Tayzwi

All these days, I was under the impression that Google was THE place to work in, they were doing the coolest stuff around, coming up with geeky ads in Bangalore newspapers etc etc. And so when I heard that there was a talk by Krishna Bharat at the CSI2004 conference today, I registered myself and went for the talk....... In a packed audience of 250.....after the (quite heavy) talk, there were two questions from the audience, and guess who it was; yep, yours truly; thats about it; no other questions; nothing.....as one of my "miss"es would've said in middle school - pin-drop silence.

This was mid-afternoon. Later today, from 1900-2200, there was a Google openhouse, where they were supposed to talk about their Bangalore R&D centre, their work culture, research problems, get to know us better etc; guess how many turned up. I was there, there were 2 fresh-teachers from Punjab University. There were more waiters and maitre'Ds than technical people there. I was bowled. Ain't Google cool? Aren't people interested in knowing what they are looking for?

Couple of thoughts come to mind. The conference was CSI2004 - a historically old-school society; where they highlight topics like "use of technologry to serve rural India better", and other systems areas like DB and OS. Maybe the audience were those types. An interesting observation (confirming this) was that in the morning session on Middleware Technolgies (most of which I attended), there was NOISE, it was chaotic, with tons of questions; the presenter was screwed by a very interested and keen audience.

Does this mean the Indian software companies are still only services driven? excited by J2EE etc.? I mean, it was a proper conference in a 5 star hotel, all the works, not some IT-fair-glitz thing. The delegates here represent a good sample of folks who actually make up our industry and academia. Further, I asked Google how their hiring was going on, and they replied that it was quite frustrating that most Bangalore software people do not know what computer science means and are out applying in droves.

Anyways, I had a few things to talk about with them, but no freebies :((((.....good food, pastres, fruit punch, and back to the campus......

My first time out to Bombay-West......and "MG's", "Brigades", and "Kormangas" of Bangalore are no match for the kinda .........er......... pretty young things I saw on a DVG-road like street in Bandra. Dileep Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shahrukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Aamir Khan...saw all their homes. Remembered the nostalgic days of VLSI2001 (you with me till here GD? :)))) )........

Labels: bombay

Its been the worst possible exams of my life, ever......ever ever ever.

Just finished my formal methods paper. 75 marks, 2 hours. The professor was very generous, I could make out that it was an easy paper; I had studied that much. The professor even extended the time so that we had 4 hours. Now, there was me, trying to answer questions. Knowing that a paper is easy, and still not being able to get any answer right makes you feel like a .......... loser beyond compare.

So, overall, I attempted for 10+15+20+7.5 out of which I know that the 40 are pure hogwash. That leaves me with a valid 12 marks, out of which I might get around 8 or 10, making it a grand 8 out of 75....would've failed had I been in Bangalore University. (who knows what will happen here).....

So, right now, my expectations are getting so low, and so bad.....that, shucks, leave it....adar bagge maatadi prayojana illa.........bandu koodale....preeti indale....kanya serege....nanna shata teriyo.......rajaa raajaaa......jai Ravi Mama and Hamsa...

iga, web-search, PageRank seminar mugisbeku...........will this ever end......have never seen anything like grad school first semester...........and it gets incredibly worse if you have a mascochistic bent of mind and take crazy theory subjects and do your projects and seminars under hard taskmasters of professors......whew.......bye

got screwed in probability and statistics too.....but thats not all

I have my Bangalore ticket booked for December 1st night. My seminar dates haven't been decided yet, my seminar report isnt ready yet (it still a long way to go there), my formal methods exam is on Sunday, and I have a term paper to submit there, before the exam itself....

so, the next two days will see my doing this.....working hard to finish my seminar report (which will have me re-reading some more papers, cuz I dont make notes after reading them the first time, and sadly, I haven't learnt from my mistakes), working like mad on my formal methods term paper, I wont concentrate too much on this, cuz its just 20% of 6 credits. The seminar is way more important cuz that decides whether I get to do my final year project with a good professor. And of course study for the formal methods exam itself.....which makes it insanely hard, cuz there are no text-books; no online tutorials, no introductory articles.....nothing!!! have to make sense of some of my illegible notes......so, thats whats coming up......the only good part is Algorithms and Probability are done......

The best part is....... I watched Mysore Mallige after a long time today......hahaha..... quite nostalgic.....to hear some Kannada amidst the usual noises that come out of such videos....esp the way she says "ri"....... couldn't make out whether she actually says "yenu andre".....

got so badly screwed in the algorithms final exam that i will be lucky if I make a BC.....for the uninitiated, the grading system goes like this.....

AA - the absolute top, the very best....contributes a 10 to your CPI (cumulative point index)
AB - up there, but not quite.......contributes 9 to CPI
BB - you aint too bad......contributes 8 to CPI
BC - you know the course's workings.....contributes 7 to the CPI
CC - you must have thought twice before taking this course.....contributes 6 to the CPI
CD - you suck....contributes 5 to the CPI
DD - rockbottom....contributes 4 to CPI
FF - gotta repeat the subject next sem....contributes 3 to CPI
FR - gotta repeat the subject next sem....contributes nothing.

