when we feel sick, we invariably go to the hospital to receive treatment. but its not the case with all the people. some of them prefer a treatment, also known as homeopathy!. i m sure many wouldnt have even heard of it. it comes from the family of pathys(treatments) originating from the asian region. as far as i know, there are lot of pathy's used to treat a patient. the treatment in hospital is known as alopathy. some of them have even originated from religious and superstitious beliefs. my grand ma still follows it.
in homeopathy, patients are given small round tablets which is usually sugar coated. the most funny part is tht these sugar coated tablets are classified into some 2000 varieties. and to top it off, more than 100 varieties can be used for the treatment of same disease. my dad once bought a huge encyclopedia on homeopathy and i couldnt help noticing the kind of treatment. apparently, a particular sugar coated medicine can be used to cure large number of disease without any side effects. note: all these tablets look similar, and i still havent been able to figure out the diff between any two.
a homeopathic doctor consults the patient abt the symptoms of the disease, goes thru the encyclopedia, and then chooses the medicine from a variety of them listed in it. not only does he say he can cure common symptoms like cold, fever & headache, but also symptoms ranging like bad dreams, increase in memory power, some wound in your elbow etc. now this is utter ridiculous.
even thou, it may sound funny to me, many people do follow this treatment. cant believe that even in this modern world of science, people stick with old tradional ways of treatment. probably cause ther are no side effects. these doctors earn lots of money selling this sugar coated tablets attaching a strange name along with it. thou they say it can cure anythin, i dont think it can cure the IWC syndrome which i m suffering from. haha. you will shortly figure what this syndrome is, and will realise that you might also suffer from this.
p.s: i have noticed that most of the bloggers and other readers prefer reading only the latest blog, and just ignore the other blogs. this makes life difficult for someone who is on a bloggin roll, and suffers constantly from I-Want-Comments syndrome. i know one of my friend who stopped blogging, cause no one visited his blog or commented on it, even if they read it. now, i fear the same situation may arise with me. if homeopathy says that it has got a cure for it, i will blindly take it now.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
An Author's Artistry
after 4 years of torrid life in college, i hoped to enjoy my time at home. but the timing couldnt have been more worse. my sisters exams had started and i was crippled down to recline in the bed with out any TV or computer for a long time. dying of boredom, i borrowed some novel from my friend. DAN BROWN.. heard of him? no i m not talking abt 'The Da Vinci Code'. i got hold of his other two books 'The Digital Fortress' and 'Angels & Demons'.
Dan Brown's artistry in bringing up the whole controversy thru a book was really fascinating. it became a best seller instantaneously. the way he collected details abt somethin called 'the priory of sion, twisted a part of the real story, put some drama in between to make it one of the most thrilling stories ever. was expecting the same kind of language and drama in his novel 'the digital fortress'. it didnt disprove my expections. the novel was tantalizing, a heart-racing thriller which was cleverly brought up.
Kept me wondering whether all authors bring abt the same kind of writing in all their novels. Looking at various novels written by robert ludlum, robin cook, sidney sheldon and dan brown, my postulate didnt seem entirely false. each book tells somethin abt the author, his way of writing. in all, his books charaterizes himself different from others.
for eg. dan brown brings up well-detailed facts before he brings up his imagination, or lets say fiction. the facts brought up are such that it makes the reader believe its for real. slowly and steadily, he involves the reader into the story. his drama usually includes a lot of characters, and it different locations, which he consequently brings abt in alternate chapters to make the reader aware of the happenings. his language is simple, doesnt include complicated words and twisted meanings, making it easier for a layman to understand. but he plots the story brilliantly till the end. keeps me wondering whether its all instinctive thoughts in authors mind or was it a well planned story.
but like most authors, dan brown does reveal some of his identity in his novels. most of his plots involve around a female, and he brings up some kind of love story which according to me, spoils the whole situation. and the novel 'The Digital Fortress' revolves around some cryptographers love for another. 'the Da Vinci Code' too had one similar to this. but the intensity of the fiction carried me away from tht part. will be deeply engrossed in his other book 'Angels & Demons' in a few days time, and i know wht lies ahead in the story.
this is not just the case with dan brown. even sidney sheldon uses this as a part of his play. their books may never touch the artistry of some of the classic authors. but it does prove that every author have their own style of expressing their thoughts. sometimes i feel, this distinction in style is necessary in order to bring abt variety. and this is good, as the reader gets an option to choose his type of novels. take my example.
i m halfway through ayn rand's 'the Fountainhead' , and now i feel exhausted. wonder whether i will ever be able to complete such a voluminous book. combined with non sensical philosophy, it just drives me crazy. same with paulo coelho 'the Alchemist'. althou most of the things he is trying to explain has a deep meaning in it, but talking abt the sun and the wind talking and compromising on a deal, is somethin which sounds really funny to me.
there are many bloggers.. who i know are aspiring to write a book. thou they havent started writing yet, i already know the style of writing they will incorporate in their novel. its a part of their identity.. and i feel it will never completely change.
p.s: i have decided not to write any book as of now, and spare all the readers, the trouble of goin thru the worst novel ever.
