Monday Morning

From being a river to lake

2012-01-21T04:09:00.000-08:00

My dear friend become a river,

Don’t let the stagnation come near, Never.

Beware of becoming a lake,

Its ephemeral happiness will soon become fake.

River flows without ambition & destiny,

Lake waits for heavens to pour with agony.

Lake is nothing but an island,

It can’t wander any other land.

Let open all the gates of intellect,

It’s the only way to make your soul reflect.

Oh my friend become a river,

Don’t let stagnation near, Never.

Its all about block !!!

2012-01-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

The man who is stalking the clock

Possesses all the keys to my future

He lures & pushes me into this vitruvian block

As I gaze upon this stupid block which has no architecture repoitre

I think block, block, it’s all about this stupid block.

As I try to marry this block

It fights for eternal superiority

In due time it ends with a emotional block

Now to orient it has become a priority

I think block, block, its all about this stupid block

Client like a orthodox father of this bride block reviews me with a click

My man goes into a mental block , He is again stalking the clock

For me it’s block, block , its all about this stupid block.

Office Office - vellapan

2011-09-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

In a life full of vibrant colours

Plain white is at its prime

Those have devoured all flavours

Raw vegetables are too at fame

Those few who are envied by many

Horn there own list to envy

One who wishes to be them

May be just heading to mayhem

Office Office

2011-09-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

Eyes are twitching like burning pop

Fingers are supporting my head top

Colleague’s mockery makes colleagues humour

Why do I only hear it as rumour?

Babylon

2011-09-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

The eyes who were fortunate to treasure the hanging gardens of Babylon have thus spoken :

“I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon,
Along which chariots may race,
and on the Zeus by the banks of Alphaeus.
I have seen the Hanging Gardens and the Colossos of Helios,
the great man-made mountains of the lofty pyramids,
and the gigantic tomb of Maussollos.
But when I saw the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the others were placed in the shade, for the sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus.”

This project created a kind shwarmerei at our office which pushed our thoughts to envision its magnanimity to nothing short of Artemis’s residence. Its architecture shall be imposing yet inviting in nature. It shall epitomize the essence of spaces created in biblical magnificent structures yet shall not be anachronistic. It shall create the Paseo’s & vista’s in a mutual harmony with the environment.

The cantilevered terrace’s which bear the skyline of Hyderabad explains its ‘inside out’ philosophy & makes those internal private spaces infinite. The juxtaposition of these terraces creates an art of shiography & redefines the outdoors to indoors. The Approach though a single free standing lift surrounded by water instills a halo to its architecture spirit. The internal gangways, double height corridors & internal courtyard helps to breach the claustrophobic nature of a built environment.

To recapitulate, we present the architecture which shall be envied by many & cherished by your family.

P.S. : Just gave the presentation, Hope we get it :)

Comrades, Lal Salam

2011-08-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

Work with Ayn Rand

Think like Lincoln

Humour with Osho

Preach like Budha

Booze with Krishnamurthi

Dream like Freud

Sleep with Vega

But wakeup like Thou

P.S.: In hope of wild card to heaven, both in afterlife & present ( Vega is still alive :P ).

What say You ??

2011-03-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

"Lets write karthik . Its high time u gave some time to me otherwise u will loose me. I have been considerate about your work pressures but I cant take it anymore. "

Thats the way my blog feels at present .If it was any resemblance to my original self it would say " abe saale bahut hogaya, mereko kya samjhke rakha hain ". So just to avoid an embarrassing situation , I will write something.

I have started cooking scrambled eggs, as it doesn't require any expertise.
I have stopped working, as I am not given any these days.
I have come with a new hobby. To document all the( hard) beverages in alphabetical order & within an year drink all of them. This would be amazing :P
I have started as freelancing Architect , as I am getting some new jobs.Good for my bank account :)
Will stop using 'i' & start thinking of 'we' :D

Thats it on my personal front & here is something on global terms.

I believed everyone was different in my childhood but thoughts change. Today I believe ' Everyone tries to be different '.

I believed that I am born special but as my uncle advised ' special is the one who doesn't think he is special'.

I believed that philosopher's , scholars etc will teach you everything but today I believe ' they teach me everything cant be achieved'

I believed in Love & I still do :P . ( :I cant scare away girls :)

I believed to be an iconoclast but today I believe that ' maybe being iconoclastic is no more an iconoclastic'

So my dear friends, I am not here to give away gyan but to share my stupid thoughts. So please comment & endorse my thoughts :)

Date WTF !!!

2011-01-30T09:54:00.000-08:00

I have had dates before but I am scared for the first time :P ..... Advice on dressing sense for a skinny tall young guy :) ...i will pay for gud advice :)

Stars & Women

2010-09-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

There are thousands of stars. They reveal themselves only in dark hours. A child desires to grasp all of them. His anxiety increases as the task becomes improbable. He understands that stars are hot, in fact breathtakingly hot. He understands that reaching them with existing life form is impossible. Some men are smart & abort the mission. Others invent things that can acclimatize to the stars nature. These men travel great distances to reach them, till there home is nothing more than a dot. Some men reach these stars & others return back to there mother ship. The men who get the glimpse of stars original self are not left alive. So I wonder whether the journey is worthy enough.

P.S: Replace stars with women & anxiety with adrenalin (which is unfair in itself)

Unventured

2010-02-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

Screaming like a dog

In the midst of fog,

Engulfed by pain

I try in vain.

Twilight Kisses my Ass

Just to Harass

In clutches of dark

I was left alone to bark.

Sitting in form of Indian litter

I hope the future to glitter

Breeze whistles in my ear

I wish not to hear.

Its because I took the Road not Taken

Which said Forsaken

My eyes are now moist

Fuck Robert Frost !!

Psychopath Revitalized

2010-02-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

The great ‘Karthik’ {damn my name its soooooo unoriginal!! Fuck Farhan Akhtar for making a movie with two Karthik’s as if the existing ones were not enough} has been invited to “Youth Social engineering conclave” in New York. The invitation was signed by none other than President OBAMA. Can you believe it??!! Me neither. So I was awakened by a sense of euphoria, it was just a dream :D.

