24 years is a long period of time, considering the fact that personally I have not reached that figure as yet! “1983” was the golden year in the history of India in general & cricket in particular. When the Kapil Dev led vintage Indian team did the unthinkable of beating the mighty Lloyd XI in the World Cup finals. Somebody once quoted:
“Cricket is by chance & hockey is by dance”.
And 24 years back, we took our chances & henceforth the crowning glory. The Heaven was indeed with the Gods!!!

Come 13 March 2007, & the search for that elusive WC begins again. Though cricket is a game of shocks & surprises, still one can safely assume that the no. of teams: 16 are only for statistics. For when it comes down to listing the title contenders, we have 8 teams vying for the title: Amazing Australia, Enigmatic England, Indomitable India, Never-say-die Newzeland, Pulsating Pakistan, Super South Africa, Scintillating Sri lanka & the Wonderful West Indies.

At the start of the year, it looked as if it was a foregone conclusion that the Aussies would have a cakewalk in this cricket mahakumbh. But much to almost everyone’s relief, this no longer seems to be the case, especially after “A series of six shocking losses” for the defending champs & the tournament is wide open. England is a rejuvenated lot, Newzeland are on cloud no. 9 after blanking the kangaroos 3-0, Pakistan are as always the unpredictable lot, South Africa is the most consistent of them all & my favourites for the title, Sri lanka come along with their “chuppa rustam” tag, & the hosts can never be underestimated especially with inspirational leader Lara at their helm.

So this leaves us with the million dollar question: What about the Men in Blue???

Well Dravid may not be a perfectionist when it comes to captaincy, Sehwag may be woefully out of touch, Dhoni is not at its riveting best, Irfan is no longer regarded as the next Kapil & so on…

But the point is this: According to Kapil paaji himself this Indian cricket team is much superior to those 1983 fanatics in terms of talent & has the potential & the ability to go all the way. Ofcourse its easier said then done, but with Sachin slowly but surely coming to his majestic best, Ganguly: the man on a mission, Yuvraj & the younger co. ready to put all they have got. There is indeed a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel & maybe just maybe when the curtains fall on this grand saga on 28 April, the Heaven is indeed returned to the Gods after an agonizing wait of 24 years.

GO INDIA GO!!!

The only thing permanent in this world is "change". So as Microsoft once again launched another new version of Windows VISTA, an up gradation to the Windows XP, with several attractive features, it provoked a question in my mind which I had been contemplating for quite some time now: “Is change always for the better”? & “Has it assumed so much significance in our lives that we can’t survive without it”?

Well I guess there is not any exact answer to these questions! In the case of VISTA maybe such changes are indeed required for the betterment of operating systems. But what about VESTA then???

First of all let me introduce you to this term. In my college TIET, there is an annual inter-year competition in which the first, second, third year & the postgraduate students battle it out for glory. This 5 day tussle consists of various cultural events like dramatics,songs,dances,histrionics etc. which test the talents of different years to the maximum. The name of this competition earlier used to be IZHAAR (that is till this year). So much so good. And then this “change” bug hacked our system also. IZHAAR became VESTA. And that is precisely the only one thing that changed, the name that is.

For all the events remained the same, rules were unaltered, the audience that greets such events with their grand presence also did not budge, & the so called mishaps that come with organizing unfortunately also did not change.
The only refreshing change was the “first year”…

“First year di balle-balle baaki saare thale thale”…
“Jeet gaya bhai jeet gaya first year jeet gaya”…

The whole auditorium was buzzing with these ear-crunching slogans from the freshers. It seemed as if the whole first year had conquered the audi. They had come to support their year in such huge numbers that they were even more than all the students from all other years put together. And this enthusiasm perpetrated from the fact that their on stage performances were simply awesome.

Traditionally, third year has ruled this event. The only exception was last year when we infamously gave the crown to the PG’s. But this time the defending champions were gasping for their breath & lingering far far behind their rivals. So the stage was set for another “change”. For the first year to bag the much deserved title of VESTA champs.

And infact till the end of the penultimate day, they had indeed reached the pinnacle by outlasting the ‘third year’ in western dance. Now there is a bit of suspense about the final outcome. Because “yours truly” did not watch the final day of the competition.

But whatever may have been the result, first year has indeed proved its mettle. Well you all must be wondering during this whole article, there has been no mention of the ‘final year’??? That’s because we are the organizers instead…

So as that “change” trivia continues to puzzle me again…
Its time for the final year to bid adieu to this inter-year comptt. IZHAAR or VESTA or whatever its called in future!!!

ASTALAVISTA baby…

CAUTION- A statutory warning: “This may not be my best post to date. Atleast I don’t think so, but this is the day when I realized the title’s worth. So just couldn’t resist writing something on it.”

It all started when I had a really serious debate with my friend about Michael Schumacher & the fact that I was fast losing interest in formula one due to the monotonous regularity of his victories two seasons back. I was hell bent that it is robbing the sport of its charm. Then my friend remarked that “Genius is never boring”. And today as I reflect upon that conversation, I must confess that he was indeed right…

As first Serena Williams, who tormented Sharapova in straight sets, & then as the Federer express ran over the hapless Chilean Gonzalez in Australian open finals, it was indeed a pleasure to watch. For these magicians function in a parallel universe, completely devoid of any flaws, & are immortal as God.

These genius people are everywhere around us. They are so much like us & then so much different too. Like us they also live on planet Earth, but seem to possess supernatural powers. For how in the God’s name, day in day out, match after match, Fed Ex destroys every Roddick, Nadal etc. with such precision, that it resembles nothing but fantasy. How can abhishek bacchan deliver such a breathtaking performance in GURU, so much so that even Big B is mesmerized!!! It is almost like “virtual reality”…

And voila this genius is simply exhilarating to say the least. Infact words like ‘fantabolous’, a combination of fantastic & fabulous have to be invented to describe them. There can’t be many better things in life than to watch these “Illusionists”, weaving another illusionary spell on us. They provide us with such moments of greatness which are worth savoring for an entire lifetime.

