My First Love

It was Christmas. I thought I saw someone special passing by my home. I could hardly see her face but when I googled down my memories , I could get perhaps a similar image of a small girl, etched deep down my memories. Her smiling face always comes to me whenever I go to a particular street but I never seen her for years, to be particular seven years. I took my cycle and went into the streets nearby searching for her , her home but couldn't. This I usually do ever since I met her the second time.

"It's 9th  standard mom, and you want me to go in a school van."
I shouted as I packed my bag. My little sister was going to her school first time in a van and my dad's orders were to accompany her. I never wanted to travel in a Van towards Avila Convent. I had no choice but obey my parents and got into the van. There I saw this girl again, sitting in a corner seat. A smile which made me convince my mom that my sister needs me to accompany her in van for at least one month, but I got just a week. I never seen a week run so fast. Journey in van ended, as usual cycling to school continued. I could never forget her,her smile because deep down my memory I had her image as a small girl, the girl with whom I used to play in my childhood.

Yeah, May be this must have happened before I know what Love is. I used to play hide and seek with her. Studying 4th standard is no exception that you can't guide a girl of the same age from auto to her home. I loved running with her to her home everyday when auto comes.

Last time I met her, she was in a bus stop in a white chudi. Mesmerizing look, i could identify her even though seven years have passed. She called me, we had a small chat. Later on, I got her number, I wished her birthday, occasional chats and so on.. I was so happy, a fair girl, malayalee, christian, everything matches for a perfect better half. I started having more dreams in my sleep.

One day as I spoke to her through phone, I heard a baby cry. I asked if her sister is home, she replied, It's my Baby.

I felt my phone slipping through my hands, she continued, my husband works in .........

My phone was no more in my hands....

Kadhalil sodapuvath ippadiyum ........ 

Surprise!!!

OMG, OMG, Oh My God!!!!!!
The only words which she could say when she saw two of her classmates in front of her home. She adjusted her age old spectacles to see if she was dreaming. It was morning not late than 10.30 but very early for an Anna university student who seldom gets time to wake up late. She was sitting cross legs on a plastic chair with TV remote on one hand and a plate on the other, having her breakfast. By now she was up on her feet and her mom came running to see who was at the door. She too was surprised. It was me and my best friend.

It wasn’t tough to spot her home for the very first time as people will be familiar of those in government services. And of course, her dad was. So we could reach directly to her doorstep posing a surprise.

We were made to sit and were introduced to her mom. I think her mom had heard our names couple of times before that she could get an idea of who we are. We were give water and etc. I was waiting to get to her room. My curiosity was to see the tidiness. Gosh, guys are better, at least me I guess. The room was in a mess. Bed sheets on floor, Books scattered, etc. I strained my eyes towards the door of the room, exam timetables were stuck, and more irritating was the walls stuck with her timetable of how much time to study each and every subject. (No wonder why my department HOD visited her home.)

Then we sat staring each other, thinking on what to talk. We always chat but that day there was no unexplored topics. Luckily her friend came, from Chennai, colloquially speaking, another padips. Now it was interesting. We had a good chat. Both their moms too joined for some time. It became noon and lunch was ready. The most unexpected was the full fledged meals her mom prepared at such a short span of time. It was wonderful. Stomachs full, we resumed our chatting. Time went so fast that it became evening. Coffee, snacks reached us and it was time to depart. It became a very memorable day for all of us.

Way back home, I was thinking this would be one incident that I would have as a memorable one in my college life. But little did I know that, this was just a starting of all surprises.

Ideas worth spreading

Recently I saw a video in TED. You might be very familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) a U.S. private non-profit foundation that is best known for its conferences. Building sophisticated educational tools out of cheap parts, Johnny Lee demos his cool Wii Remote hacks, which turn the $40 video game controller into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer. This video titled “Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks” reminded me of my visit to Bits Pilani.

As I had mentioned earlier in my posts regarding a project presentation there, it provided a wonderful opportunity to meet some of the architects of the future, techies. One person I met was Amit. He was a pre-final year guy who bagged the first prize for the project presentation. His project was titled “Touch the future of user interface” Well am just posting the two videos. Take a look at both of them. It looks similar, except a difference that Mr Johnny Lee is researcher but Mr Amit is a student from BITS.

Excuse moi!!!!!!!!

Not Reality, but the Response to Reality makes the difference.

Yeah, I think this sentence would be the apt one to seek an excuse for not posting anything for quite a few months. I was making myself busy. I wasn't busy but I was making myself seem busy. Well, I think its time to take off this mask and change my response to the reality here. The reality that I do have ample time.

So I hope I would be back blogging.