These kind of dreams introduced me to ‘Sigmund Freud : Interpreting dreams’, It is a boring, precarious, fucked up book. It made me realize that any philosophy literature or a philosopher’s view is always unarticulated, whereas it’s that area which needs to be most precise. I came across innumerable illegible Dream theories in it but none seemed comprehensive. So here is an attempt by one more seriously fucked up individual ‘Me’ to propose a new dream theory.

As a preamble to my dream theory, you have to understand my brain theory. So here it comes, beware!!

“Our mind consists of three types of Memory systems i.e. Static memory, processed memory and Functional or Cache memory. Functional memory consists of a universal Bios setup which controls two operating system’s i.e. Stupi-DOS and Creativ-UX. These operating systems are generic and only one can operate at any given time.”

Ain’t the computer’s having an influence on the kids :P. It is observed that daily awakened life uses majorly Stupi-DOS and a rarely Creativ-UX. Our universal bios setup like a responsible government doesn’t tolerate a monopoly of any operating system, However it cannot act against the will of the memory. So it succumbs to our daily awakened duties, just to operate Stupi-DOS. In our daily life we observe and those that are intriguing are stored in our static memory. When Stupi-DOS is operational it only calls for those items from memory which satisfy our carnal needs to the processing, rest languishes in dark corners. Our brain like a hard drive has a tendency to delete unused items. Congruous to the above information, I state my dream theory:

“Unprocessed memory is attended during our sleep. To curb the monopoly of already overused Stupi-DOS the bios setup initiates Creativ-UX during sleep but unfortunately during sleep only omission process is allowed. So creative-UX omits everything but captures those which are found in our semi sleep. Dream length is directly proportional to amount of unprocessed brain”

Just to recapitulate “My mind’s all fucked up!!”

Architecture for Humanity

2009-11-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

“We already feel these new ideas of this building have raised hope and confidence for an improvement of living conditions for the poor in our rural areas.”
-Paul Tigga , project partner METI building , Bangladesh.
In a country with continuously depleting arable land and increasing population, the funds for education in village’s remain scarce. Architect Anna Heringer and her team had a task of building METI primary school in Rudrapur. They had a choice of a conventional ,gregarious building vested in her, but she came up with a built form which was a part of symphony. A symphony of which the whole built environment and the natural environment are a part. A building was designed to the needs, cost and aspirations of the villagers. The METI School has given the children an identity, which they would need in this mechanised world.
Architecture is a social act and the material theatre of human activity. Often we disparage the efforts of Architects as modern citizens have become too naive to understand the conscious and sub conscious footprint of Architecture on their respective lives. The Architect’s aspiration to ameliorate the living conditions of human life in macro and micro scale are projected in the following flow chart.

Carbon Emissions:
Today’s world with great alacrity wants reduction in carbon emissions. Buildings contribute to approximately 40% of total carbon emissions of the world. Architecture community has avowed to reduce these emissions. Architects all around the world are trying to mint LEED metals for their buildings with innovative green strategies. Many of them have also tried to rationalise the present rating systems for better comparative studies. Architecture community is not only a part of solution but also they have been vociferous ambassadors for the cause. Our contribution may not be as appalling as a geologist’s discovery but we make a much larger impact which is at present outside the realm of Public thought.
Shelter:
A house at the cost of an iPhone is the aspiration of architect building for rural population. Centre for Building Research CBRI in collaboration with Architects has been transferring low cost building construction techniques to many remote areas. Architects have used non-degradable waste as construction material. They have built curvilinear forms made out of Ferro cement covering a volume of 50 cubic metres, which is financially most feasible. Architects can’t build ‘cheap’ but they can make it ‘cost effective’. Architects may be only such optimistic professionals who can see light even in a black hole.
Universal Design Environment:
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude” Architects are working to make this anodyne credulous.
American Institute of architects AIA has already bequeathed to make the building’s universally accessible to all physically challenged and older generations. A curb is a single step for the able but for wheelchair bound it is still a several light-years away. Architects have envisaged a war against such miniscule details and to make the built environment more conducive to disabled. Architecture community takes pride in its contribution and I feel they deserve it!
Pioneers of movements:
“When you look on one of your contemporary 'good copies' of historical remains, ask yourself the question: Not what style, but in what civilization is this building? And the absurdity, vulgarity, anachronism and solecism of the modern structure will be revealed to you in a most startling fashion” Louis Sullivan. From Art -nova movement to present day deconstruction architects either acted as visionaries or have shown solidarity in support to others vision. Like any other field architects too face resistance but still there current flows. Few visions are transformed to buildings and some of them are widely accepted, may also even get a cult adherents. Others stand as epitome for the freedom of thought.

Identity:
The built form is a micro environment for set of users and at the same time is a micro element of the macro element as a whole .Hence architect has an responsibility of not only giving a character to an individual built form, but at the same time define the macro element as a whole .We have seen examples in the past of built forms which stand as independent forms without any relation to the environment it has been located in both functionally and aesthetically. It not only disrupts the aesthetical harmony, but also creates a problem of functional mismanagement of spaces. For example in cities like Bombay, slums near a residential complex for high income group. In addition to the aesthetics and functional problems, it also marks a huge irony and a humane question of income disparity. In cities like Shimla , the tradition of English architecture during the colonial time in India has been followed hence giving a character to whole city.

Economic upliftment through architecture:

Architect has a responsibility of creating spaces in tandem with functions .There are many examples throughout the world in which architecture has changed the economic course of a region .The planning of different economic activities is of vital importance for an economy to flourish .Poor planning has led to failures of various economic systems or at least hampering the growth till a certain level. For example, proper planned cities like Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai, etc. have attracted investment in industrial sector .On micro scale B.V. Doshi a pioneer in low cost housing and has incorporated elements such as special retail shops and economic zones ,so that people from lower economic section could be uplifted.

User Behaviour Analysis:
Functionally viable, psychologically pleasant and physiologically comfortable are the most significant results to be achieved by an architect in a designed space. Improving standards of living should be one of the most prime objectives of an architect .This could be done by first considering the basic human requirements for comfortable living . A designer should consider the miniscule details and try to eliminate most trivial factors causing discomfort. Hence, the aim should be to design a space for masses but still keeping its identity intact. Indian Habitat centre is a perfect example, of a place which has utilized the user behaviour analysis into their design. It is a space rather than just a built form which provides socialising spaces. It is an apt mix of heavy and light forms.
Sustainable Architecture:
An architectural space is a system of various functions and services. In any enclosed form entropy has to increase with time .As an architect one should take care to design in such a manner that the rate of increase of entropy could be minimized. Also with change in time, the demand and behaviour of users keep on changing. Hence a building should be futuristic. There have been examples when the primary function of building has changed completely with time but due to the flexibility in design it sustained .For example, the campus of Indian Institute of Technology was once a jail.

