2/3 Satan * 100i

This semester has been really fun, so far. Don't know if it'll stay that way after the subjects of this blog read this post. Well, what's life without a few risks?

The title of this blog is my address, encoded in a very "creative" way. A few of the forthcoming blog entries is dedicated to my entertaining new room-mates - Wealth of Kingdom, Auspicious and Suitable, Everything and Song/Hymn.

I was bored, trying to come up with something original everytime. So I decided to interview Everything, a.k.a Nikku. Just so that you don't feel she's a stranger, here are a few MUST-KNOW facts about her - she's an amazing cook, she's obsessed with her curls, she's long, she's the boss and she's an amazing cook. I love her culinary skills so much that I had to write it twice. I am going to ask her to describe the rest of us in 3 words, or less. Here goes:

P: So Nikku, how does it feel to be interviewed today?
N: (Full 32 teeth showing) I feel like a Spanish model. Shall I get my flowers?

(Brief chuckle shared)

P:How did it feel walking the ramp yesterday?
N:It was great, so awesome. The best parts were my red shiny flowers, and people asking me for my autograph.

P: Moving on, describe Gai in three words or less..
N:(In splits) Gai, (thinking) ..."G for Gayathri, G for Genius", my love and dumb.

P: Ok, you took more than three words...
N: Let's make it three phrases...
P: That's a good idea.

P: Bhavya next..
N: Weird, Weird, Weird IT-ni..

P: I should have specified three different words. Never mind. How about Raj?
N: I have no words to describe her. She's always there with me. No no..I have a song - Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge..

(P: I wish I could record Nikku singing and post it in here)

P: Finally, me.
N: Pooooooooooooooojaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..
P: Is that it?
N: Yeah. That's like a lot. You're not seeing the love in that.

P: Now I see. Thank you. Is there anything else you want to add to anything?
N: Yes. We all rock - shop-a-holics.
P: That we do. Thank you for your valuable time. We'll see what the others have to say soon enough.

Signing off,

(Ace Reporter a.k.a Gossip Columnist) Pooja Kumar

Broken

In one of the episodes of Grey's last season, I heard this song. Googled it and found this. I just fell in love with the song. Following TV shows has introduced me to a few artists I wouldn't have come across otherwise - Roisin Murphy, OneRepublic, The Fray, Nellie McKay, Kate Havnevik, Snow Patrol, Daniel Powter......

Its Diwali time. I gave up the fireworks habit a long time ago, but being here in B'burg, I miss all the noise and confusion that abounds back home. I remember the little contests that all of us used to have back in the good old days - who has how many boxes of which brand of which type of crackers!!!!!!!

What's going to keep me focused through the next couple of months is the fact that I'm going to be going home for a few weeks through Dec-Jan. Yippee!!! I can't wait. I'm already planning every hour. And after that, if things go well, its off to San Diego. The old adages are usually true, you know - Things happen when you least expect them to.

I was reading my old posts yesterday, and I came across this one. I just wanted to let the world know that I have successfully completed No. 10. True, it was a reddish violet rather than a violet violet, but the latter would have necessitated the bleaching of my hair, which I definitely did not want. (Doesn't the previous sentence make me sound delightfully pompous?). Anyway, its only my opinion that counts, and I say that I can mark Item 10 as done. This means that I need a new Item 10. Any suggestions???

For Meh..

For the past month, Meh has been pestering me to write something in here. She's my most devoted fan. Ergo, this post is dedicated to her. In fact, its a letter to her.

Dear Meh,

How's life been in the last six hours since I spoke to you? I hope there haven't been any dramatic changes.

I was just thinking - Meh, you're my "person". Reference - Grey's. You know what I mean. Who's M and who's C, we'll decide later. :)

I just ran around to three apartments 'cos I had to scan this form to send to Appa so that a hold would be removed from my account so that I could access my transcripts. Its 2 degrees celsius outside. Brrrrrrrrrr!

What else? I had curd rice for dinner. And drank fresh lime soda. Am also sporadically studying. Played tennis on the Wii. FYI, I'm pretty great at it. Hey, did you hear about Dada's century? Isn't it great? I was so thrilled when Amma told me.

