A Mechanical ostentation!

De Grisogono Meccanico dG

Contrary to its appearance, the Meccanico dG has no digital components. Below the more conventional analog portion of the two-timezone watch is a numerical display driven by the intricate interplay of 651 strictly mechanical components. Numbers are formed by the motion of 23 cams, which are connected to gears and a synchronization system.

To prove it, the watch's back features a transparent dial plate that affords close scrutiny of the timepiece's inner workings. Billed as the world's most complicated watch, its creation marks the 50th birthday of the Geneva-based company De Grisogono.



The Meccanico dG comes in four styles (red gold, titanium-and-gold, titanium-and-platinum and titanium-and-rubber) and is waterproof to 100 feet. It won't be easy to claim one of the mere 177 produced.

Price Tag : A mere Rs.1,10,00,000 only . Tough choice .I'd reckon ... go for the Aston Martin!

My love ...I Miss You ...

You are my love n you are my desire,
Your charming face - ever as radiant as fire,
What I am today is but a part of you, know many and not a few,
What you are forever is but - 'a Diamond in the middle of the blue',

Earlier I thought you sounded like explosions,
and so do people now, even across the oceans,
Its now that we relate you to a goddess,
Known to everyone, for your financial prowess,

You are the prowess that can lend your shoulder to the poorest,
and then make him known to the world as one of the richest,
You stand for love and care, happiness and welfare, driving away despair,
Thinking about my life without you would be honestly be a nightmare,

Yes, you are the city of my dreams, the city that radiates friendly beams,
You are the city that never sleeps, the city that never weeps,
The Gateway, the commercial capital,the spirit - of a nation of billions ,
The city that's the love and desire of the hearts of sixteen-millions,

My love, you are the city that raised me up.......I miss you!
You were, and still remain, a treasure to me... Will you?
Yes ..... forever!
'Bombay meri jaan......Salaam Bombay!'

My first attempt at writing a poem in my blog...and I wanted to write about the city that I miss everyday...a city in which I was brought up!

Born in a small town named Karaikudi in TN,I had to spend the first two years of my life in Agartala - the capital of Tripura, one of the seven sisters in India's North-East.I don't remember much of Agartala city, but I do remember hearing some sweet words belonging to one of the sweetest languages I've heard off, Bengali . That's all about Agartala.....moving on to Bombay( haan doston - ' aamchi Mumbai ! ').....when I was jus two I was pushed into a nursery school where I could babble only in my mother tongue (..and that too which only my mom could understand....). It took a couple of years more for me to pick up both my mother tongue and our national language to express myself. I could learn the regional language Marathi only in my secondary ...where I chose Marathi over Sanskrit(for my luv of the people n the culture there!)

This post is exclusively for all that I n my friends (who left aamchi Mumbai and Navi Mumbai) miss.......the ONGC Colony, the KV-ONGC school, the J.H.Ambani School, the Bombay-Pune NH-4 and the Expressway with its greenary and the Ghats, the Sion-Panvel Highway, the Palm-Beach Road, the Vashi Bridge,... every node(CIDCO's CBD Belapur, Panvel, Nerul, Khargahar, Vashi, Sanpada...)and railway station(the Juinagar one being filmed in the movie 'Rhythm' ) in Navi Mumbai, ......the CST/VT Station, the Gateway, the Taj, Marine Drive, Nariman Point, the Juhu,the Chowpatty, Nehru Planetorium , the Science Centre, the SG National Park, the gardens of IIT Powaii,.......the airports at Santacruz/Sahar, the South Indian Temples in Nerul and Chembur, and .....the Suburban trains ( that sound of '.....la jaanari dheemi/tej local .....ahe' in the announcements are still earworms ), the Bhel Puris, the Vada Pavs, the Pav Bhajis, the innumerable tasty food serving hotels, .........and many more ...the list'll never end.

Special mentions : The luv, affection, industriousness, courage, resilience(who cam forget those horrible deluges, blasts and attacks..) of Mumbaikars and the inimitable speed and style with which they carry themselves...

I miss the city that pays almost half of the Nation's taxes, the city of the rich, the wealthy, the poor and the poorest. A city where slum and skyscraper stay side-by-side...the city of Bollywood...the city of technology( we wont forget the BARC n IIT)...the busiest Airport in South Asia, Seaport in India, a city that has railway belonging to two divisions(Central n Western)...the Dalal Street...

The city never stops growing...from Bombay to Mumbai, from a metro to a megacity(probably the most complex urban machinery in existence), Greater Mumbai is surrounded by many other cities(about 4 Municipal Corporations).....and ...My heartiest wishes to the upcoming Mega Landmark of modern Mumbai - The Bandra-Worli Sealink..................I jus miss you, Mumbai!

