“Ragesh!”, a loud cry comes from outside my balcony, I rush to the balcony to find my dear friend Barath ready to shower his sharp and witty comments, as soon as I come to the balcony.. We just stand there, and talk (put mokkai as it is called now, but sometimes even profound things, like Time Travel etc, he he) relentlessly on one thing after another. As we speak, we spot Samson and Srikanth chit chatting near their house. Both Barath and I cry out their nicknames so loud across the 300 yards distance separating them, they come running, atleast to stop us from uttering their nicknames over and over again, and getting damaged in public as our voices richo- chet across the buildings and produce surround sound. he he. Soon, there would be about 6 - 7 of us there , talking away, ah! bliss…good times , good times.. This was year 2000, when we were in Std X, when we didn’t have cell phones or bikes or cars! But still friends of mine and I managed to meet almost everyday (mind u, this is apart from 6 hours of being with each other in school! ).

Come 2003, after all the tension and hype of all the +2 examnations and umpteen entrances ranging from IIT-JEE’s to an examination conducted by a small college, we are free to roam like free birds for 3 solid months. oh and what fun it was. This time it was different though, we would go around in bikes and the friends circle expanded, tearing the streets, with Suku and gang, stopping at a street corner, to eat something, do some “bird watching” and then tease each other on anything that pops up in your mind, however illogical or senseless they are.. Again as we would meet everyday.. go for a walk around the beech, go to each others home.. We were sure our friends would be home, and if not we know where to find them, and hey u are visiting about 12 friends everyday, so odds are that you will find 8 of them.. I would come home for only for food.. hee hee.. just roam around using 1-2 liters of petrol everyday, and would go out no matter how hot, cold , rainy or windy it was.. so will my friends.. Again, we didn’t cell phones, in fact not all had even land phones i guess..

Then we enter college, well, it is not that easy to catch up with all the friends during weekdays because, by the time all of us come back home, it will be about 5:30 p.m and many people went far , even in other states to study, but even then, we would catch up on the weekends, oh yes! the same roaming around we used to in 12th will continue, only difference is each of us will hav a different story to tell about the good, bad and funny things about our colleges. But this time , we got cell phones, so even if we can’t meet, we woud be sendng SMS’s to our friends through out the day till our fingers hurt and go on even after that. Weekends would be fun, some roaming around, some visiting friends houses, mostly Kalpaka’s and eating out, in some road side vendor’s shop, where we can be our naughty and boisterous selves.

And then we got jobs. All interaction reduced to chats. But if it was so, then fine, but chat we used to do in college!, till the wee hours of early morning like the long late night chats I used to have with Kalpaka, Charanya, Sandhya and Srikanth L. Now, everyones online, but almost no one is talking to anyone, (except for Sandhya, Ghanesh and Ravikumar in my case with whom I chat a lot during weekends, and have lot of fun) Why? because, most are fagged out at the end of a long tiring day of 10 - 12 hours (see, I love my job very much, but 12 hours of work and travel will make tired whoever u are), that no one is feeling sprightly enough to communicate. What about SMSs? Oh, don’t get me started! the SMS craze is over, partly because, now the operators have started charging for SMSs and we got bored of it, and if you have a phone like I do, the Nokia N72, sending one SMS will give u ache in the fingers for 1 minute, compared to the 1100’s and 3315’s we owned in college in which u type 100’s of SMS a day faster than you type on the keyboard.. The main reason is we have now got so many avenues to communicate that we take it for granted, we think , “Well, we got phone and SMS and chat and orkut and what not, we can communicate whenever we feel like”, but the “feel like” does nt come more often and we end up not communicating at all. The gap increases, all the more reluctant we feel to catch up with old buddies, Why is it so difficult? I don know..

Last week, the same 7-8 of us who used to meet daily in shcool days, had to send a thread consisting of 300 mails just to decide when and where we all shall meet together, after a gap of aroud about 4 months. This week, my friend and colleague Rajeswari spent endless hours communicating and organising over two days, just to decide where, when and HOW she and 4 of her friends(Sathya, Swetha, Priya and Swathi, who used to meet daily in college and even in weekends), can meet this weekend.

