Being alone

There are always friends around us... they are the best company a person can get..... but somewhere down the line they will not be around with you forever..your destiny is different from any of your friends... they might have to go somewhere.......you will meet them again but still its your life... you gotta start understanding yourself.... solving your problems.... always take support from your friends ..but it is ultimately you that will have to find a solution to any problem.... the solution will be long lasting only if it comes within you... Or else its just running away from the problem...back yourself.... you have the courage to do it... I wish you will do it... Friends should be there to listen your cribs...your insecurities..but take strength from your friends and be confident..... there are enough people around to lend you support in anyway possible....so its just your strength and you confidence thats essential to bring you back to your cheerful self...........
once you start understanding yourself and try to solve the root cause of the problem and start moving.....then finding peace within yourself is easy n more satisfying ...life will be different...more enjoyable.....

this post is for someone....... just hope it helps!!!

India Call

As I sit here slogging trying to complete my paper. My mind keeps wavering.... I am worried about lots of stuff..The letter I mailed. Has it reached !!.... If so, how will my parents react...
My flight starts on monday. I have not started packing ..bought a lot of stuff though.. packing shud not take long...... I am looking forward to meeting my family..... "her".... my friends....and to see my campus and my town.... Man can't believe its been 11/2 yers since I left India... Time flies. I just hope it keeps flying until I reach India for good.... that though is abt 5 years away!!......we will see........

Cricket - shabbir's action

An excerpt from Column "Throwing out the stigma"
"Cricket today is increasingly facilitative of batting; its administration, its legislation, its appreciation, its celebration, its critique is skewered towards batting. Arguably, though, both disciplines are equally complicated in their technique. Yet only those with technical glitches in their bowling are legislatively reprimanded; a batsman who has no footwork, a crooked backlift or an uncertain trigger movement - all defects in strictly conventional terms - faces no such action. In fact, in his vocation he can be feted still. The game finds it unthinkable to impose such restrictions on batting. It's a glib comparison but one that provokes some thought; why is a dodgy bowling action a moral affront to the game and a dodgy batting technique not?"

Can't Osman understand that Shabbir chucks.... if he is doing he should not be allowed to bowl...
the comparison of batsman lacking techinique and bowlers not having the flexibility is the funniest arguement i will ever listen to support chucking of shabbir.
Moreover batsman have rules..they cant bring a bat of 1 foot width..cant have steel in it...there are rules that dont give un fair advantage to a batsman... similarly a bowler should not have unfair advantage...by chucking!!

oh god... how can even somebody compare these stuff!!

may be i should be on the editorial board of cricinfo....

anyway!!

The two seniors

I began my journey to Austin from IITM with the comfort that two of my seniors, Don and Yak were in Austin. More importantly in the department that I was joining in. They have been great seniors... they were supportive and helpful...ok.... The reason for this post is...within a space of about a week..both have made me very happy with very good news.... First, Don get the "Milton Pikarsky"award..... kudos to you man...... and today.... Yak, got an offer from MAPs..... i m happy for him.. and now they will again be together in Boston..like they were for nearly 6 years in IITM and Austin...

Wishing their friendship...more lovely moments...... and expecting they will sponsor my next trip to Boston soon :D

Graduation

I graduated yesterday...adding two more important letters to my already impressive resume ;) (MS)

The graduation function went smoothly... The cheering band was awesome with their cheering... it was clear and loud..... I missed for once being in the cheering band....

and the party ....oh god...it was so much fun.........

the menu ...with guys spending hours cooking stuff.........

Vikas...... rawoof and GK....put in hours to cook ...puffs....yes they cooked veg n egg puffs at home....

Sukumar... with an awesome Bisibella bath......

then the girls........ aarti..akansha and shalu..... cooked dal and really awesome "Gulab Jamoon"...

Yak...prepared ..as usual...great shrimp.....

and others too chipped in with awesome stuff.........

and the dance show was awesome with lots of fun....some things i better keep as secrets for the benefit of a certain Tam......

that was an awesome party guys....

Waiting for someone to graduate soon............. on the condition they stay in austin after graduation too...like i m doing....

Lonely

The weather...with it its fog n cold is getting to me.... I dont know how people up north survive...
I have an exam tomorrow.....I have to finsih stuff for my graduation.. I have to finish my work on a paper... I have to finish a presentation for TRB... I have to make changes to my I-20...... I have too much stuff to do... I just wanna go to India and forget all these for sometime.............. waiting for Dec 26th.................................

