Things I bet you didn't know about IIIT'ans :)

I am rather disappointed that people are not gossip mongering these days. I hope this post encourages other people to do some factual gossip mongering. The following facts are true (afaik) and fun :D

1. It's past the first mid sem and Kulbir Saini is still not officially registered as a masters student. He has also been eating Biryani for 5 days in a row now.

2. Jyothish Soman, A 2nd year masters student working under Kishore Kothapalli on parallel algorithms, has 2 publications. Both are with Abhijit Mitra and are on biology. An ECE student pursuing a MS in CS publishing papers in Bio.

3. IIIT has only 1 student sysadmin now. That is bitgeek. When Zenwalker last asked him to send person X to the compilers lab, bitgeek replied " I'll SCP him to you." Rest assured, our servers are safe.

4. Pranav Kumar Vasishta has not only submitted his Masters thesis but also grades for Gandhi and India. Needless to say both submissions were many semesters late.

5. A certain Mythalez has submitted his PhD thesis. Looks like very soon we will have to announce his arrival with a loud "Gentlemen Dr.Dodo in da house"

Happy Birthday IIIT

After reading Maroo's post I too have decided to join the bandwagon of writing a b'day post for IIIT. In 2004, foundation day was celebrated properly. Sadly there isn't much hulla this year. I would usually write what we should do and look forward to and some more pranav-ish blah, but I'm deciding against it :) Somebody recently asked by somebody to give me the highlight of each year I spent at IIIT. I think it's a wonderful thing to do.

The best thing from my UG1 days would definitely be all the hell raisin that was done in GHEB. GHEB was a unique hostel. Imagine a completely isolated building with only ug1 guys :) The awesome part was the birthdays. Birthdays starting on one floor would eventually spread to all three floors and end with pepsi/mirinda and cake all over the place. It was the purest chaos I have experienced. Highlight: Birthdays in GHEB

For me second year was about football. I became part of the college team and our batch officially went football crazy. The year ended with an amazing come from behind win against UG2k3 where we came back from 2 goals down to win 3-2. Highlight : Inter-batch football finals

Third year did not start well at all, but we eventually started to get over it. The first half of the year spent frequenting Ohri's for midnight biriyani and also included a certain record 19 slices at the pizza hut iftar meal :O Then came felicity and lots of work. Highlight : Making an amazing new Felicity

My fourth year was not a usual one. I spent more than half of the year in Bangalore doing an intern. I loved the excitement that placements generated but only because i didn't have to sit for them :P . Every day we used to have a bunch of people coming back with big smiles on their faces knowing they now had jobs. I also got a job this year. I became a Sysadmin. It's a job that perhaps entails only abuse from other people but I found it to be an awesome challenge. Highlight : Seeing all my friends getting placed and kicking them in the aftermath :D

My fifth year was all hard work. I got my first publications. And the best thing for me this year has been the why I've been able to run every morning and play. I've managed to lost quite a bit of weight actually (I know it's a drop in the ocean....) Highlight : Writing papers with 3 people from 3 different areas and being the glue that keeps it all together.

This might be over-nostalgic, but it's a neat exercise. I tag SKP, ORB, mythalez, Sultan of Samarkand, @nks, Daka, Turbo, Raina, Bordeaux, Aniket, Maroo, Himank, Zenwalker and Bitgeek to all write similar posts. Some of you could really do with a post :P

The Best Modern Strike Force

After Real Madrid beat ManUre 3-1 at the Bernabeu, Sir Alex Ferguson said the the Madrid might have all the big galacticos, but Raul is the true jewel in the crown. That was a team that consisted of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Casillias and more. I think that was the last time the King of Spain was really considered a real threat. True he might have started scoring again (22 and 26 in the last two seasons) but he can no longer lead the line. The years have not been kind to him either. Amazingly the teams he has been used to playing for have found exquisite strikers and it's anybody's guess how long he is going to last.

I first remember reading about Raul before the 1998 world cup. A special edition of the statesman had describe Raul as a brilliant but playboy-ish player. Two Champions league finals later I was convinced of the brilliant part. In fact my admiration for Raul and his fellow Madrid strike partner, was the primary reason for my support for Spain at all major tournaments.

