MY MEMORIES

Can ONAM be as special as THIS??

2008-10-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

ONAM is the festival of Kerala and celebrated in honor of LORD MAHABALI,an ancient king of Kerala.This year,we at cognizant, got an oppurtunity to learn more about this festival and Iam lucky enough to participate in the events that are held on the occassion of ONAM.'Traditonal day'..may be one of the best times that one can definitely enjoy at cognizant.Afterall who dont like being traditional??And our comapny believes in unity in diversity.Traditional days are held for almost all the occassions wherein all of us are encouraged to dress ourselves in Traditional attire that reflect the customs of the particular festival or state.Many activities that are promient for the festival are conducted everytime.,And this time it's ONAM..where POOKALAM, art of decorating the floral carpets is conducted.This is the first time I happened to celebrate a festival which is not familiar to me before and that made all the difference!!POOKALAM,arm wrestling,rope pulling are some of the games which Keralites organize among themselves on the eve of ONAM...our team participated in all the three events..and that made the day special.There was lot of fun and joyy..Everyone particpated with great enthusiasm and thats the time when all of us went back to school..!

Some of the pictures showing the POOKALAM contest

4 D 2 on FRDSHIP DAY!

2008-08-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

And if you can crack the Title,you are half done!!

This year is the first year Iam staying close to myfriends away from home and Iam lucky I got the best company from them .I stay in a small room with two of my friends and I never believed that I would get lot of caring for myself in such a small room until I happened to stay with them for a few months.
And there is no special friendship day for me..Every day is a friendship day for us..three of us each having speciality in some or other thing and yet fight that the other one is the best of all .I never forget the days having long walks in the evenings,horror movies at night,dancing in the room,chatter all the while.And late night sleeps on rainy days when we could hear only the sound of rain droplets and see the cool moon coming back of the clouds.And on full moon days when we only feel the cool breeze touch us .

Yes,we all are alike.We never got all these in our engineering.And so by Gods grace we met at one place..all three of us minds alike..and you know what we sometimes compete with Chetan Bhagat..!!IN WHAT??writing a book which tells "life of 3 " :) If he can only write his life time experiences why can't we??is our valid (hmm..really??)question.
I never thought that my friendship with them would be as special as this and never thought that there should be any special occasion to enjoy with friends if you have them in your heart all the time.

And this post is FOR THE TWO(FRIENDS) ON FRIENDSHIP DAY, whom I never dare to miss!
Got the essence of the title?No more clues...

My birthday @ cognizant

2008-04-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

Fun at cognizant..This is the term I used to here when the cognizant team came to my college. The josh they displayed and the enthusiasm they induced in us is still there ..(As far as I know) and what Iam experiencing. I never expected that any ones bday would be remembered as much as what it is in cognizant. Especially when you are out of college and... this year it was a gala day for me.. making my birthday memorable !I never had a minute idea of what is going to happen on my bday and of course I did not expect much from my office. As usual, I came at 9:30 am in the morning and the first scene that surprised me here is the decoration of my cubicle. The thing which I haven’t even thought of in my dream!!Then I got a bday mailer from my project manager which described everything what my friends around me in cognizant is thinking of me..GOD!!They studied me well :) That day was really special occasion for me, for it is my Project manager who came to me asked for a treat. "yes , sure" is my answer, for he is the one who gave us lot of treats when at times we stayed late nights in the office. The same day we were in an important meeting when my PM suddenly knocked the door and said, “Are you ready to give us the party now? My calendar is free for the next half an hour”. The whole team was surprised and we all went down to have a small treat at the Cafeteria in our office. To my surprise I could see a big cake on the table with all of my batch and members of other teams too..I could not speak anything and silently stood in front of the cake. Then My PM spoke to me slowly...”Come on lets have her cake cutting".For the first time, I cut cake in front of many friends .Later on, I invited my friends to the 'java green to keep my word and we had a nice evening there!

Santwanaa--caring for the uncared

2008-02-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

Santwanaa..the meaning of which I have not known until I happend to visit it one fine day.The depth of its meaning has been known to me only when one of my collegues took me to an utsav(show),conducted on the eve of Republic Day.Santwana..which means consolation,is a organization which was started by students for the sake of the street children,orphanages and many uncared.Me and my collegue joined as volunteers in the utsav,which encouraged extra ciricullar activities among the children from various social service organizations.The only thing I knew before I actually went to the utsav was that I am going to volunteeer the show and help the people in conducing games and various events to the children who came from various organizations like Spoorthy,Balavikas..and some other social service organization for children under 10 years.

We were asked to assemble at 8:30 am in the morning since the actual program starts at sharp 10:00 am.We decorated the stage where the children are going to perform dances and skits.We blowed colourful balloons and it is a fun activity for all the volunteers who took part in that .The arrival of children from various organizations started by the scheduled time and we were desperately waiting for the actual shows to be begun.I was given a team of 40 children to look after.By the end of afternoon,I could see many children asking my name and calling me akka(sister)and I well tried to remember their names ..(though I couldnt)!!

The afternoon session was particularly intersting when the children were given a topic and asked to draw spontaneoulsy..and where much creativity unvieled..By the end of the evening we involved a lot in the show and my perosnal attachment grew towards the Spoorthy team.I could see the cherubic smiles on their faces and innocence from their words..

'Living in the favourable and unfavourable situations is Part of living..

And smiling in all those situations is Art of living'

The million dollar smiles on the faces of the children learnt us lot of things..smiling not when we have everything but smiling even when we have nothing..!