See the HOW, that is a new clause added, first it was anytime anywehere, then it was anywhere but in a particular time coz someone has n’t returned from college and so on, then it was at a particular time, at a particular place coz people come from far away on a weekend, so they dont have enough time to come to all the friends place etc. Now it is how! ya How! everyone is available, but all are busy, “how can we meet? hey I have work, next week our project release, I have a client call next week, so i ll be home at only 9:00 pm and i have work on Sunday too”, so more often , people silently come home, sleep for a day , take rest and go back.

Weekends, are different now, not anyone to hang around, it is rare, It is 2- 3 months since I went out to roam with my friends, no one is available , no one is ready, everyones just sitting around, lazing, taking rest, me too..

Unbelievable! the things we took for granted, are now precious and rare and almost forgotten.. Everyone is preoccupied, or pretend to think so, or even fool ourselves into thinking that we all are preoccupied. We fee like the “Babuli” character in Std X CBSE English text book. We would have thought “I ll never change” and here we are! Time changes us all is n’t it? It might have changed me too. I don know, I don’t have a version control system installed for my character.. LOL!

All I can say is, next time you feel like seeing ur dear friend, don’t call him/her and ask for an appointment!, but yell out her/his name in front of her house, you would n’t want to miss out the pleasant surprise on your friend’s face when he/she sees you, do you? You want to see him/her in his/her shorts and not in their make up and Allen Sollys, don’t you?

.. And if you don’t find him/her at home, don’t go back! look for her/him, probably they are sitting on the same perch you both used to share many a secret, many a joke, and many a crush, probably even thinking about you….

Tagged by Ravi KKumma

Last movie seen in a theatre:

I am not enough a movie buff as to go to a theatre and watch. Yet to watch my 1st movie in a theatre, he he

What book are you reading?

Other than technical e-books or articles, not reading any book as of now.

Favourite board game:

As Ravi said, if Dias Tennis is a board game, then oh yes! DT it is!

Used to love Business game (Monopoly) when Divya and I used to spend long hours playing it..

I love playing Cricket trump cards, Rummy and 5 cards..

Favourite magazine:

AUTOCAR India.. Awesome! Vrrrroommm!. Reader’s Digest

Favourite smells:

Ravi has blown my cover, so gotta admit it, like the smell of new quality books. Then comes smell of my mom’s chicken, cologne ..

Favourite sound:

The sound of my car engine as it climbs to 5500 rpm as I floor the throttle.

Worst feeling in the world:

The fear that your achievements may go unnoticed.

When some one who you care about fails to understand you.

When you are accused of something you didn’t do..

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

Sometiemes I think “Who am I?”

Sometimes I think “I can’t get up from the bed without drawing a free body diagram and resolving all force vectors”

Sometimes I think “I am an object of a concete class, which method should be performed upon me to make me get up”

Favourite fast food place:

Pizza Corner

Few small shops where I go with my friends.

Javagreen in my office.

Future child’s name:

Mercedes if the child is a female, and Benz if the chid is a male. Only child. I do not want the world population to increase in a fibonacci series because of me ..

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”

1. Elevate the standard of living of my grandma

2. Buy all the cars I have listed in “The Cars I would love to own page“

Do you drive fast?

You bet! I would to like to embark upon an unending journey to eternity at the velocity of infinity

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

LOL, what?? Sometimes I hug my mom.. But she is real..

Storms - Cool or Scary?
Cool. Romantic

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?

Nope. Don’t eat broccoli in fact

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?

Copper/Burgundy/Gold in different layers

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in:

Udayanpuram (beautiful. scenic, in Kerala) and Kalpakkam

Favourite sports to watch:

Cricket, esp when Sachin is on song. Formula-1, esp when Michael Schumacher used to drive..