Each subject has a credit value attached to it. And your overall CPI will be the sum of your credit-weighted grade-value of that semester. For example, if i get a AB in my 10-credit foundations lab, a BC in the 6-credit algorithms, a BC in the 6-credit probability course, a BB in the 6 credit formal methods course, and an AA in the the 4 credit seminar, my CPI will be proportional to 9*10 + (7+7+8)*6 + 10*4 = 262 out of 320, which gives me a grand CPI of 8.1.

Now, 8.1 is roughly the same as our 75%.....surprise surprise.....I haven't changed much.....most companies keep a campus interview cutoff of around 7.5-8.....(average CPI over 2 semesters). Microsoft keeps 9. Google might keep 9.5, and IIT throws you out if you go below 6......I dont hope to leave this place before the end of 2 years......

Thats all the answer please.....

melancholy, depression, unhappiness-due-to-unfathomable-reasons, morose-ness, "feeling", ivelladakku ondu pada koDi: (rasa prashne)

Uttara - My mood.

Bhale, team Tejaswi avarige 10 ankagaLu. Iga mundina prashne: Lifealli yenu maadona anta iddira yellaru?

Uttara - Gotilla.

Bhale, team Tejaswi avarige 10 anka matte koDi. Iga mundina prashne.........

Thanks makla....... Missing you folks too.....

Birthday blues was at its peak this time. Bored the hell out of an international call from GD with all my depressive stories. That something is missing, something is wrong, happiness seems to be elusive etc. etc. After that, was working on some term paper that is due tonight. The guys were going over to the all night canteen and pulled the reluctant but hungry me along. And as we went downstairs to get our cycles, the four of them presented me with bottle of fine red wine!!!....

We ditched the canteen, went behind the department to a lonely bench. My swiss knife coming to the rescue, with the cork. And then.......Jahan chaar yaar.....jahan chaar yaar miljaye, wahi raat ho guzaaar....jahan chaar yaar. One of these guys is a big fan of Sharaabi and all its shayri-lyrics-songs. We had a round of wine drinking coupled with songs. And then, the mood settled in, and some happiness started to trickle from nowhere......As I was the one supposed to get drunk, I did..........singing the song.......

"agar nasha sharaaab mein hota......toh naachti bottle....."
"maikade jhoomte paimaano.....mein hoti hulchul....."

(if the high was due to the drink, the bottle would dance, bars would glow, and wineglasses would be restless)

We ended the session on "suroor" (this urdu word gets it all into great perspective).....

A birthday to remember......for motley reasons, as are all birthdays.......

Sasken !!!

http://in.rediff.com/money/2004/nov/18best.htm

Su Depp moves from Infy to SAS and lo! and behold......

I am talking a lot about Bombay, and its culture on this blog; though it seems somewhat uncalled for, it still strikes me odd each time I see something different here because I am still in India, and Bombay seems like an island here in India. With its own unique culture. Good culture.

Take the "cutting", I can give you a thousand guesses, but its hard to come up with the real meaning for this piece of popular local slang - A cutting is half a glass of tea. Just had a cutting outside the campus, in a roadside dhaba which also serves jalebi, vada-paav, and other assorted food. Another thing I found strange here is the way they prepare tender coconut to drink. Its not chopped like its done in Bangalore and other places I have seen. They actually cut it with a knife, a proper kitchen knife. I am surprised that a knife goes through the think hyde. But it does. So on and so forth.

Here's wishing Nair on his 25th birthday. Will look up his id and mail him. Did someone call up Maiyya, or mail him yesterday? I don't have his id, will have to look up the newsgroup. Need to go to Sanjay Dhaba sometime soon. It's been too long.

Richie, boli magane.....How was the exam? did you kick ass? was there enough graph theory to make you bang the desk (with your hand)? Isn't it surprisingly and pleasantly different from GATE? Anyway, do write about it. And try not to stick to your style of writing.

Me has to work on some surveys. Will get going now. Before I go, as always, the latest in movies: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is done. It's an experience. After having been in awe of the music for ages and ages now, to actually see it in action, to see the music pulse through the scenes, to see Eli Wallach as the resourceful Ugly, its a great movie. It's all about the Ugly character. He is the hero. And that was followed by American History X. This movie is bound to make you a bigger fan of Edward Norton than you already are.....its a moving film. Has a good dose of social consicence and idealism with some cut throat reality and action. A must watch.

Labels: bombay

Nothing like celebrating Diwali with Long Island Iced Tea......followed by some Ole King Cole, followed by Vodka Martini, and then, topping all of that with the classic - Old Monk.....

Am fully done right now......

Happy DeepawaLi everyone.....have fun.....Richie, all the very best for the AGRE.....you are gonna kick ass, I am sure.......nothing less than 95 percentile.....I am sure......me betting everything on you......

