Monumental Value

24 years in Delhi and today was the first time I managed to visit Humayuns tomb. I must say the guy is buried in an amazing monument. Dont understand the logic, though, behind building such huge ones for burying someone (anyone). So many would have toiled and got killed erecting these. Can’t imagine how, without our technologically advanced cranes, did they manage to get those huge blocks of stone, from here to there.

This apart, the monument is fascinating. I didnt have my camera with me today but i will sure go back tomorrow and click some shots.

Sad chat at midnight

and the ‘Lamest Conversation Ever’ prize goes to…

me: Jha Kaas
soomita: kyamatlab
me: straight from bihar
11:57 PM chappra district
eating paan
soomita: oh ho to tu bihari hai….
no wonder
me: thuking idhar udhar…
soomita: chi chi
dirty fellow
me: even on pupils shoes
soomita: hain
me: peoples = pupils
11:58 PM soomita: achcha time pass hai na
me: if u wanting paan, or any body in ure office wanting paan, u can ring my on my new cellphonua
11:59 PM i am wholesaling paan, straight from chappra
all over
someday i will becom a paan magnate!!
soomita: bhai aap kah rahen hain to theek hai…..hum kal hi sab ko inphormasun de deta hun…
12:00 AM me: laalu is also one of my clients
he is going to give me a contract to give one paan free with each rail ticket booked anywhere across the country
1000 crore ka tender hai
12:01 AM soomita: bahut achche
hum khus hue
me: app apni channelwa me chapiye is khabar ko, humari tanik public-city kijiye
10 taka aap ka!!!
12:02 AM kyon dum hai baat me, chuna lagake!!!
?
12:03 AM soomita: aaj kal dus take mein kya hota hai…..
tanik hamare baare mein bhi to sochiye
me: baraat me aaye ho kya
yaha garmi se aag lag rahi hai!
12:04 AM aur aap ko apni lagi hai
12:05 AM chalo 15 taka, bas aur usse zada nahi
12:06 AM soomita: thik hai hum isi mai kaam chala lenge
bahut shikriya
shukriya
12:07 AM me: deal
soomita: deal hi samjho

Reservations… bla, bla, bla

The very basis of a democratic setup has been shaken by the way the reservations episode (if i can take the liberty to call it an episode) ended. The students and all the others protested. The government, without listening to valid arguments decided on a certain plan and is now ready to implement it.

In an interview given to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN, our very own education minister Arjun Singh had nothing better to say except that it was the 'will and desire of the Parliament'. 'Decision on quota is final, the chapter is closed'.

Sadly, it seems like our education minister has no voice of his own. And to say that it was the desire of the parliament gives me the feeling that all our MPs are unanimous about implementing more reservations (which obviously means they have started to plan their election strategy much in advance).

They suggest that the total number of seats be increased but have no solution when posed with the question of how the infrastructure for such a huge increase will be put in place.

I am sure most of us do not believe that reservations are fundamentally wrong. I don't think they are wrong. But yes, the way they have been implemented over the last 50 years is wrong.

The solution, as many see it is very simple on paper – RESERVATION ON THE BASIS OF ECONOMIC STATUS of a person. How that will be implemented is a big problem in a country of India's size? Someone needs to figure that out as well.

Should tax-payers be paying for a student’s 4 years at IIT

I need to get to the ministry of education and find out how much does the government actually pay for the four years of a student at IIT? How much of it is subsidised and how much they actually pay?
Can the government quantify what it gets back from these students.
I was giving a friend an example of how a mutinational company sending one of its employee on a scolarship to study further, anywhere, makes her/him sign a bond to work with them for a certain number of years after getting back.
Should'nt the government stop its philanthropic act and start doing a similar thing. After all its the tax payers money which is being used to give quality education to students who don't give back anything to the nation. I am a tax payer. Why should I be paying for anyone else's education.
The Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in India have been struggling for years in want for quality manpower. These young engineers would be the best bet for these sick PSUs to regain their health (at least an attempt by fresh brains).

An easy solution, which I am sure has been suggested by many over the years, would be to make the IIT-ians work with PSU's and other government bodies for a minimum number of years after they complete their education (instead of getting out of the country for higher education or becoming managers by doing an MBA).

Ofcourse, one has to figure out a way to do this without raking up a debate on right to education and right to freedom of education.

Why does all talk in Hyderabad tend towards ones caste?

