New Address...

I have a new address... for my blog, that is. I decided to try out wordpress, which a lot of people have been recommending to me. So I have temporarily shifted there, to see if I like it! If I don't, I'll come back to the tried and tested, good old Blogger!

Here's where I am: Globe Trekker. See you there!

B'Burg Diary: Changes in the air!

Blacksburg is fast shedding its leaves and putting on new colors.

Literally.

This is the Fall season, perhaps the most beautiful of the seasons here. This is when the weather starts getting cooler and the trees start preparing for winter by slowly but surely shedding all its leaves. This phase has the absolutely beautiful side-effect of all the leaves taking on different shades on orange, red, yellow and even purple, giving the town an incredibly colorful outlook. Plus, as the leaves fall off, all the sidewalks, and bylanes are rendered an incredible mixed shade comprising all the leaves from these trees. Trust me, its beautiful.

Along with the Fall Colors, the weather has got pretty cool too. Even a few days back we could call the days warm and pleasant and the evenings cool, but the past few days have seen the mercury plummet to a minimum temperature of below freezing point! As I write this at 9.56pm, the temperature outside is 3C! This is of course just the beginning, with proper winter still to set in, but we are beginning to see the glimpses.

And the fun thing is we're actually enjoying the cold! All wrapped up in jackets, this is a welcome change from the heat and humidity of good old home. I know, by the end of winter I'll probably be singing a different tune, but why not enjoy it till it lasts!

B'Burg Diary: Classroom stuff...

You've probably been in some sort of a classroom right? At school, at college? Well, this might interest you then. The US classroom is a big difference from what we are used to back at home, and it's pretty cool, actually... makes you wonder why things can't be like this in India.

For one, we have actually gone back to pencils. Pens, or ink in any form, is not popular at all, and after a while I realized this is actually pretty logical. All classnotes, assignments, tests, homework, is done in pencil! The advantage: the ability to erase and make corrections quickly and efficiently. Pen usage inevitably leaves lots of scratch marks, and occasionally leave you short of writing space; with pencils that's not a problem at all!! The stores are filled with a large variety of pencils and erasers, with only a small section of pens!

It's ok to bring food and / or drink to class. A cup of coffee, or soft drink, along with a snack of some sort, is quite the usual sight! It turns out it doesn't really distract from the lesson, or disturb the class, when you have a snack or coffee; on the contrary, it might actually help you stay awake at a class at the fag end of the day, especially if you haven't had much sleep the past night! This is one funda that I find pretty cool, and something that can really quite easily be incorporated back home, right?

It's ok for a class to be going on and for students to be staring into a laptop. Lots of people takes notes on the laptop, and many simply play games or surf the internet when they get bored in the class. I actually do both: some of my notes are on my laptop, and it's also my way to stay awake when a class gets boring. Some of my friends have got used to getting a "I'm in class... tell me, what's up?" kind of response when they say hello to me in an instant messenger. It turns out this kind of thing doesn't ruin the studying atmosphere either. The idea is that I am taking a course because I want to, so my interest in the class is not in question... Had I not wanted to be in class, I wouldn't be in class! If being online and chatting with friends helps keep myself awake and hear something of what's going on, it's actually helping me! As you will surely agree, some classes can get boring at times, and can get quite sleep inducing.

Might seem a little weird, but think about it: doesn't it make for an interesting and fun class atmosphere?

Are we turning virtual?

I wonder, with the advent of the internet and everything being 'virtualized', are we ourselves becoming more attached to the virtual world?

I have this very close friend with whom I have shared all my stories - joys and sadnesses - for the past many years. Now we are both busy with our lives, we don't get to meet as often as we used to, and of course the easy solution has been to keep in touch through emails and instant messaging. I've noticed very recently that of late we've become more comfortable having written conversations, than actual voice communication. When we talk over the phone, we are a little more laboured, thinking about exactly what we should be saying... whereas over the internet, with the written medium, we are much more free flowing with our thoughts... I wonder if that's just because we've changed as people as times have changed, or is it really because of the radical change in the medium? It's not really a question of the relationship having changed - we're as good friends today as we used to be... if not better today than before - it's just that the communication medium has changed drastically!