I can't think of anything else to write right now, and I'm really impatient to call you and tell you about this blog. :D

Best Regards,

Pooja Kumar
Graduate Student
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Blacksburg, VA 24060

PS: I've written so many formal emails lately that signing this way has become a habit.

Matlab??????

Where would my life be without Matlab? I honestly don't know. My current favorite command is toeplitz. Yesterday it was awgn. I think tomorrow, it'll be rayleighchan. In fact, I can almost guarantee it. God, I need some sleep...............

A day of remembrance...

We are Virginia Tech...We will prevail...

Have a look...

Come Together

I like American Idol. Since Fantasia's season (what was the number?), I've been watching the show pretty regularly. Shetty and I used to discuss the performances, especially in the labs. (Or am I confusing this with Nach Baliye?) At any rate, we used to discuss it. Remember Ace?

This year, I'm in Blacksburg, a run-down graduate student, without a TV. But thanks to Youtube, I can catch the performances online pretty much the same night. I like most of the singers this season, but actually, this blog is not supposed to be about Idol. I was leading up to the fact that for the first two weeks, the contestants sang Beatles songs. And I've totally fallen for some of the songs that I heard.

My current fave is Come Together. Just love it. Can listen to it all day. John Lennon rocks. Eleanor Rigby is one of the saddest songs ever. And Yesterday, one of the most beautiful.

I totally intended this post to be long, and meaningful, and poignant, and whatnot. But my shoulder hurts too much for me to continue typing. So I bid you all a good night.

Exams...

Exam Season again..Just finished my first final in VT today morning. It was at a quarter to eight in the morning. Left at seven, by the first bus. Haven't slept much last night. Am studying DigComm for tomorrow's exam now, sitting in Torgersen. My iPod just died, so I'm not able to concentrate. Just thought all of these facts MUST be preserved for posterity.

PS: P,R,M&H - we should play the game more often. It was fun.

Enchanted

Yesterday, I went to watch a movie for the first time after coming here. In the theater, that is. My friends and I picked the Amy Adams-Patrick Dempsey starrer - "Enchanted". We went to the Regal Cinemas in Christiansburg, which is about 5 miles from my home.

I absolutely ADORED the movie. Its the ultimate chick flick - targeting chicks from age 5 to 55. Every fairy tale is represented, and there's an adorable chipmunk to boot. The icing on the cake is the delicious Dr. Shepherd, and his cute daughter. The cherry on top of the icing is Amy Adams. I haven't seen any of her films before, and I was "enchanted" by her. Pun not intended. The comic timing is impeccable, and I was giggling throughout the movie. I loved the tongue-in-cheek humor.

Verdict - go watch this movie just for the sake of the mood lift that you end up with.

Arthur Ashe

During his battle with AIDS, one of his fans asked: "Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease"? To this Arthur replied: The world over -- 50,000,000 children start playing tennis, 5,000,000 learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5,000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to the semi-finals, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked God "Why me?" And today in pain I should not be asking God, "Why me?".

For more, go here.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous

One of the first things I did after coming to Blacksburg was becoming a member of the Montgomery - Floyd Regional Library. Totally love the place. I pick up about twenty-five books every couple of weeks and savor every one of them. I think I've taken every one of my friends there, willing or unwilling.

Last week, I picked up Shoe Addicts Anonymous, by Beth Harbison. Totally love the book. [This is the phrase of the blog]. All you guys out there won't enjoy it. At least, I don't think you will. But for all gals who love shopping, and can't stop, this is a good read. Had a lot of fun. I've read a lot of books over the last year, and I intended to blog about each and every one of them. But somehow, it rarely happened. So this time, I wanted to do it before I forgot.

Gotta go now. Leon-Garcia beckons......

To sleep or not to sleep.

You know, Hamlet got it right. Everything boils down to - "To ________ or not to __________". If you can answer this, then you've got it made. My current quandary is the subject line of this blog. I see my room-mates up all hours of the night, almost always studying, and every single day before I sleep, I have this debate with myself. So many decisions to make - what time to sleep, what time to wake up, how many alarms to set, where to sleep, is it too hot for a comforter, does the heat need to be turned up - and all these just related to sleeping. Boy, I lead a busy life.

