The INFOSYS day :)

Morning of august 26^th, woke up at 9 am, was excited coz it was the much awaited day. Infosys was visiting our campus. The anticipation was building up, as whole of the last week me, Deepak and shobhit kept speculating the number of people they are gonna pick. Would it be higher than last year or lesser, there was still sometime for these questions to be answered but we all expected it to be around 70-80. Well, I got ready and reached auditorium where the process of filling up of forms was going on. It was good to see around 250 plus batch-mates along with 50-60 seniors from M.Tech sitting there. There I met my two companions for the day: Jitesh and Shobhit who gave me company in this day full of roller-coaster rides. Then began the process for aptitude/English test. It was a relaxed moment for me having a job under my belt but the view reminded me of AIEEE exam. The nervousness was visible of few faces. Then came the most defining moment of the day: the call from the guest house that panelists for interview have arrived and waiting there for half an hour. Me, shobhit and jitesh rushed towards guest house. There me saw the senior most panelist standing on the door. We expected a handshake with a smile but all we got was scolding. Actually the number of recruiters was thrice than what we were intimated. We had booked 5 rooms for them 3 of which were already occupied by the people who came for conducting the test. And to add to our misery, all panelists were demanding a separate room. We decided to vacate 3 rooms for them by collecting the luggage of others in one room. Then came the most defining moment of the day, while moving the luggage to other room, we saw a wet underwear hanging in the bathroom that belonged to some test conductor from Infosys. It was fun to see shobhit carrying that chaddi in his hand and placing it in other room. It formed the reason for our laughter for rest of the day. Later shobhit identified whom the underwear belonged to :p. Well, to arrange more rooms for them , we had to beg in director’s office for opening the VIP room which required lots of effort. Anyways, the things settled down, test was conducted. Then began the speculation on how many would be shortlisted for interviews. We had to wait in audi’s lobby for hours and hours. Then joined Himanshu, who missed the chaddi incident but still had a lot of thrills in store for him too. With chips, kurkure and fruit cake being breakfast and lunch, we were starving for food. But excitement for test’s result kept us away from ICH. The wait continued and continued, then came the moment.. 150 candidates were shortlisted on basis of test. It required lots of effort for us to make a branchwise list and to inform all the interviewees. It always felt good to answer the calls of successful students but those who could not make it through, the heart pained for them. All the students were informed and then began the process for interviews. Vipul had also joined us by this time. Once again the panelists scolded shobhit and jitesh as they were not happy with interview rooms, which other companies found to be world-class. Anyways the process began at around 5pm. And we knew its gonna be a long night for each one of us. We had to rush to chief warden sir’s residence for girls’ timings extension which he gave easily, thank you rajesh sir for all the cooperation. We returned to audi, it was full with some well dressed gentlemen and girls with a hope and desire of not returning jobless tonight. The process continued endlessly. The clock kept ticking and our excitement kept increasing, so did the body-ache and tiredness. At around 2 am, the interviews ended and process for compilation of results began. As one of my friends in Kota was here representing Infy, he told the number should be around 125-130. Later on of the HR person told its gonna be atleast 90 percent, that meant around 135. What a feeling it was to hear this, but the brain still kept telling, wait for the final list. Then came the list and the moment we got to know that number is 141…Whole pain vanished. There were smiles all around. The result was also declared, all shortlisted girls made it through. All my EEE mates made it through. Some were ecstatic, some were happy while others were saying “just Infosys hai yaar” to whom I kept telling that a first job is always special. But happiest of them were me, Himanshu, jitesh and shobhit coz the hard work involved had paid. We returned to room with a feeling of achievement. Dunno when I asleep but I am sure I must be smiling while asleep. My 141 friends were now employed! J

TEAM INDIA:- Are we really the “number 1” side?

