History of Hanukkah

Oh why is it that when Christmas is celebrated in major pomp and gala, the poor jews are neglected again? Hanukkah is their holiday for this time of the year and if it werent for an old friend of mine, I would not have known of it either! So another history lesson (All 3 mainly courtesy of History.com) :-

Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication." :

The holiday commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews' 165 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.

In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus. Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.

The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.

Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.

So whats it like in a Jewish home at this time? Take a look:- 

The legend of Good ol' Santa

Whats Christmas without Santa Claus?? Here is a look at the plump red guy who we associate most with this holiday:-

The Legend of St. Nicholas

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas's popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Sinter Claas comes to New York

St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death.

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick's Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society's annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a "rascal" with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a "huge pair of Flemish trunk hose."

Shopping Mall Santas

Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday's rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a "live" Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New Yorkto solicit donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since.

'Twas the Night before Christmas

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore's poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a "right jolly old elf" with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore's imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped to popularize Christmas Eve – Santa Claus waiting for the children to get to sleep the now-familiar idea of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve – in "a miniature sleigh" led by eight flying reindeer, whom he also named – leaving presents for deserving children. "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore's poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper's Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

A Santa by any other Name

18th-century America's Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning "Christ child," Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children's stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn't find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

History of Christmas

Its that time again when I decide to go through a 100+ sites to make a concise history of a holiday; in this case Christmas!

An Ancient Holiday

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

Saturnalia

In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.

Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages,Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

An Outlaw Christmas

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown Settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

Irving re-invents Christmas

It wasn't until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city's first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving's mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving's fictitious celebrants enjoyed "ancient customs," including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving's book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended – in fact, many historians say that Irving's account actually "invented" tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

A Christmas Carol

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story's message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to "spoil" them.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.

Merger of Christmas and Hanukkah??

Continuing the current trend of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, it was announced today at a press conference that Christmas and Hanukkah will merge. An industry source said that the deal had been in the works for about 1300 years.

While details were not available at press time, it is believed that the overhead cost of having twelve days of Christmas and eight days of Hanukkah was becoming prohibitive for both sides. By combining forces, we''re told, the world will be able to enjoy consistently high-quality service during the Fifteen Days of Chrismukah, as the new holiday is being called.

Massive layoffs are expected, with lords a-leaping and maids a-milking being the hardest hit. As part of the conditions of the agreement, the letters on the dreydl, currently in Hebrew, will be replaced by Latin, thus becoming unintelligible to a wider audience.

Also, instead of translating to "A great miracle happened there," the message on the dreydl will be the more generic "Miraculous stuff happens." In exchange, it is believed that Jews will be allowed to use Santa Claus and his vast merchandising resources for buying and delivering their gifts.

One of the sticking points holding up the agreement for at least three hundred years was the question of whether Jewish children could leave milk and cookies for Santa even after having eaten meat for dinner. A breakthrough came last year, when Oreos were finally declared to be Kosher. All sides appeared happy about this.

A spokesman for Christmas, Inc., declined to say whether a takeover of Kwanzaa might not be in the works as well. He merely pointed out that, were it not for the independent existence of Kwanzaa, the merger between Christmas and Chanukah might indeed be seen as an unfair cornering of the holiday market. Fortunately for all concerned, he said, Kwanzaa will help to maintain the competitive balance. He then closed the press conference by leading all present in a rousing rendition of "Oy Vey, All Ye Faithful."

Oh btw: This was a joke! Oops..

I stand corrected!

Oh man if only I knew about Google planning their latest doodle as a series I wouldnt have posted the previous post! Hats off to their ingenuity, I present the Doodle Holiday Series to be updated as soon as Google does:- 

1)

2)

3)

4) 

GOOGLE DOODLE??

WTF????? Dont even Google themselves know what this particular Doodle is for? Interesting! Maybe its a prank by a designer?

Admissions, Oh Admissions!

 

Now is the time of the year when final year undergrads worldwide are in a frantic rush to finish their admission procedure to get a seat in a desired university so as to be able to pursue a Master's degree or a PhD programme.. Speaking with special reference to my class, about a third are applying abroad and the majority, if not all, have qualms on the application procedure!

I being one of them understand fully, Why does Stanford want to know how I can contribute to the Ethnic and Race diversity there in 750 characters? Sounds major racist to me! And Caltech asks ppl to name ALL (yes u heard me right) teachers who have taught ALL subjects right from day 1 in NITK.. Poor Deepti has (and still has) a hard time there: I myself do not remember all of them!

