The Test

It was probably the first time that a cricket ground was being converted into an exam hall...:D

Well yeah, the seminar hall we have downstairs has staged very few seminars. And, we had made good use of it as our cricket ground.

But this afternoon, the chairs were all back in place with some benches -- for a test. The English stream students took TW test, and the four Mal guys took the all-important MM test.

The TW test had just two questions. The first was divided into 8 parts(topics/issues, actually) -- we had to write about 250 words on five of them. All my creative genius came into play.

The second was the horrible part -- there were 10 phrases and we had to write its meaning. Really tough.

Later, the Mal guys came out and said that their paper was better. They had even asked an "If" question to which they had to layout a page. Must have been cool!

150 (not out)*

150 not out.

Well, this is my blog's 150th post. Hurray!

Finished!

Finisheddddddddd.

At last.

It's as if the well is already crossed. Well, I have submitted the first draft of the dissertation promptly last morning and will submit the other project tomorrow morning.

This is not compulsory, but I've done it cos of only one reason - The Lion will go over it and give valuable suggestions. Will help me a lot to make improvements in the copy.

And then of cos doing this now will ease a lot of pressure when the final deadline comes along.

Trivandrum trip: Details

Day 1:
Started off at 8, went straight to Tiruvalla and stopped at classmate M's place. Twenty minutes later, we were back again, travelling. Non stop, till we reached Trivandrum.

We were given rooms to stay in the Animation Centre at a place called Vellaiambalam in the heart of the city. I headed straight for lunch, and then caught an autorickshaw from there and went to the place to get information for my investigative project.

Finished the work - surprisingly fast enough - but not before wandering around the place (which included a visit to a dentist's clinic for a quote). Came back straight to our place of stay, and started straightaway for classmate N's place. Spent an hour or so there. Then, we all got into the bus from the Centre and were off to the Manorama office. Met some interesting people there and spent the rest of the night just wandering around and went off to sleep.

Day 2:
We were all in the bus by 7.45, and went to the Kerala Assembly. After a strict security check, we were let inside. Though nothing special/exciting happened inside in the three hours were "forced to sit" there, it was a great experience. How many of you guys can actually go and sit in the Assembly?!

From there, we proceeded to the CDS, a premier research institute in the city. Built by the renowned Larry Baker, this building houses an excellent library.

After taking a quick shower, we were off to one of the best hotels in the city - Mascot. For a press conference arranged with a top minister. The Q&A session was excellent; the minister spoke really well. After that, it was time for dinner there. Probably the second best dinner I've had - the first one a week ago in C L. Super food. And coz this was a hotel, a Valentine's Day bash was on. Happy Valentine', I wished myself!

Day 3:
A meeting with two princess and a King! In this age of ministers, meeting a King - the Travancore King - was an enriching experience. He - and before that, the two princesses - spoke to us at length on various issues.

The two palaces to which we went were real grand. It was like a world away from the real world.

Lunch, and we were off. Stopped briefly in Kollam - at classmate C's place - before reaching Kottayam.

A short, sweet trip!

We're back.

After a three-day trip to the state's capital. We attended the Assembly session, met a minister in a super hotel, went to a research institute and met two princesses and a King!

Yeah. Lots of tales to blog about. Coming soon!

Our second field trip!

Tomorrow is the day.

We're starting for our second field trip - to Trivandrum. We'll be leaving by 8 tomorrow morning and reaching there in five hours or so.

It's a three-day trip, and so many programmes/visits have been packed in it that I fear we will get little free time. The only free time that I can squeeze in is immediately after we go there. The first visit (to a senior journalist there) is at 6.30. And, if we reach there by 1, I'll have the time to go to the crime records office and finish my investigative project.

On Tuesday, we're gonna visit the Kerala Assembly. Though touted as a drab affair, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Lots of other places too are on the cards - for work and leisure. I'm sure we'll enjoy this short trip.

Will be back Wednesday night...

