New York - These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New

• Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) by Jay-Z

More Jay-Z music on iLike

The lyrics from Alicia Keys says all I want to say about New York City! 

   I was lucky to be in NYC for 10 days crashing at my college buddy Rahul's place in Queens, who is pursuing a career in film direction from New York Film Academy! During my stay in USA I had a couple of opportunities to travel to NYC for a long-weekend, but I let it all go. Before I even knew about any states in USA, New York was America & America was New York for me. I did not want to tarnish this image of NYC by hurrying up in a 2-day weekend. 

                Since I had about 10 days to spend, I decided not to fly to NYC but instead experience the now-forgotten railroad of America. Fortunately, Amtrak's Cardinal train passes through my car-town Cincinnati, on its way to New York Penn Station from Chicago. I had no excuse not to take the train for my journey. 

              Alas, just four hours before boarding I got a call from Amtrak saying the train will not be going to New York  due to heavy snowfall in NY state. The representative from Amtrak advised me to travel via Greyhound bus. I took the option since the Greyhound station is at 10 minutes walking distance from my apartment. Within 2 hours I was ready & waiting for the bus to NYC that will travel via Columbus,  Philadelphia  & some city in New Jersey.

             The Greyhound experience wasn't the one I expected. In my humble opinion, the MSRTC luxury bus traveling between Mumbai & Pune is much better. But then, maybe this is the only route that has crappy buses. I must, however, mention that Greyhound was punctual - so much that we reached Philadelphia 2 hours early! They told us that probably due to weather the traffic wasn't so bad between Harrisburg & Philly. I opted to spend the 2 hours in Philly by missing this bus and catching a later one. Of course, I had inquired about it from the officials. I had heard about Philly mostly through the movie Philadelphia (1993) starring Tom Hanks & Danzel Washington & the song 'Streets of Philadelphia' by Bruce Springsteen! 

             I so wished I could use the little time I had to walk the streets of Philadelphia! But I guess I wasn't in the right part of the city & did not want to wander far-away from the Greyhound station carrying my huge ruck-sack :( But this little experience did force me to add an exclusive trip to Philadelphia in my wish-list.  Probably I will make a long-weekend road-trip to Philly some day. Gotta find a friend who stays in Philly to crash at his/her place :)

           After this quick visit to Philly I boarded the bus to NYC and by evening 7ish I was at the NYC Port Authority; ready to see the dream city. I can only say that just thinking about that time gives me a goose bump...the awe kind :)

            Got too many experiences to log here...I am gonna try and record each and every day here. Stay tuned. 

A new beginning?

Here's my team and new family. This was taken on the eve of 13th May 2008 - my farewell party. I had my first shot of JagerBomb which wasnt too bad as everyone was saying. But I couldnt gather enough strength to call for another shot. Instead I got a wheat beer. 

Linkin Park- Minutes to Midnight

First of all- Its fucking great to hear some new music from LP :) LP's 3rd studio album- Minutes to Midnight. Its a mix of classic rock and hip-hop. Well I am not really impressed with this album. Its just not LP. Among all I only liked Bleed It Out and What I've Done. Bleed it out is a kickass hip hop ballad! while What I ve Done is nu-metal. This album is a result of their experimentation and looks like they are dropping from nu-metal :( which is not good.

I found this at songmeanings.com referring to Bleed It Out lyrics!

For some reason, I actually think this song is a self satire of their own lyrics on previous albums.
"and here we go for the hundredth time"

- A jab at repetitiveness?

"grind myself out and no one cares"

-They express their emotions on their songs and yet critics don't seem to respect them?

"I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away"

- Translation: I put my life in my lyrics, digging deeper, but it's useless?