Are we becoming more comfortable not seeing someone's face, not hearing someone talk, as we have a 'conversation'? Are we, as a civilization, getting stuck to the monitor and the keyboard, using smileys to convey the emotions that once our facial muscles expressed, and gradually becoming more comfortable with the smiling yellow cartoon than with the human face that it has replaced?

It's personally a big relief that I still miss seeing the smile on my friend's face as we share an old joke... thankfully, I have yet not fallen, at least entirely, for the yellow thing with the big smile...

Real life jokes

There's an American family here that we've become very good friends with. We (meaning me and my room mate) heard some 'good ones' from them, and I couldn't resist putting them here. All of these are true stories from the local court system:

1. Once upon a time, there was this person who was very fond of marijuana. So fond, in fact, that he grew them at home. So, so very fond, that he was afraid that they might get stolen. What does he do? The natural thing: he installs a hi-tech security system at his home. And just in time too, as a few days later, someone does try to gain entry. The security system does its job, and alarms go off everywhere... including the cops, who arrive, and find the thief, yes, but also the beloved marijuana plants. Do I need to tell the rest?

2. It seems a lot of people love marijuana, because this next one is about them too. As before, there was someone who grew marijuana at home. At some point, he needed to be away from home for a few days. Of course, it's highly unsafe to leave such healthy, precious plants at home, so he left it on the front seat of his car, which he parked at the Airport parking lot. When he returned, the car was there, safe and sound, and so were the plants, safe and healthy, but so were some cops, waiting for him.

3. There was this young lady who was due for a drug test. She didn't make it on schedule, which would usually incur heavy penalties. She comes in, finally, a few days later, and insists that they take her test that very day, and without penalties. "Wouldn't you do it even if I had cut my ear off?" You cut your ear off???!!! Sure enough, there it was, a gaping hole where the ear should have been. How the heck did you manage to do that? The young lady is nonchalant: "Well, I was running down my drive way with the chainsaw in my hand, and I tripped and fell... Now, would you please take the drug test today itself and let me go?? I need to get the test done today itself..."

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Weird, the kind of things people come up with in real life!! Makes for good comedies, though!

Scared Species?

Before you read this post, you might want to check this out, which this post is all about...

What is it with the Australian Cricket team, and the Australian media? Why does someone always have to make some comment or another about everyone in the opposite team? I would have thought that with the quality of the present Australian team, any under the belt tactics would not be used, would not be needed, to win cricket matches.

But no, all that you get to hear is Glenn McGrath blabbering about how Sachin, Sourav, Rahul, and any other batsman of repute in the Indian team will be sitting ducks to him, and how he would castle / york / induce a nick / ... / ... them to give their wickets up. There'd be something about chin music, there'd be something about old age, there'd be... Heck, it's too big a list to write here.

The point here isn't that the Indian team is the best in the world; it's not. But why make unwarranted comments? It's a cricket match, let it remain a cricket match!

Well, before you talk, Mr Ray Bright and Mr Rodney Hogg, why don't you think for a minute? Remember 2001? Remember 2003-04? Remember the 20-20 championship a few days back? Remember getting hammered by a relative youngster called Yuvraj Singh? Remember the runs he made? Remember the number of balls he took to make those runs? Remember this was in South Africa, where the pitches are quicker than in India? Remember that the Stuart Clarke you're talking about was in that match? Remember Brett Lee was there as well??

Nah, I'm sure you don't...

A flood of new experiences

Well, I am not in my home town any more. For the past month I am at Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, and if all goes to plan I might be here for the next few years. I am done with Bachelor of Mechanical Engg, and now I am here for Graduate study! Virginia Tech is a premier institute, and it is quite an honor (I am trying to convert to US spellings) to be a part of it!!

And then of course are the differences from India. It has only been a month, so at least till now I am noticing all the positives. It's a beautiful place (you can see some photos that I shot here, and some photos at the VT website here. Hopefully I will be able to get some more photos online soon), and is basically a university town, meaning it's a town that has grown around the University here, which is Virginia Tech. As with all small places, it's very peaceful and calm and quiet, and unlike some smaller places in India, there is no shortage of facilities.