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you:

A typical Libran, driven by his moods, sometimes sober, sometimes light; sometimes cool, sometimes tensed; sometimes as calm as the ocean, sometimes the raging storm, an honest and smart guy who never tries to exploit or cheat anyone..

What’s under your bed?
What do u expect? 10,000$ which I earned selling my latest invention? I wish, he he.. Just the cot. he he

Would you like to be born as yourself again?

Yes!!

Morning person or night owl?

Night owl! anyday (I mean any night. lol)

Over easy or sunny side up?
Depends on my mood..

Favourite place to relax:
My home, if it is my current , then its in my bedroom, with my computer, else it is grandma’s place in my hometown in Kerala, the pulchritude of nature at her pristine best..

Favourite pie:

I have n’t tried, but I like pi though(3.141926…)

Favourite ice cream flavour:
Chocolate! (esp as Sundae or with lots of nuts)

You pass this tag to –

Kalpaka

Revs

Swat cat

(If you can tag yourself that will be great too)

Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?

I think it ll be Revs, (if she gets time/access to blog), coz she writes like 10 blogs per nanosecond. her blogging rates is counted at the rate of MPPS (Million Posts Per Second), lol

Make Money from your Blog with Bloggerwave. Well ya, Bloggerwave pays you to write about them and their partners whom you can promote through your blog. Just a novel way to monetize your blog. I know coz I just received  a 10$ from them. Quite exciting. he he. Try your luck as well. Happy blogging!

bloggerwave

I stumbled upon a video, which makes us rethink the phrase, “Pursuit of happiness”. Is happiness something that we should pursue? or is it within us which we can create? Watch the emotional, scientififc, biological and philosophical video at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97. A must watch!

The most common complaint and comment about an Automatic tranmission car, is that “You have less control over it, there is less involvement, compared to a manual transmission car”. Agreed, you can’t dictate the car to change to any gear that you please when you have an automatic transmission, but from my experience, I can tell you, if you know your know your car well enough, and if you are able to feel what it is doing, you can make even an automatic transmission car do whatever you please (well almost!).

First of all it’s possible due to the fact that most engine management system of today’s cars are intelligent and are based on a feedback system. The car does n’t just do pre-programmed actions irrespective of anything anymore, but on the contrary, listens to the driver input, tries to gauge the intention of the driver and tries to act accordingly, producing wonderful results almost always.

Next is your talent, how much you know your car and can undestand what it’s trying to tell you.

Downshifting in an Automatic car

Apart from the obvious manual change to”L” or “2″, the modern day cars downshift when you floor the throttle (full(open) throttle), provided the current revs of the engine can accomodate a higher rev as a result of a downshift. Imagine, you are cruising along at a rather relaxing speed of 70 km/hr in Overdrive(highest gear), when you need to pass a lorry in front of you, and an intersection is approaching, so it’s a case of now or never. But since you are in Overdrive, obviously you may not have enough acceleration to complete the overtaking manoeuvre before the intersection. No probs! You just floor the throttle, the car immediately shifts down to the previous(lower) gear, u get a jolt of acceleration, the next thing you know is you have passed the lorry at a speed of 90 km/hr. No more waiting for the speed to build up and no more nervous times during a pass

Warning: Do not ease the throttle(i.e., always keep it in full throttle) in the middle of the overtaking manoeuvre or else the car will upshift and lose acceleration and phew! you don’t want that to happen. So keep it floored till you have completed the overtaking.

