http://nitid.blogdrive.com/ My nitid notebook Sun, 01 Apr 2007 06:35:00 PDT http://www.blogdrive.com Copyright 2007. http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/102.html Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:06:20 GMT It is 7: 45 am on a surprisingly mild Saturday afternoon, in an othewise scorching Chennai. I am in office. Writing this post. The ruling party called a 'bandh' on Thursday evening, at the last moment. And I used to think 'Just-in-time' was just a management philosphy. Not that the bandh is having much of an impact. Autorickshaws are plying. Only difference is that their drivers are probably charging the hapless passenger some double digit multiple of the normal fare. In Chennai autorickshaws do not charge a fare, they extort an amount. I saw an odd aircraft streaking across the sky... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=102 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/101.html Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:41:41 GMT If there was ever a need for match fixing, it is now. Bangladesh should beat Bermuda, by hook or by crook. That's the only hope for salvation for Indian Cricket. Imagine what will happen if the India somehow manage to go thru…. We will reach the Super Eights. The World Cup Organisers, ICC, Sony, BCCI, the companies who have products endorsed by our "Men in Blue" will all be very happy. We will beat Ireland. Sachin will score his 42nd century and cross 15000 runs on One Day Internationals. We will also pick up one more point against England due to rain. Our "Stars" will... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=101 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/100.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:21:38 GMT They do not make bridges like this anymore. For someone who spent four years of his life studying civil engineering, this structure is a perpetual source of joy. For someone with roots sunks deep into a city once called Calcutta, this is the most enduring image. I saw this on the night of 24th, as my flight circled low over the city. On either side of the dark and winding flow of the river Hoogly the lights of Calcutta and Howrah burned bright. And then came this bridge all illuminated, like a starlit isthmus connecting two masses of illumination seperated by a winding strip of... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=100 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/99.html Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:10:54 GMT This is a story from my good old days. Days when I was still in school and did not have a care in the world. Exams did not scare me, and I always managed to study just enough at the last moment to do fairly well, and even stand first in class on a few ocassions. But in sports it was an altogether different matter! I had pace, only problem was it could only take me to the 6th spot in the first heat! So till my 5th standard the zenith of my sporting career was a tremendous 6th place finish in "bunny hop" in my second stadard! However enthusiams was my twin, so undeterred by failures I used... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=99 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/98.html Sun, 08 Oct 2006 08:08:00 GMT 30th Sept: 1745 hours I am still on the ground. Not even inside the aircraft. I am so impatient that I cannot wait to start this post. I want to get into the aircraft and take off. Desperately want to get out of Chennai and head towards Kolkata, towards home. I make no secret of my dislike for Chennai. I know it is strange in light if the fact that my mother is Tamil. However I can never relate to this city. Alas! This is where I am based and will be so for the immediate future. So I have learnt the survival strategies. For me the way to survive life in a place abhorred is to look... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=98 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/97.html Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:36:24 GMT Postcards from Singapore will have to wait. I am not in the mood. The reason: Durga Puja is approaching. The magic has not reduced at all! Its just like the way it used to be when I was a schoolboy with an unruly mop of hair (astonishing but absolutely true). In those days, we used to have our 2nd Term examinations in September. I always used to do badly. I don’t remember a single occasion when I came in the top 5 of my class in the 2nd Term. I used to always leave it late and make up my ranks and grades in the final term. Anyway let me now digress. As I was saying, we used to have... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=97 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/96.html Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:58:45 GMT At first glance it seemed to be too good to be true. The sparkling Changi Airport, the clean, wide and tree lines roads, the waterfront, everything. It seemed that Singapore was like a girl out on her first date, all dressed up to impress. But then beauty can be skin deep, so I reserved my judgement. The Hotel was a massive 30 Storey edifice, not the best in town, but suitably starred for me. Most importantly my room, on the 25th floor, had a bathtub. Now I have a special fascination for bathtubs. Love to lie in them for hours. Was’nt there a Greek Philosopher who lived in a barrel? Well,... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=96 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/95.html Sun, 27 Aug 2006 13:00:26 GMT 14th August 2006 When I was a kid, I had that great big World Atlas which I used to read like a book. It was old and politically incorrect in its boundaries. It had some pages missing, but it was otherwise just fine. Reading it every night after dinner, I came to know of many places, places which I saw only in my mind. I found out the Northernmost settlement in the world was called Alert. I guess you have to be alert to live a few hundred metres away from the North Pole. I travelled around the Americas on my map, from Alaska to Patagonia. Travelled by the Danube, visited the Russian... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=95 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/94.html Sun, 23 Jul 2006 14:47:12 GMT Last week I went to watch "Superman Returns", that too with my colleagues. An "official" evening out thanks to the City that "never sleeps". So it was with a fair amount of happiness that I made for Sathyam, the only decent theatre in Chennai, and had a wonderful time. After all how often do you get to leave office at 6:30 PM. Really am being thankful for small mercies....but then I have been in the corporate world for more than a year now and I am yet to find that elusive "work-life balance". So whenever something small comes up, I just grab it and feel mighty happy. Sort of a "Stockhom... (more) http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=94 http://nitid.blogdrive.com/archive/93.html Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:29:46 GMT Wish you all a very Happy New Year! Hope to meet you all through my writings...that rare thing that threatens to go extinct. Till I write next..here's wishing you all the best once again! http://nitid.blogdrive.com/comments?id=93