So where are we, as community of Architects we didn’t justify our standards by letting the harmony of the built environment to be destroyed. We have driven cities and towns to a point of collapse by callous approach towards architecture. There have been several inspirations in architects and architecture that have ameliorated the quality of living. All the above points are guiding principles for being responsible architects and respond accordingly to environmental factors during the design process. Cities are tending towards an urban blight due to overstrain on services. It is responsibility of an architect to relieve the cities and emerge as Messiah.

Bibliography:
1. Sustainable Architecture White Papers: Essays On Design And Building For A Sustainable Future
2. Principles of Indian Architecture - a timeline study of her contributions to global patterns of civilization by Joy Sen (2008) ISBN 81-902768-4-0 (CYGNUS Kolkata, 2008)
3. U.S. Census Bureau's 1997 Economic Census
4. Architecture for Humanity(2006), “Design Like you Give a Damn”, Metropolis Books
5. www.anna-heringer.com

My Boss

2009-08-06T00:35:00.000-07:00

“I have already informed you, there isn’t any work for incompetents in my office. I have already proscribed you to my clients. So don’t call me anymore”. Those must have been the worst-ever introductory words to trainee. The person who spoke the words was Rajeev and may gods pacify the soul on the other end. He was furious and I was perplexed. Only thought lingering in my mind was ‘Apni toh lag gayi Boss’. He spears me a look and with a twilight in his eyes “Hey, you must be Karthik”, amazed by the cadence in his tone like a Soordas after Metallica “Yes Sir”, Thus commenced my Designhaaus voyage captained by Ar.Rajeev Kumar Sharma.

Rajeev passed out from Kharagpur in 2002.He did get a campus placement but never got a job, 9/11 did impact a few lives. So he went to Mumbai and attempted tutoring mathematics to CAT aspirants but it turned out to be an ephermal stint. He searched for a career in Architecture which lead him to southern India. He tried bourgeoisie's till 2005 but his physic intolerance grew to obnoxious levels leading to the origin of Designhaaus Pvt. Ltd. Some of his batch mates inspired by his intrepidity championed his cause. A 100 sft small scale single employee firm grew to 1500 sft middle scale multi city headquarters. During primitive years, a small residence was not that ‘small’ but today you have to be a large scale builder professionally involved with the office for a consideration to residence design. Designhaaus has been consulted for projects worth more than 2000cr and have on-going projects worth more than 400cr.For many mortals its end of the tunnel but for Rajeev “Abhi toh shuru hua hain yaar”.

You must have read about a character like this on every fifth page of economic times and must have been a much more successful entrepreneur. So what makes Rajeev so special? First of all, he’s from Kharagpur!! Secondly, he has achieved everything without any patrimony and he’s just a twenty nine year old bachelor. Thirdly, his vision to ameliorate the whole natural and built design environment. So the next immediate question, what makes up Rajeev? He’s ardent passion and workaholic characteristics. He is at office when morning cock is setting up its alarm and god knows when he is out, never risked to wait for him. His acumen is incredulous, he can estimate the feasibility of large scale project with a glimpse of the site layout and at the same time can give you a tutorial on miniscule architectural details. He’s an apotheosis of Archi-science, if there exists one. His a ‘chalta-phirta’ inspiration for all budding Architects/Entrepreneurs. At the end of it, I wish his competitors all the luck, they will surely need it!!

P.S.: Sending a copy to Rajeev, kgp ke log treat ke liye kuch bi karengay!!

Internship!!!

2009-06-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

The word seems to be pretty vogue among all students. The word itself demands respect among us. The reasons which were offered to me-

1) They offer you real-time professional experience

2) Make u feel worthy enough to be paid.

So Is this post an epitome of internship credibility? No. This post is all about my frustness (frustration) that I experienced in all my past Internships. Why are they sooooooooo Highly rated among us?? In a usual classroom they are always people who inform us about the value of a professional experience. So what is this professional experience? Simply Its just working among more and more constraints. How can a constraint be good. Constraint is always bad. It CONSTRAINTS your brain. Let me put in some examples (to all those who didn’t experience it)

You can build a 20mt cantilevered space in a classroom. In real world money is a constraint. In classroom you can think of exact engineering in constructing a beam. In real world just copy the building codes. In classroom you can discuss your thought and if prof rejects it, you don’t have to push a panic button. In office be careful with every word you use. Classrooms are built so that you earn how to learn. Offices are built so that u learn how to earn.

Offices are better for those who live for bread. Classrooms are better for those who bread to live. Choose which category you belong to.

P.S. - Never abuse your profs. They were the one who taught you how to learn.

Development !!!

2009-01-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering ' what is the actual purpose of my blog?'. The answer to that would be 'to make a collection of my randomly occurring not-so stupid meticulous thoughts'. I could however maintain a diary!! Yaa but it feels like a celebrity when someone reads your thoughts and even better if they comment on it,so please do. I also get a reality check. So todays post is about 'My strategic planning for the development of rural people dependant on Agriculture'. My dad is a Farmer, So that inspires me to think about it.
It is a well known fact that India has been achieving high growth rates and a more well known fact it is majorily limited to urban India. There has been rise in migration from villages. There have been many protests regarding this issue and many fingers are being pointed towards the authenticity of growth index. But I ask them WHY SUCH PESSIMISM?!! Migration from the field of Agriculture is the best thing that ever happened to this country. Land is constant but our population isn't. India faces the major problems in agriculture because of the small scale of farmlands . There isn't a market for heavy machinery oriented agriculture which leads to less economic output per person. So if migration increases and people are changing there occupations, its actually increasing the value output of farmer per unit land. If you look back into history, you will notice that there is no major economy which became 'Major' basing on agriculture. So my first point to future generations and potential parents of that generation to encourage migration form Agriculture
Second point has been much spoken about and has always been on the brochure of electoral campaigns of all the political parties. That use of science and technology to increase the yield of the fields. Yes! Once upon a time there was a green revolution in 1970's. India became self sufficient. But why such an OPTIMISM here. The government has been spending huge amount of economic and intellectual property on this cause only. The results have not been very encouraging,least of all mind boggling. I just wonder what the politicians plan to do!! They may be able to achieve higher yields but will that actually result in increase of income to farmers. The research should have been towards value addition of present output,ex- Ethanol manufacturing. This should actually impact the farmers economic condition. So my second point is value addition.
How many times have you eaten noodles?? Strange question. That is the impact of proper marketing. I cant comprehend the fact that our companies never tried to market our sweets or cuisines in packaged forms outside India. There has been beginning, all compliments to haldirams,ITC etc.. But still there impact is very localised. When Chinese could create a market for noodles all over the world,why cant India?? Third Point we should create a market for our products outside India. This will have a huge impact on economic condition of farmers. So to achieve this,first government has to encourage private companies into this sector. They will take this baton from the government. So to do so government should encourage companies to setup factories in rural areas. For government to do so we should not fall into the trap of opposition parties. To do so our people should have a proper knowledge of this happenings.