Turbulent day for vacation

2008-01-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

I understood the importance of holidays for the first time when I was made to stay away from my parents leading a busy life at the office...This year sankranti is very particular for us..the only reason being me and my sister were away from the family and going to our home town to meet our parents and beloved ones..So the word pongal vacation this year is something to do with us..we planned as to how to spend our time this time when we are with our parents...,for we are not allowed to stay there for too many days..,the only constraint ----that we are now employees..and ofcourse not students to bunk classes and take as many leaves as we wish!!Now that we are permitted for a 1 1/2 day leave..,the half day ofcourse for catching the train on time,we decided that our trip to hometown this time should be memorable enough.

My trip was a five day one and we planned before hand as to what places to cover and what to do all the 5 days ..with a very tight schedule;

The first day of our stay went on with chating and playing cards and we were happy that somehow we fgot an oppurtuity to ralx ourselvers on the fierst day..but ofoucrse everyone is waiting for the seond day which I think is memrable part of our trip

We planned to go to Araku ,one of the most sight seeing spots near visakhapatnam.Though we happened to saty in visakahapatnam for many years ,we never got an oppurtunity to see the beautiful place.Called as Andhra Ooty,this place is famous for its scenic beauty,borra caves and the tunnels the train passes through,its gardens and waterfalls;going to Araku in train is one of the craziest things people never dare to miss.The train went through a total of 42 tunnels out of which some are too long to imagine.The darkness that prevails whn the train goes through these tunnels is awesome..After crossing two small stations , the train starts climbing up the hills through tunnels and bridges. Most of the time valley falls in right side of the train while going towards Araku from Vizag and waterfalls remain at left side. On the way small and big water falls are seen from the train. The green valley and river combination gives a spectacular view from the train.And the next most intersting thing is the borra caves,an impressive way to reach the cave is by train.The landscape around the cave is wild and mountaineous. The geology is complicated, and the limestone where the cave is located is surrounded by mica. Several mines in this mica are prospected for precious stones like rubies.by evening we reached our homw and spent rest of the evening playing cards and watching movies..

One common place which we never missed to visit throughout our stay in vizag..is the beach,the sea view which we get for a 1km walk;The spectacular view of the sea and the sand castles always left a memorable impression upon us..which thus made us feel VIZAG --the most beautiful places in the world!!

Celebrating 2008

2008-01-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

A great Jan,a lovely Feb,peaceful March,no worries for April,fun for May,joy from June to Nov and happiness for December..HAVE A WONDERFUL AND ROCKING NEW YEAR!

Infact every new year ,I receive countless wishes of this sort from my parents,friends and teachers;even then I experience all kinds of feelings..worries,joy,sucess,happiness,sorrow every year...and that what makes my life a medley of moods!and that it how a New year should be...,for I believe that the importance of anything good is experienced only if I can taste the bad.
Well,new year resolution,that is what probably I have been listening from my childhood and this year too in particular..when my project manager put a question to our team in the evening of 31st jan

"resolutions are to be broken ...sir...ummm"was my fast reply

"so we never have any resolutions" was our team reply

I could see a sarcastic smile on his face.."GOD! there's lot to do with this team"would be the probable thought in his mind..but without turning his smile off on his face "well,never make the same mistake twice,there are so many new ones to make..try a different one each day..keep experimenting ..thats what a new year is for"was his witty reply for which we laughed.

31st night was a festival mood for me..we cut a cake..and more than cake cutting,it was very special because me and my friend shifted to a new place in hyderabad ..so there was lot of celebration..cutting the cake,enjoying the new location and more than anything chitchatting with my friend whose presence i lik d the most..that night we slept late.

The first of the new year this time is something different for me..,for I met some of my schoolmates whom I have last seen them on the farewell day of our school..We planned beforehand to meet on the newyear so that it remains special to all of us..we shared our sweet memories and our presence at our school,talked about our classmates..and how each one of us became after leaving the school..and laughed heartily by cracking jokes..and exchanged our numbers so that the gap between us should not remain so long as what it was till then.

It was a happy day and I thought my newyear celebrations this year was worth of writing it in my blog..

The Mystery Muffin Giver!

2007-12-13T23:29:00.000-08:00

What would it be this morning --' a telephone call saying that Iam the lucky winner who got an oppurtunity to talk to a celebrity ,or a call saying that he/she is the friend of mine or probably a person with a fake name trying to reach me over phone..??!! '
There is always a warm surprise or two tucked into a white napkin and placed next to the morning newspaper, waiting for me once I open my front door[:)]----kind of pleasant surprises I began to encounter after meeting this Mystery Muffin Giver*.

Who is then the Mystery Muffin Giver?

I always tried to be conscious if I can ever catch him/her in the act so far I've been unsuccessful. But no matter what,I was always unsuccessful and for you ...left a good read to dwell on!

Thanks to one of my collegues,I met this guy..whom I call the mystery muffin giver two months back when I went to a birthday party..so cheerful guy,as simple as I can think of anyone ---probably a guy next door to me..

His friend's circle always use a pet name to call ..and as Iam close to my collegue who actually introduced him to me,I too started calling him with his pet name..and reached a stage when I forgot his actual name and that made all the difference!!

One month later I came to know how even names can deceive us..or probably say confuse us..

Every week we used to meet,me,my collegue ,this mystery muffin giver..and his gang of friends .And ofcourse with their I began to know the meaning of friendship even more deeper than I have ever thought of..!The value they give to friends ,not just going to parties and having fun but much beyond that!

