Friday, 11 May 2007

Kar-Na-La

Well, this post comes 5 days late, after the 2nd and hopefully last trek in the Sahaydris. Well, this happened after lots of mails among about 15 people, and 9 finally showing up on the eventful morning.


The morning - I wait for the woman

Just like any other morning, Sarmistha woke up when given calls at 5.30AM, the time we had hoped for leaving the campus, for the much needed maddu stopover. Having picked her up, we made it to maddu where the rest of the gang - 7 people - SD, SD Jr., Karthik, Jose - the old man, Sandhya, Nivedita, and Bachha were already getting some food packed for the journey. Vadas and a few idlis done, we got to Panvel thanks to the Mumbai local trains.


Train journey

At Panvel, Bachha cut us a deal with the autos, 9 people in 2 autos, for Rs. 150 per vehicle. A 20 min drive, and we were right infront of the starting point at as early as 7.30 AM. A princely sum of Rs. 20 ph, and all of us trodded right over the saying that I always had upheld so far "Vishnoi Doesn't Trek". A few hundred meters up, we saw the map of the complete place. A 3km trail to the fort, or a 6+km trail that showed us some birds (hopefully) and a long walk to go. With three non-trekking people, we chose the "stroll in the park" was what we had hoped for, what it turned out was not bad either. With too much exposing of the newly wed Ash - our trail had burnt leaves on both sides - we had a pleasurable route while we had expected a hot sunny day. Clouds were what did come to our rescue :)


The entry into the bird sanctuary


The map we read


SD at his antics :)


Karthik at his antics :)


Sarmistha and I at the Drinks Break ;)


An anthill on the way :)

At around 9.30, we were atop the fort, and encountered nice views, had some food, while SD and Sandhya tried their hands at some rock climbing. Lots of Sriram over the place made us crack loads of Emani jokes, and a happy affair done, we started to walk down the trail we had walked up. Then did the slipping of people, and the injuring of ankles happen, with quite a few slips and a couple or so sprains.


The fort on the top


And we are over that :)


SD - Desperate little kid on the top of the fort :)


The "erection" that SD and Sandhya tried to mount :P


All this happens while we eat :)


And SD poses on the rocks ;)


The Srirams all over the rock


A peacock in the cage

Done with all this, at around 12 noon did we arrive at the start point of the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, with no birds sighted but in the cages - a peacock, and a couple of parrots. Then came the tough decision for the group minus Karthik, Sarmistha and I - who had decided to head back to IIT with a stopover at Karthik's place. The choice of proceeding to Alibag, or to Karthik's place where we'd order pizzas and his mom's hand cooked food? All chose the latter, and to Karthik's place we headed. 1.30 PM in there, we all gathered up in his library, some washed, some not, and the pizzas in front of us. Dosas also were made soon, and all gobbled up, one by one we all fell down like a house of cards ;)

Some 2 hours later, we all managed to get up, and snacks down the stomach, and a bus ride to IIT home sweet home we were by 7 PM. I made a dash to hostel, picked up the money that'd been lying in my suitcase for long, and to Dadar I went to buy my latest prized collection - Canon 350D. :) Yes yes, I own it now :)

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Friday, 27 April 2007

Done

well, almost with life here. Just a few more days to go. Today, I went and met the dean for the nth time for the film society. He said that the registrar had managed to form some ad hoc committee, which would look into the closing of the affairs of the film society. And, this letter had gone to the director for approval. I just out of curiosity checked the Director's office, to realise that they hadn't received any communication actually! I reconfirmed with the dean, and he shouted on the PA to the Registrar, with the registrar actually absconding for a meeting in Mantralaya!

