It is happening again

... reminds me of the song which goes by the same name... ("griffin house")

Anyway, the awesomely dedicated Gandhian is back in action!! Anna Hazare and his satyagraha styled fight for anti corruption has lifted people's spirits once again. Why did it happen again? ... rewinding a bit....

Episode 1: Started in April 2011, the whole "Jan Lokpal Bill" idea for infy transparency with the aim to curbmaxx corruption was generated by the social activists. Facing nothing but objection from the govt, Anna starts fasting so that the bill draft gets adopted by the govt. Fear of getting unmasked and ashamed, 4 days into Anna's fast, the govt does accept the bill draft on certain 'terms and conditions'. Govt said: We will draft our version of the bill and you draft yours. Sounded fair. Everyone seemed satisfied and got back to their work.

Episode 2: Both , the govt and Jan LokPal drafted their versions of the bill. The govt. introduced its version in the Parliament session. The 'terms and conditions' turned out to be unsatisfactory.Team Anna gave it a name "Joke Pal Bill."

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-why-its-important-96600&cp

- suggesting a complete mockery of his original plan. So he decided to fast again. Satyagraha. Again. A safe and a proven tactic. But, Anna gets arrested this time around. Everyone knows that Anna is on the right side of things here and he does not deserve this. What next? Protests everywhere to release Anna. Govt wants to save its ass. Common Man v/s the Govt. Same old story. More episodes to follow.... Meanwhile...

Where do we fit in all this?
Awareness. Spread the word. Support the good. Have an opinion on the right side of things.
Discuss. Debate. Fire up !!

Lets support Anna. He deserves a lot more than what he has been through. :)

Be a part of the human chain today @iitb 5:30 pm . Make a difference.

Fire Alarms and Fuel Cells: A Scottish Summer

A two month international holiday break in the name of internship ! I think the neverending wait for the visa is worth it. Absolutely! A new country, new surroundings, new people, newer experiences always worth it :)

The university in which I am currently interning is in a small town called St Andrews in Scotland. It is a university town with a population of a mere 15000. The fact that Prince William and Kate Middleton are the univ's alumni makes it more interesting. There are wedding pics all over in the university and some parts in the town ! One can feel their love and romance everywhere in the whole town! Love-is-in-the air kinda feel :)

Now about my project. There is already some research going on in the university (school of chemistry to be precise) on a new proposed design of a fuel cell which is called as a SOFCroll made using tape casting and screen printing. The interesting thing about this new design is that it is supposedly more efficient and material savings hence the cost reduction. But there are disadvantages too that the design itself has to be exact for proper performance of the cell and also the crossover of the electrolyte and mixing of the hydrogen and oxygen gases lessening the output voltage. My work involves to find out ways to avoid the crossover and try to increase(sumhow :P) the output voltage and also test some already prepared fuel cells. It sounds quite interesting but I have to know a lot of stuff bfore I can be anywhere close to that :P. Since a week, I have been reading stuff and getting to know the labs here and my labbies :)

Now this may seem weird but its true! The people here are really mad about safety. REALLY MAD! There are fire alarms and fire exits almost everywhere in the department!! There are safety handbooks and lectures about health and safety frequently which are compulsory! and the most weirest part , there is a fire alarm check and a drill (which is really annoying :P) every wednesday 4 pm( I dont know whats with the specific time :P) the insanely annoying alarm runs unecessarily for 1 minute in which the people in the dept should evacuate and ACT as if there is a fire :P and the fire dept etc etc come to the scene etc etc ... damn drill ! ... seemed infy weird the first time! anyways ...all I can say is 'safety first' paranoid people :P !

Apart from fire alarms and fuel cells, its infinitely cold here ! 10 degrees maxx and too windy. Though there are heaters everywhere, it is shivery ! The town is quite picturesque :) too much greenery, 2 beaches West sands and the East sands, A Castle and a Cathedral which add to the ancientness of the town. The town has a nice british stone feel to it. TESCO supermarket is AWESUM ! The people are quite friendly and helpful and infy mannerful.

