While walking alongside the road, do not stop in your tracks and gape foolishly at the vehicles, wondering why the buses don’t have doors.
June 13, 2009
So I was to meet Dr. Vishal at four pm at a computer cluster I had never been to. Having made a mad dash from my dorm to the cluster, I reached, panting, at 4.05pm (that’s Lesson 1. Never Underestimate Jetlag) only to find the cluster inaccessible. And reached for my brand new, already scratched AT&T mobile phone to ask Dr. Vishal if he was already inside.
I started typing, only to realise that prediction mode was on, and that ‘Vishal’ clearly isn’t a word in dictionaries worldwide. In a hurry, I furiously tried getting my numbed fingers to find the ‘prediction off’ mode, praying my prof. wasn’t like the only other Prof. I know from here- Dr. Ben: who expects you to be not a minute late- and in my hurry, I hit ‘Send’. Ka-boom.
My first ever message to my Professor of two months:
“Hi Dr. Visibl”
*****
I haven’t been around Boston (jetlag’s the excuse 
), but I crossed over from Cambridge across the lovely Harvard Bridge to Boston, and the difference was so stark. The imposing grandeur of MIT on one side (along with the very ordinary, homely-looking dormitories), and on the other side a scene that makes you feel you’ve stepped into a toyhouse. Brick-red or brown buildings with bright green windows that look like they’ve been stuck on, little pubs at every street corner, and a hustle that I haven’t seen on campus yet.
Speaking of the grandeur of the university, you get used to the fluted columns, the engravings (though this will never fail to awe me), the dome, and begin appreciating other quotidian aspects of MIT; the noticeboards (there’s one: Demotivators, one of which is ‘Stupidity: Winners never quit, and quitters never win, but those that neither quit nor win are idiots’), the research displays, the sheer body of intelligence that you seem to be engulfed in. And you realise that MIT gives these buildings their grandeur now, that it’s not the other way round anymore.
*****
Work awaits, apparently people here work on weekends too.
And oh, here’s what LAT had to say on the C.Ron transfer:
“The hair-gel industry in north-west England suffered a catastrophic blow Thursday in a world-record sports transaction after which the soccer marvel Cristiano Ronaldo seemed Spain-bound.”
ha ha!
October 6, 2008
Life doesn’t have to be complicated, you know. Being happy is easy. We have the same 24 hours Da Vinci did; and while he mastered art, architecture and science, we crib, and crib, and crib some more about the NUS workload. Huh?!
Time spent with friends is time well-spent. Anyone can be your friend; what’s the deal with ‘incompatibility’ anyway? Look at things from another point of view; the picture is often clearer.
Machaan, keep it simple.
To one of the most likeable, mokkai-pottifying, modest, leg-pulling, understanding, loyal, warmest people I know, who lives by this book…
Happy Birthday Eli 
PS: No, this is no attempt to make up for my forgetting it 
September 9, 2008
Ever wish there is an enriching experiential session to address your key concerns as a male and quickly improve your personal appeal to attract that special someone? Do you wait months and years for her answer only to discover she got just attached last night — to a guy she barely knew for less than an hour?!! Ever throw your hands up in the air and exclaim, “That’s it! I’ve had enough!”
Do Not Wait! Join THIS Event announced on the NUS student portal:
What Women Want – How to be the One Women Desire
Here’s your chance to clear the doubts and find out what really goes on behind the ladies’ world, take what really works to make your personal life more exciting, enriching and exhilarating than before!
In this no-holds barred exciting session, you will discover…
Why do some men keep getting rejected and how you can minimize or even eliminate being rejected…
The secret techniques of making women desire to draw themselves closer to you!
Why some guys could be attached in less than an hour and how you can too!
What are the rules of attraction for guys and why is everyone designed to play by them!
What makes a woman decide you might be the man she wants!
The hidden ways and strategies of getting ladies to open their hearts, seeking to be with you more and more…
How to make a woman think about you constantly!
Answers to all the burning questions you have been wanting to ask…
And much, much more…
(Due to the confidential and highly sensitive nature of the information, this program is STRICTLY for MEN only. Participants are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to attending the workshop.)
Alas! Being female deprives one of such wonderful opportunities. Let me know if you’re going, will you?
August 10, 2008
Along came a sunny Sunday morning, and off I headed to tuitions. On my way to the bus stop, I saw my batchmate V heading towards me. And thus followed a bout of friendly conversation, which went something like this:
Me: Hey! How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you around for a really long time!
V: Hey…! I’m good, yeah, been busy with ragging…and ” *looks at me earnestly*, “I’m off for a game of cricket actually.”
Me: Oh! Cool!
All of a sudden, the little green man in my head whispers to me.
Psst, Shweta. Just a thought. This is not V. This is someone else. And you have no idea who he is.
Me: *inner gasp of realisation*
Me: Oh…, ok then, see you around!
V: Bye!
Green Man: No, Shweta, no, don’t injure yourself, don’t injure yourself…
THWACK!
August 8, 2008
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July 27, 2008
Just another Saturday evening, R4 lounge.
Aishu and I love contemplating our future. Her plans mostly revolve around all the wonderful places she’s going to travel to when she graduates and like all successful* NUS graduates, has enough money to hop around the world visiting her favourite cities. Mine involve joining any organization that’ll take me, and well, you’ll find out.