P.S.- This post was inspired by the lameness of Tata IDEA cellular operating services ad. If you remember 'JUNTA ne naa kaha toh NAA'.

KGP life

2008-12-31T00:10:00.000-08:00

I copy pasted it from facebook... but this deserves a space in my blog...

1. You've never had breakfast at the mess.

2. DOSA for you isn't a thing to eat, but you feel like eating him.

3. You've suffered from Conjuctivitis/Jaundice in the Insti.

4. You've never had lunch at the mess.

5. You've never attended lectures before 9:30.

6. You think Sugar n Spice is the most stylish place in the world.

7. You're addicted to How I met your mother and californication.

8. More than half your t-shirts are from ecell, kshitij or sf.

9.You tried learning how to play the guitar, but gave up eventually.

10. Cheddis is the best place in the world.

11. You've never attended Snacks in the mess.

12. Your stomach grumbles every time you have Swagat food.

13. You've heard Comfortably Numb and Mauja hi Mauja coming out from the same room.

14.You've never attended dinner at the mess.

15. You wouldn't be alive if JCB Canteen wasn't there.

16. You've set the alarm in time for the first class in the morning, but then reset it for the first class in the afternoon, and then reset it for the snacks.

17. You've slept through Spring Fest/Kshitij.

18. You're wondering how few episodes of Big Bang Theory are there.

19. Your cycle's suffered multiple crashes. And so have you.

20. A crow has crapped on you on the way to the Tech Market.

21. You've riden through the streets of Kharagpur and contimplated suicide.

22. You know that if all else fails, there is always the grog shop.

23. Whenever you go to a Cafe outside Kharagpur, you ask for Frappe and Lemon Iced Tea.

24. You crib about missing City life in Kharagpur.

25. You crib about missing Kharagpur life in the City.

26. You have a book overdue by 2 months to the hall library.

27. You've fucked off a lecture because your friends/people from your lecture are watching IPL in the common room.

28. Your standard reply when you see the lecturer who's lecture you just skipped is "got cycle punctured".

29. Turning up at 9.15 for your 9 o clock lecture is considered by you to be on time.

30. You sleep through most of your lectures. And your friends take your picture and put it on Orkut/Facebook.

31.banda bandi load peace makhau tempo funde lele machau bakchodi chutiyaps compu poltu studapa god hugga mugga and yeah the third rhyming word to the above two!

32. You think that there will be some hot girls in the junior batch who you'll try and hook up with. And this happens every year.

33. You don't have water for 8 hrs and when it finally starts, it looks like its dissolved with coffee and dog crap.

34. Your parents have more of a social life than you.Your 14-year-old brother has more of a social life than you.

35. When preparing for Mid/End Sems, you consider 2 am early. And think you have enough time to prepare. And then go and play a game of Counter Strike/ Age of Empires before getting back to studies.

36. You've crapped and realised that the water supply isn't there.

37. Frappes.

38. You think they named it mess appropriately.

39. You confuse sunrise with sunset. And males with females.

40. Your definition of disco is PERPZ.

41. You bitch about TDS being a crappy society and you go to watch each one of their shows.

42. You abuse KGP politu stuff and never miss an opportunity to get involved and machau gandagi.

43. Chana Patties.

44. You still drink slice and wonder why the only production of it is done in Kharagpur. Plus you notice the red crappy stuff sticking to every bottle of it which looks like some liquified tablet.

45. You believe in Rock! If you want Pop, go call your Dad.

46. DC++ Zindabad. You've waited for days to download from the top sharer.

47. You'd rather sleep thirsty than fill up the water from the water filter. You'd rather be thirsty than drink water that looks as if its filled with crap and ketchup.

48. You didn't know Fried Maggi existed. But love the Fried Maggi from Chillies.

49. Bondhu's rocks!!!

50. Bhajans are now a very important part of your life. More important than rock, certainly.

51. You think Illumination sucks, but still do it every year.

52. You have spammed thousands of profs in US/Europe demanding an intern position. And sent a &%$# mail if he say it can be an unpaid internship.

53. You finished two seasons of Friends/Prison Break in two days just before the mid-sems. And finished two more seasons during the mid-sems.

54.You try your best to ensure the complete secrecy of your Birthday, or bluff that you were born in December/May/June/July... only to find your ass taken completely by surprise an unsuspecting midnight !!

55. Yent ra.

56. Nescafe.

57.Doing assignments means cogging assignments to you. And half your assignments are completed only the class before the class you've to submit the assignments in.

58. Slept through SOPs. Learnt how to sleep while standing in SOP.

59. You know a sentence with zig zag zig zag and ... insti ka baap hai!

60.You know more about vertical chatais, then horizontal chatais (mattress).

61. You have stood up on 7th floor of tables. (with your mates trying to throw it/you.)

62. You know 1,2,11,14 means yes, no, lol, and "start the game already" respectively.

63. You have worn 3 or more underwears on your birthday and have stuffed newspaper in your trousers on your birthday, to try lessen the pain. Only to be beaten up twice, and know the difference.

64. You still watch that 1960's or so Kgp video on LAN (the one that opens with a view of our fav railway station and starts with "You can take a an IITian out of Kgp, but not Kgp out of an IITian) specially when you are a final year. And you think that's boring. But still you continue to watch it.

