A year after…. 26th November 2008- 26 November 2009

Today is the anniversary of the nightmare that bought down India, specifically Mumbai down to its knees. The attacks on Cafe Leopold, Taj Mahal Hotel and Towers, Cama Hospital, and Hotel Trident still has its bullets heard in our minds as if it happened a minute ago.. We are angry. We are insulted. And here I am making it clear on the behalf of all the Indians, wherever they are, That INDIA WILL NOT STOP IF A FEW BASTARDS ( Sorry for the strong word) COME IN INDIA AND DESTROY THE PEACE AND SANCTITY OF INDIA. Sorry, but India is too strong for any of that.

WE WILL NOT FORGET, AND WE WILL NOT FORGIVE..its high time now..

The 60 hour carnage that traumatized the entire world, had a few lessons India learned.

I would like to say here that there were NO VICTIMS of this attack…ONLY MARTYRS.

I take this opportunity to salute all the Martyrs of 26th November 2008. You shall always live, in the hearts of millions of Indians..ALways…. JAI HIND….

How you doing…?

Well yaa… you can blame the title of this post to Joey Tribbiani from F.R.I.E.N.D.S .

Any specific reason…. no… but now i realize getting up at 5 and searching for a title doesnt yield good results..

Well, the Lab exams of 3rd Sem MIT are over for me. This week has probably been the most tiring week of all. 3 Lab exams on alternate days and 2 assignment submissions… GAWD!!!!! yea.. MIT gets cruel sometimes.. [:P]

We had a OOP(a.k.a Object Oriented Programming in C++) lab on monday. Apparently our teacher thinks that our class enjoys tough questions, and so had a treat awaiting us(puns intended). Nevertheless I was able to complete the program in time and well, frankly I enjoyed the question a lot… [:D]

Second Lab was STLD(a.k.a Switching Theory and Logic Design using VHDL). The most toughest lab because here the teachers itself dont know the language themselves… [:P] But as God would have it.. I got an awesomely simple program. Finished within 1.5 hours.

Third Lab was DS(a.k.a Data Structures using C) Pretty much chilled out lab combined with a simple program results in a double whammy!!!!

Plus 2 maths assignment had to be done…(ahem… okie…fine…copied)

Have to leave for Mumbai in an hour…(Manipal-Mangalore, Mangalore->Mangalore Airport, -> Mumbai)

Kind of felt like a small vacation before returning to the Ground ZERO for the End Semester Exams.

Ohh…I am getting late..have to pack and stuff….chao all….seeya soon!

 

Just when I thought….

Hey.. don’t be surprised by me posting so soon…

Its just that when i thought my life was best…n nothing else would compare to it…. few other things happened and made my 3rd Semester even more special..

All those who keep the knowledge of the technical stuff going around… there was a Tech Fest of NITK Surathkal “Engineer”. Well, nothing was decided.. but on the day of its starting my friend Kartik just casually asked me if I wished to go there. Having nothing to do in Manipal, i thought it would be a good experience if nothing else… So we decided to go that very moment..

After a Roller Coaster Bus journey from Manipal to Surathkal( along with 3 of my friends) we reached NITK. The campus was huge but where we expected a lot of turnout of the outstation teams, even people of NITK were’nt interested in the fest. After roaming around in the campus for a while and trying to find out places (The outstation hospitality desk did’nt provide any information in this regard. And that was horrible).

Finally we decided to take part in an event called “Rectify”- A C/C++ debugging competition. We went for the prelims and the paper was comparatively easy. But we ( By “we” i mean me and Kartik) didnt think we will make it through it. Then started our journey to explore the campus. Believe me when i say this, their campus was DEAD. There were very few people out, and those who were, didnt seem to give a damn about the tech-fest. There was almost ZERO participation by the NITK students.

After wandering around for a while, we came across an event called “Blitzkrieg” – or Laser Tag(Yeah..Same as HIMYM). So we decided that was the last thing we do before going back to Manipal that day. That event was Ok types.. and my first attempt to play Counter Strike.

We named our team as Black Hawk and were up against “Real Engineers”. We beat them 2-1 in a 5 min game and then embarked upon our journey to Manipal.

