Dsk's Daily Digest

And, I am back!!!

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002+05:30

Over the past two years while this blog was dead and buried, I had always pondered over the idea of bring it back alive. In fact, quite a few people have even asked me the same question. The answer to those queries was always the same, which is, “Twitter killed my blog.” “Oh, you tweet is it? Well I will follow you there” would be the reply. “I don’t think there is a point in that. Facebook killed twitter.” Yes, that was my reason for stopping the blog. I thought putting in a 400 odd character status messages on Facebook, was the best way to convey a message to all those lazy folks who can bother to read.

Well now, I find one-liners boring myself. And Facebook has been reduced to that ‘thing’ for uploading and checking snaps. It’s time to turn a new leaf I thought. Well, I realised that there is nothing new I know of. So, turn back to the tried and tested stuff. And here I am. Writing on my wall. I mean blog. (Some habits just down go away.). Knowing very well that this may be a one-off and I might not again be wasting time typing the whole thing out in a word doc, spell check it (and still leave a good 20 odd typos) and not get more than half a dozen people to read. Still, one last time I say.

Where do we start off?

What am I up to these days? Officially, developing software with my clients in London. Actually, testing out my Nikon 5100D around Great Britain, gearing up for a trip to the Theatre of Dreams, watch the top seeds players in the year end masters at the O2, and break world record if any for amount of sweat dripped during the British winter. And I am achieving pretty decent success in almost all of those ventures.

Most of the weekends have been spent doing the usual trips around the country. For a change, I did not engage myself much this weekend. Though, I did watch The Adventures of Tintin in 3d, opening weekend. It was brilliant to watch Tintin in action, a series I had read over a decade back. I guess I was a bit animated in the theatre watching the baby faced reporter in action and needed my cousin to give a warning that this isn’t India, no noise at the cinemas. ‘Blistering Barnacles,’ I say.

I remember one of my colleagues, known for his wit, (especially when dealing with rickshaw drivers) once posting on Facebook that he found his match. A rick driver who could made Jannath bhai stop and take notice should have been loose-lipped for sure. Well, I proclaim myself as a football fan and big red devil. And I come across this hair dresser. It all started with the Firang asking me about India cities. Guess it was when I said Hyderabad, he exclaimed, ‘Ohh, they play tests there.’

“You are a cricket fan? I am one too”

“You are an Indian, you ought to be one”

“I love football more”

“Liverpool huh, all Indians are Liverpool fans I hear”

“Red devil sir.”

For a second, I thought the pair of scissors might end up in my throat. Well, he gave an expression which I interpreted as he wanted to kill me. In a few minutes time I realised he wanted to kill Johnny Evans for THAT red card. (Football haters can skip the rest of the paragraph.) I found Robert to be pretty well informed and talked about the present lineup, the formation, Carrick hatred, Rio past it, CR7 coming back and Liverpool legends not finding heights outside of Anfield. Even after an hour he had no idea of letting me take my leave. It was pretty interesting to talk, though one question surely got me irritated. “You must have surely watched Georgie Best.” “I am not that old,” I replied.

One of my friends suggested that I should be writing a book. Said I will be a super hit. In fact she even suggested the title – ‘How to lose a gal in 60 secs’. She was telling me that I have this unique skill of telling the wrong girls the wrong thing at the wrong possible time. I pondered over it and realised she was indeed right. I am pretty brilliant at the above mentioned skill. Let me quote few of the examples. (If the following examples sound like Bob Saget from ‘How I met you mother’, it’s not a pure coincidence. I am f****** addicted to that boring sitcom.)

Ms. B – The astrologer said either I will get married sometime next year or after 7 years. And that the guy would be working in US.

Mr. A – He got that wrong, I am in UK.

(Perfect set up)

Ms. B – Well, you can work in US after your present thing is done.

Mr. A – Maybe I might. I guess I will. Maybe I am the person astrologer was telling you about.

Is what I should have said. But then what I said was –

Mr. A – No way. Back to India only.

Ms. B – You might as well work there sometime in future. Just that I might have to wait 7 years.

Mr. A – I am ready to wait 7 years. I have waited for 24, haven’t I?

Is what I should have said. But then what I did say was

Mr. A – What if I end up liking someone else in those 7 years time.

-------

Ms. C was then telling me about getting this place booked for her wedding sometime next year, though the wedding isn’t fixed. Not even the groom.

Mr. A – Well, members can get it for half the prize. I am one.

Ms. C – Oh, then you can book it for me.

Mr. A – Members can only book for themselves or their children.

Ms. C – That means I have to marry you.

Mr. A – Well, surely you can. Are you interested? I am good with it.

Is the least I should have said. But me being me –

Mr. A – Well, you can marry my son.

Well….. I should just shut up.

Daddy Returns...

2009-09-27T23:46:00.002+05:30

Yes… The Big Daddy or Big D is back. To the long list of Dsk, Sasi, Sasimon, Water Tank, Brother and even more, come the latest pseudo name for me. Anyone who has seen me should be able to figure out the Big part but why daddy? Even I haven’t figured it out. And no, I don’t have a kid.

I have been inducted into what is the epic project at TW and think I should be in there for at least till late 2010 or even 2011. Before I reach that distance there are lot of things I need to spike up, .Net for a start.

The first week in office was spent in the Beach (read as Bench for others) and an induction program. The following week, I saw this epic, mammoth, tiring marathon which ran for three days where I had to setup my Dev box. There was this long list of software which had to be installed and synced which each other. Then setting up the database and checking out the code that has already been written and whole lot of stuff. The race also included reinstalling my OS three times where I went from Windows XP to Windows 7 64 bit and then to Windows 7 32 bit.