When we try to recall the origin of cricket, we are brought to England: the home of cricket. This began in 1877 with first test match being played between Australia and England. Since then, gentlemen’s game has seen rise and fall of many cricketing super powers. Bradman’s invincible team was a force to match with. But the true dominance in cricket began in late 70’s, with Clive Lloyd’s West Indian boys rocking the world cricket with their performance at the highest stage. Two back to back world cup triumphs and not losing a test series for over 15 years say their success story. But more than statistics which speaks for them is the manner in which they played. Who can forget the deadly Caribbean bowling lineup consisting of greats like Malcom Marshall, Michael holding, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts? Their mere mention fills the batsmen of that era with feelings of fear and pain.  Ask Tony Greig, how badly he repents his comment “make them grovel” intended for Caribbean team during their England’s tour which not only received some bouncery and yorkery welcome from West Indies team, but lead to their whitewash. This was the era which unleashed fear in minds of everyone those who were playing against Calypso cricketers. We can’t forget Sunil Gavaskar leaving the batting pitch forced by bodyline bouncers by Windies bowlers. This is a tale of dominance, this is a tale teaching us that one should aim at being ruthless; one should aim at demolishing your opponents and bring them down with such intensity that it takes them ages to recover. Later years might have seen the downfall of Windies team, say thanks to their cricket board’s strategy but now it was the time for resurgence of mighty Australian team in late 90s. Aussie bowlers may not have such fearsome bowling attack as Windies or batsmen of likes of Richards but they still ruled the world cricket. The common thing they shared with West Indies team of 70/80s was the spirit which they played: go for the kill. Hence they adopted different strategy to conquer the world. Mind games along with some amazing talent (Warne, Mcgrath, Ponting, Waughs, Lee) on display worked for Aussies. Their gutsy declarations, their aggression, their strategy of cashing at opponents weaknesses fetched them this feat.

Their era too seems to have come to an end with India being regarded as the new “World Power” of cricket. It is nothing short of fairy tale that how Dhoni’s boys clinched world cup and made their way to spot in test ranking. The turnaround began during Saurav Ganguly’s time, which was continued by Rahul and Anil, later on with Dhoni bringing the team on the podium. I don’t think there was any team in past boasting of such mastery in batting line up. In bowling likes of Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ishant might not be as fearsome as Windies attack of 70s or as skillful as Aussie attack of late 90s but they work well for Team India. Every team Indian team appears on ground, a record or two is always destined to be broken. Then what is the reason that our number one spot remains in a state of doubt, what is the reason for us being regarded as the best team just on paper? What keeps us behind the past rulers of world cricket? Why can’t the world bow at us despite of winning so many matches and performing marvelously well for such a long time? Is it just the victories that matter or is it the manner in which they are achieved? Let us go back in recent past- was Dhoni’s idea of not going for chase in final test against Windies team was a clever move?  It’s true that the pitch was difficult but don’t we play at slower and tougher pitches back at home?  Atleast they could have stayed on pitch for one more hour and bat at a normal pace. Are we so scared of these Windies bowlers that we cannot take risk of going for run a ball chase with 7 wickets in hand?  Leave this apart, how often we see Indian team with dropped shoulders struggling to knock out the opposition? How often we see gutsy declarations from team India keeping the opposition interested in the match? How often we see Indian players cheering for their fielders and bowlers? How often we play like world champions? We have the talent, perhaps best in the world but then why can’t we convert this talent into impressive victories? Mind you, I am not talking of results. What I wanna emphasize at is why we can’t win by margins such as 3-0 or 5-0? Why can’t we go out and show this world that this it is the team which is now gonna rule the world?! I guess it’s the lack of intent “to kill”. This talent garnished with aggression and a desire to be ruthless and dominant make a perfect recipe for forcing the world to shiver with the thought of playing against India. Wins matter but victories after demolishing the opponent wins you respect. Indian team’s journey to the top is made possible because of some real hard work by players and it would be little injustice to the talent the team possesses if we can’t force the opponents to regard us as the best in the business. We are lucky to have witnessed the charisma of Sachin and the solidity of Rahul. But what we desire to witness is their names going in record book as a part of the most powerful cricketing team in the world with none other than Englishmen-the inventors, Caribbeans-the aggressors and Aussies-the prudent acclaiming this fact.

I wish that day to come very soon. Amen!

Zindagi na milegi dobara(2011)

2011 has been little unfortunate for Bollywood. Initially they had cricket world cup 2011 and then IPL which forced director/producers to delay the releases. Some big releases were scheduled in June but they disappointed. But then came July and all of the sudden Bollywood seems to have come alive with success of Delhi Belly and ZNMD. "Zindagi na milegi dobara" is Bollywood's gift to the viewers all around the globe. Its whopping box office collections say its success story.


