To Cut Or Not to cut

After thinking for some time now about whether to cut my hair and how much should I cut if I really decide to cut, I finally had a hair cut this tuesday. Thats after 8 months and 11 days. Can't recall the exact hours though :-). Some friends were for my long hair, saying since you are a 'rock' fan ( which i'm seriously not. I'm more into alternative types, according to my roomie who has good knowledge of all these genres of music), you hair should justify it. While the other clan said that I was in a state of deplorable mess. My cousin Vivek in Mumbai actually took printouts of my pictures, which i shared on yahoo photos, to show it to all our relatives who would come for his marriage celebrations in a couple of days. He said that I was looking ( well to say the truth, that my hair was) like Aamir Khan in the movie "The Rising". Whether it was meant to be a compliment, only he knows. But he did add that u've become a punk after going to America and 'tu badal gaya re'. I guess I would never be able to grow my hair that long now...but my hair wasn't growing straight as it should be, if it is long. It was getting too curly, and i was bored of getting it of my ears like girls do all the time. And i didn't have money to get some cool hairstyle. Now I understand why girls fret about their hair all their life....I have first hand experience...

Another peculiar reaction that u get from ppl when u have a haircut after a long time is that strange look and the most stupid question: "Did you have a haircut?" I really wanted to say: "No dude.. My hair just decided to shed off last night!!" or "it got entangled in the hair dryer and so I had to cut it!!". I mean come on...can't u see that I've had a haircut. I am tired of acutally answering that yes, I've had a haircut; I didn't lose them in some natural disaster.

Boy, I never knew that my hair was drawing so much attention. And usually when something catches the public eye, it is prone to negative criticism. Well, whatever.....as of now, I miss my curls...

nothing better to do...

Some pictures that we took a couple of weeks ago...this is the chemistry lab..and as per my observation, it has better computers than the IT department. The other two guys are my roomies.. I will post a few pics of my old roomies soon...I miss those guys back in Louisiana..I undoubtedly used to have more fun there..our frequencies matched better...not that I'm having a terrible time here...but being a human being, i'm bound to compare..


This one on the right was clicked in our drawing room...notice the two posters in the background..my roomie is a big "classic rock" fan..hence the poster of "The Who"..who are supposed to be the ones who started 'it' all in more than one way..and about whom i never knew till a couple of months ago...and the U2 poster is mine..my friend Sachin bought it for me..he was supposed to send them to India, but before he came to India, I was transported to America by fate...probably GOD wanted to save his $15 of postage...

I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy afternoon
I'm wasting my time
I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder....

This has been the story more often than not in the last few days...working in the 9 to 5 schedule has become a rarity..the day typically starts around 11:00 when i reach my department office..then checking emails..that takes atleast 1/2 an hour..then do some nonsense..and its 1 before you realize....then its time to go home and eat....then come back and do 'some' work...which is usually irrelevant..and then it's classes in the evening...and after that again some time for relaxation...i miss the days of working at eclerx..and that 9 to 6 schedule....but i also know that i am gonna miss this 'flexible' schedule...or 'no schedule' life to speak frankly....once i graduate and get another job....

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I have to do a presentation on DNS (Domain Name Service) next wednesday..gotta start preparing for it..hope it goes fine..coz a good bit of my grade depends on it...

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Is google really much much better than any other search engine??? I searched for my blog on both google and yahoo and it turns out that google hasn't crawled my blog yet while yahoo has done it. I must admit that I hadn't search on yahoo for atleast a couple of years, but I just read a report of search engine market share..and it turns out that google has 37% of the search market while yahoo has 32%..now that's not too much of a difference...

also we should'nt forget that google was somewhat of a post dot com bust company...after a lot of disasters, even the slightest of hope feels wonderful...sometimes i think that same is the case with google..there is no denying the fact that google is great and has redefined tech history in some ways..but a little exploration and applying a tangential perspective will possibly give a different reason for google being the super success that it is...In our case study, we finally decided to put money on yahoo as far as stability is concerned...google might be the best stock for speculators..but considering the fact that 98% of google's revenue only comes from Google Adsense, which is search dependent, the question arises that will google we out the day a better search algorithm is invented???? Whats your opinion??

