I am a Walk-Sleeper - The Thomso Report

It's not often, even by Rke's slack standards, that a bloke gets 2 holidays in a row; first an unbearable 2 weeks and then another. Spice it up with a couple of Tests and a Thomso in the middle, and I begin to wonder who made the academic calendar... During the first bout, I found myself at home, idling away with my laptop, as other colleges didn't seem to share Rke's enthusiasm in supplying holidays thick and fast. And then, the festival of lights... I had one of the most boring Diwalis of my life. Crackers to be burst only after 7 : 30! What do you expect?

'Twixt these 2 sessions, we also had classes. But with 20 contact hours a week, I sometimes wonder if I am really here - in an IIT... The TS's blitzkrieg, however, blew away all those notions which tended to imply otherwise. Hot on its heels, Thomso 'happened' - chilling out all those overheated minds (at least, that was what it was designed to do). Then - Why, I ask myself, Why more holidays after Thomso? Here, for once, I agree with whoever chalked out this order-of-the-year. Thomso, in no way, brings rest and relaxation. In fact, it stretches you out till you are on the brink of insanity and the threshold of physical self-destruction. No wonder, we need a holiday to recover from it! Thank you, Mr. Clever Year Planner.

At certain points during those tumultuous four days, I wonder how I sewed up so many things without disturbing the space-time continuum (read : I didn't teleport under any situation). The previous year's Thomso had left me with sweet memories and good expectations to the extent that I remember mentioning to someone that we must have 2 Thomsos in a year. I take my words back - Let not such a punishment befall me! I never knew that the process of making an event fun for the others was a health-hazard for the organizers!

Thomso saw me in a variety of roles... all at the same time. 

(1) First 'Thomso Bytes' The Editor - The editing would be done during the small hours of the day, I was told. Unfortunately, this morning work often went on for a little longer than we expected, with the Day-1 morning stretching to 1800 hrs IST. Definitely, didn't get too much of Thomso that day! Over the next 3 days, rapid improvement was seen - (Taylor's principles and Gantt Charts were in use - read BM for more). The improvement, though, was short lived as Thomso ran out of days. (On Day 4, the work was done and the newsletter was out by 1 p.m. - I know, we rock!)

The delays notwithstanding, the Bytes was great - so say the junta - at least if one ignores the errors in the Errata.

(2) Then the MMS quiz - A QuizMaster - that was good. I love seeing people flabbergasted by a range of perplexing, outlandish and phenomenal questions. (I don't vouch for the latter part of the statement - but I assure you that the people were astounded)

(3) Pentafore - The Organizer - The event which got postponed, cancelled and then advanced. Well, that's how we work; the organizers get to guess when an event may happen and then struggle to reach the deadline. Nevertheless, it was my personal favourite. It would have been loved by any JAM aficionado; for that matter, anyone would have enjoyed the way a particularly zealous participant accused a certain organizer of the event of being a Catamite (I hope I have used the word to proper effect and please don't mind the spelling if it's wrong).

(4) Tissue Paper B-Plan - Thank goodness, I didn't do this too!

(5) A Passive Observer - I really didn't get to play this role much. And whenever, the observation was done, it was definitely passive. I barely had the energy to bat an eyelid!

It was night on Day 1, I believe... It was only after having completed the creation of the MMS Quiz in a room in Govind Bhawan that I realized that I hadn't brought my beloved Atlas-Flame along. What the hell? I can walk back to Cautley! At least those were my initial feelings. But as the cold enveloped my half-asleep self, I regretted those very thoughts. Firstly, I normally cannot sleep in the cold. And secondly, I don't usually walk when I'm asleep. But, that day something wierd happened. I was busy counting my steps as I walked that lonely path at 5 a.m. to prevent myself from dozing off and staggering into a gutter. 223, 224, 225... I was near the Chemical Department. 226, 227... Then blank. A few seconds later - 228! I was across the road in front of NIH! Had I just 'walk-slept'? That too, in a straight path? I don't know what happened after 227.

Amidst all these roles I played in Thomso and considering the fact that I had barely any time to actually enjoy the events, I still had fun - though I would never wish to do it again. A consolation, perhaps, is that people say Thomso wasn't great this year... Hmmm, maybe I didn't miss out on too much?

P.S. Yes, this hair-style is deliberate! People have made comparisons with Michael Scofield and Ghajini, so if you can't say anything good about it, don't say anything. And it means all you laughing jackasses out there!

