Tagged !

Paru has tagged me to write this fantastic 4 article. So here is my list of favorite 4's

4 books / authors I can read over and over again

The Harry Potter series – J.K RowlingYes I am a die-hard Harry Potter fan… I think the book is a lucky a charm for me and have read almost all the books about 3 times.

Digital Fortress – Dan Brown
Maybe cause I am a computer engineer the whole algorithm breaking story was a thrill to read.

Angles and Demons – Dan Brown
Another one of my favorite by the same author – wish I could think like Robert Langdon!

Black Friday - The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts - S. Hussain ZaidiThis book is a must read book.. It really makes you think about what is happening in the world.

4 of my all time favorite songs I would dedicate to someone special
The songs say it all… I wont write anything for this list
Nothing gonna change my love for you - Glenn Mederios
Tu bin baataye mujhe le chal kahi - Rang De BasantiI will be right here waiting 4 u – Richard Marxs
Mujhe raat din - Sangarsh.

4 “Kodak moments”
Rashmi’s ashirwad ceremony – this one moment is the best I have ever come across

I love the expression on Krishna’s face

Take a look at Srinu :)

Just came back after my Hexaware training at Pollachi and the two days I spent with these kids felt like in heaven

4 places I want to visit
Venice: One of a kind place; want to go there once.


LA: People who know me, know this one. I have been crazy about going to LA since my college days. Maybe the main attraction is Disneyland.


Lakshwadeep: Looks like an amazing place to go to


Seychelles: Just realize that 3 out of the 4 places in my list are scenic waterfronts! But yeah this is another place I want to go to

4 trips I cherish the most
Sahara Lake City 2004 - This is one of the amazing place and the most beautiful place I have seen. Its near Lonavala, Maharashtra.

US 2005 - We went to visit rash.. I have always excited about going to the US and this one trip was the best time.

US 2007 - My first onsite trip. This would be my best trip; for everyday during those four months have only given me good memories (even if it meant working at 2 in the night)

Kerala 2008 - My first trip with friends. We went to the backwaters of Kerala, Munnar and Trivandrum.

4 favorite desertsFor these the pictures say it all!Chocolate cake
Sizzling brownie
Gajar ka halwa
Mangoes

4 favorite moviesAll hp movies – Well I love Harry Potter that’s all I have to say!
A beautiful mind - Te most amazing part is the suspense when we realize that John Nash’s friend is also a hallucination.

Jab we met – this is one movie I totally relate to and connect with the character a lot. It’s a total stress-buster movie for me. I have never missed it even once on the T.V ( only if I know that its playing on TV)

Manichrathazu – all mallus will know the significance of this movie. For the rest of you it’s the original version of “Bhool Bhuliya” (Hindi) and “Chandramukhi” (Tamil). Both the movies are no comparison for Shobhana’s “Vida mate”


4 favorite comic charactersCalvin n Hobbes
Calvin seem to be a pretty dumb kid if you look at his grades but just take a look at his vocab or his knowledge on dinosaurs and u will be amazed. Thanks Rash n Raj for gifting me the entire series. I love it
Tintin
The ace report. I like his adventures and the cynical expressions of Captain HaddockArchiesMy favorite in this Jughead and Betty. Unfortunately Archie decided to marry Veronica

Tom n Jerry
Almost all of us have grown up watching these two chase each other. I am sure most of us think that Jerry is the naughty and always get Tom into trouble but I think its Tom’s actions that get him into trouble most of the time.


4 all time favorite TV showsFriendsOh My God!!! Even though I have seen most of the episodes I still like to watch them over n over again. There has never been any show that has been half as entertaining as this one……Sarabhai vs. sarabhiThis one is a show I started watching only recently but they are a hilarious gang. Especially when Maya criticizes Monisha. You have to see this to understand what I am saying. “It just so middle class!”

