One of my earlier posts tried to convey the meaning and fun of reading. I think its time I put in a few words about writing itself.
First of all, I cannot comment on whether there is an exact difference between writing and typing. Where writing can imply both the creative content that your produce as well as your hand writing, typing only means the creative content that your produce (and maybe your typing speed too!). However, for the sake of reading, I’m just going to use the word ‘writing’ in this post.
When writing something, you realize with much more understanding and easiness the emotions within you. The dreams that you have, the ambitions that you have and all sorts of emotions lying down there deep within your inner conscience comes out. It need not go into your writing but it sure brings out a lot of stuff for you to think about in broad daylight.
However, writing need not mean specifically to keep a blog, nor to write novels, nor to write short stories. In my opinion, the best of writing that one can do is to keep a personal diary. You might think what is there to keeping a diary. Well, let me tell you what.
It is a matter of personal discipline. I know a lot of my friends who buy these golden covered books and all telling me they are going to keep a diary. They write in it one day, maybe two days, maybe a week or maybe even one month and that’s it. The rest of the pages will be eventually used up for writing rough calculations and stuff while studying. It is one of the hardest tasks to be maintaining a personal diary. Specially because of the one reason that no one is going to read nor comment it for you. To do something entirely out of self-discipline and without attention of any others is a real honor to one’s personality. I respect all those who keep a diary.
Another fun in writing is that there is no one stopping you from conjuring up your own world (sorts of gives you God like power which everyone usually craves for). You want a hero with Superman’s dress and Batman’s mind? Write away! Superbatsyman and give him all the powers that you like. Do you want a story where the girl actually understands the guy and they live happily ever after? Write away! You have infinite control over the worlds and people that you create and its definitely fun.
But all in all, it always feels good when people read what you write and lets you know that. Even if you are not an expert, you need to have support while doing it. So whenever you find someone who is trying, do cut him some slack and let him try. Never ever discourage it.
One of the amazing places that I found for having people like you read what you write is critters.org. In there you get helped as much as you help people and its all about reading and writing and helping. Here is a thousand thanks to Andrew Burt for keeping the site up and running!
Sometimes you feel the whole world is against you. The things you did for a good reason turning out to have the worst effect. One or two words out of place and out of context tearing people apart. Realizing the things you have taken for granted should not have been so. Sometimes everything just simply goes wrong without you even asking for it. Whenever that happens, apology helps a bit. But you just have to take your mind off for a while. And what place better to take it to other than the wide and shining fields of gold? Walking there for a while… Be back soon..
I think this is something that we should all do so that young ones with similar tastes as us can know when they are making a mistake. Let us just say this post might be the answer to the question, “Do you have any regrets now that you are finishing your college life?”. Then again, never let it be said that I don’t have anything to be thankful for in my entire college life. This post resembles the procedure where people use a software and report bugs. No one files a bug report saying, “Good job!”. People complain only on things that they are not satisfied with and that exactly could be what this post means. So here goes. The following might not have any specific order.
1. Not sit in the first bench.
2. Take at least five push ups every morning.
3. Never do a message offer in my mobile phone.
4. Never take an unlimited broadband connection at home.
5. Make sure I took critters.org seriously.
6. Make sure I got on stage for some program.
7. Make sure I did not compromise my beliefs.
8. Make sure I finish reading at least one novel every three months.
9. Strictly tell people to get lost when I get engaged in chit-chats.
10. Should’ve taken a good programmer’s advice seriously. My brother’s.
11. Study just one and only one subject seriously every semester.
12. Sleep early everyday unless something really important was at stake.
13. Go out for as many technical events as possible and find friends who are interested to go with me.
14. Try for paper presentations. (This is one great asset that a person can gain while being at college and I really regret not even doing one.)
15. Learn one chapter of Kernighan and Ritchie, the C programming language, every month.
16. Sit and try to solve the questions at the back with one who loves to try learning programming.
17. Get more attached to people who loved coding.
18. Never to listen to music while doing some other activity.
19. Putting academics apart, concentrate one thing at a time and never to postpone anything.
20. Think and talk to seniors about something like ABACUS. (I really wish I had the opportunities that the junior are getting now).
21. Make sure I knew two programming languages very well. (Right now thinking about it, it could be C and Python).
22. Ask and learn people who know about how computers work. (The things that happen from the moment you press the power button till the welcome screen loads, one at a time).
23. Realize that I had lots of time and take things slow and serious instead of trying to do things the quicker way.
24. Meditate and learn to think about one thing at a time.
Hmmm… I might come back to update this… But that’s it for now!
This post comes from the words of a person who has been a great inspiration for me. I think everyone reading this post will be familiar with the name of Pramode sir. An awesome teacher as well an awesome programmer, it really fills you with a certain energy each time you talk with him. And sadly, I believe that lack of interaction with people such as him is what the students are suffering nowadays.
One Saturday, a bunch of us students from NSS including me were attending his workshop on Python and embedded systems. You can find the details here. During the class, he in his friendly manner was chatting with us in the midst of which he made a statement that frightened me quite a bit. And that statement is the title of this post.
He reached the point of making this statement when he saw that after running a code that made an LED blink on the expeyes embedded device, we were all sitting as if nothing great had happened. And when he made the statement, it suddenly struck me that the curiousness of wanting to know things and the excitement of seeing something was really low for the students these days.
And the problem is that all of us are already tapped out of excitement! Just think of it. From our childhood days onwards (nowadays starting from when one is 3 years old), we’ve been continuously exposed to all sorts of excitement. And that has not been in learning but in watching TV, movies, mobile phones, songs, games, etc. A blinking light on a stupid board is nothing compared to what Neo does in Matrix as far as we’re concerned!
As for putting the blame on our parents for this, well, I won’t say it out loud for I can find a million other things that I have to be thankful for regarding my parents. One being them not having that attitude of “Harrrrrrrrrisss! You scored less markksss! WHAT HAPPENED!?”.
But now we have an option to make a change. The kids we see around us, our niece, nephews, neighbour’s kids, whoever it be, if you wish to make things right for them, then you really can prevent them from being exposed to a lot of trash instead of sitting there and saying, “Dude, the world is bad. Even if I prevent him, he will be exposed to everything from other people. So why bother? Its not practical…”. And you can make up a million excuses for ruining that kid’s life. But yeah.. Why should it concern you huh? Its not like you have assumed the responsibility of the world or anything.
So hear me those who wish to be responsible for living in this world, do not think of what others would do. Make sure you do your part right. That is, help the young ones to keep away from the TV, all the music. Talk with them, listen to all the childish things that they might have to say, make sure you control your tongue in front of them, make sure you don’t encourage and laugh when they say vulgar jokes..
I mean it really is fun to hear them say things that an adult would say, jokes that an adult would say. But the question is, is the ruining of their innocence and curious mind worth the amusement? Think about it. Start with your self.
Here is an inspiring song that I’ve heard to this effect. Its called “Man in the mirror” by Michael Jackson.
When was the last time you were lost in a moment of thought and said, “Man… Times sure have changed”?
Only too soon, I guess.
Let’s take some time here and see what we meant by that sentence, shall we?
I bet those words came out of you on beholding an improvement around you. Well, saying “improvement” might be wrong. Let’s call it a change for now and we’ll decide whether its an improvement or not after we are through discussing.
Now, what is the change that you saw? I bet that either it was something eccentric (which will not be the topic under discussion here) or something that doesn’t blend in with the surroundings. But here, since we are talking on, “times sure have changed”, the change that you felt is based on time. And as such, the ‘surrounding’ here are the times that we live in.
In short, something that is not related to the “times” has happened before you that triggered a feeling of change.
Now, what does “time” actually refer to? It can’t be anything that is going to happen since the future is unpredictable (in the sense, the when and where’s cannot be known). So it has to be something that has already happened.
What has already happened is the past. And we have witnessed a change that doesn’t blend with the past. But where has the past’s knowledge within us come form? From the heritage and traditions that we have been following throughout our life.
The ideology of whether those traditions are good or bad is debatable. But the point we are stressing upon is that those traditions are not practices that came in about a span of 10 to 20 years. Those were followed and practised over decades and maybe even centuries. As such, those who held true to those practices were known as those who held true to those practices. And to keep it short, they had an identity.
So summing up, it is when we see something contrary to our identities that we say, “Man, times sure have changed.” Now let us keep pushing the limit and see where this leads to.
What is the change that you saw? Was it something that was readily acceptable or was it something that made you uncomfortable with its existence in front of you? In which of the necessity, comfort, luxury categories does it come under?
Well, my GATE examination time is almost up and I have to cut this short. I hope I have been able to touch upon the point of what identity means and where it plays a role. I’ll be coming back with lots of thought on the questions asked at the end.
The battle had been going on for seven days continuously. The Raikan army had held off the evil of Bola for so long. Through day and night, hunger and starvation, pain and agony, the Raikans had held them off through sheer power of will. But now the Raikans were getting exhausted, not because they didn’t have the will, but because they were humans and their body’s each and every cell had been tapped to their marrows and the Bolan army was coming at them in thousands and ten thousands. The Raikans were outnumbered.
. . . . . . . . .
The Raikan tribe was a peaceful settlement along the coast of the river Amelyah. Even though a settlement, through years they had grown to occupy acres of coastal land. They thrived there and did not interfere much in the matters of the outside world because they never depended on anyone for their sustenance. However, on the day of the full moon every month, one among them would set out on a journey to bring back whatever news they could gather from around them.
The settlement of Raikan was wrapped in God’s green beauty. If ever a soul wished to find peace at heart by the nurturing of the soil as the trees, then this was the place that would bind his soul to the essence of the murmuring green that slowly swayed with gentle breeze.
The ever flowing bed of pearls that served as the resting place for the heavenly stars at night was the river Amelyah. She would bring happiness from the heavens that she was flowing from for the people of Raikan and they always found the energy and soul of nature with her enchanting sound. She would bubble and whiz along the rocks soothing and shaping them with the hands of a skilled craftsman. It is said that the sorrows of the people were washed away by her with her crystal beauty. She was sacred and they would gladly give their lives for her.
