I shopped at Landmark for only Rs. 5. I bought Ilaiyaraja's Thiruvasagam CD, JRD Tata's Biography and 2 blank CDs. I paid only Rs. 5 in cash! The bill was Rs. 505. For the rest, I had a gift voucher worth Rs. 500. I have to tell you the story of the voucher. I got it as an award for securing rank one in DBMS during Cognizant training at our college.
Me and Ganesh went to Landmark to redeem my voucher. I had planned to buy the Thiruvasagam CD and JRD Tata's biography (Beyond the Last Blue Mountain). We had no trouble spotting them. They totalled to Rs. 445. Now, we looked for something worth Rs. 55. Only then we realized how costly a place was Landmark. We could not find anything for 55 bucks! After running out of options and time, I chose to buy two blank HP CDs each Rs. 30! Thats how I ended up paying Rs. 5 extra.
As we climbed up from the basement Ganesh said his legs ached. He is going to Tirupati tonight with Sriram and Aravind. They will climb up the Tirupati hills. I am already feeling sorry for Ganesh!
I have just started to read the biography, and I am enjoying it already.
p.s : It was the effect Tata Exhibition "A Century of Trust" that made me buy the book.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
A Trip to Tiruvallur
We went to Tiruvallur to visit Veera Raghava Perumal and Pancha Mukha Anjaneyar Temples. The Veera Raghava Perumal temple was only 10mins away from Tiruvallur RS. It cost only Rs.2 for the bus ride(MTC should learn from them!!!).
The temple was very old. Some of the sculptures had eroded. The temple was closed between 8 am and 10 am, we had to wait. Sriram and Aravind were teasing Ganesh for his telugu. Aravind had somehow got hold of Ganesh's parking ticket and refused to give it back. We clled Dinesh, "Rendu Pondattikkaran"(man with 2 wives). Finally the queue moved and we were inside "garbagriham" (sanctum sanctorum). It was airconditioned! I have seen other airconditioned temples (Parthasarathy Temple and Kapaleeswarar Temple), but this was unexpected. We stayed inside for almost 5 mins. We had a good darshan and the left the temple contented.
When we came outside I was hungry as a wolf. These guys had already arranged for an auto to the Hanuman Temple. I could not get even a bottle of water. My hunger and thirst turned to anger and pounced on poor Bharat for starting an conversation. I was very mad then. I wanted to say sorry, but I felt sorry was not the word for what I did to him.
We went to the Panchamukha Anjaneyar temple. It was a beautiful sight. It was an open air temple. The Hanuman statue was about 20 to 25 feet high. The other four Mukhams (faces) were of Narasimha, Perumal, Pillayar and Nandi. Me and Ganesh offered Him a garland of betel leaves. I thanked Him for the Cognizant placement and prayed for Bharat and Sriram, that they good jobs soon. We then had Sakkarai Pongal as Neivedhyam(was very delicious). We left to the station and got our tickets back to Chennai.
In the train we discussed a lot of our clasmates' antics during the past three years. Me and Bharat got down at Korattur and bid them all goodbyes.
Ganesh, Aravind and Sriram are going to Tirupati this monday. I cannot go with them :(. We usually walk up the Tirupati Hills. Aravind and Sriram are marathon climbers! Poor Ganesh, he cant climb 10 steps continuously. He will get left behind, I think ;).
The temple was very old. Some of the sculptures had eroded. The temple was closed between 8 am and 10 am, we had to wait. Sriram and Aravind were teasing Ganesh for his telugu. Aravind had somehow got hold of Ganesh's parking ticket and refused to give it back. We clled Dinesh, "Rendu Pondattikkaran"(man with 2 wives). Finally the queue moved and we were inside "garbagriham" (sanctum sanctorum). It was airconditioned! I have seen other airconditioned temples (Parthasarathy Temple and Kapaleeswarar Temple), but this was unexpected. We stayed inside for almost 5 mins. We had a good darshan and the left the temple contented.
When we came outside I was hungry as a wolf. These guys had already arranged for an auto to the Hanuman Temple. I could not get even a bottle of water. My hunger and thirst turned to anger and pounced on poor Bharat for starting an conversation. I was very mad then. I wanted to say sorry, but I felt sorry was not the word for what I did to him.