PLOT: Three friends once had a pact in school days that they would be going for a bachelor trip abroad where each one of them would suggest one adventure sport and other two would have to be a part of it. So Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay go to Spain to fulfill this pact. During their trip, they face their fears, they conquer them and understand the true spirit of life, which is the name of the movie itself. The plot is refreshing with a message: to feel life in each breath. 


PERFORMANCES: Now here is a movie where each actor does full justice to his role. Abhay once again proves his brilliance where as we see Farhan is a new refreshing avatar. Hrithik was fabulous whereas Katrina was adorable. A blend of wonderful actors brings the screen alive to us.


SCREENPLAY: The movie was shot mostly in Spain. Locations were the highlight of this movie. Camera-work just added to the beauty of locations. Picturisation of Tomatina (tomato festival) and Bull race leaves you spellbound and amazed!


MUSIC: Music of the movie was nothing out of the box, yet it was hummable. The music of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a good mix of Bollywood sounds and external influences. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have stuck to their signature style and have churned out a decent score. 


CONCLUSION: Here is a movie that tells you to live and feel each moment of your life keeping aside all your worries. The movie touches your soul and motivates you to live a life worth living. The movie asks you a question that is monetary success a the actual key to happiness? The script is nicely written and garnished with some effortless humor and really good poetry. ZNMD is a winner all the way and would live in your hearts for  really long time. Well said "Hawaa k jhonkho jaisa azaad rehna seekho".  

Delhi Belly(2011)

Aamir Khan  is often very much appreciated for his publicity strategies before release of his movies. But this time, he did not require to put much efforts as half of the publicity of this film was taken care of by popular song "Bhaag D. K. Bose". Delhi Belly released all over world at the same time as was the case with "Jaane tu....Ya jaane na". Success results were the same. Within first three days of release, movie was a blockbuster hit. Infact it over-shadowed Big B's B..Buddah hoga tera baap. The movie was originally shot in Hinglish (blend of Hindi and English). Its complete Hindi version was also released. 


PLOT: Story was simple. 3 struggling bachelors, one Don and lots of drama and running. We had seen that in past too, haven't we? But this one was different. The script writer had mixed all the successful ingredients to this story. It had lots of abuses(read it the actual language we speak in normal life), some really funny dialogues and highly refreshing music. The movie revolves around the life of three young professionals who unintentionally get trapped in the hunt for diamonds and catch attention of a Don. The threesome certainly had a hard time in tackling the Don and situations which arise in the escape.


Performances:- Well.. kudos to Imran Khan. He not only acts splendidly but lives his role. Kunal roy Kapoor was the best of the lot. Vir Das was also commendable.  Shehnaz Treasurywala was little disappointing but rest were good. 


Screenplay:- Screenplay of the movie was one of the highlights. Rather it was the lifeline of this movie. The dialogues and those socially prohibited words added to the life of this film.


Music:- Ahhh...Ram Sampath.. Thanks to you for providing bollywood with some really creative and wonderful music. The song  bhaag D K Bose is still topping all the charts. Ja Chudail  was so entertaining. Hats off to you!


Conclusion:- Delhi Belly was a fine blend of some quality situational humor and wonderful direction. The humor might not be as effortless as in some hit comedies of past but I appreciate the guts shown by the makers of this movie. Though at times I felt a bit bored but yet its a must watch for those who wanna witness the a fresh comedy film...

our education system :-)