Their beliefs and rituals did not go anywhere beyond Amelyah and mother nature. To them, she was God and whatever they had was her gift. They never took it for granted and they even preserved each and every stub of grass that would grow around them. Often people who bathe in the river of love get into a trance for a few seconds and it is said that they would behold a certain vague image of a galloping beast with a rider mounted on it. It would pass through their village bathing it in a pool of crystals and the green would hold their heads up high in great reverence and respect. The trance would end in a few seconds but within that time, they would have experienced a feeling so strong that their courage would become like mountains that hold mother Earth down.
. . . . . . . .
It was one day during the second of fall that they noticed the slight tint of black among the beautiful currents of Amelyah. It disturbed their hearts to see their God’s beauty having been scarred by the slightest of happenings. And with each passing day since then, the black currents started appearing more and more. The Raikan’s knew not what the reason for this unfortunate happening was. And their concern grew more with each passing day.
On the coming day when the moon rose up and high in his full vigour, they appointed their next traveller to seek out the cause of this ill happening. He went forth with a heavy heart of sorrow that their love had been scathed by a source unknown. However, in order to leave the Raikan tribe, one had to cross the bridge of Garand. It was the only way on foot to the tribe. If not that, one would have had to swim across the currents of Amelyah in order to get to the village. When he reached the bridge and was about to cross it, he beheld the black currents flowing ever more strongly. He turned his gaze away from the unholy sight and sped on his way.
. . . . . . . .
Two weeks of anxious wait with the ever increasing black currents of Amelyah was starting to put the people of Raikan into a state of restlessness. None of them dared to touch the currents and as such their soul’s energy was draining away little at a time. Their only consolation was the pampering murmur of Amelyah that still sounded with the sweetest of tones day and night.
On the last day’s night of the second week, their waiting came to an end with the whistle of the traveller being heard from a distance. But they knew something was wrong. The sound of the hoofs were not peaceful. The traveller was hurrying back.
They saw him coming at a rapid pace and faintly could make out him shouting something. As he approached nearer, his uttering became clearer and what they heard made them freeze. It was one word that they did not even expect to hear in their worst nightmares and here they were hearing it from one of their own.
“Bola!”
They had not seen the traveller clearly due to the night’s shadow. But once the traveller reached them, they beheld his dress having been burnt and marks of black on his entire dress. Still, they were not ready for what yet going to come. The traveller removed his mask slowly…
And there was the mark of Bola on his face!
. . . . . . . .
Bola was the evil of lands that was prophesied to come at the times of ill bearings of the world. Bola was the evil that would slaughter beauty and spread chaos among the kind hearted. Bola was the destroyer of life as it is and Bola was the binder of one’s soul to hell. Bola was inhuman.
The mark of Bola was made on the people whom they captured and wanted tortured for life. The mark once put on the person would bind his soul to the depths of hell. The chaos and flames of hell would slowly burn his soul a little bit at a time. He would feel the pain of his soul, his life burning inch by inch without even the slightest of pain to his body. There was no cure but to writhe in agony until one’s soul was completely burnt away from within.
. . . . . . . .
The Raikan’s did not care for their souls nor their bodies when Amelyah was threatened. All the fear and pain would be masked by their love for her and that was what kept the traveller on his horse till he reached back. He delivered the message and that was that Bola had already made their mark on certain places and captured most of river Amelyah. But in order to spread their evil, they needed the final part of the river. And that was the part protected by the Raikans. Bola was on their way for the final piece of their puzzle.
On hearing this, the Raikans’ blood boiled. They were not just going to fight until they stood dying on their very feet. But they were going to make sure that the Bola would never get the river completely. With this in mind, they retired to their settlement for discussions on what was to be done.
. . . . . . . . .
Amelyah was their life and death. It was the bearer of purity and love and they were certain that if they were to stand a chance against Bola, then it would be in Amelyah’s presence only. And finally, they had to make the hard choice – destroy the bridge of Garand!
This was agreed upon and the Raikans choose their strategic positions wisely with more number of people mustered at the shallow regions and lesser ones with ranged attacks at the deeper sites. They began their wait for the inhuman Bola.
They knew their weapons would not cause harm to the Bolas. As such, their mind and soul, and its purity was their only weapon. Along with the blessings of Amelyah, they held a hope of belief rather than of faith. However their thoughts were cut short with a strange happening…
The black currents suddenly started shifting towards the opposite bank bringing the pure and refreshing waters of the river nearer to them. It was as if a straight line of divide had been drawn in the middle of the river with one side pitch black and the other heavenly white. They knew it was time…
From the very distance, they could vaguely make out the faint outline of dark Bola army approaching…
. . . . . . . .
Even after the seventh day of the battle, the Raikan’s found no new hope. But as long as the Bolas were trying to hurt Amelyah, the fire kept burning within the hearts of the Raikans. But they were exhausted. The inhumans did not die. But were repelled and rendered powerless with the purity that the Raikan’s held true. But they were persistent and kept coming back again and again. Many Raikan’s had already fallen out of starvation and hunger and they knew they could not keep this fight up much longer. One more night, and the Bolas would take over the Raikan tribe.
They started to pray.
On the night of the seventh day of the Battle of Garand, suddenly the Bolas seemed to soften up. There was a deadly calm within the realm of battle. All the rage that the Bolas were attacking the Raikan’s with seemed to be sapped away from them. The humongous army of the Bolas suddenly seemed to be distracted at some strange phenomenon that was happening without the Raikan’s knowing.
The Raikan’s also started to feel a great sense of inner peace within them. A feeling that none had ever encountered before. A feeling of hope and love. They felt a new energy flowing from deep within.
A gentle breeze started to sway the green trees around. They too seemed to have been aroused by something strange and it was as if they had grown taller and higher in a few seconds.
The feeling lasted in the battlefield for a few minutes which was broken by a horrendous and fearful war cry from the Bolan army and they once and for all made a straight ahead massive dash at the Raikan army to finish them off. The Raikan’s knew the battle was lost.
A brilliant flash of light suddenly threw those Bolas in the river up in the air! There was a gush of strong wind and suddenly the clouds of the sky made way for the shining moon! Amelyah started shining and sparkling as if by heavenly magic which made the Bolans go crazy!
The river slowly started rising and behold! There emerged the gallant Water Rider from within the currents! Those Raikan’s who had the trance suddenly shouted, “Its the Water rider! The WATER RIDER!”.
Cheers of happiness and hope shouted from the Raikans. The water rider came forth with such fury with water flame sword in his hand that many of the Bolans cried out of fear. The Water Rider shouted,
“Come oh Raikan’s! Holders of purity and lovers of Amelyah! Your protector is here and your spirits and minds have been kindled with the love of Heaven! Let us drive these creatures of ill omen out once and for all!”
With this, He charged into the Bolan army causing havoc! Not anything that the Bolans did could hold the white rider back. He cut through the entire black army like a comet shining in the dark skies! The Raikan’s followed his lead and cleansed the evil of Bola.
The true spirit and love that they had held for mother Nature had won. Amelyah was back to what it was for another long years to come.
One among the sad truths that the world has to witness today is the ever diminishing innocence of young children. I’m not getting into the “good old days were much better” debate here but I just want to talk about the way things are today.
Where most of the children back in those days had a choice of not getting exposed to media and all the crap that it imparts, these days we can almost without fear of contradiction say that they don’t have a choice like that. One way or the other, media is going to reach their innocent little brains at a really young age. And if not TV, then mobile phones for sure.
As such, the innocence of the young ones are getting masked at a really young age. Mind you, I’m saying masked. Not that it is lost. Masked in the sense that what they hear and talk and think are all adult thoughts and talks. Media is bringing to them more than what they should know at their ages and as such, they truly really believe that what they know is the truth. Young minds are like that. Unless they are given specific instructions and teachings about what all things are wrong in the beginning itself, they are not going to be able to resist. Can a sponge resist absorbing any kind of liquid thrown on it?
Once you are old, you are your own responsibility and you can go tiger hunting in the wild amazon for all I care. But young ones, they are our responsibility. Each and every word that we talk to them gets absorbed by them and it stays there. So unless we are really careful about the example we set for our little ones, we are going to have one heck of a ruined generation. And that will be all our fault.
You might be wondering what compelled me to write this post. Well, last Friday while I was returning from mosque with one of my friends, we cross a Government L. P. School on our way. While walking by its side, we heard all the children sitting and singing something together. We both were like all back to childhood and stuff. Out of curiosity, we went near one of the classroom windows and the sad truth struck us. We heard…
Many a times have I had to answer to the question of “Why read when you can hear and watch”. I don’t know why people treat the two things as religions as if one was right and the other was wrong. Both have its own places in the world and what you need to do is to figure out when one is better than the other given a situation instead of saying no matter what happens, you’re only going to read all your life.
The void Easy(); (see my last post) idea will help here I hope.
Let me take two contexts and talk from those perspectives and hope that I make sense that way.
One is when you’re watching a movie while there are novels lying around. The point here is that we are trying to take a break or entertain ourselves for a while amidst a busy life (while some of us need to take a break from getting entertained all the time! But that’s not the kind of people we are talking about here). So you have two options and those are the two that I’ve said above. Watch a movie or read a story.
Well, watching is not bad because the stimuli is greater there to catch your attention with all the bright lights and ever dynamic screen while books are just a lot of same looking dull pages that only have black and white colour in them after all (I can’t believe I just said that). But as far as I am able to see, the point that we are missing is this; that when we are watching and enjoying a movie, there is just one perspective to things!
Let me try to elaborate on that. In a movie, when there is a house with a garden in front of it, the image that they put on the screen for you IS the house with the garden in its front. That one perspective. When thinking of a ‘House with a garden in front of it’ after watching the movie, all that will come to your mind is what they pictured for you.
