Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Happy Days are here again...
The results of the 3rd Semester are finally out. The date of this unexpected event turned out to be 9th June, 2009, a little less than 2 months after DCE took out their results for the 3rd Semester. As I have said in the previous posts, most students had given up on the result coming out anytime soon, hence the surprise. I did ok. Should've done better, rather, the teacher should have done better while marking my paper. Here's a piece by piece review of the course and the teachers of 3rd sem. The identities of the teachers shall remain undisclosed for reasons unknown to all:
1. Electronics I - A reasonably good teacher teaching us a not so reasonable subject. The fact that the entire course revolves around the one and only 'jugaad' book, Electronics Circuits and Devices by B. Kumar and S. Jain. Getting to know about it a day before the electronics mid sem didn't help matters. The subsequent abandoning of Sedra and Smith for this book was a decision i made, for better or worse. The net result being a score of 63. Not bad, nearly as much as I expected.
2. Circuits and System - Taught by a teacher who got an infamous reputation for giving suppli's, just because a person on lounge gave him a nickname that had a nice ring to it and had the word suppli in it. The teacher was able to some extent, but unfortunately would start becoming incomprehendable over time, with the greater complexity of his subject and verbal skills getting the better of us. However, I still appreciate the heartfelt and optimistic advice he gave me after flunking me in the mid-sems. I really felt I could change it for the better, and after working hard, I ended up with a 62.
3. Electrical Machines I - A subject with a teacher who was a guest faculty, who for all reasons of putting this conversation in the right context, was an alumni of NSIT. With a total of 7 lectures in the semester, which was the combined effect of either the students bunking or the teacher not turning up, the only things that could save us was some efforts on the part of the teacher. However, when the result came, the promises he made felt like he was rubbing salts on our wounds, and effectly ended up betraying my hopes of getting even a 70%. I could only manage a 56, although i hoped for 65+.
4. Electrical Measurements - A vast and theoretical subject with an understanding teacher, who was also coincidentally, an alumni of NSIT. For all the difficulties faced in the semester, the only teacher who helped us manage the semester in whatever way he could, was him. We all put extra efforts to ensure we did well in his subject, which i'm glad to say, I did, as did the rest. I got an 80.
5. Mathematics III - A difficult course, which had me going through the subject till 6:15 am on the day of the exam, my only disappointment apart from the fact that I would not have maths as a subject, is that I would not be taught another course by the teacher who taught us in 3rd sem. A brilliant teacher, and after knowing him over the past year, my respect for him has only grown. Had I had the aptitude, I would have seriously considered his advice to get into teaching.
Well, thats all for now. I will really have to pull up my socks for 5th sem, if i'm to make any improvement in my percentage for sitting in placements.
Adios!
1. Electronics I - A reasonably good teacher teaching us a not so reasonable subject. The fact that the entire course revolves around the one and only 'jugaad' book, Electronics Circuits and Devices by B. Kumar and S. Jain. Getting to know about it a day before the electronics mid sem didn't help matters. The subsequent abandoning of Sedra and Smith for this book was a decision i made, for better or worse. The net result being a score of 63. Not bad, nearly as much as I expected.
2. Circuits and System - Taught by a teacher who got an infamous reputation for giving suppli's, just because a person on lounge gave him a nickname that had a nice ring to it and had the word suppli in it. The teacher was able to some extent, but unfortunately would start becoming incomprehendable over time, with the greater complexity of his subject and verbal skills getting the better of us. However, I still appreciate the heartfelt and optimistic advice he gave me after flunking me in the mid-sems. I really felt I could change it for the better, and after working hard, I ended up with a 62.
3. Electrical Machines I - A subject with a teacher who was a guest faculty, who for all reasons of putting this conversation in the right context, was an alumni of NSIT. With a total of 7 lectures in the semester, which was the combined effect of either the students bunking or the teacher not turning up, the only things that could save us was some efforts on the part of the teacher. However, when the result came, the promises he made felt like he was rubbing salts on our wounds, and effectly ended up betraying my hopes of getting even a 70%. I could only manage a 56, although i hoped for 65+.
