Friday, August 05, 2005

Read this, its awesome,........

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky ? I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything ? all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

n.J.A.I. Day

By Sanket ‘proud to be Indian’ Kambli

What is this day?

Oh! Its simple it stands for not Just Another Independence Day.

So what is so special about this i-day?

Nothing much, but the build up to this day, was something which is embedded in our minds.

So this time what would people of Mumbai want freedom from?

They would want the freedom, to decide, how much rain falls, and when, right!

People want to be freed from life which was worse than the life in jails.

Think about it, one couldn't venture out of the house, fearing they would get drowned.

Every time it rained a bit heavily, people got paranoid, thinking that it’s going to flood all over again.

Paranoia and fear is what people would seek freedom from.

They want not much freedom for themselves, see people are so good.

They would want this city be freed from clutches of people who are hell bent on turning this city, a nightmare place.

But wanting things and getting them, are two different things, I am not being pessimistic, but just writing these things and making people aware doesn't help things. Such revolutionary changes affecting millions, require what else? Their Participation!

I won't use too many jargons, even in this context, I would just say, keep your eyes open, and make sure you treat and love, this beloved city of ours, with the same heart and dedication, you would love your child.

I sign out saying, Jai Hind, take care of yourself and this city, it needs you.

Why him? Well I listened to his one album, and that is all, I am hooked.

Well I am not much of a guitar person, I prefer drumming, though I can't afford a drum kit.
But when I listened to one of his albums, I was hooked, enjoy.
Artist: Joe Satriani

Formed: 1956

Members: Deep Purple

Styles: Guitar Virtuoso, Pop/Rock, Fusion, Hard Rock, Instrumental Rock, Rock/Pop

Along with teaching some of the top rock guitar players of the '80s and '90s, Joe Satriani is one of the most technically accomplished and widely respected guitarists to emerge in recent times. Born on July 15, 1956, in Westbury, NY, and raised in the nearby town of Carle Place, Satriani -- inspired by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix -- picked up the guitar at the age of 14 (although he was initially more interested in the drums). Quickly learning the instrument, Satriani began teaching guitar to others and found a kindred spirit in one of his students, Steve Vai. By the late '70s, however, Satriani had relocated to Berkeley, CA. With his sights set on his own musical career, "Satch" kept teaching others, including such future rock notables as Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Larry LaLonde (Primus), David Bryson (Counting Crows), and jazz fusion player Charlie Hunter. In the early '80s, Satriani got a gig playing guitar with power popster Greg Kihn, doing some session work and touring with the group (an archival release recorded around this time, King Biscuit Flower Hour, was later issued in 1996), and issuing his own solo self-titled EP in 1984, financing and releasing the project entirely on his own. But when Vai hit the big time as the guitarist of David Lee Roth's solo band in 1986, he offered praise for his good friend and former teacher in several major guitar publications, leading to widespread interest in Satriani's playing. The timing couldn't have been more perfect for Satch, as he'd just issued his first full-length solo album, Not of this Earth, which automatically made ripples in the rock guitar community. But the best was still to come, in the form of his sophomore release, 1987's Surfing With the Alien. Almost overnight, Satriani was widely regarded as one of rock's top guitarists, as the album earned gold certification and the guitarist would finish at the top of guitar magazine polls for years afterwards. He was even handpicked by Mick Jagger to accompany the famous singer on a tour of Australia and Japan around this time. A stopgap EP, Dreaming #11, combed both studio and live tracks and was issued a year later, and in 1989, Satriani issued his third solo full-length, Flying in a Blue Dream. Another sizeable hit, the album also marked Satch's debut as a vocalist on several tracks. His career received another big push the same year when his song, "One Big Rush," was included on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's hit movie, Say Anything.
The '90s began with Satriani creating his own line of guitars for the Ibanez company (the JS Joe Satriani model), but it wasn't until 1992 that he would issue his next solo release, The Extremist. The double-disc set Time Machine followed a year later (a combination of new tracks, live material, and the long out-of-print Joe Satriani EP from 1984), and in 1994, Satch filled in on tour for the departed Ritchie Blackmore for heavy metal pioneers Deep Purple. Although he was asked to become a full-time member, Satriani turned down the offer to return to his solo career. Satriani issued two more solo albums during the '90s -- 1995's self-titled release and 1998's Crystal Planet, and also started the G3 guitar showcase tour with Steve Vai in 1996, becoming an annual event and issuing a live document of the tour's initial run, G3: Live in Concert, a year later. 2000 saw Satriani issue his most musically daring release yet, the electronic-based Engines of Creation, and a year later, the live disc Live in
San Francisco. Engines... was nominated for a Grammy the next year, and after a successful tour he stepped back into the studio. The results, Strange Beautiful Music, were released in 2002. In addition to his own albums, Satriani has guested on several other artists' albums over the years, including Blue Oyster Cult's Imaginos, Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, Stuart Hamm's Radio Free Albemuth, Pat Martino's All Sides Now, and Spinal Tap's Break Like the Wind.
Article sourced from http://www.mp3.com

