Even semesters in SVNIT are always the busiest. Not only is it the shorter one in terms of time, but also it always has all the activities crammed in it. These include MINDBEND, SPARSH, all freshers, farewells and job treats and of course, my birthday ;-). So more often than not, it passes off in a flash before you notice.
Even all the inter-hostel/dept/year sports tournaments are held in this very semester, with the exception of TT and chess. The logic is easy enough to comprehend. With the copious amounts of rain that Surat receives, most of our grounds turn lush green. Maybe too green for comfort. The name “ground” itself becomes a misnomer, thanks to the apathy of the college authorities. So come winter/autumn, the college turns “sportive”.
The story is the same this year too. In course of time, the inter hostel football tournament kicks off (literally). And my goal keeping duties are called for. Being in final year, nobody was really serious about this thing. They all just wanted to play for fun. Hence, no such thing as practice existed. Gone are those days of H8where night football used to rule the roost and all of us were in the groove. Since then, the only football we have known is FIFA2002 , courtsey EA Sports. Stiff legs, no coordination and it came as no surprise that we lost the first round robin match to H2. They then went on to draw with the h4 team and consequently, sealing our fate.
Last match of the league stage. H6 vs. H4. The equation was simple. H4 has to beat us by a goal difference of three; else they are out of competition. We knew we were up against a formidable opposition. (They drew against a team that beat us comprehensively). But it was a new day, and the guys’ soccer instincts were back in action due to last night’s match. The match begins and in the first three minutes, they push forward into our half. 5 minutes into the game and a searing kick curves into the top right corner of my goal. We were down 1-0 and it seemed to head for a familiar end.
The self instated manager of our team, GC, called for a change of tactics. With him screaming out at the sidelines, our team started to push forward. Our mid field (Rai, Gauri and Sudhir) combined well with our forwards (Kancha, Magaan and Yash) to produce some exciting football. They finally found their feet and continuous pressure produced an equalizer soon. The ensuing counter attack produced a goal for them which was disallowed by the linesman for off side (thank god!). And with the half time nearing, a low right footer from Yash scooted to the back of the net, and we were in front for the first time in the tournament!
The second half again saw them push forward again and our defense (JK and Dokes) did a pretty good job of holding them at bay. But soon, they managed to break through and scored through a corner. A nice set-piece. This pumped them up and they began attacking more. And then, the cardinal mistake was committed inside the box. A shove and the man goed down. Foul.
PENALTY KICK!
It was then down to just the four of us. Me, their ace kicker, the ball and the goal. All sorts of thoughts went through my mind. Should I go left? Should I go right? High or low? The referee blows the whistle. My mind goes blank. I let my instincts take over. He runs in, steadies himself and takes the kick. It was chest high, to my right. I stretch. First with both hands, and then I let one hand go. The ball traveling at sub-sonic velocity hits my outstretched right hand and goes out to the right field. It’s a SAVE! Yippee!
My team gets a new lease of life. They started to control the game. The time was running out, we were tied 2-2 and the opposition still needed to score 3 goals to get through. But they had given up in their mind. Tempers raise and some yellow cards get flashed around. The referee says last three minutes to go. A brilliant passes finds Magaan unmarked. He shoots and his long range right footer finds the back of the net. A fantastic goal! Its 3-2 with just 2 minutes on the clock. We play out the final few moments. The hooter signaled our victory.
Alls well that ends well. Some team did go on to win the tournament. But we are not bothered. We’ve had our share of fun. We may not play ever again.
But, we retire from the SVNIT football field on a winning note!
Go final year!
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Long live St.Valentine
Last night, one of my friends asked me, ”What are your plans for tomorrow”, tomorrow being Valentine’s Day. I knew she was trying to pull my leg, ‘cause everyone knows that mechanical engineering is one of the biggest causes of the Valentine’s Day Phobia. But this time, I had decided that I am not going through the yet-another-valentine’s day-without-a-girlfriend crap. So I decided upon a two point agenda:
1. Try and stir some sort of anti-westernization campaign, and follow the activities of my friends at Shiv Sena.
2. Start a “Save Roses-don’t let them die” campaign, maybe try and stir up some much lacking regard for plant life (They too are living beings)
So I get up in the morning with these thoughts in my mind. Switch on Zee news and I can see the sainiks in action (“Balasaheb Jindabad”). Yup, this day starts off as expected. After having my bath, I am suddenly reminded that today is Formal/Saree Day, the continuation of the “End of Days Festival”. So dig in to my cup board, looking for that sole pair of formals that I have. A tie is also unearthed in the process…good. As soon as I get out of my room, Rai reminds me that there is a colour code also for the day, which goes something like this :
White – Seriously interested
Black – Stay Away
Red – In Love
Brown – Betrayed in love
Blue – Waiting for someone etc etc
Swell, I was anyway dressed in white.