I wish there were some more people around :P ... Overall till now, it has been a nice experience. Looking forward to the rest of the internship :)

Flashback lah ! Summer of 2010 ! \m/

Flashbacked me !! It was THE BEST SUMMER of all time lah. Summer of 2010! Simply Unforgettable!!\m/ \m/ ...... Malaysia -> UPM, Kejuruteraan, Renu Sir, Dila mam, lab, tamil restaurant, roti kosong, neslo, maggi, Kolej 12, moutain bikes, common area, kitchen :P, cafetaria, night lukkha, infinite lukkha :P, KL tp weekends, Mines shopping, KTM komuter, KL sentral, Ram Uncle, Batu Caves, Petronas sky bridge, Sepang Race circuit, Langkawi Islands, banana boat, Mellacca weekend, Raksha Di, Prabhu anna, Putrajaya, Pakistani restaurant, Bangladeshi restaurant, FIFA world cup fever, KL carlsberg niteout- Ghana vs USA \m/ !
foosball infy, duniya bola anda \m/ bukit bintang ! Suria KLCC, Jonker street melacca->bunk beds \m/ and lastly,.. my lappie :P

y0 !! miss you guys !

Jatin - the awesum roomie!
Avani - the stud avg!
Swati - the coolest swat cat!
Urmil - the enthu dude!
Mukul - the birthday boy!
Parth - guest appearance with carlsberg and the tissues !

Enjoy the summers of 2011 :) :)

The wait...प्रतीक्षा

Either reject it or grant it ! Why take so much time? Atleast tell me why is it taking so much time.. huh ! it has been like forever now. Cant wait anymore. Even Patience has a limit! ... I am not supposed to even communicate with the visa officials ! Only one toll free number which keeps on repeating the same f*****g recorded stuff ! Damn the costumer service !

Meanwhile time has slowed down. I am stuck in no man's land. I cant even try for other options till I get to know about the status of my visa application! Just wait and kill time. Its does kinda get boring sometimes but just cant help the situation. Its just plain and simple prate'ee'eksha!!
FINGERS CROSSED !

World Cup and Anna Hazare

De Ghumake! De diya Ghumake! A long 28 year wait finally over !! A moment impinged in history books forever. Cricket-clad newspapers front paged with "Once upon a time in Mumbai","Dhoni does a Kapil", "Wankhede casts a spell for Sachin" etc.... No Doubt! The Indian Cricket Team deserves it. Infy Kudos to Dhoni and Co for pulling it off and living upto the expectations of billions of people of this cricket frenzied nation. RESPECT the team.

This win has done a lot to this nation than anything else that would have done even close. It has brought the people together with joy. yes ! UNITY! The celebrations after the win were unprecedented. Memorable sights people celebrating as they shared their Joy with friends family and even strangers! and everyone had a smile on their face. Such pure unadulterated joy ! Such Emotions! Such Unity! Such Bliss! Such happiness! Such a true patriotic feeling to have conquered the world ! I am glad to be alive to witness this epic feat and the impact it has had on me and the people around me :)

A lesson thus learnt. If a common passion drives the people of our country crazy, we unite to give our full support to make sure we reach our goal. Ok now, Cricket is considered a religion and all that.Fine. But why restrict only to cricket? We all know our country is facing much graver ageold problems. Corruption is one of them, the root cause you can say. Its time we are ignorant about it and actually do something instead of cribbing.

Anna Hazare is in the news. Do check the news if you arent in touch! In short, Anna Hazare is a 72 year old social activist who is on a hunger fast till government supports to pass the LokPal bill which will give accountability to curb corruption. A mini Satyagraha as the media call it. True. A bold move to curb corruption. and the govt will think twice on this issue since they themselves are corrupt! and ofcourse they are afraid that their darker sides will be revealed to the common man. Bow down to Anna Hazare seriously! A gutsy step taken by the man !

As people of this country, we should support Anna Hazare in whatever way we can. It is in such times, support from as many people from the nation is required. Lets unite for this cause! I think the timing of this hunger strike wouldnt have been better. The World Cup win is fresh in peoples minds and the unity which it brought with it too. Lets show our full support to curb corruption ! Unity wins over everything else. It does ! World cup win is an example. Lets get inspired by the World cup win and Anna Hazare and do our bit!! Even if its just about spreading the message, do it. UNITE SUPPORT. CONQUER !