the .:ROBOTIX:. story
Well, I have really wanted to put this blog down for quite some time, but never found the time to put it down. So, I just included it in the last blog, but I guess this story deserves a full blog. I initially thought of just putting down ideas and events which have been the reason for this event to grow into its current form. But then what makes this team so unique are the people, so a little on the people, all my seniors will be covered. Some of these people have been the biggest influence in my life, they have influenced the way I think, and in lots of cases have set the path, I always wanted to follow. Will keep it as simple and small as possible. It covers around 7 years, so it is a little long.... I just hope it is not too boring :P
The event started off in 2001, more as a inhouse event in the techfest christined Ideon. It saw a modest participation of 9 teams all from KGP. On a personal front, I have never had the opportunity to interact with most of the Heads of this year, but for some phone calls and long chats with Saurabh Prasad and Kunal Sinha, so to say the pioneers of Robotix. In the second year 2002, the standard of the problems was increased, and a few more autonomous events were introduced. But what was more important was KRAIG started after this event, more as a place where people could build funda in Robotix. Again I was not present at the event, but I have had the chance to interact with all of the heads of the event, Sandeep Prabhakara (Sandy), Biswanath Dutta (BD), Dushyanth Giri (Giri). I have rarely been more impressed by people, than I have been by these guys. BD was the funda god, the super dedicated guy, who could put his mind and heart behind anything. In, Sandy's case, I have looked up to Sandy all my life, I have not seen a better planned, charismatic guy. The perfect senior, intelligent, hardworking and practical. For every hallday I spent in KGP, I have asked all people visiting my room, to scribble something on a white t-shirt. Sandy had scribbled "Be the Best!", words which still inspire me. Giri, is the ever approachable senior, cool and helpful.
I joined KGP in July 2002. And I have had the privilige to be involved in 4 events and follow one more very closely. My first year in Robotix was under Lath, Psycho (Vivek Mishra), Raib (Abhimanyu Rai Bahadur) and Alex Thomas (how could I mess up here!). I have not seen heads who have been closer than these guys. There was an element of fun full time in the air, whenever the they would be around. They still represent the perfect team for me. Psycho went onto clear IIMA, he was another amazingly organized guy. Raib was our very own dreamer. Lath, a great senior, and an even better friend, had a great time with him in Vizag. Alex was the AI head. These four guys headed Robotix 2003, this was the first year when we had out house participation, about 30 teams (70 participants) totally. Almost everything in Ideon happened in the Robotix Arena (conference hall). But what this event truly taught me was about how great it feels to work in a team, where people like each other, where relationships were simply beautiful. I was always frightened that this team would loose this human touch as we expanded, and to an extent we did, but I guess that had to happen.
My second Robotix, was truly a one man event, it belonged to Nitin Mohta. Mohta is a true gentleman, he can stand the most horrible of storms, without loosing his composure. The problems decided for this year were very tough, both for us to make the arenas, and also for the teams to finish the circuit. However what was most challenging was the little support, that Mohta had from his co-heads, and I admire the tenacity this guy had in pulling through the entire thing himself, without ever complaining.... he has never complained about it till now! Robotix had about 90 participants and Kshitij had about 400 participants that year I guess.
The next Robotix was in Feb 2005. And we (Golu, Chintan, Gill, Vaibhy, Neha and myself) were to be the heads. But half way through the 2004 around September we realized, we were heading nowhere, some of us were not keen on the event. And then we guys did something most drastic, we asked a couple of our batchmates, and quite a few of my junior to leave the team, as they were not delivering! All our seniors came down heavily on this move, never was anyone fired from Robotix we were told. But we had already decided! We got in fresh people in Rahul and Pallavi to manage Mission Mars (given our low competency on the AI side). We did many other things that year to list a few:
1. Decided to apply a step-wise approach: Set up simple problems for the first year and scale the problems up gradually.
2. More in-house participation: We took 23 first year members instead of the usual 8, this was basically to start building the Robotix culture right from first year in people, this idea hugely clicked. We had 45 teams from the first year batch in 2005, nearly 8 times the previous years number of 6 teams. But on the flip side, I regret this decision, for I had to select 8 sub-heads from this lot of 22, which made life miserable for us, we cut the size to 8, as we had no options.
3. An early website: In the previous years our website would be up only by November, and the problem statements would be changed till as late as December for an event which was to be held in January. This was partially because the Kshitij website got active only in November end. We decided to change this, our site was up by early September, after a lot of drama. Kunal had to pay for the website (
www.robotixiitkgp.com not .org) This ensured that our participants could start preparing early, which would mean more participants as well as better quality, which actually happened. On the flip side, I was asked to justify this extra expenditure of 2k or so for the website in the Kshitij budget meeting which ended up turning a little ugly. There were two Robotix heads (Chintan & myself) facing about 15 guys on the other side. I could not explain reason to people like this. I have rarely looked back at Kshitij from a positive viewpoint from then on. All the feeling I had for them was of the village money lender, who saw nothing but money in everything. Waise, I don't think we got paid for the website either ways, inspite of all that happened!