If I ever get a chance to relocate...I'll come back to you!

Here is an unknown ex-Mumbaikar saluting the spirit of Mumbai...
Salaam Bombay!

Quest 2009 - Part 3

At 7:45 in the morning, I entered the main block.Seeing me clothed in a denim SJ was surprised."Hey! You not going on stage today..?"I had to tell him that my work was in the evening n by that time I would be clothed in that formal form of dressing in which he was too eager to se me in.B was racing up n down the corridor ordering the juniors to do his work......The guests arrived ...of course, in Indian Standard Time....thankfully for B (who wasn't ready).
He n K were quite good(...My Tamil's good enough to judge somebody's speech...)our friends J n SJ n the others also spoke well...
With a lot of work remaining for the evening , my noon n afternoon time was spent on work, work and some more work... with some more work n lots of tension (n fun too) my part was over...the evening fn. went off well.....the only problem being that there seemed to be more people on the stage than in front of it !(as the program reached the end).

With Quest'09 being officially over, the Big-D congratulated everybody..shook hands with everyone who was in his vicinity...n then there was the photo session..the bashing session...when the office bearers were given their dues..the much feared beatings n blows...the staff didnt seem to mind all the shor n hullah...The next day went off with me n B writing n typing the report 4 the newspapers...n the two General Secretaries sending thank you smses...

Quest 2009 had come to an end!

Quest 2009 - Part2

Pride n Prejudice

contd. from Part 1 - I n B were to meet K n T that day for finalizing our roles and the work. T was B's classmate in the first sem.He introduced me to her, but not b4 informing me that she was headweighted n also hinted that she might not do the work (!)...K n T agreed to the plans n we set out 4 work.T agreed to do the entire work 4 me, giving me only the editing part. I was too happy to be relieved of my work. She was to mail the entire script to me by night.
I waited..waited.......... and ...........the clock struck 12 n I cursed the Hell...not bcoz she didn't send the mail, but bcoz B had been right again!
B was jubiliant that his predictions were right.

Next morning - K had finished her part n sent it to mam for editing while B also completed his part.Then - we met T . She apologized profusely for not having done her part n agreed to do it immediately. We three sat down, exchanged ideas and neared the completion of our work. To our surprise, T talked in a manner that did not show any of those symptoms of headweightedness(...that's not the right word...can u guess the right one?...). She also agreed to write down a neat fair draft while I and B chatted.The bonus was that she also agreed to type it and bring it after the lunch... Relieved of work we were happy...

Then, she somehow happened to talk about her seniors and mentioned A's name(I'm sorry A, but then this was a shocker!), my cousin sister whom I always thought to be a studious,talkative and kind person ...but... not in anyway involved in bullying.From T, I learnt that kind she was n did help out her juniors in everything ranging from personal life to projects, but not before she ragged her juniors!.......And that her gang was the most feared in the hostel for bullying and ragging when she was a senior.Thankfully ! T wasn't ragged much by A.

We then exchanged opinions about ourselves that were prevalent among our batch students.Some good samaritan had told T that I n B were studious guys...I was overjoyed to hear such a pleasant (and an utterly false statement) about being made in my peer circle.In turn B told T that she was thought of as a headweighted(thought of the right word?.....) personality (Surprisingly,B's remark did not get any expressions on her face).She agreed with that statement(but expressions exploded out of mine n B's face...Oh!come on! who'll agree that he/she's a headweighted person) and told that she had heard the same comment from others too n that she didnt mind it bcoz that was false n also bcos it gave her a chance to distance herself from others.

Soon after the lunch B received a call from T saying that she got infected with chicken pox n that she had to leave immediately. We had to immediately find a replacement for her and inform it to the staff.But T sent the typed doc file through her friend and also made arrangements for her replacements. ..We felt sorry 4 her...(Since I was a child, I had always felt sorry 4 everything ranging from iCards to iPods to iPhones to iMacs(u r right,they weren't there when I was born...but still!) to iBelts to iSocks n iShoes! n iTies n iCoats, but never had I felt sorry for something called 'prejudice')
(If T's reading this, I guess she would have spotted the pun!)

This was a big lesson for me (n for B too!). I learnt - Never judge anyone b4 u know them well...sometimes,Prejudice has to be shown the door!...If T could be so good n A could have been a bully!(Hey!A - I'm jus kiddin...lol..funny to find that ur 'adakamaanna' elder sis is a bully from a new friend)...a good lesson indeed!