Upshifting in an Automatic car

Now it’s not as straightforward as the downshift because here you have got to do all the work. The secret lies in judging if the rev (engine speed) is appropriate for an upshift and playing with the throttle. Generally, an automatic car upshifts to a higher gear in the start-middle of the rev band appropriate to the next higher gear. But sometimes we need power. So to prevent an upshift untill all the revs (max revs) at the current gear is utilised and you get maximum acceleration, floor the throttle and don’t ease it until it upshifts. But sometimes at higher speeds, not letting the car upshift will sometimes keep you in a low speed gear when you want speed and not torque. For that, just ease the throttle when you want an upshift. The engine management system(EMS) senses that since you are no longer in full throttle, you don’t the need the acceleration and torque and can upshift. Once it has shifted up, you can get back on the throttle (but not full throttle, else it might downshift again), and drive away. The beauty here is you can upshift almosy whenever you want to (i.e., at whatever rev you want to) by easing the throttle. But there is a limit to it. You can use this easing the throttle to upshift only when you are in the right rev band. If you ease the throttle too early (before the rev band of the next higher gear), the car will not upshift and you will just slow down, and if you don’t ease the throttle at all, it might not shift untill it hits the red line which might be unnecessary sometimes. It’s a delecate balance between speed and torque, and it’s a wonderful feeling when you get it just right.

When the driver sensitive EMS of the car, and your feel for the car work in tandom, you can make it dance to your tunes. It’s sometimes more challenging than a manual car because, there are no explicit levers to do anything, you are just overriding the car by thinking from it’s perspective.

Imagine, you are in love with a girl for 17 years, and one fine day, she accepts your love. That was the exact feeling I had when on Sunday, August 19, 2007, I went to a quiet residential area in Cholaimedu, got down from the taxi, shook hands with my “wizard”, and walked a few paces to see, my new love, my sparkling new “Passion Red” Hyundai Santro Xing XL Automatic, modified with hand operated controls, so that atlast after 17 years of gazing at, thinking about, breathing, eating and sleeping cars, I could not only own, but drive one. The one month long sleepless wait after I ordered the car is over! Phew! Hurrah!!

First the “wizard” proceeded to drive the car, to show me how the new controls work. Of course, I knew how it worked, having read about it in websites, it’s called the Alfred Bekker System. I loved cars so much that I had a massive and detailed knowledge about how a car works, the dynamics, the mechanical details, and of course, about the nuances of driving a car, the only thing left was to get in and drive, and get used to the behaviour of the car. Since, it was a residential area, he could n’t let me drive much, which I was furious about by the way. I didn’t come all this way to be a passenger in my car!. So he let me drive about 100 meters. Sat in, shifted the tranmission into “[D]rive” mode, and drove, was careful, not to get carried away though. The power steering was very light and agile but lacked feel. But, at once I felt comfortable with the controls and just as I had imagined, was confident that I could master the car in a matter of hours. This was my first ever time in the driver’s seat of a car!

A driver drove and brought the car back home, although I drove another 300 yards while approaching my home. Gazed at the parked car, and retired for the night.

The next morning, I drove the car to a ground, with my mom and dad(who also had never driven a car before), and started to put the car through it’s paces, to get a feel of the steering, throttle etc. I drove for about 30 min, driving through a virtual circuit, making turns and straights to get the feel of the car, then my dad took the wheels, and drove another 30 min, then we hit the road, drove slowly (at 10-20 km/hr!) around the houses, another 30 min-30 min session. After lunch, I felt really confident and I was in the groove, I started to effortlessly maneuver the car along the twisty bends and was taking corners with increasing confidence. Now, I was no longer feathering the throttle, it was full throttle time and hit 80 km/hr near a small straight piece of road near the beach, he he but immediately reduced the speed as my dad started to stare at the speedometer from the pillion seat coz we are not supposed to drive it @ more than 70 km/hr, in the run-in period of the car

My real dream come true came when on Saturday (6 days after I got my hands on my baby), I got a chance to go to Chennai, what an absolutely unforgettable experience, I got to drive on the beautiful ECR, for about 100 km, still I had to back off the throttle as it was still run-in period. But this Saturday, I got a chance to drive to Chennai again, this time around, the car was out of the run-in period, and so was I, he he. The open road!, a beautiful, peppy little car!, what more do I need? So when I got a chance on an empty stretch, I caned it and reached a speed of 125 km/hr. What an absolutely wonderful feeling to see the speedo in front of you, at that time! But don’t be under the impression that my driving is haywire. I am a perfectionist, be it the driving technique or the following the traffic rules, and total control is my mantra.

