well..yeah ALMOST...
I successfully defended my Master's thesis this monday at my univ.I dint have much of a problem and the proffessors did not make it a point to chew my ass..They were pretty unusaually polite and listened to whatever I blabbered.
Now,the formality of the report submission remains which should nt be much of a laborious task.
It definitely feels great having completed M.S!!
Looking forward to the graduation ceremony.I missed my undergrad ceremony as I had already left India when they had it.
Had a great time in Lubbock with good old friends.
Watched the movie "Catch 22"..a good one which will remain in my memory for its catchy dialogues and thought provoking views.The paradoxical ideas were fascinating.
-raapi

Posted by rajesh |

I got up early this morning as I had to catch a flight at 10.20 a.m.When I was almost ready to get a shower at 8.30 a.m(by my watch),I noticed that my computer's clock was saying 7.30 a.m.It just took me by shock.Then I realised that It was the gimmick of the ever-irritating U.S timing change.They had moved time by an hour for the daylight time savings..
It would have been very irritating had this caused a fiasco with my flight today.But I am happy that i got an extra hour and Hence I blogged in.

Posted by rajesh |

i ve seen a lot of them ..
the ones that say..
I hate both coke n pepsi..
I would drown in tender coconut rather.
I loathe A.R.Rahman's jarring music..
I would listen 24/7 to ilayaraja's melodies rather.
I am allergic to academics..
I would play the whole day instead..
I m a teetotaller since ages..
I 've habbits that are either good,better or best.
I don't eat non-veg..
I sometimes ,don't even eat some veges..
I would never set my foot into the wretched U.S..
I would rather lie burried in my beloved India.
I never argue with anyone about anything..
I dont even have anyone to argue if i wanted.
I dont care a shit to what others talk abt me..
I dont even bother when they talk directly to me..
I have no friendly guys worth saying..
I have no sayings that would be friendly.
I have no ego problems to worry abt..
I don't even have a single alter-ego.
I have never had a liking for any girl..
I don't have even a single female chat buddy.
I will never get married in life..
I won't allow even my illegitimate son to get married.

How I wish..one fine day..these people woke up with selective amnesia and started living the way they were expected to live.
p.s : all of the above characteristics are imaginery.Any resemblances to persons dead or not dead is purely coincidental.

Posted by rajesh |

i just cant believe it is a sunday and I am here at work..!!well,the fact that I am not doing anything constructive is very obvious though.
I m jus trying to work on my thesis,which should most probably culminate by the end of this month,after I hopefully defend it successfully on the 27th Oct.
There used to be times when I used to count the days left in the week to get to the weekends,but the situation has changed now.The ennui associated with the 2 days at the end of the week,makes me dread it.There is no fast forward button in my remote,uninteresting life.
Saturday and Sunday have no meaningful purpose.The 48 hours are brutally killed watching TV,chatting and talking on the fone.Added to these inexpensive pasttimes,the 2 days take a heavy toll on the wallet too due to the visit to the thai or chinese or Desi restaurants atleast twice and shopping for unnecessary items on the shelves of Kohl's or Old navy or Gap.
How I wish they made it 6 working days a week with an option even to work on sundays..This doesnt mean I am a workaholic.Its just that I enjoy being with people and thinking something constructive.Whether I show it in my deeds is a different question.

Posted by rajesh |

"Its better to stay silent and let others feel that Your are a stupid than to open your mouth and clear their doubt about it."
Well..This was one of the quotes that I saw on the walls of a conference room and I should admit that I am following it in all the meetings that I am going to.
Its all greek and latin right now.Hopefully the techie jargons start making some sense in the near future.
-raapi