The evening went off quickly with the typing and taking printouts of the Agenda,MC copy, the vote of thanks, the overview,the intros to the chief guest and all others that we had to prepare for the office bearers and then asking for approval from the staff...editing...retyping ...reprinting...an umpteen no. of times. The purchase and stage arrangements had also to be taken care of.Plus some more of MC and writing work remained.After twelve the computing centre closed n I went to KV's room(another good friend of mine)and used his lappie n his English too(he's good at that).Finally I went to bed at 3.30 a.m.

I was woken up by B at 5...I shooed him away n woke up at 6.30...reached the Main Building by 7.45 am.......(To be continued in part 3)

PS: I wish to avoid those annoying braces when I write...but I luv those indispensable braces (),{},[] that tell u something extra!

Quest 2009 - Part 1

Yes, the 'Quest 2009' an interschool cultural festival organized by the third years of our college has come to an end.Successfully? That will be known a couple of days later when the faculty members comment about it.

My experience in the making of 'Quest 2009'

The journey began 6 weeks ago in the middle of December 2008 when the office bearers were nominated. I, ever eager to go on a vacation did not wish to be in one of those top posts...because they had to stay back for the entire vacation and work for it.I had other plans...the IIM Bangalore visit, the Hyderabad sightseeing and shopping trip, a Pongal at my grandparents place and some days with my family.

I got inducted into the Quest workforce only after coming back from the hols. On my friend B's (I wish to keep my friends anon lest they feel offended...)suggestions and invitation I was put into the Stage Management Committee along with him. With just 2 members in our team we were left to scout for a few more members for our team.To maintain the equilibrium the other two members had to be from the Fairer side(as if we men r unfair!). We had to meet the Staff Incharge for our committee Mrs.T ,who was a teacher I knew from my first semester.She woz one of my favourites (especially because she was the first person in my college to have praised me!).So there was no problem.We met her and she described about all the work that we had to do.In the meantime the girls suggested two names from their side - Thalaivi(thats the nickname I n B gave to her some time later after meeting her!)whom I'll refer to as T ,and K.

Mr.Raja of Tamil Pattimanram and Rajini's Sivaji's 'vanga pazhagalam' fame had been invited as the chief guest for morning function.So the mc-ing had to be in Tamil...I cursed my self ...My Tamil reading was poor,writing horrible and speech in Sutta (pure) Tamil was a Distant Dream (that too in front of a famous Tamil Speaker).That woz because I didn't have any formal training or education in Tamil.Though I used to speak in Tamil at home, I just picked up writing and reading from the names that rolled up on TV screens or on the shop boards in town or Bus Route Boards.And the kind of Tamil that you can expect from such learning will be "...extremely ..g.o.o.d.." !I decided that maybe the only work I'd be left with was spreading table clothes and placing water bottles ...(imagine me sitting in front of a HR Manager n telling him that This was my contribution 4 an event organized by we students...he'd be impressed,won't he be ?)

But luckily 4 me- I was told that the chief guest for the evening was Mrs.U, our mamcorres.Regaining the opportunity for a decent work of mc-ing was satisfactory...but not before I asked B to leave that to me, while he could take up the Tamil MCing...Being one of those guys who knew about my extraordinary proficiency in Tamil, B had to agree. K was the suggestion for Tamil mc-ing from the girls side n T (the next post's exclusively on her,B n my cousin sister)for English... to be contd. in Part2

I'm Back!

Just as Thalai (Ultimate Star Ajit Kumar) says - I'm back!

Back after the longest holiday in my college life(a 40 day holiday was unheard of b4 this vacation..i was used to 1 week or 2 week holidays), from the Central Computing Center of my coll I relaunch my new found hobby of blogging.Though I call it a personal blog I don't want it to be one.The deepest secrets are safe as thoughts in my god gifted biological memory rather than as blogs...which I myself wish to promote.Come on! nobody would luv to publicly disclose his/her inner thoughts.Why would I?
...back to my confused state of mind which confuses others much more than the self inflicted confusion that confuses me.

Back to work 4 Quest - the inter school culturals...back to work 4 Tech Utsav, the inter-collegiate tech fest...back 4 the internals... the externals ...the placements...the BEC Club...the Cultural Club...the untidy rooms of the Menz Hostel...the Mess(didn't quite Miss this one in the hols!)...the Canteen...the Night Canteen(yes I'm a foodie who doesn't look like one!)...and to enjoy the three more semesters that remain of my undergrad college life.

and yes definitely back to 'Owling'...sleeping in the classes in the day(though I don't blame my teachers 4 that(i've got a few extremely good ones whom i can't resist waking up and listening to..they r addictive(i'm serious...there r some like that too!))) and waking up all night!

I'll end this one too with my standard phrase lifted from Darwin-"Its the survival of the fittest!" This one is for a nice movie titled "Evolution" that I watched during my hols...I luved it!