Full house
I have seen each and every episode of Full house and love Nikki, Alex n of course Jessi. He used to be my heart-throb at one point in timeHe-manBy the power of grey skull…I have the powerrrrrrrrr. Lets face it, most of you can hear that ringing in your ears when you are reading this

4 people I would tag
UV - Urvish, now you have to write another post
http://mavenic-ramblings.blogspot.com/
Vinod Chettan - Please write this for me :)
http://2yearsinchennai.blogspot.com/
Shrikanth - My coll friend; someone who does write well n gives me advice on how to improve my blogs
www.yibiy.wordpress.com

Anu - Another coll friend of min... i hope he has the time to write a post :(
http://anubhavvanmali.blogspot.com/

What’s in a name you ask ehh?? – Well loads of fun

It’s been just over 5 days that I have been in Chennai, but whenever it come to talking about the places here, the names of the different places sound way too funny. Living in Bombay (yes guys I still prefer calling it Bombay not Mumbai n Madras not Chennai which btw also sounds funny) I am used to names like Bandra, Churchigate, Marine lines, Charkop, Chandivili, Borivili to name a few; these name sound so happening n normal to me – pun every much intended. Now let’s look at some of the name here – Tiruvanmiyur, Gummidipoondi, Sullurpeta, Chengalpattu; etc and the funniest for me till now – Guindy (not sure if I spelt this rite!). I am sure half or rather all my north Indian friends will not be able to pronounce even one name in above list. In Bombay we have beautiful names like Andheri (which in Hindi literally mean darkness..recollect the song ‘Andheri raato mein’ from ‘Shahensha’) not to forget CST – now what was the full form of CST??????? Well I think it just a matter of getting used to the names; but it sure is fun when you come to a new city and hear place there.

Well that’s about place, let’s talk about human name (at times inhuman!!!!!! )
In south India, the general tendency is to name the kids with God’s name.. live e.g. me “Lakshmi” (now while we are at it - it is “Lakshmi” and not “Laxmi”) . It seems my name is my great – grandmother’s name but the fact is that most south Indians love to name their kids with Godly name (probably hoping that they have some good qualities). In my family we have – Parvathy, Sreedevi, Lakshmi, Arjun and ‘n’ forms of Krishna – Ramakrishnan, Jayakrishnan, Muralidharan, Krishna, Krishnan, Haridas, Srinath….. (well come to think of it all the guys in my mum's side family are some or the other form of Krishna / Vishnu). When I reached Madras my aunt called me and asked “Have the wives of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva moved in together?” (I am staying with Parvathy). One morning Rita (my friend in LnT) was telling that she has decided to take my name early in the morning at least around 10 times – her logic ????She says chanting “Lakshmi Ramakrishnan“ probably will her get some ‘punya’, after all it does cover 3 Gods !!!!!

Now-a-days it’s the fashion for hifi names. This I would say is the biggest setback due to the Internet. Most of our generation couple hunt on the Internet for a ‘different’ name for their kid.. to cite a few e.g. Suri, Aidan, Anana (or was that banana). The first question generally after hearing such a name is how the heck to you pronounce them and the next thing is what does it mean. At the back of our mind we think ‘Lord what a weird name.. poor kiddo’

One generation back there was a huge trend to name the kids as a combination of the mother and fathers' name. Mum’s Lisa, Dad’s Joseph – then kid is Lijo – you get my point, right? I am glad my name was not “Sura” or “Rasu”. Imagine Rash was named “Rasu” and I was named “Sura”. Look around you may still find victim of such combi names! My friend in hex used to tell me that at first he used to find it every odd to call out to me cause it felt ancient! But again I am glad that my name is far better than many I have come across. The other I came across a name Sitalakshmi – wives of 2 gods in 1 (ek pe ek free offer!), another one was “pachepazham” (Pache mean green/ raw and pazham mean fruit / banana). Oh boy! I really wonder how did his parents come up with such a name. The other day my friend Amibika was telling that she loves the name “Paris” so we went ahead and suggested to name her kid “Delhi”, “Agra” or maybe “London” :)

In the north, especially Sikh Punjabi names, you can’t be too sure if it’s a boy or a girl. A name Kawaljeet can be a boy or a girl. Same is the case with names like Kiran, Madhu, etc. Basically even though I feel that my name is ancient ------ I am glad I am “Lakshmi” or "Laksh" for some of my special friends!