OR Courses

I always wondered why I liked Operations Research.... I always felt i needed to know something more than just transportaion engineering. Now my primary focus of research will be Discrete Choice Modeling. But someday I would like to work in other Transpotation areas, particularly Networks. It is with this in mind that I take any course offered by Dr.Morton.. Or is this the real reason... i dont know...another reason I take his courses are because he is an awesome teacher... there are moments in his class where you are awed by the simplicity of his methods..... He finds it so easy to explain the complicated of topics and he also has a great sense of humor.... I think he is an aspiring academican's role model...... I will be taking my 3rd course with him next semester...I might not learn how well he teaches... but even if the courses help a little on how to teach and capture the attention of the class.... i will feel my purpose is more than served... Of course all this doesnt come for free... His courses are very tough and more or less i end up getting 'B's.... But i dont care...i feel i am learning a lot and would love taking his courses......... If I can get an A in his course !!! it would be very satisfying........................

Oh God its freezing in Austin

hmmm..... ?????????
its -1 (celcius) outside here in Austin.... Not a very common thing ..for the temperature to reduce so much..... I was as usual at my desk working..... a bit seriously...bcos i have an assignment due tomorrow (oh sorry today!!)... Then i see the weather on my firefox and realize the temperature has fallen below 0.... So i venture out with a hot coffee ..... its freezing outside...but who cares.... i love it...... i dont know if its the Nescafe or the -1 that was making feel so nice....... i have never seen the water vapors coming out from my mouth condense like smoke..... this was the first time....n it was so nice.... I was not there for long...may be 5 mins..... (i am health concsious)........

oh God... I should get back to my assignment... 6hrs and 3 problems to go
bye for now....

Camping and Videos

My camping trips have all been succsess..but also after camping the fun continues...the funda is we take great pics/vids....when its just pics my friends invest time....to create great videos...just as Vikas did for the colorado trip...the video made by him... "zarah se color-add-oye" was awesome.....
the video starts with a nice reference to website....aalu-shaalu.com.....
and the picture is presented by ek-gult-ki-shaadi ........ nice names!!! and it was simply amazing!!

great way to go vakilis..........

till smokies n next video

B'days in Austin

Though the gumbal we have isnt very big...we have enough people to celebrate b'days...

the season began with mine followed by Yak, Vikas, GK..... and finally ended for the year with sudeshna..... we will keep waiting for ...in order.... shaalu..akansha (she surely will have some b'day)...aarti..rawoof...bansal...

until the next b'day .............

My letter

As i begin my letter..... to my parents.... i m searching for words to write...to mention to them...why i want someone to be my partner.... not that these are not clear to me..but i am searching for lines that might convince them..make them agree to my proposal.... We will see how far this letter can influence my life...

Camping and Me

I love to camp..... i enjoy the nature ...the people with whom I go around... With more camping trips i just keep loving it even more...

This was my third camping experience... the first was to Big Bend..second in New York and now the third one in Colorado Bend State Park..... the treks were nice..... you could create your own adventures by climbing some rocks along the way.....

the nights were chilly.... but we more than made up with our fire sessions...be it the Dumbsy we played .... or be it pulling each other's legs.....

after the camping we went to exercise on the Enchanted Rock....it was a nice place.... with good scenic views........ then we went (or rather finally..after loosing our way!!) to Pedernales Falls.... This is a falls.....with an elevation of abt 10 feet (no kidding!!)...but if you are interested in finding adventure....like i was...it wasnt bad..... you could climb hills.... around...I climbed one of them...it was more than fun.......

and finally I am back at my customary position...my office desk.... have to get back to work... i have lots to do...as usual....

before i go.....
i would introduce the cast for the trip
Vikas (Ganguly)
YAK (man for Shaadi.com)
Rawoof...(sharukh rawoof pinjari)
Sudeshna
Akansha
Shaalu
GK
and yours truly
naveen (tarzan......Lord Krishna)

thats all for now....

the next camping trip is already in the planning stage....
hoping all will go well until the next trip

Exam

Hmm.... done with my exam for the sem...i dont know how it went!!
But its over.... I somehow dont have a great feeling though!!
Until the marks come out..... then I will be in more trouble.....