One fine afternoon,my collegue who introdued me to that mystic guy told me that this guy is asking both of us to come to a place far from our office.She also added that he is going to give me a surprise which I can never forget in my life.I never questioned her anytime ,for I knew that whatever she does will give me some kind of pleasant experience and something not ordinary and as usual ,I didnot question her why she wanted me to come to a remote place along with her.I took permission from my boss and left the office with her and we both went to a place where I can see some shooting going on.

Unable to control my anxiety Iasked her "whats all this going on..I guess it is some shooting "

"may be" was her quick short reply

By the time I was thinking of what all the place is about,this guy came from inside with a broad smile on his face

I could see his eyes all monitoring my face

"now ...eh..I guess you recognized me"said he with his smile still broadened

"and you know now what the surprise is..."he added

"yes"I told him not understanding what all is going around

My collegue and the guy exchanged some words eachother

"she still didnot recognize you"said my collegue closing the lift doors

"arey....dont you see any moives"said the guy wondering why I didnot recognize him

Why is the guy asking me like that?Probaby now-a -days movies learn us lot of things..especially how to be tricky giving us timely ideas

"I do see..but only movies that are a big hit"said I thinking deeply what watching movies has to do with his recognition

And then later on he quoted a movie and asked me if I have watched that or not..

"YES "said I ..

"And whos the hero in that movie??????"he asked trying to make me understand something

A big wide smile and then Iam dumbfounded...unable to talk further...,for the guy standing right infront of me is none other than the hero of the film or rather a celebrity ...!!!

For month long I hae never noticed that he is the one whom everybody knew as a child artist when he was small..and even now as a actor ..

Later when we were travelling back to our office,there was a deep silence between me and my collegue.I could not understand why each of them hide from me the fact that he is a celebrity artist.I never questioned my collegue why she didnot tell me the truth,for the evening of that day I got the reply I needed from the guy itself

"I like giving surprises to my friends ...and I hope you well enjoyed this pleasant surprise"told the guy when he met me and my collegue

"yes ,ofcourse"said I not so friendly

"you wanted to know why we hide that before you right?"said he

"hmmm..yeah"replied eagerly

But I was very surprised even when my collegue pretended that even she didnot know anything although both of them are very close friends.And later on, he revealed everything before me..why all of them hide his identity ..and here goes his words straight from heart..

"From my childhood everyone started looking at me as a celebrity rather than a friend.Every one started talking to me only because I am a celebrity and no one treated me as a person by myself.And you know what...you are the one among the few persons who never cared who Iam and who nerver asked me about my background before talking to me and we thought we have a right to hide this infront of you..because we are sure that you will be one among our gang.."

These words swiped all the assumptions I had on them and from that day I began to learn lot of things from them..much deeper meaning of friendship and how even small things can make friends happy ...

And till date, we were always given small pleasant surprises which may include surprise meetings,telephonic calls,small gifts..

"No ,next time we will never get shocked with the things you do..we will in turn give you a pleasant surprise"we all said in chorus many times with him...but all our plans were in vain,for he is the only one in our gang of friends who can give a shocking surprise which one can never dare to forget!

My first 'GURU'

2007-09-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well,on the teachers day everyone of us do think about our teachers who made a good part in being what we are..let me also share with you about my first GURU who is none other than my DAD!!
When I think back on all the wonderful memories in my life or to say if I were to write an autobiography ,Iam sure i have to allocate a bunch of pages for my dad...;for he is the one who is the architect of our family..the mansion of our lives..and what NOT!!
i still remember the days
when he held my hand
through thick and thin
through high and low
through darkness and light
without expecting anything in return...

A well humoured person whos a good singer,painter,advisor ,philosopher,admirer...and the list goes on..and on...

I PRAY GOD TO GIVE YOU MANY MORE WONDERFUL YEARS AND MOMENTS

TO A MAN WHO IS MY FATHER WITH LOADS OF LOVE ,GRATITUDE AND RESPECT ....

A smart way to prove that my dad is a good artist..have a look!!

Celebrating COGNIZANCE!!

2007-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well,having recruited with cognizant a year before and waiting for joining date since 3 months...I was excited on the day when I came to know that cognizant has atlast called me ...and thus making a part of the COGNIZANT FAMILY....At last ,after 3 months of waiting,we were called for the pre-training at SNIST,HYD.We were a batch of 6 members....all other from ECE and Iam the only odd 'girl' out!!The first day,we were asked to report at the Cognizant office...and YES ...on the first day...we 'LOVE COGNIZANT'..!(point to be noted)

AS our training is in a college,located at the outskirts of the city..and college has no responsibility of providing transportation to our ''would be cognizities'',we had to search our own accomadation and transportation.We stayed in a hostel which is 25km far from the college and booked a CAB for ourselves...how luxuirious are we!!while everyone came to college on bus,bikes etc,we are the only few who booked a CAB for huge amount...for which people started staring at us....and ofcourse,we enjoyed IT!

The first day of our pre-training was boring..especially u feel it when when no one bothers you..:) No one talked to no one...no interaction and people grouped based on the colleges..The only time I talked is in my hostel room..we used to have fun at the hostel..all 6 girls doing masti ..

The first one week reminded me of my engineering life...sleeping in the class,competing for the last bench,eating in the class whenever I feel hungry...and it seemed more easy at the pre-training because there is no one to manage us(except the web cam)..since we used to have online lectures..The second week was a big punch for me..I was made to sit in the first bench and the web cam somehow was always turned towards me..atleast i used to feel so..this caused a lot of trouble for me..I could neither change my place nor turn the WEBCAM.I couldnt change my place..because it is the only few places where u cand find proper ventilation and air..GOD!!we used to die for air..