You probably might be thinking now that if you watch more number of movies, wouldn’t you get more perspectives, right? But those are all ready made! There is no creation and innovation from your part there. Your thoughts get narrower. Your imagination shrinks. You do not spawn thoughts but live off the ones that have been given to you by others. You get the submissive attitude of thinking what has been presented to you by someone is of perfection and of great artistic value (it most certainly is always not so. In fact, it very rarely is so). In short, without you even knowing, you forget the the power of your creation and imagination. You lose the power to resist. Not in a day, mind you. But slowly.
But now come to reading. There are no ready made pictures or perspectives for you. All that you have are “some dull pages and with a black and white tint”. But there are words there! Words! Take a look at what I’ve got to say about words here:
So, in books, you find words that say, “There stood a house with a garden in front of it”. What happens the moment you have read that? Well, its not like you are mugging up the story for an exam here. You are trying to have a nice time reading it. So obviously, you need to see how the story is going on and for that, you need to have what has been written there pictured in your mind. And at that moment, you conjure up a place, a world of your own in your mind. Your mind imagines, it thinks, it works and most importantly, it innovates.
And there you go! Your mind is on a roll!
That’s what happens when you read. The more you read, the more your imagination grows. The more innovative your ideas become. The more wider your thoughts become. And you start to see things from a perspective that others are not able to. You evolve.
That was the first context. Now comes the second one.
You might have guessed by now what the second context would be. Yes. Reading text books.
I don’t know if I’m right in drawing such a fine line between these two types of reading. But hey, I’m talking from the perspective of my life till now. I hope you guys share your views as well on the subject as I’m eager to know what sort of ideas others have regarding this.
Now, when reading text books, what’re you really trying to do? You are trying to learn something, obviously. You are neither trying to be entertained nor are you trying to have a nice time. You are dedicatedly, with a lot of concentration, trying to learn. Keep in mind that I am not talking about the “mugging up” business here. And as such, you put a lot of effort and energy into the time you spend reading your text books. As such, I truly believe that these two types of reading really can be considered as two different categories.
Now my point is, while trying to understand a certain theory behind a phenomenon or the certain application of a rule, sitting and reading it won’t give you better results than visualizing it in real life. Seeing and experimenting to see the results are going to give you a much more concrete understanding of the matter at hand. This is the case where the saying, “You can’t learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book” becomes so totally relevant.
With those two contexts having been elaborated, I hope I have been able to stress upon the point that there is a time and place for everything. You really have to figure out where reading pays off and where watching and hearing pays off. Understanding the context and then deciding on the approach is how you should face it.
For those of you who are not familiar with programming languages, the title of this post may not make much sense. So here are a few words for you.
In programming we use programming languages such as C, C++, Java, etc. We write programs in those languages and run it in order to make something happen. However while writing a program, it is much like an administrative task where there are superior officers and other sub-ordinates to whom they delegate their duty to. Just like that, there is a main part who starts running the running/execution of the program and in between, to do some specific tasks, just like delegating it to a sub-ordinate, there are small pieces of code called ‘functions’. These functions do their duty and tell the result back to the main program so that the main program can continue its execution.
My title is the way (or the syntax of) how we write a function. The name of the function is ‘Easy’ and the return value (what the sub-ordinates response back to their superior is) is ‘void’. Void means that it returns nothing. But hey, as I said, this post is not about programming!
Now coming to the meaning of the post, the things that we are able to do easily in life does not reward us with much. It might depend on the way we measure what we get in return, but let’s see if I can make sense here.
What I have the foremost in mind is relationships. It is something that I started seeing and experiencing after coming to college. That relations are so easy to be made. All it requires is a few messages through mobile phones. I used to believe that relations like that had meaning. But I’ve figured out it is not so. Because it is just soo easy!
You don’t need to take the time to go and see your friend, nor do you need to look into their eyes and speak, nor do you need to find words at the moment… For all they know, you could be watching Charlie Chaplin and laughing your heart out while consoling your friend through messaging for his relative’s death! And that poor friend will think that you are so empathetically sharing his sorrows.
Love, friendship whatever it be, this is the case. There is no truth. Unless and until you have a relation with a person by talking with them face to face and understand their facial expressions and tones of sound while saying certain words, you’re never going to understand what they mean reading their messages.
As an example, if a person says he is going to kill you, unless and until you know the tone in which he says it, you’re never going to know whether he is serious about it or not. (Manu! I hope you don’t mind!). Well, killing may be a bit too far fetched but if you look into the relations that you have that are through phones, I guarantee that you can find such small instances that causes a HUGE misunderstanding.
Until we use messaging and calling just to keep in touch and not to build up a relation, mark my words the return value is going to be really low.
This goes for many things as well like learning too. The trend of ‘edutainment’ these days, which focuses on providing education through entertainment, might seem really awesome and interesting. But what we are forgetting there is that knowledge is not something to buy and keep and say, “Hey look! I’ve got a new toy!”. Knowledge and education is what moulds your brain into shape. It gives you immense confidence, wisdom and most importantly humility.
If you think you can get knowledge easily, all you are going to be is arrogant. The pride that you know something when all that you know are a few words and sentences that has no use in your life or in others. It is hard to attain humility and wisdom and as such, until you work hard for it, no matter how much you show that you are humble, you can never be.
Be ready to work hard for something you really truly want to attain. And instead of just being in the state, “Yay! I have it!”, you’ll be able to feel the difference that it makes.
It is not a joke when they say, “There are no shortcuts to success”.
I’m adding a small video to this post. Its one of my favourite songs in western but the guys here have remade it into an Indian version. And even when we are engineers and this video shows doctors, I think as far as college life goes, we both have enjoyed it.
A few people are going to kill me as they expected to get something delivered into their hands. But hey, its my gift and so its in my form.
All the people whom I have been friends with till now have called me crazy. I’m thinking they meant it in a complimentary sort of way where they wanted to express the feeling that I was different, but one guy (quite a big guy at that), put my craziness in a completely different way. He told me I was ‘a happy and creative guy’. And looking back, that was one of the best compliments that I have ever got. We will eventually come to all that in this post.
I remember last year on New year’s eve me typing in all that had happened in that year and messaging that to everyone. I guess some people enjoyed it whereas some people didn’t.
But today, instead of doing that, I’m going to individually torture each and every single person who has been there with me for the past four years. And guys, that is my Christmas present!
ചുരുക്കത്തില് പണി തരാന് തന്നെയ ഉദെശം.
However, as my class knows, I haven’t been that much of a party person and as such I have miserably failed at getting to know everyone. That is going to reflect here. But I hope you guys can fill in the blanks. So read through and have fun.
Keep in mind two things while reading this.
1. We all have things in college that we don’t want to be reminded of ever in our lives again.
2. We all have our diplomatic stances with certain people.
3. I won’t be using smileys and that doesn’t mean I’m serious when I’m writing every darn line in this post.
Oops! Off-by-one error! (In the memory of the great Dennis Ritchie).
So here goes…
Afaf
Ah! We go a long way back. As long as till February second week 2009. She has the honor of being the second girl that I messaged to in my life. We will come to the first one later.
We’ve been friends (and foes too) till now. One of those few people who had a few similar tastes as mine. (Hey, that is two “fews” in one sentence. So you can guess how little it would be).
Although I’ve never been able to digest and agree with her religious ethics, which are considerably confusing, she really is one of a kind. I remember during first year when some seniors made her tie a scarf around her head!
She writes well and has sent me a few poems which I have still got in my diary. Read one of her poems here:
For those who had heard her seminar, it was certainly enough to know that she was one of a kind. She was not a “byhearter in pursuit of marks”, and I don’t think she has ever bowed her head in submission in front of academics. And I respect her for that. Hailing from Calicut, she is one person whom I will have memories about.
Oh and one thing! She is Chiang Kaishek! Thanks to Jinu, the noodles boy.
Ajith
Here is one person whom I simply loved working with. Dedication is his best quality I guess.
I say this because each time an idea has popped into my head regarding ABACUS, however weird it was, this guy was there to support it and bring me back into reality when I was going too far. I don’t know how to put it more clearly. It is truly a wonderful pleasure when you find a person dedicated to something as much as you are. Even if you were sitting without the thought in mind, they would come and tell you, “Dude, I’ve got something to tell you about this”. And mind you, he never is the, “So, how are things going?” kind of person. I mean he is not one of those people who try to show that they care about what is happening even though they don’t give a shit. He involves himself and becomes a part of whatever happens without any invitation or ordering.
I’ve enjoyed true peacefulness of delegation, thanks to this cute guy who is a brother to many at college.
But that’s not all, he has two addictions. He he…
He is quite a master at cars and bikes. Even a mechanical engineer would have trouble winning a debate with him on this topic. He reads all the freakin’ magazines regarding it and has a say about all the cars and bikes that one can behold.
The second addiction, he acquired lately. And that is Naruto! Can’t blame him for that because he knows how I am with Wolverine.
A really good teacher, a wonderful friend, a darn good treasurer (him being the treasurer of the first trip of our class to Trichur and for the class tour) and one among the few good Java programmer’s in our class, he has found a place in the hearts of almost all in our class.
Amrutha
The princess! He he..
I have no idea if its a pun or if its serious when they say that royal blood flows through her veins. If that is the case, then I haven’t given her the respect that she deserves. lol!
I’m indebted to her for two things. One for giving me the compiler lab programs. Here is the happening.
Jinu : “ആ പ്രൊഗ്രാം ഒന്നു ഫൊടൊ എടുതൊട്ടെ?”
Amru: “നീ ഹാരിസിന്റെ ഒപ്പം അല്ലെ??”
Jinu: “ഒറപ്പല്ലെ! പ്രൊഗ്രാം താ”.
ഞമ്മളു തലയും താഴ്തി ഒന്നും അറിയാത്ത പൊലെ അവിടെ ഇരിക്കും!
The second is for giving me the rest of the question’s answers of the second DS assignment. Well, not me only, but almost the whole class wrote that I think.
I think Namitha will have a much more brilliant say about our princess. Expecting her comments.
അയ്യൊ I forgot! Thanks to her a million times for giving me her stapler during the sessional exams! I don’t know what I would have done without her!
