And our government does it yet again...

Today, sitting in my home in Atlanta, I have a fear in my mind...a fear every Indian is having now.Will another bomb blast occur? how many more lives are lost? People are scared to get out on the streets, hang out in the malls, go to markets...and our "Intelligence" forces have been reduced to nothing more than buffoons. I'm praying for those affected by the blasts and hoping that no more blasts occur. But this post is not about terrorism. Rather, in between all these horrible acts happening in our country, our politicians seem to be more interested in getting more votes from backward classes as elections dates are looming near. How much more ridiculous can one get?

It's time for elections again in the Centre and some states, and the Government has made a "smart" move by increasing the income ceiling of the creamy layer of OBCs. Smart because it will help them get more votes, and nothing else. They don't really care about the common man anyway.

Imagine this. A family A with an annual income of 4.5 lakhs, that is Rs. 37,500 per month before taxes, which amounts to approx. Rs.30,000 after taxes considering 20% for that income bracket. Now, there are a lot of people in India whose annual income is much less than that. For a family B who has an annual income of 2 lakhs p.a, the take home salary per month is approx. 15,000, half of the salary of the former. Now, apart from getting twice the salary of B, A also gets more benefits because A belongs to the creamy layer of OBCs. (and this creamy layer is getting more fattening with new castes being added to that all the time). When giving reservation based upon caste itself is injustice, what do you say about giving reservations to people who are not economically backward. I mean, in case of A, the person can still lead a decent lifestyle with that salary if not a lavish one. My dad often says, our system is becoming so hopeless, that pretty soon, if there is a 100m Athletic race in India, an athlete from SC/ST category will start from the 50m point and someone from OBCs will start from the 75m point while the General category will be standing all the way back. It might sound funny, but I wont be surprised if they implement that.

I'm sure with the introduction on this new rule, more people will push their cases to include their caste among OBCs, while the General Category people will continue to miss every benefit. As someone who does not belong to any backward community, I am not asking for any benefit or special reservation for general category, but to consider "Merit" as the main factor for providing a reservation, and family income as next main factor. I only wish that some day in the future, the goverment abolishes caste-based reservation...but wait, for a country which is always fighting to go backward, how can the future be in sight?

Winter

Leaves
adrift,
swirling and twirling,
ensnared in
a gust
of wind.
Red and brown,
they have become,
and will soon
be
dust.

I peer at them,
hoping
for
glimpses of green,
and
memories of verdant
summery days.
Alas,
withered and lifeless
they are now,
dried out by the
carousel ride
of Life.
As is my spring,
ruptured
of bonds,
never to be replaced,
never to be healed.

what's happening ppl?

hello,namaskara,vanakam etc,
wassup class of 2003?dude's and dudesses what is every one upto?it's been helluva long time and ppl need updates on what everyone is upto?so plz. do reply with latest updates.
mine is
name:srikanth kapali a.ka. srika a.k.a mman
job:associate control engineer
comapny: tm ge automation systems
yes i'm still in instrumentation

Tension gone....

The last few weeks had been one of the toughest times for me...I had to defend my project, lots of things were not working, had to work 20 hrs a week besides that..I was so busy I was not even doing my job searches! The last few days, I started praying that my committee will not fail me, and though everybody assured me that they dont do that generally, I was worried.

Yesterday was the big day. Gave my presentation, showed the results I got so far and told them I will be working on the remaining parts still..and they passed me without an problem! :)

S0 now, I am just 1 step away from MS graduation, and need to submit some work by Aug 10th so that my prof can grade me. But all the tension is gone, finally!!

The great Indian trilogy..

http://wacky-world.blogspot.com/2007/06/great-indian-trilogy.html

Some old snaps scanned and uploaded..

Hey all,

I have uploaded a few snaps from our Kodai trip after scanning them. If you can, please upload whatever pics of college you got and we can pool them together. My pics can be found at
http://picasaweb.google.com/yv.vikas/CollegeSnaps

Enjoy!

random mumblings heard in class....

wanted to build a story using all these, but lost steam after a while, so scrapped it..but remember hearing these somewhere?

• USSR - United States of Soviet Russia
• USA and Russia are now separe and not called USSR anymore.
• Japani satellites
• NASA - National American Space Agency
• PCB was my bread and jam.
• If u use that small torch(LASER), only small spot will be focused on small spot.
• Staying hostel a?
• Laser can be used to weld cutted vessels.
• Modeling for toothpaste ad a?
• In the last class, we’ll see that…
• You are in serious discussion abt national security matters a?
• Sine wave varies sinusoidally. how the cos wave will cosine? sinusiodally or cosusoidally?
• If u start singing antakshari, other publics will scold u.
• Joining together is called a sandwich.
• He got Nobel award.
• Who invented wave theory?
• Sitting according 2 vaastu a?
• Earlier message transfer was by birds. In kings’method, they used kabutar.
• If u give a analog like this…
• What *name removed*, only half-rising a?
• What happened? Any snakes?cockroach a? then what r u laughing 4?

howzzat? wanna hear again?