Tech Tags: Linkin+Park Minutes+to+Midnight

Best Films of the 90's

I came across the list of best films of the 90's and must say I am pretty impressed by the choice of films.
I havent seen more than half of the movies listed there and now I have a huge list of movies to download :)
With the kind of download speed I get, I feel lost sometimes(infact many times) as to what to download!!!! I just blackout and keep googling for some interestin stuffs. Now that I have this list I guess I ll be busy downloading for the whole of coming month ;)

In this World- A docudrama about human smuggling

Yesterday I saw this film with my friends and almost everyone was stunned in the end. Very few films have brought tears in my eyes and this is one of them. And believe me when I say this there has to be something really
great about this movie. This tale of Afghan refugees is strong, thought-provoking stuff.
This pseudo-documentary makes it's point without being preachy. I felt I was there with these beautiful unfortunate young men on the horrendous journey to escape their life of poverty in a refugee camp. The photography is simply stunning and captures the very essence of the character's journey. There's no much dialogues in this film but it speaks for itself. There are many scenes that makes you contemplate
about why life is so cruel sometimes.
Interestingly I saw an article in today's paper about Astronaut's view about earth(since its an Earth Day today). Among them Bill Anders told, "It was the only colour we could see in the universe.....We 're living on a tiny little dust mote.....And basically, this is it for humans. It strikes me that it's a shame that we 're squabbling over oil and borders."

So please go watch/recommend this movie and let it be known to the world.
IMDB:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310154/

Tech Tags: In+this+world docudrama best+movies human smuggling asylum

Exams and shit

I ve fucked it up again. Everyday I assure myself that I ll start studying soon enough but havent really started anything. I ve yet to buy the books and dont even know which ones to buy. Vivas are starting from first week of May and I am still clueless about the syllabus.

          I think I have a faint idea why is this happening to me. But I am not yet sure whether I am ready to accept it or not. Normally my classmates try to do their best in the last two semesters because thats what people ask when an engineer passes out(and not aggregate). But I no longer have this feeling of scoring marks. All I know is that I am just gonna "clear" this semester. I dont care if I get 40% or 60%. Even my mom doesnt care unless I fail.


So the question that is nagging me is whether I should really perform by really working my ass out or just get 40% and dont give a fuck. I am capable of doing both- just clearing and performing well. But why would I want to do that. Now there's no expectation/obligation from anyone to perform well(except Accenture who want me have atleast 55% or so as aggregate).

Well you may think what a looser I am to write something lame as this. But the point of this post is to tell how much our education sucks. There's no fucking point to study for the knowledge sake. Its all BS. And to top all this- half of our professors dont even know what they are teaching. All this has really put me off from actually learning the stuff I am supposed to as an engineer. No wonder why so many Indians go to abroad to pursue further studies AND NEVER RETURN BACK.

Tech Tags: exams mumbai+university somaiya engineering

Genesis Film festival videos now available online

Ok so almost 99% of the genesis film festival videos are online for public viewing. You can go here to view them.


One of my personal favourite films is the SMILE video made by Global Rickshaw. I am embedding it here directly for easy access.




The main Genesis Film Festival site is here.

Tech Tags: Genesis+film+festival short+films documentary NGO MAM+movies

MAM Team

MAM Team

MAM- I AM

This is a collage of MAM team members.....

After a looong long time

Its been really a long time since I last posted here. I ve been too busy to write anything lately. Thats because I am no longer a "lukha" hooked to internet all day long :)
I hardly get time even to read mails. All day I ve to be present in he college(but considering my attendance that is an overstatement). Then there's the car project which is somewhat falling apart (I dont know why i am saying that). The car project takes up most of the day time. I spent all evenings at MAM Movies office chilling out with my friends(and doing some little work!). Guess what! we wasted this evening watching a stupid cricket match betwen India & Bangladesh and geting a little drunk o_O
But yea watching India getting raped by bangladesis was priceless. Now I guess people will burn down some buses and cars and probably stone some houses. Watching this hulla-bulla cricketers might just start playing better. So basically dont give a fuck whether they are playing good or bad coz in the end they are gonna be rich anyways. So why give a shit!?

