Adieu '07

Time to bid farewell to, what I endorse, the most eventful year of my life. And what an year it had been. Although, all the action started after the interval, it was sufficient enough to over-compensate the lull in the beginning. The melancholy from the previous year continued it's grip over me as the year began. The JEE frenzy was on it's peak with me spending sleepless nights mustering all the bits and pieces I could make out of past year and a half. And the labor did pay off, in the form of a big JEE rank. I am quite enough a theist to accept all results like a well mannered boy. After some tough decisions and flustering spend of days, I ended up in one of the best technical Institutes of the world, in a non-technical course. For this place, IITR as we call it, it was just matter of days to wipe out any skepticism about my judgment of the situation I was renounced in. And from here, the adventure begins.

For the first time in my life, I lived a hostel life, in the hog heaven, in the lap of luxuries. Everyday was a new venture, a happy junket, where I made all those friends and learned so much, in all the quarters you can sum up in the mind. I was in an environment shrouded with cultures from all over the country and it's folks taking in charge of the new life they had just grabbed. These guy were brilliant, in every field. If there could be anything like talent-burst (due to over-loading), it would have happened right around me. And with them, I laughed, played, learned, danced...yeah ! I started dancing too...I'm still pathetic at it, but I'm improving...everyday...coz we dance almost everyday. We spent together nights out in canteen eating paranthas and soup maggies and petties Bhujiya. We spent together nights out mugging up the stuff and taking and giving lectures a week before the exams. And there was Thomso, and all those Birthday bashes, and finally one hell of an NCC camp to sum up everything in the best possible way ( Click here to know more about that NCC Camp). In these 5 months, I lived a very eventful life, full of ups ( mostly) and rarely downs.

This year was also a good one for India. The economy boomed and many significant political events unfolded. And this had been a good year for the world peace too. Not much of war, and quite an increase in poverty reduction measures by developed nations and a built-up of that sort of mentality. We have seen many issues being resolved and a growing sense of humanism all around. I just hope 2008 carries all the good momentum with it and prove to be a prodigious year, and better than the marvelous 2007.

All right buddies, I'll take off now...only to meet you in the next year. And I'll leave you with this video...from one of my favorite band's new album...just to keep the momentum going.






Linkin Park
Alb : Minutes to midnight
Song : What I've done

Check-Out the lyrics of the song.

The Battles from the SOUTH... ( Part 1)

After some intense data mining in you-tube for, what...3 hours, I found these amazing videos all ready to showcase the Indian Film Industry to the world. Although you can never be short of action flicks produced here, especially in South, there are few that really stands out. Here are a few of those ....





And this was one of the most hilarious...ha ha ha....And don't forget to see what happens when the Hero defeats the villain in this " clash of Titans"






I will be back with more of the south...till then, keep laughing.

INTO THIN AIR

''Nothing has ever moved me more than this book did. I had nightmares after reading the book. This would be my best read ever. ''

I had been plagued by heat in the Cwm every time I'd traveled through it, and this trip was no exception. Climbing with Andy Harris at the front of the group, I continually stuffed snow under my hat and moved as fast as my legs and lungs would propel me, hoping to reach the shade of the tents before succumbing to the solar radiation. As the morning dragged on and the sun beat down, my head began to pound. My tongue swelled so much that it was difficult to breathe through my mouth, and I noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to think clearly.




Until a week ago, I had not even heard of this 'New York Times Bestseller', 'Times Book of the Year (1997)' and what not. I'm not a reading addict, but growing up in a culture advocating books and all, I have inherited some good habits too. Although, I don't have an entire database of publications at my fingertips, I'm atleast quite familiar with some nice titles out there on stands since recent few years. This book was an exception, however. What actually propelled me to buy this book was the apparent contradiction of my belief that Non fiction texts cannot appeal to patrons expecting adrenaline outbursts. For me, non-fiction was always about emotional encounters, revival stories, biographies, events and era documentation and in recent times, host of self-improvement and assessment guides. Putting it simply, for me it was nothing but boring and serious compilations targeting intellectuals in particular. So I kept a distance from these works and happily confined myself within fiction enclosures. Consequently, an adventurous bestseller based upon non-fiction content, came as a surprise to me. Eventually, it was the realization of the non-fictitious character of the book at every moment of the read, that made the story so enthralling.