65.If your mess golgappa was the worst Golgappa in the world(as if), you would still have it.

66) You have gone to 'sub committee' meetings with the sole purpose of raising a storm over a tea cup. And we can't forget to poltu machaing. And gandagi karing. And kuch huha bc roy sn hall blah blah.

67) Tech market is like a shopping mall for you. You've been noticing the decreasing number of pani puris which come for 5 bucks. First 10, then 8 and now 7! Do they want us to die?

68) Your idea of going to a treat is taking 3-4 taxis to GIH/GI/TPark, stopping the taxi on the way to stock up alcohol, returning after midnight and then jhandaoing at golC, and yes clicking thousands of pics of the entire process. And then thinking KGP Life is the best.

69. The single most used word which encapsulates life here is.....drumroll..... frust.You are so frustrated with the length of the word frustrated because you use it so many frustrating times that you get frustrated and end up making a short form of the word so you don't get frustrated saying frustrated all the time. Wasn't that frustrating?

70. Frussssst.Acads, Food, Profs, Wingie for not returning your set square which you need in TA Lab and it's already 1:35 and you're gonna be late, Dhobi banging on your door all the time, Lack of the fairer sex,Bad water supply when you finally decide to have a bath after a week, Bills, Study material, Recharge, Smelly clothes, Pending assignments, Seniors telling you to do work for them, frequent quizzes.Need more?

71. You either have really long hair or no hair at all(Either way, you look like a dork, so what the hell).

72. Spring Fest. Enter bandis. Enter you with james bond music and pressed clothes(okay, pushing it too far). Sexual tension(or so you hope). Hesitation. First Sight?(No love?) Tryst at making conversation. Sweat glands overgrowing. Ignored. Leaves. Sulks. Next day. New pressed clothes...

73. You find sexual innuendos in your assignments.

74. You thought getting into IIT was difficult, trying getting out, bitch.

75. Dep Sento(Yo Archies!). Hall Tempo. GC fight. Insti ka baap.

76. You've lost your ID Card and\or registered late for a semester. You know the hassles of the Academic Section, Bank, Account Section, HOD, Dean(s), random prof(s).

77. You came in your 1st year with the hopes of a DepC only to find out that GC and DC are more important.

Empty

2008-12-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to blog when you are in a city and it’s even harder if you are working. I didn’t realize this during my lazy and pointless nightouts at Kharagpur. You never get that personal space here, in my case it’s almost impossible. I always wondered in my school days ' I like writing but why am I not able to Write'. Now I think my wonder has lost its glamour. I travel more than 50 Km daily and my petrol bill has almost made me bankrupt. I am so optimistic that I am confident of completing 8 jobs in a single day. I want to emulate Amir Khan's feat of 8pack abs during my six months of stay. I want to make use of the guitar that was left behind by one of my lovely seniors. I want to bell cat 2009.I have other 4 academic jobs and want to excel in each one of them. I want to catch up with all my friends and I want to keep the promises that I made to them during countless online chats. I want to run my company. At the end of it all 'I want to write'. Sorry for citing so many excuses for a delayed post. I know there’s a saying ‘where there is will there is way’. Trust me, my will is endless but my time is not.
So today at Christmas Eve I am empty, both mind and pocket. My mind is filled with vacuum. I haven't been thinking for past 20 days, I have allowed my surroundings to take over me. It’s like I have become a puppet of my own goals. I have lost track of my goals too, I am just doing whatever people want me to do. I have been split among my professional workspace and personal relations. It’s tough to be alien to both of these. When I planned my stay at city from my room in Kharagpur, it was all perfect. I planned each one of my minutes and priorities were all set. But now that I am here, I realize it’s all misplanned. All my plans are proved to be as brittle as glass. So my mind is empty .It is reluctant for a while!!
Then after a while it again starts to plan. It's so mean!! It wants me to try again but with a revised plan that it has generated. It has a thorough knowledge that it is asking me to achieve almost impossible and it is sure that I will fail. But it wants me try and fail again. Again go through all the agony that I have mentioned already. It wants me to do it so that I will be that Spider. Remember that spider and king story. Yes, my mind believes that I am like that spider.
But what do I wish today ' I hope it was empty'. I wish it was happy in that emptiness.

p.s. : I hope it achieved everything it wished, with that emptiness.

tears in my eyes

2008-11-27T08:05:00.001-08:00

Pardon my grammer today.I am writing this post in a rush,in first place I shouldnt be writing it but should concentrate on my submissions which are long due.But I cannot draw a single line without expressing my feelings.I know they wont serve any purpose.I know they are just another set of tears for you guys.Please forgive me for a 'yet another post' on this issue.

I cant take it.I wont take it but what can I do?I dont know! I have heard similar news many times in past few months.Everytime my heartbeat takes a sinesoidal wave.I just wish it didnt.I want to be just another person who will show sympathy but cant offer help,As he is too busy with his own personal sinesoidal waves.I dont pity the dead,I pity the people they left behind.I pity the responsibilities they didnt complete.I pity my thought that wants to get rid of these responsibilities as soon as possible without thinking of those dead.I pity myself.My freind asked me what did you achieve by writing it ?I am not able answer his query because I dont know the answer.I may be a pseudo patriotic but still it hurts.

So if anyone knows the email id of Rahul Gandhi.Please forward it.

I wanna write something....

2008-11-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Saw order of phoenix for fifth time... will see dostana today........got out of exam hall one hour before others....... finished an hour before that..... the girl adjacent to me was cute.... she is doing her masters and still drew margins on question paper.... but not a great soul... she malpracticed..... after 21 yrs in Indian education system still I can’t do it..... my friends think I could...but I don’t think I will ever be able to ....I was highly tempted to do so....than informed JD about internship...he said good...and was very anxious about my stipend...when I told him the amount...he was like 'the people hiring you, seem to be foolish'..... Obviously they are...they studied under you..... came back to hall ...gave back the calculator to Tarun....enquired about CAT.... reviewed the paper...checked out the blog in hope that anyone would comment......disappointment....so I thought 'why shouldn’t I scribble something myself'....it’s my blog after all... so guys that’s the story.... wish me all the luck for my Air Conditioning exam... which is not gonna be cool...... dreadful PJ

An entrepreneur inside me

2008-11-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

This post is long due to me. I always wondered when am I the most happiest? I always knew the answer but my conscience never allowed me to oblige it. The answer glared at me today. So what exactly happened today? I attended a Talk ‘An overview of our general approach and activity to startups' by Joy laskar. Joy laskar is the Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics and also a Director at GeorgiaTech. What a personality!! I was invited by one of the friends from E-cell. Basically a courtesy call but I took it seriously. He didn’t even expect me to come and gave me the glare, which I think meant 'don’t you have anything better to do than attending Talks, get a life dude!! exams are from next week'. None can stop me from attending lectures on startup's, that’s the only passion in my life other than architecture, advertising, bureaucracy, writing etc.