As Vijay Amritraj rightly said: “Challengers come, Challenger go, but the Champions stay”…

Yes,
Genius can be mind-boggling
Genius can be riveting
Genius can be enthralling…

But but but
As my friend proclaimed
Genius is never boring…

As 2006 comes to a rather dramatic end, what with the execution of dictator Saddam Hussein, it has certainly not been a perfect year.
But with 2007 calling…
Presenting before you my ten-point wishlist, things I would really like to be happening in the new year:

1. First things first, 2007 is the year of the cricketing mahakumbh, THE WORLD CUP, & though our recent performances have really not been awe-inspiring, still hoping that Men in Blue win the coveted trophy after 24 long years.
2. A Generation awakens… Be a Rebel… Let the spirit of “Rang de Basanti” keeps all of us motivated & here’s hoping that more such revolutionary movies keep Bollywood shining. And most importantly, we finally break the jinx & win the OSCAR.
3. As the era of Manmohanomics & Bushism enters into their last phases respectively, may India’s GDP growth is double digit & USA finally sheds its domineering image.
4. Roddick,Nadal & Co. hold a ‘Deconstructing Federer’ summit. First thing on the agenda halt the Federer juggernaut at Wimbledon.
5. The fifth point is dedicated to a five-letter word which has now assumed significant proportions in our life: “orkut”. Lets hope that the orkut mania keep all of us connected & we all “grow our network”.
6. SRK’s Kaun Banega Crorepati ‘tritiya’, is as good as its predecessors. Its a huge success & King Khan takes Big B’s legacy to unparalleled heights.
7. The rejuvenated ‘Manchester United’ wins English Premier League & the unstoppable ‘Chelsea’ land up with the UEFA Champions League crown, even vice-versa will perfectly do.
8. Now this one is straight from the heart, after all those mishappenings of the past, lets hope that “The world is a more safer place to live in the year 2007”.
9. They say you can never predict the future & as I move into that rather unknown & uncharted territories in the second phase of the year, I sincerely wish that it is as good as the first one.
10. Well you must be wondering that I didn’t talk about the first phase (Jan-June), that’s because I know beforehand that its gonna be the most wonderful part of my life: “Last semester at TIET with friends”. And I am really looking forward to it.

Last but not the least, wishing you a very happy & prosperous new year.
May all your dreams come true & so do my wishes!!!

Six months can be a relatively long period… but my training time at Indian Institute of Petroleum(IIP) was definitely not that. Infact a feeling of nostalgia sweeps me all around as I look back to those ups & downs of my rendezvous with IIP…

I still remember my very first day here, when I entered the gates of IIP after a long 30 min. travel (“long” in context of doon) on my bajaj chetak. The guard would just not allow me to get in without an I-card. So with a visitor card with the name of training incharge, Dr. V.P.Sharma on it, I finally got in. And hence on that historical day of 5 june,2006 I started my journey in the hallowed portals of one of the most respectable CSIR laboratories in India.

My first meeting with my guide, Dr. Gautam Das, was quite fascinating to say the least. For my dear “sir” had an unbelievable coded accent. The first 10 minutes that “sir” spoke to me were completely an OHD (overhead transmission), which hit like bullets on my mind. No matter how hard I may try, the comprehension remained below 10% (absolutely pathetic for a CAT apirant indeed). It was nevertheless once in a life time experience for me, an unforgettable one. But the very first thing that strikes you about my dear “sir” is his amazing physical stature. So much so that everyone at IIP feared for his well-being on a particularly windy day. One always got the feeling that you really don’t need to travel so far as moon to experience “weightlessness”, you could very well experience it, if you happened to be in my “sir’s” shoes. This association with my “sir” reaffirmed my ever growing belief that Bengalis are becoming an integral part of my life. Be it my room-mate in college or the headquarters of CTS. But I am really enjoying that a lot now.

And now to the person who was the best decoder of my “sir’s” accent, with whom I enjoyed every moment of my stay there, who shared all my joys & sorrows & vice-versa, and who infact is “The Reason”, I am writing this article : Mr. Sunil Kumar. The word “sweet” in the title owes much of its presence their due to this guy. Not only the fact that he was the incharge of the “sweetening” lab & my project was on also on “sweetening”, but more so because he was such a sweet person himself. I had developed such a great rapport with him that it was really difficult to contemplate life at IIP without dear sunil. From the various experiments performed with him to the celebration of his promotion party, from the innumerable times when he saved me from my “sir’s” anger to his very kind help in completion of my project report, he has been the driving force behind my survival at IIP.

If there was anyone person at IIP who could be termed as a “genius” in the truest sense of the term, who had a completely positive attitude towards everything in life, who had an aura associated with his persona, who was a great source of inspiration & motivation for me & who I respect the most in IIP, he is the one & only : Dr. Sudip Ganguly sir. The one thing that attracted the most towards him was his very friendly relationship that he developed with his students. His cheerful nature & a very good humour made him an instant hit with everyone who had the honour to come in contact with respected ganguly sir. As sir himself remarked once, I have indeed developed a “permanent bond” with ganguly sir. And I assure you sir that I will always stay in touch.

And this is not all, because there are many other people, things etc. that made my stay at IIP a truly remarkable & an unforgettable experience. And it is not possible to accommodate them all in my memoirs. My regrets to all of them.

So as it was on 4th December, the last day of my training when my dear “sir” gave me farewell. I bid an emotional good-bye to each & everyone at IIP who made my rendezvous a “sweetening” experience.

THANK YOU IIP…