Table tennis seems to be the new hobby and evenings are spent at the TT table in the office. Yesterday, I went for a tour of the Bangalore city along with the new guys who are here for the next batch of training. I didn’t join them for What’s your Raashee, preferring to come back to watch the Indo – Pak duel. I wonder whether it was a loss or gain following the embarrassing defeat we faced, though my friends said that it was a torture chamber inside the theatre. Think Man Utd winning at Stoke and getting to watch that Welsh man play like that piped it. I was at a gain at the end of the day. He is one amazing player. At 36, he still runs around as if he was in his early 20’s. His will to play and win is amazing, and being a one-club man all these years…. Fantastic… Following that nerving cracking 7 goal thriller of a derby last week (which was the debut for my new TV and STB), I saw this status message which said – God asked Fergie – Do you want a 100 million pound transfer kitty or o you want another Ronaldo. And Fergie replies – I just want Giggs to play for 5 more years. Kudos to the greatest #11 I have seen.

Before all this, I had this fantastic Away Day in Goa with TWers from three offices. After which there was the finale to my training when I had a project simulation which bombed. It did teach us many things though. Then there was this convocation and party to following our graduation. The weekend was spent in shifting to my new apartment which is quarter of an hour walk from my office.

Hopefully, I will get to write more regularly, which I have been promising for the last few months but not doing so. Lemme give it one more shot.

I thought I will end with this crazy thing which one of my friends has been up to. He was in B’lore last weekend, when I took him to KFC. Over the meal, I mentioned that we get better desserts at a place up the road which serves the famous DBC (which stands for Death-By-Chocolate) ice-cream sundae. All of a sudden, this guy pops up saying that some gal in his office loves the DBC and blah-blah. When I took his there, he buys a DBC and get it parceled. When I asked him why, he says, it’s not for me, I am taking it for my friend. I asked wont it melt in the flight? That’s when he said, I am going back by bus. I wondered if the gal shoved it into his mouth after the dessert had a 17 odd hour long bus journey. When I thought that was insane, the guy calls me up again after few days, asking me if I could get another one parceled and sent over to him through 2 of our gals who were going over to his place. OMG…. Is this guy mad was what I want to ask?? Whatever that is, he is trying really hard to impress that gal, which got this new acronym. A mock on the famous DBC…. And it is – FBC…………………. Flirt by chocolate.

Almost 3 weeks

2009-08-16T00:34:00.001+05:30

After yet another break, I am back in here. Sheer tiredness, laziness, fever and then a slight shock (which will be mentioned later) pulled me away from here. I will try to be more regular in the coming weeks, but the ThoughtWorks University slogan says ‘It's meant to be INTENSE.’

Will still try though.

Last couple of weeks were really good. We had TWU kicking off. The first week was mostly fun filled. Sessions were mainly focused on TW ideology and basic funda of consulting. The fever, running nose and the ‘Kitch kitch’ in the throat did slow me down a lil bit, but I got back towards the later part of the week. Some of the activities we had to go through during the sessions made it look as if it was a kindergarten class. 22+ year old playing with clay and Lego would bring surprise to anyone, but the concepts of consulting and client handling were brought out in such a beautiful manner. The catch line - Hands off the Lego and Hand off the clay are now the oft quoted lines during sessions thanks to the Aussie mate James.

The sheer amount of dessert I gulped down last Friday during the Ice Cream punishment got me down again during the weekend. (Yes… Ice Cream punishment. If you break one of the fundamental rules - coming late, mobiles tones beeping, laptops buzzing etc – your name goes in the ice cream meter. And on Friday evenings, all the bad guys and gals – which may also include out trainers – take the others out to the not so cheap CornerHouse ice cream. And the rest is ……) A pill I took made sure I slept the whole of Saturday and ruined the planned outing with all my relatives. And the continuing flu forced me out of attending Kalya’s university convocation.

The next week of TWU was a slightly different. More of serious stuff and less of fun and games. The coding sessions were not the bullet I expected. It is more of a hand grenade. The ideas of pair programming, Test Driver Development and compiling code in 6 minutes has bombarded the Java novice. “Write the test to get the Red Line, write the code to get the green line, Refractor if necessary” is the order of the day. Pair programming is now the way of letting my pair for the day know how dumb I am. And then the coach says – “Too many keyboards spoil the code!!”

Evenings are spent in the Nalanda-Paathsala conference hall back in the office with the presentations which sound like Greek to me. After dinner, I spent at least half an hour everyday calling some of my old pals. It is so much refreshing to talk in one’s mother tongue. And I’m missing the language already, though I can’t read or write in it.

On Thursday my juniors from college where here in Bangalore as a part of their Industrial visit. Thought I would meet up with them and paid a visit. It was a nice evening, walking around with them in Commercial Street. Brought back memories from my own tour to this city almost 2 years back when we went shopping to the very same place, the same KFC, in fact we ended up sitting in the same seat. Those were the best days of my life. Those were the best days of our lives.

Yesterday our Chinese friends made dinner for us. And they presented each one of us with a pair of chopsticks they brought for us form their homeland. The food was really tasty and we all had a nice time trying the new tool and each one of us coming with a new technique on how to use it. It didn’t take me much time to revert back to the spoon though.

Found a dining place down the road this afternoon which in run by Mallus. Never enjoyed a meal so much in recent times. I’m missing the food already. You may be served 5-star food, but three weeks of it has had it for me. At this rate I might slim down in spite of quitting my ole gym sessions.

Got to submit my first coding assignment tomorrow evening. Old habits die hard as the saying goes. Four years of CET has taken me to the ultimate levels of procrastination. It’s not shedding off. I don’t know where I’m heading too at this rate. Anyhow, I am bought to be rated below average.

And I’m signing off, promising to write sooner. But then, a shock reaction for my last post was a big excuse not to write. Those who read the last one should have gone through the OUTRAGEOUS happening I found myself in the Bangalore city tour. I thought I would let the readers have a nice laugh, and so mentioned it. But it never occurred to me that my sister would be reading the blog. That was bad in itself. What’s worse you may ask. When your sis shows that nice paragraph to your mother, it becomes worse. And the worst is when you mother sends you a sms asking – “Who is that modelisque, absolutely marvelous girl??”