Mumbai Underwater: Collated Pictures: Click Link To View:

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Mumbai city is damp, but not its dwellers spirit

Isn't it what everyone is chanting. Tuesday's devastating rain may have stopped the people of this bustling city in their tracks, but it certainly did not damage their indomitable spirit. Strangers helped each other on the flooded streets and many stepped out into the deluge to offer sustenance to stranded motorists. The surprising fact was Mumbai's impatient pedestrians and motorists behaved as though they were trained by the military. The discipline was impressive and totally unseen before. Many people were stuck at every railway stations and many ST bus stands, many of them were women and girls too, but men around them choose to treat them with respect. Many tempo owners, who ferry vegetables from nearby rural areas, turned their vehicles into passenger transport systems and offered their services to marooned people free of cost. Packaged food was supplied by local communities at many inter-city railway stations that had become temporary shelters for thousands after train services were cancelled due to flooding of tracks. Strangers offered lifts to office goers Thursday as inter-city trains and bus services struggled to restore normal operations. As the water level started to rise inside the bus, young men rushed in to help marooned passengers. They smashed bus windows and, using ropes, helped the hapless passengers to get atop a stranded double-decker bus nearby. In many areas, local voluntary groups offered food and water to the people who had got trapped inside their vehicles on flooded streets. Here is a testimony:Anjali Krishnan says"Our fellow-travellers, boys and girls, men and women, young and old, chanted hymns, sang songs, cracked jokes.Some heartily sang "Just chill out, chill out" - a Bollywood ditty rocking the nation these days. Others cracked the night's best silly jokes - whenever they would come across a car floating in the middle of the road, they would shout: "No parking! No parking please! This is a traffic offence!" "Don't feel ashamed, madam. Hold my hand. Bindaas pakro (Hold me coolly)," said a young man in the queue lending a helping hand to a girl."