Spring Fest 2005

Last saturday my university had the Spring Fest. Right from live bands playing all day to rock climbing to 'lambada' dancing with latin girls..i specially loved this part :-)..to taking pictures with burmese pythons ( i held one in my hand for a couple of seconds...too bad i didn't have a camera), everything was in store...and FREE. Boy, we had fun. I wish there was a festival like this every weekend...atleast in the Spring season.

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We played soccer with American guys....its a rarity..American girls soccer team are the world champs..but guy's team is virtually non-existent. I really find the US a strange place as far as sports are concerned... the topmost two games here are American Football and Baseball..which no other country in the world plays. And, as the typical american glorification thats so common, the top team in the country are called "World Champions". Yeah..like 67 countries participated in the qualifiers...My dear Americans, 80% of the world doesnt even know what your football is..

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Had an argument with my roomie about maintaining cleanliness. I love cleanliness, but if someone acts to be as big a cleanliness freak as Monica ( of FRIENDS), then it's sure going to make everyone else in the house crazy. And then you get to hear that he is the only one who is concerned and the others in the house are not making any efforts.....that after picking up a 100 times, his soda cans and coffee mugs and pickle bottles littered all over the house ....and not telling him a word with the hope that he will notice someday and try to improve....it totally pissed me off...was somehow able to avoid a serious argument...moderation is the key to everything...i hope someone explains him that...

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Currently listening to: My stomach making all kinds of noises for some food ;-)

When something can go wrong, it will.

Why is Murphy's law so true?? Newton's law(s) of gravitation and motion might fail when we consider 'true' space and time..but Murphy's law...as famous hindi film villian Ajit would say.. NO. NEVER.The alarm rings correctly everyday when i don't want it to ring..but the day i had my exams, it didnt. Does it happen only to me or are you guys are victims too? Well the exam was fine..i was happy..until Murphy decided to come again. I realized that I didnt see the last page of the question paper which had a question. And Bingo, I lose 10 points for the easiest question. As an afterthought: My DBMS prof who was conducting the exam, has a big chart of 30 Murphy's laws. Now I see where his inspiration comes from :-)

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The Indian Sstudents Association is doing a skit as part of the 'India Nite' and I'm in it...forced in it, actually. We are short of participants..hehe..(and I'm a committee member). I'm not really bad I guess..just shy..well whatever. It's coming up next Sunday. Will have to practice the whole of next week.

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My friend won the Outstanding Graduate Student award. Even I want to win one. But I'm not really working for it. Exams till now have been good. But I have a year more to go. He maintained a GPA of 4.0. Now thats something. And full credit to his hard work. He is damn motivated. Well, I get motivated too. It's just that my motivation lasts only till my exams get over. But I gotta win some award. I need something to put on my otherwise non-existent resume

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A friend of mine is badly in need of a job. I wrote a big inspirational email to him. Telling him not to quit and that his day will come and that 'always pain before a child is born' as Bono sings. I wonder why we can't implement atleast some of the knowledge and understanding that we already have to change our own lives. Or is it only me who cannot implement it.

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MusicMaster says:
3 random Indipop songs that you should listen to:
1) Tere Ishq mein from the album Ishqua Ishqua by Gulzar
2) Lucky Ali: Kabhi aisa lagta hain
3) Any song of Daler Mehndi. All are the same :-)

In the name of love...

Before you start speculating...NO...i m not in love..."In the name of love" is the name of the U2 song that I really really love...probably among their best 5 songs ever....was listening to it right now and thought i should post it...

The song is dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ( Bono, U2's lead singer, seems to be inspired by him in more than one ways). It has this catchy beat and ruthless energy that gets you on your toes in a minute. The guitar strumming is fabulous..and so is the voice...But it is the lyrics of the song that really hits me ( like most other U2 songs)..especially the last line when he says.. 'free at last..they took your life....but they could not take your pride'....this one line really tells us a lot about how life should be lived..and how no one take away the real essence of a man...the character...the values...the faith..the belief

the song also has a reference to Jesus..when he sings 'one man betrayed with a kiss'...

Here are the lyrics...

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!
What more? In the name of love!

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!What more?
In the name of love!...
nobody like you...there's nobody like you...Mmm...mmm...mmm...

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love!....

not in a mood to study

After studying quite well on thursday night....the whole of yesterday was a total waste. Reading a 25 page paper of Digital Rights Management just doesnt feel 'exciting'. And that too when the paper is flooded with technical, management and law jargons and philosophy. Technical is good as it helps me in gaining knowledge...but the combination of all the three seems a bit too much....anyway..i gotta spend the whole of today doing just that..have to atleast finish reading 4 papers and write summaries...GOD help me..