Friends with the Fellows!

It was a whole bunch of youngsters.

Excited, the people from USA - some of them Indian origin - arrived here at Mascom on Wednesday afternoon. They were volunteers for the AIF, which has a link-up with several NGOs in India.

These AIF fellows (includes guys and girls) are all part of a one year programme in India, which requires them to work with an NGO anywhere in India. These people work in different parts of India, and Kerala happened to be the venue of their mid-year evaluation session.

After introduction (where, naturally, I went up and spoke to the prettiest face in the crowd - S) and got to know she is basically, Tamilian! And I got curious and asked her to speak in Tamil, which she did very well.

After this, all of us took a boat ride from Kodimatha to Kumarakom (after a brief stop over at a place where we had tender coconuts). The ride into the Vembanad lake, where we also saw a breathtaking sunset, was awesome.

We were at C L, a posh resort close to the banks of the lake and served the best dinner I've had till date. The dinner lasted almost 3 hours (cuz there were so many dishes to taste). Found out this morning that a dinner there costs roughly around 1000 bucks!

Lots and lots of 'bye's, a small boat ride and some travel by the M bus, and we students were all back at Mascom.

Furiously .. workin!

I know it. I know it.

I know I haven't been blogging for two days or something. And, there's a reason.

A stupid reason: cos nothing's really happening. Yesterday was Sunday, and Sundays in Kottayam are reeeeal boring. And today is Monday - and nothing eventful happened. (except, of course, the 1st ODI between India and Pak, which Pak won by the Duckworth Lewis method. Well, 18 balls 18 runs 3 wickets - despite Younis Khan being there, we could have won. Real eventful was Inzy's obstructing the fielder dismissal.)

But there's one more reason to my absence from Bloggerworld. It's the two projects we gotto do.

With deadlines looming large, I've started working furiously on my projects. Already reached a count of 1500 in one. The data collection for the other is almost over -- only the structuring and typing remains.

Rang De Basanti: Superb

All the main characters in this movie laugh and have fun in the beginning. In the end, they are still laughing and having fun. But, the real essence of 'Rang De Basanti' lies in the middle of all this - when they cry and their hearts are stirred.

That - of fun-loving Gen X guys and girls crying and feeling the need for a patriotic tinge to life - makes this movie a must-watch movie.

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has woken up himself and a generation of young film-goers for whom Life is "fun" and "cool". The lesson that he imparts through his movie is something that every young Indian should learn.

'Rang De Basanti' succeeds mainly because it takes a movie like 'Yuva' further. Unlike 'Yuva', where at the exact moment when a glimmer of hope coincided with the end of the movie, RDB gives the hope and the possible conclusion.

RJ Aamir Khan is great and the scene that introduces him is super. Siddharth gets the opportunity of a lifetime and plays the role brilliantly. Maddy, and the other actors, do their roles well. As an aspiring film-maker, Sue (Alice Pattern) shows a variety of emotions and succeeds in enthralling the viewer.

The parallels that the director draws from the past and the present is truly innovative. Rahman's music totally rocks; 'Rooba roo' stands out.

On the whole, 'Rang De Basanti' is a movie that everyone should watch. It's totally worth the ticket money.

(Watched the movie last night with the guys in Abhilash theatre.)

Working really hard

It's that time of the year when the knees start shaking.
When fingers start quivering.

When fear is the order of the day...

To finish this course and get a PG diploma, we gotto write an academic and an investigative project. But as usual, we paid no heed to constant warnings.

But now the writing is on the wall - the deadlines have been given. And now, we suddenly come to terms with it - I haven't done this, done that. They're lots of things to do, very little time.

But yes, it's also the time of the year when you start working really hard. You know you gotto do something before a certain date, and you know it's vital for your career - so we gotto slog it out.

And that's what we're all upto these days.

(A Judge of the High Court lectured us today on 'Women and Law' - was an interesting class, mainly cos she dealt with marriages!)