Anisha
Now here is one girl with full of energy. Annie, I call her and Harry, she calls me. My new year friend whom I blessed with a Royce Rolls car. Erm… He he.. Yes. Not Rolls-Royce.
I remember her being the Referee of the small demonstration of wwe during the first year official freshers by “wh കൂതറാസ്” or something of the sort. Wow! She has got guts!
A brilliant talker and a girl with almost unlimited confidence, we all count on getting the university lab exam questions via message once she is in! Come on. Even boys don’t have that courage!
My guide to Calicut, every time I have a doubt regarding that huge place.
I’m pretty sure my words don’t do justice to her. So I’m expecting someone to chip in and put a few words in.
(See comment below by Aparna P. Rajan)
Anjali
One among the many with whom I haven’t talked to except once or twice. Sigh… I really should get to know people more…
(See comment below by Aparna P. Rajan)
Guys, fill in over here!
Anju Mary
A quite and composed girl. But I have a score to settle with her. Ha! I bet none of you remember it. Then here is a reminder for you.
I was our class rep for the first two weeks! And she is the one who took away my title! He he he… I hope you guys remember our HOD’s face when he realized the blunder he had made. But then our good old bundle of knowledge, Sharat MR took over and our lives started!
Sometimes I do wonder whether all that this world requires to be a better place are people who knows to keep their mouth shut and not open it unnecessarily. But hey, I got no say there because I don’t keep my mouth shut.
(See comment below by Pretty)
Aparna
Ms. Romantic! I wonder if that title has been put to the test. He he.. Usually known as കൊച്ച് അപര്ണ. She is a dancer who loves dancing. That day for the placement training with Didi, we were split into batches of five and six and this girl, along with Jayan, Vincy, Sajith, me and one more other dude were in the same batch.
We had to talk about the thing that we loved the most for one minute. And she, who was till then afraid of speaking and finding it hard to talk and deliver her one minute intro package, started to fluently talk away like an expert! She did not even care about the language because all her mind was on dancing. Her expressions changed, her actions became graceful and she convinced all of us that she knew exactly what she was talking about.
Still, I don’t think this description does justice to her. A girl of talent.
Aparna P Rajan
Me being a reader of comic books, I’ve always come across characters who appear to be trivial in the midst of the story, but finally playing the key role in the story happening. In the class, I think of her as so. Putting this down here, I’m in the hope that I can get to know her better before I leave college. And oh yeah, she is usually known as വലിയ അപര്ണ.
I was impressed with her humanities seminar during first year where she was not only excellent with her English, but also she made sense with her class unlike many of us who just wanted to get it over with. She proved her consistency when she came in front of us for her seminar on Flash memory.
I don’t know why, but I just can’t stop this entry without saying she is a girl of mystery. Or its just that I’m absolutely really bad at reading people.
Oh! And I forgot to mention. I was her Christmas friend! Her gift for me of a sitar modeled out of plastic with a Rose underneath that would light up if it was turned on. That all was fine. Except for the music that accompanies the current flowing through the circuitry inside. Man! It is a symphony by Mozart. But due to the loose connection of the battery, you feel as if someone was squeezing Mozart’s throat and pounding on his head with a hammer while he was playing it! Lol!
Arjun
MASTER BLASTER! Ho ho ho… A really awesome sportsman. I remember hearing once that he led his team to victory with sixes! Hey Arjun, correct me if I’m wrong.
Many a times my study partner at hostel, I remember a lot hearty laughs I had with this guy. But hey, beware. He is a skilled charmer. Talk to him for a while and you will definitely feel like he is the best person in the world! Either that or maybe he just is the best person in the world. I dunno.
The candidate for election in our class, with one victory and one failure, he takes that too in his sportsman spirit.
Oh I forgot to mention! He is a bloody photo addict! Pass by his room and he will call you, buy you a drink, listen to all your problems and everything as long as you will look at his photos in his laptop. He he… But he looks good. I’ll give him that.
I remember once when we were climbing the mountain behind our hostel… It was a steep slope and we were crawling on all four to get to the top. But this idiot didn’t give a damn… He wanted photos taken no matter what… And thanks to him we have some pretty awesome pics to remember those days by.
They are an awesome team… Its fun to be with them… This dude, Jayan, Panju, Kannan, Haresh, Shihab… I only got to know him during my third year. But I’m glad it wasn’t any later.
Asha
I’m going to need help to be writing about her. I’m amazed at my lack of socializing.
Bini
Apart from the fact that she has the face of kid seeing everything for the first time, I’m going to need help in figuring her out.
(See comment below by Aparna P. Rajan)
Bose
Known to a few as Sutheesh also.
The person whom I respect the most in our class. The one who showed me through actions rather than through words that nothing was impossible. The person who
DESIGNED A NEW FREAKIN’ LANGUAGE AND WROTE A COMPILER FOR IT!!! And that too as a part of his mini project!
He was just an ordinary lad while in high school. But P. C. Thomas did a few wonders on him I guess. An expert on almost all the subjects related to computers, a core programmer having a superb grip on algorithms, everyone knows that he has answers up his sleeve.
A poet at heart and soul, malayalam poetry comes like glowing pearls from his finger tips!
However! A BIG however… None of us are going to forget his question at the placement training auditorium session! The way he stood up, shook his head to the right, his hands to the left and asked… Ummm… Well, those of us who need to know the question already knows it!
And one more thing… The variable names this guy uses while programming! Oh MY GOD!!! He just presses some random key on the keyboard and that’s his variable name… The trouble we have understanding his program after copying it… Whew!
One among the four who were with me for repairing the networks lab. Read about it here:
The poster child of patience and humor. ഈ പഹയന്റെ ചളികളെ കുറിച്ച പറഞാല് തീരില്ല. അവസാനതെ വര്ഷം ആയിട്ടു ആള് ഒന്നു കുറചിട്ടുന്ടു ചളിയടി. പക്ഷെ നായെന്റെ വാല് കുഴല് ഇട്ടതൊന്ട് നിവരുലല്ലൊ!
The second member of the mission-lab venture! A singer, artist, padippist, chaliyist, handsome idiot who doesn’t know how to ride a motorcycle! He he.. I think we all remember that incident.
One among the very few people whose presence always makes a difference. A worthy friend. I’m proud to have known him.
INTERMISSION: I’ve been at this from morning! Didn’t know it would be this taxing while starting. But don’t worry folks! The rest of you are on the way!
Here we go again…
DD
Dare Devil? Nope. Dincy Davis. Just like saying the x86 family of microprocessors, she is one among the Xincy series. There is Rincy, Vincy and even Fincy! Wow…
Apart from knowing that she is one of the main personalities of the wh കൂതറാസ് , I have not yet had the opportunity to know her more.
(See comment below by Aparna P. Rajan)
Dil
പടചോനെ… ഈ ചങ്ങായി വീണ്ടും വന്നോ?? ഈ കളള ഹിമാറിനെക്കുറിച്ച് ഞമ്മളു ഒരു തവണ എഴുതിയത. അങ്ങനെ ഇപ്പൊ ഇജ്ജ് സുഗിക്കണ്ട ഉസ്ബൂ!
Perhaps the most experienced person among us, she joined us a year later after we had kicked off. Another person whom I really should take time to talk to and get to know.
Don
The name speaks for itself. He is the top man. Also known as hawk-eye. A name that sends shivers down the spine of his opponents. Not submitting to the life’s challenges in front of him, just as the superb kick boxer he is, he fights with life and there is only one outcome. He must win. I’ve always wished to be trained as a Kung fu student or under some martial arts and as such, I find it admirable that he has accomplished so much.
A top notch football player, he has made his mark in many a games. I’m in his team for Samba football tournament. Let’s see what happens.
Almost always the first to have finished writing the series exams, he walks away coolly as if each moment is precious.
A person who doesn’t tolerate bull shit much. If you’re planning to cross him, be careful. I’ve always wondered if his friends are those who gives meaning to his life…
സഗാവ് ഗൗതമന്! Our class’ SFI candidate. For the failure he encountered last time, he has emerged victorious this time. But that’s politics. I know him better as a person.
We have had our differences in the past. But we have sorted them out. He is a guy with a lot of guts and energy. But none of those qualities are what got my attention.
He learns stuff by knowing them. And is never tied down by academics. Unlike me who learns for marks, he just can’t do that. Unless he understands what the hell he is learning, he reaches at the conclusion that its not worth learning anyway.
I hope we all remember how he stood up to Neenu ma’am with his Pazhashiraaja dialogues! Poor ma’am… All the time this guy was talking she was asking me, “Haris, don’t you have anything to say?”. I was like, “What the hell am I supposed to say? I don’t even know what DCS is!”. But Neenu ma’am was not to be trifled with. She researched and came back with a rocking reply. But hey, that was fun.
I remember this guy dancing in the rain during first year… It was in the month of March. It gets hot like hell during those months and one day evening like a beggar finding treasure, we were blessed by a heavy rain! Oh how good it felt. The spray of water coming through the window and the cold wind blowing through the congested corridor… Nice memories.
Oh! And I forgot to mention. He is a wonderful singer. He and Dil entertained us with their musical wonder during our first year fresher’s day programme. None of us are going to forget that.
And the way he took his seminar… Oh boy!
Gori
He just might not be known as Shihabudheen! Thanks to Jinu. Perhaps the most innocent one in our class. But whatever whoever has done in our class, Gori ranks above all of them as he IS the real hero. A hero who saved a life from drowning. I thought that was only possible in movies. But no. Gori did it in real life.
A person with a humongous natural humor sense, almost all the talks and moments you have with this guy will have something remarkable in it.
I would like to mention the walk we had.
After my treat at Noorjehan, almost everyone went to A-Zone. Me, Jinu, Shihab, Dileep and Ajith decided to get back to the hostel for a good sleep and as such we got out. It was 8’o’clock and the direct bus to our college from Palakkad was at 8.50. So all of us decided to wait. But in the midst, of waiting, an alien thought grabbed me by my shirt’s collar and entered into my head.
Why not walk to the college? I was determined in that second itself.