Dsk @ Bengaluru

2009-08-02T07:36:00.000+05:30

I’m back to my to my blogging ways after a small gap. Sorry guys for that. I spent most of last weekend paying visits to relatives and having temple darshans and whatever time which was left was with my cousins. And then I had the whole packing thing to be sorted out.

The 15 hour journey to Bangalore from down south was hugely uneventful. There was the itsy bitsy conversation I had with a guy working in Infosys. Rest of the time I was playing my iPod really loud in the bus so that no dialogues from the movies which were being shown got registered. And then there was this chicken curry I had for dinner which seemed as if the chicken was run over by a truck.

Met up with Alibhai at Madiwala and moved to Diamond district from there. After the initial commotion we did get our rooms, which bowled us over. Posh is the bare minimum I can mention. The apartment is really cool and I do have my own room fitted in with a TV, air co and Wi-Fi. The day was spent unpacking, trying out a few eateries nearby and talking a walk around this huge Diamond District.

The first day in the office was long. Sign of things to come I suppose. There was an intro to TW. Even before that, we got to meet and know all the fellow grads that we did in a jiffy. Post-lunch there was this session where I had to put in signatures on and on and on… Submitted the collection of documents which I had been asked to do present and then got my entry-pass. It’s something like an id card and when I tease it near the main door it unlocks. The initial few trials with it were really cool.

Day 2 was here. Another long day, but it did eventually bring in more cheer. Two sessions were dedicated to what the 5-point Someone’s actually get and how it is structured and then how to do a blind spot at the income tax guys. Post lunch we were given our new DELL E6500 laptops and a whole session dedicated to its operation and how to use the TW network, though I spent most of the time with Yahoo! Messenger. I got my new Nokia 2626; pretty decent handset and surely is better than my old Samsung crap. I’m really sad about leaving Vodafone, after almost 3 years. But now – Aise Azadi Aur Kaha! Once we were done with the orientation activities, the guys decided to dine outside. Yet again I made a mistake and ordered Hyderabadi biryani.’ Ohh my! Why don’t I learn? ‘Leave the fact it was too spicy and that there was too generous a helping of chilies. The worse fact was that I stuffed myself with half of it when I realized its chicken and not mutton. I had placed an order for the latter. When we raised the matter with the steward, he was quick to clear the dishes and bring in the original thing. The mutton did replace the chicken, but nothing cleared the chilies from the way. Don’t know how I stuffed the whole portion in, and ended up with my throat and tongue burning. The only respite was the yummy hot chocolate fudge from the nearby Corner House ice creams.

Friday was an introduction to TW University – the training program. We had another intro session where we got to mean the foreign grads for the 1^st time. We were met our trainers for the program and got to know who our coaches were. There was a treasure hunt inside the office in the evening and Sumit did make us run around like headless chickens. Later, we had a small party at Tejas’s apartment where we ordered food from Domino’s and experimented with his Xbox.

Yesterday, we had a groups outing to Bangalore city. Played few party games, and had a long walk around the city. The nonstop jabbering made sure it was not such a dull experience. ’Walk when you talk as the saying goes.’ Had a pretty decent lunch from 1498 AD.

A reunion of the Bengaluru Eagles is the agenda for the day. Hoping to meet up with them.

Before I sign off, I thought I should mention an incident that occurred yesterday. Few of us were waiting at Brigade road for others to arrive during our walk, and in the meanwhile thought about grabbing a drink. As I was doing that, I saw this gal who looked simply sensational. And I mean it; that good, super modelisque, absolutely marvelous…. She was coming towards us and there was no way we could take our eye off her. Simply amazing. Just when she about to walk past us, I noticed the words on her t-shirt.’ Don’t forget to Blink!’ How outrageously true. How outrageously confident.

That’s B.Tech for you...

2009-07-21T22:20:00.001+05:30

Seminar season is on the cards for my dear juniors. It seems all of them are in a hustle and bustle to get their seminar topics. At least a dozen of them have already enquired with me on how to get a seminar topic. ‘Why don’t you try IEEE?’ and the reply I get is in unison, ‘We were asked not to check IEEE, guide sir/ma’am says its high standard.’ Where is all of this heading too? A year ago we were told to refer IEEE journals and transactions alone, and now? How time flies?

I feel IEEE does have the best collection of EE related stuff, and with a bit of browsing one can get a decent topic with moderate difficulty. And as far as project topic goes, all I have to say is don’t try something that’s too ambitious and one which requires hardware to be developed. It’s a waste of money. In college, project presentation is just a formality. There wont be much of a difference between a hardware project and one in which you simulate and deduce some stupid results. And by difference I mean in you marks. Why burn a hole in your pocket?

When I think of all this, memories of my seminar and project flash by. Both ended up being a comedy.

The whole of my class was inside the DCF once trying to get access into IEEE Explore. I sat in front of a system, looked at my friends on either side, asked them for the url, typed it in, hit the return key and I was in. Mind you, only one person inside the entire campus can access at a time. I got in, and looked in every possible direction. I didn’t know what to do. With the tips from my pals, I got a paper, which was approved on the next day. I waited for the day before the presentation to open my paper. And as always, it looked like Greek. I dozed off more than once and finally when I was done reading it twice it was 11.00 pm. I made 3 slides of my presentation after which I thought of flexing my muscles. I woke at 7 in the morning.

The D-day was here. I cut the morning class which included a machines lab, got a laptop from the LH and started making something like a presentation. Then I realized I had had to submit an abstract the previous week. Did that at 1.00 and gave the copy to my guide. At 2.00 pm I entered the seminar hall and was in front of the crowd at 2.30pm. I don’t remember what I said. Once I was done, one of my friends commented – ‘Either you know everything about electric traction or you are the god of bluffing…’ The chayya and vada was tasty too.