See you all in ma next post.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah'

‘Rang De Basanti’ was a widely accepted movie. I wonder if it’s coz of Aamir Khan or Rakeysh Mehra, the director. Whatever be it, the tourism ministry of India has taken advantage of this and launched an ad which turned out to be fruitful. Starring Aamir Khan, directed by Rakeysh Mehra, this ad has been a great success I guess. Aamir Khan is now seen asking our countrymen not to misbehave with foreign tourists and deface monuments as a part of social awareness campaign. I deem it successful coz I have experienced the impact myself.

It struck twelve in the clock while I was checking my mails one day. I was about to log out when I noticed a new mail in my inbox. It was from BITS-Pilani. It said our project has been selected for display there. I was so excited. I tried to contact my batchmates but none of them were awake. I couldn't convey it to anyone but then said it to myself again and again. It was long before I slept off.

So as we all know, time and tide waits for none, the most awaited day came. We were all prepared for the journey. We decided to go to goa via Manglore. We reached Manglore by midnight. We got into the train. We went towards our respective berths but one of my firend was surprised to find it occupied. We tried to convince the lady who was a foreigner but she refused to budge. He called for the TTR and informed it. The TTR approached the lady in the most polite way. She didn’t have the ticket but still she wouldn’t move. The TTR didn’t scream, didn’t fine. He commanded my friend to sacrifice his sleep sitting in a corner. 'Atithi Devo Bhavah'

Shibhu sees light but...

I never waste my time watching reality shows but I adjust my dining time in such a way that I could watch a portion of Idea Star Singer Season 4. I watch this show because it has one of my favorite playback singer, heralded as the Nightingale of South India, K.S. Chitra. Since I don’t have any special interest in any particular contestant I don’t waste money in sending SMS too. But something which caught my attention was the song of Shibhu.

Each one is vested with one or the other talent and Shibhu had the talent of singing. The thing that projects him from others on stage is his visual impairment. Yeah he was competing with the other contestants though physically challenged.

A day came when he was able to see the world in all its colors. He got back the vision of one of his eye. But this happiness suddenly saw a twist when he faced the elimination round of this show. He was eliminated.

From a group of participants he was eliminated. His marks were a little low compared to others. The day when he thought he could see the audience and sing a song unfortunately became the day he had to depart.

The words Shibhu said “Shall I sing one last song of mine in this stage ‘seeing’ the audience” motivated me to post this small incident. It was really touching. Tears came running from the contestants and the other participants. And he sang his last song on the stage of Idea Star Singer.

Really miss you Shibhu. Prayers of many will be with you.

You can share his happiness by viewing the following vedio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7SRnELp3LE

@asif & the Three

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” was the only saying lingering in my mind as I saw all of my classmates running about to obtain permission for in-plant training. I never liked to go for one , but since all had went, I too was determined. That was the time when Aasif shifted his home to coimbatore, I called him. Then I called Namachi, who I had just discovered was my neighbor. Next I called Sebin. Oops…… I didn introduce to you these guys na, here goes, the gang , Aasif n d three.

Aasif- Cratvt, Radically distinctive, Ineffably wonderful, a prominent blogger, a center of attraction, best student, and of late a fans club is gonna be started soon by the girls of various colleges.

Namashivayam- Often called Circuit Manda or Hardware, strong in electronics fundamentals, a Sidney Sheldon fan currently working towards achieving his ambition, the much coveted IIT seat for doing his PG.

Sebin- Equivalent to Namachi in the opposite domain, software field, a web developer, popularly know as the Math King, now in a confusion, accepting Goggle’s or Microsoft’s call letter..

&

last but not the least

Ajoy- Its me...

So together we went to the Signals and Tele-communication Workshop of the Southern railways. For a week, we were together. The time slot for us was from morning 7.30am to eve 4pm. The first day went off, it was very tiresome. From the second day, we used to come in, sign in the attendance, then just while away the time in a bench near a staircase where a seldom few would notice us.

One day as we sat on the bench, we saw a beautiful girl walking towards us. To my surprise, she called me. And I figured out it was one of my friend from SREC. Thus I got free from the boredom that enveloped me. As I started talking to her, there was some confusions and one came up with a question to her-

“Why yaar, you speak only to Ajoy??”

“I don’t know Tamil” was her reply and I was happy with that.

So the seven days came to an end doing nothing. But our relationships strengthened. So this gang thinks lots of plans, executes none. Plan for a trip to Siruvani, plan for a trip to …..etc, dream of building a Robo, nothing went except the chatting every day in my home.

Sem hols came to an end and the classes began. Evenings became busy as we met almost everyday in my home. Inoder to make our meeting electronical, we started to build some circuits, started soldering stuffs, etc., And we were excited as the circuits started to work but as the results of the semester came the fire was gone.

