The touch of music...

To be done with exams, good or bad feels nice.. whew! MS is not a piece of cake...... instead is a collection of cakes u can't finish at once... he he... feels so good to remember the worst of PJs I would crack.. I feel good that I haven't lost the 'touch of PJ'. Now for the touch of music.. I could nt find a better title.. suggestions welcome..

My association with songs go back to my childhood..Grew up in a family full of musicians, singers, lyricists, composers, teachers, etc.. I like the songs, the melody and never hesitate to hum a song which I like. My granny's 'Sampradaya HadugaLu' (Traditional Songs) do impress me and I sing them as well.. But my main interest are the songs of Bollywood old and new, no bias...
Right from beginning I have observed that some songs have a 'different' effect on my brain or is it heart?.. I dont know.. But the fact is I feel somewhat 'attached' to the emotions in the song, or I feel 'touched' by the song.. or I feel 'impressed' by the song...or sometimes seems like I am being 'hysterical'. It is that I get a weird feeling in my heart and I feel like I myself am involved in the song and am singing it from my heart.... The emotions in the song are 'felt' by me at that moment.. Some examples are 'Bin Tere Sanam (Remix)', Pehla Nasha, Main Koi Aisa (Yes Boss), 'Do Lafzon Ki hai ','Yeh Kahan aa gaye hum', 'Aye mere humsafar (QSQT)', etc etc etc etc...

I dont know if it is coz of the past, or is it something to do with the song itself.. Could be the music, tone... I know that the brain is emitting waves and the tone of the song might 'resonate' with it and cause the weird feeling... Or is it the 'melody' of the song and since I have a taste for music, feel impressed by the tune.... Or it could be the lyrics which I understand and relate to myself.... or could it be the singer's involvement in the song? I mean the singer has involved himself so much in the song, that his true emotions are being expressed in the song.. some songs I do feel that has happened.. I dont know.. but I feel really good to hear these songs, and the same time feel somewhat sad and get a cold feeling in my stomach.. These feelings just make me go back again and again and listen to them....

What is it that draws me to these songs? I dont know for sure.. I dont even know if someone else also feels the same way.. so touched, so attached to the song..I may not have expressed it right... but I dont know how to express it.. Oh yes! I get one more word - 'nostalgic' .. Let me know if any of u feel the same way or have felt that way..or is it just me?

'Celebrating life' with Madness

Well.... the Indian Students Association(ISA) in UTD hosted a cultural festival in our University - 'Sangam' last Saturday and we decided to do some programme for the same.. Mad Ads was the first and last choice for us and Kiran agreed to do the scripting for that..

After a few days of 'hardly' working on the script, we had it ready and it was time to look around for people willing to participate. Me, being the first time doing Mad Ads, was a bit skeptical about how the things would turn out.. Still, gathering all my might, I started encouraging people to take part in the same..... The worst thing was that no one was ready to believe me that it would be a success..

A few weeks ago.. there was a cricket tournament.. and I volunteered to bowl..When asked if I knew bowling.. I said I am alrounder (another of my boasting skills )... As for my bad luck, I gave away 22 runs in an over... and since then, people have started losing trust in me....

After much persuation and forcing people, we got into the act of 'practising'. Everyone was assigned their part and to my surprise, we really did find some good actors and actresses.. well 'an actress'. The first day of practice was a success and in 3 hrs of the schedule, we successfully practised for 1 hr.. The second day of practice - no one turned up.. The third day of practice - a few people turned up and the Mad ads was turning out to be an unwanted committment...

Then, we decided that 'whether we get people to laugh or whether people laugh at us, it does not matter..' The fourth day of practice was a bit successful and next day was the show and we were excited... A half hour's practice before the show and we were all ready...

The show started and the initial reaction was scary.. People started clapping within a minute and we were afraid that it is goin to be a flop... But as the pace picked up.. the crowd started enjoying it and the tantrums stopped.. We became more confident and finally it came out really well.. My friend Kiran and Arvind did a good job in narration and Nikhil as 'Lalloo' was fantastic. Chandan as Mandira Bedi was the star attraction... Ajay as Sonia Gandhi was wonderful...Yashaswini as 'the statue', Amruth as 'Veerappan', Pavan as 'Munna', Karthik as 'Sachin' all were responsible for the great success of the show..

Amazingly, I realized that even I am not such a bad actor after all.. I got some credit for my part too... Overall I am pretty happy about it and thoroughly enjoyed it.. Watch the video of the show right here and have fun...