Other than that, I had today plans of South Bombay, with Karthik and Sarmistha, which I ditched coz of a headache, and some useless talk by people. Trying to sleep, I didn't get any, and I convinced Doodhi to come with me to Cafe Churchill after his job. Job reminds me, that I need to go for a full medical checkup at Lilavati Hospital tomorrow morning at 8.30! All this for my job requirements. Coming back to the food, we drove on Anchal's khatara Pulsar, and got there in record 1 hr! :P Had pasta and lasagne, followed by cheese cake and mango tart at Theobroma's. Then a customary stop at the marine drive, and back drive to IIT in 45 straight minutes. Fun outing. A change of mind. Good for me :)

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Saturday, 21 April 2007

Enlightenment

Before I came to college, I was in school (Duh!). There, I did have a similar sense of humour, but not the fundaes. So, I'd hang out with studs, and then gain them. Then I scraped through JEE and entered IIT. Still a fool, I did maintain my sense of humour, till came sophomore year. I gained the right to give fundaes, to the bechara freshies. When in the wing, I gained enlightenment, much like our very own Rahul Sid - Lord Buddha - gained under a tree. Only difference being, that I gained in a room, filled with more-than-half-naked gults. Something, that I didn't realise in the scene was the nakedness.

Come a few years down the line, I am known for my fundae-giving-skills, which are not adhered to (I wear a t-shirt, and jeans mostly). Now, here's the problem, as pointed out by a Delhi woman, today (DCs may be bekaar, but are brainy too :P). All the enlightened ones - Lord Buddha, Gandhi and my wing seniors gave fundaes in more than half-nakedness. The 1st 2 in loin cloths, and the last of all in undies - the latest in thing. I was the fool to give in full clothes. So, now, I wondered what'd happen, IF I gave started dressing up in a lungi, for 2 reasons - 1. the heat is getting to me. 2. it adds to the effect, when I give fundaes. I'd walk into the class, and then like a tam, lift my lungi to knee length, and then give the tips of a life time. Exciting huh? :P


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Monday, 16 April 2007

Down

1. to go: 4.

April 15, 2007. Promise made. They are made to be broken :P

Film society not going anywhere :( nor am i :P

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Friday, 13 April 2007

Ole Ole

Valfis over. Relax now :)
Submission postponed. Better :)
Lukkha for sometime. Even better :)
Had malai icecream with fresh mango pieces. (courtesy Sarmistha Pal and naturals :P). Heaven!

Now thinking of sleeping. Bliss! :)

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Friday, 30 March 2007

Good Morning

was the name of the PAF that hostels 4, 7, and 12 presented this year. For a change, H7 managed to present a PAF that was "putch"less, and with amazing execution. The position that we got - 4th. For some reason, this year's PAFs were far below the regular standards, and they were a huge disappointment, after last year's top 2 PAFs. But then, even after a "disaster" of a PAF, I didn't feel sad, mainly because, I was happy with the experimental script that we had :)
Other than that, I met the Dean yesterday and today regarding the film soc. No progress :| Damn! Dean said to come and meet him on Monday. Let's see. Its valfi time again :) Hostel 8 today. Next 12 days will be good :)

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Monday, 12 March 2007

Dear Liar among others

Dear Liar is a play where the husband-wife duo of Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak-Shah read out letters, that recreate the intriguing relationship of last century English actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell and the famous Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw over the years. Written by Jerome Kilty and directed by Satyadev Dubey, this play was screened over the weekend at the Experimental Theater, NCPA. Ghaza, a senior from H2 did tell us about this some time 3 weeks ago, and Karthik, OD, SRR, Parasvil, and Anjor other than Ghaza and I did manage to get there for the 1st screening of the weekend, yesterday at 6.30 PM. A 2+ hour play, I was enchanted by the acting of the couple, especially Ratna Pathak. Being a fan of Naseeruddin Shah was the reason why I did agree on the trip, but being pleased to see his wife perform and outshine him was what I left the ~300 capacity hall with :) Another thing that I did resolve to do is that go to south Bombay sometime this week, and become a member of NCPA, and for that matter Prithvi too ;)
The play followed the 3 che duals - Karthik, OD and SRR run back to IIT to mug for their endsem today, while the remaining 4 of us moved to MamaMia's to hog some pizzas and pasta :) A train back to Kanjur - the 11.24 Thane local, was what got us home, and then some PAF work followed.