And then comes Arati's case where she has to write about her weaknesses and strengths: Even a 1st-class retard will know this is a very tricky balance of the true and the not-so-true.. Hey you cant write all weaknesses and commit admission-suicide but then you can't portay an image of perfection & hence need to display humility too! Same with the strengths- I got an image of a SWOT box when I first heard of this and do I dare say, its very similar??

All the various application forms have their own nuances to tackle and once thats done a huge mountain is conquered! Alas that the whole process is analogous to the Himalayas: Mt Everest is flanked by so many other peaks to traverse across :-(

GRE + TOEFL/ETS score reports to be sent, Official Transcripts to be procured and mailed, Hound the prof's and project guides for letters of recommendation or RECO's as often called and the credit card company to be made so happy that you get a "Customer of the Year" plaque from them soon! But wait.. The horror is not done yet!!

SOP! This 3 letter abbreviation spells doom for most people as they either take it lightly and commit hara-kiri or take their time and fall into a warp-zone where time slows down and you take eternity to finish it.. I myself have fallen into a perpetual black hole which simply does not allow me to take out my finished SOP simply because its not finished!! To each university needs to be created a masterpiece, a work of art if you will and hence I have fallen prey to the Perfectionist's Syndrome: Hope to finish all versions soon..

Some people are done and some are beginning, the common denominator is that these few are willing to take more time to realise thier life goals unlike the one's who are placed happily (I hope so) in commercial and industrial companies.. But maybe there are some who wish to apply only because they were not satisfied with the placement scenario here and the global economy which as of now is worse off than Robinson Crusoe in his make-shift tweed raft in the middle of the ravaging waters! More on that soon...

Last semester begins

Or so I would think if you can call an hour of class, a working day; most people not even getting that meagre "learning experience"! Confusion reigned supreme as a version of the timetable on the dept website called the initial shots for everyone until your's truly took a pic of the timetable shown on the notice board and told others how different the actual version is (This new one was incidently with more subject hours).. 

Oh but the fun had just begun! All present regardless of whether they are 2nd, 3rd or final year students had 1 question: "What subjects do I take?" Confusion was paramount again as the number of credits from electives was in dispute until (For now atleast) the number was fixed at 31 making all woe the addition of the 2 training credits to the 7th semester instead of this one.. You see, the minimum no. of credits/sem is 15 and now we need to take a minimum of 2 subjects (Most need 3 though) in this last semester meant for the "Chill-out".. Oh dont even get me started on the discussion on the mandatory 3 non-academic activities! All this doubt over whether we were to follow a book of 2005 or 2009 when we all still follow texts and references on the 19th century!!

Ya right! When finally the registration sheets arrived, more electives were offered this sem than ever seen before and it took lots of time to decide which ones to take.. The ~10 people present did some shuffling and we arrived to CRD class, a must-have for most people wanting to take 2 subs but only open for the top 15 of our class.. Manish spent most of his time trying to (and failing to) convince people to not take CRD as he would need to take 3 subs otherwise :)

Yesterday was less academics, more galaata (Noise) but I guess thats what this sem is all about! Lets see..

Last Holidays of College Life?

I never thought I would in any way regret the end of the holiday break from College sessions! Point in hand being I am a day-scholar and so holidays make little difference as far as being home is concerned.. One can thus make out half of my life was in college and I missed it terribly after a mere 3-4 days off each time. Not so now!

I cant help feel sad of the situation, as I write this I am 1.5 hrs away from beginning the last semester at NITK and the very notion doesnt want it to happen. I would rather have the monotonous holidays continuing for some more time than face the faces (no pun intended) of all my friends; though I realise there are 5 months left before we all graduate I also know this semester sees very little contact in classrooms and thats nearly where my entire time in NITK is spent! Add to that the proposed proposal (huh??) of many classmates to have a look at this year's IITB cultural fest in late December, Christmas + New year and I wont be surprised if the 1st sight I get of some ppl is in Jan, 2008..

Then comes Engineer + Incident and before you know it, its april with the endsems and viola, we are done! Am I feeling the sentiments which ppl associate with the final semester of college? There is something about NITK and College Life which simply grabs you tight and memories refuse to let go, and in my case- Well, lets just say I got a vivid memory of all things here already! 

Okie time to start getting ready for college, my phone just announced an sms even this early: Sign that people are back :)

A prank on the helpless!

