Inquilab Zindabad?

"The richest cricket board,the BCCI was really enjoying its authoritarian position while controlling cricket in India till it had to face the newest and the toughest challenge it has ever faced,Essel Group's ICL."

Sounds like a typical Hollywood movie in which the lead actor tries to save the world or his country from rebels or terrorists.And I hope the BCCI vs ICL battle is as entertaining as the "action-packed" movies churned out by Hollywood every year.Personally, I am against a rival cricket league and I believe that as long as ICC recognises BCCI, BCCI should have the last word in Indian cricket.Kapil Dev was sacked.Haha!As if his being the chairman of NCA was making a big difference!And are people interested in seeing players like Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Mongia play for their league team? ICL is a really great chance for opportunistic people to gain some money, fame or to sort out old differences with Mr.Backstabbing President of the richest board.The BCCI can continue cornering players trying to be mutineers. Till then the nation will be busy contemplating over the Indo-US nuclear deal, starring the Left front as the Chief Rebel.The same Left front would have waved the green signal for the nuclear deal in case of an Indo-China deal and the Communists who are now enjoying their strategic position in the Loksabha would have dumped "national interests" in the trash bin.
But I do think that the Left front and the NDA have a valid point. The nuclear deal would threaten Indian sovereignty.Why should we not carry out nuclear tests because a certain clause in a highly iniquitous 123 deal with a 'despotic' nation says that it would justify annihilation of the deal?The nation's voice should be sought for and it is high time that the Indian Government organises a referendum and the issue is solved democratically. The Left loves to threaten withdrawal of support but I am sure that the Communist parties don't have the guts to really topple the Government because doing so might bring back the NDA into majority which would endanger leftist interests.This game of kabaddi will go on and on.The left will try to pin the Congress to the wall and the Congress will make way for Mr.Karat and the Politburo's principles by backing off in fear of loss of power.So Happy Revolting everyone (check whether your name figures in the voters' list because elections might be just round the corner!)!

The Union turns 60!

VANDE MATARAM
A bow to my beloved motherland


"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity." -Jawaharlal Nehru,15th August 1947.
As 15th August approaches,midnight's children and grandchildren are ready to rejoice 60 years of independence! A billion hearts are filled with ecstasy as India glances at the past 60 years retrospectively.60 years of struggle,60 years of toiling,60 years of development and now we are not far from reaching the pinncale.Six decades have passed since India achieved freedom.Every living soul in India attained the right to equality, right to freedom,right against exploitation,right to freedom of religion,cultural and educational rights,right to constitutional remedies (officially on 26th January 1950). Constitutionally every person was empowered to live a life freely. But have we been successful in utilising our rights and exercising our duties?60 years later we are still struggling to realise that freedom does not warrant slipshod behaviour.Prudent exercising of rights and duties is quintessential.
On every 15th August Indians suddenly remember their nationality and one can hear improptu outbursts of the National Anthem and flags on vehicles and displayed proudly on chests. But the scene is a perfect contrast on the 16th of August.Flags are strewn on the roads or gutters and people don't even spare a glance at the National symbol being stamped.
"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
-Adlai Stevenson
Independence Day is meant to pay tribute to the countless martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of our nation. Generations of our forefathers struggled to oust foreign rulers.
The first decade after gaining independence was spent in trying to stabilise the nation and to recuperate from the trauma of a cataclysmic partition.India became a republic within 3 years and the first general elections of 1951 introduced the concept of 'democratic republic' in India.
The next decade was really conflagrant. Two wars against two differnet nations with a 3 year gap in between is really woeful. But this decade saw the Green Revolution and India took its first step towards becoming independent as far as food is concerned.India led the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.States were reorganised linguistically for administrative efficiency.Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri coined the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" which symbolises India's dependence on agriculture.
The third decade was equally blistering.A third war against Pakistan,the birth of a new neighbouring state Bangladesh.Indira Gandhi's emergency brought about radical changes in Indian politics.For the first time in the history of independent India,a non-Congress government
held the reins.
The next decade saw an India struggling to fight internal unrest.The separatist movement in Punjab gained momentum but Operation Blue Star and other consequential instances dampened the demand for Khalistan.India won the cricket world cup and athletics saw the rise of P.T.Usha,a sports celebrity who shared her fate with Milkha Singh.
The 5th decade of Independent India saw revolutionising economic policies.Liberal policies by the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh helped India move on to the fast track.Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir had reached its worst. Communal hatred across India was observed. Mumbai staggered due to bomb blasts and riots.The Gulf War forced countries all across the world to change their foreign policies and India had to take a diplomatic stand to ensure that no one is hurt.The 1996 Lok Sabha elections proposed that India is looking for a change and the era of coalition dawned.In 1997,India celebrated the golden jubilee of independence as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee proudly hailed "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan!"
The sixth decade has ushered in the good old days of India. With India racing ahead in every field,the world has started to acknowledge the Asian powers,India and China.With outsourcing,knowledge of English, India can score over China.Indian economy is showing signs of tremendous augmentation.India rides the wave of IT boom successfully.And now as we celebrate 60 years of sovereignty, India is ready to occupy its rightful place in the world again.India had lost its deserved respect due to centuries of slavery and dependence.All its glory was lost and now we are ready to pounce back and the credit goes to the Indian brain's unsurpassable intelligence and wit.
I hope in the years to come we remain united as we have for 60 years.A spectrum of languages,religions,cultures hasn't stopped India from progressing.The nation remains united under the banner called the 'Tiranga'. From the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean,Indians hum the National Anthem. Wishing every Indian a very happy Independence Day! Long live the nation,may truth always triumph!
Jai Hind!

Life in S.Y.B.Tech: Networks,Generators and Chalk Fights!