Today seemed to be a lot more hectic - get up at 11, lunch, work on PAF prod design/ backdrops design with srivathsan till 5, sit with ankit for scripting ideas till 6, attend a bloody soap box for the GS Cult candidates, and then go to meet A2, Doodhi and Anchal where the jobbing junta - A2 and Doodhi convinced us to drive to the Bandra Mocha, which we didn't enter, and then moved to Bandstand because Doodhi expressed the demand to have something chatpata and then Anchal the chaah for something cold and meetha. So, chaat followed by sherbat was what we had. Then a long chat/gossip on what's on with whom while we sat near the seaface, and then my need to have a coffee - Barista it had to be :) Some chillad-giri for the bill settlement later, we finally did manage to get on the bikes, and come back to IIT by 12.45. And then some more PAF kaam, and finally time to sleep :) Got classes tomorrow :| Sad life :P

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Tuesday, 6 February 2007

Round of Distributors

Today, GPD, Honda and I took the much needed trip to the distributors of Bollywood flicks, almost all of whom have offices in Naaz Cinema - a C-grade movie theater at Lamington Road. On our way to the place, we took the regular route - auto to Kanjur, train to Grant road, and a walk :) The time between getting down from the auto at Kanjur to getting a ticket for the train was interesting. IDC, IIT Bombay has having a Design Local "fest" kind of thing, for the designing schools of India, for which loads of students (and hot chicks) are thronging the campus. We bump into a similar hot female, and here's how the conversation follows..

She: Hey, can you tell me how to get to IIT Powai?
I: Yeah, sure. Take an auto from here, and say IIT Powai.
S: That's it? :O
I: Haan!
S: (all shocked, and amazed at my brainy head :P) aha!

Now, once at Naaz Cinema, we start walking floor by floor, meeting distributor by distributor. Acting as stupid sales persons, we saw posters of really weird movies, C/D/ and probably E grade movies, and had a ball of a time talking to distributors of the same! At the end of the ordeal that lasted 7 floors, and 3.5 hours, GPD and I realized that we must pay enough respect to the sales persons who show up :) The only reprise was Honda and his camera, for which he had decided to accompany us.. for taking pictures for some photography competition in the institute. After the time spent at this great place, we decided to cancel the trip to Eros Cinema where Hollywood distributors sit, and ate paani-puri, got screwed with the spicy water, drank a litre of water among the 3 of us, caught a train to Church gate, walked to VT, and then back a train to Kanjur. So, after all this, we in short, have moved one more step towards setting up the film soc. :) Good. Now, 2 days I have 2 quizzes. Sad, but true :) Mugging time :D

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Sunday, 4 February 2007

Addendum

The latest update on the still non-functional film society is that the Dean has gotten the bureaucracy of IIT to churn out the accounts by a fixed date - 26th of Feb. So, that is one step forward. Talking about steps, a step back is what 2 of us decided, because we chatted/smsed/spoke on the phone a bit too much. So, step back is what we decided, step back is not what we have achieved so far :)
And finally, I was working on an assignment myself, after a very long time. Felt strange, and definitely felt it a pain to do the assignment. Decided that I will not ever repeat such an ordeal again, will prefer to copy as and when possible, and gheez when not :)
Other than that, Sarmistha and I went to the Kalaghoda Mumbai Festival yesterday. We saw the Constant Gardner at the Max Mueller Bhavan. A small audi they have, made me feel that we were esteemed guests of Mumbai to get a screening :) The strange thing is that, even with ToI and Mumbai Mirror running all great articles on being a Mumbaikar after the local train blasts in July, the small turnout it gets considering that the population of the city is equivalent to that of Australia!
So much for life that people have missed :) Ahoy!

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Thursday, 18 January 2007

Once Again

We enter a new year. 2007. Everyone blogs on what the new year may be like/past year was like/what they plan/what they did. I wonder the same, and also wonder whether to blog all that :)

Another sem started, my last at IIT (probably :P) A friend, Sagu, and I have had to taste the brunt of what Indian sarkari officers of the institute. Since September 2006, we have been trying to get the collapsed IITB-Film Society to move under the banner of the Student Gymkhana and the name of Student Film Soc (SFS), so that the students could take charge of a society that has so far been handled by the staff and the faculty with not great progress after its closure sometime in August 2003. All that Sagu, I and lately another batchmate - GPD, have faced is a merry-go-round on the behest of the staff, with ZERO progress made. Finally we managed to complain to the Dean SA through the GS Cult, and there should be a meeting soon :) Lets see :)

Other than that nothing much is on. Its the PAF time now, and the teams within the hostels are being decided. Also, the institute poltus shall be out of their hibernation soon, with the insti-elections not so far now :) The eventful sem is back! YooHoo!! :)

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