Addicted to Google :D

• Here I dont mean I am 'searching' for something most of the time... I am talking about the various other products also that I am addicted to.
• 
  When Google first came up with its search engine, the very first attraction to me was the 'name' itself. It sounded very professional and yet kooooool. I knew they meant business. So, thats how I started my association with Google and since then I have not stopped enrolling for services offered by them.
• 
  In chronological order,
  GMail for my mails, I really liked the speed and the organization of 'conversations'.
  GTalk, should I mention the simplicity, absence of ads, clarity of voice calls and what not.
  Google Video for time pass
  Google Toolbar - Convenience
  Google Docs and Spreadsheets for storing documents online and retreiving them.
  Orkut to keep in touch with friends,
  
• YouTube now bought by Google - For time pass again....
  
• Google Earth - To see satellite images of places around the world
  Google Maps - the real use of this was when I came to US.
  'Blogspot now merged with Google' - for my blogs,
  'Google Reader' to get updated news and jokes immediately
  'Google Groups' like yahoo groups (no viruses till now)
  'Google Suggest' - Search made easier
  'Google Page Creator' for my website - http://prashanth.guha.googlepages.com ( if you feel that I am giving publicity here, then u are absolutely right ;) he he he......)
  'Google Adsense' - To make some money from my website.
  
  Other products that I may start using in the near future include
  Google Adwords - If I start a business
  Google Book Search - I hope to.. some day
  Google Desktop - Once I have my own laptop
  Google Code Search
  Picassa - For photo sharing and manipulation
  Google Calendar - In case I dont have a mobile
  
  Believe me the best thing that attracts me to any product of Google is its simplicity and the user friendliness. They know what the customer wants and they implement it. And there lies the secret of success. If you havent tried out their products, u better do that quick and I am sure u will like it.
  
  PS: You might want to check out the following links:
  
• Download Google Videos as AVI files
• Google Persistent Memory
• Google pages you've never seen
• If Google didn't exist
• Top 10 funny Google News
• 10 powerful uses for Google Suggest
• Hidden labels in Gmail
• Why Google Talk will be the best IM
• Object recognition is the future of Google
• The next step in search
  

Theory of Relativity

How often do we really compare what we learn as part of academics to our own real life? Some do this always, some do it now and then, and some really dont care. Well I belong to the first kind and sometimes I get lost in my own world trying to map things in physics and science to the thought process of our brain in real life....

Einstein's theory of relativity compares the mass and speed and says how one entity becomes negligible or very small compared to the other entity. One of the most recent comparisons that I found out was how we perceive 'distance'.

When I was in India, I would visit places in and around Karnataka often atmost an overnight's journey equivalent to 250-400 kms. I felt that Northern India was faaaaaaaaaaar away and so never really tried to make a trip to North India.

However, now that I am in US, I find that for every small thing, we have to make a trip of around 4-5 miles. I was even thinking of visiting my friend in New Jersey once a while which is around 1500 miles from Dallas. This is equivalent to the distance from Blore to Lucknow(almost 3/4 country's length) if you calculate. Here you see the change in 'perception'. As soon as I landed in US, instead of realizing that US is a big country and places are far, I started measuring distance relative of the country's width. This means, I felt that NJ was only half way across the country, which was not THAT far. More so, because of the distance I had already travelled (India to US). Now that I had travelled India to US (very faaaaaaaar), if I see the northern places in India now, I feel that the places are not really 'far away'. But because of my 'local comparison', I thought that way... And that is why I say 'far' and 'near' are always relative. We cannot really say it in an absolute sense.

Also for people in US, travelling 50-60 miles everyday for work is a day-to-day affair. But think about that in Bangalore.. how much fuss we make to go from North Bangalore to South Bangalore even if it is once a while for some wedding. People go 20 miles just to do some shopping. How far do we actually travel in Bangalore to do our shopping?

Come to think of it, ANY measurement metric we use is relative to something we fix as a 'reference'. This is the beauty of life and Einstein just put that in the form of a formula and that is why he is great.

Sing while you build a tree

If you happen to know about the Perlman algorithm for creating a spanning tree for bridges in Computer Networks, then here you have the algorithm right in Radia Perlman's style.

Algorhyme

I think that I shall never see
A graph more lovely than a tree.

A tree whose crucial property
Is loop-free connectivity.

A tree that must be sure to span
So packets can reach every LAN.