Public transport is excellent, with Blacksburg Transit catering to all transportation needs with its fleet of buses. Unlike in India, the buses actually follow schedules, so you will miss the 9:30 bus if you reach the bus stop at 9:30:30 secs. Well, maybe not really 30 secs off, but you get the point. On the up side, you can really plan your movement, as you know when you will board and get off the bus. On the flip side, you are sure that you have to wait for whatever minutes before the next bus comes in, in case you do miss the bus by a whisker (trust me, it does happen... you are 30 secs from the bus stop, and you watch it pull away and go past you. These guys really follow their time!).

The campus is actually a city in itself. It occupies 2600 acres!! And excluding the living space of 18000 students who live off the campus. All the public bus routes actually run through the university, and you usually use the bus to travel from one part of the campus to another. The campus facilities are excellent, of course. The entire campus is Wi-Fi enabled, and you can access the internet from literally anywhere on campus. The internet connection that I get on my laptop is 6Mbps!!

One big difference that I notice is the adherence to road rules. People actually follow rules here, and not grudgingly, because a police officer is standing round the corner. It is a welcome change. Pedestrians are actually given right of way at zebra crossings, and all vehicles will come to a halt when they see you trying to cross the road at a zebra crossing. On campus this system takes a cruel turn sometimes. Between classes, there are actually hordes of students running from here to there, and crossing the streets. The vehicles are left stranded at the zebra crossings, as the students keep coming! It gets pretty irritating if you are sitting in a bus and getting late for class, but you have the comfort of knowing that the rules remain the same when we need to cross, and everyone stops for me too.

The campus, in addition to being BIG, is also very very pretty! All the buildings are made with a traditional stone called the Hokie Stone. This stone is mined from quarries owned (yes, owned) by Virginia Tech, and used for all construction on campus. The effect is magnificent!

Everything to do with VTech is called a Hokie. Actually every University has its own nickname that it uses for people who are part of it; I think it started from having nicknames for their football team. The VTech nickname is "Hokie". So all VTech students are Hokies, the VTech ID Card is called the Hokie Passport, the stone used for construction is the Hokie Stone, and the VTech football team (American football, as distinct from soccer) is called the Hokies. So, ladies and gentlemen, I am a Hokie!

I think this is quite long enough for one post. Will take this up again in the next post!

On the off-side, there's God, and then there's...

Sourav Ganguly. He's Back. Back roaring, back firing on all cylinders.

I found a great presentation at rediff.com, and couldn't help but place the link here:
Bengal Tiger roaring again

If you're a Ganguly fan, go ahead, enjoy. If you're not, can you give some reasons (a little logic too, please) why not?

Thank you, Sourav, for being you. Thank you, for being such an inspiration.

Tagged?

I'm not sure how this goes, but my friend Sohini recently told me she has 'tagged' me. What's that, I asked, and was told that it means I have to write 8 things about myself on my blog...

Well, why not? It's nice to introspect once in a while, yes? It's nice to try to put words together about oneself, for a change... we are constantly describing others, so why not myself for a change?

Well, I discovered when trying to type this piece, that describing myself was turning out to be writing about my strengths, those qualities that define me as a person, and my weaknesses, which, well, detract from my personality, and which I'd rather work on improving.

Well, my negatives (as perceived my me) are not for public consumption. If I do have negative qualities that I am aware of, I would much rather work on them, than write about them. The world is full of people trying to speak ill of everyone else anyway, and why, pray, would I give them a free hand??

And I don't think my strengths (at least, what I think are my strengths) are meant to be paraded on my own blog. My strengths are for others to recognize and appreciate, not for me to harp on.

Sorry, Sohini, but I am not good at 'Tagged'.

End of a chapter... contd.

It's one thing to feel for the university as a whole, to miss the ambience, and the fun times...

It's quite another to say good bye to friends. As we all go our own ways, we have to say good bye, to four years of friendship, four years of growing up to be men after starting out as boys, four years of a many a good times...

Today someone that I call a very good friend leaves for his next chapter: that of IIM Lucknow. A great feat, a great achievement. Jebu, we'll miss you.

Yes, I agree, Jebu is not the first from our section to leave Kolkata, but certainly he is the first really good friend to separate...

We should all be happy: this is one of many success stories in our batch...

Yet, why does it hurt?