Rumours of a Valentine’s Day bunk are rife through the corridors of mech dept. But alas, the first lecture takes place and the second prof is also in, before we could make a dash for it. But one guy took courage to stand and tell the prof that we want to go out and celebrate. He laughs and ask, “What do you guys plan to do? Go to canteen? Then what?”. We smirk. He then adds, “I generally go there to have tea”. Polie stands up and says, “Sir we will have coffee”!!! He finally relents and promises to leave us in half an hour. The clock ticks away, and the jeers and cheers emanating from the canteen make this the longest half an hour ever. We were very anxious to know what the hell was happening out there. Realizing that we were not paying even a single bit of attention to what he was saying, he tries a smart approach. The class was of Gas turbines and he was trying to explain us the concept of choke conditions and critical pressure (The only two words I heard in the class).
He says, “I’ll give you a Valentine’s Day example. This class has only one exit. It is filled with you guys at certain energy level. Suppose one girl comes at the door, equivalent to reducing the back pressure, one guy will get up and go out. If two come, a greater drop in pressure and two go out. But if twenty come at once, the exit will get choked as only 3 can go at once (calls it the maximum flow rate). So 3 girls corresponds to critical pressure and maximum flow rate.”
KUDOS sir.
Point noted. End of class.
Enter canteen. Guys in formals all around looking smart. And I must say the girls do look beautiful in sarees. So it was simply lots of hooting and shouting whenever girls entered or exited. There is more excitement when one of the guys (never a girl) takes up the courage to give rose to a girl. The whole crowd joins in and the decibel levels go berserk. All the digicams went flash-flash. And then the guy’s ass becomes the football of the day. But the spirit never dampens. I itched to join in. In the next 1-2 hrs, more and more guys do this and every one has a ball in general. And with everyone dressed properly and cams around, group photos were order of the day. As for me, I managed to gather all the Maharashtra guys n gals together for a photo shoot of our own.
After lunch, it was time for departmental photos. So we all mech guys get together and go around the college snapping our group. We catch hold of two first yearites to act as our photographers. Poor chaps. Library, ADM, canteen, department entrance, drawing hall, college gate…no location of significance was left untouched. I never knew there were so many of us in the class, it is always half empty!
During all of this, once the library was done and all of us were headed for the gate, it happened.
There she was, standing at the PMC. The guys see this and begin to nudge me. So I pick up the rose and head towards her, my whole class cheering and guys ready to click. I just give her the rose, with a smile and wish her a happy valentine’s day. She accepts with a smile.
Click! A Kodak moment!
(or was it a Sony)
Just when I think the day cannot get any better, I get to watch “Hide and Seek” at PT. A Robert De Niro thriller, it was really gripping. A story of how a small girl tries to cope with her mother’s suicide with the help of an imaginary friend, the movie scores on scary sequences and sounds.
A perfect ending to a wonderful day. With another half an hour still left in the day, is there more in store?
1. Try and stir some sort of anti-westernization campaign, and follow the activities of my friends at Shiv Sena.
2. Start a “Save Roses-don’t let them die” campaign, maybe try and stir up some much lacking regard for plant life (They too are living beings)
So I get up in the morning with these thoughts in my mind. Switch on Zee news and I can see the sainiks in action (“Balasaheb Jindabad”). Yup, this day starts off as expected. After having my bath, I am suddenly reminded that today is Formal/Saree Day, the continuation of the “End of Days Festival”. So dig in to my cup board, looking for that sole pair of formals that I have. A tie is also unearthed in the process…good. As soon as I get out of my room, Rai reminds me that there is a colour code also for the day, which goes something like this :
White – Seriously interested
Black – Stay Away
Red – In Love
Brown – Betrayed in love
Blue – Waiting for someone etc etc
Swell, I was anyway dressed in white.
Rumours of a Valentine’s Day bunk are rife through the corridors of mech dept. But alas, the first lecture takes place and the second prof is also in, before we could make a dash for it. But one guy took courage to stand and tell the prof that we want to go out and celebrate. He laughs and ask, “What do you guys plan to do? Go to canteen? Then what?”. We smirk. He then adds, “I generally go there to have tea”. Polie stands up and says, “Sir we will have coffee”!!! He finally relents and promises to leave us in half an hour. The clock ticks away, and the jeers and cheers emanating from the canteen make this the longest half an hour ever. We were very anxious to know what the hell was happening out there. Realizing that we were not paying even a single bit of attention to what he was saying, he tries a smart approach. The class was of Gas turbines and he was trying to explain us the concept of choke conditions and critical pressure (The only two words I heard in the class).