The first weekend we had an exam on C PROGRAMMING....the result of which proved our talent ...the outcome of what we did in the first week..all of us failed in the exam which was kindof shock...(ofcourse not for me ,especially if u come to know that everyone failed,u dont have any feeling!!)

The later days of our life @ SNIST is full of fun..theres lot of enjoyment...Thanks to the webcam pointing towards me..,my frnds gave me a remark saying that 'iam studious' -- trying to listen classes seriously...and even the other exams were OK..we manged to clear all the exams..and the last day we recieved our cheques..the amount which is nowhere sufficient for our expenses!!

And the thing we understood is my alma mater(my college at vizag) is far better than SNIST and ofcourse my place VISAKHAPATNAM is far better than HYDERABAD..The thing which we were still in dilemna ..and infact the thing which we didnt understand is..."ARE WE STILL IN LOVE WITH COGNIZANT??!!"

close to the NATURE!

2007-06-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing"------------------ John Keats in his poem Endymion(1818)

Some experiences in life are memorable and can never be washed off!Last week , I went to a trip to Pattiseema ,a place where River Godavari separates two districts East and West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.This beautiful place is 200 km from visakhapatnam and the only means of transport when once we step into Pattiseema is by water ways..This is the place where most of the tribal people of all sects habituate and it gave me an oppurtunity to visit a place what one can never imagine to be!We were a family of 10 members who planned to visit this beautiful place..Ride on the boat ,the cool river breeze,fantastic scenaries ,and family around me made me forget everything ..we booked a boat and in the morning and had a pleasant ride on it through the entire day.The picturesque view of mountains on one side,big natural sand dunes on the other,cloudy sky on the top,fresh water at the bottom made all of us (there were 200 members in the boat) feel as if we were in other world!In the mean time a small disco was arranged where children danced to various songs on the crew ,description of the places by the guide,halting the boat in the middle for a break...made us feel more or less like a picinc on the boat..In the evening,there was big shower of rainfall for which the boat was taken to the shore and stopped for a few minutes..there was no signal or communication to the outside world!Everyone of us felt tensed as the guide declared that the boat will not be started until the rain ..old people started chanting mantras..;children saying that it is going to be a 2nd TITANIC story..but by God's grace, big thunders turned into droplets and we reached the shore safely!!

The Magic Mantra!

2007-05-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

MAGIC-----Art known to chosen few.The art of magic always remains as a question to most of the people.A magician performing tricks,creating something out of nothing,vanishing things before us befuddle the viewers a lot.Last week I had the same experience.For the first time in my life,I have seen a magic show!Though I have heard a lot about magicians performing tricks that make our eyes unbelievable..I never used to accept that fact.I always used to say myself that "If one is attentive and alert ,one can easily guess the logic under the magic!" But ,the show which I saw last week proved that I was wrong ;it infact enthused me a lot !!The show was performed by ANAND the most renowed and the fastest magiciain in the world!
The starting of the show was colorful and quite exciting!We just took our places when the magician entered the stage in his colorful attire!within no time he started performing tricks for which there was a loud uproar from the audience!!the most fascinating tricks are the disappearance of his students,statute of liberty,sudden appearance of elephant on the stage..and lot more-----for which iam unable to express the way he made the whole show INCREDIBLE ;huh!!

The Grand Finale!

2007-05-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

"Results were out!" shout that made me woke up early in the morning today and assured me that I was not dreaming.The most awaiting day has yet come !My final semister results were out in the midnight and I came to know that only when I woke up.I was quite eager to know my final results that will make me an engineering graduate.I went straight into the computer room and about to switch on the system when my dad shouted "NO POWER!"This added to my tension.I just sat before my system ..looking at it desparately and making wild guesses about my forthcoming result! "will I fail?" or "will I get class first?Thoughts galored in my mind and I realised that one should neither be too optimistic nor pessimistic!Finally,the power was on and I opened my university website which never helped me till now!!As expected ,I couldnot find a single link related to us and unable to stop my eagerness i went into other result site and checked my result.YIPPIE ,i was through my exam with 81% ..A great acheivement for a girl who never attended the classes in time ,and if attended ..never listened to the lecture ( this happened frequently in my last sem!)Thanks to my JNTU ALL IN ONE, my aggregate was now 80% (and ofcourse thanks to my faculty too!) Atlast,I went to my mom and told my result..she was very happy that her daughter was now an Engineer and I was happy too because there is no need for us(my class) to buy an ALL IN ONE in the future which contains lot of mistakes and yet we follow that!thats the irony!!

The Indian Paparazzi

2007-05-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Recent news that's making me sick(infact everyone) is the Ash-Abhi wedding!After their debut in the film GURU and UMRAO JAAN ,people around INDIA are looking forward to hearing a message from the Bachchan's family regarding the marriage of the Indian celebs .Whether it may be due to the fact that they being celebrities or the media simply creating a hullabaloo out of this wedding issue,there has been a debate - the media taking part into these kinda issues eagerly.The bollywood wedding has been a much intense interest these days.Photographers making a bee line infront of the Bachchan's house(ofcourse which later led into controversy..someone slapping a photographer and later Bachchan apologising him for that) ,news channels (CNN IBN,TIMES NOW etc;) giving updated news , news papers giving fake news ,conducting polls if theiri marriage would really flourish..all these issues made me think that the paparazzi in our country is giving much importance to trivial issues.Infact , the media should take active participation in educating people about various issues that are of great concern to our country.Instead ,the media can use its recources in making Indians understand our position in the global arena!