I did mention earlier how there are people who are seen online on gtalk (http://varunshenoyg.blogspot.com/2008/10/people-we-see-online-on-gtalk-at-5-am.html) early morning even though they are sound asleep.. Maybe its my weird sense of humour but I saw my classmate Prabha having this status a coupla mins ago:- Prabha Ramakrishnan: Where is the money?

Lol! I simply couldnt desist having some fun and so when she wakes up in a while she will have a pretty interesting chat message:-

Varun: U wanna know Where is the money: U got it, sister!

Here comes the money!

Here we go

Here comes the money!

Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money

Dolla Dolla

Dolla Dolla

Ching ching, Bling Bling, cut the chatter

You ain't talking money then your talking don't matter

Ching ching, bling bling, patting pockets

We take the dolla dolla can't a damn Oh stop it shock it

Here comes the new kid on the block

Hold all your bets here's where the buck stops

See first of all I am stepping out on my own

Bout time I elevated to claim my own thrown

Success in my blood Call it home grown

Pores reaking testosterone

Power and money got me crazy, cocky

No longer need you papi

I know your mad because you can't stop me

and if you wonder how this playa done scooped your honey

I think she smelled my cologne It's called brand new money

Making a move ain't a damn thing funny

Pimping hood rats the Playboy Bunny

They see the Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money

They Say Its

They Say Its

Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money

Say What, Say What, Say What... Money

I'm a global dolla dolla a roll without fitting

I like to go out smelling fresh and looking spiffy

I don't like clean money I want my riches to be filthy

Pops, with every time it's fun I can't touch until I'm sixty
So what am I suppose to do, rolling do
And their patting the pockets until I'm stuck holding you

Ching ching bling bling cashing cash lumps

In a four wheel getting a jacket I'm selling them out my trunk

Whatever whenever it takes a shake dolla dolla

And throw it in my direction holla holla

All want to know where they go when they're winning

I make the marshal money smelling just like a mint

If you can't see the money, get your eyes cleaned with Visine

I need fine things I shop at seven digits at a time, see

Cheering chilling the best never worst

We never get the pebbles, we get the rocks first

Make bank vaults locking, ching ching

We mocking, we rocking

My families Christmas stockings are shocking
Find women any weather naughty dinners whatever
Son, I get better
I'm one smart cookie that bets and smacks rookies
My stocks are on top, your checks bounce while mine boogy
Wrists I must rock it chicks stop and I knock it.Cash it looks like I got a gang of fists in my pocket

Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money

Dolla Dolla

Dolla Dolla

Oh by the way this is the lyrics for the WWE theme of a certain Shane Mcmahon :D

Hope she wont come hunting me with fury..

P.S While we are at the talk of status messages, I am surprised none are commenting on mine: I thought I would get blasted for this-

I was crossing the road and this cat crossed my path. I dont know of any misfortune but now I laugh maniacally and devise evil plans 24/7! I did manage to take a pic of that cat though:- 

Lack of humour perhaps? Maybe its the onset of the so-called senti-semester (Next post)

Some things which crack you up at a restaurant!

Ok these are a few real incidents which I have known to happen in a restaurant; either I have personally seen it or its happened with a reliable source as a viewer:-

1) The Finger Bowl Incident
Ok I had this cousin who was then (And still is) 4 years elder to me.. This happened about 10 years ago when he was a kid and was on a trip to Bangalore with family. Maybe it was his 1st encounter with the finger-bowl (Which in decent restaurants, customers get as a hand wash alternative to getting up from their lazy a** to wash hands in a rest room; constituted by a bowl of warm water and a slice of lime for that refreshing smell)..

So here he was after a heavy meal and the waiter clears the dishes to place a finger bowl in front of him: Sadly he happened to ask a prankster of a cousin about it who told him its a Sherbet of sorts.. The naive lad proceeded to add some salt & pepper from the shake flasks, pressed the lime to get the juice and- you got it- drank it like a soup! Needless to say it caused quite an outburst of laughter and to this day we remember it :D

2) The Spring Rolls Incident
Luckily for that cousin, he was nowhere involved here! In fact these were two Bank Officials, friends of my uncle who works for Corporation Bank. Dinner at a restaurant incorporated (Pun intended) a plate of veg spring rolls. The posh restaurant brought it in a plate at the centre of which was an open onion with a lit candle wax supporting a flame. Now many readers may have seen such a decoration but these two pious people had not, and the devotees proceeded to take blessings from the flame like one does in a temple: Man that was embarassing for all!!

