Celebrating 61 years of independence...

On this auspicious occassion today, when, as Jawaharlal Nehru has said, " India awoke to life and freedom" 61 years ago, I want to express the immense pride and honour that i feel to be born as a citizen of this country....

Through this post I want to say how fortunate i feel to be an Indian....

Freedom didn't come to us out of nothing... It came out of the sacrifices made by our forefathers, our freedom fighters, and i realise that, we all should....

So, Happy Independence day! Jai Hind... Jai Bharat!!

Some interesting statistics::::>

SKYPE!

For those who dont know---> Skype is a software that allows users to make calls over the internet.....

Though iv had a skype account for a long time iv never really had the chance to use it coz the only one i voice chat online is my brother and he simply refuses to use anything other than gmail or yahoo...

But yesterday sis Edith suddenly suggested using that to communicate (Coz come on! International calls are s*** expensive!!!!! Talk once n then ur credits are over!) And before we knew it sissies Edith, anni and I were conferencing!!!! It was sooooo much fun! I mean the wonders of technology are really commendable!!! We can talk to people miles and miles away from and its ALMOST free!!!!!!!! Simply amazing!

N then there was no stopping me! ;)

Today morning i ended up speaking to my best friend in the US for 90 minutes!!!! It was crazy! It was almost like she was back home in Pune again!!

Now, theres always yahoo or google! WHy do i HAVE to use SKYPE??? Well, the reason is, I think Skype gives u maximum clarity as far as sound reception is concerned! And besides thats something my sissies and i experimented with together and strated using together! So i guess its skype for me!

**Cant believe im actually making a post out of this!!!!!**

Sudden realizations.....

U know, there are several occassions when theres something bothering u.... U hate that feeling and u want it to go away but it just doesn't until u finally sit down and think it over and the reason for ur discomfort hits you hard... You suddenly feel so disappointed/upset/frustrated!

I mean its a phase.. Its not like you go into depression or anything...

Well something like this happened to me recently... Sunday 3rd August 2008 was FRIENDSHIPS DAY (Technically, the first sunday in August is celebrated as Friendships Day). N like everyone else i too had big plans for this day! Wanted to pay a visit to all my friends n surprise them! But little did i know what was going to happen..

Well i'd given a pre-employment exam/campus exam for a company called Krawler Networks on wednesday that week.... The exam was so tough (Not just for me, for everybody) that i didnt think i would get through... But i knew one thing for sure, that i wasn't the worst...

N totally contrary to my expectations i was informed on saturday that i was selected for the second round and had to go to the company at 11:30am on Sunday.. (Friendships Day!!) But i was thrilled! It was my first attempt ever at any such exam and i was among the 12 people out of 120 who gave the exam! That sure was a confidence booster! But we didn't know whether the second round would be a written round or an interview...

However, in our attempt to be on time we all reached there 45mins prior to the required time!

Anyhow, it was my first ever experience of the "Professional" world... Its so different and so much more refined tha the current "Academic" world we are in.. So really impressed with the "look" of the company, we finally started our "exam", yes, contrary to what we thought, it was yet another technical exam and not an interview round!
Well, they could have warned us this is what it would be but they didnt!

Anyhow, the first question itself took us an hour or 2 to complete! Which i tried to the best of my abilities.... We thought that would be it! But no!!! The next thing the examiner/software professional asks us to do is---> Solve the questions that appeared in your first round again!!!!!!!!!!!!
N guess what! He wasn't gonna give us question papers again to see wt the question exactly was!!! So basically we were supposed to REMEMBER 3 long programming problem statements at that moment and acutually code them!!!!!!! I mean is this a memory test???? And anyhow, whats the point of repeating the same questions??? Weren't we selected for this round coz we did SOMETHING right in that round?? ATLEAST TELL US WHATS GOING ON?!?!? At that moment my only thought was "Im doomed!!!" But surprisingly, i could remember what id done and i could code what i remembered...