4. A good doubt clearing platform for prospective participants: We made it a point to clear any doubt within 24 hours of it arriving. I personally had exchanged over 400 emails with prospective participants (I have saved a copy of all those mails :) ). My co-heads similarly replied to the emails. This did a great deal of good for the event. A good percent of the participants had interacted with us much before the event. Additionally we had sent doubt clearing teams to ISM Dhanbad, NIT Rourkela, and KIIT Bhubhneshwar about 20 days before the event, to help people with their robots. This payed off handsomely, we had around 40 teams from each of these colleges.
5. An online event: Mission Mars, we decided on this event as the online AI event. The idea of an ant swarm, which we could complicate by the years occured to one senior, Pranay Kishore. I must admit, this guy is easily the most brilliant mind I have seen. However he decided to drop himself out of IIT! But, I am sure he will carve his niche out somewhere. Given our horrible competencies in AI, we took Rahul and Pallavi into the team, to manage Mission Mars, and they did an amazing job.
6. Lecture Series: For the first time we conducted lecture series in Vikramshila for KGPians. We had a participation of over 300 participants in each of the 8 lectures.
With all these the number of teams in Robotix grew from 30 in the previous year to 220! Number of participants also grew six times to about 550 from the previous years 90. Kshitij grew from 400 participants to about 1250 participants. On the whole the event was a huge success. But the sudden explosion in numbers meant we were not well prepared, there were some chaoses in the organization, with events going on till 3 in the morning and all that. The again, we had huge chaos from the Kshitij end, it was on travel reimbursements for out house participants, a lot of them were treated very badly, given the vaguest of reasons for holding the reimbursement back. Even the certificates provided were of a low quality. We decided to print our own certies and got them distributed for ROBOTIX. This led to further chaoses between Robotix and Kshitij, plots and counter plots which finally ended with the formation of the Robotix society, under the gymkhana :). But, I had had enough with Kshitij. A lot of people in KGP, asked me why I naturally disliked Kshitij, this was precisely the reason, I always felt Kshitij was a techfest managed by a group of 'Managers' with zero technical know-how. Infact, we had on multiple ocassions used this technical ignorance of these managers to get things done for ourself [:P], the most notable among them being the current ROBOTIX arena. Having multiple entries, having 2 levels, it is ideally suited for large particpation numbers and multiple events.
Then 2006 happened. We had enough feedback from last years participants, that they wouldn't return (thanks to all the chaos on the reimbursement front). We had no clue on how to get people back. We went onto conduct Robotix lectures, and sell lecture CD's at NIT Rourkela, BITS Mesra, ISM Dhanbad, Science City - Kolkata, KIIT Bhubhneshwar. We again got the website early (
www.robotixiitkgp.org same as the current one). Again we made sure, doubts were answered in time. We also retained Mission Mars, as per plan we increased the difficulty level of the problems a little. The posters and all were good. Publicity was mostly done with Kshitij. We also decided to make more of our members technically sound, so that event organization could be smoother as compared to the last year, when very few people had the technical know how to trouble shoot and problems and help people. Finally we had 270 teams, and about 700 partipants, up from the 220 and 550 figures of the previous years. Kshitij took a beating, as number dropped from 1250 to under a thousand. But I must admit, that Kshitij 2006 was very very professionally organized. If they could impress, a die hard critic like me, they must have done a brilliant job. This to an extent has neutralized, the way I look and in lots of cases treat people in Kshitij! However, the best thing about Robotix 2006, was the feedback we got back from participants, a lot of people loved the event, even tough they won nothing. A lot of people were sure on coming back the next year. On the whole it was a job very well done.
Finally coming to this years event, 540 teams, over 1400 participants, simply awesome, ROBOTIX has exploded. On the positive front, we had second years going to places like HYD and Vizag to give lectures (should give you an idea of how technically sound the team is). The event they say inspite of the explosion was conducted in a super smooth manner, minimum chaos. Kshitij number also doubled to over 2k. On the whole I guess ROBOTIX and Kshitij have both tipped. I just hope one of the current heads can put their views on this years and the last years events.
Now coming to where do I think this story must head to, this story must head towards a stronger KRAIG, this story must head towards an event which supports a social cause, an event where problems troubling the society moreso the rural poor can be solved (farm automation, seed processing etc) and more importantly made commercially viable and sustainable...... is such a setup possible... am I dreaming too much... I don't think it will be a cake walk, but I am sure in three years we should have such a system up and running.......