P.S MORE TO COME SOON

The Empire Strikes Back!

Oh how I wish I were only talking about Stars Wars Episode 5... Sigh... Sadly the "empire" here is my department of chemical engineering at NITK, Suratkal who have finally done what they threatened to do all along! We were described as the worst batch ever (I still declare "worst" is relative) right from semester 3 (When we first set foot inside the hallowed department for classes) and we haven't looked forward since.. The 3rd semester brought with it the dreaded Process Calculations where the range of marks went from 2/100 to 98/100 but still no FF was "rewarded" as the term (Pun unintended) goes and maybe thats what lulled us into a false sense of security!

4th semester saw many of us getting the worst SGPA ever and yet no FF (Except, Shockingly enough, Preet The Topper Man but that doesnt really count for all in the know). Fine, we move on to 3rd year and despite the many warnings it was not bad at all.. So here we were in final year, supposed to be a breeze, and all attention focussed on placement and/or GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, GATE wagera wagera (etc etc in Hindi, cmon people this is India) and while attendence was a major issue (Check out http://varunshenoyg.blogspot.com/2008/11/attendence-oh-attendence.html) the FA grade was not really a real concern to all who knew the mind set of our faculty.. So the holiday break arrived and all departed in a sense of relief, not fore-casting the impending doom soon to beseige us all :-

PCSPI GRADES

I think this gives a fair representation of the horror huh? The worst was the lone FF actually being given this time.. Hmmm.. Whoever said final year was a breeze can go feed themselves to Hannibal Lecter!

To Gym or Not to Gym??

Well I must admit this was NOT easy for me... Maybe the Kodachaadri experience provoked me or maybe it was the BPCL issue (Which I still maintain is non-existent)... But despite the many taunts/ good wishes/ non-caring insults, I maintain again I did this out of 2 reasons:-
1) Utter Boredom in holidays
2) Hey I need to lose some weight and its not a state secret

So on November 18 I decided to go join the gym again after a nearly 3 year gap (Thats right I used to go to the gym since I was 15, No wonder I am of average height..Sigh) and this time it was a lot better as I could handle some work-out techniques I couldnt earlier. Also I now got 3 friends there to help breeze through the ~1.75 hrs of daily action: Or so I thought!!

Take a look at the center stage of the Zen Gym:-

Believe me its an impressive place, proof being the joining here of erstwhile members of 2 other gyms in surathkal.. This place has close to 300 members (Maybe more, I really do not know) and all sorts of people come here- The hunks and the.. ahem.. pudgy! So the immense density drives us to come early afternoon (2 pm) and stay till we are physically exhausted (4 pm). But lest you be fooled by the 2 hours of intense workout, let me break the bubble and let you know that the average work out time is closer to 1 hour than 2.. :D

So here I am trying to lose weight while also developing a muscular structure (WTF??? Sounds ironic but entirely true) but then I realised why my friends are Rated-R for once you remove "r" from "friends" you get "FIENDS"... Brrrrr... When Darshan (1 of the other 3) kept telling me Shiva & Gokul (You guessed it, the other 2) kept overkill with excess weights during the work-outs I dismissed him as an exxagerant- Woe is me when I felt the shoe on the other foot! After 2 weeks I must lost more water (Sweat you fools!) than ever before, and surely I am fitter now. But about the weight I am a skeptic, my trainer promises a miracle drug of sorts which I am to get soon.. Lets see what happens!

P.S We are not small punks working out for no reason, the other 3 hit weights very few people do and I am getting there slowly and steadily! Here is Darshan at the Shoulder/Chest machine:-

A glimpse of Gokul in the mirror and I was handling the camera obs.. Shiva was, well, getting his favourite music CD on the player!

The Aftermath of the Unholy Terror

As of this moment, news reports tell the gruesome story in statistics:-
1) 183 dead, probably more to go
2) 327 injured, again the number expected to rise
3) 9 Terrorists killed, 2 captured alive, the others unaccounted for as of now
4) 1 NSG commando dead adding to the total militia casualties (The number is yet to be disclosed)
5) Material damage: My guess is billions of US $
6) Physical & mental trauma: Priceless, but not in the good sense of the word

I have been seeing the news channels since thursday morning, can't seem to stay away from it.. NDTV 24x7, CNN IBN, Times Now, Headlines Today have all done a remarkable job of covering the incident from all possible angles and CNN & BBC World gives the international perspective. All of them have shown remarkable maturity by not hounding the freed hostages (Well atleast not a lot) and not revealing the military tactical operations details on tv lest the terrorists be informed of it. All of them also have showered praise on the armed forces while the other side of the coin shows them all blaming the lack of a proper security/Intelligence service and also the politicians as always!