However in the midst of all this irritation, anxiety and frustration, it suddenly hit me! What exactly is bothering me?? Is it the fact that we've been sitting there for 4 hours now w/o even a glass of water? Or is it the poor lighting in that office? Or the fact that my friendships day is ruined? Or the problem of not being able to completely solve what im doing?? No, it wasnt any of this...

It was the fact that i was just NOT enjoying what i was doing! I had practically not uttered a word in those 4 hours.. I was sitting all by myself and doing something I DONT REALLY ENJOY!!! Something my hearts not into ATALL!!!!!!! Thats the problem!!!
And believe me, this sudden revelation made me feel like i was pushed off a cliff!
I had that same sinking feeling which u have when u feel u'v lost someone....

But now what iv learnt from that is that i must, in my profession look for other avenues that may be open to me... I admit im NOT a hardcore programming person... But im sure that there is something out there belonging to MY FIELD that will most definitely interest me... I just have to find it... N im sure i will....

2 of my many best friends...

Anybody who knows me well would know the number of best friends i have... In life, u r lucky if u have met a few good people.. But i guess im really blessed to have so many good, happy n caring people who have stood by me in my every hour of need...
Anyway, this post isn't about me, its about them...
2 of my many best friends who have embarked upon a new journey in life...
Sonali.... who has left for the US for further studies (MBA)... A big step in any students life...
(I still cant believe i wasn't there to see u off girl! IF only id not met with that stupid accident!!! arrrgh! But i guess u can change whats meant to happen...)
Rucha... who has found he Mr. Right n got engaged last night... A big step in any girl's life...
(All thanks to could make it to this occassion though... I was really close to missing this one too!!!! Im glad i didn't, it was one hella party!!)

Anyway all i wanna say to these two friends of mine is that i wish u all the very best... I hope u succeed in what you do and be happy always! God bless..
Cheers to our friendship!

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

SOURCE: Wikipedia
Jaane Tu ... Ya Jaane Na (Hindi: जाने तू ... या जाने ना, translation: Whether you know... or not) is a 2008 Hindi-language film..
Plot:
The movie tells the story of Jai and Aditi, who are two amongst a group of college friends. They are especially close, leading everyone to believe they are a couple. When they graduate from college, Aditi's parents invite Jai home to discuss future plans and marriage. Jai and Aditi are shocked and insist that they really don't see each other "that way".

Aditi, quick-tempered and prone to extremities in life, would prefer a strong man, an archetypal 'stud', who'd get into fights to protect her. Jai, on the other hand, is a pacifist, and would rather have a more sweet-tempered girl than Aditi as his better half.

He finds someone just that way during a night out at a club, where he ends up saving the girl (Meghna) from hooligans by fooling them rather than fighting them. Jai and Meghna start dating, much to the chagrin of Aditi, who finds herself increasingly missing the company of her best friend without realising why. Eventually, she starts seeing Sushant, a family friend, who fits the notion of her ideal man, only to later realise the travails of dating someone hot-tempered and prone to getting into fights.

Jai breaks off his relationship with Meghna, who has by now realised his affections for Aditi. Sushant reacts violently when he learns of Aditi's true affections. They break up, and she decides to go to the US to pursue a film-making course.

Jai gets back at Sushant for hitting Aditi. This only lands him in jail, but owing to a typically crazy turn of events involving his royal cousins from Rajasthan and a horse, he makes it to the airport where, in a nod to Bollywood tradition, he stops Aditi from leaving and confesses his feelings. At the end of the film, the couple, happily married and back from their honeymoon, are received at the airport by their friends and a new admirer of their love story.