Raul's strike partner was Fernando Morientes. Most people new to football will perhaps always remember Morientes for his poor spell at Liverpool. But for years prior to his disastrous spell at Anfield, Morientes was a striker of undoubted quality, who at times outshone even the great Raul in terms of pure goal scoring statistics. Ironically his greatest influence was while he was on loan at Monaco and virtually single handedly dumped Madrid out of the champions league scoring in both the home and away ties. I still remember watching him score what looked like a consolation goal after Madrid went 3-0 up. It was perhaps the only time the Bernabeu crowd applauded somebody for scoring against Madrid. What has happened to his career afterward is a pity. But he along with Raul will remain one of the great European strikers.
When in their prime this was perhaps the most potent strike force I have ever seen. People may rave about Villa/Torres or Cole/Yorke or Ronaldo/Rivaldo or whatever. For the 5 years that they were the first choice strike pair for Madrid they scored 28,52,46,41 and 47 goals between them. In those 5 seasons Madrid won 3 La Liga titles, 3 Champions Leagues, 3 Spanish Super cups, A UEFA Super Cup and 2 World Club Championships. I don't think there has been a better strike force in the Modern Game. And it is perhaps more than a coincidence that Madrid were no longer the threat they were once considered after the demise of this partnership. True Ronaldo was eventually signed from Inter, but he never formed the kind of partnership with Raul that Morientes had.

Heart Break

Of all the players Rafa has signed, Xabi Alonso is perhaps the classiest. There hasn't been a deep lying midfielder that good since perhaps ...... wait !! There hasn't been anybody like Alonso in the EPL! I think the closest person to Alonso in terms of impact is Seedorf at Milan. It'll be sad to see him go. I think Liverpool's chances will leave with Alonso. He was the difference between winning and losing so many times last season.

Despite good reviews I had a paper rejected. I did however have another one accepted but fuck the PC for halving my joy. A big Thank you to K.Kothapalli, Suhail, SKP and PJN for all the kewl work that went into the paper that got accepted. Who ever thought you could mix parallel computing, cryptography and GPU's!! The paper that got pawned was perhaps a victim of some rather shoddy writing on my part. Lesson: never write a paper that is double column, 9pt font and 12 pages long in one day even if you are Shakespeare.

This week I Shall be leaving my home of 17 years at Lab Quarters in Hyderabad. For the ignorant it's a DRDO colony and is an extremely beautiful one at that. We will be shifting to a place nearby. I will miss the lawns and Grounds and Badminton courts and the squash courts and all the pretty girls. No matter where life takes me, it'll always be *the* place I'll call home. I grew up there, met my best friend there, and did a lot of other firsts there too. Alvida.

Today also starts my last semester at IIIT. I think I'll spend this semester doing what I can, to help IIIT. This is a unique place in India, and after a few months when I am gone, I will dearly miss the slow, BC filled tension-less life that IIIT offers. Unlike many others I will not hate this place because of some differences with the people who run the place or their lame ass antics. I will remember IIIT for the friends it gave me and the things it taught me.

PS: Rafa Benitez you snobbish little panzie !! Look what happened when you didn't sign Arshavin, look what happened when you didn't sign Owen. Please Please Please sign Huntelaar. Dont make me sad.

Why the three political fronts can kiss my vote goodbye

I read an interesting post by Sukesh about who he would vote for and why. I have thought about writing a post about the same for quite some time but somehow it didn't come along.

I will not vote for the Congress(UPA) because
I hate their minority appeasement crap. India is a country with a majority Hindu population. I think India should learn to live with it. There are minorities all over the world, but nowhere is there such a hue and cry as their is in India about them. We talk so much about minorities and caste and stuff like that, that even if a person wants to forget that he is a minority or from a lower caste ,every election year the likes of the Congress and the BSP go out of the way to remind people that they are downtrodden and neglected even if they aren't. The congress has announced loads of scholarships for minorities and backward castes. Why should a upper class person not be eligible for them? Poverty is the same for everybody: Hindu or Muslim, upper class or backward class. Clearly our present government seems to have forgotten that. Also the UPA government has perhaps done irreversible damage to the IIT/IIM system by opening the floodgates to all sorts of undeserving people. Plus the way the new IIT's have been setup and are functioning has to be a scandal. Pulling shit like this pisses me off to the core.

I will not vote for the BJP(NDA) because
Whenever and wherever the BJP comes to power we are suddenly faced with morons like the ones that vandalised a pub in Mangalore and attacked women. I have no idea what divine right, the BJP and it's more hardcore right wing elements feel they have, to be the custodians of Indian Culture. We have had such incidents all over India where couples in a park were attacked and every year we are bored to death by the antics of these so called "Standard bearers of Indian Culture" on valentines day. I wonder where Indian culture allows mobs to beat up women and young couples. I wish that these people were sent some more pink chaddis every year. Honestly these antics of the BJP's more orthodox parts scare the living hell out of me and is perhaps the only reason why most people do not vote for the BJP. Educated young India doesn't care about Ram-Raj. They want jobs and housing and health care and education. Not temples.