Anyways we even played an boxing game on Xbox in which I played miserably fucking gash. And now I am laying on the bed in an open terrace typing in an absolute blackness listening to "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam.
ohh what a fucking life!!! and I am enjoying everybit of it!
This reminds me of a beautiful line from trainspotting-
"Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday night. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?" -Renton.

Tech Tags: Trainspotting drunk life India Cricket balls shit

yippee...we bought our engine

I was half asleep while listening to the lecture on embedded systems when suddenly my cellphone rang. I could easily answer the call as I was able to hide behind the person sitting in front of me. It was Ashwajit on the other end. He told, "Dude where are you? I am coming to take you out of the class." I quickly answered, "uP lab." I knew what was coming...

As soon as we stepped out of the class, he yelled "WE ARE BUYING THE ENGINE TODAYYYYY".


We reached a place somewhere near Haji Ali where the Honda CBR600F4i bike was kept. When I first saw the bike the first thing that came to my mind was, "Oh baby you gonna get raped today". It was 2001 red model and ran ~10K km. Soon the sound of engine finally made us breathe at ease. We were waiting for this day since soooo long and to be present there was just amazing experience.

The bike was stripped in less than an hour and finally the engine was separated from the chassis. I quickly found out all the sensors on the engine and made a note of their placement. I was surprised to see that the bike didnt have O2 sensor which a must have for any EFI engine.

I was lucky to see a Harley Davidson and its VTwin engine. Also there was a dirt racing bike.

We left the place at around 9 PM and all of us were in the party mood :) We had hell of a time at OrionPit and were doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Finally at around 11-12 we left OrionPit and went to Khau Galli for dinner.

This was a day to remember. Finally our project kicks off and so does the work load ;)

For more pics click here.

Tech Tags: FSAE Honda CBR600f4i Harley+Davidson

Dream On

The following is a great article that I thought I should share.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. --Henry David Thoreau

Fact of the Day:
How many of us find our work meaningful? How many of us feel able to do our best work? And how often do we stop to consider the consequences of our work on others, or its impact on society as a whole? Such opportunities to consider the meaning of work are rare, and challenges are salient across stages and fields. To create a paradigm shift, researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and Claremont Graduate University began the GoodWork Project. The notion of "good work" -- defined as work that is at once excellent in quality, responsive to the needs of the broader community, and personally meaningful -- is investigated in both professions and professionals. This article explores various fields, probing whether individuals desire to carry out good work, the obstacles they encounter and the strategies they have devised.

Conversation with mom

So finally I told my mom why I used to come so late these days. I didnt tell my mom about MAM and Genesis Film Project till yesterday because I knew what would be her reaction. Anyways I had to tell her about this.

When I used to come late home I just gave her one reason that "I am working". Thats it. She didnt asked further and I didnt say further. Yesterday while I was telling her about Genesis she said, "I thought you were earning?". I said, "No ma I told you I was working. Its an NGO and I ve volunteered for it". "But you could ve worked for some company and earned enough to buy books for your next semester". "I thought you were earning".

Now that really hurts and didnt know how to convince her. But I managed to assure her that the time and energy I an devoting to this huge project will be paid off in future someway or the other. But as soon as I said the word "future" she got kind of pissed off and told me, "Son I know your future is bright. You got a job and that too you ve got an option to choose, but what about the present?"....

I really didnt want to hear anything further and get lost at that moment. But I had to go through all this. Its funny although, because I am glad I listened to her. Now I feel she dumped all that was inside her mind yesterday and probably she must be feeling alright now.