Elephants Can Headbang - Stories From Mallu-land

Its been long since I made a post... I acknowledge the fact. I also realize that there have been a myriad incidents around me which I could have and should have posted; but everytime I start, there are more such incidents and I decide to put them in too... And now that I have an overflowing bank of these, I had better start posting before they slip away into oblivion.

First things first - Why such a caption? It's because - they do. I do not like uploading videos (especially since I'll have to transfer them from my HandyCam to my Desktop and I'm really lazy to go about doing that) but if anyone wants proof I have 2 minute clips of a number of pachyderms who think that they are in a rock-concert. Head-banging, neck-breaking, tap dancing (elephants crowd-surfing, anyone?) - elephants do love shaking-a-leg and that, I mean literally.

My trip to Kerala, a vacation-cum-temple tour, was definitely eventful - especially towards the end. Because that was the time I reached the much talked about Kochi Airport (no points for guessing who talked about it) hoping to catch a glipse of 'India's own Heathrow' - as I was told. Well, the outward appearence was goodish and for a moment I actually believed that it was the quintessential Indian aerodrome. But they quickly made amends. First, I found one boarding gate pad-locked (there were two in total). Alright, that's not my concern, you'd think. But wait till the rest - Once I reached the gate once the boarding call was issued, I realized that the van was not yet there... The flight was already 2 hours late! Irked by the possibility of further delay, I went to the Airport Authority to ask him what was causing this 'new inevitable delay'. 

'Where is the bus?'

He retorted promptly - 'There is no bus...'

'What??!'

'Ya, there is no bus... Thats your plane.' He was pointing at a distant aircraft, some half kilometer away!

Yes, I walked.

And there went the transcendent airport. The flight turned out to be good though, (maybe it was because I no longer held any expectations) and I won a 3k watch on a scratch card. A high point of the hols, no doubt. In fact one of the only highs in an otherwise plain vacation.

Making a post on ancient history (read : a month ago) is a gargantuan task as it becomes difficult recalling the nuances which actually lent flavour to the happening. (No wonder autobiographies make boring reads!)

Thomso came and Thomso went; and along with 'The Happening' came many more worth-writing-about stuff but I can't just cram it all in here. Jumbo-posts are never good. So I guess I'll have to save that up for later...

Happy Diwali to all! (Mine's pretty boring here...)

The Day The World Changed - Forever...

The league of extraordinary gentlemen : Richard Gatling of the Gatling Guns; Irene Joliot-Curie, the nobel prize winner; Yao Ming, at 7 feet 6 inches; Jesse Owens; Nathan Bracken;  Nuno Valente... And of course - me. Every one of these aforementioned illustrious people graced this world on the twelfth of September. Wiki went on to mention the less known - King Francis I and Fernando Cesar de Souza; the unknown - Ricky Rudd, Yang Mi and Stanislaw Lem; and the notorious - Gerald Stano, an American Serial Killer. But, as they say - #*It happens.

They said "Sweet 16" when I was 10, and I knew that 16 was the age to be. Many years later, when I finally turned 16, I was informed that "the awesome age"  it was not 16 but 18 - the time you become a major. Well, I am not stupid you know... Once bitten, twice shy. I had already been bitten twice. I had rightly discovered then - there were no "awesome ages"...

Well September is the month of birthdays - and not a single day has passed, since the first of this month, devoid of chapos... Ah well, today's different. Today's wierd - Its the day when I offered to treat everyone to the delicacies of the Cautley Canteen only to be politely turned down... (Of course only after having mentioned that they would be delighted to accept it the day-after-tomorrow) How often does that happen? And often is a guy let off without the mandatory GPL? But it truly is an experiance, not too pleasant, but an experience nevertheless to celebrate (so to say) your birthday on the day of a TS.

My first resolution was drawn before the stroke of midnight - I will cease studying at 0000 hrs - so as to not suffer the disgrace of studying into your birthday. And I also decided to complete this post before retiring to get my dose of 8 hrs before the exam. All of this behaviour may seem bizarre and eccentric, I know... (I've had people staring at me strangely) I don't know what has come over me... But let's just say that I'm hoping - birthdays are lucky for you.

Its time to hit the sack now and begin the new year, and what better way to debut this year than writing a test when you are half out of bed.