Mumbai Goes Underwater

Shocking it all seems, thing is its so real.
Manas Says"It was crazy, there were cars fallen in gutters, people checking out the rail tracks for damage, trees broken, roads flooded!! It was worst than a post war scenario!!!"
July 26 - August 1st:The chaos was a brutal reminder of Bombay's rickety infrastructure, despite a hugely ambitious $6 billion plan to turn it into the next Shanghai. These seven days were something which had thrown a lot of lives out of sync, the reason?, our city experienced record rainfall of 94cms. Rainfall at this time here is usual, but this high wasn't expected by anyone, not even out meterological department, and this unprecedented deluge, left most parts of mumbai city and its suburban sections submerged. This phenomenon is what the meterological guys call Offshore Vortex, in which ther is a heavy downpour but extremely localised. Rescue teams reached the village of Juigaon, 150 km (90 miles) south of Bombay, and began digging for survivors and bodies after a landslide flattened or buried more than 30 houses late on Tuesday. Officials estimated 100 to 150 people may have been caught in the avalanche of mud. The worst-affected regions south of Bombay i.e. suburbs. Electricity and phone links were cut, schools were shut and commuters were stranded for two days as trains and buses were cancelled. Mumbai airport, the country's busiest, was clearing its waterlogged runway but by Wednesday evening airlines said they were still not operating. Cars and buses were abandoned in the north of the city and thousands of commuters who spent the night in offices or hotels walked 20 kms (12 miles) or more from the center to their homes. Commuter Alex Anthony, 44, said it had taken him 14 hours to reach home in the early hours of Wednesday, walking on rail tracks and wading chest-deep through water. "It was like a river outside the station," he said. "Firemen tied ropes to lamp-posts and a chain of people held onto it to get through the water." Trading on Bombay's bond and currency markets was abandoned, flights in and out of the city were rerouted or canceled and the government called a state holiday for Wednesday and Thursday, advising people to stay at home. Companies postponed board meetings and tourists to the city of 15 million people waited for news about their flights, with the lobby of the swanky seafront Taj Mahal hotel filled with disconsolate travelers and their luggage. Post 1st august, Trains were running, albeit with delays, and Bombay's airport had started operating normally. Workers who had finally made it home on Thursday, after one or two nights in hotels, on office floors or on the street, began returning to work, and trading on financial markets resumed. Relief coordinators put the city's death toll at about 370, over half the total for the whole of the state of Maharashtra. A landslide at a slum near the Bombay suburb of Andheri killed at least 56 people, and efforts continued to retrieve dozens more bodies believed to be buried in the mud. Newspapers reported that about 16 people, including three teenage college students, had died in their cars, trapped by rising water levels which jammed the doors. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visiting Bombay on Thursday to announce a 5 billion rupee aid package for relief work, said the city's infrastructure needed modernising to be fit enough for the country's commercial capital.