We Indians, often dream of going abroad for higher education. Rightly so as education system in India has always been criticized. I would not dwell much onto the what Jairam Ramesh said recently that we do not have world class faculty. I personally thinks its Indian Education System as a whole that needs some refinement. When we talk of school level education, there is highly any coordination across various states. Central boards like CBSE and ICSE are well organized but when we speak of state boards, they are way behind in some parts of the nation. Hardly any student touch 90% marks in state boards like UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal pradesh. Few years back  I was standing in a queue to submit my form for admission in St. Stefen's college, New Delhi there I saw a girl with 100 marks in english in her 10+2 examination. See the variation! When I was in Kota, I had one batch-mate who cleared IIT-JEE but later denied admission just because he scored 57% marks in 10+2. We can blame coaching trend in Kota for this 'coz students there do not attend school their  and prepare for JEE but again many students suffer 'coz of poor marking methodology of state boards. There has to be some modification so that students don't suffer just because they studied from state board. May be one single board all over the nation can solve this problem to some extent. Not only marking, the quality of education in rural areas needs to be uplifted. I know this is a very difficult thing but neither we can deny that so far no effort has been put in this direction. Efforts always yield results. 
Higher education in India also has been under scrutiny for sometime.Again I would not discuss much about the absence of emphasis put on research here. If we talk of technical education, the absence of interaction between academia and industry is a major concern. What we study and whats required from industrial view point needs to evaluated. 
(One suggestion I want to  give to all my teachers and friends in NITH. Please promote the culture of research in our college. Please make our juniors understand whats the importance of research papers. Here in IISc,I met so many students from NIT-Surathkal and almost each one of them has published upto 4-5  research papers.)
Emphasis should be laid more on practical approach of teaching. If we are studying electromechanics, if our teacher shows us a motor, its windings-it makes it easy for us to learn the concept. If we are being taught switchgear and protection, a visit to a nearby dam can male things easier to visualize. I dont think it would be tough for a teacher to create the students' interest in the lecture if he/she tells the aim and practical applicability of the topic in beginning of every lecture.
Its not just the lack of resources or opportunities that weakens our education system, but the wastage of  whatever resources we possess leads to a weak education system. We have some great mind as faculty and students as well, but we need a foolproof mechanism to lead them.
As a matter of fact a revolution is needed to solve this crisis. Students aren’t willing to mug up but their hands are tied. We need to lay emphasis on practical education system wherein students will be able to learn with all the modern technique and equipments available and they need not be a bookworm always.

Baba, Black Money and Bhrashtachar....

 Well..This whole issue of black money and lokpal bill has certainly given some sleepless nights to Congress Party. This all started with Anna hazare's fast, later on joined by Baba Ramdev. I am sure each one of us at some point of time has been a victim of corruption. But we had learnt to compromise. Rather this is a very popular excuse these days:- "yaar exam dekar kya faiyda, selection toh bina kuch liye diye hoga nahi". Very often we get the sms regarding the the amount of black money which is stored in  Swiss banks. The facts amaze us, but always are easy to forget for us. Some of us wanted to do something but again it was easy to convince ourselves-"yaar ek aadmi ka chahne se kya hoga". But recently, one of us stood against this, that too in walking alongside the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Thus started all the discussion on Lokpal Bill, which has not been passed over the years. Before we go ahead, lets look at Lopkal bill:- 


A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.(source:- http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-why-its-important-96600)


Well certainly, if followed in true spirit, Lokpal Bill would be really effective. But the point here I want to discuss is that why some of us are criticizing this recent development on this whole issue of corruption and black money, I am not able to understand it. 


1st point:-
People say that this is going to taint India's image internationally.
Well I wanna ask them abhi bhi kaun sa hamari image achchi hai. I was watching a debate on Headlines Toady and there I heard some industrialist saying that people and companies overseas often make fun of India and the this trend of corruption prevailing here.


2nd point:
People say Baba ramdev did it with a political motive.
I would say that it might be true, but atleast he channelized the voice of people of India and amplified it to a level that its now audible. I am sure this would be a warning for all those who took it lightly. Congress must have thought after throwing out DMK that they would compensate for the whatever damage has been done to them by all these scams in the remaining time before next loksabha election. This whole movement by Anna hazare and Baba ramdev would make them think again.


3rd point:- People say corruption can only be killed by improving ourselves.
Well, I would say for that we would have to wait for all these corrupt politicians to die and then pray that none of them borns again.

Well, its true that no political party is free from corruption but such movements would certainly send across a message to all of them that its time that they better not take it for granted. Corruption is so much into the roots of India that no Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare can wipe it alone but these efforts  can certainly decelerate the rate at with its growing. 
Lets all of us pray that someday, we can be a corruption free society. 
amen! 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On the Stranger Tides (2011)

Much awaited fourth part of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series released worldwide in month of May. After the enthralling success of previous three parts, all were eagerly awaiting for the return of Jack Sparrow. Err… Captain Jack Sparrow. As expected, the release of movie witnessed a grand opening all over the world, surpassing the success of all previous Pirate movies. As per the present trend, it was shot and released in 3D version also.

