

Listen to speeches, take 2-3 packs of the sweets given at school and run home.

Spend the rest of the day watching TV or playing.

August 16th morning, go to school as usual and continue as though nothing important happened the previous day.

I hope many of us had the same habit. After maybe 10th standard, we stopped doing even this.

Year after year, the Independence day image that I had in my mind changed. How do I see it now?

The Prime minister does the flag hoisting at the Red Fort & delivers a speech.

Tons of speeches from politicians on what we have to do to develop our country and take the nation to greater heights.

TV channels broadcasting all sorts of patriotic movies, music shows showing people dressed up in white with some tri-colored scarf or flags in their hands singing patriotic songs.

Some Bollywood icon playing on a game show to raise money for charity.

Programs interviewing war heroes and families who lost their loved ones in the war.

August 16th morning, we are back in the business!

Some terrorist activity killed so many people in such an area. Communal riots. The same hypocritical politicians accusing every other person of something or the other. TV channels back to their normal soaps and game shows.News channels covering stories like "Commissioner ka Kutta ghum" and "UFOs kidnapping cows" and "Gaya Viru ka form.. Gaye Viru ke baal" (Really admire their creativity though.. :P).

So, effectively, how much have things changed?

I am fully aware that I have done absolutely nothing to make things better.But on the other hand, I am content that haven't made things worse.

How long can we live being oblivious to this? Is it that hard to change? to do something good?? Have we really tried?

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

Some 4 months ago, I remember a forwarded mail that came to me with "Batman - Dark Knight Trailer" as the subject line. It really didn't interest me much because I had not watched 'Batman begins' also. Somehow, I had the impression that Batman was one lazy superhero with no superpowers who comes out at nights only to fight the bad guys and so on. So, I didn't pay much attention to it.

Around 2 weeks ago, Pramod pings me up on gtalk and says " Just watched 'Dark Knight'... Man! Its amazing!". After that, I had around 25-30 people telling me the exact same thing for the next 3 days. If all this was not enough, I had our good old Naari puttar (Harry :P) telling me to go and watch this movie atleast 5 times a day. So, I finally thought of giving it a shot. Last Saturday, Harry was in Bangalore for his WORK (read 'Night Gaming') and so, I dragged him too for the movie. :P By that time, Harry had already seen the movie 4 times! And he wasn't done yet. :D

Since I was a noob with the Batman story, Harry puttar had some story telling to do so as to give me an intro into what all has already happened in 'Batman Begins'. And then, the movie started!

One word to describe the movie in true Barny style - "LEGEND -- wait for it to come -- DARY!". Heath Ledger is just awesome as the Joker. The Joker make-up, psychopathic laugh, his dialogues and his flawless acting simply make him stand out among all the characters in the movie. All his dialogues are just so good in the movie that most of my friends are on their way to memorising them. As most people say, he truly deserves a posthumous Oscar. Also, full credits to Christian Bale and Gary Oldman for their performance. I would have preferred Katie Holmes instead of Maggie though. :)

Also worth a mention is the Bat - pod. I was simply awestruck at its sight when it first pops out of the Mother Tumbler. :D

As a final word, a must watch for all.

**Bow to Heath Ledger (R.I.P) and Christopher Nolan.

Its another weekend..