First, the root must be selected.
By ID, it is elected.

Least-cost paths from root are traced.
In the tree, these paths are placed.

A mesh is made by folks like me,
Then bridges find a spanning tree.

- Radia Perlman

Hope you enjoyed this poem.... You guys heard any of such ones????

Sleep and Dreams - Explainations

If you have seen my earlier post about dreams, then here are some insights into "How sleep works" and "How Dreams work".

Interesting read.. Let me know what you think...

Dreamz Unlimited :D

Have you ever wondered why we dream? I have wondered often.. but am too lazy to google about it and find out.. But the fact is I have gotten to understand that it is a good form of entertainment even while sleeping. Sometimes it gets so interesting that if I wake up (someone wakes up or some disturbance), i pull over the bedsheet, try to recall where my dream had stopped and try to continue again. Believe me, this has worked for me many times! ;)

And dreams are funny too.... Recently I had a dream where I take a left turn on Bull Temple Road and I enter a dense forest.. I encounter an elephant which kills everyone in its way but when it comes to me.... I am not to be seen because I am standing sideways in front of its trunk.. Probably why this sequence came along is because my friends keep teasing me that I am too thin. Sometimes being thin has advantages.. even in dreams. :D

Somehow I always wake up at the climax of a story... Either someone wakes me up or the stupid alarm rings. It is so disappointing to miss the climax and you will be the hero and sometimes, u cant recall even the details. It is just erased off ur memory when u wake up. :( One more observation when it comes to climax of the dream and waking up.. I always see that if my mom is waking me up.. in my dream, someone is shouting my name.. If the alarm is ringing, the sequence of the dream immediately changes to a phone ringing or the door bell. Amazing how this happens and how the brain adjusts the 'physically happening' event with the virtual story happening in ur brain.

They also say dreams are a reflection of what u want in life and what u want to achieve. I have reached amazing heights and have performed unusual arts in my dreams.. My mom had taken a walk to Singapore in one of her dreams... Wish some of them would happen in real life too. But the truth is I enjoy dreaming and day-dreaming is not uncommon to me. Sleep well, sweet dreams :)

Oops! my ego is hurt ... :(

In my college days, I used to go rock climbing in Turhalli, Bangalore (why i mention Bangalore is coz i suddenly remembered that I am in US now) and was quite competent among my peers. Got some appreciations for my 'natural' climbing abilities and you know these things made me proud of my talents. Yeah but never had I boasted about myself coz there were people much better than I was.

Now that I am in UTD, I met a girl (name confidential) and got to know she is interested in rock climbing. Moment I got to know this, I knew I had to be friends with her. Primary reason being I could accompany her for some of rock climbing activities in and around Dallas. Few days passed and I got a chance to go with her to a 'Climbing Gym'.

She picked me up from home and along the way, I was blabbering about my climbing activities in Bangalore, told her that I have had experience with the artificial walls (though I had climbed it only once in my life), told her about the bouldering and she kept nodding her head. By then I had created a reputation about myself.

We reached the climbing gym and at the entry point, I told the administrators that I knew climbing. They asked me if I knew how to use a 'Grigri' ( I looked up the spelling in google just now). This was the first jolt I received and was taken aback. I had to admit I had not used it and said, I knew some 'belaying'. They showed my how to use it and it was simple. No problems.

The girl and I (partners in climbing, one belays, other climbs, then we were supposed to exchange places), started off our climbing session. I let her go first, me being a gentleman (Actual reason was to assess her abilities). Then, she started saying about the various difficulty levels in the routes designed. She started off on a route marked with a pink tape and went half way around. Took some rest, and finished the climb. Meanwhile I was looking around the place and was baffled by the vastness of the place and the amount of resources spent on it. It was as big as a football field and full of artificial walls, right from overhangs to straight walls to easier ones.

It was my turn and proudly went on to climb, quarter way through and I realized it was a pretty tough route. Half way through and I was puffing and panting and losing my grip. Then started the shivering of the leg (not because of fear, but because of lack of strength in them). I gave up and came down disappointed. This was the second time I realized I am not an 'expert'. She climbed one more tough one and I failed miserably there also. Then I decided, tough ones are not my cup of tea and climbed a few easier routes.

Finally we wound up and she appreciated that I was impressive. She said she took 8 months to reach the level I climbed. Got praised for my 'natural' climbing talents again and you know then I substantiated my failure with reasons such as 'out of touch for 2 years now' and things like that. Though a compliment, I knew I was not as good as her. Came home and I didnt even have strength to wash my face.