Do u think I am a tape-recorder a to repeat? ;)

If you still dont get what I heck I am talking abt..forget it!
If you understood and have more of this stuff, please mail it to the groups! We've lost it! :(

How to get a new car and impress girls

This Peugeot ad tells you just that!

My heart will have her smile written in pencil

*This happened a long time back and it is a true story. You have the freedom to trust it or otherwise*

It was my third grade(Third standard as we say in india), the first week of school and as usual I was dejected. But this year, there was a new sensation in the small town (shimoga) I studied - "pen-pencils". (For those uninitiated, pen-pencils are the crude front loading mechanical pencils.)

That year, I had begged my mother to buy me one of those cool pencils. As a result, on the second day of the school, I was a proud owner of one red-black pen-pencil. A tap at its back pushed the lead inside the equipment to eject the lead at incredible speed directly towards classmate's eyes but that was the manageable part. After 15 minutes of using it, I was stumped by my first technical hurdle. In my enthusiasm, I had never found out how to sharpen it. And it never came with a manual either. My manly ego avoided me asking any of my friends. The result was that I stood at the corner trying to figure out a way out of this complication. And then she came.

Either she might have seen my confusion or she was in love with me, I cannot say. But she looked at me in my eyes and understood everything. And voila, she had a blue colored pencil of the same make. She silently took the pencil and showed me the back part of the pencil which contained the metal sharpener. Her cute red fingers rotated the metal sharpener making the lead as sharp as her smile which was by the way, piercing my heart. The environment was simply electric. The song "Nee bandu nintaaga" was playing in my mind. The result was a sharpened pencil, damaged heart and my inability to learn the skill of sharpening a pencil that day.

Till this day, I remember her beautiful face and that enchanting smile.

*I dont remember her name. School was Rotary east school, Shimoga*

This song is dedicated to her

Now this is what I call directions...

check this out

http://wacky-world.blogspot.com/2007/05/now-this-is-what-i-call-directions.html

Lagori

There were two teams with 6 in each team. One person held a ball made of used cloth, standing behind a line while facing a miniature pyramid shaped arrangements of stones. His first throw was wayward. But in his second throw, he managed to disrupt the careful arrangement of the stones. The game had begun.

This was our routine game during chilly winters in Shimoga, heart of malnad. Without much thinking, we had established a season for each game we used to play. Cricket was normally during the scorching summers. This was because there was very little effort was needed in playing. Rainy season always meant only one game game - Football ( Yeah..Yeah .. It is soccer too ). Believe me, there is nothing more fun than playing football in rain and mud. Any football fan will vouch for that. Our seasons were also influenced by international sporting events. Wimbledon season meant hand-tennis(TM). It was tennis in all ways except the absence of tennis rackets, the likes of Sharapova and a smaller court to compensate for hand-power(TM). Winter demanded much more improvisation and activity. The december weather, with clear skies were perfect to break some backs. So the 5pm consensus was always Lagori.

As with most of the rural games in India, Lagori doesn't need any sophisticated equipment. That never meant that it wasn't fun either. Here is a version of that game we played.

1. Make two teams of equal number on each team. Get hold of a rubber ball (For maximum pain factor) or make one using cloths rolled around a stone.
2. Have a toss (coin or yes-no on a hand with stone) and decide between the playing and defending teams.
3. Arrange a pile of flat stones in the form of a pyramid.
This will be normally done by the defending team to ensure that structure is resistant to casual hits by a ball. (Prerequisite: Civil engineering 101)
4. One of the players from the playing team will take an aim at the structure from a predefined distance. He has 3 chances to hit it. If he can't, another person from the same team will try his hand. If no one can hit the pile, then the team is said to be out and has to defend .
5. Once the pile is disturbed by the ball, the playing team has to redo the pile while dodging the ball thrown at them by the defending team. This is not easy because of a keeper(!!) standing near the pile, defending it from wannabe civil engineers.
6.If the ball hits any of the playing team, then they would be out and the defending team gets the chance to play.
7.If the playing team manages to reconstruct the pile without getting hit, then they score and will get another chance as the playing team.

At the end of the day, Lagori was a game of simple rules, hurt backs(courtesy of considerate defenders) and awesome fun.

P.S: I was unable to get any pictures of lagori but here is a site which has.
I will be grateful if someone can provide me pictures of lagori (with relevant permissions).

finally, an end to sorry spectacle...

New post on my blog...

http://wacky-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/finally-end-to-sorry-spectacle.html

Cheers
Vikas

Planning some changes on the blog

It has been some years that we started the blog as a small outlet for our thoughts. We have come a long way since that. Most of the crew is busy with their work and life. The number of active posters has also reduced to 3-4. Anyways, this is a rant which has nothing to do with the motive of this post.

Recently I noticed that the shout-box had been completely useless and instead had become an ugly spot. I have removed the shout-box.

I have also changed the name of the blog from rvinst (it made no sense to someone who was not from RV) to "Uncontrolled Stability". Still doesn't make much sense but I feel it is better.