And Finally

The wait seemed forever......
and it was...for 1 1/2 months.... all i can do and did was wait......
But at last it was over.... I am happy ..very happy.....
But just worried about my life... If only that conversation could go on forever and I never had to wait......
I hope there will be a day like that...

I have to start my wait again for the next time.......

Until then I have a few cherished memories to think about !!!

Me, Coffee and My Research

As usual, I sit in my office, alone, trying hard to work. I dont know, there is something missing. May be my excitement in anticipation of going back or be it the "call" that I am waiting forever. Somehow I find this sememster I am missing the "enthu" I had say in first or second semester. I am trying to fight these really bad symptoms, considering I am planning to do a Phd, with my coffee. We will see how far coffee can take me in solving my problems. But one thing is for sure I will have get some important things straight and get on with my research. Hoping for more productive night sessions at my desk!!

I hate Sachin

Yes, you have read that right..... I am an Indian cricket fan.... I try to watch all matches india play.. and make sure I read anything that is written about cricket, however remotely it might be related... Bu t still i hate the batting of a "genius"... a player with more international centuries than any other player in cricket....and mostly any player will ever will...at least for sometime...
You must be thinking why I hate him!!.... the moment he comes on to play cricket for me cricket looses appeal... there have been days i wish he gets out early.... and someone else in the team plays well to get India to victory.... I feel Tendulkar plays cricket more for records than for the team... I know every fan of his accepts that he takes more balls than needed to move from the 90m to a century... I always felt such slowing down affects the momentum of the innings and I hate it because he has so many centuries that the thought of missing one should be on his mind...But it still is.... and i can only think of one reason for such display of extra-ordinary caution at the expense of the benefit of the team...

I liked his batting before he hit is first one day century, the young 16 year old who burst on the scene with innings of fearlessness where he feared none and played on his insticnt..... I know...the way Sehwag plays now....and i love that style of instinctive batting.......Yes sehwag will get out playing a irresponsible shot, but thats always better than fiddling for a run to get ur 36th century.... The way he scored his triple hundred or the way he went for his double and got out in australia for 195 are mere examples of a new school of cricket..... At best the process can be described in statistical terminology as a kind of "Poisson" Process..... lack of memory of the past.... Thats the kind of batting I enjoy and love...... I am sure many of you are ready to pounce on me for my comments and views....hold on.....these are strictly my intrepretations and i think I am entitled to such opinions.....

With that i would take leave!!

India's first loss

It was too good a run to continue against the second best team in one day cricket... it had to end and it did with India loosing the 5th one dayer at Ahmedabad.... The most important outcome of the match is not the victory to the Sri Lankans but the morale boost the recieved because of the victory. India should not have let the Lankans regain their lost confidence.. But thats what they exactly allowed... The point in resting 3 main players simultaneously is asking for trouble. resting Tendulkar may be ok with our batting line up.... (great if people know what I mean!!)... But with the bowling line up we have, resting bhajji and irfan in the same match is a mistake.. this somehow indicated complacency on the part of the Indian think tank. But now that they have tasted defeat I hope they will try to correct the mistake and get back to winning ways.... Finishing the series on a high is important , especially with the 5 one days with SA coming up and moreover the test series against Sri Lanka isnt far away......

Raina and Venu, who displayed maturity in their batting in the last match, failed to play responsibly. Venu getting out playing an unnecessary shot in the 40th and Raina in the 41st one. The most important thing i noticed was that they were out in such fashion with the captain around... i felt that Dravid should have let them know how to go about... I always respected Dravid as a great player but he is not the kind who can assert himself as a leader over the team. He believes in doing the talking through his performance.. agreed... but there is more to captaincy then leading with example...... may be there he can take a leaf out of Ganguly's book...But its still early days.... may be with time he will pick up such stuff...But for sure the
India, Greg and Dravid have things to think about...

BTW -- this was the first match Veeru had the chance of being a captain.... I was impressed by the committment he has shown in the ground.... not bad veeru...way to go..... I hope you will get your long stint very soon.....

thats all for now.....will be back soon

Indian Cricket minus Ganguly

If there is a word that can bring a cheer to alomost every Indian -- it has to be associated with an Indian cricket victory. Be it a Tendulkar Ton or a Sehwag's sizzler or a Dhonis Dhamaka the indian crowds go bezurk!! Considered the game of the "masses" (like me :) ) it draws huge crowds.... But off late the spotlight has been on many things other than cricket... the big tussle between the coach and ex-captain Ganguly.