I have driven many of friends in my car, it is really a dream come true to drive them in my car, because, they have taken me in their cycles, and shoulders when I needed it.

By the way, last but not the least, the “wizard” who made my dream come true is:

Mr. Bhaskaran

NO 25, NEW MARKET STREET,
CHOOLAIMEDU,
CHENNAI - 600094

Mobile: 9841190690

To mention a few words about him, he is an obviously talented Automobile Engineer cum car modifier, who specialises in modifying cars for physically challenged people. He has modified more than 150 cars so far, with 100% success and satisfaction, including the top- guns like Mercedes Benz, using the Alfred Bekker system. For under just Rs 19,000 (this might be variable depending upon the car), he had fabricated and fitted custom built hand operated kit for the accelerator and brake and combined both into a single lever, which operates both, mutually exclusively, using a push-pull mechanism, which makes it fool proof. The whole process takes just about 4-6 days. As a client, I could not be any more happier with him, both as a car modifier and as a person. His work is impeccable, his manners, immaculate. He is a boon for physically handicapped people, atleast through out Tamil Nadu. He is a rare breed indeed, because, although there are many car modifiers in Chennai, finding such a car modifier for physically challenged people in Chennai, is like finding a pearl in a haystack. (Ya he is a Pearl!).

I think the “wizard” who made my dream of driving a car, come true, deserves an exclusive post. He is:

Mr. Bhaskaran

NO 25, NEW MARKET STREET,
CHOOLAIMEDU,
CHENNAI - 600094

Mobile: 9841190690

To mention a few words about him, he is an obviously talented Automobile Engineer cum car modifier, who specialises in modifying cars for physically challenged people. He has modified more than 150 cars so far, with 100% success and satisfaction, including the top- guns like Mercedes Benz, using the Alfred Bekker system. For under just Rs 19,000 (this might be variable depending upon the car), he had fabricated and fitted custom built hand operated kit for the accelerator and brake and combined both into a single lever, which operates both, mutually exclusively, using a push-pull mechanism, which makes it fool proof. The whole process takes just about 4-6 days. As a client, I could not be any more happier with him, both as a car modifier and as a person. His work is impeccable, his manners, immaculate. He is a boon for physically handicapped people, atleast through out Tamil Nadu. He is a rare breed indeed, because, although there are many car modifiers in Chennai, finding such a car modifier for physically challenged people in Chennai, is like finding a pearl in a haystack. (Ya he is a Pearl!). Try searching cars for physically challenged, in Google and you will see what I talking about. I dedicate this post to him.

A few snaps of the hand controlled system in my car :

6th sem: 31 May 2006: I got up to a new day, the day of the Engineering Economics and Financial Accounting (EEFA) exam. It was a very easy paper and one day was more than enough to prepare it well. So reached the college at 9:35 a.m, leisurely by car, with my dad, and went and sat in my usual place on a bench beside where my closest friend, Kalpaka was sitting, outside the exam hall. The exam was at 10 a.m.

Usually, she sits in the left end of the bench with her bag to her right, and I go and sit in the right end of the bench with my bag to my left. And we will be revising silently, not disturbing each other or discussing etc.

This day however, she was sitting in the middle ( to my luck actually) , and I went and sat beside her. Unlike usual days, I don’t know why but I just peered into the notebook that she was reading, and I saw an acronym. I found that strange and new, hence, out of curiosity, I asked what the expansion of that acronym was. She said something that ended with the term “Processor” (!!). I was like , what?? where the hell does Processor come in EEFA??. Still not exactly getting what the situation is I asked her jokingly, “Hey innakku EEFA exam thane? (Hey today is EEFA exam only right?)”, to confirm that its actually EEFA.

All I expected was a simple “ya of course”, but the reply I got was, “Innakku CA (Computer Architecture 2) da, enna da joke adikkariya, bayam puduthada (Today is CA, what are you joking? don’t scare me)”!!!!.