We went to the Panchamukha Anjaneyar temple. It was a beautiful sight. It was an open air temple. The Hanuman statue was about 20 to 25 feet high. The other four Mukhams (faces) were of Narasimha, Perumal, Pillayar and Nandi. Me and Ganesh offered Him a garland of betel leaves. I thanked Him for the Cognizant placement and prayed for Bharat and Sriram, that they good jobs soon. We then had Sakkarai Pongal as Neivedhyam(was very delicious). We left to the station and got our tickets back to Chennai.
In the train we discussed a lot of our clasmates' antics during the past three years. Me and Bharat got down at Korattur and bid them all goodbyes.
Ganesh, Aravind and Sriram are going to Tirupati this monday. I cannot go with them :(. We usually walk up the Tirupati Hills. Aravind and Sriram are marathon climbers! Poor Ganesh, he cant climb 10 steps continuously. He will get left behind, I think ;).
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Cognizant... here I come!!!
At last! My association with Cognizant Technology Solutions will begin on 19th August 2005. That will be one of the remarkable days in my life. Another day being 23rd June 2004. I got placed in Cognizant on that day. And 23rd June also happened to be my first working day in final year MCA. I hit Bulls Eye with Cognizant (and many of my friends too). It has been more than a year since I got placed (sigh!).
I got the mail from Divya J (HRD). The mail also said the training would be here in Chennai (Chennai... nalla Chennai...). The training would be a 8 week "intensive, classroom training". And I am praying to my dearest god thoppai Pillayar that I do not get into any Java project. I feel at home with .NET. Anyway, who knows what Pillayar has in store for us.
As Divya said, I am waiting to get "Cognizantized"...
I got the mail from Divya J (HRD). The mail also said the training would be here in Chennai (Chennai... nalla Chennai...). The training would be a 8 week "intensive, classroom training". And I am praying to my dearest god thoppai Pillayar that I do not get into any Java project. I feel at home with .NET. Anyway, who knows what Pillayar has in store for us.
As Divya said, I am waiting to get "Cognizantized"...
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Viva Day 2
The Day 2 of Viva was fun for those who had theirs on Day 1(we were forced to come). We went around asking the Day 2ers "I am a post graduate. Are you?", "We joined this course together. But I have completed it a day earlier." The whole Day 2 affair was over by the afternoon. The post lunch session was fun.
We climbed up a ladder to reach the terrace of our dept. Our college architecture was inspired by the Harvard University. Only ground floor, no first floor hence no stairs. 20-25 of us were on the roof screaming on top of our voices. Even some girls climbed with us. Two guys enacted the scene from Titanic, standing on the parapet wall(they didnt kiss ;)).The weather was cloudy and the breeze was cool.
After all of us got down we started off with a game of "Leg Touch". I played this game when I was in sixth or seventh standard. The catcher should touch(stamp!) the foot of the players with his foot. The player who has been "stamped" will become the catcher. Nice game. All of us were exhausted within ten minutes of the game. It was fun. When it was time for the bus we all hugged each other and said our good byes. That would be our last day together in college.
We climbed up a ladder to reach the terrace of our dept. Our college architecture was inspired by the Harvard University. Only ground floor, no first floor hence no stairs. 20-25 of us were on the roof screaming on top of our voices. Even some girls climbed with us. Two guys enacted the scene from Titanic, standing on the parapet wall(they didnt kiss ;)).The weather was cloudy and the breeze was cool.
After all of us got down we started off with a game of "Leg Touch". I played this game when I was in sixth or seventh standard. The catcher should touch(stamp!) the foot of the players with his foot. The player who has been "stamped" will become the catcher. Nice game. All of us were exhausted within ten minutes of the game. It was fun. When it was time for the bus we all hugged each other and said our good byes. That would be our last day together in college.
Samosa vs Presentation
I recently completed the Viva Voce for my MCA final sem project. It was a two day affair (we were 59 in number). The batch allocation for Day 1 was nothing but chaos. Somehow I got my turn at 11:30 a.m Day 1. The external guide seemed to be nice, he smiled when i entered.(i have seen externals with menacing looks, this guy was an angel). I knew he wont ask me too many difficult questions.
I went on with explaining my project from my PowerPoint slides. The external was so "nice" that he was constantly attracted to a plate of samosa placed on the table (for him, of course!) than to my presentation. Was the samosa better than my presentation? He then asked me a few dumb questions(Is your project platform independent?).