The project was even worse. First, my project group was rejected (Yes…. Even that can happen!!) Thanks to the intervention of my dear darling staff advisor. When we finally got a green flag, we mustered up a topic and presented it at the interim presentation. We got raped. As per the instruction we looked for a new topic, found one which got another green light. But before we put the foot to the accelerator, the dear darling came with the red flag yet again. We played see-saw with the topics and went from pillar to post to find out what was to be done. Eventually, through the thankful intervention of a wonderful professor, we by-passed the dear darling.

Proceeding to work on the project was hit with a flat tire right at the beginning. The most important equipment required at least 20k. When the dreams were fading off, thoughts of a simulation gimmick were emerging. It was in such a situ, a friend advised to check with a staff member in the EC dept. And this man turned to be the Knight in Shining armor. He did grant us to use their wares. In fact, he helped us so much with the hardware bit too. Bit by bit we managed to inch near the goal in just 2 weeks of actually doing real work.

And finally on the day before the presentation, we did make the thing work. We made our presentation, protected ourselves from the next rape and some how reached the chequered flag.

Our guide saw our work for 6 months on the next day(for the 1^st time).

6 months or 2 weeks, hardware or simulation, working or not working, results or no results, useful or useless. Who cares? You get evaluated by your attendance for 2 semesters and a ten minute presentation. That’s B.Tech in Kerala University for you.

I will miss u... :-(

2009-07-18T12:00:00.000+05:30

There are days when you have something to write, but the words don’t come out. Then, some days when you try to spin yarns when you have nothing to write about. And on most days, you get lazy to sit down and type. That explains why I have not posted on the previous days. None of it today though.

Past few days were eventful. One of the days was spent in a shopping spree with Muni and Ambu. We ransacked a whole Big Bazaar showroom, tried out new clothing in a couple of shops, bought miscellaneous stuff from umbrellas to brass locks for the suitcases. In between we did have lunch from a small eat out inside Chalai market, which served the most delicious chicken – tender, juicy small pieces which was coated in spicy masala and served piping hot along with mouth-watering –Neyychore. The whole lot was then washed down with couple of glasses of lemonade. The meal was worth every penny we paid.

Rest of the days was spent in wrestling matches with my computer which has been dead slow to respond. It’s probably the worst it has performed in the last 4 years (that’s from when I have started to reinstall the OS on my own.) Cleaned up the mess by doing the formatting act again. Head-Firsting into Java has been another preoccupation. Very few pages are being covered everyday – but something is better than nothing – as the old saying goes.

Last morning I visited my old math teacher along with Sankaran. Sir was sporting a new look hat took me by surprise. We talked on topics ranging from the pathetic situation of the education system to the latest Nokia handset. Once I was about to depart he did forget the usual punch. Luckily he saw my beardish kind of thing only after I was clearly out of his range. Got a clear message that I would end up with a broken leg if it remains there. LOL.

And finally, last evening, took Muni to the railway station. He left for Delhi as he is set to start a new page in his life. It was great to see all the AREVAns together and the huge posse of friends and family members who came to bid farewell to them. Once they had left, saw a junior of mine who was calling for help. His train was about to leave in 5 minutes and he could not run with the baggage as one of his arms was inside plaster casing. Poor thing. But when you arm is broken, its raining cats and dogs, and you want to catch a train, you don’t come late to the station dripping wet with just 5 minutes for the train to depart , because at most of such occasions you find the train in the 5^th platform. Some how managed to get him into the train before it left.

As I drove back from the station to my home, vivid memories of my dear friend were flashing by. I have spent more time with him than anyone else in the last 4 years in spite of the fact that we never studied in the same class. I don’t think there were more than 10-15 occasions when we didn’t sit together in the college bus. In fact, we had a seat reserved for us. I recall in the 1^st year when everyone around was studying for the university exams we were screaming – ‘Should Schweinsteiger play on the left or right!!!!’ All the quizs and various other competitions that we had gone together were so eventful and memorable. If I had to pick 3 of the most endearing images of this guy, it would be as follows.

#3 – all those GDs we had been together from those at TIME to the ones at BM competitions, he had that knack to screw each me up. I would churn up twice the number of facts and suggestions, but this idiot used to end up getting credit for it. He was a master at that.

#2 – In what we describe as our best quiz performance together, we needed to get this one right to win. The question was - ‘on which scientists grave do you find the words – I lie here, somewhere.’ And he said – ‘somewhere, he is not sure, he is uncertain, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg.’ Simply sensational. Pity that we had stopped quizzing for almost 2 years before this.

#1 – He admitting to his staff advisor that he had changed in the last 2 years because of my constant chiding. Thank you dear friend. Not for spelling my name, but for realizing why I used to bombard you, and understanding who stands to benefit. I only wonder why all my friends don’t think the same.

I didn’t tell a bye, because I’m sure we will see again. And hence forth I wait for the next time we meet.

What ahead for M.U.F.C?

2009-07-14T23:13:00.002+05:30

Nothing really happened today. Gym, sleep, computer and then shopping list for tomorrow. Nothing more. So, thought I should write about my predictions for the coming season of football at the Theatre of Dreams.

Up till yesterday, Manchester United was in the gossip columns of each and every British tabloid. First, the murmurs and then the actual sale of the best player in the world at present Cristiano Ronaldo, then, Carlos Tevez’s refusal to sign a permanent deal and his subsequent move to rivals Manchester City and finally, signing of the talented Ecudorian Antonio Valencia, the once talented and now crippled Michael Owen and the unheard Gabriel Obertan. Probably every superstar in the game was linked with a move to the club at over inflated prices, considering the fact that United have the 80 million in their wallet after the sale of the main player. But, yet again Fergie has the laugh as he brings all predictions to a farce and announced to the media last night that he won’t be signing any more this summer.

The United faithful have been divided in their opinion as to whether the gaffer is right or wrong with this one.

What does Dsk feel?