I am planning more changes on the blog template. Some which I feel very important and some which aren't. I would welcome all (10??) readers of this blog to comment and provide suggestions to make this blog look better.

Thanks in advance

Bhava - Door to union concert

Magic. Sheer magic is how I can describe Ustad Zakir Hussain.
I had never imagined that a simple looking tabla would be able to produce a sound like a conch-shell. More over the laya and shabda knowledge of zakir was amazing to listen.


The kathak performance by his wife Antonia was no less either. All in all, it was an awesome performance.


Thanks to Surabhi Clemson for a wonderful concert.

Sachin relief fund

http://wacky-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/sachin-relief-fund.html

New jobs for our Indian cricketers

New post on my blog..
http://wacky-world.blogspot.com/2007/03/new-jobs-for-our-indian-cricketers.html

there is one more post about my spring break right below it! You can check that out as well...

Cheerz

ಉಗಾದಿ ಹಾರೈಕೆಗಳು

ಅಡರಿದ ಕತ್ತಲು ಸರಿಸಿ
ಅರುಣನಿಗೇ ಸರಿದಂತಹ ಇರುಳ ಕಳೆದು
ಭೂತಾಯಿಯ ನಡುಗುವ ಮೈಯನ್ನು
ಹಸಿರ ತೋರಣದಿಂದ ಆವರಿಸಿ
ಸುಖ ಶಾಂತಿ ವಿಜಯ ತರುವ
ಸರ್ವಜಿತ್ ಸಂವತ್ಸರದ ಉಗಾದಿ
ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಶುಭ ತರಲಿ

ಡಾ|| ಹೆಚ್. ಕುಮಾರ್ ಅವರ ಸನ್ಮಾನ ಸಮಾರಂಭಕ್ಕೆ ಆಹ್ವಾನ

ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ,

ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಹಾಗೂ ನಲ್ಮೆಯ "ಕನ್ನಡದ ಸಾರ್" ಎಂದೆ ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುವ ಡಾ|| ಹೆಚ್. ಕುಮಾರ್ ರವರಿಗೆ "ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್" ಪದವಿ ದೊರೆತ ಈ ಸಂತಸ ಸಂಭ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದು ಗೂಡಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸನ್ಮಾನ ಸಮಾರಂಭ ಮಾಡುವ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಮಾಡಿರುವೆವು.

ಇದೇ ತಿಂಗಳು 11-03-2007 ರಂದು ಕೆ.ಆರ್. ಸರ್ಕಲ್ ಬಳಿ ಇರುವ "ಯ ವ ನಿ ಕ" ಭವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಜೆ 5 ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ತಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸಾರದ ಹಾಗೂ ಸ್ನೇಹಾವೃಂದ-ದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬಂದು
"ಡಾ||ಹೆಚ್.ಕುಮಾರ್" ರವರ ಸನ್ಮಾನ ಸಮಾರಂಭವನ್ನು ಯಶಸ್ವಿಗೊಳಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿ ವಿನಂತಿ.

ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಹಾಯ-ಸಹಕಾರ ಕೋರುತ.......

ಸ್ನೇಹ-ದಿಂದ,
"ನಾವು" ತಂಡ.

Imagine this...

Had a strange dream last night...Kanth was getting married (no, thats not the strange part!) with some girl, don't remember who..and many of us from our class are all having a get-together in the marriage hall..then all the profs start coming, PK, MSN, AJ etc... and then SV comes and starts crying!!
I go and ask him, watz the matter? He says, its tears of joy, and then asks me, "have you ever visited college after you graduated?", and I said, "hey balloon, already forgot that I came a few months back with Bandy during my India trip? now, don't be such a cry-baby!"

Meanwhile, PK goes and asks the server at the buffet if they have any bread and jam (to be read as jaam)!! I was thinking a lot about this part today morning, as to why that thing came in my dream, and then I realized, maybe its because of PK's famous words, "PCB is my bread and jam!"
Finally, AVM comes in his green scooter, dressed in a dinner jacket and flowery bow-tie!

at that point of time, I woke up and started laughing at my own dream which was about to turn into a nightmare with AVM's presence!! :D

funny what all we can experience in our dreams...can the above dream really happen? will AVM come dressed like that?

happy dreaming!!

ನಿನಾದ

ಕೊರೆವ ಚಳಿರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲೂ
ತಾರಸಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಬವಳಿಸಿ
ಬೇಸಿಗೆಯ ನೆನಪಿಸುತ್ತಾ
ಮನಕೆ ತಂಪೆರೆದು
ಹುಚ್ಚು ಹಿಡಿಸಿದ ಹುಡುಗಿ
ಸಂಗೀತಾ....

ವಿ. ಸೂ: ಕಳೆದ ಚಳಿಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ ಸಂಗೀತ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ-ಅನುಭವಗಳ ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದದ್ದು.

P.S : This poem is written in kannada language font. If you are not able to view this, check http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kannada_Support