As I left the hall thanking him, he said "Ask the next candidate to wait for 5 mins. We will finish the snack." It would have been worse if he had started off with the samosa even as I was presenting. I was only thankful that I was not battered with some stupid and unanswerable questions.
I went on with explaining my project from my PowerPoint slides. The external was so "nice" that he was constantly attracted to a plate of samosa placed on the table (for him, of course!) than to my presentation. Was the samosa better than my presentation? He then asked me a few dumb questions(Is your project platform independent?).
As I left the hall thanking him, he said "Ask the next candidate to wait for 5 mins. We will finish the snack." It would have been worse if he had started off with the samosa even as I was presenting. I was only thankful that I was not battered with some stupid and unanswerable questions.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
A Century of Trust
I had been to the Tata exhibition at the Chennai Trade Centre. It was aptly named "A Century of Trust". The exhibition showcased the growth of the Tata Group and the achievements of the Tata family. The exhibition was truly inspirational! Everyone in the family is a visionary. It must be running in their genes.
There was so much information that I dont remember most of it. I never knew IISc Bangalore was the brainchild of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (he founded the Tata empire).
Bharath was hoping to see lots of information about his dream company TCS. But they had only one 4'X8' poster about TCS. He was totally disappointed at this and said "This is too bad. TCS makes so much profit, most of which is pumped into other sick Tata units and all they get is a poster?". Sriram and I laughed.
They had interactive touch screen panels and large plasma screens installed. We read through the brief history of India from 1600AD to present day. Sriram and I discussed a lot from "Freedom at Midnight"(Dominique LaPierre and Larry Collins) about the Partition
Nothing in the world is perfect. So was the exhibition, not the content nor the presentation but the volunteers. They were "volunteering" to make the experience a bit sick. There was a girl who was talking to her friend like a cheri (slum) girl. One of them went on to explain the birth and life of JN Tata with a mock american accent. She was pathetic, then we decided not to ask the volunteers anything even if they "volunteered". We even remarked about the volunteers in the guest book as we left.
But finally it was time worth spent. We left the Trade Center and fed our hungry stomachs in Sri Krishna Bhavan. We talked about Bharath's pseudo mallu image and how pathetic he was with it. And I mbarked on a long journey from Kathipara to Korattur.
And when I reached home I was too tired even to watch TV, but I still gave a complete narration to my amma. She said "Ok, I accept you are totally impressed, but leave something for us to see." I got the hint and hit the bed. And even before I could recollect the days events, the sandman put me to sleep.
There was so much information that I dont remember most of it. I never knew IISc Bangalore was the brainchild of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (he founded the Tata empire).
Bharath was hoping to see lots of information about his dream company TCS. But they had only one 4'X8' poster about TCS. He was totally disappointed at this and said "This is too bad. TCS makes so much profit, most of which is pumped into other sick Tata units and all they get is a poster?". Sriram and I laughed.
They had interactive touch screen panels and large plasma screens installed. We read through the brief history of India from 1600AD to present day. Sriram and I discussed a lot from "Freedom at Midnight"(Dominique LaPierre and Larry Collins) about the Partition
Nothing in the world is perfect. So was the exhibition, not the content nor the presentation but the volunteers. They were "volunteering" to make the experience a bit sick. There was a girl who was talking to her friend like a cheri (slum) girl. One of them went on to explain the birth and life of JN Tata with a mock american accent. She was pathetic, then we decided not to ask the volunteers anything even if they "volunteered". We even remarked about the volunteers in the guest book as we left.
But finally it was time worth spent. We left the Trade Center and fed our hungry stomachs in Sri Krishna Bhavan. We talked about Bharath's pseudo mallu image and how pathetic he was with it. And I mbarked on a long journey from Kathipara to Korattur.
And when I reached home I was too tired even to watch TV, but I still gave a complete narration to my amma. She said "Ok, I accept you are totally impressed, but leave something for us to see." I got the hint and hit the bed. And even before I could recollect the days events, the sandman put me to sleep.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Anniyan
I saw this much hyped movie Anniyan couple of days back. I really did not find it much impressive, compared other Shankar movies like Mudhalvan, Indian etc.
First of all the character of Vikram is drawn from Tell Me Your Dreams(Sidney Sheldon). The girl with MPD has three characters (Toni Prescott, Alette Peters, third name i dont remember). The novel also has been used for the preclimax scene where Vivek plays the tape in court to prove Ambi is innocent. In the novel the girl's personality transformation is recorded, and played in front of the judge since it is not allowed in the court.