PLOT: As it was hinted in the climax of previous part, the movie revolved around the hunt for the “Fountain of Youth”. Joined by some new character, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johny Depp), Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Roy Rush) remained to be the only familiar faces. As shown, most feared Pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter (Penelope Cruz) were after Jack Sparrow as he had the map which leads to Fountain of Youth. Somehow Barbossa had joined English army (which looked weird to me) and he too was directed for the search of the fountain. They had to travel through sea (for the very little part), through land of mermaids (special creatures) and though jungles to locate the fountain. Won’t go in detail but the script was not that appealing as in previous cases.

Performances:- As always, Johny Depp stole the show with his amazing wit and brilliant acting. Penelope Cruz was refreshing. This stunning beauty left me amazed at times. Would like to mention that she was pregnant when the film was being shot(may be she still is). So some of the sequences were shot with the help of her sister. Blackbeard appeared very depressing to me. Barbossa and Gibbs maintained the same consistency. That beautiful mermaid and Blackbeard’s son were wonderful to watch.

Screenplay:- Well I must say I was disappointed to see the 3D version of the movie. They could have made it better as most of the times (almost 80%) movie looked 2D. I really liked the scene where they were trying to catch the mermaid, wonderfully shot! 

Locations were beautiful!

Music:- That one soundtrack is the life of this movie, its true identity and was heard throughout the film. Some new tunes were added as per the situation and music remained one of the highlights of this film.

Conclusion:- I really missed the crew and The Black Pearl. The story had very little part of sea journey which disappointed me. The new characters have born out of nowhere and somehow you would not like it if you try to relate it to previous parts. King George II was funny but looked weird. Blackbeard’s son’s lectures on compassion and righteousness were looking a mismatch. But yeah for all Jack Sparrow’s lovers, this is a must watch. He would not disappoint you. Not as good as previous parts, but certainly its worth watching once. 

RCB... in finals again!

My passion for game of cricket began since I was 6-7 years old. Co-incidentally, it was the same time when Rahul Dravid started his career. There was something special about him. He might not be a very hard hitting batsman but his ability to adjust in adverse situation, his ability to bat when attack is hostile and conditions are non-friendly made me a big fan of him. For me, he had become a symbol of patience, hard work, sincerity, calmness and consistency. I always adored Sachin Tendulkar but when you talk of personal favorite, it was always Rahul. So when IPL began, RCB was my obvious choice. I was not just cheering for Rahul or his team, but I was cheering for my love for cricket, I was cheering for the spirit of my favorite city. Somehow the team combination did not suite well for RCB and they ended up being the second last team on the table. My friends always made fun of so called TEST SIDE playing in a T20 league. But I never gave up. Next year they inducted some new players of caliber of Robin Uthhappa, Manish Pandey and Kevin Peterson and all of the sudden RCB started to win. My father gifted me a RCB fans' jersey and that jersey just added to my passion for the team. It was fun fighting with my friends in common room. It was fun to be the only supporter of RCB at times, later on joined by Saransh. Things worked for RCB...they made it to the finals...But could not clinch to the trophy. I never gave up...How could I! It was about Rahul..it was about Banglore. 3rd season also did not go well..They lost in the semis. But my love for RCB had just increased. I am sure red color of  RCB had replaced some red blood cells in my body. RCB was in my blood. But then happened something very strange. The franchise did not retain Rahul Dravid and he went to Rajasthan Royals. Now what! On one side there was the team whom I was worshiping for last three years. On the other side, it was my favorite player who is a synonym of cricket for me. I decided to support both RCB and RR. But somehow I felt my passion for both the teams was never the same. Both the teams were not doing so well. But then something really great happened. GAYLE made his way into the team, thanks to Dirk Nannes' injury. Gayle had a point to prove. He had to prove his worth having been rejected by both- IPL teams and West Indies board. He did it! He single handedly changed the fortunes of the team RCB and they again started winning but for me, RCB was not the same. one day after reaching Banglore, I decided to watch an IPL match in Banglore's home ground. It was one of my dreams for last three year. I entered the stadium. It was all painted in Red. It was RCB all around. All of the sudden the atmosphere started to thrill me. The match began. Gayle's hostile attack was ripping apart the Kings eleven Punjab's bowlers. Crowd was cheering RCB....RCB....RCB... I could feel it inside me...Again my love for RCB rose to an extent that I forgot all my miseries. This match again made me the same RCB lover. And that RCB is in finals today. Out of the all four seasons, this one has been the most special one. Those arguments with Akshay, Shubhayu, Sumeet, Nilesh were nothing short of a world war for me. People say they dont feel the same passion for IPL in comparison with what they feel when India is playing...Well.. I would say both the feelings are different for me... But the intensity is same. I dont know whether if my desire to see my team winning IPL would come true today or not. But for me... Its just RCB whom I would love till I am alive!

