One night at a call center

Today it was the turn of One night at a call center. Somehow, I think Chetan was forced to write this book because of the gal he met in the train. Yes, he wrote it in the best possible way, the story had a moral insight and brought shivers down my spine when "GOD" was active in the story but did not have the magic of FPS.

What not to do at work

So the two things that comes to anyone's mind when they hear about five point someone are:
1) Chetan Bhagat and
2) What not to do in IITs.

I am calling this as version 2 because this is about What not to do at work.

You must be awed that I did not read any of Chetan Bhagat's novels until yesterday. Yes, it is damn true and this guy is the inspiration to all youth writers. All your pals start calling you as the next Chetan if you do a marginally good job writing an article and also call you the same for the wrong reasons if you do a bad job. The reason for not able to read this book was a denial to share the novel with me by some of my friends saying that I may get spoiled after reading it. You might have guessed by now that I belong to the cadre of Venkat (the antagonist) in the book. Even then, I was able to enjoy the book and almost found myself in soup when I was unable to control myself laughing out loud.

So yesterday at work I started reading Five Point Someone to see how good a writer my friend Chetan is? and ofcourse I was so captivated that I read the book in five hours straight at work (That's why I called this "what not to do at work").

One thing that really surprised me in the book was: Ryan enquiring his professor about gym machine which actually increases human effort and so is not a machine according to the definition of Professor Dhubey and the professor unable to answer it.

According to me, Gym machine is still a machine according to Dhubey because the purpose of body building is made easier with lesser human effort than building a body by natural exercise. But, professor Dhubey's definition fails to mention that human body is still a machine and human body reducing human effort is a bit absurd.

One thing that glued me to the book was the romance of Neha and Hari but was kinda sad when I read the prologue that he got married to Anusha Bhagat and not Neha. I should also applaud the guts of Chetan for mentioning all the romance with his HOD's (Cherian's) daughter in a book and publicly sharing it. I could not have done it as my conscience would not have agreed upon.

I also felt that he over-exaggerated at few places but he covered it up saying that it is his own point of view. However, when I started the prologue of "One Night at a Call Center", I am not surprised when the girl said it is an OK-OK book but he definitely is a very very very captivating writer

Lastly, I am dying to watch 3 idiots now which is Five Point Someone and my guess is as good as yours.

Aamir is Ryan
Madhavan is Hari
Sharman is Alok and
Kareena is Neha.


Wowowowowoww.

Being on wheels

As most of you might know by now, I am a jack of all and there are very few things that I have not tried out. One such thing is roller skating.

On Sunday afternoon, I wanted to test my GPS as well as my skating skills. With a new vigor in life, I fed the address of the skating rink on my GPS and moved to the skating rink. I reached the skating rink 30 minutes ahead and so started preparing myself for the big stage. Hahaha...I just kept listening to some sweet songs in my car.

Huh!!! Its time. I entered into the skating rink thinking that I might be the only person who being so old and hitting the rink for the first time. Oh yeah, you must have sensed it by now, its my Day 1. I was filled with some excitement, some eagerness, a little embarrassment, and a little happiness that I am learning something new.

I paid the fee at the counter and moved inside, I tried skating shoes of size 11, then switched to 12 and finally size 13 fit my huge feet and now I'm on wheels.

Now, I went to a separate section on the rink where Michael was taking public lessons on how to skate. Oh man, during the first 30 minutes, I was the only person in 20's who is starting to skate. I was slightly discouraged but I have this "never give up" attitude which never fades. I believe in "Better late than Never". So, Michael asked us ( few kids and me) to do certain drills and then I hit the rink. By the time, I hit the rink, I could see some guys and gals in their late teens/early 20s trying out skating. Uff, I am not alone anymore.

It was an awesome experience skating around. I felt as if I was a one year old baby learning how to stand, walk and run. Yeah, it was tough to maintain the balance especially for tall people because the center of gravity of the human body lies a bit higher. Oh yeah, I grasped the concept but not the application. Yes, learning to skate at younger ages is much easier as you are short and light.

I hurt my hands and ankle, fell more than 3 times in my 150 minute run, nonetheless it was a great experience. I behaved more so like a child who wants to try again even after falling without getting deterred by the fall. The effort was much more satisfying when people around mentioned that I was very good for the first day.

Its a must try experience for everyone if you haven't before...Good luck and share your experiences too.

More to go and more to try,
Siva

My experiences with handling a pistol

On a chilly Saturday afternoon of November, I moved to Red's Indoor Shooting range with a long held desire to operate a gun. The desire to operate a pistol arose from my interests to aim at things. I still remember the days when me along with some friends used to make bows and arrows from broom sticks and make darts out of needles and broom sticks to aim at calendars.

So, I started driving and missed my route but somehow made it to my destination. I was shocked to see that the parking was almost full. Wow!!! so many people with their own guns in their cases, rifles, and also children of age 12.

I filled a couple of forms and then I was allowed to hold the Wesson and Smith 0.22 mm pistol after being instructed on how to use, load and unload it. It was a basic pistol but I could see the very early concepts used while designing a gun.



Now, it was time to roll. I fixed my camera on the tripod, loaded the gun and started shooting at my target which was 7 meters away. I was neither consistent nor precise but atleast was close to both. I applauded myself that I was good for a first timer. After I shot 80 rounds, the target sheet was full of bullet holes and I cannot make out where I am shooting, so I started aiming at the head portion of the target and also changed the hold on my gun to a much casual approach and I was able to put all the 6 bullets into the head of the target, Hurray!!! I made it.



All in all, it was a great experience to hold a gun and shoot 100 rounds

My Personal Website

Yesterday, I created my personal website and it took me about 6 house of intense work to do it. Here is the link: https://webspace.utexas.edu/sk22957/Siva/home.html


Was it so simple. I almost postponed it for 2 years. May be I was very busy with other things (Passing the bug may be). However, I never expected to produce a personal website in 6 hours time if not I would have done it much before. Now, I am impressed by my efforts (The fruit of success is always sweet) and now I am a satisfied man. Another feather in my cap....HTML...LOL