First and foremost, two players whose back I had wanted to see have left he club. Ronaldo was a great goal scorer. In fact a goal poacher. He never played in the right hand side of midfield, was overly selfish and considered himself bigger than Man Utd. Sorry, got to disagree with that. Yes, he did score 80 odd goals in two seasons, but how many did he waste? And worse, his lack of discipline always forced creative players like Rooney and Carrick going the dirty work of protecting the defense. As for Tevez, he ran around like a headless chicken, showed the strength of a bull and the stamina of a Duracell. I don’t think he has the creativity, talent, speed or that extra gear to fit the 25million price tag.

About the new arrivals, Valencia is a classic winger, he is no Ronaldo, but is pacy, can beat his man and can put in a nice and early cross. Owen was at a time the deadliest strikers the world had seen. He was quick and was deadly with his finishing. Continuous injuries in the last four years have meant he has lost the former, but a finisher is born, not developed. Ask a certain Ole. It is interesting to note that Rooney’s best numbers for England is when he partners Owen. Maybe that is a good omen.

Obertan is an unheard entity. Fergie has had various successes in bring such players. From the butter fingered Taibi and the uncreative Bellion who were mostly useless to Solskjaer and Vidic who were mostly unheard before but took the game by storm. How will they fare is to be seen in the coming months.

How will they shape up?

As for the shape of the team, United were woeful last season. They tried everything from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and then stuff like 4-1-2-1. There was not much of a rhythm and flow to their play. I feel the team will go back to the 4-4-2 formation. There is a big resemble in the line up as well as the situation at the club to the one it was in 3 years ago when United sold their prime goal scorer Nistelrooy (also to Real Madrid) and the entire footballing media scrutinizing the lack of signings. ESPN-Star predicted Untied to finish 4^th in the league. Sky had gone one worse at 5^th. They won the title playing some of the best football I have seen, that too with the 4-4-2.

Rooney would most provably be brought to his preferred position behind the striker. Berbatov should lead the line, something which he rarely did last season. Why should he, Ronaldo was there. Owen should be the impact player from the bench with Macheda and Welback being the other striking options. Both have talent in abundance and would love to see them rise through the ranks.

Valencia should play on the right wing; Nani on the left. He needs to impress this season. He has the talent but lacks the end product. I would have loved to seen Ashley Young come in though. Park and Obertan should be the options on the bench.

Carrick and Fletcher would be the best options to pull the strings in midfield with Anderson being another option. Once Hargreaves is fit, he too will fit into the scheme of things. The legends Giggs and Scholes would pull up their socks when ever they are called into action.

Defense will be the tried and tested Evra-Vidic-Ferdinand-Brown. Wes Brown had missed most of last season with injury and would be good to have him back. O’shea, Evans and Neville can help when called into action with the Da Silva twins also to assist who always impress.

Van der Sar is the man between the sticks with Foster deputizing and looking to take over the #1 jersey.

And at the helm, the one, the only, Alex Ferguson.

Prediction for the season –

Will be a close run for the money if all the main players remain fit. I believe it will be more of a team effort next season than few individuals standing out. A good preseason is on the cards. That is when United are always venomous.

Glory, glory, Man Utd.

Grr...Grr...

2009-07-12T11:13:00.000+05:30

Could not post this yesterday due to certain technical problems.

It was a busy day and had to make few trips around the city doing shopping as I prepare to leave this city, where I have spent 22 years of my life. Had gone to Big Bazaar and it is funny to note that it is the first time I am visiting this so-called mall in my city, after 2 years of their arriva. My notes on it – Big in size, Big in selection, Low in prize, Pathetic in quality. The shoppers were evenly spread over the 5 floors of the Bazaar, but when I was about to leave I found this huge, and I mean huge queue on the ground floor. When I asked another fellow shopper he brought to my knowledge that it was the free counter - you get to collect your free offers for your shopping endeavors. The Big Bazaar guys know how to market.

Later I offloaded my assorted range of photocopies and countless number of books to a friend of mine. It was a great effort to collect them from the various corners of my room. Once I had done that, lifting the whole thing looked seemingly impossible, but some how managed to do that too. Finally, my room gets a clean look. Adieus to my one time pillows.

Last night the Maverick was kind enough to talk to me about photography and clear my doubts. Gave me some good tips and had the patience to go though my Orkut album. He also took time to edit my pics and send them back to me. I was left wondering if these were in fact taken by me. Kudos to you Maverickeye.

I had then got a text message from my friend that a tube of Fevicol was found sticking in the offloaded elements. ‘ehh… eeehh…eeekkss…’, you should have got the point. I was lost for words. What can I say, all the best to you. Once you dig further into them, cobwebs, roaches, spiders, love letters (I can dream, cant I!!) may be found. Hope there isn’t any of my answer sheets in there.

Before I sign off, I want to mention this incident which left me fuming during my outing earlier in the day. I was wearing my Man Utd jersey, something which I’m proud about. That was when this relatively old man came to me and asked, ‘When did Vodafone start selling t-shirts?’ COULDN’T HE SEE THE BIG EMBLEM IN RED OF THE RED DEVIL AND THE WORDS MANCHESTER UNITED. ‘Grrrr…grrr… grrrrrrrr………..’

The Midday Thief

2009-07-09T21:40:00.000+05:30

Finally, I have my own account. It’s some kind of a miracle for me. The only banking related trips were inside ATMs with my friends, and that too just inside the air conditioned cabins for a few minutes. All the cash cheques I had accumulated through the various inter-collegiate fests were cashed by my dad. So, I a bank account, a cheque book, an ATM card and an e-banking account. Only ingredient missing is cash in the account. That sadly will take some time.

The person at the bank who took me through the various procedures was one Mr. Manoj. When I was done with filling up the forms, I placed it on his table. He showed indications to bring it nearer to him. Just as I was about to ask why he could not lean forward to get it, I found the answer. ‘He couldn’t!’ Sadly, the man was handicapped with his limbs weakened. He needed both his hands to lift his phone receiver. But he was really smart in letting me know what was to be done. A very cheerful person with a pleasant smile that would bring a smile to any one of us.. He must have done a lot of hard work to reach thus far and no wonder he was in a good position in the firm. He should be making his family and close friends really proud being a role model. Kudos to you Mr. Manoj.