Posted by rajesh |

boreha,boroaww,boraaahaa
boremm,boroaw,boraanu,
boraena,boraabyaam,boraebihi,
boraaya,boraabyaaam,boraebyaha,
boraathu,boraabyaaam,boraebyaha,
borasya, borayoaho,boraanaam,
borae ,borayoaho,boraeshu,
hey boreaha,hey boroaww,hey boraahaa..
-raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Its been almost 2 weeks since I am back from India,but still the feeling hasnt yet vanished.I still keep thinking about the great time I had there.Life is really much more pleasant amidst people who care and at places which are very familiar.
I felt I should jot down some memories,lest they start disappearing from my mind slowly..
Madras..The first few days of this trip,I spent at Madras.Nothing can beat the feeling that one has upon coming out of the airport..kinda like how they show criminals coming out of the jails,in movies!Its so refreshing and loads of joy bundled ,when we see our folks after a long time!
The heat was as usual an integral part of the chennai life.But that would nt matter to any madrasi.Had great food at various restaurants..avm saravana bhavan/sangeetha etc.Went shopping at Globus/spencers.But I felt some stuff costed almost equivalent to what they would cost here at U.S!
PONDICHERRY..Spent 2 days at Paati's place.As usual went t the aurobindo ashram n beach!
COIMBATORE .. Spent around 75% of my time here.A pretty decent place with a wonderful weather.Ate a lot of banana chips and it varius cousins like chakka chips/topioca chips etc etc..Krishna sweets served to be a fav destination.Lots of mysore-paa n halwa rolled down my belly!!
R.S PURAM/Saibaba Colony were 2 places that seemed worthy as a place to live at coimbatore akin to thillainagar at Trichy!!
BANGALORE..the place that I started to dread since my last India trip.But had t go there for the sake of relatives...Spent more hours in autorickshaw rides than at home.Bangaloreans r joking when they say they live in bangalore..most of them live somewer near mysore/extreme unreachable places and call themselves as bangalore residents.
PALGHAT..THE ONLY PLACE THAT STANDS OUT..from other places that I visited.The place and the occasion of my trip there was excellent.I was there during ONAM and had a great time revisiting the ancient traditional stuff.I even took time to make a floral display n front f my cousin's house called "Pookalam".Had Onam satthi food and enjoyed being with the set of relatives for whom i have great respect and care!Went to Guruvayur and other temples.Had a memrable trip!
Back to madras and time to leave.The 5 week trip just comes to screeching stop.Mind is filled with loads of fond memories which will keep it fuelled till the next trip !
- Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Character is doing something in a right/righteous manner even when nobody is looking!
Hmm..that seemed to be yet another sentence I bumped into,on the net.But upon thinking twice,It made a lot of sense!That is something which many of us lack most of the times!
Got to have this sentence in mind hereafter everytime when I try to do something silly,
namely ,throwing the smallest bit of wrigley's wrapper on the road,thinking it would not make much of a mess,
passing a red light on a very very lonely road ,when thers no traffic,
at walmart -chucking an item into some irrelevant shelf if i dont need it,
carelessly parking my car spanning 2 other cars' parking area,
extrapolating the only 2 real points on a graph and including the other cooked up points in the result table,
getting a refill of coke on a machine which clearly says..NO REFILL ALLOWED!,
talking abt college football or basketball even without knowing the ABCDs of the games
and mainly
chatting with a bevy of gals n lying to everyone of them that they r only person I am currently chatting with.
There is a lot more of these instances which I cant remember on the top of my head.But I shall remember the above mentioned quote abt 'character' the next time i do some silly stuff!
by the way that quote was uttered by Jerry Sanders -the founder of AMD!

Posted by rajesh |

well..what i mean is..the so called love that a female has for a male or viceversa is not really that valuable.Atleast qualitatively not as great as the love that a child has for a mother or viceversa.
Jus imagine the situation if God appears and says suddenly that U cannot relate to ur present parents as a child and its the next door neighbours who's gonna be ur dad and mom hereafter.That would be the rudest and untolerable shock to any mortal whether young or old.I am sure nobody would accept such a proposition ,no matter what is promised to them..
This is not the case with that of a lover.The relationship starts similar to that of all relationships such as being a sister/brother or a friend.It gets built by constant interaction and finally it reaches a stage when theres this inseparable feeling akin to that of a mom n child.
But then one day ,by a sudden quirk of fate (read as ..plot of the parents), a different guy or a girl is chosen and the love vehicle screeches to a sudden stop!The dad blows the whistle..the mom applies the brakes..the relationship jus breaks!No one cares..2 mortals shed tears momentarily..but then its just forgotten and buried in history as a great display of temporary longing by 2 souls, who failed miserably in one of their important tribulations of life!
Its the friends and innumerable aquaintances of the unfortunate duo that keep the saga fuelled all through the life,reminiscing even the minutest of all silly tricks/love ditties/shameless exchange of words, that the 2 shared when they were in their so-called love..
Yeah..this kinda love's not that expensive..its really cheap!
I felt like dwelling on this topic with such a view due to such a sad happening that I witnessed in the lives of many loser couples I am acquainted with..

Posted by rajesh |

Blogging..huh?This is what I feel many have started using it for..I am not commenting as to whether its right or wrong but this is reality.
Blogging is nuthing but "The new age tool for many idle mortals to consider themselves as great writers/thinkers and an effecient medium for storage and propanganda of mostly nincompoop ideas, which they could have never brought out of their rotten minds"..
I felt this way upon looking at the way a few of the bloggers I know have been writing stuff.They feel so proud of their shit that they email a bunch of people asking them to look into their blogs and comment.Thats the sickest of all entreating anybody could do.If the sole purpose of ones life is to gain attention from others,why do they want to take to this medium for doing it?They could very well dance naked on the streets,wear obscene tatoos or scream expletives at the top of their voices.Writing out of ordinary stuff in blogs just to make ones presence felt is bullshit.
This is just an outcry from a genuinely hurt person upon looking into a fellow blogger's blog..
-raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Today was my first day at AMD as a full time employee.I have joined the company as a product development engineer at Austin.Most part of today was just employee orientation and setting up computer account/telephone stuff.
I got a chance to meet my manager.She seems to be pretty shrewd and very professional.She introduce me to other engineers in our department.
From tomorrow,I think I might be entrusted with some work.I take this opportunity to thank my friends and relatives who wished me on my first day of duty today.
I would have been much more scared had this been a different company.But since I have worked at AMD as a coop for a span of 16 months,I dint feel much of a shock.However,this is a different department with entirely different tasks.Hope I succeed in it..
-raapi

Posted by rajesh |

This is a short but great write up about my exploits in India during my 5 week trip.I am flabbergasted by the minute details that my appa has meticulously chaulked out.This definitely shows how much and how many long hours he thinks about me.Well..thank U appa.I owe U one for this...with love -rajesh
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
RAJESH’S VISIT TO INDIA 24TH AUG,2003 TO 2ND OCTOBER, 2003.