Next day in the morning me and Kartik get a message that we have been selected for the Rectify Finals which is to start from 1pm. We were shocked and excited! We took all the necessary permissions for attendance etc. and started for NITK again…

After a terrible bus ride( blame the roads) we reached there almost on time. After reaching the venue, the real nightmare began.The competition which was to begin at 1pm began at 3pm. Even after that in the middle of the competition, their server crashed and they didnt have any backup for it. Further adding to it, they changed their rules in the middle and after all this crap we had just about 45 mins to work on the codes, which were very unclear. We were certainly irritated and gave an organiser a piece of our minds.

But then we were of the lucky 11 selected for the finals after the first day prelims which approx 70-75 people gave. And added to that we got NITK certificates!!! This one was a first for me in college and thus i was pretty excited!

This had many learning lessons

1) Never go to NITK for a competition. Go when you have to present a paper or a project.

2)MIT is way better than NITK.  Thank god i didnt get a nice AIEEE rank. Atleast our TechTatva was way way better than their Engineer in terms of Organisation..

way to go MIT..or rather Mighty Mighty MIT…

Life’s never been so good…

Long time since i m posting….guess saying sorry on my blog as become a habit..trying to change it though lets seee…
This one is going to be a long one..so brace yourselfs….

Catching up from where i left last time.. I did go for the Ed-Board interview and guess what, i got selected as a member of the Board.(There’s my photo on its website..go check out http://www.magmit.com/?id=edbd ) I was pretty happy the day i got to know the results of the interviews.

This semester is sure one of the bests i have had or probably will ever have. It has given me so much… made me understand how precious college life is, and how to enjoy it before the exit turns up.

Friends: Probably the best relation you can have after your family. Wont be wrong to say that they are infact an extended family. The laughs, the tears, the joy, the support is unmatched. Though i don’t have many of them, but i have some real close ones n that is probably the part of my college life i’ll always cherish.

Aimless walks in the rains, hours in the canteen, at the chat stalls, to laugh at particular items in “Picolo’s” menu, pulling each other’s leg, studying together, to share joy and most importantly providing shoulder to cry on… friends are all this and much much more..something that words cannot describe.

My this post is dedicated to friendship. If you have them cherish them as long as it takes and if you don’t, go seek a friend for yourself. World is much better that way…!

All of my friends who are reading this, thanks for being there for me….n making my life like it is today! I wont take names here but yea….the people i m referring to, will definitely get this..

This sem made me more self confident and much more prone to the politics played around. It made me realise world is not always a Happy Place afterall….

I kindof gave a small talk in Linux Install Fest organised my LUG Manipal which i m happy to be a part of… This was the first time in the college i addressed a gathering.. Felt really complete..

Sessionals… First sessionals were disastrous at the very least. Second and Third were way better.

As this sem is coming to a close, and I see 4th years going out, I somehow feel that its only 2 years more in the college and it inspires me to enjoy even more so that atleast i’ll have amazing memories to share…

Signing off…Good Night……

Catchya soon!

In two minds….

Another day….but with lots to choose from!!!

Two tests tomorrow, not a single word studied… Thankfully they are Open Book…

Another situation that demands a lot tomorrow is the Ed-Board Interview….but as i always have been unlucky…tomorrow also bad luck strikes…and at the precise moment where i wanted everything to go well.. My interview clashes with my Open Book test….. still in the dilemma of what to do and what not to…

wish me luck.. till then

signing off!

Back once again

hey!!! well i think this is becoming a routine to just say dat i’ll be regular again….but not this time…i’ll definitely try my very best….rest is upto Him!

Firstly wishing all my fellow Indians a very very happy 62nd Independence Day. This is the day where Indians wherever they stay unite and determine in their heart to do something so that their motherland can be proud of them!

Its almost been a month since i have come into 2nd Year. The coveted tag of being a senior still gives a high nonetheless. Last year was a probably one of my best years in terms of learning about life. Academics(touchwood) have been good with a CGPA of 9.35

I had heard a lot that our department faculty isnt the best in here but believe me, after attending the classes for a week, i can vouch for that even in a state of total sleep!!!
but still life is pretty much going on. dashes of homesickness thrown in jolly times with friends….. i am practically loving every moment of this…n hope to continue to do so!!!!

i think i should now go and study for my upcoming sessionals or the above feeling will change pretty soon!

signing off…..