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My roomie has been making fun of my writing a blog for the past few days...well whatever...i've already told him to LMA....i dont really care if no one reads my blog...it's just supposed to be some tp for me; a half hour break from the regular world and to reflect what's going on in my life.

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Just clicked a few pictures yesterday using my roomie's olympus digicam....this one is clicked in my room....more pics in the pipeline....we went to the quad a little late though..all the babes had already gone...will have to go in the afternoon one day to capture an American University in all its glory. Most of my friends don't wanna see my pic anyway...they want to see America..not me ;-)

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Line of the week: Women should not have children after 35. Really, 35 are enough.



Me in my room. The table is a little messed up..

After writing a long post, when I clicked submit, a page not found error appeared. and when I came back to the page, the post was gone!! I hate that...

So, to summarize:

Lots of work. Two exams. One business plan to submit. To write "Analytical and Evaluative and not Technical" ( to use the exact words of my advisor) answers to 5 questions on various facets of Digital Rights Management (my Graduate Assistant work). Gotta work the whole night tommorow. Work to do on the Indian Students Association website. ( I became the webmaster of the website a couple of days ago). Want to attend the Graduate Students Assocication meeting for the first time tommorow. (Want to become a member) . Have to crack a software that I am not able to do after numerous attempts ( so has become a challenge now...won't get good sleep until I do it)

Currently listening to: Bootleg of "Miracle Drug" by U2 live at Anaheim, CA, USA on 02 Apr 05.

*Awesome*

Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a Cola Ad

After hitting the brilliant and super aggressive 148 against Pakistan in the Second One day International, Mahendra Singh Dhoni...India's 'future' answer to 'His Majesty' Adam Gilchrist ( well I may have dreamt a bit too much) , is not too far from appearing in a Cola commercial. nothing is official yet, but it's just my foresight :-) . Well, thats the trend for the past 10 years now I guess. Hit a century or take a 5 wicket haul and the cola guys come knocking at your doorstep the very next day. Let's wait and see whether it's Coke or Pepsi that finds Mr. Dhoni's residence address first.

Hint: It's somewhere in Ranchi, Bihar.

Another Hint: If you dont know where Bihar is, ask any Pani-puri wala/Bhel wala/Doodh wala/Chana wala/Pav Bhaji wala bhaiya in any corner of Mumbai. :-)

and another weekend is over

Why does it happen that somedays you have too much work to do and nothing gets done. And somedays, when u havent planned anything, many a things get done wihtout any hassle. This has been happening with me more often than not now...so i am going to stop planning altogether very soon...the final solution ;-)

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Downloaded some good stuff over the weekend...Latest album of Strings (Dhanni), Rabbi Shergil's album (pretty good) and the album of an Indian fusion band called 'Om'. Om can be precisely described as a bunch of guys whose experiment turned successful. Genuine effort. And it has paid back. The lead singer has a good voice and the background vocals are pretty good too. Also downloaded a video detailing Sachin Tendulkar's legacy....this is a must have item...a collectors edition. Glad that I got my hands on it. Currently downloading lucky Ali's latest album...I hope it's great...i like lucky ali..he's capable of producing some real great stuff....hope this album is as good as the previous ones...

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Have 'committed' something to a friend which I should'nt have. He's gonna be kinda upset when I deny the favor tommorow...but can't help it. Was going out of my way to help him, coz I usually can't say no to people easily. But will have to say a 'NO' this time. Coming to think of it, Ayn Rand's quote :-"His rational self-interest is the highest moral obligation of any human being" seems very true sometimes. That's exactly what 'animal instinct' is. But I'll write about that some other time...

May the Pope R.I.P

It's difficult being a GOD man..very difficult... overcoming the day to day desires and life...thinking bout the greater good...and being the leader of 1.1 billion people who look up to you. My knowledge about christianity and Pope is very limited, but from what I read from various sources, I guess he did a good job. Hope is successor is even better.

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The spring break is not yet over for me. Haven't touched the books, and haven't even done my work. Do they have a pill which just makes you jump up to your table and makes you work? If yes, plz tell me the name.

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I made good 'Dal Fry' today..that's one thing I've been making well off lately..I've invented my own secret recipe for it. Patent is pending :-)