Once I was done with my work there, I returned to my car. Took the key from my pocket and tried opening the door. Moved the keys to one side, then the other; it wasn’t moving. Pulled the key out and put in upside down. It went in, but not either side. I repeated the whole exercise couple more times. The effort slightly increasing each time. After about two minutes of continued action, I was enjoying the attention of quite a few people around. Then, I showcased the most idiotic move. I walked to the front of that car to check if it was indeed my car. ‘Thank God…. It was indeed my car… But why the hell is it not opening!!!’ I tried the exercise again to no avail. But this time quite a few people around must have thought I was trying a daredevil act of daylight robbery. Just about when I thought some one was going to ask me what was going on, I ran to the other side and tried the door there. After couple of trials, it opened. Jumped it, moved into the driver seat, started the car and drove off as fast as I could. The damn key was bent; I realized later.

Flashback

2009-07-08T23:49:00.001+05:30

Plan to go to college was called of today after one of my friends fell ill. So, I used the time to pay a visit to one of my friends, who is leaving for Hyderabad tomorrow. It was nice to have met him as I have been continuously missing chances to bid farewell to many of my other pals. He is probably the best football player I have had a chance to play with. Wish him all the best for his training and all his future ventures. So to Sundarakuttan as well, who is leaving for Bangalore to join ABB. I was texting him just a little while earlier and it made me sad with memories from the last 4 years coming to my mind.

Had later gone to the bank to start a new account for myself. While I was waiting to be given instructions, I noticed this lady who came in rather fashionable attire. Most guys would surely give that attire a second though I’m not sure about the person. The whole room was filled with the smell of the strong perfume. She stood near me and enquired to the person at the desk. As I leaned over to hear the conversation, I was forced to chuckle. She was asking him what her ATM card PIN was. ‘Women… They don’t change do they??’ remarks Dsk.

Rest of the day was spent trying to formalize the plot for my next post, which I had eventually started to write. The lean periods in the middle of that were spent watching my favorite scene from a plethora of movies and going through the numerous photographs on the computer. One of those sets was that of our industrial visit to a substation in Shornur and the subsequent drop-ins to our friends Chandana and Dgp’s homes. Had a great time there mostly enjoying the lovely food Chandana’s mom prepared for us and the yummy desserts we ate at Dgp’s. The endearing image from the trip – a lean Muni sitting in between a not so lean me and Sankaran; and munching chapathis and idiyappams on after the other. For those who did not witness the spectacle – the remarks from Chandana’s dad that the thin boy ate to his heart’s contempt simply shows how much our host loved watching him eat. But the no.1 hit was from an unexpected person. Dgp explained to her sister that her friends Sasimon, Kichu, Muni, Ambu and Sankaran are coming over for dinner. Her sis had only one question – ‘Don’t you have at least a single friend with a decent name?’

And I am back...

2009-07-07T14:01:00.003+05:30

After a short break, I’m back to my blogging ways. On Friday and Saturday, I was away in college helping the team from TW get on with the recruitment. It was a bit too hectic on day 1 and I had reached back home well after mid night. Could not keep my self from dozing off straight after coming home. Day 2 was a disaster as the result of two days’ effort came. None of the Cetians were given offers. I felt really sad for those guys. Hopefully better things will come for them in the rest of the season.

I had travelled to Malapuram for my friend’s marriage on Sunday. The two day trip helped me take a bit of the shock out of my mind. Most of the travel time was spent on sleeping and I didn’t give much trouble to my fellow travelers except for the one of waking me up. The function went fine and we got a chance to eat some Malabari food. The experience of watching the grand final at SW19 at my friend’s place while the entire house was celebrating the Oppana and Mehindi night was fun, though few of us were left sulking as ARod lost. Over the different conversations I picked up, one was about the poor food in Trivandrum. The guy was talking about the sumptuous gourmets of Calicut. A frank opinion from Dsk having eaten from what many label as the best restaurant in Calicut – “Its good and a different style, but nothing that’s great. You guys need to adapt to the food style when you go to another place. And to those of you hostlers in CET who think Lord’s and ZamZam are the places which serves food in Trivandrum, I pity you,” says the self-proclaimed Gastronome.

Coming back to the trip, the travel has taken a toll on me with a few knocks here and there. The accidental elbow which I received while on a bus and the ache in my lower back which was acquired via trying to find a new posture to sleep is still bothering me. Different sights and sounds came our way during the trip which left us watch and wonder – the dance and music at Falsa’s home, the unleashing of the monsoon, the chunks of meat that was coated and fried in fire and Ebi missing the bus while he was answering the call of nature. But the sight that left all of us bewildered was at Focus Mall, the premier shopping centre in Calicut, where people came in branded wear, where people came to buy branded wear, and here was a man who came to shop in Kerala’s own Lungi. It was a sight to behold, to see the man up the huge Escalator and walk past us in this very strange costume. Then, he went straight into the Jockey showroom; maybe his attire might have helped him do a quick and easy dress trial.

Why Dsk?

2009-07-03T06:29:00.000+05:30

Due to certain technical difficulties regarding my network connection, I have been forced to post this one late. Nevertheless, it’s better than never, as the saying goes. Calling today uneventful would be wrong. Rather, it was monotonous. Most of the day was spent in helping my juniors with the preparation of the Resumes and explaining to one or the other over and over again on what to expect on the D-day at TW. It is never a pain to help others, is it? Did not bother to watch the Grand Slam action, Ladies’ tennis has never impressed me. The football transfers did not spin any new yarn today. I wish the gossipers a better day tomorrow.