I always had this feeling that I should ve an alternate or backup skill that I can use in case of fucked-up times or just to earn some extra bucks. Anything that I ve learned has helped me somehow or the other directly or indirectly. I ve met so many interesting people through the Genesis film project which wouldnt have been possible atall if I had decided not to work for it. This experience is so invaluable and I feel lucky to be associated with this project. This is the only thing that drives me to do new things in life. But also at the same time, life has taught me one of the greatest things- DO NOT EXPECT ANYTHING FROM ANYONE. Its kind of contradicting but I guess no one can deny the fact!
And yes at the end of conversation I told my mom that do not expect me to be successful always...just dont have huge expectations.... My mom chuckled and said," I am glad you are learning about life, son." Phew

The Genesis Film Project

So finally people have noticed the hardwork put up by youths bringing together 101 filmmakers from all over India!. The Genesis Film Project 2007 has recieved more than 125 entries from all over India. This really came as surprise since we had recieved only 75 entries uptil day before yesterday. Phones have been constantly ringing since two days at MAM office and the inbox is flooded with queries from aspiring filmmakers. The coming days are going to be busiest days at MAM office and the entire team is very excited to be part of such event. I am glad that I am working for such a noble cause and using my skills for the good of others.
I am really excited beacuse I had never thought that I would be working with such great talented people. Madhusudan(-the big boss and chaiwala ;) constantly encourages/appreciates our work. I feel good when I am around these people....a different kind of energy flows through MAM office that instantly makes you energised. Then there's Akash whos never out of any ideas and can write poems/anecdotes, sing... for any thing under the sun. One more interesting character is our "bhai of vile parle"- Sachi :p. Full of energy and ideas and sweet smile. Ajesh-the dude-the massager- keeps the atmosphere very alive. Rahul-the energetic/writer/poet/filmmaker/engineer ;)..the list goes on- is the one who drives the train and keeps everyone busy ;)

I wish I could be with them all day. But anyways every second at MAM is a treasure in itself.

Tech Tags: MAM movies Genesis+Film+Project

Microsoft Vista....*yawn*

Microsoft's Vista is under a scanner with so many 0-day exploits coming up lately. It seems MS has again failed to come up with a secure OS. Even the new IE7 has a few critical flaws that potentially means web users could become infected with malicious software simply by visiting a booby-trapped site. Despite MS assertions about the improved reliability of Vista, many in the industry are taking a wait-and-see approach.
0-day flaws are floating around the web and offered at an hefty price too.
I am glad I dont have a very high-end desktop. Otherwise I would have been tempted to use Vista. Anyways I am happy with my Ubuntu desktop. And also XGL beats Vista's GUI anyday. I havent found a single reason to install Vista and havent even recommended any of my friends unless they are Windows fanatics. I was laughing as hell when one of my friend bought a 512 MB Nvidia gfx card and 2GB RAM just to see how Vista 'looks'. Needless to say he was impressed with vista. But then I showed him a video of XGL desktop in action and he is happily using it alongwith(dualboot) good old WinXP!

Tech Tags: Vista 0-day XGL Linux

MAM Movies

My friend Zainab told me about this initiative founded by young Indians known as MAM Movies. Its basically a forum where Independent Film makers can Produce, Exhibit and Distribute innovative Independent South Asian Films.
Zainab told me to join the team which even she is a part of. They need a visualizer/artwork developer for various events that they are coming up with. Today I met them to speak about the upcoming event Genesis
Well its a huge event where 101 filmmakers will be called and each one has to make a documentary about anyone of the 101 NGOs of Mumbai within a time slot of 101 hours. Pretty interesting and unique huh!
I am gonna be working with them for this project because its too interesting and dont want to miss the oppurtunity. My work profile is to develope posters, artwork, website artwork, etc. I have restricted myself to just a few options as I am very much busy with my FSAE project. I get involved more and more as and when I get free from my usual work(read: engineering).
This is so interesting to work with such talented, young individuals who are full of energy and dreams. They are about to create a cultural revolution by helping/inspiring independent film makers at grassroot level. With the evolution of YouTube, Vimeo, etc broadcasting has became so easy and cheap! Anyone can reach millions n millions of people at almost no cost. MAM Movies are also into distribution so that filmmakers can sell their DVDs to the masses.
I hope I ll be associated with MAM movies for a loooooooong time unless engineering kills me ;-)
I ll keep updating about Genesis project in the mean time or you can directly view their blog

Tech Tags: MAM movies Genesis FSAE Independent+Film+makers YouTube Vimeo

Yipee....my passport is coming

After 3 days of running around passport office, my application was accepted. The first day they didnt accept because I didnt have xerox copy of the application. When I finally got, it was too late.
The next day again it was rejected because I didnt have a copy of electricity bill which was a year old. Finally on the third day it was accepted. Now I have to wait 45-60 days to get my passport. I hope everything goes smooth and get it asap.