Speaking of politicians I quote Dr Prannoy Roy of NDTV here: "Just when the people of Mumbai, infact the entire nation, has been pleading for a sense of solidarity from our leaders; Just as we all want the politicians to show us a united front, they cant even do that! Prime minister Manmohan Singh and leader of opposition LK Advani were supposed to travel to Mumbai together and they couldnt even do that!"

Need I say more? The blame game and petty politics is on: Narendra Modi, the CM of Gujarat, has announced a total reward of rs1 crore for the families of the deceased armed force members who perished a hero's death in the last 3 days.. The Maharashtra CM, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, has "claims" of ISI behind it and the state thus cant take responsibility for the national scheme of investigation. Or how about the sms running around the nation (I too got it 3 times) asking where now is Raj Thackeray and his anti-aliens agenda when the NSG made up mainly south Indians and north Indians helped the mumbaikars? The words I heard most were though: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"!

And I share that sentiment too, my friends can't help talking of what would happen if a similar incident were to happen here.. They are just as quick to dismiss it as a possibility given the comparatively small status of the city in international circles but I ask you: Did those parsi's and jews expect an attack on Nariman House? Did those foreign tourists coming here to have a good time out want this as a part of their itenary? Did all those families finding themselves short a few loved members think "Kashmir is far away, we are safe" when they saw those countless news reports of militants claiming lives in the far north? I ask what Barkha Dutt and Harsha Bhogle spoke of while talking for the millions of voices across the nation asking the same thing: "Why are Indians expected to be resilient and bounce back after each such instance? Are we not to expect a free life to live in India?"

There was this interview in Times Now yesterday night with the Pakistan Foriegn Minister on his statement to counter the mass speculation based on some evidence collected so far (I shall not speculate as yet for the operation is not complete so more evidence may be collected showing a clearer picture).. 4 other people were making him sweat but to his credit, he maintained a straight and calm face throughout the multi-pronged attack. I will not post the link to the interview for it is simply too biased for now..

As far as the terrorist operations go, an "expert" on 9x news proclaimed the use of Sleeping Gas on the terrorists/hostages.. May I point out to the so-called expert that "Sleeping Gas" is a fictional work in movies/books and that any real life substituents like Halothan or Neothyl have lots of side effects & the main "Sleep inducing" effect only occurs at near toxic concentrations? And how about the claim of using Thermal vision glasses to see where the people are? OMG ARE YOU PEOPLE RETARDED?? There is a bloody fire in the building and the entire place is hot at about 150 degree C, you want to see humans based on their body heat of ~38 C?? Gimme a break!

There was also a magic moment where a certain news channel told of a possible 2nd firing at CTS railway station leading to a mass panic before apologising for the false rumour but the icing on the cake was taken by another news network proclaiming to have live contact with the terrorists themselves: THEIR IQ MUST BE LESSER THAN THEIR AGES!!

But I cant blame them totally, this incident has shocked us all out of a lazy delirium of non-chalance! Hey I myself spent the last 2 nights devising ways to identify terrorists and later, to escape alive if I was a terrorist.. I shall not mention any of them for though most have have loop-holes, a few in my opinion atleast I thought were pretty ingenious to actually work (Huge ego perhaps, but not taking any chances!)

Now we are nearly at 64 hours of operation, the NSG is finishing its sanitisation of the Taj Mahal (Not the monument, the hotel you retard!) and the final report is due soon.. I shudder to hear the final list of casualties but the incident is far from over. Representives from all around the world are ready to swoop down on India to help "assist" the investigation but I say its all to clear their names and to show their citizens that they atleast are concerned about their citizens.. Sad that the entire nation is screaming for blood now, I just hope no vendetta missions occur just as an after-thought! If any foreign nation is proven guilty then by hell and brim-rock we shall not rest till justice is served well-done on the dinner platter.. Amen to that!

Unholy terror!

Deccan Mujahidin or Inhuman Beast?

