Alone....

It has been six months since I left Bangalore for Ames to do my Masters. Well in all these 6 months the only thing that I have realized in all these days is how to be alone. There have been times when you feel that there is a clout around you but moments later you there again "ALONE", all by yourself. One thing this does helps me learn a lot and gives me that toughness, don't know how many of my friends in Bangalore will agree with that!! For a person who has never stayed away from home, all of sudden this change is good, it does teach one a lot... and I am learning !!!

People who made difference to India.

A week before the 57th Republic day, I was thinking of all the people who have made a difference to India in the last couple of decades and these are the names that came to my mind. These are the few people I think who will be awarded the Bharat Ratna at some point of time or those who deserve it as they have already been awarded with it.

* Abdul Kalam - Truly inspiring President, in his words and works.
* Verghese Kurien - Man who made milk cost cheaper than water. Operation flood was the biggest success stories ever.
* M S Swaminathan - Swaminathan's contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement.
* Sam Pitroda - C-DOT wouldnt have been without him and of course all the telecom companies owe it to him.
* Ratan Tata - Man who along with other industrialists responds to the cries of unemployment.
* M S Subhalakshmi - The lady who made the world listen to carnatic music.
* Azim Premji and Narayan Murthy - Two men who brought the world of technology home. (Well in some form).
* Amartya Sen - Brought home the Nobel and with it a series of economic reforms, wish all of them can be followed.
* Sachin Tendulkar - Well, it is strange a sportsperson features in this list, but indeed it is true that he has made a world of difference to the cricket scene in India.
* A R Rahman - If MS made the world listen to Indian Music, this man made us listen to world music.

One of the funniest things I have read in sometime...

I read this in my friend's gtalk status :)

Difference between mashed potatoes & pea soup - anybody can mash potatoes

Strange things in different places....

One week after I cut my finger, I had an upset stomach. What is most irritating was the way the nurse in the hospital did not want me to come to the hospital at all. Here is what was my conversation with her

Day 1:

Me: "I have an upset stomach, I threw up thrice and I am not comfortable, I want to come to the hospital."
Nurse: "Gimme your name" Me gave.
Nurse: "Your ISU Number", me gave.
Nurse: "Your phone number", me gave.
Nurse: " Have you registered with us earlier", Me...Grrrrrr.. Answered her.
Nurse: " Are you alergic to any medicines?", Me....(At this point I was really struggling with pain)... Answered her.
Nurse:” So now what are the symptoms that you have?", Me told her everything.
Nurse:” I guess you have de-hydration, drink a lot of fluids and lie down, you will be alright"... cuts the call.

Day 2:

Me: "I had called yesterday and I have an upset stomach, I guess I have developed some infection in my stomach"
Nurse takes all my details, the symptoms, etc. After all that...
Nurse:” I guess you are suffering from a viral infection that many students are catching. You should be alright in a couple of days, just follow a strict diet."
Me: "Can I come to the hospital to get some medicine for the infection?"
Nurse: "No we don’t have any medicines for this. If the situation goes bad get back to us".

I was a little shocked, because back home the first thing the doctor would do is asking me to come and meet him. I am fine now, but I am not sure if it was the right thing for the nurse to do, by asking me not to see the doctor. I have always believed that it would be good for the doctor to see the patient just to make sure what the exact problem is. I don't know how much can be achieved over the phone. Well I guess different places have different policies. (Sigh...)

End of an era.

Mike Gatting on that (Ball of the Century) ball
"I suppose I can say that 'I was there' at the moment he first indicated his potential to the wider world. There or thereabouts, anyway. Thanks to him, there are many more leg-spinners in the game. We may not see his like again."

Indeed, the greatest bowler cricket has ever seen has called it a day. Shane Warne was just not a leg spinner, he was one of the best entertainers. He was in the news for all the good and bad reasons. One could spend hours talking about his achievements on the fields and also about his wrong doings off the field. His action was poetic and the turn was vicious. He had a great variety and like Sachin Tendulkar said "One has to be awake all the time to face Warne". It is very difficult to take him for granted and assume what was going to come next.

Of all the records that was set, I thought Walsh's 519 was the most difficult to break. But Warne broke the record and ended with 708 wickets, which included some great wickets like the one of Mike Gatting and many others of similar genre. Though one cannot classify him as a complete all-rounder, he was a great first slip and a very decent lower order batsmen. All these qualities made him the deserving No. 4 in the Wisden's top 50 players that has ever played the game. Though I havent seen that much of Sir. Gary Sobers and Sir. Don Bradman, I rate Warne way ahead of all of them and would even go on to say Shane Warne is the best player to have played the game of cricket. It is going to be difficult to see a player with abundant talent, great charm and one that had an aura around him never walk on the field again. It is not only a void to Australian cricket but also to the sport in general which will miss one of its most enigmatic personalities.

Back to blogging ways...

After forgetting my password to my previous blog, here I am back to blogging. This time around I am sure I will blog often.

From the previous BLOG........SIX MONTHS LATER.....

I am at Iowa State University, one semester down. Did reasonably well in the first semester. Like I have always thought, coming to new place the first few days is all about surviving. I guess I have survived and done so pretty well. In this time I have made a lot of new friends, seen a few places in the US (Conclusion: BANGALORE IS THE BEST !!). Staying thousands of miles from the people I really love is a bad thing, but I guess I have to live that way for at least a few more months. I am currently working on Sensor Networks, they are pretty cool things. I have a lot to learn and I have to do it fast. I am kind of stuck in a problem, I hope to do better on that in the days to come.

Well, come monday my 2nd Semester starts and I have taken 2 tough courses and I have my research besides that. It is going to be real testing time then. I will try to update every bit of information here henceforth. I just realized blogging afterall is good entertainment for a soul that is "BORED TO DEATH".