I will not vote for the left(the third Front) because
I am personally really scared of communists. Worldwide communists have this policy of "you are either with us or against us". Commies will argue otherwise but history will tell you that once the communists have got control of a country they never let go. They then set out to mercilessly kill any opposition. Stalin's Russia, Mao's China, Kim Jong Il's North Korea and Castro's Cuba(the official line is Socialism) are all fine examples.In India 30 years of communist rule in West Bengal has reduced a state once the Jewel of India to underdeveloped, corrupt state where a company cannot setup shop without being hassled by the goonda like trade unions. The situation in Bengal is so bad that unless you are a proper CPI(M) cadre member you can virtually kiss any sort of government employment goodbye. The shit in that state runs much deeper and is a topic for a book. Their anti-West, anti-Globalisation stances are at times just for the sake of it. Their behaviour on the nuclear deal was also rather immature. The bottom line: I don't want to pay any taxes to a communist regime.

And while I am at it, I would like to drop a line for the Honorable member of Parliament from Hyderabad Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi from the Majlis-e-Ittihaddul Muslimeen(MIM) whose offices are a stones throw away from my house. During the Post nuclear deal trust vote Owaisi sahab said that he would vote for the UPA govt. as he would vote for the party that best helped the uplift of Muslims. Well Mr.Owaisi I thought that you would vote for the Govt. that would best help in the uplift of your constituency at the very least. Seeing as that you don't care about the Non-Muslims around even in your constituency, you can kiss my vote goodbye too.

Will I vote for the Lok Satta or the TDP or even an Independent ? Well the answer is an emphatic NO. I tried 4 times to get a Voter ID made. Alas all those attempts failed. I have no voter ID and have no mention in the Electoral rolls. Whats more interesting is that my parents names too have vanished from the electoral rolls. Looks like the Election commission of India has decided for me that my vote really doesn't matter. I wish I could find those bickering Election Commissioners and give them the walloping they deserve for leaving me and perhaps many more lakhs of legitimate voters our of the rolls.

The one with the horrible mails

I was reading this today and was left with a really big WTF look on my face. I then thought of putting up some awesome(er) mails to remind the alumni what they are missing out on :P

Mail 1

Sub:[Students] Reg:Kriya in yoga tomorrow morning

blah blah blah ...

But tomorrow, sir is going to teach new technique in yoga that is "kriya"
means cleaning of abdomen and stomach by drinking a bucket of water.

It will be, first driking of water as much as you can and doing some yog
and leaving the water out and again drinkng water like that the cycle will
be repeted till white water comes out of us. it will be nice experience.

blah blah blah ...

Mail 2

Sub: True Freedom

Too long to post here. Yet another one of those "Huh!! you talking to me ....WTF are you talking about, please don't put me through this, no stop ......noooooooooooo" reaction evoking mails

Mail 3

Sub: NOT IMPORTANT

Dear BTP PROJECT STUDENTS ( e.g. Arpit Jain )

Today, we have faculty meeting from 3 PM onwards.

Thus I will be in the LTRC conference room from

3 PM to atleast 4.30 PM.

YOU CAN LEAVE THE BTP REPORTS IN MY
MAIL BOX ON THE GROUND FLOOR

I am on LEAVE TOMORROW i.e. 5th March.

WIth Regards,
XXXXXXXXXX

I had to have one mail from XXXXXXXXX. He has been in scorching form this sem. And yes Arpit was indeed a fine example for many days after that mail :)

Mail 4

The background- 2 people were "exchanging ideas" on a SE assignment, and copied their drafts from a IM window. Unfortunately they also copied their chat by mistake and uploaded it. Their transgression was made public to the batch in a mail by the TA. Original post by BullzY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub: A submission
From: The perennial Software Engg. TA

Mx. X: thr
Mr. X is busy.
Mr. X: ?
Mr. Y: haan
Mr. X: abe idhar aaja ek assnmnt mil gaya hai
Mr. Y: abey ek assnmnt hai mere paas dede wo
Mr. X: usko edit kar dete hain jaldi
Mr. Y: mix kar doonga manish: tym ni bacha
Mr. Y: abey mixing aasaan hai rather editing
Mr. X: thik

well, mr. X and Mr. Y tried to act smart. But forgot that last minute work
makes us more prone to errors + makes us answer questions that we never
asked.

Now, Mr. X and Mr. Y, you know who you are and we also know who you are.
So both are requested to meet me asap before we decide to give a F grade.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and when the TA sent the mail, the TA forgot to remove the attachment that X and Y had originally sent them, consequently revealing the identities of X and Y. Well... we do learn from our TA's don't we :O

PS.1 This post was inspired by sarika's last 2 posts with some awesome mails!! Way to go BullzY
PS2. Naming posts like friends episodes in completely legal.