Jon Krakauer, a full time writer and author of many non-fiction adventure bestsellers, was approached by the editors of the Outside magazine to climb up the Everest accompanying a commercial expedition. In mid ' 90s, it was realized among many that it was high time to throw some light on commercialization of Everest story. So Krakauer, set off to conquer the peak of the world in a trek led by Rob Hall, an elite in the mountaineering world. On May 10 1996, he reached the summit of Mount Everest alongwith a number of clients from different expeditions in a painstaking and enduring journey. At this point, a bank of clouds was taking shape on not so far horizon, an indication of the storm that was about to follow. In next few hours, this storm engulfed within it, lives of as many as 12 people, making 1996 as the deadliest year in history of mountain climbing.





Jon Krakauer, takes you step by step to the summit of the world in disclosure of his horrifying and chilling annals. He recounts all the pains he and the members of his team went through and the efforts of the Sherpa community in escorting these inexperienced climbers to the top. It's not just the rampancy up there at the altitudes, but the emotional drama that unfolds as a fallout which demands a skilled writer to jot down the turmoils as authentically as they happen. And they got Jon Krakauer, the right man in wrong place.This book is so well written that you can feel the horrors of breathlessness at 28000 feet, cold that lingers 150 degrees below zero and the quest for survival in the most harsh conditions nature has set-up. He narrates the story in most compelling and honest way. His survival guilt becomes evident at many instants. He passes over his own hardships and applauds the heroism of those who risked their lives to save the stranded members of the climbing parties. Ending the book openly, he leaves the readers to ponder over many questions, still left unanswered.


This is one of my best books ever. This book had a similar effect on me as Titanic had on my tender mind years ago. Well, I won't say more. If you are looking for some heart-pounding and thrilling read, stop your search here. I highly recommend this book.

NCC Camp( FIRE )

Ten days of toilsome punishments, for the crime of being unaware of the fact that NCC can't be compulsorily imposed with the course being offered to us. We have had enough of excruciating parades all through our first semester to endure the horrifying camp quietly. What killed us was a ten day delay to meet our family and friends. Our seniors had confirmed, we won't be in a position to spend the post-camp day in elation. Who can, after waking up at 6 in the morning... jogging his way all through the campus to finally report in the PT grounds. His plight would be nurtured by a 6 hour long parade session, exclusive of 1 hour period, twice a day, totally dedicated to attendance. And if this was not enough, there was food to be cooked and plates to be cleaned and every piece of work to be done by cadets ( Yes !! we were the cadets !!) . And during this entire phase of 'Stalinism', no one was allowed out of the hostel premises. But hey !! there's positive to it too. In case any of the cadet die ( a very realistic situation, we guessed), the family of the Martyr would be compensated with a lump sum of 2 lacks.


This was the stuff recited to us, by none other than our divine seniors. We had blind faith in them, whatever they said, was gold. But this time, they couldn't had been more wrong. It wasn't the case that their observations were not upto the standards set by themselves. This was the reality of most of the NCC camps. It seemed horrible to us, mainly because of the IIT culture we had adapted to. When you are in IIT, 90% of the time you are supposed to be lazy and engaged in Bakar sessions. This is quite contrary to the general public belief, but it's true. Go ask any IITian and he'll reassert what I claim and what had been done thousands of times by our seniors. Coming back, their wisdom about NCC camps was not even close to what reality was about to be this time. Because this time at NCC camp, we had a hell lot of fun. So much, that we wish it had stretched a little longer.


The first semesters ended on a low note, the reason being it ended with exams. We were horrified with our future prospects. Day 0, the introductory session was the testimony of our fears. An entire regiment of officers explained how badly they'll screw us for next ten days. All hopes were gone. It seemed a life sans happiness, love, mercy...and humanity. And in these circumstances we discovered our obsession for freedom. We had decided we were not going to be restricted. We were not doing stupid parades for hours and hours ! We were not going to torture our legs standing in useless formations !! We were not going to wash our plates with our own hands !!! We were turning into mavericks.