Telling this to the others, they were like, “എടാ നോക്ക്! കറുത്ത ആകാശം!”, “മോനെ! ടാര് ഇട്ട Road!”, and things like that.. I told them I was going to walk no matter what and started walking! (First in the wrong direction. And then back tracking, in the right direction). Reaching Municipal stand, I received a call saying they were coming too! Ho ho… But Jinu had scooted. So it was me, Dileep, Ajith and Gori, the fantastic four on our foot from Palakkad till NSS College!
On our way, we coincidentally, very amazingly coincidentally, reached the A-Zone venue right at the moment when Ponnappan’s drama was starting. I have no freakin’ idea how the hell our time got synchronized like that! We enjoyed the drama and continued our Journey… Talking absolute nonsense and stopping momentarily here and there to catch our breaths and other umm.. primary activities, we made it back to college at about 10.30… Gori had started to dream in his walk about a heaven called room number 36, his hostel room!
Haresh
The person to have killed my pride of being the only person in class having a name starting with H (Really. I was proud about that). He is the only sincere vegetarian I’ve seen in my life. And that too out of his own choice.
Having joined us a year later, he has grown to be one among us in a really short time.
A person who doesn’t go with maths very well. But a person of Kerelian taste and interests. Not the type to accept all the movies that gets released these days. He is a fan of Malayalam literature and as such, has a crystal clear idea and opinion about the movies that he watches.
I don’t know why… But thinking about him, I’ve seen him always with a smile on his face no matter what was bothering him.
Known to a few among us as “സെറ്റപ്പേട്ടന്”.
Jansheed
Hot boy of the class! Well, he shares that title with Varun.
Now this guy is what I call ‘freaky’. The way he dresses, and his hair style! Man oh man…
A brilliant student who when reads a sentence, it stays in his head like words carved on a rock. Except the fact that he doesn’t read much. Lol!
Jayasankar
My neighbor. A sports person as well as one who is present for every moment of enjoyment. You would think that he was someone who would be somehow managing with his academics… Even I thought that until the s3 and s5 results were out.. He has a whopping aggregate of 70%!!! If someone asks me about a guy who has enjoyed his college life, then that is Jayasankar. No doubt about that.
It was for his brother’s wedding Sunil, Dileep and Ajith stayed at my home. He is one among those guys who will always be there for his friends.
I don’t think it would be wrong if I say he was one of the internet providers at our hostel. Ha!
BREAK!
Whew! I’m totally tapped out… This is hard work… I’m stopping for today folks. But don’t worry, I’ll fill up slowly! Merry Christmas to all!
Jiji
Now here is one girl with a completely open attitude. Where usually girls have this shy, reserved attitude, she has no boundaries whatsoever. A friend to all, she never hesitates to open up her mouth and say whatever is being generated in that Brain neurons of hers.
I think Jayan and Jinu have a lot to be thankful to her for… Well, considering their roll numbers, I think you know what I mean.
I’ve made a promise to two girls in my class regarding one thing. She is one of them. While sitting in the PC lab during our first year labs without having any idea what the heck C programs are, there was this rumor that I used to sing. She was sitting nearby and she in a low whisper asked me, “ഹാരിസെ, ഒരു പാട്ടു പാടുമൊ? ‘Show me the meaning’ മതി”. I was like, “What!?”. Fortunately, I had a running nose and a sore throat back then. Instead of admitting that I didn’t know how to sing, I told her that I wasn’t well that day and I promised her that I would sing someday.
I don’t know if she remembers that conversation. But I very well do. And I hope I have fulfilled that promise during our onam celebrations. Even if what I sung was total crap!
Kannan
RAW POWER! The champion of arm wrestling!
“Master Kannan”, as some like to call him due to his artistic co-ordination of the “തിരുതാധിരക്കളി” for our onam celebrations.
I think Arnold Schwarzenegger would have found a challenging opponent in this guy for body building.
A frequent visitor to my room, he is one of those very few who has the patience to sit and listen to all the crap that I speak and actually discuss with me regarding all that. Being in a single room during final year of college, my loneliness is cured with him and Panju being often with me…
A person who wanted to sit and learn Python programming, we both tried hard to find time for it. And we actually did get a good start too. But the overwhelming schedules of our university and college didn’t let us go further.
Kunjunj
Known to a very little few as Sunil Hari.
Okay everyone. I think all of you know how the superstars in wwe wrestling has their own entrance music. Well, this guy has one such dear song and here it is!
A really (seriously) big man, well built, but with kid’s heart. He is curious at all times about what is happening around the world that it is quite hard to get his attention on one thing. An experimenter by nature, Linux security will have a few things to worry about if guys like this exist.
A hacker, he goes into those folders within the computer that almost all of us are scared to touch. But usually he ends up ruining his system. The impressive part is that he fixes that ruined system by himself and again gets on with finding new ways to ruin it!
A dear friend to those who takes time to know him, he is one of those characters in our class that everyone will have a hard time forgetting.
MR
Sharat MR. Let me put it this way. All the mini projects of our class has at one point or another gone through this guy.
All the times when a laptop doesn’t work or a pen drive doesn’t get detected, it reaches this guy. All the times that you want to be entertained while sitting in class, just sit near to him. He’ll keep knocking your pen off and if not that, he’ll dismantle your pen and ship the pieces to 7 different countries!
Does he know Malayalam? Well…
English? Hey, he knows right? Ummm…
Hindi? Kinda… Yeah..
But with a mix of all like the aviyal that we eat, he is one guy who has real knowledge in our class. Experimenting with all the scary things from his childhood onwards, he has been almost through all the circuitry and done almost all the experiments with them. But is it enough? Noppity nope…
He is making a ROBOT!!! And that too as a part of his main project.
I think the guys staying with him at Ambadi hostel will have a lot to add to the description of this jovial character.
Namita (Without the ‘h’ as she has warned me beforehand!)
Me and she are the anti-insomniacs!
A wonderful person with a wicked sense of humor whom I got to know better only recently. She is the kind of person whom you’ll definitely enjoy talking with. Taking everything cool, she does make you feel like everything is alright with the world. Well, the few times I’ve had a frank chat with her, I’ve felt so.
Oh, My Co-sleeper!! An excellent class room nodder. And here I break a small promise that I made her. He he.. I hope she forgives me.
Once when we were talking, I urged her into writing a small article or story for me. She was pretty adamant not to do it. But finally my natural charm overcame her (Man, she is going to kill me!) and she came up with the following brilliant masterpiece! She wrote:
##
MY INADVERTENT SLUMBER.
Every time a teacher enters our class, I make sure that I repeat the words, “I won’t sleep this time” in my head. But sadly enough, those words remain merely words as minutes through the class, I’d be snoring happily…….!!!
Yes, that’s a sad (yet thoroughly enjoyable!!!) part of my life. Sad, because, when I think of the position that I’m putting the teacher in, I mean, imagine that you’re a lecturer taking an important topic in a class and the girl sitting in front of you is sleeping right under your nose..then you can really understand how they (the lecturers) might be feeling..!!! And enjoyable, because….. well….I guess I needn’t elaborate on that one because sleeping is simply so ENJOYABLE…!!
Well, it’s as if when the teacher enters the class, I’m fully charged up or something and the moment she/he (without any sort of gender bias for that!) starts teaching, my brain starts getting dull…as if there’s some battery in there that gets discharged……Slowly and gradually I’m engulfed in the welcoming hands of sleep…..Sleep, that would not allow me to open my eyes, that wouldn’t even let me sit straight!! The sounds around me seem to come from a distance….and most of the times I find Amrutha trying her best to wake me up from the lull…(though it’s not very often that she succeeds!) The poor girl tries everything from pinching to punching and slapping….but all in vain! Now, it’s not that she doesn’t sleep in the class or something…..she does give me company sometimes…although it (the sleeping, of course) becomes some sort of competition between us during others…
Then, when I wake up from my nap and look around to make sure that nobody has actually seen me sleeping….(it’s actually against my prestige, you know!!)…I see a number of smiling faces looking at me as if they’d just watched a very entertaining act. Their smiles don’t help me get over the guilty feeling that I’ve for sleeping in the class though…. The only solace that I get is when I see you sitting on your seat like a perfect statue…eyes closed…dozing away…!! You are in such a perfect posture that any teacher would feel that you are either in deep concentration or are jotting down something important!! But the very fact that there are others apart from me and Amrutha who find the class boring…is well….very comforting…..
Well I don’t take all the blame for my slumber….. The reason that I fall asleep is that either the subject is boring or the teacher is not effective enough to conduct the class, (Wow, it’s so easy to put the baggage on others!!). But still I wish I could avoid it because had I been teacher and had I witnessed a student sleeping in my class….I would have felt really bad… But maybe these are all parts of being a lecturer, I guess….kind of ‘occupational hazard’, or something…. and sleeping in the class is a part of being a student( or may I say, being a student in a professional college), I suppose……
##
I’m most certainly in for trouble!
I remember (it was during the first year vacations, I think) when she was going alone to her mom and dad back in Haryana… She was traveling alone and I had admired her courage for taking such a long journey single handedly. I kept her company almost completely through the trip and I remember teasing her with her trip when she told me she was afraid of university exams!!
A person whom you will surely want to be friends with. The drama queen who was a girl in a guy’s disguise, she most certainly is a part of many of our unforgettable memories.
Neethu
Ah! The nice little girl hailing from Wayanad. I think we all remember her reply to Vijayakumar sir during our first year when he asked her to describe about her home town.
“അവിടെ പശു ഉണ്ട് ആട് ഉണ്ട് …” And everyone burst into laughter with him stopping her.
Someone with a nice smile, she is a heavy walker. I mean you can hear her feet go “thump, thump” when she is walking.
I remember during the end of s3 when her CP fair record was submitted with many a flaws in her flow diagrams. (Oh man! Flow diagrams! Drawing those were a nightmare). Just a quick thought here. Take a look at this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/flow_charts.png .
It was given back by… by.. Usha ma’am? Oh my God! Usha ma’am was the in-charge of our cp lab?? Man..