Sudeepa, grow a friggin frenchie........how long are you gonna do with Tom and Tex....you know what I mean...... hic hic......... :)))

Missing Naga........terribly.......

-Tayzwi.....

A movie posting after a long time. Saw Rain Man again!!! And unbelievably, went through most of the movie without skipping any bit. I like this one. Have to get a DVD when I come to Bangalore.

Booked my Bangalore ticket right now on irctc. December 2nd Night, I will be there in Girinagar. So, December 3rd, Kumar, Richie, lets hit the pool.

As for current academics, I have got an extenstion on my seminar report submission deadline from Prof. Soumen. Gotta use it well, and extract some wisdom from a collection of papers that he has asked me to read. Extract wisdom???? I am not able to extract basic contents. Lets see where that will leave me.....Other than end-sem exams, I have just two survey reports to write before next week. Almost single-tasking, a very welcome change.

Spoke to Chakku and Samba after a long time......Kumar seems to be missing college days, but is not responding on YIM. GD seems to have faded into the sands of Phoenix. Richie, well, I dont really mind it either ways :))).....

A movie posting after a long time. Saw Rain Man again!!! And unbelievably, went through most of the movie without skipping any bit. I like this one. Have to get a DVD when I come to Bangalore.

Booked my Bangalore ticket right now on irctc. December 2nd Night, I will be there in Girinagar. So, December 3rd, Kumar, Richie, lets hit the pool.

As for current academics, I have got an extenstion on my seminar report submission deadline from Prof. Soumen. Gotta use it well, and extract some wisdom from a collection of papers that he has asked me to read. Extract wisdom???? I am not able to extract basic contents. Lets see where that will leave me.....Other than end-sem exams, I have just two survey reports to write before next week. Almost single-tasking, a very welcome change.

Spoke to Chakku and Samba after a long time......Kumar seems to be missing college days, but is not responding on YIM. GD seems to have faded into the sands of Phoenix. Richie, well, I dont really mind it either ways :))).....

its a Da with a Da "vattu"....maDDu mess....

This is a small eating joint that opens at around 4 every morning here, just outside the campus. Getting into the place is an adventure in itself. You gotta go through dingy stinking alleys, past cowsheds, open drains, -Satya (the movie) style....and sit in a mosquito infested dungeon where a really old lady makes eeruLLi dose, moTTe-eeruLLi dose (a novelty I came across here), plain dose, idli, vaDe, amboDe (which they call Daal Vada), and the best part.....really tasty thick chutney, with steaming hot sambar......all very south Indian, very tasty, and very very economical........a mammoth gorging session cost me around Rs 30/-......

This place is like this cult thing here......the setting is very rustic, but the talk is very urbane, people discussing linux, MIT, Berkeley, philosophy, and devoring onion-anDa, daal vaDa etc etc......its a must visit......combines the ethos of IIT and Bombay in equal parts and great measure......and of course, good food is a good thing......anywhere.....

just got back from there....was sitting outside my lab.......talking to the inimitable Su Depp.....and reminiscing old days at BCB, and wondering what one needs to do etc etc.....heard some shocking news about our very own Jeevan Prakash.......and was left with more wondering to do......hahah.....

let the games begin........

Read this attention-holding blog entry by some dude on Kannada: http://msanjay.htmlplanet.com/blog/lchasm.htm

Right now, I am typing from an I-Mac in the hostel comp. room. Its different, and its really different....right from the keyboard down to the display and the usage etc etc.....I dont know whether it was designed to be so different from the IBM-clones, but it is.......

Anyways, I am (as-always) amused to see Su Depp in one of his oh-so-su-depp moments....cant wait for this month to get over....and cant wait to see you dudes again.......undecidability or not..... bhel puri or not....... stupid Su Depp disclaimers on everything or not.....me is gonna be there, and me is gonna eat everyone's head......and also swim away to glory in the NCB pool......

right now, I have gotten over some of my recent mammoth spells of procrastination - only cuz deadlines have finally caught up with me.......Right now, I have enough workload to piss off even Buddha....or some such idiom.......

Listening to Fanaa Fanaa from Yuva.....and yeah, marvelling at Rahman's talents....But these days I am beginning to respect the likes of Anu Malik and Anand-Milind, cuz of the sheer genius in their dingchak songs......of course, the credit is equally shared by folks like Anjaan and Sameer for those immortal lyrics with quintessential words like "jiya", "baahon mein", "jaan", "dil", "pyaar", "deewana", "seene", "goriya", "chura", "jiya" and of course......."bechain"..

Have listened to the dingchak hall of fame here........and surprisingly, I have a few other fans of extreme hindi dingchak here......who take great pleasure in listening to the essential 90's dingchak that had classics like Husn Hai Suhana.....Tamma Tamma Loge......and some of those classic Mithun numbers which I cant get enough of these days...... :)))))

Ok, gotta go to the lab now and work on my lab project which is due tomorrow midnight......