For those who havent applied here's the official site giving details about everything you need to apply for passport.

Tech Tags: passport

End of another semester

Just got up from 7 hour sleep O_O. The occasion?? end of sleepless nights aka exams ;)
So an end of another semester (sem VII) and start of a new one with full of promises( I swear I start studying from the begining, I swear I ll do all my assignments on my own, I swear I ll do well in class tests...so on you get the idea)
Its weird now I dont remember any of those promises I made while was giving my exams. ahh anyways I ll think over it when next sem starts.
This particular semester was different than any other because of many important events that took place. First of all I got placed in Accenture. Its is a 2.7L package and I am quite happy with it. Also our protoype car Barracuda B150 was successfully realised and it now running at 50 kmph!!. Mr. Samir Somaiya also invited me and my firends to work on a project which is based on WiFi Mesh Networks.
I am looking at the long-term prospects of this project. Right now I am in a crossroads as to which company I should join after my Bachelor of Engineering degree. This is really gonna decide my future because both are different fields. Also there's a completely different option of joining automobile industry (only if our FSAE car makes it to Germany).
So far so good. I am looking forward to next semester and ofcource the end of it :p

Tech Tags: Exams Sem+VII engineering accenture fsae wifi+mesh

Web 2.0 satire

About Supercilious

Welcome to Supr.c.ilio.us, the World's First Social Social Tagging Site Tagging Site™. This is the place to come to tag all those other tagging sites. Why would you want to do that? Good thing you asked, because we were going to tell you anyway...

With so many places to tag so many things, how could one person keep track of it all?

So, we've built supr.c.ilio.us for you to ta other tagging sites.

We need this, dont we?
Also there's another site that ll help you to create your own Web2.0 company :D

Tech Tags: Web2.0 satire funny

Oops got caught!

I knew this would happen and it did! Well I usually depend upon library books for studying during exams. These books plus notes are my only sources. Our library contains huge number of the prescribed books but a few books have very limited copies. So naturally these are unavailable during exam times. So I usually hide the books in another stack before exams. We have open access to the library so its easy to do the job. Just before my Digital Communications exam I switched the book on Image Processing to another rack. I thought I would go to the library next day and issue the book.
When I went to the library next day, I was strolling here and there in the library and after some time i took my Image Processing book to get it issued. When the librarian saw the book he looked straight at me and asked where did I found the book! Boom I was surprised to hear this, but I knew what was coming. I knew all i had to do is deny...deny..deny....
Lib: Where did you find the book?(stares at me)
Z: Uhh I..I found this in another rack..I I suppose someone had switched the book to another rack(looking damn innocent)
Lib: (gets up) Show me where you found the book.
Z: (follows him) I...I found it in the opamp books rack...I was goin through the opamp books and I suddenly saw this book there....
Lib: (stares at me) How on earth you are the only one who found this book!!
Z: I dunno...as I said I ws going through the opamp books.....
Lib: You are not geting this book....six students had asked about the book and we couldnt find it here. If you want this book go get permission from Senior Lib.

I kept saying I found it accidently. But I knew he didnt believe, although he never told me So I just left the room and got the hell out of there. When I was walking home I thought about this again. I think when many students were asking for the same book, librarian must have gone through the database to see if there's any copy left. He must have definitely found one copy is still inside the lib.
Anyways I knew someday or the other this will happen (I was doing this since 2 years now...but only during exams). BTW I dont feel I was morally wrong doing this, was I??