Well, sorry if I am getting a bit clichéd with talk regarding my gym sessions. It would be pity if I didn’t mention it. For helping all those machos working out like hell in there, a sort of hip hop music is played in there from the booming Sony speakers fitted in at all corners. For the novice that I am, I do not know how it assists them, but I presume it’s the beat of the music which helps them while thye go on with the strenuous work out. Now, this morning, while I was taking a breather during my session and sipping a glass of water, I was observing this Ramboish-Hulk like guy lifting weights to the beat of MJ’s Bad. He was pacing at the perfect speed when all of a sudden the track changed. Everyone in the hall was left in the most bewildered state; the Ramboish-Hulk like guy even dropped the weight on the floor making one big clattering. Luckily, he didn’t break his foot, but was eagerly searching for the guy who is in charge of the music system, who was seen scampering into the room where the main system was kept. The music continued to flow for almost half a minute before SPB’s ‘Shankaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa’ was brutally halted.

Few people have been enquiring about the idea of this blog. ‘What’s the whole point Dsk?’ Well, it’s a time pass definitely. I should say that I have always wanted to keep a diary. But, that would be a bit too personal and might even force me to write stuff which might be hush-hush. That in turn might force me to hide it from daylight. And the counter reaction to it might be the curiosity of my sister. Why bother about that? A public diary would automatically make me draw a line. Moreover, the comments such as ‘Why do you bother to post such sh**!!’ always bring a giggle. Thanks to the one who told that. You know it was you who said it. LOL. On top of all that, my splendid accuracy with spelling and the flowing calligraphy issues can be sorted out in much easier ways. Kudos to the ones who brought out such ideas.

Where are you?

2009-07-01T23:49:00.003+05:30

A relatively wasteful day when I did practically nothing. Switched the TV on to see some news. The present day media reporting really gets on my nerves. I feel reporting is not the word to be used, its rather creating news. The way the smallest incident is sensationalized is woeful. Where is this all heading to?

The tennis at SW 19 didnt bring a good reading. Novak lost again. His career is on the downhill. Fedex played with the power of a bull, the vision of an eagle and the feet of a ballet dancer. It didnt help the onlookers as the opponent was a tall lanky Croat who only had a big serve to match the legend. An absolute mismatch. Britain's #1 went through with ease and will meet the winner of Rod V Hewitt. From what I read, the latter might win it.

The news coming through regarding Benzema signing for Real Madrid has put a bad taste in my mouth. Did he ditch us over Madrid? Was Fergie admiring him? Or was United even interested in the player? The spectator has not idea, but for a Red Devil, who wants to see a superstar come to OT, its rather something that has got the spirits deflated.

Was speaking to a junior about my 4 years at CET. It was then I realised that there is a good fraction of people who can not think beyond the present state of poor affairs, dreaded egos and embarrassing politics in the campus. I used love to go to college in my 1st two years. And frankly, the condition from then has been pathetic since. A Dhwani which ends in 'MH ki Jai' and a Geared that ends in 'Daysci's ki Jai' does not give a good reading to the neutrals. There were times in my 1st year there were fights so pathetic, but those were forgotten on the 3rd day. More than the rivalry, its the ego's of the factions that has left the plenty of talented ones sulking and the pride of the CETiian rotting before the public eye. Pride of a CETiian??? Where is a CETiian - you wont find one. You will either get a MH or a Daysci. You pick you right to fight.

I mentioned yesterday that I had climbed the main block. As I stood on top over looking the entire campus, I wanted to shout out with all my might - 'CET where are you??' I didnt, because I know I wont get a reply. Because, this simply is not CET.

As I prepare to leave Trivandrum, I dream of a day to come back to my campus, stand on top of the building again, overlooking the Golden Walkaway and shout out the very same question and then hear the vibrant replies of the CETiians of tomorrow.

Go Green!!

2009-06-30T22:30:00.004+05:30

Paid a visit to my dear college to get the last rites done. Ran around till noon getting the autographs from various personnel and the most precious wordings at present - 'No Dues'. Once that was done, the sheets of letters and stuff were deposited along with the punched Id cards at the Dean's. After this our lil' posse moved to our beloved Lord's, the eat-out where I have shelled out quite a lot of the prize money I have won. Had Fried Rice which was tasteless as usual, Butter Paneer Masala which didn't know what u mean by butter and Paneer Schezwan (sorry!!! don't know the spelling) which was generous with the pepper and red chillies (n I was generous with the water too!!). Its three weeks and counting. Even I cant believe I have gone green. And if my memory holds, this is the first time I had had a full veggie meal from there. Kudos to Dsk. Sitting there with my dear friends and the thought that this maybe the last time all of us might sit together for a meal was depressing.

Rest of the afternoon was spent on top of our spanner shaped main block. It was truly spectacular with the slightest of drizzles looming, the wonderfully cool breeze and the beautiful picture waxing and waning before us . The sun making the occasional appearance through the colossal clouds, beaming it laser like rays. My Powershot Cam didn't have any respite as I took shot after shot till the drizzle became a bit too heavy forcing us indoors.

Later today, got a call from one of my teachers at school. Obviously, it had to be another quiz offer. But this one was for a new challenge. The battle of brains among Class 5, 6 n 7. Hope to get the questions done asap and send them over. She also promised me that they are ready to host the inter house quiz whenever i am convenient. That was flattering but will need to convince my bosses though.

One of my friends had informed me last week that he finally got admission to IIM I. He dropped the bombshell by saying he is not going. Instead, he is joining IIT M for M.Tech. I would say he was a bit spoilt for choices with far too many options in front of him. Knowing this guy from something like Class 4, this would make u understand why he was dubbed the Calculator. IIT M beware, New Lion from CET on the way to your Tamil land . (Nothing to do with the political climate..LOL..) All the best to u man...

As the TW placement day in CET is drawing closer, more and more guys are giving me a ring to know how everything went for me then.
'GALS!!!!!! Where are you???'