4. Electrical Measurements - A vast and theoretical subject with an understanding teacher, who was also coincidentally, an alumni of NSIT. For all the difficulties faced in the semester, the only teacher who helped us manage the semester in whatever way he could, was him. We all put extra efforts to ensure we did well in his subject, which i'm glad to say, I did, as did the rest. I got an 80.
5. Mathematics III - A difficult course, which had me going through the subject till 6:15 am on the day of the exam, my only disappointment apart from the fact that I would not have maths as a subject, is that I would not be taught another course by the teacher who taught us in 3rd sem. A brilliant teacher, and after knowing him over the past year, my respect for him has only grown. Had I had the aptitude, I would have seriously considered his advice to get into teaching.
Well, thats all for now. I will really have to pull up my socks for 5th sem, if i'm to make any improvement in my percentage for sitting in placements.
Adios!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Life in the holidays - 1
4th June, 2009.
Its been 8 days since I've been "totally" free, and well, already some monotony has started to creep in. This post essentially just to remind me that I am to do something useful with my time. So what have I been upto? Here I am listing all that below:
1. The Godfather trilogy: A wonderful depiction of the Cosa Nostra and the Italian Mafia. I particularly enjoyed the first movie, although I found all three to be equally well-made. Sofia Coppola lacked a certain charm with her role in the third, but one also gets used to her as the movie progresses. Marlon Brando in it has done justice to his role, and Robert De Niro did very well in the second. Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen was one character I felt sorry for he was constantly abused for being non-Italian, for not being a blood relative to the 'family' and because of the issues Michael Corleone had with trusting the ones closest to him. My rating 9.5/10,9.5/10,9/10 for the three movies respectively.
2. Another Robert Duvall film which I happened to catch was Thank You For Smoking. Its the sort of movie that messes you up a little bit, makes you question your moral system and knows how to put up an argument. The protagonist is Aaron Eckhart, who we later saw in the role of D.A. Harvey Dent, in the unforgettable epic The Dark Knight. I'd recommend it. Rating: 9/10
3. The Big Fish: Interesting concept, adapted from the novel by Daniel Wallace of the same name. I first read about it after hearing the song, "How I Go" by Yellowcard. I loved the song the first time I heard it, and only after almost a year after first listening to it, got down to watching the movie. Thoroughly loved it. My rating:9.5/10.
4. Flight of the Conchords - This TV show is a blast. Features two New-Zealand blokes in the US, Bret and Jermaine are the two-member band that try to make ends meet, find a girl for themselves, and play at gigs, breaking into hilarious sing-song routines every time. A brilliant comedy. 9/10.
5. The Motherhood River - A Chinese short children's story, which is one in a series of books titled Journey to the West, by Yuan Fang. More here.
The story is as the title says - about a river that makes anyone who drinks it pregnant. A solution to this conundrum is in the form of another river, drinking whose water aborts the child.
It was a pretty unique story with the monkey, pig, friar and the king as the main characters. Its a bit funny, especially the illustrations of the pig bloated and squirming, screaming he's going into labour etc... but overall a bit ridiculous at my age. :-)
6. Presently reading Imam and the Indian by Amitav Ghosh. Its a collection of short stories which he wrote sporadically over the course of several years and in between the various works that he published.
My personal favourite from the ones that I have read till now is The ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi, in which he gives his personal account of the '84 genocide, why he could not bring himself to write about it till now, and why other writers from that time are also reluctant to do the same. However, it makes for some sad reading, one that left me dejected and angry. Time may pass by, but such instances keep occuring, with the assistance of the official bodies that have been put in charge to prevent them. The '84 riots and 2002 riots were both genocides, mass-murders that were organized and planned attempts at eliminating certain minority groups and the fact that we continue to attach the misnomer of 'riots' to these events shows that we have accepted them as that, and given the guilty an easy escape route. In fact, there is plenty of material available online with regard to those horrific days when these mass-murders took place.
My present addiction is Lexulous, that online scrabble game that was made by the Agarwala brothers as Scrabulous, which got itself into legal troubles for trademark infringement. Its an entertaining way of passing time, and helps improve thy vocab, no? ;-)
Adios!