Well its been a long time since I last wrote a post here, and I have no excuses either: I was online for a daily average of 3 hours and I had lots (I mean lots) to write upon! Its not like I wasn’t into writing anymore, I was writing elsewhere but its not of any interest to any readers here so no more of that..

Let me just point out a few points (D-uh) of incidence occurred while I was on this sabbatical of sorts:-

1) Chandrayaan I : A total success

2) The world’s plans to cope up with the economy: A total failure

3) Citi Group, General Motors and many others file for bankruptcy

4) India beats the pants of Australia and England in Cricket... Err... Men’s cricket!

5) The general and exceptionally boring process of apping (I shall write more on it as soon as I actually do apply!)

6) Back to the Gym- No changes yet physically, none predicted!

7) The last holidays of college life… Sigh!

8) To all those who shall not believe me: I have changed in the last 2 weeks… Maybe for the better in my opinion at least

9) The legendary comic character BATMAN is supposed to meet a grisly death in the comic dated 27th November (Hey that’s today!)

10) And finally the topic that shook me enough to get me back here: Terror at the next level in Mumbai:-

Today morning at 6:47 am I got an sms from MyToday services (No, I am not a freak, the phone tells me when it came) and as usual I expected it to a new word (You MUST have a look at MyToday services, there is something for everyone there)… However it was this:-

"BREAKING NEWS: MASSIVE TERROR ATTACK RIPS THROUGH INDIA’S BUSINESS CAPITAL – Firing, bomb blasts at several places across Mumbai; several dead"

That was enough to remove any remnants of sleep from me and I rushed to see the news on TV…



I was still seeing it 4 hours later and would still have been there if it were not for a blasted (Pun intended) power cut… Man, today was a powerful morning! It began with incessant firing at the Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus at the Mumbai Airport and soon the mayhem spread elsewhere. The news channels were showing it all along and kudos to the brave news crews risking harm to bring the latest updates. NDTV 24x7 especially was great in covering this and I shall remember two words the anchor Vishnu Shom said: “Unimaginable Horror” for that’s what it was- Over 100 dead, 150 injured, and as I write this close to 300 civilians (Mostly foreign nationals, especially Israelites) are still held hostage by a terrorist group who call themselves the Deccan Mujahidin.

WHAT THE F**K?? Don’t you people have something else to do, you pieces of sh*t? It is people like you who give the human race itself a bad name, and I shudder to think the reaction and consequences if you turned out to be an Islamic group!

An ambulance rushes to get the victims to the Kama hospital, little knowing the hospital itself was under terrorist control

A reporter speaking on her phone in sight of the ghastly fire in the old tower of The Taj Hotel, Mumbai

The central dome piece of the Taj Hotel, not there anymore!

Innocent by-standers left helpless at the cowardly attack late at night

Over 800 army personnel, 300 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos and numerous members of the Mumbai police and the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) are at the over 11 places of action including the hotspots of The Taj Hotel and the Oberoi Trident where there are fires to be battled and hostages to be rescued.. I can NEVER forget the part where a trapped guest Deepak spoke to NDTV via mobile phone and described the scene of horror there.. May Courage be with the people under seige in Mumbai!

As I write this (My hands are actually shaking) I see that the head of ATS Hemanth Karkare, the additional commissioner of Mumbai police and many others have succumbed to injury/ shot dead.. 5 terrorists are dead, 3 captured alive while the rest are still unaccounted. I hope this ends soon for the incident has grabbed the interest of the entire world who recognise this as the biggest planned international terror conspiracy ever!

Check out http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video_live.aspx?id=0 for live coverage and http://flickr.com/photos/vinu/ for some incredible pictures

Why us again? Is India that big a target? Maybe I should be proud that terrorists look to desiccate the harmony of Indians more than any other nation but all I want is to be safe, it was Mumbai today: Who’s to say My home town isn’t next?? Is not the right to live safely in co-existence what being human is all about??

On Sourav Ganguly

Sourav "Dada" Ganguly has left the world of International cricket. I am not here to write on him, I am not qualified to do so & there are maaaaaaaaany other pages on the internet for that.. I thought of making a small visual diary of his life in the Indian Cricket team as a memory for myself:-

Young Sourav impressing the selectors and us

His magnificent form and timing skills were 2nd to none

Becomes India's most successful captain to date- Who can forget this moment?

Won many a trophy for India- Most as tournament underdogs

Shared a dubius record with The Don- Duck out on last test innings

Adieu DADA, mistreatment aside you have never failed to get fans against you and some were also with you always (READ Darshan)...