Oh man shit! Was she joking or serious? Who was joking?. The fact is she really thought I was joking. Just then I started getting what it all meant, I looked around. She had the Computer Architecture text book Hennessey & Patterson by her side. Yes, the worst possible thing had happened!! I had studied for the wrong exam!!. I mean I had only heard stories of students coming prepared for the wrong exam, but I could n’t believe it happened to me.

Suddenly, everything went blank! I could hardly hear any sound, all the people who were discussing and yelling seemed mute to me. It was like in a dream, where everything is dark and kind of intangible, an out of body kind of experience. I was not actually panicking, but my hormones, esp adrenalin started to richochet in a frenzie. It took a minute to sink in. I waited for my dad to leave, he said good luck and left. I didnt want to sadden him by saying the news and making him worried, and get myself worried in the process etc.

After he left, I slowly turned to Kalpaka and said “Hey naa innakku EEFA kku padichittu vandirukken ( Hey I have come prepared for EEFA today)”, in a non-chalant tone with an expressionless face. I was still dumb struck!. I was still numb.

On hearing this, “She was actually more taken aback than me”. She could not believe it for a second and then gave a genuine terrified, surprised expression which told the whole story. I got the exact gravity of the situation only from her face, at that time. She was like “Hey! what are u saying? how come?” She could not believe it. Now it was 9:45 a.m.

Suddenly her mood changed. She left what she was reading, and asked me what units I know. I said I know the 1st and 2nd units well, having listened to the classes, and having studied for Unit Tests. 3rd unit also I knew to some extent. So then she started frantically teaching me topics I did n’t know from 3rd unit and 4th and 5th unit. Luckily some topics in 4th unit had been taught in 4th sem in CA 1. I tried to grasp whatever she was trying to teach, but I was n’t able to listen that much. Though I gathered some vital info on some topics. Thanks to her. But my mind was wandering..

I was telling myself, “Don’t panic, be cool, that’s the key. If u start to panic, then that’s it!, you will lose it, u cant control the degree of panic. So don’t even think abt getting tensed or the consequences!. Just go and write the exam in cool manner. Think this is just a Unit Test. You like the subject very well. You have topped Unit Tests etc. You know the subject well enough to pass, but your emotions, your composure is the key. Just look at the questions, don’t think about this exam etc”..

With this resolution, I relaxed myself and went into the exam hall, with nothing to lose and no expectations… The 2 marks were easy. The 11th question was from 1st Unit, which had performance measures, problems etc all mathematics, so my favourite, wrote that well. Some parts of 12th and 13th questions were about RISC processors. Having studied that in System Software, Microprocessors and CA 1, wrote those pats somewhat decently. 14th question was little unknown for me, but from what she taught me I could manage somewhat. Another small question, I remembered having learnt that in class. Somehow I finished the paper, with having written partial answers for few questions and having left out two 8 mark questions. I was banking on the 11th question to save me.

I came out of the exam hall confident that I will pass, my evaluations told me I will get around 50-55 % in external ( so, 40-44 out of 80 + 20 internal = 60 - 64 % total). 45% was the pass mark. But u never know, this could be one of those things. There was n’t much room for comfort. Many thoughts started perturbing me. My placements were in a month and should the unthinkable happen, I could even end up not placed. Having got a clean record and 84% aggregate, what an embarassment it would be. Everyday I was torn apart between the confidence that I have done well enough to pass, and the fear of failure. The night after the exam, I told my dad quietly, “Don’t get tensed but I had studied for the wrong exam, but don’t worry I have done it ok enough to be safe”. He too was flabbergasted, but he too was cool, and I assured him nothing wrong will happen.

The comedy is that on the day of the previous exam, on May 29th, my friend Prem Anand called me up to mark topics in the CA text book. Even then it didnt strike me that the next exam is CA. I thought he will study CA on 29th, and EEFA on 30th as it is very easy. And generally people will message me about something like some doubt in a topic, or how hard it is to study , how boring etc, This time however nothing like that happened. None messaged me and I didnt message anyone. And even worst, my friend Srikanth K had called me on landline to ask some doubt in CA 2, the day before the exam, but my dad had picked up the phone, because I had gone to bathe, so he cleared his doubt from another friend.. May be it was meant to happen.