Its been 8 days since I've been "totally" free, and well, already some monotony has started to creep in. This post essentially just to remind me that I am to do something useful with my time. So what have I been upto? Here I am listing all that below:
1. The Godfather trilogy: A wonderful depiction of the Cosa Nostra and the Italian Mafia. I particularly enjoyed the first movie, although I found all three to be equally well-made. Sofia Coppola lacked a certain charm with her role in the third, but one also gets used to her as the movie progresses. Marlon Brando in it has done justice to his role, and Robert De Niro did very well in the second. Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen was one character I felt sorry for he was constantly abused for being non-Italian, for not being a blood relative to the 'family' and because of the issues Michael Corleone had with trusting the ones closest to him. My rating 9.5/10,9.5/10,9/10 for the three movies respectively.
2. Another Robert Duvall film which I happened to catch was Thank You For Smoking. Its the sort of movie that messes you up a little bit, makes you question your moral system and knows how to put up an argument. The protagonist is Aaron Eckhart, who we later saw in the role of D.A. Harvey Dent, in the unforgettable epic The Dark Knight. I'd recommend it. Rating: 9/10
3. The Big Fish: Interesting concept, adapted from the novel by Daniel Wallace of the same name. I first read about it after hearing the song, "How I Go" by Yellowcard. I loved the song the first time I heard it, and only after almost a year after first listening to it, got down to watching the movie. Thoroughly loved it. My rating:9.5/10.
4. Flight of the Conchords - This TV show is a blast. Features two New-Zealand blokes in the US, Bret and Jermaine are the two-member band that try to make ends meet, find a girl for themselves, and play at gigs, breaking into hilarious sing-song routines every time. A brilliant comedy. 9/10.
5. The Motherhood River - A Chinese short children's story, which is one in a series of books titled Journey to the West, by Yuan Fang. More here.
The story is as the title says - about a river that makes anyone who drinks it pregnant. A solution to this conundrum is in the form of another river, drinking whose water aborts the child.
It was a pretty unique story with the monkey, pig, friar and the king as the main characters. Its a bit funny, especially the illustrations of the pig bloated and squirming, screaming he's going into labour etc... but overall a bit ridiculous at my age. :-)
6. Presently reading Imam and the Indian by Amitav Ghosh. Its a collection of short stories which he wrote sporadically over the course of several years and in between the various works that he published.
My personal favourite from the ones that I have read till now is The ghosts of Mrs. Gandhi, in which he gives his personal account of the '84 genocide, why he could not bring himself to write about it till now, and why other writers from that time are also reluctant to do the same. However, it makes for some sad reading, one that left me dejected and angry. Time may pass by, but such instances keep occuring, with the assistance of the official bodies that have been put in charge to prevent them. The '84 riots and 2002 riots were both genocides, mass-murders that were organized and planned attempts at eliminating certain minority groups and the fact that we continue to attach the misnomer of 'riots' to these events shows that we have accepted them as that, and given the guilty an easy escape route. In fact, there is plenty of material available online with regard to those horrific days when these mass-murders took place.
My present addiction is Lexulous, that online scrabble game that was made by the Agarwala brothers as Scrabulous, which got itself into legal troubles for trademark infringement. Its an entertaining way of passing time, and helps improve thy vocab, no? ;-)
Adios!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
About a girl.
Yes! Fourth semester is finally over! The gracious examiners took pity on my sorry state, both physical and academic wise, and let me go in quickly and wrapped it up quickly too. I am thankful to them, and finally convinced of their humane side, which over the course of 2nd year, I had begun questioning.
But this post is not about academics. Far from that. Just as I was leaving, I saw a sight that captured my senses completely. Ever had a feeling of the sheer beauty of someone enrapturing you so that you wished time could stop forever, just for that moment to last for so much more than that mere second for which it did? I generally have well thought of and set parameters on how I define beauty. Its something that's untouched, no superfluous efforts to look good, just being yourself. And I truly believe that to figure out whether a girl is beautiful, at least in the physical sense (although I rarely define beauty as something in the physical sense, but today is an exception ;-) ), is to see her in a kurta and salwar without makeup. Today was that day. Breathless, that is the only word that I can use.