Life in Banglore...

Having got confirmation for internship in the month of January itself, I was more than excited to reach this place. I am attached to this city since i was 12 years old when I came here for the first time. I was so impressed with the tall buildings, some wonderful places to visit and most importantly, my favorite cricketer comes from this city. Having got my seats reserved in the month of March itself, I was just waiting for the day to come. In the end the day came...But by that time something unfortunate had happened and this meant I would not be staying in Banglore for very long. Hence all the excitement just vanished. The pain of failing for the first time in my life and uncertain duration of stay in Banglore kept playing on my mind throughout the train journey. Dejected, frustrated and shattered- these three words describe my state when I landed in Banglore. I checked in a nearby hotel and booked a room there for three days. The city was full 'coz of COMED-K examinees and hence the hotel charges were just the double. After getting fresh, I left for Chinnaswamy stadium. The tension of not finding a PG was playing on my mind. Well...The next day I left for IISc's aerospace department to meet my professor who had not arrived that day. So while returning when I signed on entry register, I saw some familiar names from my own college(Amit, Dheeraj and Abhay). I dialed Amit's number and joined them. Well...Here began the hunt for the PG and trust me the search seemed never ending.   At-last we found a good PG but somehow we were thrown from there very next day... HAHA...I still remember how  we had to stay on footpath for almost three hours with all the luggage. It was late in the night, so we thought of spending that night in hotel. So we again went to the same hotel where I stayed and the moment we entered, everyone liked the rooms and hence we decided to persuade the manager to give us two rooms for next 2 months to which he agreed. Now life seemed little smoother. We all got some very good projects and were happy on that part. No to describe IISc campus-I must say its greener than NITH campus but still it lacks glamor. But a perfect place for research. We are supposed to work here from 9am to 6.30 pm with just one free day in the week. We decided to utilize that free day i.e. Sunday for re-creation. We started from ISKCON temple. It was my third visit there but for rest of us, it was for the first time. The atmosphere leaves you spellbound. This is a perfect place to calm your inner soul. I knew my stay in Banglore can end on any day, so I wanted to see more of Banglore and we all decided to go to Brigade road and MG road. Well...here we found all the glamor that was missing. After some shopping in Brigade, we left for Garuda mall and there we witnessed something spectacular, something that left us thrilled..We saw 2 Ferrari and one Lamborghini one after another. Ohh mannnnn.....This was amazing! Well..finally the result came and thus came the authorities' decision that no summer semester this time. I felt happy coz now I could focus on my project. Life settled here. The food is good, but exceptional(both ways) at some places. In between we visited UB city where I was lucky to see Vijay Mallya from very near. That coffee with Mayank and Amit in a very expensive restaurant in UB city along side watching RCB vs CSK remains to be my most special memory. That late night show of Pirates of Caribbean is another good experience as we had to walk for around 5 kilometers in the mid-night to make our way back to hotel. Weather is really good here, maximum temperature hardly shoots 35 degrees with frequent rainfall and cool breeze in the morning and evening. Things have settled down. But some embarrassing yet funny incidents keep happening. One day we were having lunch in IISc canteen. Saransh and Amit had got received their orders and they had started to eat. Later I and Mayank joined them and we saw a bottle of Fanta there with a straw and 1/3rd of drink left. We were told that its Amit's and hence Mayank took the first sip, followed by me. But you know what...we were pranked. This bottle belonged to some aunty who had eaten at the same table before us and she left the cold-drink. Well...this time Amit and Saransh got better of us but I am sure we would take revenge some day. I would also like to mention Google Map in my phone which always lead us on wrong direction and I had to stop using them. Life is good here... Future is uncertain. But the very fact that we are working in country's best research institute gives us a feeling of joy. I am sure next 45 days are gonna be fun....Life is good!