It is a passion, believe me. I walked all the way to vgsom and was alone. None of my friends were really interested and even dude (dilip) turned me down. I think Argon18 would oblige my passion basing on my attendance record (25%).So what exactly cheered me up at this talk ?It was Joy Laskar. He didn’t speak on the organisational structures in a start-up which I hoped for. But he basically answered the question 'How should you convince venture capitalists that your enterprise would fetch a revenue of one billion and would get listed at NASDAQ in next five years?'

So the basic question how did he propose to do it? His first statement "Always put forward the market not the technology, VC's are not interested in a technological innovation but the market potential it has". Bang on!!The way he proposed it, might be rude for all those innovators but for me it was like 20yrs down the lane. Then he emphasised on how small is the VC world and the meager probability of getting a venture, which is in fact tending to zero. As start-ups are increasing at much higher rate than the VC's. Analysis of capital fund distribution. The ideology and psychology of investors. The mentality of a herd even in most enlightened communities.

Then he started drifting from startup culture into IC industry. How a nerd from G.Tech without any experience in marketing could get 25 million worth customers. He showed the picture of this nerd holding a integrated chip which at first glimpse looked like a plum cake to me. Then he showed a graph which according to him was an ideal example of whatever he wanted to explain, which by now you should have understood that I couldn’t get a word. Except for the words analog and digital for which I should thankful to my robotics experience. He emphasised on importance of credibility among the investors. Which according to him once lost will never be found. He also told the importance of explaining your business idea to as many tom, dick and harry's you can meet. This according to him made you well prepared for that one important presentation.

By this time, Time started playing the role of devil’s advocate. Joy Laskar had to rush up the things, so at last he emphasised on the importance of ‘Elevator Pitch’. My first reaction 'What’s that?'He modestly after explaining the importance of it, realised that crowd wasn't very amused. So he asked "Do any one of you know Elevator pitch?"Luckily to save the face of the crowd, someone answered it. It was a very simple concept. If anyone had an idea about baseball and did understand the meaning of a Pitch. If he had known how much time it takes for an elevator to traverse few floors. Then he should have cracked it. By now many of you have must have cracked it, rest consult a doctor. It was a great concept. His interrelation of Horserace and Elevator Pitch was hilarious and intuitive.

On the whole it was an evening that an entrepreneur would cherish. He then answered few questions, there were really few questions in fact only one. A student queried “how successful are college start-ups in gaining VC's?”The answer wasn’t astonishing but joy laskar made it even obvious. His answer "I am very good to drop-outs, as you see all the major ventures Yahoo, Google, Wipro, Apple etc. are all products of them. We people who are unfortunate to graduate are the people working under them and end up bald”. He reiterated that we hold a deadly combination of being in the age of change and being in the country with huge market potential.

So what made this experience happiest for me? It was the thought. I came up with so many business ideas during my walk back to the Hall. I don’t know how successful these ideas would be, if at all they are implemented .But the thing that ideas struck my head amazed me. It made me think!! It really made me think and I was happy to do the brainstorming. I like that feeling of stress and reluctance to leave the problem still I get a perfect business idea. I like the feeling of thinking unconventionally. Focus on the areas which may give me an opportunity . I like the feeling of creating something in society which would make their life’s comfortable inside the existing constraints. I like the thought that no one else could think about it. I like the entrepreneur in me.

This one for u guys part 1...

2008-11-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

My friends have decided to pass a fatwa against my blog if I didn’t stop writing about myself and start writing something which didn’t concern only my world. So I dug my brain, went deep, very very deep. After my mining voyage I have decided to apologise. I didn’t find anything which is out of my world there. So to save myself from reputation of another Rushdie or Taslima, I have decided to write the following content.

History: I have three sets (groups) of friends. Today I will cover one of them. This post is dedicated to all you gu(*)ys (fill the * as per your convenience).

I entered the college life with so many expectations and dreams. None of them were related to anything closer to academic performance but only to my sense of growth. I have been a kid all my life. Spoon feeded by mom till the age of 17, I know that’s weird. I wanted to move on from a child prodigy image to a dumbest lazy version of Don Quixote. I have never been one. Mainly because of the people around me. This was my only chance to ruin it all. I wanted it desperately. I got the exact tools I needed for this purpose. My friends during my first year (we were shifted to different halls in our senior years).

Ravi... I will miss the time we had at tennis court, the time we bicycled an extra 500 metre, just to show the girls that we too have tennis rackets and I will surely miss your jokes (the ones you cracked and ones which involved you).

Saurabh... you are an exact prototype of people that I would advice my son to avoid. I will not miss giving treats to you and I will miss your temperament during exams.

Krishna... I will miss tooth paste and your loss is the one that none else can replace because no else has your body.

Amit (Lakhan)... I won’t be missing books from my room anymore and find it in yours. I will miss you around because still you exist I am not the one who will be bullied.

Suthar... I will miss you for everything and for a heart that cannot be produced by anyone. I will miss your shear confidence in my abilities to ruin anything.

Abhishek (baba).... I will miss your profoundly thought views (Funda), I will miss Cal(Kolkata) trips and I will miss you.

I know you guys are wondering, why this fellow didn’t give you a regular visits after we changed our halls. My only explanation for that is arey maaf kardo.

I miss the Sikkim trip. I miss bullied for being a GULT or a south Indian. I will miss the fights we had over Hindi. I will miss Ravi's never ending crush list. I will miss suthar-saurabh jodi and will be cautious of such a jodi in future. I will miss KC's (Krishna) ******.I will miss Lakhan writing in air. I will miss baba for his 21 inch monitor. I will miss you guys.