To date, there are very few girls, if any, that I have called beautiful based on just the physical. But if there is any girl for whom I'd make that exception, she is the one.
That moment will survive me for the better part of the three months of holidays that I'm looking forward to.
To the one with the most beautiful smile ever. Here's a tribute to you. :-)
But this post is not about academics. Far from that. Just as I was leaving, I saw a sight that captured my senses completely. Ever had a feeling of the sheer beauty of someone enrapturing you so that you wished time could stop forever, just for that moment to last for so much more than that mere second for which it did? I generally have well thought of and set parameters on how I define beauty. Its something that's untouched, no superfluous efforts to look good, just being yourself. And I truly believe that to figure out whether a girl is beautiful, at least in the physical sense (although I rarely define beauty as something in the physical sense, but today is an exception ;-) ), is to see her in a kurta and salwar without makeup. Today was that day. Breathless, that is the only word that I can use.
To date, there are very few girls, if any, that I have called beautiful based on just the physical. But if there is any girl for whom I'd make that exception, she is the one.
That moment will survive me for the better part of the three months of holidays that I'm looking forward to.
To the one with the most beautiful smile ever. Here's a tribute to you. :-)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Only in NSIT
Yeah, my 4th semester has almost finished, barring a single practical that remains to screw whatever that is left of my academia. And yes, I haven't forgotten about the long awaited post on 3rd semester, but being the esteemed students of the great institution, they want to inculcate in us honorable virtues of patience, to have steadfast dedication to one's work without craving for the fruits of success or failure. Even though the administration at DCE decided that a wait of roughly four months is a good enough test and announced the result, we at NSIT have to obviously top our fellow brothers and sisters. With this thought, its been 6 months and still counting and the wait is on...
Mahaquizzer 2009 took place today. My first hands-on (?!) experience of the quiz was pretty average. Its a tough quiz, comprising of 150 questions to be attempted in 90 minutes. Conducted by the KQA, it aims to cover as diverse topics as music, sports, science, history, art, pop culture, geography etc but is skewed a lot towards hindu mythology and other such 'super-specialty' topics of the great quizzers from the south. Frankly speaking, it was quite boring, with moi falling asleep twice during the quiz. The questions didn't have too much workoutablity in them, hence reducing it only to a know-it-or-you-don't thing. No doubt the quizmasters are great quizzers, and considering that its open, I expected it to be like this. But yes, I also expected a lot more.
Have a long and hopefully productive vacation lined-up for myself. Will write something about my experience of it too. I do hope that I will have to write it only after my post on the 3rd sem though. :-)
Cheers!
Mahaquizzer 2009 took place today. My first hands-on (?!) experience of the quiz was pretty average. Its a tough quiz, comprising of 150 questions to be attempted in 90 minutes. Conducted by the KQA, it aims to cover as diverse topics as music, sports, science, history, art, pop culture, geography etc but is skewed a lot towards hindu mythology and other such 'super-specialty' topics of the great quizzers from the south. Frankly speaking, it was quite boring, with moi falling asleep twice during the quiz. The questions didn't have too much workoutablity in them, hence reducing it only to a know-it-or-you-don't thing. No doubt the quizmasters are great quizzers, and considering that its open, I expected it to be like this. But yes, I also expected a lot more.
Have a long and hopefully productive vacation lined-up for myself. Will write something about my experience of it too. I do hope that I will have to write it only after my post on the 3rd sem though. :-)
Cheers!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thoughts...
Hi. I'm back again. A post has been due for long, and as I had some time on my hands, I thought I'd might as well pen down some thoughts.
The mid-semester exams ended on friday. I did ok, not terribly depressed by my performance or particularly overjoyed. But one thing that I am proud of is that I didn't crumble under pressure. The major disappointing thing I faced in my academics in college till now was that I would blank out and get really nervous and lose it. This time however, I ceased to care about it. I continued my preparations, not really keeping any expectations and not caring two hoots about it. Over time, I've realized that is the best thing to do. In one exam when I felt my expections and anxiety increase, I just let it go. It was that simple.
