lifepranay

The Men In Blue and the kids in brown----------the story of my I.W.T lab project

2007-06-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

6:00 pm, 15th March:-- I wake up and my mind is a clean slate .I dont recall going to sleep or anything that I was doing before I dozed off. The only thing I remember is a feeling of extreme fear. "What was I feeling afraid about when I went to sleep last night?"I askmyself. Then it hits me---today is the date for internet and web technology lab project submission.And I have no idea where my lab journal is. Combined with the fact that I have a couple of static webpages masquerading as a website for my project, it means that I am deep into the brown coloured substance which is generally flushed down.
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THE STORY SO FAR: Internet and web tehnology was one of the lab papers in our VIth sem. We had to submit a website at the end of the semester . We,ie me along with Rahul and Kaushal,

decided to make a website on the Indian Cricket team, meninblue.com, soaked as we were in pre-world cup fever. But progress of the website reflected that of our team in the world cup. It looked remotely presentable at the start, but didnt have any substance.I somehow coped till the client side scripting stage, but as we approached the server side scripting stage,I felt like Zaheer Khan batting against Muralidharan. But I tried. I tried copying codes from books and friends and modifying them to suit my site.Didnt work.Like Sehwag, these codes worked only in selective condtions.As the night before the submission arrived I gave up on server side scripting.We found some animation and quizzing pages which we conviniently used. Just when a respectable 'C' looked well within my reach fate dealt a cruel blow:I realised my lab file was nowhere to be found. It was while trying to recall where I had last thrown it that I fell asleep.
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8:00 a.m: I have searched everywhere. The file is gone. Here I am , having slept about 8 hours in last 3 days, head spinning and about to fail a paper.Thats wen I decide I wont go down without giving a fight. I start putting together the pages of the website..watever little I have.I Buy a new file for making a journal.And I start writing whole semester worth of codes again.Not for the first time in BIT my fate rests with GOD.

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LATER IN THE DAY: Patnayak looked somewhere in the distance the pen in his hand suspended over the index of Rahul's journal."What is your contribution to the project?"he asks.

"Sir, the Quizzing page!"Rahul says.'Great, that is the only thing worth telling in the whole site'I think'If he asks me the same thing,I wont have anything to say'.Luckily for me he doesnot.

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12:00 p.m - I go to the mess with Rahul to have lunch.I have caught with a few hours of sleep and my mind is surprisingly clear.Suddenly Manoj ,the guy who runs the mess, comes and says"Aapka file rakha hua hai . Le lijiye".I sprint down to the small room adjoining the kitchen ,spot the file and run back.It must have been there for over a week,to be found just in time. I just stand in front of Rahul, holding the file over my head,like Rahul Dravid would have held the World Cup.I realise that God is with me today.

3.30 p.m,In the lab- The last couple of hours have been unlike anything I had expected. Its not Vijay,the sadist screamer,who is evaluating the websites,but Patnayak,the know-nothing.Gathering all my courage,I go to Vijay and ask him for some help for the server side script.He gives me a program that he has written and even helps me to implement it on my site. Word gets around the lab that Patnayak is showering people with A's. We have a choice to make--show Patnayak a better than before but still hopeless site or improve the site within a week and take a risk with moody Vijay.We make a uncharacteristically agrresive decision to go to Patnayak and end the contest then and there.

4:20 P.M-------Patnak breaks his gaze to infinty to write "B+" on Rahul's file.I realise that this is the lowest grade that Patnayak has awarded today.I am sure that same is coming my way.He writes"A" on my file. And then in the biggest show of magnanamity by a BIT teacher ever, he changes Rahul's grade to "A" as well.We may get C in our final grade yet because in BIT ,as in life,its never over till the thing is finally flushed down. But who cares,I feel good . So good...so good....

that dreaded couch......

2006-07-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

There I was on the couch, with a woman bent over my open mouth.And she had a figure eligible for a swimsuit model.So why was I shaking? with fear that is? Well to start with, the electronic thingy that she had in her hand was not one of those toys. It was sharp and designed to kill.She put it in my mouth and "Wrrrrrr" it went ....

Yes, it was a visit to the dentist.Now if there is one thing I hate, it is going to any sort of doctor, and a visit to the dentist is real trip to hell. One i have to undertake once or twice an year. This time it was slightly better because the lady mentioned above was doing the job of cleaning my teeth with a small drill.So I had an excuse of looking into her green eyes all the while.But painful and bloody all the same.The sheer act of putting a drill in your mouth is enough to make you cry for mercy.
In the end of it all she put a finger in my mouth and demonstrated applying a dental lotion.Hmm....heaven in the midst of hell

the rebel

2006-06-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

It was with sadness that I read that Andre Agassi will finally retire after U.S open this year.Of cousre it was on the cards for a while but the end of a childhood hero is always mourned. I still remember that night of 1992 when Agassi finally won a Slam.. It was a little strange that this victory come at Wimbledon,because he had skipped the tournament between 88 and 90,against the traditional ways of the organisers.
And it was this rebel image that many teens and pre-teens like me adored. He grew his hair,rock star style,wore denim to matches,swore at the umpires,wanted to take on the world.He even promoted a brand of Canon cameras called Rebel with the title-Image is everything.
Some would argue he didnt fulfill his potential professionally.But he has won 8 Slams,is one of the five men to have won all five.He is one of the two persons to have all Slam titles and the Olympic gold and he married the other one.Agassi formed the more flamboyant half of one the most endearing rivalries of our times-with Sampras.They played some great matches against each other,five of them Slam finals.The best of these was 2001 U.S q/f having no sevice breaks.
Well, even the toughest rebel has to sober down someday and Agassi is no different.But its a fan's hope that he provide us with a recap of !992.Go for it Andre!