KARTHIK

2008-11-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

We were being distributed our half yearly papers. They were calling out the respective names to collect them and I wished none of them saw my paper or heard my name ( I was flunking).So my Ears were the most active part of my body at this moment. I was impatient.I learnt then why ears are considered one of the most important sensors(other day that I realized this was when I proposed).Then I heard the teacher calling “karthik”.I ran towards her but didn’t show off any panic. I collected my sheet and calmly took my place. I was more than happy that I went unnoticed .It wasn’t strange.As I wasnt among the popular kids in my school life except for the time I played Table tennis or in a mathematics class .Then slowly after a long confrontation in mind,I checked the score. I got 74/100.Wow!! Is it real.I checked it again.Then their was sudden surge of my emotions.Then I felt ecstatic. I accepted for the first time that god actually listens to me( only me ,he has special interest in me).Then I came down, I wished that I hadn’t been so secretive about this whole affair. I wished teacher announced it herself. Man!!What a great feeling it was. I stared at the test paper for moments. My eyes were fixated to the score and after few seconds I started browsing it. Astonishingly It looked like all my mistakes were corrected by the divine power that I have already mentioned. It was really THE moment of my life!!!

Then I heard the voice (noise) and this time my sensors weren’t working properly. Then I heard the voice again but it was bit bold "Thumu" the voice’s encryption ... "what?" I replied with a thought (you are disturbing my only moment of triumph against thosepeople who didn’t t believe in miracles and I hate people calling me Thumu)."Can I have My paper back"...."WHAT!!!!" but this time with a reaction (you know).Again bringing my senses back but with a rage and confusion, I queried again "wHaT??”..... "you have my paper" the Satan replied. It took me back and I checked it, so that he can be proved wrong. Hoping he was wrong. My world came crumbling (as the saying goes).The paper belonged to N.Karthik (the Satan).I couldn’t believe my eyes. He handed me the paper which he was holding. I found out which was evident in my thoughts few seconds back 7+4=11/100.I lost my battle. I wasn’t able to conceal it from others and save myself from humiliation. I lost it all. This happened only because of KARTHIK. Karthik my ******!!!

That’s my name. That’s how I am referred in this part of the world. The Americans preferred to just call me 'K' like agent 'J'. Do I love my name?? No I don’t, I wanna get rid of it. Whom should I abuse for it. You know the answer, it’s my Patrons (my parents were a just a subset of it).My grandma wanted to name me 'Karthikeyan'. She should have done it or my father shouldn’t have thought of the future. At least I would have shared my name with one of my all time favorites. Karthikeyan is much better than what I hold today. It doesn’t even serve a basic purpose for which a name is constituted (individuality).I hate my name. I know there are 1807 people according to orkut. Who are freakingly in love with this name. I don’t have anything against these guys. But why the hell, I had to be one of them?

I ended up as just one of the Karthik's, you know the black thin tall guy who has a very funny surname.

Thank you

(Inspired by Karthik)

CRAP,CRAP,CRAP and rationality( i suggest only architects read it)

2008-11-07T13:31:00.001-08:00

The summer of my dreams. I landed at the location according to airport crew but to my disappointment it has been shifted from there to a place which I am still unaware. I was in land of hershley's and snickers,elvis and greenday,microsoft and apple(that’s all I got).I hoped for land of rationality and equality, dignity of labour and security, girls and ***(it’s a three letter word ,what shit!!It appears in some documents you fill out, crack it morons, I can’t say it, some girls do visit here).I didn’t get any of these. Why was I there??? On an Internship which was fully funded by the university from which I was invited. Stop acting smart moron!!you just got an internship only based on your skills of writing a mail and your ardent power to spam all the professors published on google.I don’t think either of these need a specialized skill.

I was working on project named Rebuilding New orleans.Why were we rebuilding it??Because it was destroyed in first place.Didnt you get that???So how was it destrotyed.Search the google.Damn you!!

In all the meetings, there always came up these words. History, Sustainability and Cost effectiveness.

They were so focused on retaining their architectural style, I wondered why??As I lived in a country which is famous for its culture but a common man there has no idea about its architectural style, do they have any architectural style, yes we do..You morons have no idea about it. I just hope they did have some idea... at least it would increase some of prospects for me in future. But here we are talking about New Orleans and about the culture that they brought from France. I don’t understand what they were protecting, when there existed some buildings only for this purpose (museums and palaces, listen I can’t always put a parenthesis and explain. You should use your brains).I didn’t understand why the hell they are spending more on this??.....just to show off that you are special and showoff that they have an identity as a society (good reason, I was being sarcastic).This nature almost puzzled me all the time. One good day I decided .......... that I will show how foolish they are… so put down a list of things. Please bare with me if I am wrong. I have come to these conclusions after thorough research (believe me or just leave).

1. Porches with a covered gabled roof

First of all I claim that I love porches (they are romantic but foolish).The roof above the porches is one of the highly prone parts during a hurricane. Due to upliftment, most of the times roof cover is lost in hurricane. In an area like New Orleans is it necessary to have it? Where it is predicted that these types of calamities may occur in future and at regular intervals (but who cares to think logically and take a simple advice).

Porches account to the buildable area(ground coverage).In a country like USA where people follow rules, it is mandatory to use only 45% area in 6000sqft plot(lot if you are American) and also cost of land there is not meagre.Is it Necessary??You could use it for some serviceable purpose. But again who cares? It’s not a house without a porch (blady romantics)

What is the exact purpose of this porch? No idea dude (dudettes also).My supervisors answer to this query '"it is there in every Hollywood flick. I don’t think you have seen many. A perfect neighborhood is a chain of porches and is a place where people hangout in there evenings and is used for social interaction. It’s a view deck in the evenings and you sit there to give greetings to passer-bys."What the f***.First of all... how would have I ever located US on a world map if it weren't for Hollywood and their sub conscious claim of eternal society (no offence to the nation, I liked my stay).Second who cares about others life there. Everyone is busy running their own show and if they do get a spare time they drive to far places. Trust me oldie they all have highly skewed neighborhood social life. So why is the porch still existing. I wish my superior got my point (or at least got taste of reality).