A mountain off the head!!!suddenly feeling lighter

First of all, wishin all the people reading, A happy valentines day

and ya..for all those who are single today, here comes one more..happy independence day!!!

well…finally the three days long onslaught of sessionals has subsided…with none but 1 papers going on well as per my expectations…well, that can be taken care of later..who cares..finally i can get back to my routine life with a few changes..(i.e. if required)..

chow ppl..now going to rest this weekend…seeya

signing off..

Adventure Juxtaposed – My Write up

What is an adventure club, if it doesn’t challenge people to test their limits – to bring out the best in them; to give them interesting lessons on team spirit; and most importantly to have all varieties of adventure placed together so that each one can have their pick!!!
The students of Manipal got a 2 day weekend holiday on account of Republic Day. We, at Red-X thought what better way to celebrate Republic Day than to explore India’s exotic natural wealth. So it was a unanimous decision of the Red-X committee to have a thrilling, adventure packed 2 day long extravaganza where the youth of Manipal could come out of their shells and do some real stuff to experience adrenaline boost. It was thus decided to go to Davangere, a place around 300kms to the north of Manipal and then on a 2 hour drive to Chitradurga. We also decided to limit the seats so that quantity doesn’t come in the way of quality.
Adventure Juxtaposed started at around 11:30pm on 24th January 28, 2009 at Kamat Circle (KC). Everyone who had enrolled was asked to come at KC with all the necessities for the trip. The anticipation in their eyes was the biggest boost to the organizers of the trip. With the arrival of the bus, everyone was boarded in and we waved a goodbye to Manipal to experience a weekend away from the laptops and comforts of our rooms. We were 54 people (MIT, MIC, and ICAS) including a faculty from MIT, on board. Singing and playing along through the journey, we were welcomed to Davangere (also known as “Manchester of South”) by trainers from Nisarga (an adventure sports organization) – who co-organised the event with Red-X. We were then taken to a camping area where the tents seemed waiting to be filled in by their occupants! We had our breakfasts and then were on our way to trek a nearby hill. After what it seemed like a normal trek, we came across a point where we and the top were separated by a steep path inhabited by huge bushes. Suddenly as everyone seemed to be giving up, the warmth of the sun motivated us to reach the top and yes, once we reached our destination, the efforts were truly worth it. The scenic beauty as seen from the top suddenly relieved us of all the aches and worries. While trekking down as we were nearing our base camp, God maybe smiled at us as an empty truck suddenly drove by and the driver asked us to hop in. Once in the moving truck everyone seemed cheerful enough to give even bright flowers a shy. We jollied till we reached our base camp. If this was not enough, we went on for water sports to the nearby lake. Everyone, with life jackets enjoyed kayaking and rafting in the lake. Many even tested their swimming skills. Imagine having the kayak or the raft to yourself and the entire lake to explore!!! We were spellbound by the colorful canvas of the nature.
After coming back to the base camp, we lit a campfire and then had plethora of activities performed under its light. The meaning of the games like tambola and passing the parcel was re-lived. We had an audio system arranged so that we could dance out all our fatigue all night. While packing up for the day everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves, and we all slept with anticipation of the next day.
Next day, at 5:30 am we started for Chitradurga, a 2 hour ride. It being the Republic Day, patriotism seemed to fly in the air as we sang patriotic songs on our way. Chitradurga is a city famous for its caves and rocks around. We stopped at a place that had a beautiful lake in vicinity. Cave exploration and rappelling were next on agenda. After reaching the place we were divided into 2 groups. One group went for cave exploration while the other undertook rappelling.
Caves as we learned are of two types – Natural and Man Made. We explored both. Both the caves had variety of snakes, scorpions and bats. First into the man made caves, we seemed to enter a sudden transition from bright to pitch dark. Though the entrances were short enough to give even a height of 5 feet a back ache, we managed our way into the caves with torches. From what we saw, the place was well designed and planned. We took some challenging paths and also followed the group, as once lost into them, it was next to impossible to find the way back on our own. After exiting from the man made caves we entered the natural caves. Natural caves were random and all the more challenging. We faced various challenging situations but the real challenge was reserved for the end. To exit from the cave, we had to face a steep incline where we were needed to crawl like a frog to a narrow opening out into the world. What seemed challenging was made tad bit simpler by proper instructions from people at Nisarga Foundation. Finally we trekked our way down to the base. After taking rest we went ahead with rappelling. It is something thrilling to be in air all by yourself with just a rope to support you.
The food served throughout the journey was delicious and at the same time appropriate. Be it breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner we relished it to the core.
At around 5:00pm, suddenly the thought of going back from this beautiful place seemed to dull everybody. But then as all good things come to an end, this one too had to! Just as we were returning back to buses, we heard some noises from the lake. From what we discovered few people were drowning in the lake. Four people from our group, who were well versed with swimming, went ahead risking their own lives and gave those people fresh lease of life. While we appreciated this gesture, we boarded the bus to Manipal with a sigh of relief that no one in our group was harmed in anyway.
Once into the bus, we were our usual self. We enjoyed each and every bit of the drive. We reached Manipal late in night or rather early next morning and we headed back to our hostels. Once into the room, I thought about how the best in me came up during the trip, how I did things which I wouldn’t have dared to do had I not gone to this trip and lastly of some great friendships which blossomed on this trip. And I am sure, not just me, everyone on the trip did. We also thanked Red-X to rediscover us, to Rediscover Excellence in us.