Labels: nostalgia, ROBOTIX, Techfests
Random Thoughts....
Its been really long since I have blogged. Lots of things have been happeneing around me. Some of which, I really wanted to blog on, but never found the time for... and it is kind of a little too late to blog on them...
There are some other nagging issues which I am finding a little tough to graple with...
Well here go some random and some not so random thoughts...
ROBOTIX 2007: For the first time I really felt I am out of KGP. Four years in IIT have seen me grow with this event. The year long planning and those 3 days of extreme activity. I missed the event this time. I missed every minute of it. Some of my juniors did call up on the event, some barely having any energy or throat power to speak! The turnout this year was amazing, 540+ teams I am told over 1400 participants. All those memories come flying back... the 220 teams in my third year, a 10 time rise in the number of teams.... it seems ROBOTIX has finally tipped (The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell)....simply great job guys.. I am proud of all u guys... I am proud of being a robotix alum...... awesome.. this
blog written by a junior kind of gives you an idea of what it feels like being at the event.... and also of what I have missed this time :(
App, Job responses in IIT: A lot of good friends have been getting their app calls and jobs. I have a good idea of what it feels like when you are rewarded for all your hardwork with something you always wanted... The level of excitement in people's voices after they have cracked a job or recieved an app call is simply awesome. The feeling of having accomplished something gives you a high for some time... and the feeling never tends to sink in I guess... congrats to all you guys..
Seeds of change: a lot of things in life have changed over the past few months.... since I left IIT.... lots of new friends.... lots of changes in lifestyle... lots of changes in the way I used to think.... I guess I am a little more compassionate and less brash now.... a lot of other developments have left me a little confused lately :P .... and before your minds start racing.. it is not abt MIT....
My Job: Coming to THE thing finally.... the installation and comissioning for my first project is going to start in a few days... the amount of chaos around reminds me of my third year illu.... the illu that changed my life... those 15 days.. those 40 people.... those nightouts.... the amount of chaos that existed... chaos till the very last diya was lit... and then RK won.... that win still gives me goose bumps.... the kind of confidence that win gave me was awesome ... there was no looking back i guess...... if we could pull of that illu... we can pull of anything i guess....... more on that illu in this old
blog of mine. The amount of chaos in this case is also similar. Lot of food for thought. Lots of things to learn (both on the soft and funda side), and its all like a crash course..... a simply amazing experience as of now... I just hope it ends off well.....
I guess some of the above thoughts were just a little too random....
Coming to some other things.... have been thinking of taking an IPR course.... have had to get involved with some patent law lately.... and must tell u.... it sure is interesting... and there is a lot to learn and do in patent law also... patents have their own attached philosophy....
Offlate have been allowing life to drive me ahead.... very much unlike the control freak i was in kgp.... I guess I have been consulting too many people on too many things... but I am not sure if it is right time for me to take my own calls.... atleast on some things I guess I will start pushing things myself........ I guess it is better to learn from my mistakes rather not learn anything without making them at all....
Otherwise life has been beautiful for sometime now.... but there is this sense of opportunity in the air.... which used to exist in kgp.... which is somehow vanished...
Have bought about a dozen books of late..... have not read any of them... have not been pushing myself hard enough I guess....
Saw Rocky Balboa recently.... awesome movie... especially some of those dialogoues..... " its not how hard you get hit.... its about how hard you get hit and still move on......"
Incredible !ndia: Madhu Malai
State: Karnataka , Tamil Nadu border
Connectivity: 250 Kms, 5 hour drive from Bangalore, good road
USP: Virgin forest, clear streams
Animals: Deers, Sambars, Elephants, Leopards, Bears, Tigers
Birds: Kingfisher, Cuckoo, Black Eagle
Activity: Night safari, Forest Trek
Back to blogging after a real long time. Will blog more reqularly from now on. Quite a few blogs are lined up for the next one week.
Coming to this blog now. Taking advantage of the extended weekend we planned out a trip to this place called Madhumalai. It is a five hour drive from Bangi to MM. The road is good for most part. We left Bangi at 4 and reached MM around 9pm. A long round of antakshari keeping us busy. In the way we had spotted a single elephant, it had both its tusks. We also spotted a few deer on the way. On reaching MM, we checked into this resort in Masinagudi. The same night went out for a Night Safari, but sadly we could not spot too many animals. We drove and drove from 1o PM in the night to 1 AM, but we just spotted some rabits, some wild boars, a herd of buffaloes, a lot of elephant shit. At one place the guide, just stopped the jeep, shut all lights off, it was pitch dark and the silence was killing. The sky looked simply beautiful, full of stars. All of us living in cities, surely miss the beauty that nature is.