Dan Brown's artistry in bringing up the whole controversy thru a book was really fascinating. it became a best seller instantaneously. the way he collected details abt somethin called 'the priory of sion, twisted a part of the real story, put some drama in between to make it one of the most thrilling stories ever. was expecting the same kind of language and drama in his novel 'the digital fortress'. it didnt disprove my expections. the novel was tantalizing, a heart-racing thriller which was cleverly brought up.
Kept me wondering whether all authors bring abt the same kind of writing in all their novels. Looking at various novels written by robert ludlum, robin cook, sidney sheldon and dan brown, my postulate didnt seem entirely false. each book tells somethin abt the author, his way of writing. in all, his books charaterizes himself different from others.
for eg. dan brown brings up well-detailed facts before he brings up his imagination, or lets say fiction. the facts brought up are such that it makes the reader believe its for real. slowly and steadily, he involves the reader into the story. his drama usually includes a lot of characters, and it different locations, which he consequently brings abt in alternate chapters to make the reader aware of the happenings. his language is simple, doesnt include complicated words and twisted meanings, making it easier for a layman to understand. but he plots the story brilliantly till the end. keeps me wondering whether its all instinctive thoughts in authors mind or was it a well planned story.
but like most authors, dan brown does reveal some of his identity in his novels. most of his plots involve around a female, and he brings up some kind of love story which according to me, spoils the whole situation. and the novel 'The Digital Fortress' revolves around some cryptographers love for another. 'the Da Vinci Code' too had one similar to this. but the intensity of the fiction carried me away from tht part. will be deeply engrossed in his other book 'Angels & Demons' in a few days time, and i know wht lies ahead in the story.
this is not just the case with dan brown. even sidney sheldon uses this as a part of his play. their books may never touch the artistry of some of the classic authors. but it does prove that every author have their own style of expressing their thoughts. sometimes i feel, this distinction in style is necessary in order to bring abt variety. and this is good, as the reader gets an option to choose his type of novels. take my example.
i m halfway through ayn rand's 'the Fountainhead' , and now i feel exhausted. wonder whether i will ever be able to complete such a voluminous book. combined with non sensical philosophy, it just drives me crazy. same with paulo coelho 'the Alchemist'. althou most of the things he is trying to explain has a deep meaning in it, but talking abt the sun and the wind talking and compromising on a deal, is somethin which sounds really funny to me.
there are many bloggers.. who i know are aspiring to write a book. thou they havent started writing yet, i already know the style of writing they will incorporate in their novel. its a part of their identity.. and i feel it will never completely change.
p.s: i have decided not to write any book as of now, and spare all the readers, the trouble of goin thru the worst novel ever.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
7 Point Struggler (Part II)
hopes of a branch change had vaporised into thin air. kept wondering if it was worth slogging for rest of my life. second sem came and went like a whoosh. the only thing i can possible remember is me having a stupid argument with a friend of mine over a rock band cassette, and fellow wingmates giving bumps to every other guy in the wing for fun.
after a two month long vacation break, came one of the most imp. semesters, third. 7 courses and 2 labs. had second thoughts of coming back into vicious study circle. spent a lot of time in the institute library pondering over 1000 page huge chemical engg books. but the effect of the course and the AC in the library, always made me doze of midway thru my chapter. so decided to issue the books and give it a try in hostel. but my fellow wingmates never let me settle into a proper study routine. ended up with another dissapointing 7 point somethin.
by now, i had almost given up hope to putting a fightback. i was dropped back to rank 12 in my branch. soon, computers started arriving in my wing, and the game fever started. well, it all started with 2d games like mortar, and then gradually shifted to 3d games like 'age of empires' and 'quake'. coupled with a newly installed LAN facility in the wing, the game fever never faded and spent most of my next three semesters in front of my computer. rivetted back to copying assignments and lab reports. slowly, i started to involve myself in lot of hostel activities, especially in sports. spent most of my time playing football or volley. during this tenure, my addiction to musik had sprouted. started listening to rock and heavy metal (thankfully for my wingmates, i didnt have a woofer. or just imagine the torture they would have faced. they still hadnt grown enough to move from the backstreet gays genre).