That entire night we spent discussing plans to escape, our strategies, revealing secret way-outs to nearby hostels, which one of my friend had explored. Most of the lot just gave lukewarm reactions while discussing these plans, deciding against all kind of possible rebellion. But me, and a bunch of my friends, had already decided.

Came Day 1. In the morning I was relieved with simple task of going to the vegetable market to assist in purchase of vegetables and fruits. Though it demanded labor, it was still easy as compared to the grueling work-out my friends underwent. In the next Assembly though, we had to execute the plan of our break-out. We stood in three companies, forming a rectangle short of a side, where each side was formed by the cadets standing in files of 3. We surreptitiously moved, on knees, behind the last files and made our way to entrance gates, hiding from the guards ( cadets !! ) and other officers. After that first escape, we were all too excited and a bit fearful. We started a movie and watched it that afternoon. Still suspicious, we kept a close watch on the progress of the parade. But that was our first victory. We had to celebrate that in the canteen, which was still open and would cater to our services next few days (thank god the owner realized the potential of income in such a camp. Fortunately, no resistance came from any authority). The following evening we escaped yet again. We were feeling excited. We were feeling we could do anything in the world. We were feeling, maybe for the first time in true sense, like IITians.

And so came day 2, day 3 and so forth. We were met by our fellow cadets from a local Polytechnique ( KLP). These blokes were taking NCC much lightly than us, although they attended all their parades quite regularly. As far as our small group was concerned, we were found absconding at all points and and all times from all the duties, except at the time of summoning up in the evening for attendance. The rest of the day we just slept, watched movies, slept again, enjoyed Bakar sessions, played old childhood games, slept some more, ate at restaurants, played computer games and did I mention... sleeping ??

Lots of orkuting..and lots of computer games. Me and a friend of mine popularized 'Medal of Honor' in the wing. For a span of time, everybody was playing it. And those who weren't, were watching movies, because movies are the favorite pastime of Indians. We are mad about them. In south, the mania is even more. And so we have, The Haddu Communities watching Haddu movies together. Sometimes they watch Hollywood flicks, and I have personally seen a Haddu ( Hyderabadis, aka Haddus as they are called in campus) closing his eyes and enchanting name of god, at the sight of a women in cut-sleeves.

Anyways, the movie mania continued it's grip over the tenants of RJB, courtesy the hundreds of movies available on sharing. There were, at any instant, over a dozen house-full (room-full) shows running in RJB. And now, many like us, had realized, the pleasures of redemption. Dozens bunked the parades, went out to Civil Lines and perished in the hours of their duties. Nobody was serious, even the officers. Such had become the frivolity of the camp.

The officers, though, spotted the growing indiscipline among the cadets and took some tepid actions, the actions all conked out pretty soon. However, a few of the cadets were caught, like me and my friends, sleeping late after the PT was over, in room locked from outside (Don't ask how they got in). Our names were noted and we were threatened to face serious action. Nothing happened. The other day, I was almost caught running. Small things like these happened with most of us, but no serious action was taken against any culprit.

Day 4 and Day 5 were special. We were taken, in companies - two at a time, to shooting range. We fired first, from the light .2 mm, and then from the SLR . Man !! The blast was staggering. It changed my entire notion about guns. They are not toys. Certainly not. You just don't need the right technique to aim the target ( which I considered as the only major requirement to fire with a gun ). You need a lot of strength in your shoulders to carry the gun and withstand the recoil. Anyways, firing SLR was fun. It was the only NCC devoir, we all accepted without defiance, mainly because of the dangers involved in display of delinquency. After the retreat from the range, we were back to our normal life of insolence.


This way, most of our camp went away quite easily. When at times, we felt bored in hostel, we could sneak out of the boundaries guarded by our friends in uniform. For those who were not much comfortable with our liberation, we always had our NSO coach calling us, thanks to the NSO guys staying back. This way, we were also able to go and check our marks being displayed in various departments. By the end of the camp, most of us had estimated our rough c.gs. It wasn't a big issue in the end, inspite of the consideration it demanded. All what mattered was we were all going to be departed soon. We had a brilliant time together in these days. All the time we spent in watching movies or the bakchodi we had together. It was so much fun. And those stealth flights, though they became useless and unnecessary in the end, were all so exciting. We all wanted the reunion with our families, which for some of us was for the first time. But we all wished we had a bit more of these NCC days.