(I am not criticising, just drawing some similarities)
For those who have watched Simbu's Manmadan will find Aniyan's climax familiar. The real killer still exists when we all thought he is gone.
Vivek's comedy was super, esp when he says 'Saar, intha kolayoda peru kandu pudichitten. Mundhiri Pakkoda. KathiriMundoba... Dhirimundakopa...". Prakash Raj looks good in his artificial paunch(;)).
By the way, did the movie really cost 26 crores?
First of all the character of Vikram is drawn from Tell Me Your Dreams(Sidney Sheldon). The girl with MPD has three characters (Toni Prescott, Alette Peters, third name i dont remember). The novel also has been used for the preclimax scene where Vivek plays the tape in court to prove Ambi is innocent. In the novel the girl's personality transformation is recorded, and played in front of the judge since it is not allowed in the court.
(I am not criticising, just drawing some similarities)
For those who have watched Simbu's Manmadan will find Aniyan's climax familiar. The real killer still exists when we all thought he is gone.
Vivek's comedy was super, esp when he says 'Saar, intha kolayoda peru kandu pudichitten. Mundhiri Pakkoda. KathiriMundoba... Dhirimundakopa...". Prakash Raj looks good in his artificial paunch(;)).
By the way, did the movie really cost 26 crores?
Friday, July 01, 2005
Long Time No Blog!
I created this blog and forgot about it altogether for two weeks. I think it does take time to really "blog". But from now I will blog regularly(fingers crossed ;)). I still havent got much idea of what to blog and what not to. I think I will figure it out soon.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Know Me
Every blogger, after creating a blog will introduce himself. And that is exactly what I will do now.
Arvind, 22, Telugu Brahmin. Born in Madras, brought up in Chennai (Chennai was Madras when I was born).
Schooling... Kola Saraswati, NKVV, MGR Adarsh.
Graduation... B.Sc CS at DG Vaishnav (DGV is famous for its multi-cuisine canteen), MCA at SSNCE a.k.a SOMCA(somcans like to pronounce it as somakaa).
Hobbies... Reading Books(all kinds of them, if they interest me), listening to Ilayaraja and ARR's music, giving some tough time for my brother, cuddling Dino(my pet dalmatian) and now blogging.
Sports... none. i really dont know why i was not much of a sportsman. And beacuse of this inherent trait, my friends think i am an alien from a distant planet(Botrauz-X for instance)
Currently idle, killing time watching movies.
The End.
Arvind, 22, Telugu Brahmin. Born in Madras, brought up in Chennai (Chennai was Madras when I was born).
Schooling... Kola Saraswati, NKVV, MGR Adarsh.
Graduation... B.Sc CS at DG Vaishnav (DGV is famous for its multi-cuisine canteen), MCA at SSNCE a.k.a SOMCA(somcans like to pronounce it as somakaa).
Hobbies... Reading Books(all kinds of them, if they interest me), listening to Ilayaraja and ARR's music, giving some tough time for my brother, cuddling Dino(my pet dalmatian) and now blogging.
Sports... none. i really dont know why i was not much of a sportsman. And beacuse of this inherent trait, my friends think i am an alien from a distant planet(Botrauz-X for instance)
Currently idle, killing time watching movies.
The End.
Welcome!
Hello there!
Welcome to The InnerEye. The InnerEye? Yes, "inner eye" is that part of mind that draws a line of difference between humans and other living beings. It makes us think and act rationally, understand emotions and see the truth in things. It makes us what we are. It is called the "conscious" of the human mind.
So what does this blog has to do with the "inner eye"? Simple, this blog reflects the thoughts and ideas of a person called Arvind(me!). I use this blog to post interesting events, debatable issues and more. I would welcome a lot of active participation from you too.
Welcome to The InnerEye. The InnerEye? Yes, "inner eye" is that part of mind that draws a line of difference between humans and other living beings. It makes us think and act rationally, understand emotions and see the truth in things. It makes us what we are. It is called the "conscious" of the human mind.
So what does this blog has to do with the "inner eye"? Simple, this blog reflects the thoughts and ideas of a person called Arvind(me!). I use this blog to post interesting events, debatable issues and more. I would welcome a lot of active participation from you too.
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