Before I forget, it appears that Meh was the only person who missed my blogs, so Meh, shoutouts to you. Santa Barbara will never be the same again.

I've been in Blacksburg for a while now. Its a beautiful place. Everytime I've spoken to someone on the phone the last month, the first question they ask me is "Have the leaves turned/changed colour/some equivalent?" I didn't really get it. How different could it be? But in the matter of one week, I see greens, golds, russets, reds, oranges, yellows, pinks and maroons, all in the space of a couple of hundred feet, and I realize, you've got to see it to believe it. Will post some pics soon in here.

Its half past four in the afternoon here, and I've finally decided that I deserve a nap. The consequence of this decision is that this blog is not going to be as long as I had imagined. I'm off no, to sleep. Maybe........................................

Fantastic Indeed...

Ranj and I went to watch Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer today. Both of us were absolutely tired of doing nothing these hols, and we made up our minds that we are going to be watching a whole bunch of movies, and shopping a whole lot before we go our separate ways.

Back to the point..We went to watch the movie, at Inox. My recommendation: Go and watch it if you can. For the 100 odd bucks that you pay, its real paisa vasooli. Very funny, and not at all long, actually just about 100 minutes.

Also saw a trailer of HP5. It looks good. The actress playing Umbridge looks exactly like I pictured her. And finally Gary Oldman has something to say outside the fireplace. Looks good. Can't wait to see it and to read the final installment.

That's all I have time for now, folks. As Johnny says, Flame On....

Good Going...

This year, I couldn't watch much of the French Open. Somehow, it just didn't work out. But I finally managed to catch a couple of glimpses of the final (pun intended..).

I'm a huge Nadal fan. His matches are so immensely entertaining. I don't deny that Fed-Ex is the king, or whatever else my manic Federer fan-friends call him, but he's just too perfect for words. He doesn't need my support to win. When you yell yourself hoarse supporting people like Nadal and Hewitt, you feel like you've played a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny role in their win. At least, I do.

Anyway, Nadal is still the defending champion at Roland Garros, and Roger has to wait another year for a shot at the grand slam. Congratulations, Rafa, and Good Luck, Roger. Please continue to give us several more years of entertaining and mesmerizing tennis.

Au Revoir..

Entranced...

I couldn't think of any title for this post. Then my eyes fell upon a Nora Roberts book lying on my desk, called "Entranced", so....That's the story behind the title. And speaking of Nora Roberts, a small aside: Ranj, you must be dreaming if you think that I'll give you my collection:-D

We finished our final project demo yesterday. It was ok. Bit of an anticlimax, really. I wonder if everyone felt the same. I had dinner at Dakshin, in Windsor Manor with friends. If you like South Indian food, you should really visit Dakshin. The food's just marvelous.

I'll be heading to Virginia Tech, (hopefully), in a couple of months. If you read this blog, please suggest one thing I should compulsorily carry with me. We shall see who can be the most original..

Going upstairs to watch Mozhi now. Its a Tamil movie. Will review it in my next post.

10 things I want to do before I'm 30

1. Go to Ireland, England, France and New Zealand.
2. Read War and Peace, the entire John Steinbeck and Irwin Shaw collection.
3. Attend at least 3 Formula 1 races, [more, if I can pull it off], and one match at each Grand Slam (the tennis one, not the golf one).
4. Buy a Mercedes Benz for my mum (Actually, this is on the top of my list).
5. With my family, buy a cottage in Ooty. This has been a long-time dream for us, and hopefully we can make it come true.
6. Sponsor one kid's education from primary school to a graduate degree.
7. Learn at least three foreign languages.
8. Visit an auction at Christie's/Sotheby's.
9. Investigate my family history, and build a family tree that goes as far back as possible.
10. Colour my hair violet.

And to fulfil these ten wishes, my eleventh wish is that I make enough money.....Hehehehe!!!

Disclaimer: The ten things listed above are in no particular order, except for the fourth one. That's on top. So I should say, the other nine are in no particular order...