The second issue after the Ahbji-Ash wedding is the Shilpa controversy..Richard Gere has created a serious dram by affectionately kissing Shipa Shetty at a public conference and became the target of the INDIAN media.Gere, a frequent traveller and admirer of INIDA later apologised the INDIANS for hurting our sensibilities.He also made a quote in this regard which everyone has to take a serious note !Not because the kiss was "obscene" (it wasn't) but because the controversy drew attention away from HIV/AIDs awareness event which he and Shetty were speaking for. India suprisingly (or perhaps not so) may have the highest concentration and growth of AIDs in the world. And the fight to stop the spread of that disease is hampered by the taboo that is surrounded by these petty issues!That's true and hats off to Gere for making us realize the pros and cons of media in INDIA!!

7 point something!

2007-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well, if one happened to read Chetan Bhaghat's 5 point someone , one can rather easily guess what my version of 7 point something is! My definition of 7 point something includes my presence in Gayatri Vidya Parishad College Of Engineering,which is gonna be my almamater within few weeks.Having read there for 4 years, I think its high time for me to jugde myself how far I have utilized the resources over there and how far I happened to make my presence at GVP.Absolutely not 100%,for many reasons though!the first day of my entry into the college gave me lot of ebullience that I should or achieve something at GVP.As years rolled on..I came to realize the fact that an engineering college alone cannot provide us with all we want to do! I then started approaching other means of knowing things that I wanna know ..mostly by myself..but either from my college or from outside or by myself doesnot make a difference when once we step out and stand for the real competion.But the credit goes to college if we really acheive greater heights ..above all our personal satisfaction.Having done lot of things at my college ,considering my poisition in all fields ..I can rate myself at 7 point something (oh!what a sheer coincidence..Iam 7 point 9 in my studies!)The most important personal acheivement for me duriong these four years is my friendship with friends(not many though)friends who are very valuable to me.There are lot of people who cam into my life and went off!But ,Iam glad there are very few frinds for me who are very valuable for me and who made all the difference in my life ..who made me realise the facts in life ,who taught me the nature of life and who gave support to me at times..taking account all these factors ,I can say that I acheived distinction during my stay at GVP all these four years..distinction not only in terms of academics..but also in my life!

Why INDIA lost WORLD CUP FINAL 2003????

2007-02-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

(just a funny way of analyzing why INDIA lost world cup 2003....got it from one of my friends...and thought this is the best way i can share with you all:-))

VERY SERIOUS MATTER!

Just in case if you were still wondering as to why INDIA lost the final of the 2003 world cup after playing so well in the league games, probably here lies the answer!

The teams that qualified for the super six stage:

INDIA
SRILANKA
AUSTRALIA
NEWZEALAND
ZIMBABWE
KENYA

NOTE:There are two teams each from ASIA,AUSTRALIA ,AFRICA

The teams that have the last alphabet as 'A' qualified for the semi-finals ..viz;

INDIA
AUSTRALIA
KENYA
SRILANKA

The teams that have the end alphabet 'IA' qualified for the finals..viz;

IN'DIA'
AUSTRA'LIA'

NOW.... kisne world cup 'LIA'..??? AUSTRA'LIA'
kisne world cup 'DIA'....?? IN'DIA'

Good Friday!

2007-01-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

Wondered!yes,today is Good Friday for me..good because I enjoyed with my uncle's family(whom I like most) and good because I had a treat with with my frnds at Shivaji park.One of the most admiring personality in my family is my uncle(my moms brother) who stays in Newyork. He arrived with his family a week before(for a trip to INDIA) and we were much enthused to meet him since then."If you want to know something abt anything in US ask your uncle"says my dad.Such is the impression everyone of us have on him!He is the only person whose visit makes all our family meet at one place ..we had a gala time this in this visit too..this time we palnned to visit a 'flower show ' which is arranged on the eve of PONGAL.we booked taxis and had a joyful ride enjoying the breeze of the sea shore.We arrived late in the evening .one of my close frnds called me then and asked to come to a nearby park(shivaji park).To my surprise ,she is there with her class mates and she introduced everyone to me.My joy knew no bounds..we met after a long time and we had a good evening admist of green lawns and musical fountains!

Result with a twist

2007-01-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

The most awaiting day..my CAT results were out today ..an outcome of an year long preparation( though not serious) .I ended up with 90.3 percentile ! Its high time for me to question myself abt my performance.How bad is it?or rather say How good is it?(let me be optimistic atleast now) I know for sure that with this percentile I wont stand a chance to compete for the next round(GD/PI) at IIMs..I never dreamed of getting into IIMs(which is ofcourse my biggest mistake,because inorder to reach a goal ,one should dare to dream abt it!)..but sometimes I felt that Iam the most luckiest if I get a chance in the next top 10 institutes..for throughout the last year,I was inspired by my friends,faculty at TIME,PG guys abt the life at the B schools ...and now I feel that Iam missing it a lot atleast for now."90 percerntile out of 177800 students is a good score " my parents consoled me.But I think how better the score be ..if it doesnt help us stand some where in the competition is same as getting a too low score!One of my frnds said(who got a lesser percentile than me) called me two days after my CAT results.. She was diasppointed she got a too low score...said that we had wasted resources(time and money) in the year long preparation in the name of CAT..and now we were nowhere!Then I started giving her gnaan by saying "Some where in the news prepare I read that a survey conducted in some city showed that students who took CAT preparation some time in their life are far better than their counterparts even when they settled in some organization.This is because ..the students add lot of vocab ,their logical ability is increased and they work smart..!this is infact true .I expereinced a lot of improvement in me which I think is not possible if I had not gone to the classes.Interacting with students from different backgrounds and different colleges..making new pals..improvement in my communication skills..and last but not the least..preparation for CAT gave me the power to BLOG!!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