And calling her up, she tells me she is half way home. Suffice to say I couldn’t refuse her pleading request to sit and correct it all and resubmit!
Hey… I just remembered something regarding her. During the TCS placement training… When we were nearing the end of day 1, some of us were selected and we had to talk about a topic for minute which will be given at the moment. The topic given to her was, erm… I actually don’t remember the topic heading, but the idea was, “Domestic violence. Wife to Husband”. She had to talk about that.
And it was really funny how she said that it would be advantageous for them girls if that was to happen! She was like she wanted to kick the crap out of her husband. He he.. No offense Neethu!
Nisha
The cute little girl hailing from Trichur. One among the class toppers, she is a very good Hindi speaker and writer.
And hey! She is the source of our Labour India! I mean its unbelievable how she takes down class notes of certain… umm… ‘weird’ teachers so neatly! Once exams near or a sessional test is announced, no doubt, all the boys get a photostat of her notebook. If the Men’s Hostel guys of CS passes the exams or get good marks, all of us owe it to her. She even took down lecture notes from Usha ma’am’s class!!! AUGH!
Erm… Just a slight boast here. I used to be like that too while at school and first year at college. People would take photostats of my notebook. It lasted until I mastered the art of sleeping under the very noses of the teachers!
She will be an ever living part of many of our memories by being the one to give our class the first chance to be together and enjoy a class trip to her Brother’s wedding reception. Boy, I still remember her brother’s face when he saw the 57 of us barge in at noon with empty stomachs! I’m pretty sure they had a tough time sorting out the bills for meals. Lol!
Nishi
Again my neighbor. However, I’ve no clue why I haven’t got to know her much. Apart from having had enjoyed a few of her wonderful dances, I’m waiting for time to introduce us further.
മോനെ! Panju!
Rahul K. R. അധവാ പഞ്ചു
Mr. Romantic! A very open hearted person who hasn’t the slightest of shyness talking with whoever it be. Girls, boys, enemies, friends, strangers.. He just dives right in and starts talking with them. A person whom I got to be really close to only lately. The one along with Kannan who keeps me company at my times of loneliness.
A great sports person, his sports man spirit in unmatched whichever game he plays. I don’t know anyone in my class or in my college who can’t be friends with him. He is a guy who has even gone to the extent of sitting with me and watching a whole Wolverine cartoon! I’ll be indebted to him all my life for doing that. Even though I told many the excitement I had of watching that cartoon, none even took a fraction of a time to talk and discuss it with me… I don’t blame them. But still, they could have done it just to make me feel better. And Panju here did it.
My exam study mate, all our efforts at studies usually end up in talking about the philosophies of life and love. But an awesome guy to be taught…
The time when Vijayakumar sir caught him for his bit-keeping abilities and analyzing that bit with Sabareesh’s paper thinking it was his always finds a few hearty laughs whenever that subject pops in a conversation at the hostel…
Oh! And a superb exaggerator too! He he…
Ponnappan
Volleeeeeeeeeeeey! Ho ho.. Our stick-like rep! (Ummm… Look who’s talking. I know!)
Ooh! I’ve been itching to write about this idiot. Lol!
I wish I could say, “നീ പൊന്നപ്പന് അല്ലടാ തങ്കപ്പനാ!”. But unfortunately it seems there already is a thangappan! One whom we didn’t have the luck to get to know.
These guys are a trio. Chellappan, Ponnappan and thangappan. And we got only 2/3rd of the entire thing. And boy are we glad we have these two dolts in our class!
The very first thing about him is that I see him as a leader. And my definition of a leader is… Being a leader is not about being friends with everyone and being like by everyone. It is all about being able to take the toughest of decisions and making the right choices no matter what anyone feels. And this guy is exactly that.
A guy of natural positive energy, you just feel good when he is around and talking with you. A crazy addict of Liverpool FC, he has even got his ‘religion’ in fb as Liverpool! OMG! But hey, he has signed for the football tournament this year. Let’s see if he really can show his interest in actual game too!
Although at times we get into a debate for one thing or the other, he usually talks of stuff that he really truly believes in rather than just having heard from here and there. And without doubt, I can say that he is the most popular character of our class. Being there for everything that has the slightest tint of the word ‘enjoyment’, he is a brother, friend and a really good company to all. However, with the rumors of a “ponnamma” surfacing lately, we do doubt whether he is a romantic guy after all! He he…
The third guy to be with me in repairing the networks lab… Man, I sure am going to miss this guy…
Poornima
Currently the topper of our class. A girl who believes happiness is the key to life. Even though I can’t completely digest that point of view, there is one thing that I have to be thankful to her for. And that is to find happiness in things that you feel that are completely sick. It really takes an awful lot of stress to do that because it forces you to look at things in an entirely different perspective from the rest of the world. And as such, I’ve found happiness about my college. About me being here and about all those things that I thought was sick and twisted about my college, I’ve finally figured out that those are not the things that I should be looking at.
Talking to people from other colleges, I see why my college is college heaven. And with the currently elected union, I’m sure things are going to kick off for the better. But enough of that.
I’m pretty sure that whenever all of you think about her, you can only remember her smiling face. I don’t know how she does that, but she does it. And she is almost always there in front for any initiative being taken.
As for me personally, she has been a great support for me. Especially during the starting days of my blog, without her encouraging words, I wouldn’t have done much of a good job on it.
The co-ordinator of our onam celebrations, she is sure to have made a place in all of our hearts.
Praseetha
The silent girl hailing from the vicinity of the silent valley. Unless and until you look specifically for her, you really won’t know she is there at all. But the point is, she has got skills that makes people come specifically in search of her.
A girl brimming with tremendous amount of creativity inside, her graphics rough solution book and her sketches on the board has left me gaping! She even drew the 3-D views of the objects while we were somehow trying to get past the formality called rough solution! She enjoys what she does and she carves for perfection in it. I remember many of us staring in wonder at her assignments even!
Being the closest friend to Sharat MR, she has acquired many a talent in coding from him and soon she will fly away to heights that none of us can possibly dream of reaching. A girl who has drawn her way into many of our hearts, here is all wishes to her for a bright future.
Pretty
Yaoh! The power house of female energy! Its not often that you see her sitting in some place calmly without chasing the guys around the class, beating and kicking them.
A jovial, smart character who is always there for her friends with or without their invitation, she has made many a memorable occasion for her friends. I remember during our first class trip to Trichur.. While I was organizing it, I was a bit depressed and worried about the money issue… And just then this girl calls me up and tells me she has already collected from everyone in lh! That gave me a new energy and me, Sunil and Ajith set out to get money from the rest of the people coming…
I know it was a small happening. But sometimes small gestures like that do make a strong impression in one’s life…
But hey, I think her close circle of friends will have more to put in about her. Expecting their comments!
Priya
The ‘mark’ist party leader! Don’t get me wrong. I did not mean the political party. He he… I meant the team of mark hunters.
Almost my partner sitting at the first bench and pouring questions at Viji ma’am, she is one girl who has her entire studied theory till now in her head. Ask her anything from anywhere and she has an answer.
Mistaken for a nerd, we were all amazed at her graceful dancing steps on our first class trip to Trichur.
I was under the impression that she was all about by hearting stuff just for the sake of marks. But my ego was given a damn good blow when she proved herself worth by acquiring a place at sourcebits! Oh man! I hope we both don’t pour questions at superiors too!
The one and only… PUTZ!
Putz, puttalu, and for the sake of simplicity, just ‘put’ will do. It is hard to restrain ourselves from laughing each time a teacher uses the word ‘put’ for describing something.
However, as much hype as I have put into that title, I know very little of this guy. Another mysterious character of our class, he really has showed that his shyness and reserved nature was purely by choice on the day of our Christmas celebrations. Those who questioned him while on the hot seat got petrifying replies on the spot!
An expert logical reasoner, aptitude tests are like pencil lead in an iron smith’s hand for him. He cracks them fine and easy no matter the complication of the question. One who doesn’t care much about being at social parties, tours and stuff, given the need for the situation, he has all the skill up his sleeve for the desired occasion.
And the number of friend requests that he got through the Christmas letters! I envy him for being so popular among the ladies! Lol!
Rahul
One of those rare people who knows how to handle any given situation. He doesn’t ignore the things that needs attention around him by simply turning his head away from it as if it did not concern him and for that very matter, it increases your amount of confidence in doing something if he is around. Just because you get the feeling that someone is watching your back.
A windows (I mean the OS! He he) expert and a quick paced Linux learner, his contacts and relations cover almost all the software industries! That day when we had an argument on what UST stands for, this guy on the spot called up one of his cousins at Infosys and the call got forwarded to a number of software firms in that instant itself inquiring the full form of UST. But due to the super secret work of the firm, they had made sure that none in the world knew what UST stood for and as such, we were disappointed.
പക്ഷെ ഞങ്ങള് ആരാ മക്കളു!
We, hostelers made three different titles for it in religious harmony!
1. Unnithan & Son’s Tech.
2. Usman & Son’s Tech.
3. Urumisthambaan & Son’s Tech.
Ha! Beat that.
Perhaps the heaviest person of our class, I only recently found out that he was an awesome football player. Oh man! The way he kicked that ball and bent it like Beckham! Can’t wait for the Samba football tournament to see this big guy in action!
Oh! And most importantly, our Maveli as well as Santa claus!
Rambo Jinu
ഈ കളള ബലാല് ഞമ്മടെ കൂടെ 1സ്ട് ഇയര് മുതല് വിടാതെ ഉളള ചങ്ങായി ആണു. J. H. Spice ന്റെ സ്വപ്നവുമായി നടക്കാന് തുദങ്ങിയിട്ട് ഇത് നാലാം വര്ഷം. ഇവനെ പറ്റി കൂടുതല് ഒന്നും പറയാനില്ല. എന്റെ എറ്റവും അടുത്ത സുഹ്രുത്ത് എന്നല്ലാതെ. I’ve written about him here:
A person whom I’m only beginning to get to know better. One among the lateral entries, her quick wit and friendly nature had earned an indistinguishable place among us. I will have to depend on time to fill in more about her.
