City City Bang Bang

I would have to begin this post by apologizing to all Bangalore-lovers among my friends. When I set foot on kaddu-land some 2 months ago, all I could see around me was traffic, pollution, kannada songs and more traffic. No wonder I had been severe on the city in my previous post. But now that I've become better acquainted with this fascinating place, I really hate to think about my impending departure from here in a few days.

These 2 months in the beautiful, serene campus of IISc have been a wonderful experience for me. After witnessing and taking part in some of the best research taking place in the country, I too am now pondering on taking up a career in research. The first 2 weeks, though,were very dull and boring. Being an electrical student , I felt really out of place in the ECE deptt at first. I had to study overtime to come to grips with the terminology and concepts of wireless communication. It was as if God was punishing me for not studying for my end-sems by making me study non-elec courses. Add to that the umpteen number of problems that I had been facing with the place of my accommodation, i.e. at Gokula appts, mentioned quite eloquently in my previous post. The dull schedule was punctuated with a few visits to the cinema, lakes et al.

Things started to look up when my bro moved in with me. It was great to be back together after some 2 yrs of separation. And of course, it was great to be back in the company of a laptop again. Every evening I would be either indulging in bloddy battles on the fields of AOE, or dribbling my way past hapless Man U defenders in FIFA. All of this was punctuated with a visit to the revered Maddu-land. A trip to Marina in the evenings seemed to provide the much-needed respite from the horrible, humid weather during the day. Most of the time, however, was spent indoors with the lethargic Scooby and the wily Louie at my friends house. All in all, my first time in Chennai was very much enjoyable.

As soon as we returned from Chennai, we were informed that our luggage had been moved to the Jalahalli guest house. I could not believe my luck!!
A word here about the Jalahalli GH: All the girls live there. Period.
So, as of now, I'm livin' in a co-ed hostel, havin' breakfast, lunch, dinner ( and much more :D ) with some of the most beautiful girls I've known in the past 2 yrs. All the more reason I don't want to leave this awesome place!!

P.S.- Sports Headlines - 'The King' cements his rightful place in tennis history, Dhoni & co. screw themselves over in England, though somewhat redeeming themselves in WI and Real & City go berserk.

Main aur Meri Tanhayi

The last 15 days have been very eventful, to say the least. As if the shock of getting a "panji" in the cursed Machines course wasn't enough (why me??) , the agony of seeing my lapy taken away from me (for no misconduct on my part) has left me in shreds. Add to it the dull, boring, insipid life in Bangaluru where I find myself now, and then you would be somewhere close to understanding my misery. As Sushi rightly put it, it's just "Main aur Meri Tanhayi". The lone bright spot has been Chelsea's FA Cup win and Catalan's demolition of The hapless Devils, even though I couldn't be witness to the two spectacles (screw Bangalore).

I heaved a sigh of relief when the exams ended, putting an end to countless nightouts (mostly spent in watching PB and bakar, rather than studying). What I didn't know was what the results would have in store for me. I usually head directly home after the exams, not bothering to wait till the results are declared. However, this time around, I decided to stay around, just in case. I accept that even though I'm not as adept as our revered Licker Sir in licking off the arses of our profs, I still had a faint hope that my staying back would help in one way or the other. And help it did, as i had a gr8 time with the gods of AOE. A lavish dinner in Dynasty was followed by a daaru party in Dhody's room, most fondly remembered for the rounds of Flaming shots. However, all that joy was soon drowned in the hopelessness of my results, and with that went any hopes that I had been harbouring of getting an 8-pointer this sem.

I had a short stay of 4 days at home. Only thing of note that happened there was food (at last) and the HP service center. "Your lapy is in serious trouble" said the technician. "You need to leave your lapy here for atleast 10 days....". I froze on hearing his words. "10 days, you sure?". "We need to replace the heat sink, the speakers....". "Dammit". I had to finally resign to the fate of bidding au revoir to my lapy for 2 months.

Bangalore or Bangaluru, as it is now known, translates to "The land of (boiled) beans". It wasnt my first time here. I had been here on an earlier occasion, but that was with family. As soon as you step out of the station, autorickshaw drivers are armed and ready to rob you of your money. I made the more prudent choice of going to the prepaid booth, and eventually made my way to IISc after having communicated with the driver in sign language. From there, a bus dutifully lead all the students to our apartment.

Gokula apartments is located in a remote corner of bangalore, a kind of gaon within a metro. No TV, no internet connection, no proper shopping complex, no proper bus-stand and all the other virtues of a gaon (even water-buffaloes roaming around the complex). There's just a single plus-point about this place: the awesome South Indian food. My time-table has been reduced to nothing but a cycle of Food-Sleep-Study, just like the old school times.

A word about the other Summer Research Fellows. All of them are either Bengalis or are doing M.Sc in bio-something (-technology,-informatics and what not!) or something else in Maths. A very few sane guys are doing something in engineering. Even among those, almost all except 2 belong to the "ghissu" class that all colleges are cursed with. So, as you can see, I effectively have 2 friends in here. How much I miss u guys, enjoying yourselves back in R!!

As for the campus, it reminds me of R in a lot of ways except that its very "green" down here. The only bright moments for me in the campus are when I'm loitering around, admiring God's creations. Otherwise, its all dull and boring. Work goes on amid gtalk,FB and ebooks.

Its quarter past 6 now, and I'm pretty much alone in the lab, except for the lab assistant who keeps pestering me by spying on me. He's looking at my screen very curiously now, so I had better leave. Its au revoir for now.

P.S. - My new number in Bangalore - 09379021272.

P.P.S. - Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
Cos Chelsea, Chelsea is our name.