i had become a seasonal 7 pointer by now. like most of other fellow 7 pointers, i started blaming the system, the iit course curriculum. last minute brushing thru books before exams, copying assignments from websites and classmates had become my regular schedule.the final year was no less different. with the arrival of internet to hostel rooms, i almost stopped attending classes. spent most of my time chatting with twits :P it had just become another task for me as to how to survive the day.
after managin just a string of 7 pointers throughout my life at IIT, i realised my future was in grave danger. so sat down one day pondering over my future. i didnt want to end my life in a chemical industry for sure, wearing masks and funny looking jacket. thought of becoming a rock star, but realised i never actually touched a guitar. footballer, hmm.. for a guy who tires out running 400m on a trot, didnt feel like a good option. writer?.. haha, you can figure out by my style of writing. so had to go for the only option left, a software engineer. i finally made it to some local company somehow, even thou my crap grades were an obstacle. (i didnt bribe the interviewer thou, hope i dont make him regret his decision of selecting me)
well.. my life in IIT was similar to the one put down by the author of the book '5 point someone'. thou i shld say, i never had an accidental meeting with a girl driving a car nor did i ever try to attempt suicide from the insti terrace (as mentioned in the book). my life may not be worth portraying in a movie but sure was a tough ride. i enjoyed everybit of it, and shld thank my friends for making my stay in the institute a pleasant one.
p.s: seems like fubu has started writing personal blogs (which he never does and loathes writing one). he surely needs to go to a psychiatrist to have a check up.
after a two month long vacation break, came one of the most imp. semesters, third. 7 courses and 2 labs. had second thoughts of coming back into vicious study circle. spent a lot of time in the institute library pondering over 1000 page huge chemical engg books. but the effect of the course and the AC in the library, always made me doze of midway thru my chapter. so decided to issue the books and give it a try in hostel. but my fellow wingmates never let me settle into a proper study routine. ended up with another dissapointing 7 point somethin.
by now, i had almost given up hope to putting a fightback. i was dropped back to rank 12 in my branch. soon, computers started arriving in my wing, and the game fever started. well, it all started with 2d games like mortar, and then gradually shifted to 3d games like 'age of empires' and 'quake'. coupled with a newly installed LAN facility in the wing, the game fever never faded and spent most of my next three semesters in front of my computer. rivetted back to copying assignments and lab reports. slowly, i started to involve myself in lot of hostel activities, especially in sports. spent most of my time playing football or volley. during this tenure, my addiction to musik had sprouted. started listening to rock and heavy metal (thankfully for my wingmates, i didnt have a woofer. or just imagine the torture they would have faced. they still hadnt grown enough to move from the backstreet gays genre).
i had become a seasonal 7 pointer by now. like most of other fellow 7 pointers, i started blaming the system, the iit course curriculum. last minute brushing thru books before exams, copying assignments from websites and classmates had become my regular schedule.the final year was no less different. with the arrival of internet to hostel rooms, i almost stopped attending classes. spent most of my time chatting with twits :P it had just become another task for me as to how to survive the day.
after managin just a string of 7 pointers throughout my life at IIT, i realised my future was in grave danger. so sat down one day pondering over my future. i didnt want to end my life in a chemical industry for sure, wearing masks and funny looking jacket. thought of becoming a rock star, but realised i never actually touched a guitar. footballer, hmm.. for a guy who tires out running 400m on a trot, didnt feel like a good option. writer?.. haha, you can figure out by my style of writing. so had to go for the only option left, a software engineer. i finally made it to some local company somehow, even thou my crap grades were an obstacle. (i didnt bribe the interviewer thou, hope i dont make him regret his decision of selecting me)
well.. my life in IIT was similar to the one put down by the author of the book '5 point someone'. thou i shld say, i never had an accidental meeting with a girl driving a car nor did i ever try to attempt suicide from the insti terrace (as mentioned in the book). my life may not be worth portraying in a movie but sure was a tough ride. i enjoyed everybit of it, and shld thank my friends for making my stay in the institute a pleasant one.
p.s: seems like fubu has started writing personal blogs (which he never does and loathes writing one). he surely needs to go to a psychiatrist to have a check up.