We went on a trek to Bhivpuri Road

Pictures are being developed,coming soon...
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Its sunday 24th july 2005, left my house at 7:40, caught a TMT bus to thane station. There, I took a return ticket to bhivpuri, it cost me 30bucks.
From thane caught 8:07 ambarnath train, my friends JP and Sanket were waiting for me there.
By that train we reached dombivli at 8:22, there Mahendra joined us, we saluted each other(that is the way we greet each other).
From dombivli, we caught a 8:32 khopoli train, the train was packed, the next station another huge group of trekkers joined us.
As the train sped away from mumbai, the scenery turned greener, rainy and less inhabitated. After a while, I stood at the door, letting the rainy wind sting my face, all the while, trying to steer my nose away from the stink of rum, no we weren't drinking but the guys in front of us were. We reached bhivpuri road station at 9:45, on the way saw the petit diesel train at neral, taking passengers to matheran(next time we are planning go there). We got down from the train, with our to backs to the direction we came from, we started walking. The railway platform ended soon, we kept walking on the rail tracks for about 100metres, then tuned right, the board reading Sainik Nagar, the kuchha road, took us through a settlement(some call it village). This the point from where it started raining significantly, so out come the wind cheaters(cheaties), I know its trek in the rain, but the cheaties were out, to provide protection to our bags. After covering 300 mts., we were out of the settlement, out on the pukka road, then we turned left, kept walking the road flanked by some shops(food stalls to be appropriate), furthuer, on both sides of the road all you could see were green fields, well, not really, one the left we had the mountains, and on the right, all we could see was open fields, and yeah! the the train. We walked some 300mts approx., and then took a right turn. To our right, we walked through another kucha road, this road went through another settlement, as soon as we reached the end of the settlement, we saw small fast flowing rivulet came in our way. From this point began our 'real' trek to ground zero(i.e. the point where the waterfall..what else..falls), to reach ground zero we had to walk through some rice fields, no slush walk here, the fields were divided into small squares, with all of them having banking wide enough to walk. Being sunday, the place wasn't really a isolated spot, so its better to come here on weekdays. This route was quite slippery, and the rain(light drizzle) didn't help matters. The scenario here is that, as far as our eyes could see, there were four waterfalls here, but the one straight ahead(the one behind the hill with the pole) was the largest and more crowded, the others were small in comparison, while one was virgin. the drizzle didn't allow me to take my cam(an old kodak kroma35) out. 'The hill with the pole' was to the right of the track which ended to the foot of the waterfall. We decided to trek to the top of the hill, well it wasn't steep nor a shorty, but it was slipery, we were on our four's, for quite a sizable time. The climb was a sapper, we halted midway, had some
'priyagold coconut crunch, then it struck Sanket that he had brought an umbrella, a thought which would have sounded stupid, but in the current scenario, it was the smartest thing, the one to allow us to take some pics. And that is what we did took some pics, reached the top, and dropped the idea of going to other 'less crowded waterfalls', till then it had started raining very heavily.Then, instead of going down the route from where we came, we decided to keep walking along the hill edge and then reach the falls. Mahendra ventured ahead to check out if it was trekkable, I joined him, it wasn't good enough to let us reach to the falls. But instead of going back, Mahendra suggested that we go down the slope, and then walk to the falls, thinking JP and Sanket would have gone back, as they weren't behind us, we went ahead , or to be appropriate we went down. Was the ride downhill a cakewalk? well, it wasn't, it was damn slippery, Mahendra ws swifter then me, I managed to stumble a bit, but didn't really have a mush slide, it was a adrenaline filled downhill trek, I would say, it was totally 'paisa vasool'. Hey, here they are!. Sanket and JP, ditching the idea of going back, were following us, both managed it safely. Believe me it wasn't as simple as I am saying, one wrong step and 'you will have a great slide down the hill, with rocks and mud to give you company downhill. Hey! what is life without some risk, as they say, at that moment we could say, RISK is our middle name. Ok. Then we had to walk through slush to reach the foot of the falls, my sports shoes were all filled up with muck. There was stream ahead of us, formed due to...what else the falls. Calling it stream is foolish, it was really fast enough to flow away a full grown adult, but it wasn't deep enough for white river rafting?!?. We found some rocks to sit on, letting our feets experience a jacuzzi effect, thanks to a strong current(of course water), we cleaned our shoes, had some chips, and sat there for a while, JP sat down in the water, with rocks for support, even I tried to sit, but had no rocks to help, I would have got flown away, but JP grabbed me. Then we started moving towards ground zero, we ditched the idea of getting under the falls, it was damn crowded, this idea didn't bother me much, as I don't fancy the idea of getting wet in the falls. Thanks to me, we wasted 10 minutes, as I couldn't figure out how to change the roll of my camera, then we went near the base of the falls, clicked some pics, then began our return our journey. Well the return journey was nothing great, as it was along the same route, difference being, Sanket managed to slip, soiling himself, cheatie saved his clothes, and the other hallmark of this place being, the number of drinkers
coming here, could easily manage to outnumber us, we clicked some more pics, sat at one of the dhabbas(road side eateries) along the main road, there we had our tiffins, for the sake of sitting there ordered mazaa and pepsi. Other than the fact that, from the point we reached ground zero and the return journey, it didn't rain at all, then?nothing got into the train, and returned, I have already decided to come back here, even if alone, and that time it will be more of a trekking sojourn, till then,,,and in case Sanket, JP, Mahendra, you guys are reading and feel that I have missed something, do tell me.
Till then here is a X-Men Evolution quote:
Kitty: "Lance, you can be such a jerk sometimes!"
Scott: "Alvers, leave her alone!"
Lance: "Hey, go recharge your batteries Goggle Boy. This is between me and her."
Episode Fourteen - Growing Pains