My report on the infamous 3rd semester is long overdue, but i'm waiting for the result to come first. I'd like to outline everything keeping that in mind. And considering the result is out in DCE, it going to take just over a month for it to be out in NSIT. :P
Tata Crucible 2009 - ah yes, truly the biggest quiz of the country there is. We slipped at the worst point, going down at the wildcard round. It hurts still, but the intensity decreases over time. I'll be back. Even if i ever give up going for quizzes and quit quizzing, Tata Crucible is one for which i'll work however much that i have to to conquer it.
I acknowledge Abhimanyu Sanghi, my senior, friend and partner for the quiz, for pushing me to work for Crucible, especially at the point when I was considering not even going for it thinking it would be futile. Kudos Sir, you'll definitely be missed in whatever years of quizzing i have left in this college! :-)
Moksha 09 is looming large in front of us. A lot of preparations will have to go for it. I have my doubts on whether it'll be as big as before, but its still our college fest! It'll rock! :-)
More later.
Ciao!
The mid-semester exams ended on friday. I did ok, not terribly depressed by my performance or particularly overjoyed. But one thing that I am proud of is that I didn't crumble under pressure. The major disappointing thing I faced in my academics in college till now was that I would blank out and get really nervous and lose it. This time however, I ceased to care about it. I continued my preparations, not really keeping any expectations and not caring two hoots about it. Over time, I've realized that is the best thing to do. In one exam when I felt my expections and anxiety increase, I just let it go. It was that simple.
My report on the infamous 3rd semester is long overdue, but i'm waiting for the result to come first. I'd like to outline everything keeping that in mind. And considering the result is out in DCE, it going to take just over a month for it to be out in NSIT. :P
Tata Crucible 2009 - ah yes, truly the biggest quiz of the country there is. We slipped at the worst point, going down at the wildcard round. It hurts still, but the intensity decreases over time. I'll be back. Even if i ever give up going for quizzes and quit quizzing, Tata Crucible is one for which i'll work however much that i have to to conquer it.
I acknowledge Abhimanyu Sanghi, my senior, friend and partner for the quiz, for pushing me to work for Crucible, especially at the point when I was considering not even going for it thinking it would be futile. Kudos Sir, you'll definitely be missed in whatever years of quizzing i have left in this college! :-)
Moksha 09 is looming large in front of us. A lot of preparations will have to go for it. I have my doubts on whether it'll be as big as before, but its still our college fest! It'll rock! :-)
More later.
Ciao!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Winters and the Holidays
Hi. I'm back. A long time coming. The entire holidays passed by and I didn't post even once. Well, no excuses on my part. Had lots of stuff happening in the holidays. The DU Quizzing Season, of which I was a smaller part of compared to last year, and then there was the utter nonsensical farce which we as NSITians call "Winter Training".
Sure, we really didn't want to study anything, which we didn't, but we neither did we want to end up coming to college day after day in the afternoon for three hours daily, which we did. So a major portion of the holidays was spent to and fro from the college and home. A few days after we saw how the "Winter Training" was going to go, we put forward a plea to get it over with before Christmas to the teacher, who said she couldn't promise anything, but would come teach us something worthwhile. Well, she lived upto only half her promise. The Training was suspended by 24th December, but in turn we were supposed to carry out a "Hardware Project", and the concerned teacher never turned up. So much for making our trips to college "worth-while"!
Well, life wasn't that bad afterwards. A trip to Manila to meet my relatives ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable affair. Lots of good food, a wonderful place to go and just chill out. There was ample eye-candy to keep yours truly busy. ;-) The malls were wonderful, I enjoyed every moment of my trip there. Had plenty to read as well and plenty of movies to watch too!