The last day, we saw the caravans moving from the hostel, tents being packed and NCC flags being pulled down. We all fancied this moment since the start of the camp. But then, there was a lull. It seemed we were going to miss something. Many of our friends departed the same day, and many more departed that night. All hostel lights were off, save for a few from where low, and unexpectedly, yet understandably unenthusiastic voices could be heard. The next morning, we all were set to bid the final goodbye to our residence. But we knew, we were going to return, and return pretty soon, and the silent wings would become loud again.

The Secret Ancient Treasure

I confess here, that I always aspired to be a 'gaming freak'. I could never be one, though. But secretly, I still pursue that dream, inspite of knowing that I don't have within me, what all devotion it require. Change is my Middle name (Amit Change Kumar....hmmm). I cannot cling to any one thing for too long. My passions just keep on changing. Until last year, I was dead sure I had to serve mankind by gifting myself to Science (more appropriately to MIT). A year before that, I had full plans to form my own party and root out corruption from the country by invading into the battlefields of politics. But with the Genesis of Youth For Equality (YFE) and release of Rang De Basanti, I was assured that Youth of the country was now coming of age and will take good care of nation even in absence of my leadership. So I switched my interests to Physics, which I believed, was Depleting in values and logic and was in urgent need of bright scholars like me. Anyways, that time has passed and I have realized lately it's at a stage where only maniacs can serve to broadcast it's irresolute outcomes. As of Present, I have left myself free to choose my passions when time requires. It's a good feeling to feel free. I operate as per as my heart commands. So now in these Christmas Vacations ( or semester vacations...when would I grow up ?? ), I have revived my passion for Gaming !!


So now I'm going to present to you the secret treasures of gaming world. These game were not much popular in India, but they received significant admiration in more developed gaming societies. They received good acclaim from Indian critics too, but most of them went largely unnoticed by majority of Indian Gamers for whom the gaming world could not expand beyond the realms of Brian Lara Cricket, Age of Empires, Counter-Strike and a couple of similar titles including Road-Rash, which is still quite popular. So here I present to you some of these games...which apparently continue to be my all time favorites.


1. Serious Sam

This is a monster game. It created a big-fuzz when it was first out in 1999. It changed the entire outlook of FPS (First Person Shooters) forever. Never ever before, FPS players had encountered such big bosses. Not only that, the entire game is a Deathmatch in itself. It's like, nearly infinite ammo and infinite enemies. You will tire shooting but the enemies just won't stop. Talking about the enemies...they are in plenty, both in numbers and in variety. In no other game, you can expect such a massive body count. A few of the enemies are particularly scary. Consider for example,headless kamikaze..these headless creatures carry their screaming heads in their hands and will run at full speed into you to finally blast-off and causing serious damage to your (extremely vulnerable) health. Then there are werebulls whose mere contact can send you flying miles in the air ( and I mean it !! ) They'll charge you dozens at a time. There are countless such enemies too keep you busy till the bosses show up. I can assure you, you just CANNOT not face any bigger bosses in any FPS ever developed. Their mere sight will kick the soul out of your ass.



Oh yaa...I know I forgot to mention the plot. The strong story line is another positive to the game, besides a great gameplay and splendid graphics and sound experience. It's like this :
Aliens attack, all hope is lost, you fight good. You get sent back in time to stop the Aliens in ancient Egypt. So it has all the elements for a perfect and engrossing adventure - ancient worlds, aliens, dark magic, secret doorways, spine-tingling range of weapons, bosses and what not..??


This is an ultimate FPS experience..and as you must have guessed by now...I just can't explain in words what all it can do to your life. Go play it..and have one hell of an experience.


click here to download the demo of the game

2. Tropico

Tropico, in my thesis, is one the most developed games ever forged by gamesmiths. It's not, in any sense, like any other strategy game ever devised. One thing that make it different from other games is the politics that finds itself in the center of all the action. For the first time, developers had seriously focussed their attention to homogenize jugglery into the games. Besides a monumental display of prodigious Artificial Intelligence, the game has enough heart, soul, humor, and humanity to make it unique.