My ego.... i dont know where it is now. Seems to be lost.

Lesson learnt: Do not underestimate other's capabilities. It hurts to lose your ego.

read://us.experience.myopinion

That I got my visa, the preparations for my flight was on. The last few days were hectic but finally i could pull things off pretty well and i was well prepared for the flight. The experience of the flight was just great especially the 'Take off'. It was my first time and this was really the best part of the flight.
First stop was at Malaysia and was just amazed at the vastness of the airport and how organized they are. and during the take off in Malaysia, planes will be waiting behind one another like in a traffic signal. Landed in LA and this was another great experience. the place where we got off the plane to the checkout is around 2 miles. That big it is.
Typically I have been asked this question many times "How is US?". "How is US of A treating you?". "How do you feel being in US?".
I really feel you should be here to see what US is. Also one thing i want to make clear is that there is nothing 'SO GREAT' about US. Yes, it is technologically advanced and more sophisticated. It is evident everywhere. Apart from this, there is nothing 'out of this world' here. Moreover, me being in Bangalore which is metropolitan, i felt half the things are already there in India. Only thing that is missing is the 'fear for law'.
People follow lane rules in traffic, stop at intersections, stand in a queue, are patient and fear the law. This is what is different here. I mean, if you have very high expectations about US and come here, then you r sure to be disappointed. There are pitfalls here also, politics, thefts, robberies, cheating, etc. But what picture we have in India is a very different one. When it comes to following rules, i was surprised to see that 'pedestrians' have greater respect. people in cars stop 20 ft ahead if they see a pedestrian crossing. MInd you this is only in parking lots and residential areas. Not highways.
I came to Dallas and I started commuting by buses. The bus service is so good here and on time. This is so organized, jst visit www.dart.org to have a look at the bus options and the trip planner. You can give a source address, destination address and the time of departure. It will show you which bus to take, where to change the bus and what time u will reach and how much distance, you wil have walk. I am using this system extensively to commute here.
And another thing i observed here is how 'courteous' these people are. whenever i pass someone, meet the bank teller, bus driver, a person waiting at the bus, or some fellow shopper at a mall, everyone ask the same question "Hi, how are you?" even when I dont even know who they are. I feel it has become a norm here to greet anyone you see.
Without a car, life here is very difficult. Things are really far off and commuting is very difficult. And things are too costly also. It is very difficult here if you are not working or earning. and especially if u are from india and new to this place. you convert everythin to Rupees and start calculating. Ex: A haircut costs 400 bucks, telephone rent is around 2000 rupees, rent for a single bedroom house is 21000 rupees, etc.
Hmm...however, all I feel is US is different, India is different. Please dont compare it. Both are good in its own way. I miss India nonetheless.