Rashmi
An awesome singer!! I don’t remember taking to heart any person’s singing before as much as I did hers on the day of our onam celebrations. Her solo song was heart touching and it was evident the silence that fell upon the crowd when we cherished our memories of college drowning in her sweet voice… I hope we have the luck to hear and enjoy her song again…
I was going to write that she was a nice, sensitive girl.. But suddenly something hit my brain like a rocket falling and exploding. The first year fresher’s!! Oh ho ho… One, she had the guts to go and sing on the stage. Two, she sang WITHOUT a karaoke! Three, no matter what the crowd did, booing, shouting, she didn’t give a damn… She just stood there, thoroughly enjoying her own voice and completed the song without even the slightest quiver in her voice! Way to go Rashmi!
Oh and there is one more thing.. But better than describing it BANG!!! Ho ho ho…! Glad that Priya is there with her on the front bench to hold her!
Revathy
A smart and happy girl who is another power house of female energy. “Dhoom machale” is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of her… Okay. To a bit of personal views here…
We all saw the second girl whom I had messaged to in my life and I’m pretty sure you’re all really curious to know who was the first one. Well folks! Here she is! She has the honor of being the first girl to receive a message from me (if it can be considered a honor at all! He he…).
Another girl with a beautiful sound, she has been there in many of the singing groups. However, her unique sound and gestures accompanying it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Our good old Usbu does a very good imitation of her voice and actions! Lol!
Oh and one more thing… Those of you who have read Jiji’s entry in this post, I mentioned that there were two girls that I had made a promise to. Here is the second girl, again. She had tried to pressurize me into singing during the first year fresher’s. But sadly, I was pretty adamant not to and I regret not doing it. (I might’ve regretted doing it as the seniors were ready to break our legs for participating in it! But GKV & Usbu have come out alive and so I missed a wonderful chance to make a total fool of myself.)
Rithwik
If there is a guy who can tell you about hell in such a way that you’ll actually look forward to the trip, then its him. (That’s actually a pun about lawyers if memory serves right).
This guy is what you really mean by ‘cool’. Because he simply is! You see people walking into class with all sorts of things from textbooks, notebooks, pens, bags to mobiles, cameras, laptops and all. Well, amidst all that, this dude walks in with a novel having bookmark somewhere in between and when after class he leaves, the bookmark is sure to be somewhere near the end.
His carefree attitude and tremendous amount of self-confidence coupled with his immense GK and reading habits makes him almost impossible defeat in a debate. It does not matter whether he is wrong or he doesn’t know the subject. The only thing that you need to know is that he will win. Man, is that wicked!
Apart from all the ‘talking and reading’, he is a singer too at heart. Film songs or nadanpaatu, he has proved his mettle in all.
I got two ‘instant’ poems of his jotted down in my diary. Here they are:
“Thou words so comforting,
it compels my heart to embrace sleep hastily…
ere that, may you have a good night’s sleep,
and wake up to a good and prosperous day,
as is deserving of thee.
Entammo! Swasam Kittunille!”
Next:
“Sun has risen above yonder hill/
and his rays of gold has vanquished the fog/
as if by heavenly magic//
i think of you my dear pal/
may you have the most blessed day of ’em all;/
become wiser and cleverer – and yet
remain the way you are! . . . . Good morning!”
Rincy
Ah! Another one among the Xincy series. Lol! Apart from knowing that she held the pride of CS high by winning the lemon spoon race for our onam celebrations, I know very little about her.
Sabitha
Yet another girl whom I have not much spoken to. But I do believe Usbu will have a few words to put in regarding her, she being his lab partner and all.
Sachin
Little master?? Noooo.. I’d like to call this guy the “I don’t give a shit about you and your bloody academics” man. A person whom the four walls of the class has trouble containing, you can see him zipping and zapping here and there on his altered bike like a hero on a mission!
Hoping I get to know him better in the very few days that are left.
Sangeetha
Almost all the people whom I know little about are coming in one place in this post. Here is one girl whom I don’t know much about. And I doubt whether I will ever figure out this silent girl.
Saranya
Here is one girl whose talk I just simply love hearing! Don’t get me wrong. It is not because she is a flatterer or anything (quite exactly the opposite, if I might add), but just because of her pronunciation. Seriously, I don’t know if I have heard anyone speak malayalam so nicely. Crisp and clear with a sort of… ‘muffled’ voice…That was not the word that I was looking for.. But anyway, I hope you get the idea.
I did not know she sang as well till our onam celebrations. A girl who at times is a bit too tensed about exams, she handles them quite well finally when the time comes. But hey, I’m pretty sure there is more to her than what I’ve written here.
Sariga
The first thing that comes to my mind regarding her is how she replied to our Principal’s, Vikraman sir’s question so as to how a Laplace’s equation can be used to describe an electric circuit with components or something. OmiGod! Man! Me and Jinu were like, “What the…!?”
Now that I think of it, it seems our class is quite infested with singers! Lol! Here is another one among them. She has the face of a little child seeing the world for the first time too. Always with keen open, wide eyes, she is one among us who has nailed the academics.
And not forgetting her beautiful role in the English Drama which drove the crowd into a roar each time she made her appearance!
Shabs
Sabareesh. Even though staying at the Men’s Hostel, I have only rarely spoken to the fellow. He too is one among the “Won’t submit in front of academics” kinda guy. A hardcore SFI fan, I’m pretty sure his friends will have a much more detailed description of him.
Shambhavi
Now that’s name that you don’t get to hear every now and then. Mind you, I’m not referring to the person, but the name. A sister to every-one, even though we had tried to get to know each other, it dropped off strangely somewhere in between. Maybe one day we will pick it up from where we left off.
Sinto!
The one man army! I mean, come on! This dude puts on so many different beards that there aren’t many styles left to imitate! ഇവിടെ താടി എങ്ങനേലും ഒന്നു വന്നു കിട്ടിയിരുന്നെങ്കില് എന്നു ആഗ്രഹിക്കുമ്പൊള് അവിടെ ഒരുവന്മാര് അതും വെചു കുതുബ് മിനാര് പണിയുന്നു! ഇവന്റെ ഒകെ താടി ഞാന് ഒരു ദിവസം കത്തിച്ച് കളയും. ഹല്ലാ പിന്നെ!
Whether it be Mammotty, Mohanlal or any among the many heroes, they don’t stand a chance in beards against this guy. A keen observer by nature, he never fails to spot the shortcomings of an event and give feedback regarding it. A trio, this guy, Gouthaman and Rithwik, they will be anywhere and everywhere they can be.
A bit short tempered by nature, for the ones who knows him, there can be no better a friend.
Soumya
Well, even though she is a jolly girl and the only girl in our class to come riding on a scooter (Hey! Anisha is on her way learning it. So you’d better watch out!), I got to speak to her for the first time only recently. But something tells me we are going to get to know each other well soon. And that something are the words. “Batch Book!”.
Sreejitha
Whoa man! Am I indebted to her! She is the only girl who has shown the slightest of interest when I have talked about Wolverine and the X-MEN! (Really, if any of you want to get something done by me for you, just come and talk to me about a few superheroes from comics and I’ll be all yours! Lol!). She is one among the lateral entry too. (Hey! Is she? I’m having a hard time remembering her not being there with us in the first year.)
One of the others whom I borrow the stapler from now and then. Being seated just beneath Priya, this girl is one who enjoys my weird sleeping postures in class! (I’m beginning to think I’m a source of entertainment in that sense for almost everyone in the class. He he…)
Genuine Sriram XP
The BFG! The BFG! The BFG! He he he… Successfully having won the bet with him regarding what BFG is, I fear no man now while saying that. Although for those of you who have gaming in mind more than reading, your interpretation of those three letters might seem a bit out of the context here. Ha ha!
BFG stands for the Big Friendly Giant! A sort of giant he is! A big, tall guy with lots of random hair trying hard to find their place on his head, he is a really entertaining guy to be with. Both in Humor and in knowledge.
This guy is one among the 4 or 5 MSP (Microsoft Student Partners) in Kerala and has taken various cool seminars for us regarding the tools that he uses to get things done. I think only if he writes about himself will justice be done to him.
The first person with whom I saw a 1TB Hard disk, his appearance on the day of the TCS placements could never have gone unnoticed! Man.. With his coat and suit.. He was teaching the interviewer the basics of algorithm design! He he…
Not so very keen on his academics, he has already made his career. An intern at Microsoft and a keen coder, I don’t think he will have trouble finding his place in the world. Oh, I almost forgot! He plays the guitar! I have only heard him once or twice, but I’m going to make sure that our class is going to hear him more than enough before we leave this place.
And by the way… This is the big guy whom I was talking about in the second paragraph of this post. I regret not getting to know him any earlier.
Sumi
The sweet little girl who is one among the dancers of our class. Even though the sourcebits interviewer short listed many of us through the tech interview, it was this girl who caught his attention with her innocent and nervous replies.
I had made up a joke regarding her once while studying COD I think. There are these instruction set operations like mov, sum, etc.. And when one of the operands is not a register, we have to use the ‘immediate’ operator or something which is done by adding an ‘i’ to the end of the operators. So when we had to do an immediate operation on sum, I told the guys that ‘sumi’ will do it. Ahem.. I do remember none of the guys laughing at that joke however… But you have to admit it was a really cool joke!
Swapna
One among the class toppers, our conversation limits to just the point where she asked me not to ask her questions after her seminar. (Though many of the boys and girls were afraid of me in that matter. But I’m pretty sure that apart from earning them marks for discussion, I haven’t troubled any of them with my questions. But some ounce of fear is always good! He he..)
Intermission:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!! I’m almost done!!! The end is in sight! Been on this for like six days now! Hu hu…
Varun
Varun AKA Valsan, the Hot boy of the class.
Now I’m indebted to this guy for life (in his own words, “കടം ഫൊര് എവര്”) for just giving me a chance to speak English. There is one more guy who has helped me over the years for it, but we will come to that later.