2007-01-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

'Wishing you 12 months of happiness,52 weeks of fun,365 days of success ,8760 hrs of gud luck 315600 secs of joy '.. a SMS that woke me up on the morning of 1st jan 2007.After seeing the SMS..I happened to see my watch which worried me a lot ..for the time is then 10:30 am.I had a big sentiment for me..whatever I do on 1st will be carried for the year long(I hope many people will believe it).But for me I take it to heart seriously[infact I take everything to heart seriously..as what my frnds say :( ] I thought the first step in jan 1st itself is a big indication that Iam going to be lazy for the rest of the year!! ( GOD!I pray I shouldn't be ,forI have enough of it)..Infact when I put this doubt before my mom..she patted me saying that there's nothing like that and if it is so..she started quoting examples which she often does when giving me some gnaan ..After having a meeting with some of my pals at Foodex (an eating mall which I do enjoy sometimes ..esp when someone pays bill..haha) I thought that my New year celebration should be something better ..My dad was even enthused to take a ride to some place in the beautiful City of Destiny. We thought Khailasa Hills is the better spot especially because it is near to my house so we can spent much of the time there..We spent there till night with my cousins ..everyone enjoying..ofcourse me too ..when all of a sudden one of my cousin started asking abt my CAT.. I really felt that it was incongruous esp when was really in a gud mood! I changed the topic by saying that I really couldnt understand why school going students are now - a-days too eager to know abt things when they are quite sure that they wont get a fitting reply..yes, Iam right..what can I tell abt my result for which Iam not sure abt..afterall how can I answer them with an irrelevant reply..??common what say..

Bading farewell in the presence of DIETY!!

2006-12-31T09:36:00.000-08:00

My 31st Dec celebrations ...as expected there was a great hullabaloo in city..people starting countdown till 12 midnight to welcome NEW YEAR with gr8 hopes and aspirations..where an ambitious gal is also a part of those celebrations(Iam talking abt myself..)well..as usual I spent 31st eve with my family..we visited almost all the Temples in vizag and had darshan of all the Gods praying them to see that the year before us will help us acheive our dreams and accomplish our tasks..we performed Puja in some Temples (visiting Temples on 31st Dec is a custom in my family which we continued this year too).Not only that..we also prayed that there should be a gr8 boom in handloom industry in the coming years!There is a reason to do so..we visited a handloom exhibition late night on 31st and we happened to see the workers weaving and spinning the handloom garments around a wheel .My father was moved and we were touched by the strenous task they were carrying..especially after hearing that it takes a day long to make a single blanket on the wheel !the workers there were sweating while the whole world was screaming with joy ..students enjoying in pubs..Its high time for all of us to think that New year is same for everyone..why shouldn't they enjoy ?shouldnt they have the previelage to enjoy..afterall they too are citizens and they too are earning..but whether they getting enough credentials for their hard work or not is bothering..my father and me had a long lasting discussion over this issue and in all the Temples we visited after that we prayed that God should also look into their lifes at times ..!After seeing the condition of those workers ,my father determined to use handloom garments as far as possible and insisted on me to do the same!!

Is life really a bed of roses??

2006-12-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

"I was unhappy I had no shoes...until I met a man who had no feet"...recently I saw this saying from one of my PG mates...and yes I think this is absolutely true ,for it makes a lot of meaning for me.Not that Iam unhappy and dissatisfied with what I have..but the real picture what I have seen a few days back changed my outlook towards life. Iam not going to speak BIG throughout this post rather Iam speaking the FACTS ...which I came to know; thanks to my project!
My project is about the design of a prosthetic limb..so in this process we need to visit many hospitals and manufacturing centres which make these prosthetic limbs.My guide advised us to go to a manufacturing center which is near to my house(Iam lucky it is near to my house..or else I would not have gone to that place) and record the details of the existing designs of some limbs,arms..etc;I fixed a date and last week I went to the manufacturing center with one of my project mates.We were received well by the authorities over there and they showed us the types of limbs that are being manufactured there .Some workers also showed the way they manufacute those limbs.When we were about to return,they mentioned that there is also a hospital under their control ..till then we thought that it was only a manufacturing center but we were surprised to hear that they were also maintaining a hospital for amputees ..everything free of cost!!We thought that we should visit the hospital too as it was not too far from the manufacturing center.On the gateway to the hospital I saw many physically challenged people laying on the floor,moaning among themselves..the scene inside the hospital was heart breaking..they were not properly cared ...there were many handicapped people some without foot,some without ankles,some without leg...and the scence there was extremenly sorrowful.I was fully depressed and I couldnt speak a single word...rather became dumb. I should mention that it is only a example to show how much gap there is between the rich and poor in our country.While the rich are enjoying all the aminities with world class facilities being done to them..it is th poor who are suffering.Even the funds that are given to improve the conditions are being misused..the best example is the hospital which I have mentioned... Though the politicians boost that our country is developing and the figures of GDP show that ours is one of the fastest developing countrys in the world the actual scenes and actual figures show that there is much to do.And I think as youth ,it is our responsibility to do our best in improving the condition.Thse saying Life is a bed of roses is not true for many people in our country...infact it is not apt for almost all the sects of people

My holidays--------jolly days!!