Well it was a boring tuesday morning n i had started feeling ashamed about the way i was bunking college carelessly... Thats when my sister called me up asking if i wanted to go watch this film "Jaane tu... Ya jaane na" with her.(Which i didnt really wanna watch initially, my only intention was go go out with my friends and have a good time.. As in, any other film would do too.. It wasn't ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY that we go watch just this film). Initially i rejected the offer saying id promised my friends i wud watch it with them. But the minute i hung up i started thinking.. WTH am i doing?????? Im giving up a chance to bunk college?!??!?.. So after a loooooot of convincing my friends FINALLY agreed to go... (They still behave like school kids and to think about it, it was they who introduced me to "bunking" !!)

So riding our bikes at the maximum possible speed within the choc-a-bloc traffic we finally made it on time to the theatre which was on the other side of the city n bought tickets for a good 120 bucks, still wondering if the movie was worth it at all!!

Well im glad to admit that the movie was TOTALLY worth it and more!!! Complete entertainer very lovable and complete with all the typical hindi film masala (The climax---> so predictable yet soooo funny!) We couldnt stop ourselves from LOLing at the end and kept singing the title song and other songs we know from the film all day next day until everyone around us was HEAVILY BORED!! Well i guess i wrote about it bcoz i had SUCH a good time with my friends that day!! And also coz the characters of RATS & MEOW (the nicknames of the two lead characters) touched our hearts... Not to forget the heavenly chocolate drink CADBY we had after the film!!!

One step at a time...

A huge thank u to Editha unni for introducing me to this inspiring song... I think it is apt for my current situation.. Xie xie ni!!!
"One step at a time" by Jordin Sparks...

Song Lyrics

Good people...

It is said that good people are very rare in the world today... But i have to say that i beg to differ. I think it depends on how you see the world and how much you appreciate what others do.. As some say- "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you take it"..
In this context i think im a very luck person (touch wood)... Coz i have met really good people in life.. We know that friendships are relationships we CHOOSE and are not born with and i have to admit that iv been blessed with really good people right since childhood...
Im grateful to all my friends who care so much and are always there for me in my every hour of need... They are my backbone.. Dont know what i wud do without them!
So this is just a toast to ALL MY FRIENDS from EVERYWHERE who are with me through thick and thin...
LOVE U GUYS and really really appreciate everything u guys do!

Taking tuitions...

Ever since i started engineering in 2005, ive felt like a complete idiot... Iv gone from topper to flopper... Though i knew that engineering is not something i would find interest in, i still selected it thinking i would manage it somehow, afterall the pay packets are high and there is job security!! Wrong decision! Or should i say, decision for all the wrong reasons! But it didn't take me much time to realise what a big fool id been... Clearly, when you dont like something, u r gonna try to avoid it! Thats exaclty what i did for the first year... It took me that much time to realise that i was only ruining my career this way and that engineering is what i have to do whether i like it or lump it!! So slowly iam working hard at improving though my dilly-dallying has caused sufficient harm... Obviously my dislike had showed up on my marks as well though not causing any irreparable damage. So bottomline. since i came to engineering, Ive felt like the biggest fool on earth!!!
My rescue from this feeling came in the form of taking tuitions for maths.. Taking these tuitions reinstated my faith in my belief that i wasn't a very bad student. I had a brain n wasn't a dimwit as id started thinking i was. I started feeling productive again and it gave me a sense of fulfillment.. Its true, that when god closes one door, he opens ten others for us... N i have to say, that my faith in god and these tuitions have played a major role in not letting me give up on myself because of engineering.....

EXAMS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to admit that though there is nothing as irritating and annoying and scary as exams, the feeling at the end of your exams is of an achievement (Almost a feeling of the victory of good over evil).. Hehe i know im making it sound like a war but afterall, writing exams is like going for a war right? A WAR TO PASS!! Anyway after my last paper i couldnt stop shouting... Infact my friends had to start pleading with me to stop...
I guess i have to conclude that the joy after the end of exams makes writing exams worth it ;)

EXAMS!!!

I dont know whose smart idea it was to introduce something like exams, but the truth is that we have to face it whether we like it or not...
And as im in the middle of exams now i better stop blogging for a while...
I now swear that i will not blog until the end of my last exam of 17th June!! :)