Tomorrow Never Dies

2009-06-29T22:44:00.003+05:30

I had decided that I wont be mentioning about my gym sessions until I look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But I had to this time around. Went through the longer version of the light training(I had mentioned previously) today. For almost three-quarters of an hour from 6.15, all i was did was to hop and jump and look like an absolute idiot. Once I was done with it, the trainer released me of the embarrassment and asked me to try the cycle. I went over to the corner, got on top of it, noted the distance reading and on I went about with the business. For the next five minutes, I never looked up for a second. All i thought about was the constant speed of my legs. At 7.05, I gave the 1st looks around for the trainer. Looked back down and on I went about it again. At 7.10, my mind started wandering. I thought what Lance Armstrong should be going through time and time again. On I went again. At 7.15, I really started losing focus. Suddenly, I thought about my goal. Dsk's head fitted into Arnold's body. Bang........ I was riding as if it was an Olympic sprint finish. At 7.20, I lost steam. At 7.25, there was a small puddle of sweat all around that cycle. At 7.30, the trainer pops up. The tired Dsk put up a smile. That was when he asked, 'Didn't you go??? Didn't I ask you to go after cycling for 5 minuted???'.... 'Ohhh My...........' As i shrugged off, I looked at the distance meter to realize it was not working.

Finally, reinstalled my OS today. It was getting pathetic. Got Windows back in again, updated, new version of Kapersky on top, scanned my computer and even ran the Defragmenter. Once I was happy with all that, I realized that the left button on the mouse was not lifting back up again. 'Aint that cool!!' My 3rd mouse to kick the bucket in 8 months. Went to Logtech and got a Microsoft Optical Usb scroll mouse.Had to pay for that out of my pocket.

Lots of my juniors are getting in touch and bombarding me with questions about my job interview that happened over a year. Yes, Thoughtworks on campus on July 3rd. Why cant they check my blog? I have given a detailed report on that. LOL, im joking. Talking about TW, cant wait to join there. I would be leaving on July 27th. From what I saw, it seems to be a cool place with lots of fun and frolic. As my mind wanders off, I think about the JAVA that i have been asked to learn before I reach there and the words of the HR, "come prepared for the training period or it is going to be real bad" .
Tomorrow is the day when Dsk changes... Ohh ... need to go to college tomorrow. Day after is the day when Dsk changes.

Ode

2009-06-28T22:40:00.002+05:30

I had a dream last night. I was in the middle of this debate in pidgin Tamil. As I slowly came to my senses, the agitation was still going on. I crawled up and peeped outside to find the Ironing guy and his wife continuing their conversation in almost a deafening tone, and surely unaware of my curious observation. The wife was assisting the husband by taking the creased clothes and placing the coat hangers into them. Her next action left me fuming. She walked to my car parked outside, pulled the radio antenna and shirt hung on it. I wanted to bark out, but didn't want to scare them off. It was only a couple of days before I scared the garbage collecting ladies off. Don’t think they would want to see me anytime soon.

The treatment being shelled out for my dear Santro car is getting worse. Leave the Iron Lady thingy, but it seems that my driver is treating it like a tractor. Shocking to say the least.

Most of the day was spend in collecting feedback about this very blog and also my 1st attempt in poetry which I have posted in my other blog.

Was dejected to hear the news regarding Lohitadas. He was one of the finest story writers in Malaylalam cinema and I love some of his movies like Kireedom, Amaram, Bharatham and Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal. His cameo in the last one was pretty impressive and Malayalam cinema will surely miss his most impressive yarns. May his soul rest in peace.

India seems to limp towards a 150. Shocking performance and I doubt if it is MSD's look alike that is batting. He is struggling to put bat to ball.

Something is happening

2009-06-28T00:11:00.000+05:30

The main purpose behind starting this blog was that, I have had more than my share of boredom in the last one week and my attempt at spinning yarns is presently down. I had tried all sort of plots from a Lover's tele-conv to a Matrix style stunt sequence without much success. Finally when I decided to write about my boredom, I do it on a day when I had finally done something. That's contradiction for you.

Think I paid my last visit to out beloved FCT ground today morning. It was a very subdued game, with pathetic turn out. Fewer players imply Dsk gets a run out. Had an awful game with Krips, Somu and Muni running me ragged. It is very clear where my future in the football field lies - no where other than in between the sticks.

I forgot to mention about my first Gym session. Yes... Finally after three years of thought and two weeks of negotiations and decisions, I paid a visit there. The trainer did look puzzled and gave me a soft word saying, "Only light exercises to start off. This will take time." The so called light exercises left me embarrassed. It rather looked like the aerobics I had to go in my 3rd and 4th classes. Hmmm.. Can’t blame the trainer. He knows what he is getting paid for. My arm and knees are aching now.

Went to apply for my PAN card in the morning. My HR at TW did mention it won’t be necessary, unless I want my salary. She has got nice humor sense.

In the evening, I had gone out to buy our dinner. Unexpectedly met Sreejith and he was rather skeptical about his job offer. As I waited there, I was noting the behavior of quite a few people. A group of young men seemed to order everything on the menu, including the desserts. They were loud with the jokes and seemed to get ugly looks from all corners. When the bill finally arrived, they were even louder in the protest about the 4-digit figure at the bottom. Quite unaware of all this, there were these two girls munching on with their food items. On and on they went, and in the end quite to my astonishment, swiped their plates and started licking their fingers. May be it was finger licking good, but a little bit of dining etiquettes, and too in a popular eat out.

What tomorrow holds, I don’t know. But certainly more than enough ordeals to drive me mad for sure.

Here we go...

2009-06-27T23:47:00.001+05:30

Hello World...

I have decide to start my second blog, My Experiment With Craziness being the first(not counting the quiz and footy blog). I hope to use this one for my daily scribes. Rather i would try to post something as frequently as i can. As my very few followers might realize, I have not been a frequent blogger recently mostly coz of my reluctance to post which is due to Dsk being unsatisfied with the works.

With journal writing and the E-way of doing it a new trend, Dsk belives he should join the bandwagon too, though I do accept the fact that the readership and viewership for such a blog is not expected to be high. But Dsk still want to blog...

Regards...