There are much more small incidents in our lives but still waiting for some mega incident. Till then Its Bye, from Ajoy (mem: Aasif and the Three)

From Student world to the Corporate world

August 9- A turning point

Finally the most awaited day has come!!!!!!! Phew, a semester long hard work comes to an end with a lucrative reward. I am IN!!!! In the top 150 students from various disciplines selected for POT 2010. Interestingly its not because am strong in aptitude but coz am strong in decision making, a decision “Yes Sir I can” made at one point of my life ended me standing here on stage before the student community with delegates from various companies.

It was not long back when I was sitting in Mr. Anil Nair’s (you must be knowing him or pls do try to know him) class asking him “If I start a web designing company as a student initiative, can I put it in my resume” and the answer was “Can I be your first Client”. That’s how it all got started. The same day ,me and a very great friend of mine, Sebin, were sitting together in the sit out of my home discussing on taking up this offer or not. We were a little scared of taking up this as we didn know Mr Nair personally.

“Yeah Ajoy, Come in, your friend eh?” Yes, it was the next day. Nair Sir was sitting with a cigarette in one hand, a pen in the other.

“Sir, this is Sebin.P.Jose, he will help me in this project.” I introduced him. I found he was finding it hard to memorize our names

“Hi Sebin, I think you guys will help me out, I will tell my needs”

Then we spoke with him for an hour and that was our first discussion, quite unsatisfactory. And in a couple of days, we had started working.

“That ______ , he is a born criminal” the first words which always comes out from Nair Sir whenever we meet. Mr _____ owns a web designing company and Anil Nair had entrusted him this job previously. But Nair Sir felt he was cheated and that made him not to go after any more web designing companies.

“Will you become another Mr _______?”

“Sir, I…..We….not like that” Why can’t sir ever believe me

“We are students and not business men” Sebin murmured.

Months went by. We struggled a lot, we had college works in parallel. If hard work were really a virtue, then we would be saints. Finally it all got over. It was time for getting a domain name.

“Jeril Chetta, How to get a domain, can you help me” Does he knows everything, God Knows!!

Jeril was a senior in my school, a family friend too, who was of a great help to me.

“Yeah Ajoy, try GoDaddy, it’s a good one to get a domain”

Meetings with Nair Sir became frequent. My impression on him started changing. Is he a nice man, he has a heart I suppose. Every time, he takes us for a tea and also gets us something to bite. He will be as usual, a cigarette in one hand and a tea on the other. Gosh, biscuits go with tea but do cigarettes? May be he enjoys it!!!

“Yeah Boys!! You can have anything”

“No Sir, we….” Cant he take to some Pizza Hut??

“Arre Baba, No need for formalities”

“Thank you sir, I will just have a coffee” and the relationship with him strengthened.

Finally the work was over. Sir was exited on seeing our work and gave us the first installment of the amount which was fixed earlier. We had hosted it on a free hosting service. All worked well. We got rest of the amount. Later on many more updates were done.

Finally the day for releasing the site came. We had finished all the works on our side. In the morning, news papers lying before the door had a new feel since there were ads of Zoom Consultancy. We were happy. The day went fine but in the evening on my return from college, I was startled. Many miss calls from Nair Sir. I called him back.

“Ajoy, I need to meet you in person, am coming to kavundampalayam”

“Sure Sir” Good God, What is he up to? I won’t invite him to my home!! Never!!

The problem was the site had crashed, It was not opening. He was so angry.

“Because of you people, my credibility is at stake”

“Sir, we did everything correctly but….”

“But ??”

“I don’t know…”

He took us to a hotel and brought us dinner. He had his share from my plate.

“If you don’t set it right by tomorrow morning, you will see the other face of Anil Nair”

“Sir….”

“I warn you”

“Okay Sir okay” Now what am I to do?

That night was unforgettable. On my way back home, I felt the cold wind tearing through my skin. The words “You will see the other face of Anil Nair” was echoing in my ears. We decided to host it again but this time on a reliable paid hosting service. I reached home, took my credit card, packed my things for the next day and started to Sebin’s home. His mom prepared a hot coffee to help us fight our enemy ‘the sleep’. After some time I found myself listening to the ticking of the clock, I looked up; it was 4’o clock. Our site was being loaded. I could hear my heart beat. The hosting account was brought using my credit card and if the site did not work, doomed. My God, My Money!! But our worries came to an end and celebrations started when the site got loaded and it worked well. So finally by 5 am we went to sleep. I woke up by 6.30 and got ready for college while Sebin slept off. He bunked the class that day. I was confident that my staff would help me in compensating the sleep I sacrificed.

As the Shakespeare’s play says “All’s well that ends well” till this date, by God’s grace, there were no problem on the website. Today I stand here beside Anil Nair and in front of lot others to testify John Capuzzi’s words “A free lunch is only found in mousetraps” Our hard work with dedication finally earned us profit and fame. By now you might want to take a look of what I was saying all this time, if so just visit www.fresherszoom.org