Friday, June 03, 2005
7 Point Struggler (Part I)
recently, i had the chance to glance thru a book named '5 point someone' which revolves around life of 3 IITians. the story reminded of my life with my fellow wingmates in IIT. so, i have named this blog is '7 point strugglers'. i can even reveal my true life story in a book, as i have a lots to say. but i dont have it in me to write a long one, as IIT has drained whatever i had in me.
as mentioned in the book, i never slogged for 2 years. i m not an IIT material (if you know wht i mean). infact, my clearance thru JEE will still remain a mystery. mayb a 100 rupee note slipped thru my pocket between the answer sheets, and the examiners mistook it as a bribe and accepted it.
whatever, i made it, and thats all what matters(althou i regret it now deeply). the day of me joining college had arrived. found myself stuck with two roommates in a hostel in my first year. both didnt seem like as if they had slogged their 2 years burying their heads in books too. made me wonder whether there were lot of idiots who made it this prestigious college without any hardwork. had a lot of strange neighbors too. one had a mini storehouse of all the
materials you can find in a supermarket. one got himself all the books he could buy from the bookstore.
On my very first day in hostel, i came face to face with a bunch of seniors. they blocked my way and started asking me questions. i was kinda in a hurry and didnt bother to reply to them. looking at their angry faces, i realised i was in big trouble. to top it off, i asked them their names, which angered them further. as expected, they popped into my room at the stroke of midnight. fortunately for me, my roommates were there too. or just imagine the slaughter. so my first ragging session had begun. but it wasnt physical as i had imagined. they kept asking us the most dumb questions and trying to irritate and make us shed a few tears. i must say, i found the session rather funny. this made me feel comfortable in my other raggin sessions, and this made the seniors leave me free, as their purpose of putting me in misery had failed.
first semester exams had arrived. i and my fellow wingmates hardly had time to settle. so we started mugging our balls off. people started RGing* others. one guy in my wing was so good at it. he used to collect everyone from the wing for a saturday movie, then halfway thru the movie he would come back to his room and start studying. i never was made to slog. so i gave away midway. as expected, i flunked in a few tests and got a very bad first sem grade.
life in my college was not going as i had dreamt of.
to be continued ...
as mentioned in the book, i never slogged for 2 years. i m not an IIT material (if you know wht i mean). infact, my clearance thru JEE will still remain a mystery. mayb a 100 rupee note slipped thru my pocket between the answer sheets, and the examiners mistook it as a bribe and accepted it.
whatever, i made it, and thats all what matters(althou i regret it now deeply). the day of me joining college had arrived. found myself stuck with two roommates in a hostel in my first year. both didnt seem like as if they had slogged their 2 years burying their heads in books too. made me wonder whether there were lot of idiots who made it this prestigious college without any hardwork. had a lot of strange neighbors too. one had a mini storehouse of all the
materials you can find in a supermarket. one got himself all the books he could buy from the bookstore.
On my very first day in hostel, i came face to face with a bunch of seniors. they blocked my way and started asking me questions. i was kinda in a hurry and didnt bother to reply to them. looking at their angry faces, i realised i was in big trouble. to top it off, i asked them their names, which angered them further. as expected, they popped into my room at the stroke of midnight. fortunately for me, my roommates were there too. or just imagine the slaughter. so my first ragging session had begun. but it wasnt physical as i had imagined. they kept asking us the most dumb questions and trying to irritate and make us shed a few tears. i must say, i found the session rather funny. this made me feel comfortable in my other raggin sessions, and this made the seniors leave me free, as their purpose of putting me in misery had failed.
first semester exams had arrived. i and my fellow wingmates hardly had time to settle. so we started mugging our balls off. people started RGing* others. one guy in my wing was so good at it. he used to collect everyone from the wing for a saturday movie, then halfway thru the movie he would come back to his room and start studying. i never was made to slog. so i gave away midway. as expected, i flunked in a few tests and got a very bad first sem grade.
life in my college was not going as i had dreamt of.
to be continued ...
Typical Train Journey Experience
On the 28th of may, which happened to be one of the hottest days this summer, our mr.fubu decided to travel 1200 miles across the country from a god forsaken place to a place which he considers close to paradise. For some, travelling around 1200 miles would mean hoping into some neighbouring country. mr.fubu decided to save some money in the trip, so decided to go by the cheapest means possible. yes, you guessed it right, TRAIN!! (if some fools were thinking of bullock carts, then i pity them :P)
travelling by train is somethin which is worth its experience. train travel are usually not as comfortable as by air. you will need to spend around 24 hrs travelling tht distance compared to two hours flight. sometimes, one even has to endure sitting various postures to fit themselves inside the compartment.