But I owe much of what I could accomplish that day, to Kalpaka. She just had a calming influence on me, to know that someone is there who genuinely sees the difficulty you are in, and tries to help you out. I thought, “Atleast for the sake of such a friend, as a tribute to her friendship, atleast for the mental tension I gave her and atleast for the time she spent for me, I should do well in the exam”.. In fact she told me after the exam that, she herself got tensed about my situation, and she was thinking how I will be writing the exam.. Trully unforgettable.

The next important reason is that CA was one of my favourite papers, especially the numerical problems, and I found the subject very easy and interesting.. In fact the reason why I thought the exam was EEFA was because, somehow it got into my head that the exam order is in the reverse order of my liking them. So since I like CA more than EEFA, I thought EEFA is before CA. (My friends either ROFL or hit me when I say this crazy reason.. LOL)

The D-Day. The day of the results! By this time many of my friends came to know about my tragedy(?) and had consoled and encouraged me. The site did not open due to traffic. My friend Abitha called me up and told results have come, and that the site is opening for her but when she tried my number, the site didnt open again. So again tried at my computer, and it opened. Prepared for the worst and hoping for the best, I looked at the screen and searched for CS340 (CA 2), and Voila! I had passed!! , I had scores 20/20 in Internals plus 39/80 (36 being the pass mark) in external for a total of 59 ( ). phew! what a sigh of relief. The letter “P” on the extreme right made me happier than any 100’s and 90’s I got.

Fine! Now, nothing unthinkable happened, but wait a minute! 39/80? that would mean a mere 49% in external. I knew I didn’t do that bad. and I can’t digest have a mark in the 50’s, in a subject in which I should have scored 90% (Though it’s my fault that I prepared for the wrong exam).

I had n’t got the marks I expected in few other subjects as well. So as usual I applied for revaluation in 4 subjects to get back my peace of mind, and prestige. Reval results arrived, I was so happy, I got 29 marks extra in reval, including +3 in CA 2, which made it now 42/80. Hence 20 + 42 = 62%. Hmmm not bad for studying for an exam in 15 minutes I thought… This incident has turned out to be one of the most happy , sad, proud and embarassing moments for me, but one thing, it’s unforgettable..

All I can say is, necessity is the mother of invention, when u are faced with a crisis, one will automatically get the courage and strength and the solution to it, both from within and from external sources, where there is a will there is a way, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Sorry for being so pleonastic, but wanted to share this experience.. I dedicate this post to Kalpaka and all others who stood by me.. and Revs who urged me to write a post. Love you guys!

PS: After this exam , the next exam was in fact EEFA on June 2 , so Ragesh G R hardly had to study, in fact he was watching Morning Raga on STAR Movies and messaging everyone to watch it, at 8:00 pm on June 1. LoL

I was tagged by Srikanth L to answer a plethora of questions: Here goes

Favorite Color: 7.4×10^-10 m (Red :p)

Favorite Food: Mum’s chicken, Grandma’s Kerala style dishes, Pizza, Halwa

Favorite Month: August, my birth, Independence .. he he

Favorite Song:

Hindi: Tanhayee from Dil Chahta Hai, Yuhi Chala from Swades, Yehi Hota Pyaar from Namaste London(recently)

Tamil: Anbe Sivam, Nenjodu Kalandidu, Kannin kandame vendam

English: Lonely Day by System of a Down

Favorite Movie:

Malayalam : King, Iyer the Great, Manichithrathazhu

English : Movies of Jim Carey, A beautiful mind, What women want, Catch me if you can
Tamizh: Anbe Sivam, Kaadhal Kondein, Anniyan

Hindi : Golmal, Don, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, (I forgot the rest)

Favorite Sport:

Play - Cricket, Dais Tennis!!, Punakka kuru (I invented it, a cross between cricket, squash and hammer throw)..