Who is to be blamed... I dont know.... Should Ganguly be dropped? in the wretched form he was in.... yes ... But as Indians we remember an individual's deeds of the past. That is why Kapil Dev was in the team way beyond his prime. People say its wrong.... May be i dont think so. For whatever he has done may be he deserved better treatment. Atleast they should have given Ganguly a chance to get a decent farewell. I am not a big fan of his batting . But i am a fan of his cocky attitude. Be it the way he got in youngstars into the team or be it the t-shirt swirling on the Lords !!! Wasn't I pleased. It was awesome.

Dravid is a great cricketer. However, I dont see him as a born leader. But Time only will tell.. He has a good team and he had a great start with 4 victories against Sri Lanka. We will see how he will fare....

In the mean time it is nice to see the younger bunch playing really well.... the innings of Suresh Raina was very impressive and also a responsible innings from Dhoni is surely a good sign for indian cricket.

Awaiting the start of the 5th one dayer.... I sign off...

My journey - and the Fairer Sex

I was born and brought up in a small town in AP.I always found the fairer sex interesting to talk to. The reason for this, I can only guess, is because it was not common to go around talking with girls in small towns!!
I was generally good at finding things about girls in general..... For instance, it took me very little time to find out details of girls, be it in class or a girl who i see at an examination center. I always had the connections to find out details. Once i entered IIT, it wasnt very different. In a span of 2 days, i even had the room numbers of all my batchmates in memory (of course girls only!!) ... I always found it surprising that i was interested in such stuff. Because i was practically "settled" in life very early. But i never could understand the reasons my interest!!

The place I lived and studied I was used to seeing girls wearing Chudidars and half-sarees (langa Voni for the telugu understanding readers). I studied until +2 in AP. I been to Hyderabad many times and i was surprised to see so many girls wearing jeans and t-shirts. I always thought such dresses were only for film heroines. (of course off late they dont even wear these. they prefer wearing things - I better try not to describe. ) But the ultimate shock was when I reached chennai I guess. I am not talking about the girls in Chennai. It is about the girls in IITM. They were a very queer lot for me. It took time for this conservative small town guy to see confident and hep girls. Anyway I got along with them too I guess....

From IITM, I arrived in US... this place was not a shock to me at all...may be I was prepared for the worst. And our place being in Texas is very hot..... So you can imagine the kind of dresses Americans wear.. So from being a small town guy...now i think i can stand anything... at least I think I can... but still there are things I cant undestand.....I will bore you with such ones later..

till then bye...

Fun on Fridays

Off late fridays in Austin are great!!..... I am not yet working...I am still a graduate student.. but somehow I seem to enjoy Fridays..... My typical routine Friday begins at 3.00 PM (I wake up a little late you see :) ).. Then i get to school to start work. I work for a while and off we go at around 6.00PM to where.... it could be the lake or a park or to intel Volley courts.... we may play volley, cricket or just sit and talk.. but its fun to do this in a group and i have a great time. And from there we head to a restaurant..have a nice dinner and then we pick a movie, mostly a Hindi one (for the benefit of the new entrants into our group!! otherwise it could have been telugu) .. then once the movie is over head to ... office... yes at 2.00AM and work for a while.....

This is getting into being a habit.....not that i mind...i enjoy it.....

and before i finish...... i should mention about the tough volley game we played this weekend...

the teams

Vikas, Yak, Suku, Shalu, Kishore
Vs
Abdul, Aarti, Akarsh, Akansha, and me (sorry my name doesnt start with an "A")

it was a nice game... we were trailing most of the time...but we fought well.... to win the first game... then lost the second and third and came back to win the fourth and force a fifth set. The fifth wasnt any different..we were trailing...we came back, to even it at 24-24.... We had a match point and could not convert it :( .. and so we lost!!!..... for a second it was like the world stopped or something (I am terrible at writing I guess!!!)...... but it was great fun...to play...

I hope we will have more Fridays in a week and even more fun on those days..

thats it for now....

Will start posting regularly from now on......

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Naveen Eluru