In the blink of an eye

Its been a long time since I blogged...
Several things have happened since then. They are:

1. I've decided that I'm going to pursue my graduate education in Virginia Tech.
2. My eighth semester exams just got over yesterday. I couldn't be more relieved.
3. God willing, I'll be leaving on the third of August. Dad's really efficient.
4. I feel kind of depressed that the PESIT chapter is nearing its end. For all its ups and downs, it was the best four years of my life..And I do realize that things will never be the same again..
5. Can't find a number 5..so I guess that's it..
6. Not really, ppl who read this, pls wish me luck for my project demo next week.

Joy to the world...
Pooja

Numbness...

I woke up this morning, thinking that it was going to be just one more day, among the thousands of days that pass me by, which I wouldn't remember three months from now. I walked out of my bedroom, to Larry King Live, talking about this massacre at Virginia Tech. How I wish it was one of those non-eventful days I could easily forget.

For me, Virginia Tech is the school where my uncle studied, it's the school which gave me an admit last week and it's the school I hope to attend some day. My first reaction was, rather selfishly, "How is this going to affect Appa's feelings about the university?" Then, as the details sunk in, I was stunned. A feeling of utter numbness crept over me. Such a horror could happen anywhere, anytime, any place. You cannot hope to police all the people, all the time. You ought to be able to trust in the basic decency of human nature. You deserve to be able to look at another person with trust. I think that all of us have to wake up and smell the gunpowder. There's something dangerously wrong with the society we live in. Everyone's always angry, always on edge. It is imperative that we take a step back and see what we have become. How on earth can we justify somebody walking into a room and killing dozens of people?

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims.

Miles to Go

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost

This was one of the very first poems that I studied in school, or at least part of it. For the interested, it is called Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. This picture was taken during a trip to Nagarhole last year. I was just looking at the album, and suddenly this verse flashed into my head, so thought I'd share..

Little Miss Sunshine

I saw this film a couple of weeks ago, on a very hot Sunday afternoon, with a couple of friends, on DVD, at home. It absolutely made my day.

For all you people out there with utterly dysfunctional families, rest assured, there's someone out there with worse problems. LMS is non-preachy, and yet manages to convince you that family is the most important thing there is. Abigail Breslin glitters as Olive. Steve Carrell is magnificent, so are Alan Arkin, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear. But for me, the star of the show, after Abigail, was Paul Dano, who actually does not speak a single word for the first half of the movie. You've got to watch the film, if only to see the scene in which he first talks. Guess what his first word is!!!

Watch it, watch it, watch it..I assure you, you'll walk out of the theater/switch off the TV with a wide grin, and a happy heart.

Photo: Courtesy Fox Searchlight

Wishin' n Hopin'

The title is the name of a song that is featured in My Best Friend's Wedding. (Which is a pretty decent film, by the way). It’s also the name of one of the episodes in Grey's Anatomy Season 3, which I haven't got to see, yet.

I was just thinking... There are so many hopes that you don't have the courage to wish for, and so many wishes that you make, after working up enough courage, that you know just won't come true. For me, one such hope was that I would become a doctor. After long, intense conversations with myself, my parents, and a couple of cousins already studying medicine, I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, my rank was just not good enough. I got a place in a college that my family wasn't really keen on, and for various reasons, I gave up that seat and decided to become, or rather, try to become an Electronics & Communication Engineer.

Every couple of days, I am overcome with this tremendous feeling of regret, that I'll never get a chance to fulfill my dream. I don't know what my career as an engineer will be like, but I do know that I would like to have access to an "Alternative Reality" machine, which would let me see myself as a doctor. Various people asking my mum, how my medical studies are progressing, just doesn't help, at all.

Well, in life, you gotta take the cards you're dealt. It’s probably the one casino in which cheating doesn't work, and even if it does, it carries a tremendously heavy price. Being an engineer isn't so bad, especially when you have a great set of friends, who make life so much fun with all their ridiculousness (if such a word exists), and weirdness. Here's to you all....

This is probably the most serious entry in my blog. Well, it had to happen some day. Also, Happy Birthday Hamsa...Hope our party rocks...