Finally ...

Yeah...after a deliberate effort to abstain myself from all the distractions until i complete my report, I'm back to take upon life as it usually is for me in Hyd. Ready to hit the streets, watch movies, freak out with pals and burn my pockets. I've been cursing myself for having to work on the project during the times with the 'hyd-weather-at-its-best'. I wonder if I'd ever get bored spending my life doing nothing but freaking out, but then again..My dad aint no bill-gates so i better get back to reality.

Almost forgot, I have presentations to make in the companies on behalf of our bskool to invite them for interaction and placements. I had been calling up companies for the same and haven’t been very lucky in getting the appointments. Hope I get some time to make a short trip to Chennai, so that I can visit my brother who's kinda busy with his work and studies.

Chalo guys...me off to make some quick calls to the companies.

Back to the Base !!!

Coming back to hyderabad is always a pleasure for me. I get entitled to uninterrupted lazing around with timely delicious food and an accent to satiate my driving passion. I can comfortably let someone pause my life and run it in that mode for eternity without me complaining for more. That’s precisely how I feel @ home...

Anyway ...need to shrug off all the laziness till i finish and mail my report to my project manager. Till then I’ll have to put up with the 'hardwork' which I rarely come across in my lifetime. Hope to be back soon.

Last Day @ IBM !!!

Strange how time flies by. Just seemed like yesterday when we were going through our joining formalities of our summer internship and now we are off back to the place from where we came. It’s been an amazing experience here @ IBM, and giving due respect to Murphy's Laws, things eventually fell into place as I reached towards the end of my Internship.

People around me have been very cooperative in getting my project completed in time without any qualms. Life's been a bit hectic for the past few days in terms of the data I had to collate and churn out my report. Though lot of the documentation part is pending, I hope to complete in a few days after I reach hyd. So my initial days are already occupied with my report. Hope I do a good job.

It had been a memorable experience so far @ IBM and look forward to coming back after my graduation. Well apart from IBM, I'm surely gonna miss food @ the Food court and the amazing weather which Pune had to offer.

For now...adios IBM & pune...

Govt decides to clampdown on blogs !!!

Yeah ..this is very unfortunate. I have been trying to access various blogs since yesterday and have found that all of them were down which i thought to be some temporary problem with blogger until i saw today's newspaper. Here it goes..

" Immediately after 7/11, the department of telecommunication (DoT) issued a fiat to the 150-odd internet service providers (ISPs) to clamp down on a handful of sites, including a few popular blogs. The move has provoked stinging criticism from the blogging community which has now gone into a funk. Most say the clampdown is an attempt to repress free speech and that the government has overstepped bounds.

A DoT official admitted the department had asked ISPs to block a few sites. While he did not name these sites, he quoted intelligence reports indicating that members of banned organisations were using certain blogs to transmit messages to their colleagues. Unlike emails that can be tracked, he noted, blogs cannot be tracked as easily, which was why a clampdown was essential.

The DoT letter has asked ISPs to block sites like hindunity.org and exposingtheleft.blogspot.com although it did not state the reasons.

Ban on blogs not a foolproof one
Mumbai: In the attempt to block specific blogs, bloggers claim the entire community was victimised. They pointed out that popular blogging sites like blogspot.com and typepad.com remained inaccessible through the day.

When TOI contacted MTNL, it denied having received any such directive. However, at least three large ISPs in Delhi and Mumbai, all of whom spoke off the record, confirmed that they did receive communication from DoT asking them to block a few sites. But they were quick to point out that this did not include popular blogger jaunts like Blogspot. “If they did pass such an order, it would a public relations disaster for the government,’’ one of them said.

More importantly, the block is still not national. Internet users in smaller cities were still able to access sites that were apparently blocked. However, clairifies an ISP Association of India official: “The 150 ISPs are spread all over the country and they will implement the ban after they receive the communication.’’

Internet users say that the government action to block sites is not entirely foolproof. There are too many places bloggers hang out like livejournal.com. "

I have been busy for the past few days trying to finishing the documentation of my project which had been and still eluding from completion, but when I had read this article in the newspaper, I was forced to access the blogs through the tools which circumvent Internet censorship.

Hope this article does rounds and informs the bloggers, most of whom are still ignorant about this directive from the govt.

Letter to the Terrorist !!!

Dear Terrorist,

Even if you are not reading this we don't care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life - killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but everytime you were disgustingly unsuccessful.

Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai? How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee? If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewhere, not here.

We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengaliies. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt. employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKARS (Bombay-ites, if you like).

We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occasions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. (Yes the same train you targeted)

Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospital, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office is close to 100%, trains & buses are packed to the brim, the crowd is back.

The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigor. We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed.

Please forward this to others. U never know, by chance it may come in the hands of a terrorist in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq and he can then read this message which is specially meant for him!!!

With Love,

From the people of Mumbai (Bombay)

PS: This is written in context of the recent serial blasts in Mumbai. Though I havent written this article, I do share its spirit and wish to drive the point across to the intended.

Click here to light a candle

Time for a Break !!!

Thanks to all the words of encouragement and hope I had got from my well-wishers, I could in a way sort out things to some extent.

Anyway heeding to the advice, I've decided to take a break and move to hyd for a three days. Hope that should rewind my mental condition which had become fatigued and careworn over the few days. Though this might sound completely contrasting to the need of the hour, I guess this is something which is seriously the need of the hour.

So thats it...Hyderabad, here i come :)

BTW... I had chanced upon this site while browsing - The Blank Noise Project. I dont know how many of you have come across this earlier, but I guess this is worth a watch. Before coming to any conclusions, I'd request you to go through the site thoroughly along with the comments in it. And while going through the site, ensure that you dont miss this link while browsing

I sincerely appreciate the end they are fighting for and believe me, its a cause worth voicing but I have serious reservatoins about the means they're resorting to achieve that. I personally feel that their means are ridiculous and their approach ultimately ends up as a laughing stock. (Read the comments to understand it.). They are also violating and infringing others privacy by posting their photographs without their consent on their blog.

May GOD help the innocent victims of this project.

F.R.U.S.T.R.A.T.E.D

This is what I am right now... No idea whatsoever as to how to proceed with my project and with no signs of any help has left me frustratingly vella. The picture very aptly describes the state of my project. For a little while everything seemed to be in place only to realize that the project is heading in all directions except for the right one.

In view of this, I obviously was vella ...feeling like a victim in a drought hit area waiting for some rescue people to turn up and help me out. Just imagine... in such a scenario you do have lots of time at your disposal but you cant help thinking of anything except for the rescue help.

And the more I am vella, the more I am getting frustrated. The frustration has reached to levels where ....

• you start experiencing homicidal tendencies ??
• you feel like destroying something ( say for a computer to start with )??
• sedating someone only to hit and kick till his entire body turns black n blue ??
• throw a stone so hard that it breaks something (preferably some human head) ??
• banging your head against the table till either of it breaks ??
• tear away every visible piece of paper and light them to fire ??

No idea how to getover with this kinda phase... Just went out for a walk where the weather was cloudy dark with a drizzly spray. Had a '5-Star' that made me feel better ...just BETTER...just for now...

Dunno how things will shape up in the coming weeks :(. Lets hope for the best :(