Dear Rajesh,



We were eagerly awaiting your trip to India during Aug, 2003 and the red letter day arrived on 24th Aug 2003. I would like to narrate and diarise a few events during your stay with us and shall be glad if u could make an album with the help of additional information u remember as also with the help of photographs scanned or otherwise.



My self and amma leave by train (Kovai Express) from coimbatore on 23.8.2003.

Chitra joins at erode , we reach Chennai and reach Besantnagar by auto after taking some light refreshment at chennai central on 23rd August.2003.



Next morning we reach chennai airport…self, amma,chitra.narayanan maama, and varsha wait for you at the domestic airport thinking that ur flight is by Indian airlines from Mumbai. We were taking some breakfast at Hotel Taj in airport waiting for next domestic flight from mumbai when u connect us by cellfone informing having reached chennai international airport. All the people except me rush to international airport leaving me at the restaurant asking me to carry the food stuff we have placed order there. We meet at the airport. We leave airport return by sumo car to besantnanagar via narayanamamas house after dropping narayanamaama and varsha there.

Myself,u and amma visit vss house one evening, next day we go for opening clinic in memory of krishnanakumar on his birthday. His parents were there .There was a meeting etc and from there we leave to Pond cherry.

We leave for pondicherry by some long route bus on date not known

Via marakkanam or so.

Spent a couple of days with your thathta,paatti, balan maama,jayanthi,and their two kids. We go tone cell shop for recharging chithils cell.go to aashram,sivatemple, beach etc had ice cream, stuff at a restaurant near beach .



Return to madras go to hotel Sangeetha the evening near adayar while returning.



Leave for coimbatore by night train. Reach home next morning.

Attend your friends ( sarvanans ) marriage at RS Puram. Coimbatore,on 31.8.2003

Slowly you get to know the localities in Coimbatore Like NavavoorPirivu,Vadvalli,Lawley Road,Rs Puram, Saibaba Colony,Town Hall. Cross Cut Road, Gandhipuram. Railway Station,Marudhmalai Road, Bharathiyar university On ur friends reception date go to Gandhipuram for getting bus ticket for your other friend Vikas Dhadha eaving for .

Bangalore. U getticket by Conty Travels.



At Coimbatore stay for couple of days and go to Plaghat during Onam festival. Go to Guruvaayur, Trichur,Thirvasmbadi temple, Parmekkavu Bagavthy temple,etc. India gate hotel at Trichur and go toKalyan silks buying some kurtha etc.(chitra was not with us)

At Coimbatoe get one electrician who set right the old siemencordless telephone, sony vcd,andothe minor electric repairs. We check upthe Polaroid Camera,Coumputer camera,allworking. Uehadbrought a few cdplayersput to use,photo scanner also connected tocompouter and a few phots scanned.

U had taken my compueer printer for repaira nd given at galaxy for repair.



One day Mohan Bipin and u come to bank night they rerurn to palghat.

Return to Coimbatore.

We goto Annalakshmi hotel one day without chithra.



U leave for Tiruchi/Tanjore we ddono where all u went there.

Jeeyapuram, Boys or girls movie.Stay at Arunachalamama house and stay.



U return to coimbatore.

Urself and amma goto banglore wher u go to paravthi athais house bagavathy athais, karthik dinesh sobhana meghana priya susui sasi etc all kids.

Both of u return.



Narayana maama chitra maami and varsha come from madras.

We go to ooty , coonoor by car next morning Sunday, went to a few places.



Sloawly u started packing up. Ur guys bringing stuff to be carried to usa.



Amma and urself leave for madras by on 26th sept. chit also comes from erode to madras on 27th sept, 2003

I leave coimbatore to madras on 29th night and reach ther on 30th.

At Madras we go to adyar somejeweller shop.mylapore luz t nagar, etc.We go to Karpagam avenue our flat, the temple,

Meet preethi, Rgahav,Sioumyasmother,many others.

Giri Trading near Kapalitemple, Ambika stores, Sarvana Bhavan AVM at Madras are a few places u didn’t miss during this trip.

One memorable event while going to palghat from coimbatore we entered a reserved compartment thinking it to be unreserved and uttered lie to the ticket checker mother was il letc.

On 1.10.2003midnight leave besantnagar by sumo self, amma,chitra, go to t nagar n maama and varsha join us . we see u off at airport .

We felt very happy abaout ur stay during last forty days but feel happier when u state u would come next year,



That is the happy continuation of ur trip to India.

Just like computer my memory is poor and insufficient, if you have any additional inform nation add or subtract, edit save it as a document.

WISH YOU ALL THE best join AMD on 6th Oct, 2003 and inform us

Your Appa.Amma and Chithra

Posted by rajesh |