He says, “I’ll give you a Valentine’s Day example. This class has only one exit. It is filled with you guys at certain energy level. Suppose one girl comes at the door, equivalent to reducing the back pressure, one guy will get up and go out. If two come, a greater drop in pressure and two go out. But if twenty come at once, the exit will get choked as only 3 can go at once (calls it the maximum flow rate). So 3 girls corresponds to critical pressure and maximum flow rate.”
KUDOS sir.
Point noted. End of class.
Enter canteen. Guys in formals all around looking smart. And I must say the girls do look beautiful in sarees. So it was simply lots of hooting and shouting whenever girls entered or exited. There is more excitement when one of the guys (never a girl) takes up the courage to give rose to a girl. The whole crowd joins in and the decibel levels go berserk. All the digicams went flash-flash. And then the guy’s ass becomes the football of the day. But the spirit never dampens. I itched to join in. In the next 1-2 hrs, more and more guys do this and every one has a ball in general. And with everyone dressed properly and cams around, group photos were order of the day. As for me, I managed to gather all the Maharashtra guys n gals together for a photo shoot of our own.
After lunch, it was time for departmental photos. So we all mech guys get together and go around the college snapping our group. We catch hold of two first yearites to act as our photographers. Poor chaps. Library, ADM, canteen, department entrance, drawing hall, college gate…no location of significance was left untouched. I never knew there were so many of us in the class, it is always half empty!
During all of this, once the library was done and all of us were headed for the gate, it happened.
There she was, standing at the PMC. The guys see this and begin to nudge me. So I pick up the rose and head towards her, my whole class cheering and guys ready to click. I just give her the rose, with a smile and wish her a happy valentine’s day. She accepts with a smile.
Click! A Kodak moment!
(or was it a Sony)
Just when I think the day cannot get any better, I get to watch “Hide and Seek” at PT. A Robert De Niro thriller, it was really gripping. A story of how a small girl tries to cope with her mother’s suicide with the help of an imaginary friend, the movie scores on scary sequences and sounds.
A perfect ending to a wonderful day. With another half an hour still left in the day, is there more in store?
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Beginning of the end of days
100 Days to go...
Thus read messenger status of a final yearite. Traditionally, no batch goes out of the college without creating its share of hullabaloo. Continuing in the same vein, this year also people got together to celebrate the “spirit of final year” (more on that later). To get the things rolling, a MOVIE DAY was proposed. With Bollywood doling out its usual loads of crap and Surtis refusing to recognize the existence of Hollywood, the choices were limited. In the end it was zeroed down to "Rang De Basanti-a generation awakens". Considering that the last hindi movie I had been to was really long time ago (Black I think it was), I joined in.
But as is the trend now-a-days, the movie goes through its usual pyrotechniques of controversy with Maneka Gandhi making her presence felt, leading to the rescheduling of the movie release. In the end the movie's release coincides with our 57th Republic Day. (Co-incidence?) How perfect! A public holiday, (not that it would have made much of a difference) and the whole of SVNIT lands at the theatre for the first day first show. After almost 3 years, (the only precedent being the Christmas of 2002, Saathiya), a movie hall is brought to life by the SVNITians. Along with its fair share of comments and laughter and a dance session for the title song, it turned out to be a enjoyable outing.
The theme of the movie was almost perfect for the day. The story of a group of youngsters discovering their patriotism with the aid of a foreigner suited nicely to the mood of the day. The first half was totally entertaining. But the second part of the movie should have been more realistic. Lathi-charging a group of peaceful protesters in front of media is something no politician could dream of in today's world. Also, in the end, when the guys had declared on radio that they were not terrorists, the order "I don’t want any survivors" given to the commandoes made absolutely no sense. And we keep cribbing that our movies don’t make it to the Oscars!
Though not an out n out Aamir Khan movie, he made his presence felt. Siddharth, Sharman and Kunal Kapoor(yup he's that handsome guy girls were talking about) did what was expected of them. But the best part was that of Atul Kulkarni, who as usual stamped his authority over the show. He had a limited but impactful role which he portrayed amazing well.
Thus read messenger status of a final yearite. Traditionally, no batch goes out of the college without creating its share of hullabaloo. Continuing in the same vein, this year also people got together to celebrate the “spirit of final year” (more on that later). To get the things rolling, a MOVIE DAY was proposed. With Bollywood doling out its usual loads of crap and Surtis refusing to recognize the existence of Hollywood, the choices were limited. In the end it was zeroed down to "Rang De Basanti-a generation awakens". Considering that the last hindi movie I had been to was really long time ago (Black I think it was), I joined in.
But as is the trend now-a-days, the movie goes through its usual pyrotechniques of controversy with Maneka Gandhi making her presence felt, leading to the rescheduling of the movie release. In the end the movie's release coincides with our 57th Republic Day. (Co-incidence?) How perfect! A public holiday, (not that it would have made much of a difference) and the whole of SVNIT lands at the theatre for the first day first show. After almost 3 years, (the only precedent being the Christmas of 2002, Saathiya), a movie hall is brought to life by the SVNITians. Along with its fair share of comments and laughter and a dance session for the title song, it turned out to be a enjoyable outing.