2. Kitchen layout: The triangular layout .Is it really functional today or infract does at least your rational brain support it? I really doubt it. I asked the reason for the layout. The answer wasn’t astonishing but this time from an architect himself "I don’t know it has been like that always”. Again how does it matter it has been there always. Was it an answer? The earth was always at the centre of universe if it weren’t of Galileo or his book dialogo (exaggeration!!! a kitchen layout comparison with a universe layout, what’s wrong with me dude).I know that lot has been written about abolition (exaggerating again) of stereotypes and thinking out of the box. But shit I am not saying that, I am just asking you to be rational. I am not provoking an everlasting war between generations but I am asking you to just think. Just Think!!Think!!! You are the same people who made fountainhead an all time best seller. Every one of you worshipped Howard Roark for his sense of rationality. It has been 40yrs or more still there isn’t any difference.

There are many more examples. I am not searching for them, they are just popping up and asking me (pleading me) to put some sense. At the end of day its clients call (who always follow the phrase ignorance is a bliss, shit!!it isn’t).You end up spending much more on things which will not matter or serve any purpose but are just making you an another brick in the wall (love pink Floyd).Here I was sighting an example of an elite society. We are much worse than them. We don’t even hire an architect and end up spending 2-3 times more on construction .At least in the land of Baywatch they got my views, here you aren’t even obliged to get them.

Thank you

(Inspired by Irrationality)

EGO

2008-11-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

I think of the days when I dreamt of being a journalist. Why am I not putting an effort into it? May be I am not creative enough? May be I don’t have the zeal to be a (gr8)writer? What happened to those days when I thought writing is the only way to show my true self? Why am I telling you all this?! no idea dude... I wish I had more time (or could create some) to spare for this everlasting passion of mine. But this post isn’t about my aspiration or a list of lame excuses for my lack of willpower. I feel nostalgic and would like to thank one person in particular that compelled me to write this post with their actions(they will know).It’s about a person who called me Kid!

First of all I am a kid(I am still unaware with the art of justification and I am still honest!)Before I emphasize my point you should know what aroused this post. From past few months I have been searching for writers for some purpose(I will explain it in some other post, it will take years..haha).To my astonishment(I wasn’t paying them) I found some people. A very good bunch of writers from all parts of the country!!I came in contact with so many ideas and views. I am more than thankful to all those people who sent their works to me. I was honest towards all of them in my remarks; I went through all of their posts word by word and tried to do justice to their hard work with an honest comment. People who took criticism in a proper fashion...I thank you guys for your tolerance....but this post is for a person who didn’t and couldn’t (long live insanity but a damn good writer)... I just gave a honest opinion that one of your posts lacked clarity. Yes it did in my opinion; I just told you what I felt after reading it. I maintained a certain code of chivalry to tell you and not the whole world about it, I didn’t abuse you or judge your character in front of others. Just gave an opinion!!!!

What do I get in return? Analysis of my character, citing me as an example to warn others. Calling me a sadist, who seeks amusement by undermining people. A selfish person who judges others, just for personal satisfaction. Proclaiming that I am a kind of person that should be avoided!!!

What do you expect? Please tell me from next time what you want to hear. I will exactly do that.... do you expect everyone in the world to think the way you do? Is that so!!Than please inform before... we will all turn into stereotypes that would have emerged out of your imagination. You are nothing less than a god!!

What do you expect from me??? An apology? You win. I am sorry for giving an honest opinion. I am sorry I didn’t act mature like all the morons. I am just a lame KID!!There you have it.

I just wish that people are not overpowered by their Egos. I know criticism hurts, I have been criticized but if I didn’t endure it, than its only my world out there (self centric I would be). Everyone tries to justify their acts. It’s a human nature (one of the other traits),their justification is based on whatever knowledge they have developed in their life. But if you are right all the time and people with adverse thoughts are always wrong. Then please leave your address I would definitely wish to take classes from you. A standstill clarity that I always hoped for and had to be satisfied with the fact that I have been only tending towards it like an asymptotic function but with a positive slope. I want to meet this person who has defied the rules of nature. I surely would like to be tutored by this person. I will be saving an enormous amount of time that I spend on achieving perfection!!!

Remember everyone is an angel in their thought. But real ones are those who are in others thoughts.

Thank you

(Inspired by MATURITY)

monday morning

2007-02-27T09:30:00.001-08:00

We are all having fun. We are dancing to the tunes of A.R.Rehman.We all forget that its 3.00 AM in morning. We all forget that it is the time of devils. We are all conscious in our unconscious mind. We all forget that it is Monday (or Sunday night). Then after some time, when everyone gets tired, we start talking about interesting things (girls!!!). After one hour we are all tired, our legs start to pain. We go to bed.

“Tringggg……Tringggg…..”

When Cinderella is in our dreams, devil’s voice enters our ears in the form of alarm. The dream should not be disturbed, this will be our motto. We move our hand in every direction without straining our eyelids. We try to feel the sound of alarm by our hand (and not by our ears….). After rigorous effort we find the alarm clock, we get it closer. After few seconds of struggle, we open our eyelids. The whole world looks dark. We don’t want to see anything except for the arms in clock. We see the time and it shows 7:25 AM.

Then we try to recollect our memory. We remember the timetable. We remember that there is teacher waiting for us. We try to get out of the bed. We try to fight against the Cinderella. We battle against the bed (which always invites us). We hate the teacher for a moment. We know we are fighting against a cause which one cannot win. Then after few minutes of struggle you give up. You go to bed. You forget about the teacher. You forget about the class. The only thing you remember is that you are with Cinderella.

Then suddenly you die (in your dreams). You wake up. Your dream is broken. You sit straight on the bed. Then you look at the watch. It shows what you don’t want to see. The time is 11:30 AM. Then you remember the teacher, you remember the grades. You remember the classes you missed. You are not happy. You forget anything and everything about Cinderella. You wish u had won the battle. You wish u were at home (and not hostel). You wish you were with your mother, who would have spanked you and send to your class.

Then after some time you realize it is lunch time. You get up from bed and take the brush, go to the bathroom and try to brush your teeth, you see your friends coming back from class. Then you feel ashamed (but show off as if you are doing something great).

Then you decide to write down your feelings and waste one more hour of your life.

Thank you for reading this.

Thumu Karthik

(Inspired by Mark Twain)