Initial adventures

When I first told everyone that I was to move-in to IIT my aunt warned me that there was a certain “Anil” – the squirrel staying in the kitchen but no one had seen it yet (so that was indeed relieving). I reached on Sunday at around 9.30 in the morning. Paru came to pick me up from the airport and from that time onwards itself she had given me the entire day’s schedule. We decided to first hit the grocery shop. Finally with all the essentials purchased we were all set to start cooking; there started my first adventure – I enter the kitchen to find a lizard with size of an iguana running all around the kitchen n I ran (maybe even faster than usain bolt :) ) out of the kitchen. Somehow with Paru in the front we started cooking.

Monday – 20th July 2009
Paru leaves for work @ 6.40 in the morn... being the elder one I thought of making lunch for her and me. When we entered the kitchen leave apart the fact that the iguana lizard was still lurking around; we could hear a lot of squeaking sounds. This confirmed that “Anil” is definitely living there (though I had a doubt why my sis is calling it “anil” n not “anila” tending to her kids.. later on she tells me that “anil” means squirrel in Tamil ;-) ).. after about 5 mins we saw a squirrel coming in through the ventilator and running on the wall. Boy all I could think of was where do I run to!!! It’s either the iguana lizard or the squirrel... both bad options. In short all plans to cook were cancelled. I had no plans to even enter the kitchen. The first day @ office was nice - when I think about it first days are always awesome. Nevertheless in the evening Nishchechi came to pick me up. Went home and there were my two lil cutey pies. Vamma and NishChechi decided to come over to IIT to solve the "Anil" problem and after giving the 2 darling a bath we came to IIT. Back @ IIT, the maid got down the squirrel's nest and put it outside in the balcony. When we all saw how small the lil squirrel kids were we didnt have the heart to put them out in the open so guess what was done...they were put back on the loft! Finally we decided that the maid would get it to some safe place tomorrow.. Well tomorrow may be another adventure.......lets wait and watch!

IIT Madras -- I am falling in love with this campus

L&T gave me the chance to come to Chennai for a project. I didnt want to miss this opportunity for anything. It was a blessing in disguise for me cause I would be able to spend time with my love – Krishna n Amu.

I am staying at my cherriacchan’s quarters @ IIT. I have often wondered that it takes a lot to enter into the IIT...years of focus, efforts, dedication and most of all the perseverance to make it in there. Why do people go through all this to get in? What makes this the premier and the most sought after institute in India?? By every passing day, my stay in this beautiful place is answering all my question - Walking around the campus just makes you realize that it’s a different world all together. The central library is as big as one section of my engineering college or may be even as big as my college building. The magnitude and grandeur of the campus just enthralls anyone entering it. In short it is a self sufficient world with a pin code of its own! Now that I am ‘just’ staying at the IIT all I can say is its worth every bit of the effort…..

My first blog!

Finally it’s my turn to start blogging - the latest fad for me … I remember when we were in school, having a “hotmail” or “yahoo” account was the IN thing to talk about. Slowly it moved on to Gmail; later this was replaced by Orkut. In my orkutting experience, on our first day Soumya and I were not even sure of how to post scraps. We ended up writing replies to our scraps in our own scrap books!!!!
Now my craze is to blog. I must say Rashmi’s friend Urvish is the inspiration for this; his blogs about their engineering days was actually the first time I read anyone’s blogs n something I njoyed a lot. Now of course Paru – a regular blogger –is the reason I finally sat down to write them down. Another reason is that I want to make my stay at IIT Madras the most memorable one n the best way for me would be to write down my daily “adventures”......