This post is inspired by the audio-visual 'Life in First year Engineering' produced and directed by my fellow batchmates and screened during Aarambh,the freshers' party of our college.Life in second year is definitely more enjoyable than life in FE.Firstly, now that I have changed to Electrical Engineering, it has been a huge leap from cement,concrete,aggregates to networks,circuits and motors.An advantage of the changeover is that most of our lectures are not conducted! We still don't have a professor for Numerical Techniques and our Network Analysis professor seems to have resigned (too bad I couldn't trouble her because I changed over after she left.....had she left after I switched over,everyone would have known the secret behind her sudden resignation).Basic Electronics (or is it Electrical....I still don't know my subjects) is taught by a professor who has zero teaching experience and it is her first year in Mumbai.Back home in Amravati she must be a celebrity by now!She dared to endure the pains of teaching a very dumb subject to hooligans like us!You can enter her lecture 5 minutes before the lecture ends because the fact that people have come to attend her lecture is enough to take her on cloud nine."Ma'am I need to leave because I have some fest publicity work" is a good excuse to run away from boredom.You can practise aeromodelling in her lecture and the paper rockets and planes soaring above the professor's head are spectacular to look at.Before the lecture starts,one is supposed to replenish his or her ammunition of chalks from the teacher's desk and the chalks are then projected across the room."WE THE HAVES THE PROFESSORS BILAPATTES FOR MATHS AGAIN"!Period.And I should have mentioned her at the beginning but I am glad I have saved the best(I dare not call her worst because she might force her husband to starve...she does that just to have fun and proudly promulgates it in the MTEE lab) for the end!Professor Rashmi teaches us two extremely boring subjects and her monotonous lectures are deprived of any sort of fun you can have.In Measurement Techniques of Electrical Equipments, we build more 'bridges' than Civil Engineers!The other subject is called Electrical Machines which deals with generators,motors,etc. You can actually hear the drone of a rotating motor when she is explaining various aspects of the construction of a DC machine.In the Machines' Lab we are close to the Yamdoot because the huge 440V panel is quite intimidating (can anyone tell this to the cat who roams about wishing to get electrocuted or rather wishing to turn into 'tandoori kitten'?).Life in Second Year B.Tech Electrical Engineering is definitely delightful (except that the classroom is situated on the third floor unlike the Civil classroom on the 2nd floor.....the added strain burns off most of the excessive calories consumed during breakfast).I should really start studying for the Mid Semester Test if I want an 'electrifying' result.1:100 I get 'electrocuted'!

Shanti Caterers Pvt Ltd:A witness to India's economic boom!

Call it canteen,cafeteria or mess, the place is always bustling. In Vhee Zay Tee Aay the canteen is where you can find people cutting birthday cakes, professors who have their customary cold,stale samosa and tea (boiling sugar syrup), people completing assignments, employees of Shanti Caterers shooing people out of the canteen to show their piece of authority and a few bewildered faces trying to turn into regular canteen customers.It's a place where you can publicise festivals,set up registration desks,place drop boxes and put up notices or posters which are bound to be read by half of the VJTI crowd.The'fight for chairs' can have really serious aftereffects at times.One should remember that it's not advisable to argue with an M.Tech guy because he might turn out to be the person incharge of your practicals.And mind it Mr.Curly Hair, self proclaimed Superintendent,Canteen,VJTI doesn't like reservations (reservation of chairs using bags or umbrellas) and I am planning to introduce him to Arjun Singh.The 'for staff' section of the canteen is usually used as a godown for spare chairs because distinguished professors of the Mechanical and Electrical departments love to spend time with their students in the students' section.The chlormint,mentos counter of the canteen always shows signs of upgradation and now also sells icecream manufactured by some esteemed dairy in the industrial area of Wadala.The refrigerator now stores soft drinks in cans.The refrigerator also supports old cardboard boxes and serves as a partition between the kitchen and the sitting portions of the canteen.They have hiked the prices by Re. 1.Daylight robbery!Vada Pav at Rs.5! It has a great impact on an average engineer's wallet!The nauseating but eternally relished Ragda Samosa costs the same as before.Never order Dabeli because it's not worth the money.They scrape some corner of the utensil with a spoon and paste about 0.001 g of the stuff on the bread and carry out combustion of kerosene to heat the bread.Frankly speaking I haven't tasted 90% of the dishes listed on the menu but my loving friends have described every foodstuff in detail and I have found them utterly revolting.The man at the counter loves to circulate 50p coins and his enthusiasm takes him to rank 2 in the list of people disliked by me,next to a BEST conductor who had handed back a change of eight 50p coins to me.I offer a reward of Rs.1000 to the waiter who doesn't mix the sambar with the chutney.The guy at the fruit juice and sandwich counter thinks that he is clever enough not to attract attention but I have always observed and so have friends of mine that he is the laziest person of the lot and is a very good actor when it comes to enacting the process of squeezing juice out of lemons. I plan to carry disposable forks and spoons to the canteen becuase I am bored of saying "Boss!Chamach de na yaar!Kab se khada hoon!".The guy who is supposed to read the Dosa coupons loves to play "coupon in dal" or "coupon in rice".The rules for this game are simple. Read the coupon,tear the coupon,toss it and ensure that it lands in the food of your choice.I have a suggestion for Mr.Watchman at the Gymkhana gate.The next time that you find a person not wearing his or her i-card,send him or her to the canteen kitchen and make the person scrub every fork and spoon.This will make sure that every utensil is thoroughly(Professor Bilapatte has come up with a new phrase,throughoutly multiply and solve) cleaned.I have heard that Shanti Caterers has a major role to play in the development of Indian economy because its daily turnover is about Rs.30000+.May the coffers of our canteen overflow due to a deluge of 50p coins so that every tea drinker in VJTI starts thinking that he or she is diabetic!