COPYRIGHT RESERVED with Payod Soni

I am something!!!!

firstly…..thanx to my friend kartik( kar2905.wordpress.com) whose blog inspired me to be regular!!

Let me start with where i left my last post and fill u up with details briefly!!! Last semester was great and it ended by me scoring a GPA of 9.35!!( to all those who don’t know..GPA is grade point average).

Coming back in this semester after 5 weeks holiday was nonetheless tough!! This semester started with some shocking truths which were indeed difficult to digest at first. It made me wonder if the meaning of true friendship has lost itself in this material world… but no….i found finest of friends this semester and touch wood!! let our friendship be forever!!!

We went on an adventure trip last weekend and believe me…..i did all the stuff even i never thought i would actually do…

Coming to the topic of the blog…. i was asked to write this write up for the trip organised by red-x(www.redx.in) and guess what!!! the seniors here liked it soo much that it is going for manipal journal where i’ll be quoted in their article. I might even get a chance to write for the ed-board of Manipal….Isn’t that just soo gr8……!!!!!!!!!! the world has never been a better place for me…and i am enjoying every bit of it….

sessionals coming up soon….so gotta start studying….

till then….good night….

BTW:
Some links related to my blog:

The article on the trip in the Manipal Journal( oops….my name has been mis-spelt here as payodh!!)

http://themanipaljournal.com/index.php?news=156

and regarding my write up…will soon post it on the blog!!!

Mighty Mighty MIT

well….first of all…sorry blog for not being regular!!!!:( but then…my life has taken a beautiful turn for the past 2 months..since i have joined Manipal Institute Of Technology!

its almost 2 months gone…..and i am loving every bit of it….be it the AC classes, good better and worse teachers, and of all the things…..great friends! yea…i am missing home but then i never knew how these months passed by..it just seemed yesterday when i entered MIT on 16th July!!!!

it is not as if i have not had my shares of downs in this short time….like getting a terrible and irritating roomy…to not getting selected in IAESTE working body…but then the positives definitely outweigh the number of negatives!!! well…..i got many many good friends, gr8 campus, got a whooping 91.4% in the 1st sessionals.. and yea….only yesterday getting rid of my irritating roomy!…

i got my own Lenovo R61 laptop and now i agree Microsoft Vista isnt that great as XP……Right now i am dual booting with vista and ubuntu(courtesy vinay) and am loving UBUNTU(Linux)….we have 24X7 wi fi net access!!!!!!!!!!!!

attendance is strict here but then there are negatives of everything………whatever anyone says…..i truly love to be a part of this institute……hail MIT!!!!

signing off until next time….(promise..dat would be very soon!!)

aTtITuDe dUdE!!