I've been in Hyderabad for two whole days now. Met many relatives and a few long-lost friends on the first day. Today, the second day took me to the Andhra Pradesh assembly and secretariat office in the heart of Hyderabad. My Uncle took me there. Most talk with him starts and ends with caste. All I hear from him is this guy is an SC, the other is from our community, some secretary is still at a post because the minister concerned of the department is of the same caste. Bull crap, I must say. In the beginning, I was under the impression that it's only him. Much to my surprise, most others at the secretariat were talking just like him.

I just don't get it. Why in gods name is the caste of a person so important to qualify him/her as a good or a bad worker. I had this acquiaintance in Andhra Pradesh Tourism. This girl is a SC. Not Brahmin. Whenever I mentioned her to my uncle, he had only one thing to say. These people don't work. And believe me he wasn't refering to all in the government. He meant that for just a few who are not Brahmins or the other so called higher caste.

I am just so glad I decided not to find a job in Hyderabad, for good. Lucky for me. Donno if i'd be able to survive here, with such a 'caste' on my head.

In the city of the Nizam and Biryani

Namaskar

I was impressed by the Secundrabad (Hyderabad) railway station when I got here this morning (April 23). The city has chenged so much since the last time I visited (which was a good 7 years ago). The area around the Hussain Sagar Lake has been developed quite wonderfully. It was a bad idea to visit that area, though. Milling crowds, enjoying a nice cool Sunday evening. I was so lucky to have taken a bike there. A car would have tested my patience no end. The IMAX theatre and the mall alongside were amazing, but again very crowded. Me and my cousin were just taking a chance. We knew all along tickets would really be hard to get. So was the case.

Varna tagged me so I'm gonna start blogging with this meme. Here it goes:

5 people who top your shit list….. and why:

1. Some ass**** who banged into my bike and ran away. Would have let him go if he had stopped and apologised.
2. Then the police for asking me where and when it happened when it was actually only 50 metres away. Then asking me where exactly so that the correct police station could be contacted.
3. My ex-boss who acted like a prick when I showed him my resignation letter (well I expected it).
4. Myself for not finishing pending work even when I had loads of time on hand.

Close brushes with death/danger:

1. Skidding a Bullet on sleet formed at 13,000 feet on the way to Rohtang Pass from Manali. Man that was scary.
2. First accident on my bike when a dude thought he could turn right without giving an indicator. I was the unlucky one trying to overtake from the right.
3. Falling from my bullet after a car hit from the left. The leg guard saved my life. My suggestion, never drive bikes without good butterfly leg guards.
4. When I stupidly looked down while trekking up a steep mountain. I certainly skipped a beat.

5 Preferable modes of suicide, in descending order:

Hmmmm…never thought of them…can't think

5 Guilty pleasures:

1. Extra sleep.
2. Sometimes doing nothing all day when there is loads of work to be finished.
3. Driving at top speed zipping through mad Delhi traffic.
4. Hot Chocolate Furge @ Nirulas
5. Pizza at Flavours

5 things you never want to forget:

1. My first job at McDonalds
2. College and then IIMC.
3. Falling in love
4. The two years in Love with Jyoti.
5. Ride on a bullet to Rohtang and also to Agra (it took us 8 hours from Delhi to Agra and my ass hurt for the next 2 days. I drove 16 hours that day. a break every 1/2 hour)

5 things you wish to forget:

1. My fights.
2. 11th and 12th Standard and the tutions that filled my days then.
3. Falling out of love
4. A bad accident I saw which still keeps flashing, sometimes.
5. The killer red line buses.

5 really exotic dishes you have tried:

…this is a really tough for me… am a vegetarian, dont experiment either and bad with remembering names…

1. Pakistani vegetarian food
2. Some wierd kind of vegeable in South Africa
3. Andhra cuisine

5 crushes/loves in your life… in chronological order

There wont be any names

1. First crush in school when I was 14 (she still doesn't know)
2. The Mallu girl in first year of college
3. The Andhra girl in second year of college
4. The girl from Lucknow at IIMC
5. …..

Strangest dream you ever had:

Strange, can't remember any.

5 most valued personal possessions:

1. My Parents (though I don't possess them)
2. My friends (I don't possess them either)
3. My Bullet
4. Love
5. Self-respect

5 favorite superheroes….. and why:

1. My mother
2. People living on a daily wage
3. …

But I dont really believe in super heroes

Better late than never…

It took me 6 months to setup my own blog site….man i am lazy…. but now that its finally there, I doubt if I can actually fill it up. With this, I've made a start though. Now lets see if I continue to add value to it.