A small synopsis of each follows:
Books:
1. The Other Side of Justice by Justice S.S. Sodhi - An autobiographical account of a High Court Judge, who after a tussle with the then Haryana CM Bhajan Lal led to his transfer from the Chandigarh High Court to the Allahabad High Court sometime in early 1994. What follows is a grim picture of the oldest high court of the country, which was extremely notorious at the point by unions, strikes and typical gunda-gardi expected in Uttar Pradesh at the time. A fascinating account, filled with anecdotes, the only sore point being the excessive repetition due to reproduction of original documents/petitions/judgements. A must read though.
2. Coffee with Groucho - A fictionalized interview of Groucho Marx, given by one of his more famous impersonators, based on his biography and using some of his typical humor, an entertaining read.
3. Short stories of Professor Shonku by Sayyajit Ray - They make for interesting reading, some very well written short stories that show Ray's talent for writing.
4. Mythology and the Individual - Joseph Campbell - A wonderful audiobook, highly recommended by yours truly. It makes for wonderful listening, with lots of anecdotes of various mythologies from all over the world. The most memorable quote on religion that put me at peace was,
"It doesn't matter whether mythology and religion are wrong or right, they work. And that's what counts."
Mythologies represent whatever is the need of the day, told in the form of a story that captures one's imagination and provides food for thought. Another memorable quote i recall,
"Fear and aspiration are the two emotions that can pull a human being to rise above the ordinary."
These quotes may not be verbatim, but in essence communicate the message. Another audiobook of Joseph Campbell I'd recommend is "History of the Gods".
5. Call of the Wild - Jack London - Another small audiobook. The story of Buck is gut wrenching and inspiring, sometimes individually and sometimes both at the same time. Was looking forward to it because it was one of the books that majorly influenced Chris McCandless to undergo his journey Into The Wild.
6. Also was checking out some Telugu short stories in Manila, but didn't read too much of them. Didn't get enough time.
7. Presently listening Animal Farm by George Orwell. Its a wonderful story, behind all the humor and somewhat bordering on being ridiculous, its very much a black comedy type story, where everything what is being said could and very possibly is happening in the world, where allegations and counter-allegations that range from the plausible to the downright ludicrous are are thrown everywhere in our daily lives.
8. Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - A highly inspiring book, reading it, especially towards the end, I could not help but feel sympathy for a man of his calibre, having accomplished a good deal in life, having to go so early. A good book, a must read for all.
Movies:
1. 12 Angry Men : The best movie of the holidays, especially how the story unfolds, i quite enjoyed it. 9.5/10
2. Ghajini : Fairly decent movie made annoying by its length and ridiculous by the tamil style violence. Could've done without all that crap. 6.5/10
3. Welcome to Sajjanpur: A humorous film, shot well, and is a unique satire on the village scene. Shreyas Talpade has done a good job. 7.5/10.
4. Slumdog Millionaire: A good movie, which could have been better. Maybe its just the allure of Hollywood in our minds and vice versa for the foreigners, whereby nearly all my friends swear by The Dark Knight as the Best Movie EVER, they don't even consider it worthy of more than one Golden Globe nomination. 7/10
5. Amu: A highly sensitive movie, which shook me a great deal. The entire portrayal of the characters, and how the story fits in towards the end made it a very good movie. Brinda Karat looks stunning in this movie, and she is presently my crush for the first quarter of the year! ;-) 9/10
6. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: A disappointing movie, Here i would go with Jai Arjun Singh on his review, (God in the machine: notes on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Dec 13,2008) totally explains my view on this film. 6.5/10
Thats all for now. 4th Sem is not looking good, and because i'm not taking any action to change it, I will not be complaining about it. Life goes on nigga!
Adios!
Sure, we really didn't want to study anything, which we didn't, but we neither did we want to end up coming to college day after day in the afternoon for three hours daily, which we did. So a major portion of the holidays was spent to and fro from the college and home. A few days after we saw how the "Winter Training" was going to go, we put forward a plea to get it over with before Christmas to the teacher, who said she couldn't promise anything, but would come teach us something worthwhile. Well, she lived upto only half her promise. The Training was suspended by 24th December, but in turn we were supposed to carry out a "Hardware Project", and the concerned teacher never turned up. So much for making our trips to college "worth-while"!