So it goes like this, you are a newly installed boss in the Banana Republic in Caribbean - 'Tropico'. Your people are empowered with the right to vote and hopefully, the right to enjoy a good standard of living. You can start as a leader by choosing your attributes from a wide expanse of qualities and flaws available. For example, if you have a financial background, that would reflect in your industrial outputs. If you were a radical scholar, the communists and intellectuals would be pre-disposed to support you or if you were lodged in by, say CIA, you'll gloat over the patronage of Uncle Sam. Anyways, you start with a handful of building and couple of dozen of your citizens. You start by erecting buildings which are then constructed by laborers. Remember, that you don't have a direct control over your people. They would do their work by own, more or less, on time but besides farming, transportation, building and doing host of other professional activities, they also need to take rest, go shopping, seek entertainment, medical care, rejuvenate themselves with religion and sometimes just strolls around the island. All your people belong to one or more factions : military, religion, communists, capitalists, intellectuals and even environmentalists with varying degree of commitment. Now its upto you to keep them content...capitalists and communists..intellectual and religious..all of them together. And if the internal politics wasn't sufficient, consider this : you try to flourish in an era of cold-war !! You need to keep cordial relations with both US and USSR to garner good deposits without which your entire empire can go flat within moments ( you can actually see the rebels roaming when this happen). And did I tell you, You need to conduct elections every then and now and possibly in a fair way because US, UN and intellectuals would be keeping a close watch to ensure transparency and honesty. ...So you need to keep your people happy...build a large economy...and if possible, shape up a small fortune for yourself in Swiss bank by being a just little bit naughty (read corrupt) !!




I can assure you one thing...you'll enjoy every minute of Tropico, especially if you are a strategy or city-builder game fan. This game involves intense thinking and strategy-building , but will still not overload your mind. The music is amazing and the latin soundtracks set up the mood. You can hear them millions of time without ever growing bored. The graphics are awesome and the interface immensely simple. All the game can be played with your left mouse button. The only improvement i can think in the game is a better ending with a more spectacular end to our decades long regime. Anyway, this is a fantastic game sure to be a hallmark in the era of strategy games. So rub suntan all over your body...and get ready to be the KING of somewhere HOT !!!






click here to download the demo of this game


3. Commandos

Now this is a strategy game. It's all about strategy..and nothing about anything else. The series has, till present, came up with 3 titles, each being a major improvement upon it's predecessor. The buildup of the game is centered around realistic missions in World War II. The First title includes about 20 missions, each different and dynamic with burgeoning difficulty. The 2-D maps are all beautiful and realistic, highly detailed, shrouded with enemy barracks, tanks, electric fences, armor and artillery and German soldiers at guard with absolute resoluteness.

Every time, in order to complete a mission, you are provided the control over a group of commandos, from the pack of total 6 that you have. These commandos are all unique in their appearance and character. Like the Green Beret, is all that powerful and strong, marine can swim underwater and row boats and the spy can be much useful if you can arrange a German uniform for him.



Commandos is a stupendous game, not because of it's relatively simple interface or looks, but because it makes you think. It's different from other games in the genre because it's not like starting from scratch everytime you start a new game. There is no fog of war and every information about the scenario is at your disposal. You just need to complete a given task, like destroying a radio station or a dam or switch off the power supply to Radars, like the real missions of war. To succeed, you must have a brilliant co-ordination between your troops. You need to make split second decisions, and act even fast. Plus, you need to be careful that while eliminating the enemy one by one, the other guards don't even get a hint that the foe has intruded into their camp. One of the best thing about such a trade is that you'll get a lot of room to be a little ingenious. Although, there is always a best possible way to get the job done, it can be done in so many ways with using different traits of your different units. And that's the reason you'll like to play the missions more than once.





I'll leave you with that. If you think that you have got some brains and are a fan of strategy games, this game will test you to extreme.

GO PLAY IT !!


Click here to download the demo of the game

Return TO IIT Roorkee Video

Now...here's one video you must show all your friends and family....Captures all the good locations of the campus and some sweet moments of...someone from IIT R

The pics are awesome and the music gets too gud after a minute or so. The video starts taking you into the grip, after that !!

Take a look...and you may get a bit senti if you happen to be a pass-out...nice stuff....and hats off to MANISH AGGRAWAL...apparently the person who did it...