Aish: Oh, after we graduate, I’m moving into your apartment, ok? No backing out, I need to have a confirmed place to stay in.
Me: Yeah ok fine. Though I’ve already decided I’m going to stay in Anupama’s apartment. She, you see, will definitely have a job then. Confirmed stay.
Aish: Hmm point..
Me: Yeah. I’m going to stay with her. I’ll also cook for her when she goes to work.
Aish: *Blink*
Aish: HAHAHAHAHA!
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Aish: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Now, also in the room is J, who, unlike the two of us, however, is not rolling on the sofa like a half-drunk half-wit.
J: *while contemplating a call to IMH** *
Um, why are you two laughing?
Aish: HAHAHAHAHA!
Me: HAHAHAHAHA!
J: Um..
Me: J, I don’t blame you. You need a level of cynicism before you understand. You see, we’re two highly insecure individuals who’re absolutely sure we aren’t going to get jobs, and cracking dark jokes about our lives really helps relieve the tension.
Aish: HAHAHAHAHA!
Me: HAHAHAHAHA!
The look of enlightenment that I had expected to form on J’s face didn’t really appear.
Story of our lives.
*Or so they say.
**Institute of Mental Health
July 21, 2008
‘Boys will be Boys II’ (or) ‘Why I’m not a Computer Person’
Posted by peeves under College[5] Comments
Having decided to brush the cobwebs off my grey cells, I decided to get off my lazy ass and get down to some work. And thus I joined this Computing Project. We’re building a system for this organization, and my team consists of 5 guys, a girl who’s away on vacation, and me. Or 6 computer geeks and me. Or 6 geniuses and me. You choose.
McKinsey’s consultancy decided they liked what we were doing, and wanted to meet up with us to discuss things: project-related, and otherwise.
So we got this email:
Hi,
1) Here are the details of the meeting .
Friday 27 June (5:30 – 6:30 pm)
McK Boardroom
#18-01/02/03 Centennial Tower
3 Temasek Avenue…
Whoa, Boardroom?!
This was soon followed by a message from our all-powerful leader YH:
Just a quick reminder. We are meeting as per normal tomorrow (friday 27 June). We’ll briefly meet and straighten things out and then go down to McKinsey’s together, so come decently dressed and all
Followed by a message from VB, who was just as confused as I was:
what do u mean by “decently dressed”: formal, jeans-Tshirt or what?
Now, R is the only other girl in the group. She’s the ‘big sister’, the only seemingly sensible person in the geeky group. She springs to the rescue:
Hi Guys and Shweta
Just a suggestion for the dress up. For the guys, one possibility is jeans and a shirt (not necessary to tuck in) with closed shoes. Needn’t be formal shoes just any closed shoes. So you can think along the same lines.
Shweta anything that looks semi formal – like jeans and a blouse.
Regards,
R
And YH replies:
“Thanks Rashmi! Man I hate covered shoes with a passion :X
See you all!”
And off I go into panic mode.
Blouse?! What’s a blouse? Is a shirt a blouse? I don’t have covered shoes that aren’t sneakers! Are strappy sandals formal? Semi-formal? Aargh!
After a look at my woefully ill-suited wardrobe, which has its fair share of Tantra Tees, but nothing really that would qualify as a ‘blouse’, I resorted to something I hadn’t done for a year.
I brought out the iron box.
Any shirt that seemed remotely suitable was dug out, and made fit to be worn. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and picked out the nearest shirt. Formal or not, this was all I had. Then, sent hurried SMS to R:
“Hey, I don’t have covered shoes, I only have sandals, is that alright?”
And the reply:
“yeah, as long as you look formal enough, it’s alright”
Gulp.
Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. 1pm.
All the boys had taken the ‘Semi’ of semi-formal a little too literally: they were all in the same t-shirts we saw them in everyday. Except for the all-powerful YH. Who for some reason was in an orange shirt that screamed, um besides Orange, MALACCA! To their credit though, they did bother wearing covered shoes.
Boys have it easy. How did they get away with that while I had to walk in shoes that felt more like stilts anyway?!
My grievances however were soothed greatly by the expression on R’s face. Maybe it was good she didn’t realise that the disgruntled look on my face was for another reason.
Computer geeks are fun. E turns on his laptop wherever we go, even McDonald’s, and starts coding. And stops only when we threaten to leave him behind. VB, when lost in coding doesn’t realise it when he kicks me and continues kicking till I hastily move my leg away. YH talks about the wonders of Ubuntu all the time, makes me feel like a movie buff. They discuss configurations, and modules, and how to hack into the NUS CORS system, and remain oblivious to anything around them. To live in their PHP-encoded, Linux-tinted world, even if it is for a little while, fun.
July 8, 2008
When the drinks-stall Aunty at the hostel canteen charges you ten cents less for your cuppa coffee, do not be taken in. It is not the goodness of her heart showing. Neither is it the outcome of your charm and charisma in action.
All it means is that Aunty has poured boiling tea instead of boiling water into your coffee.
Bleargh.
July 7, 2008
Words fail me. Fedex was right; a deserving champion is Rafael Nadal.