Watch - Cricket, Formula -1

Favorite Season: Monsoon, esp the Kerala monsoon, so green, so romantic, so pulchritudinous

Favorite Day Of the week: Saturday, when I wake up late after a nice long sleep and still feel relieved that the next day too is holiday, so I can loiter around, hang out with buddies

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: ex: Butterscotch, now: Chocolate

Favorite Time of Day: 12:00 am to 6 :00 am , thats when I am most active, romantic, pensive, creative. Just love the tranquility..

8 CURRENTS

Current Mood: Romantic..

Current Taste: Spicy!

Current Clothes: Black Peter England pants and a Globus tea shirt with the message “DO NOT ENTER”

Current Desktop: Lamborghini Gallardo on GNOME in Fedora Core 5 (Linux :p)

Current Toenail Color: The usual natural light rose- off-white

Current Time: 18:49 IST

Current Surroundings: All my favourite electronic gizmos like my P.C & its accessories, my mobile phone, my MP3 player, A/C, my books, posters of Cars n Sachin Tendulkar, Lays chips & Cadbury’s chocolates, my impeccably arranged table, my bed with some clothes flung on it..

Current Thoughts: Thinking what to blog next..!

6 FIRSTS

First Best Friend : Reshmi (Now Samson)

First Screen Name: ragesh_g_r

First Pet: A calf named “Manikandan”

First Piercing: The one time I stappled a pin on to my thumb lol

First Movie: Maammattikuttiamma (Malayalam - 1989)

6 LASTS

Last Cigarette: Not yet, I don’t smoke

Last Drink: Tea..

Last Car Ride: About 1 month ago , on a Tata Indica while travelling from my home town to Bus Station, when the driver (my uncle) dislocated his shoulder , when the car was travelling at 120 km/hr in Ernakulam city. Thankfully he smoothly pulled over, put his arm back and continued the journey !

Last Movie Seen: Babel (superb! very realistic)
Last Phone Call: Sugumar (my best college buddy)

Last Book Read: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (A Virgo!)

Have You Ever Broken the Law: well yes, small harmless ones, but most often, I follow even the tiniest of laws

Have You Ever Been Arrested: No!!

Have You Ever Been on TV: I think for a group song in 7th std

Have You Ever Lied: Yes, very rare but yes, else I wud be lieing now lol
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn’t Know: he he he , No!

4 THINGS

Thing You’ve Done Today: Chat with friends, now bloggin after my friend Revs threatened me in all possible ways that I should blog now

Thing You Can Hear Right Now: The subtle rumble of the A/C compressor and the swish of the fan and my own heartbeats

Thing You Can’t Live Without: Parents & Friends, Love, Success, tasty food, my car, my bike and favourite electronic gadgets like computer ( and Internet), mobile phone, TV, my MP3 player, A/C etc..

Thing You Do When You’re Bored: Browse, chat, download, read, play games, watch TV, go out and hang with friends, think, brood, envisage contemplate he he,

4 PLACES YOU’VE BEEN TODAY: On my chair on the internet since I woke up :p

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO: Samson, Kalpaka, Charanya (random order :P)

2 CHOICES

1. Black or White: Black (Sexy! enigmatic and classy)

2. Hot or Cold: Cold

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

To drive (preferably own) a Ferrari, even if I die the next second..

In thine eyes saw I, the sparkle of love,
For you are the one I never want to leave,

Thou art the fairest maiden I ever have ken,
Thou art truly heaven given.

Loving you, the one thing I did really true,
Rest of my life, I have no clue,

God is unfair, he made you so beautiful,
My eyes need more than a life time to feel full

I want you by my side,
To sit beside you with pride,

I want to caress your soft cheeks,
I want to kiss your tender lips

I want to savour your beautiful smile,
I want to regain all that I lost all this while

I will live for you, I will die for you,
The only one I think about day and night, is you!

Then why?, my love! u left my heart in desolation!
Then Why? my love! u failed to see my passion..

All I wanted was your compassion
Now all I have is consternation

Tell me now, tell me true.
Was n’t my love towards you really true?

- Ragesh