Abhi, a time to live in....

2006-06-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

The recent advertisement campaign by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group is surely one of the most mysterious ones ever to be let loose on people.We have the Reverend Mr Amitabh Bachchan telling us that in a few years the world will be running on passwords, as against passports. What exactly he means by this is something only he knows or perhaps Mr Ambani.
So after news items about Mumbai mafia and Naxalites of Jharkhand, Mr Bachchan says in these advertisements"what a time to live in!".Ya sure,with organised crime and ultra left wing terror ,we are having
a nice time.Although with IT people on his throat and a wife who is seen more with Amar Singh than with him it seems
Mr Bachchan himself is not having a nice time.
And that is why I think Mr Bachchan wants to say that it is a nice time to "live-in" as against getting married.Perhaps it is a hidden advice to his son as well. We all know of Abhishek's failed attempts at matrimony.
Ditched at the altar at the last moment, wasn'he?So Abhishek, just "live-in".

when i asked for a....

2006-06-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

This goes back to the time when i was passing time in jamshedpur,pretending to prepare for JEE.There was this guy,one of my flatmates,who claimed to be such a stud.He claimed to have girlfriends all over the place.It was his bithday and we,that is i and N, decided to gift him a pack of condoms.
So there we were,on the road,to buy condoms.It seems much easier now
but not back then. I was pretending to be very cool,as if i had been doing this all my life.
We entered a pharmacy shop.There were two people behind the large counter and one middle aged guy was buying something.
I said"Uncle...."and found three pairs of eyes tearing through me.
and so i completed"Pudin hara milega kya?"
Nevertheless N did ask for the thing,claiming he needed them 4 "other purposes".And we did buy Pudin hara after all.

love thy neighbour...

2006-06-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

Power failure for a complete day ensured that i was spared the details of the concotion that Rahul MAhajan took and the IPC acts he will be booked under.In the evening as i stepped in the balcony to enjoy the sexy weather of ranchi, i spotted somebody gardening in the adjacent house.Closer examination revealed that somebody to be a "she".Wearing a one-piece nightie she was sitting on her haunches leaning forward,engrossed in her work.I think u are getting the picture.Then she stood up and the wind blew against her to reveal a profile which was plump in a sexy kind of way,like tamil film actresses have.She looked up to make eye contact,i attempted to
smile but couldnt.why? because my mouth was open thats why.Then she sniggered and went away.
Thats it for today.
p.s- nice ways to beat holiday boredom--
1)start speaking in third person for urself dat is replace "i" wid your name.
2)start impersonating bollywood actors one for a day. start with easy ones like sunny,dharam,amitabh,sharukh.... and graduate to tough ones like amol palekar,naseer etc.
enough to drive your parents crazy!
2)

Its raining..

2006-06-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

I love rains,especially getting drenched. It is a liberating experience for me, a true interaction with the elements.Ranchi
does look lovely in rains,with water falling down in transparent sheets. Rains bring with them a sense of disorderliness which i
appreaciate. It is as if the whole scenario has frozen in time.
Each year i make it a point to get drenched in the first monsoon
showers. And this year today was the day.To my delight I found myself on the road as the skies opened up and the all-consuming deluge engulfed me.Instead of taking shelter in one of the road side shops,as most people were doing, i just kept on walking.Eventually the downpour was reduced to a drizzle,enjoyable nevertheless.
p.s- did i mention how pretty girls look in rains, with their transluscent clothes sticking to their bodies and all?

The day Rohit scored

2006-06-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

The air is thick with soccer world cup so,i thought i should share my favourite WC story with the world.This is about the last world cup. England were playing Brazil in the quarterfinals,easily the most hyped match before the finals.The match was on from 2:00 pm and 1:30 pm found us stuck in the english class,taken by a teacher called J.T. Now she was a teacher who used to say things like" I will throw you out of the window"and actually looked like it.I think i even heard her say"screw u" under her breath once.Just one or two days before some of us had bunked her class and she was very angry over that.
So J.T comes to the class, takes attendance, and then Rohit says"Maam, can you please us leave now?"
J.T asks why,amazed by the increduality of the situation.
Rohit:"Maam there is a match, england versus brazil.Maam we have to see it"
You could have heard the proverbial pin drop.And then J.T with a shrug of her shoulders says"okay, you people can go". The scene afterwards resembled an actual WC celebration.
The match itself,as we all know, was a classic,with brazil coming back from behind to win 2-1.But it was Rohit actually who had scored one of the best goals that i have seen.

CRACKING THE CODE

2006-05-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

Just as movie buffs all over the coutry were getting ready to sink their teeth into da Vinci code,came the shattering bit of news that the information and broadcasting ministry had stalled the release. Even neglecting the fact that creative freedom has never been the country's strong point,this is a big surprise.The million dollar question is who asked for such a ban? The pope didnt,god bless his soul.
The I&b minister has taken it upon itself the task of watching the film and deciding whether it is fit for people like us to watch.Of course we are some intellectually challenged people whose cinematic diet has to be carefully controlled.How does it matter that every semiliterate person has already read this book,or,at least claims to.
Meanwhile the ministry has asked the producers for a bangla subtitle version for Priyaranjan Das munshi to watch.Till then just watch the promos,read the book again,or maybe just fly to more liberal countries of the middle east.