Sunday, July 31, 2005

the day I scored 74% At NIIT

Well after that day, most of my memory was occupied in studying for MT and performing fact-finding techniques for my project.
So I just remember the day I really had my MT.
On 22nd, I had my MT at 7:30, but what is so great about this day, well it is simple, read furthur.
The thought of getting up early i.e.4:30 is not something which used to bother me much. But now it does, as now, I have got a bad habit of staying up late. On 22nd, I had practicals(java) at 9:30, that meant I had to wake up early, if not @4:30.
But thanks to the fact that, last night I had slept at 2-2:30 as I was studying, I only managed to get up 6:30. This simply meant, catching 8:38 CST train from thane(i live in kalva) was going to be a racy job, and eventually I had to grab a 18 bucks rickshaw ride to thane, then I ran from rickshaw stand to the railway station. I went by the shortcut(i.e.crossing the tracks) and got into the train waiting at platform no.4, within seconds the train started moving, I quickly stationed myself in a corner, to save myself from the crowd, which I was sure of encountering at furthur stations. The train slowly picked up pace, and I saw the train moving onto the fast train track, damn!!!wrong train,,,, the train would only stop @mulund and ghatkopar damn!!it was 8:30 train I was in..
I got down at mulund, changed the platform, waited there for the 8:38 supposed to reach mulund @8:44, the train shows up at 8:52,
Just 38 minutes and I thought I was going to be late for the pracs and will be marked absent(second one). But that wasn't something which bothered me, I was more worried about getting into this train at peak hour. Anyway, I managed to get in, managed to stay close enough to the door, so as to aid me get down at vidyavihar, but as soon as the ghatkopar crowd got in, I was pushed so much, that I would pushed the guys at the door out of the train, I was very much eager to get down at vidyavihar. Got down, walked as quickly as I could and then started running, it paid off, I reached on time. The pracs. were the usual ones, where instead of doing my own program, I was busy debugging others programs. But the news I recieved, after the pracs shocked and confused me.
The only prof.(Mr. J.Singh) who had lectures for us on that day, was down with fever and wasn't coming.
Now I had MT at 7:30 @ghatkopar niit, it was 1pm, I could go home and study there, but I would loose 1 hr. approx. after reaching home(I live @kalva), and then I would loose more time in sitting down for studying. The other option of studying in college and then going to NIIT(its a 15 minute slow walk), but there was a problem in finding a place to sit and study, the library was full, no class room empty, and as it was raining I couldn't find a spot outside(there are many). So the only option I had was to go to NIIT, by the time I reached NIIT, it was 1:30, there I sat in the machine room, opened www.niitstudent.com, went to the tests section, started giving some mock tests, simultaneusly revised the stuff. It was hard for me to stay awake, I tried everything, had a cup of tea, ate four coffee bites. Proving my hypothesis that coffee makes me feel sleepy, I slept there for about 15 minutes. In this way, in a drowsy stance, cursing pathetic net speed at niit, I studied till 7:00 pm. I was shocked, I had spend so much time, but I made good use of it, I came out of the room, met some of the guys, I was talking a test with. I was hungry, but had no place close. SO i gulped down 2 energee's(flavoured milk). It would be enough to keep me wake. The test supposed to start @7:30, got delayed, the machines in the machine room, refused to detect the shared printer(the testing software requires this). So at 9:00, they decided to let us take tests in the server/faculty room, since there were just 2 of us(others had turned wimps and hadn't showed up). So @10:00, I came out with the score of 74, which isn't bad nor excellent. Had to wait there as we had to escort our faculty(lady) to ghatkopar station, the perk, she paid for the rickshaw ride, reached station waited for the 10:54 pm kalyan local train. The train wasn't crowded, which was a welcome change, I stood by the door, feeling the wind in my hair, singing hotel california, reached home by 11:30, dad served me dinner and went to sleep(mom and sis were asleep), I was having my food and suring channels, when I saw the cable movie channel playing, Hero(the jet li one) in chinese, I saw it, then he played kung fu hustle, damn! what a outrageous comedy, couldn't see it completely as I fell asleep.