Well, life wasn't that bad afterwards. A trip to Manila to meet my relatives ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable affair. Lots of good food, a wonderful place to go and just chill out. There was ample eye-candy to keep yours truly busy. ;-) The malls were wonderful, I enjoyed every moment of my trip there. Had plenty to read as well and plenty of movies to watch too!
A small synopsis of each follows:
Books:
1. The Other Side of Justice by Justice S.S. Sodhi - An autobiographical account of a High Court Judge, who after a tussle with the then Haryana CM Bhajan Lal led to his transfer from the Chandigarh High Court to the Allahabad High Court sometime in early 1994. What follows is a grim picture of the oldest high court of the country, which was extremely notorious at the point by unions, strikes and typical gunda-gardi expected in Uttar Pradesh at the time. A fascinating account, filled with anecdotes, the only sore point being the excessive repetition due to reproduction of original documents/petitions/judgements. A must read though.
2. Coffee with Groucho - A fictionalized interview of Groucho Marx, given by one of his more famous impersonators, based on his biography and using some of his typical humor, an entertaining read.
3. Short stories of Professor Shonku by Sayyajit Ray - They make for interesting reading, some very well written short stories that show Ray's talent for writing.
4. Mythology and the Individual - Joseph Campbell - A wonderful audiobook, highly recommended by yours truly. It makes for wonderful listening, with lots of anecdotes of various mythologies from all over the world. The most memorable quote on religion that put me at peace was,
"It doesn't matter whether mythology and religion are wrong or right, they work. And that's what counts."
Mythologies represent whatever is the need of the day, told in the form of a story that captures one's imagination and provides food for thought. Another memorable quote i recall,
"Fear and aspiration are the two emotions that can pull a human being to rise above the ordinary."
These quotes may not be verbatim, but in essence communicate the message. Another audiobook of Joseph Campbell I'd recommend is "History of the Gods".
5. Call of the Wild - Jack London - Another small audiobook. The story of Buck is gut wrenching and inspiring, sometimes individually and sometimes both at the same time. Was looking forward to it because it was one of the books that majorly influenced Chris McCandless to undergo his journey Into The Wild.
6. Also was checking out some Telugu short stories in Manila, but didn't read too much of them. Didn't get enough time.
7. Presently listening Animal Farm by George Orwell. Its a wonderful story, behind all the humor and somewhat bordering on being ridiculous, its very much a black comedy type story, where everything what is being said could and very possibly is happening in the world, where allegations and counter-allegations that range from the plausible to the downright ludicrous are are thrown everywhere in our daily lives.
8. Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - A highly inspiring book, reading it, especially towards the end, I could not help but feel sympathy for a man of his calibre, having accomplished a good deal in life, having to go so early. A good book, a must read for all.
Movies:
1. 12 Angry Men : The best movie of the holidays, especially how the story unfolds, i quite enjoyed it. 9.5/10
2. Ghajini : Fairly decent movie made annoying by its length and ridiculous by the tamil style violence. Could've done without all that crap. 6.5/10
3. Welcome to Sajjanpur: A humorous film, shot well, and is a unique satire on the village scene. Shreyas Talpade has done a good job. 7.5/10.
4. Slumdog Millionaire: A good movie, which could have been better. Maybe its just the allure of Hollywood in our minds and vice versa for the foreigners, whereby nearly all my friends swear by The Dark Knight as the Best Movie EVER, they don't even consider it worthy of more than one Golden Globe nomination. 7/10
5. Amu: A highly sensitive movie, which shook me a great deal. The entire portrayal of the characters, and how the story fits in towards the end made it a very good movie. Brinda Karat looks stunning in this movie, and she is presently my crush for the first quarter of the year! ;-) 9/10
6. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: A disappointing movie, Here i would go with Jai Arjun Singh on his review, (God in the machine: notes on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Dec 13,2008) totally explains my view on this film. 6.5/10
Thats all for now. 4th Sem is not looking good, and because i'm not taking any action to change it, I will not be complaining about it. Life goes on nigga!
Adios!
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