our mr.fubu got up pretty early around 5:30 to pack of his bags. time passed by, and he managed to stuff the stuff in 5 bags. he departed to the railway station on time and reached ther around 6:20. what he witnessed was a swarm full of people hustling around with their luggages. some where gathered in some corner, where they were checking their ticket status. others were restlessly moving around, either their train was arriving late or they were waiting for some visitors. fubu had to check my ticket status, so had to push thru the crowd.
coach S9. OMG! who was goin to travel so far with such a luggage. so, he hired a cookie to help him with the luggages. as he entered the coach, he was greeted by a host of families who filled the coach apart from few college gangs who aparently were coming back to mumbai after touring chennai (wonder why they chose the damn place for a tour). the family who had occupied their seats, were stunned at the number of luggages which he carried. fubu somehow stuffed the luggages so that they dont feel any discomfort.
the cubicle was still half empty. for a moment, i was rejoicing that fellow passengers werent goin to make for this journey. then i realised the truth that they were boarding the compartment at some other station (where usually the most country ppl board). fubu decided to cash in the extra space allocated for him for the next 2 hrs.
as expected, a host of families, mostly country ppl boarded the train. as soon as they entered, the decibel level in the compartment had roared up. they came in bulks, and consisted of aging from a small kid 2months old to a old man say 75. fubu got irritated and decided to camp in the upper berth. for the rest of the journey, the atmosphere was taken by those country ppl. fubu was just a spectator. on the journey, various intruders made their way thru the compartment, beggers, eunuchs, and big fat policemen, and a few ppl who serve coffee every 5 min.. shouting 'chai chai' in a hoarse voice all the time.
time just passed by. fubu had killed his time by getting himself engrossed in the magazines he bought at the station.. or crashing at the upper berth inspite of all the noise. he somehow survived throughout the journey.
althou mr. fubu endured painful experiences in the journey, he did seem to enjoy it. no where will you come across and get a chance to meet and talk with ppl from different parts of country and learn their lifestyles. lets just say one can learn abt india without touring the entire country in this filled train compartment. its a must for every indian to experience a train journey in second class compartment, and also for few who never had experienced train journey ever in their life.
travelling by train is somethin which is worth its experience. train travel are usually not as comfortable as by air. you will need to spend around 24 hrs travelling tht distance compared to two hours flight. sometimes, one even has to endure sitting various postures to fit themselves inside the compartment.
our mr.fubu got up pretty early around 5:30 to pack of his bags. time passed by, and he managed to stuff the stuff in 5 bags. he departed to the railway station on time and reached ther around 6:20. what he witnessed was a swarm full of people hustling around with their luggages. some where gathered in some corner, where they were checking their ticket status. others were restlessly moving around, either their train was arriving late or they were waiting for some visitors. fubu had to check my ticket status, so had to push thru the crowd.
coach S9. OMG! who was goin to travel so far with such a luggage. so, he hired a cookie to help him with the luggages. as he entered the coach, he was greeted by a host of families who filled the coach apart from few college gangs who aparently were coming back to mumbai after touring chennai (wonder why they chose the damn place for a tour). the family who had occupied their seats, were stunned at the number of luggages which he carried. fubu somehow stuffed the luggages so that they dont feel any discomfort.
the cubicle was still half empty. for a moment, i was rejoicing that fellow passengers werent goin to make for this journey. then i realised the truth that they were boarding the compartment at some other station (where usually the most country ppl board). fubu decided to cash in the extra space allocated for him for the next 2 hrs.
as expected, a host of families, mostly country ppl boarded the train. as soon as they entered, the decibel level in the compartment had roared up. they came in bulks, and consisted of aging from a small kid 2months old to a old man say 75. fubu got irritated and decided to camp in the upper berth. for the rest of the journey, the atmosphere was taken by those country ppl. fubu was just a spectator. on the journey, various intruders made their way thru the compartment, beggers, eunuchs, and big fat policemen, and a few ppl who serve coffee every 5 min.. shouting 'chai chai' in a hoarse voice all the time.
time just passed by. fubu had killed his time by getting himself engrossed in the magazines he bought at the station.. or crashing at the upper berth inspite of all the noise. he somehow survived throughout the journey.
althou mr. fubu endured painful experiences in the journey, he did seem to enjoy it. no where will you come across and get a chance to meet and talk with ppl from different parts of country and learn their lifestyles. lets just say one can learn abt india without touring the entire country in this filled train compartment. its a must for every indian to experience a train journey in second class compartment, and also for few who never had experienced train journey ever in their life.
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