This dude has a killer smile which no girl can resist. Seriously, even the teachers fall for it!
I’m actually quite scared to write about him because he usually is good at reading people’s minds from their words and actions. So you’ll be in trouble if you don’t watch out! The person who is reluctant till the end to be at class gathering and finally crashing in on the party surprising everyone.
He is a jolly cool character and a friend beyond fun and joy for those who have the patience and bearing to keep constantly trying to be friends with him. But usually, without realizing what they are missing, only a few have taken the tough path of getting to know him.
A guy who spreads the message of enjoyment, he is one among the eccentric characters of our class.
Vincy
The last that our class has to offer among the Xincy series. Apart from knowing that she is a person who takes her academics seriously, I know very little about her.
Cyber Guru
Alright, I don’t know if anyone knows this guy in this name and I have no clue how this name came to be! But since I am using the names that I have saved in my mobile phone to put in over here, I’m using this title for him. The Cyber Guru!
Real name: Manu Govind.
Even though Rahul is our Maveli, this dude is the one who puts that name into practice because you rarely see him in the class! Also, as much as Gori saved that life from drowning, this guy was the one who jumped in and lifted Gori along with the drowning fellow and brought them over to the shore.
A jolly fellow whom you don’t see tensed much, he always adds a bit of laughter to any occasion in which he is there.
Yo Boy
മച്ചാന്! With his stunning Phazer bike, he is a popular figure all around. His sportsmanship and ultra cool English has earned him an attitude that none among us have.
But let us not forget his hair! That noodle like strings staying in perfect harmony on his head maintaining the same look each and every day, I kinda wonder how much effort this guy puts into doing it.
A person ready to help any of his friends in need at any time, he is one among the extra-ordinary characters of our class.
And finally, the last but not the least…
Every-one
Kukkudan, Manu “The man” Mohan, Kaattarabi, etc, etc… എന്നിങ്ങനെ പല പല പേരുഗളിലായി ഇവന് അറിയപ്പെടുന്നു.
Only because no-one should write about every-one am I writing this entry. (Dude, I’m having fun!) Now this here is a guy who has spoken to all and helped almost all the people in our class. Both personally and through his contacts. Just like Wolverine, always in thought of his past, he does a pretty good job of committing and dedicating himself to any relation he has, however small it be.
The dude along with Varun who gave me the chance to speak English, he is one irritating fellow to be with! He keeps on pestering you that you feel like putting him on Earth and pulling down the entire sky upon him. With a constant aim of killing me, his main weapon is irritation and the slight favour of destiny towards him than me. (Hmph!)
Anyway, this guy has been fun throughout my college life and looking back, I got lots of pleasant memories with him.
AND THAT’S IT!!! I’M DONE!!!
But I can’t argue that it is a Christmas present because its almost new year now. So maybe this be kinda both to you all!
Before winding up, I would like to extend a warm thanks to Poornima for the support she gave all along this post to keep me at it.
And hey, three more months left. Let’s rock’n’roll!
You know this certain feeling of responsibility and vigor that comes over you about something you could care less when you are suddenly reminded about that thing’s deadline? Then that is exactly what I’m talking about.
Let it be anything. From assignments, to exams, to paper submissions, to project reports, to even getting signatures from certain creepy people who always creeps up behind you and catches you at the exact moment when you have let your guard down. The list goes on and on and on. And for those of you who have been in college, you know all too well what I’m talking about.
I mean, come on! What’s the whole deal about anyway? If these so called “experienced faculties” who impose these deadlines upon us have at least helped us in the minute sense to get things done, then I wouldn’t be writing this post. But as usual, their words speak louder than their actions. Hey! Wasn’t it the other way around? Yeah well, you know what I’m talking about.
But the funny part is the sudden super sincerity that dawns upon us towards our project or labs or whatever. All of us will be like hell trying to whip up things into shape from zero to a sudden fifty or sixty percentage! Things that we thought impossible and too tough till then becomes all too trivial. From places and resources unknown we seek and get help and finally, no matter how dumb you are regarding the stuff, you’ll have your report or code ready for submission just as those guys who have worked hard for months (assuming guys like that exist). As I said, deadlines work wonders.
I remember during my s5 classes us having Programming Paradigms lab. We had 4 different languages to learn in one single semester without any help whatsoever from the faculties. And that too, not the basics. We were expected to code fluently in them. The following is what one of my friends, Ranjith AKA Chellapan, had to say about it.
“2010 saw the large scale enlightenment of our Java, Lisp and Prolog neurons of our brains. Kudos to the teacher who taught us deadline programming in all the languages we didn’t know.”
But then again, in a really wonderful, amazing and elusive way, we all completed all the programs in all the languages and submitted our fair records in time. How that happened, well… Here comes the technical bull-shit generator!
Usually for labs and all we need not use the above mentioned device as the codes are pretty straight forward when copy pasting. But during the submission of project reports for a deadline and the staff says, “I don’t care. 30 pages and nothing less”, this certain inner hidden power within you awakens that creates bull-shit by the truck load.
I say this because I just did this yesterday.
The coming Friday being our project evaluation dates, we had to show our report before hand and get the signs. And our “guide” wasn’t happy until she saw page numbers! Page numbers and page numbers and page numbers! She was kinda addicted to it. So how else to make her happy but to endow upon her PAGE NUMBERS?
Come on! She didn’t even look inside the report. She just looked at the contents page and said that 3 headings come in the same page! She didn’t even care about what we had written in there. She won’t care what we have written in there as long as our report is like 50 pages… Sacre Bleu!
And then that’s exactly what I did. I sat and turned on my long asleep technical bull-shit generator and paper numbers were flowing!
I don’t know where the ideas and things that I couldn’t figure out for so long kept coming into my head. But it came and the cool device did its job. From a mere 5 pages report, I made it a 20 page report. Of course, she wasn’t happy with it either. But on the promise that we will make it at least 50 pages by the end of our project, she gave her sign.
Whew… I hate myself for all the crap that I’ve written there. But I guess none of us are that different when it comes to this, aye?
You guys are going to kill me for this because as much as I put forward my quite controversial opinions regarding social networking, I got the following lines from one of my cousin’s posts in Facebook.
“Do you expect kids to listen to their parents when Tarzan lives half naked , Cinderella comes home at midnight , Pinocchio lies all the time , Aladdin is the king of thieves , Batman drives at 200 mph , Sleeping Beauty keeps sleeping and Snow White lives with 7 guys . We shouldn’t be surprised when kids misbehave -they get it from their story books.”
His name is Jaafar Sadique. He lives at Singapore, has a loving wife and a cute kid.
Read this till the end before actually trying out the steps.
After downloading the tar.gz file, untar it by running
tar -xvzf filename.tar.gz
After untarring it, the best way is to go through the README.txt or INSTALL.txt which can be found under the /docs directory among the untarred files.
However, assuming that the software you’re about to install are built with GNU’s autoconf and make tools, I’ll explain the steps below. (Meaning, in most of the cases the following steps will work.)
1. Check to see of there is a script called ‘configure’ among the untarred files. If yes skip this step. Otherwise, do
autoreconf –install
2. This will generate the configure script for you and you will be able to find it among the files. Once ‘configure’ is there, run
./configure
This will generate a file called the Makefile for you. However (A BIG HOWEVER), a Makefile will only be generated provided you have all the dependencies installed on your system. That is, the software you are about to install may depend on other software or libraries to work. Step 2 checks if these dependencies are met and will return an error if any of the dependencies are not met. When you see the error, you will have to install that software/library package in order for the configure script to execute succesfully. If you are using Ubuntu/Debian based distors, you just have to apt-get install the softwares.
3. After installing the dependencies and the successful completion of the configure script, a Makefile will be there among the files. Run
make
This will compile the files of the software. (Note: If you are making any changes to the software, make recognizes that change and recompiles only that. It thus saves you a lot of time by not recompiling the entire thing once again.
4. After the successful completion of make, run
sudo make install
This will install your softwares binary files and libraries under /usr/local.
5. You are good to go. Just type the name of the software in the terminal and hit enter.
IMPORTANT: The problem with the above approach is that (assuming you are using Debian/Ubuntu based distros) your package manager ‘apt’ doesn’t know that the software has been installed. As such, it might cause trouble if you use apt to install this software itself from the repository. The recommended way to install softwares from source is to install them into a non standard location. The changes you will have to do in the above steps in order to install the software into a non-standard location are explained below.
1. Same step.
2. Create a folder ‘temp’ (any name you want) somewhere in your home directory. For sake of explanation, I created a folder named ‘temp’ in my home folder. So its path will be /home/haris/temp. Now run
./configure –prefix=/home/haris/temp
3. Same step.
4. You ran this step with sudo earlier because /usr/local was a standard location and you needed administrative privileges in order to install binary/library files there. But now, since we have given a non-standard location, just run
make install
This will install the binary files of your software (the files that is to be executed in order to launch the program) in the specified location. In this case, under /home/haris/temp/bin.
5. You’re not good to go. In order to run the program, you need to go into the directory containing the binary files and run it from there by typing the name of the software. (This is because linux searches for the executables in standard locations such as /bin, /usr/bin, etc.) However, if you want the software to run from the prompt no matter in which directory you are, here is way for that.
6. The locations linux will search for the executables will be given in a variable called PATH. Try
echo $PATH
in your terminal and you can see the locations.
7. What we need to do is to add the path of our installed software to the PATH variable. To do this, open up the file named .bashrc from your home folder.
sudo gedit ~/.bashrc
8. Add the following to the end of that file (in your case, give the path of the ‘bin’ folder of the installed software). In my case,
PATH=$PATH:/home/haris/temp/bin export PATH
9. Save and exit. Restart your terminal and try typing the name of the software from anywhere you want. It will launch.
NOTE: Sometimes the Makefile will be there by default among the untarred files. In that case just do step 2 and 3.
Now, in order to uninstall the program, all you have to do is run
sudo make uninstall or make uninstall
depending on how you installed it. Run this command from wherever you ran the make command earlier.
Also, in order to clear the files created by make, run
A 'psycho' path. 