The theme of the movie was almost perfect for the day. The story of a group of youngsters discovering their patriotism with the aid of a foreigner suited nicely to the mood of the day. The first half was totally entertaining. But the second part of the movie should have been more realistic. Lathi-charging a group of peaceful protesters in front of media is something no politician could dream of in today's world. Also, in the end, when the guys had declared on radio that they were not terrorists, the order "I don’t want any survivors" given to the commandoes made absolutely no sense. And we keep cribbing that our movies don’t make it to the Oscars!
Though not an out n out Aamir Khan movie, he made his presence felt. Siddharth, Sharman and Kunal Kapoor(yup he's that handsome guy girls were talking about) did what was expected of them. But the best part was that of Atul Kulkarni, who as usual stamped his authority over the show. He had a limited but impactful role which he portrayed amazing well.
At the end of the day, it was something that he said that got me thinking...
hai liye hathyaar dushman
taak mein baitha udhar
aur hum taiyaar hai
seena liye apna idhar
khoon se khelenge holi
gar watan mushkil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
haath jinme mein ho junoon
katt te nahi talwaar se
sar jo uth jaate hai woh
jhukte nahi lalkaar se
haath jinme mein ho junoon
kat te nahi talwaar se
Aur bhadke ga
jo shola-sa hamare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
hum to ghar se nikale hi the
baandh kar sar pe kafan
Jaan hatheli pe liye
lo bad chale hai yeh kadam
Jindagi to apni mehmaan
maut ki mehfil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
Dil mein toofanon ki doli
aur nason mein inquilab
hosh dushman ke udadenge
hamein roko na aaj
dur rehpaaye jo humse
dum kahan manzil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
Seriously inspiring.
hai liye hathyaar dushman
taak mein baitha udhar
aur hum taiyaar hai
seena liye apna idhar
khoon se khelenge holi
gar watan mushkil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
haath jinme mein ho junoon
katt te nahi talwaar se
sar jo uth jaate hai woh
jhukte nahi lalkaar se
haath jinme mein ho junoon
kat te nahi talwaar se
Aur bhadke ga
jo shola-sa hamare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
hum to ghar se nikale hi the
baandh kar sar pe kafan
Jaan hatheli pe liye
lo bad chale hai yeh kadam
Jindagi to apni mehmaan
maut ki mehfil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
Dil mein toofanon ki doli
aur nason mein inquilab
hosh dushman ke udadenge
hamein roko na aaj
dur rehpaaye jo humse
dum kahan manzil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai
Seriously inspiring.
Provoked?
Thursday, February 09, 2006
On my marks...
Flashback circa Dec 2005. I was at home for my mid sem break (the last one at that). After the initial scrambling around for some exams, i was suddenly idle. Nothin' much to do. The usual boring stuff on TV, friends having exams, bollywood doling out its usual load of crap and no cricket happening. So I thought why not look around in the virtual world a bit.
Log on to orkut (ha wahi Büyükkökten wala)...
And then, it happened...
"PPS: Don't you blog? Blogosphere needs scribes like you! There's a whole buncha cr*p being written in rudimentary english by amateurs like me! C'mon! Captain Planet! Save the blog world!
1:56 AM11/28/2005"
Thus scrape SLNC (a junior of mine, and yeah he is a gultie).
This got me thinking. Hmm...Blogging? The idea of entering blog world had occured to me long back during the oh-so-famous animal fight ( bow-bow vs jungle boy), which was faught on the blogspot battlefield. Even our own polie and total jr had started their own blogs. Why not me! But then, I somehow got too involved in other things, and it never really materialised.
But now here i am, at last starting it off. This one full week of bunk, courtesy GATE 06 (oh yeah i am an engineer), got me so bored that i resort to blogging.
So just wait and watch where it goes...
Log on to orkut (ha wahi Büyükkökten wala)...
And then, it happened...
"PPS: Don't you blog? Blogosphere needs scribes like you! There's a whole buncha cr*p being written in rudimentary english by amateurs like me! C'mon! Captain Planet! Save the blog world!
1:56 AM11/28/2005"
Thus scrape SLNC (a junior of mine, and yeah he is a gultie).
This got me thinking. Hmm...Blogging? The idea of entering blog world had occured to me long back during the oh-so-famous animal fight ( bow-bow vs jungle boy), which was faught on the blogspot battlefield. Even our own polie and total jr had started their own blogs. Why not me! But then, I somehow got too involved in other things, and it never really materialised.
But now here i am, at last starting it off. This one full week of bunk, courtesy GATE 06 (oh yeah i am an engineer), got me so bored that i resort to blogging.
So just wait and watch where it goes...
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