2006-12-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

Having completed my sem exams and other exams,I decided that its high time for me to relax and found my sis house is the best place where I can enjoy.Because there is nothing for me to do there (except eating and sleeping).I also thought this time I should take my mom to Hyderabad because it would be a gr8 masti for me if Iam with my mom and sis.But Iam sure my mom won't agree to my proposal if I say that Iam going there to eat and sleep...to enjoy..to do masti..scrap..etc;I told her that I was feeling bored in Vizag and now that I completed my 4/1 ,I have to enjoy(as though I acheived something gr8)!!My mom too showed inclination as she is eagerly waiting since many days to see her elder daughter.We reserved our seats in Nizamudin since we were too late to get tickets for Godavari(our usual train to hyd).We planned for a week trip..on the first day we went to Birla Mandir..because some guilty conscience will be pricking me if I dont visit HIM and enjoy all the day.The second day I enjoyed a lot(eating and sleeping).In the evening my mom gave me a good dose saying that we have come to Hyd not to eat and sleep but to visit some places and know some thing.So I thought that SALARJUNG MUSEUM will be the best place for 'knowing something' because my mom too can enjoy if I take her there.We spent nearly a day in the museum ...... knowing different cultures,art,chinese,japanese,mughals,persians, beautiful painting,jewellery...wow!! it was a thrilling experience..I was stuck to 'vailed Rebecca' , 'musical clock'and 'soldier/lady'(which I have pasted on top of this post) for hrs long..It was awesome! The day before my return to vizag i thought my trip would be incomplete if I missed IMAX.We booked tickets for DHOOM 2..even though my mom was pleading that she wanna see only telugu movie...She is lucky,for I planned to go for CASINO ROYALE..I missed that chance to make my mom happy..(she would rather feel more happier if I take her to any telugu movie in Imax).After watching D2 and coming out of Imax I felt a sign of relief and shouted--------HURRAY MY TRIP WAS NOW COMPLETE with 'Hrithik's Dhooma chale dhoom' ringing in my ears..........

A perfect warmup!

2006-12-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well..may be after a long time ,I have been to college today with my project mates.We went to meet our project guide who gave a sarcastic smile on seeing us.May be that is the first time he is seeing all four of us together!(we were a group of 4 in our project and we never met him all together).He asked us to 'start' the project and we were just staring at him thinking what 'START' imply.We don't know where to start and what to start and obviously how to start.Taking a prosthetic limb from his cupboard he said that it is going to be our project.We dont know anything regarding that prosthetic limb except a few brief discussions with him before 2 months(and that to individually).We were much enthused to do that project..the fact being it is wholly service oriented..we dont know where we end up with that project but all of us were sure that if we complete that project successfully,it will help physcially challenged people .And the other fact(suppose it is)our college got the patent rights of this project for 1 lakh..as what our guide told us.So we are proud that we are going to handle 1 lakh project(HANDLING WITH CARE..).Our guide asked us to dissemble the parts,weigh them individually,draw part drawings for all the 30 dissembled parts...in a matter of just 3 hrs.Ofcourse ..we took 6hrs on whole to do all this.In the evening we took everything to sir who granted that we can THEN leave for today and meet him after.Just coming out of the college we thought that it was a perfect warm up ,for all these days we forgot our college and we forgot the fact that we are going to handle a PROJECT in the coming few months...

Moments In Life...

2006-11-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

There are moments in life when you miss someone
So much that you just want to pick them from
Your dreams and hug them for real!
When the door of happiness closes, another opens
But often times we look so long at the
Closed door that we don't see the one
Which has been opened for us
Don't go for looks they can deceive
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away
Go for someone who makes you smile
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seem bright
Find the one that makes your heart smile
Do whatyou want to do
Dream what you want to dream
Go where you want to go
Be what you want to be
Because you have only one life
And one chance to do all the things
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
Enough hope to keep you happy!
The happiest of people don't necessarily
Have the best of everything
They just make the most of
Everything that comes along their way
The brightest future will always
Be based on a forgotten past
You can't go forward in life until
You let go of your past failures and heartaches
When you were born,you were crying..
Everyone around you were smiling
Live your life so at the end
You're the who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying
Don't count the years..count the memories!

ON THE D-DAY!

2006-11-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Well,theres a lot of gap between my posts..may b because I was busy with my exams or may b I became lazy..but let me tell u how I faced the D-Day..NOVEMBER 19th!As expected,there were lot of discussions among my frnds regarding how the paper would be.I made up my mind to write the exam in a cool way without getting tensed and ofcourse I did acheive it!I think I have ovecome a major drawback in me by facing CAT in a cool way(because most of the times I fail to acheive what I can because I feel tensed creating a bad image of the forthcoming hurdle).Well ,as we have no center for CAT in hometown(VSP),I had to go HYD.I should really blame JNTU for extending our sem exams till 27th NOV ..it was a big task for VSP-JNTU-CAT junta because we have to write our exam in other centre..either HYD or BHUVANESWAR..managing both sem exams and CAT!How hard is it for students like us who read whole text overnight(in final sem exams we read everything only the day before)to mange both!Well ,we are future managers(hoping)..may be we are lucky having a pre-real time-experience(being optimistic!)I started a day before and stayed in sis house..and on Sunday..I was in the balcony for one hr seeing GOD(surprised!we can view BIRLA MANDIR from the balcony of my sister's house) I didnt pray GOD to help me enter into IIMs or make me get a score of 99.9 percentile..what all I wished is to face the exam in a very cool and casual way.And now I can say that HE favoured me and I too am aware that the more I write in a casual way the better I score(It was proved many times) 21/2 hrs of time was just like 2 seconds for me..In the evening I had a cool meeting with my frnds in the train(I returned in AC coach where I met many of my frnds)As I had to write exam the next day,I carried some books with me(thinking that I would read)..but I had nice chatting with my frnds till late night.We stopped only when we heard a big groan from a person from upper berth ..till then we didnt realise that we were in train and that to it was night!!It was a good experience all the way!!