My Visa Interview - A nervous nightmare

I didn't want to create a blog for a long time and peer pressure has forced me to create one and put up things. Anyway this is my first and would like to document my first visa interview (student visa). It was a very interesting journey till here from the preparation to the day itself.
As soon as I got my I-20 from Univ of Texas at Dallas, I was ready to prepare for Visa and started enquiring with people regarding the amount to be shown in the Bank (my greatest worry). After a brief counselling from my Counsellor (Esbee Consultants), I got to know the procedures and things related to that. I had to show liquid cash of atleast 1 years study and for the second year - education loan. Next 2 months went by accumulatin cash from all sources (genuine. Not advisable to fake) and getting the approval of education loan.
A second briefing session was up and I had to get the other documents like Affidavit, Bank Statement, FD statements, CA statement, Form-16, etc. This was just the beginning. Though I was ready with the documents, it was a tough journey for the past two weeks as I was quite nervous and didn't know what would happen. A final one-on-one with my counsellor was a mock visa interview where he checked my documents and asked a few questions just like the ones asked at the Consulate. I screwed up a few answers and went along makin confusin statements (a strict no-no). I was advised to be calm and not to be nervous. But still the nervousness dint cease to exist. This was the very few times I have been nervous. Never been so nervous for the engineering exams too.
It was June 20th and I was at office and one of my friends (Vikram Keshav) was online (his visa was cleared) and he asked me if I was prepared. I said yes and he started asking questions. Though I was busy at office, i thought this would help me. I answered quite well and he said i would get the visa and to be confident. This boosted my confidence and helped me relax a bit.
It was 21st and I had to leave for Chennai. We reached chennai and next day 11.45 am in front of the consulate. The queue ended on the footpath outside the consulate. I had to jump a barrier to gain advantage in the queue. This was no problem and I force my dad also to do the same. 12.00 and still in the same location. It was quite sunny and I had taken an umbrella with me. Made my dad run around for water and maaza a few times. As others beside me had not brought an umbrella, I asked them to share the shade and we were 4 to 5 squeezed under the umbrella.:)
All along, we started playing a game of 'guessing'. We had to guess if the person coming out had got a visa or not seeing their faces. It was tough but it got boring after few mins. After around 2 and half hours, we were let in and d A/c was a blessing. This was just the beginning.
We had get our documents verified. And after shifting queues for 1 hour, we were seated in the adjoining building. Then the finger scanning and after shifting seats for another 1 hour, I was called for the interview and a queue shown to join. All along, I was feeling very hungry and cursing everyone of the premises for not providing shelter outside. Was really tensed and had to visit the restroom twice. Luckily there was coffee available inside and it was again refreshing.
The first thing on my mind was whether the interviewer was a lady. I had heard that the ladies are a bit fussy about granting visas and was advised to choose a queue in which the interviewer was a male. Was it 'rumors' or was it reality? I never got to test. But yeah, one thing for sure, my heart was pounding and could not think of it. My only intention was to prove the 'rumors' were 'rumors'. I was also seeing the 'male' interviewers also rejecting student visas statin one reason or the other some of them genuine i felt.
My interviewer was a male around 45-50 years of age and he looked pleasing. But when he rejected the visas of two students ahead of me, I got tensed. But to hell with it. I said to myself 'whatever be the outcome I will answer whatever I know'.He called me and this is how the conversation went.

Visa officer(V.O): Hello,
Me: Hello :) (smiling as always)

VO: (looking at my forms)So, you've been going to University of Texas at Dallas.
Me: yeah, thats right

VO: (lookin at forms still) What are you doing your masters in?
Me: Networking Algorithms (Actually I want to do Networking 'or' Algorithms. But in the nervousness, I missed the conjunction. thought he would not ask further)

VO: What exactly are Networking algorithms?
Me: I meant Networking 'and' Algorithms. (Again nervousness played a role and changed the 'or' to 'and'.)

VO: Oh ok, what do you want to do after studies?
Me: I would like to pursue a career in my field of interest i.e Networking.

VO: Hmm Ok. How long have you been working?
Me: 2 years

VO: Which company? (looking at the forms..) IBM right?
Me: Yeah right...

VO: You have a lucrative job here. You are leaving your job and going...
Me: I will still be back as a software engineer.

VO: Are you sure u'll be back? (I don know whether he meant you will be back to India or whether u ll be back as SE)
Me: Yeah. definitely.

VO: Which is your dream company?
Me: IBM is also one of my dream companies

By this time I was confident and my nervousness was gone and I knew I was going on well.

VO: You like the company?
Me: Yes

VO: Explain your work function..
Me: Blah Blah Blah (Confidential)

VO: So, you are a Java programmer..
Me: No,...Blah Blah Blah (Confidential)

VO: Give me your certificates and Marks Cards

VO: (Looking at the I-20). Your fees is around 20000 dollars i.e.9-10 lakhs
Me: Yeah 9 lakhs per year

VO: How are you going to fund yourself?
Me: My dad has savings of around 11 lakhs and since I have been working, I have saved around 3 lakhs. Still Ill be short of 5-6 lakhs. So, for my second year, I have applied for education loan and its approved.

VO: What is your dad doing?
Me: He was a professor of Physics for aroudn 30 years. He is now retired and he is working as a mentor in a pvt. institution?

VO: Does he teach now?
Me: No, more or mentoring.

VO: Ok son, your Visa is approved. Your passport will be couriered within 2-3 days.
Me: Thank you Sir.


Huh, after all this, I was so relieved, took time and sat on the chair to set right my documents. Then asked one of the co-ordinators whether my passport will be couriered(just to confirm) and then exited the building with a smile.
This was my adventure and the whole 'VISA' thing was out of the way. I did not find one particular thing which can ensure you a 'reject' nor an 'accept'. I think a combination of everything - academic records, work experience (plays major role), honesty, authentic records, good preparation with the documents, confidence in answering questions, focus on your goals and a thorough understanding of your subject and related stuff will play a role in getting your visa. Hope this was a good read. All the best if any of you are applying for a visa.