MY DAY AT AN ORPHANAGE........

2006-10-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

Well ...just now I received a SMS from my frnd which says...LIFE NEVER SEEMS TO BE THE WAY WE WANT IT,BUT WE LIVE IT THE BEST WAY WE CAN.THERE IS NO PERFECT LIFE,BUT WE CAN FILL IT WITH PERFECT MOMENTS.....ya,surely this carries a great meaning for me.Today I spent my time in orphanage ..thanks to my friends for this idea.We arranged lunch for the children staying there..I can simply say that people who had never been to an orphanage missed a lot in life..children calling me'akka',little kids asking me to play 'cricket'(my goodness!!how can i play cricket..when i never touched a bat!but I managed to play so that I didn't disappoint them!)girls asking my name and ofcourse I asked their aim(to my surprise they said they wanna become engineers ...how crazy are we!)when we were bading them goodbye..all of them sang songs for us..and at that moment tears rolled in my eyes..tears which carry a lot of meaning..tears which made me feel sorry,for all these days I missed a lot..Once my friend told me that we smile for everyone but shed tears only for people we love!!And yes she is correct; After spending a day with them..I came to realise that even small things as these can cause a lot of happiness and there is no substitute for those cherubic smiles on the faces of those little kids..

what TEJU told us..

2006-09-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

I really want to share a piece of information what Mr.TEJU had told us..oh!let me first introduce this (gr8 --the only adjective i can use to describe him)man to you..he is a faculty at TIME for the past 2 years..did his engineering ,after that MS and worked as a faculty..u may wonder why people like Teju prefer to work as faculty in coaching centres ..but the idea behind his motive of joining TIME is to get into IIMA and true..he made his dream come true..he joined in IIMA after writing CAT for 3 years..and (we feel)he is enjoying his life at IIMA.last week,he came to our insti to share his feelings and his life at IIMA.We were much enthused by his presence as a student at IIMs rather than a teaching staff whom we used to snare at time daily.He shared lot of experiences abt the life of a IIM.One important thing that touched the hearts of everyone is that he made a statemnt saying that students at IIMs are very aggressive and they live for money adn work for money!They are so selfish and don't help oneanother feeling that the other may overcome him!That really fascinated everyone ..we didnt expect that kind of attitude from students over there but he said that one has to accept the facts and moreover TRUTH IS ALWAYS BITTER!

he also told us that there are many advantages once we step into IIMs ..people look like GODs is one statement he made to us ..and for that we have to work for 20hrs a day taking into account the competition levels .

getting started with CAT!

2006-09-17T02:17:00.000-07:00

AS far as possible ,I try to use my community lingo in this blogger so that it will be more like a chat with me when you read this rather than a highly grammatical page!feeling sick of AIMCATS.. worried abt my project...not confident abt my 4-1 exams...the issues which are haunting me all these days...fine let me thank blogger first of all ...,for it has helpled me to share my views with you all..!may be i can find someone who is in the same situation ...hope so :) fine what all i want to write in my first post is that life is becoming too tough for me these days...i dont say iam working hard without a little bit of time for me..but i dont think there are 24hrs for me...iam unable to spend atleast half an hr for me(these days particularly) ..thinking abt myself... may be this is due to that CAT fever..!Well I have heard from my senior frnds that the three bold letters C,A,T do a gr8 magic for the students preparing for it and now I support that because we unknowingly come to learn different things in the name of CAT(ofcourse things other than CAT..like what Iam learning now)..but one accepted fact is that CAT is not the end of all things..its just a beginning of a new world..

In his fond memory...

2006-06-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

"We are the designers of our fate "and "we are the architects of our own future"-these are some of the famous sayings.But there are incidents in one's life,which are totally above one's control and which effect not only us but also our near and dear ones.

last friday,whwn I was in the college bus,I heard a big shout followed by the screams of some boys who sat on the back seat of our bus.

They were shouting at the driver asking him to stop the bus.I wondered what happened .When the driver stopped suddenly,everyone stepped out of the bus and noticied that the bike had fallen near the turning.Within no time,people gathered there and out of curiosity,I too joine d the crowd.But my curiosity faded when I saw my classmate lying unconscious on the ground.Soon ,an ambulance came and took him to a private hospital.This news spread like a wild fire .Some of my classmates and faculty members went to the hospital where he was admitted and the message from them that he was"out of danger"raised hopes among us.But,I got a call from one of my friends asking all of us to start immedialtely and reach the hospital.But,when we reached the hospital,I was shocked to hear that "he is dead!"

Three years of my engineering created a bond among us and united all of us as one family-a family of mechanical engineers.We always spent hours together teasing one another,cheering one another with a strong feeling of oneness.Now,we are unable to digest the fact that he is no longer among us.We still remember the cherubic smile over his face.In his memory we are planning to spend some money for charity every year on february 24,the day he left us.