Dissapointed with the 'ok' night safari we returned to the room. The next day morning we were to go on a early morning forest trek. We left at 6 AM, there was too much fog, and it was damn cold. I guess I will let the pictures do the talking from here. All these pics were taken on my Nokia N70, the camera is good and doesnot let you down like other mobile phone cameras, however the zoom option is useless in the N70.
My bubbleshare account has the pics. In case the Buddle share slider doesnot fuction on your browser here is the link: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/111290/overview
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Bihar: In Laloo land.....
Bihar: In Laloo land….
Well my first training stint in Saharanpur is done. Had a lot of things to learn, wont bore you guys will all that though. We had a review, and we have been told that our review bombed L. So after the review and after a day at the Hotel Marriot, Delhi I reached Kolkata enroute to Munger, Bihar. Met some of my wingies, felt simply great, we had a great time at Pizza Hut. Jadda dear sent me a bottle of Skyvy Vodka, he had bought from the US, amazing bottle, couldn’t taste the Vodka in it tough L, will get back to more on this. Prithvi got me a lucky charm cat from Japan.
We didn’t have confirmed Third AC tickets for the night train. But we had the HR getting some Shakeel Bhai to call up the T.T and within half an hour we had 5 confirmed third A.C tickets. We got on to the train, only to be told that some bridge on the way is broken down so we will reach Munger 5 hours late!!! We reached Munger around 12:30, checked out the main market to get our mobiles recharged. Must tell you this place surely was rich 50 years ago, and then it seems time decided to hold on, and we have what we have today.
Well reached my Quarter, Poolside (its by the swimming pool) around 1:00. We had a class at 2:00, so we rushed to the class. In the mean time, I put my lovely bottle of Vodka into the Fridge in the kitchen. But to my luck, when we returned at 7 in the evening, it was gone!!! My wingies gift was stolen!! I got freaked out, called up the HR, the house keeping guys informed everyone, the next day morning when we met the Branch Manger, also told him about my lost bottle of Vodka!!! The next day, they found three guys who were sent to clean up and polish our quarter, and these guys accepted that the the bottle was there before they came in, and was missing when they left. That meant one of them was the thief. Of the three, 2 were young guys, and one was an old man, as expected the young guys paired up against the old guys, and put the blame on this guy that he stole it, and that he was the only guy who worked in the kitchen, and so he must have stolen it. But then, our Guest House staff, and more so our butler, Hari International (more on him later) told me that the old guy worked with them previously and he could not have stolen it, and that he doesn’t drink. Now that meant the young lads had all my vodka. I decided I had enough and decided to formally put my complaint in. Then I asked Hari International, what action would be taken. He said “They will be fired and the contractor who employed them will also be fired” I was shocked. Two things occurred to me. Firstly that I would have rendered four guys jobless, and then something totally different struck me - In case these guys are really fired, how long will I last in Munger!!!!! Will I survive my stint, given the passion for Vengeance that people here are supposed to have. I decided not to file a complaint, and decided to forget about Jadda’s bottle of Vodka. I guess, what use is a bottle of Vodka, if I am not there to have it!!! All this happened in my first 24 hours of arrival in Munger. Total piss off!!
In the evening, we decided to relax a little, went to play tennis, its simply great, we have ball boys and flood lit courts here, trust me, ITC pampers you! Played Tennis till 7:30, then went to the gym for 10 – 15 mintues, and then we went swimming. By 8:30 had a bath, and went to have grub and slept. And my evenings have been more or less like this. Now coming to Dearest Hari International, well he is the cook of the guest house, and I must tell you I haven’t had food like this even at Sonar Bangla, or the Marriot. Chicken daily, low on oil, simply great Veggie stuff, Chola batura’s, Malai Kofta’s, Barbeque Chicken, name it this guy can make anything and too top it off, one glass of Sweet Lassi every night. To put it simply “I’m Lovin it!” I need no McD! So every one in ITC calls this guy, Hari International, for his world class food. He calls the guest house as “Aao Khaye Jao.” That’s about the grub.
Well, I have another KGPian here, Carlton (VGSOM, first year, HP - 05, SDS block), he is doing his training, in the Printing Factory here. Have been having a great time together. We went to the club, the day before yesterday, White Mischief is Rs 7.00 a peg, served chilled with Lemon Cordial and ice!!! Got drunk a little, had a great time, and again to top it off we had Hari International making some amazing stuff for us.
Yesterday after dinner, we happened to take a walk around the Park, as the residential area is called. Tell you what, this place is more like a resort man. Beautiful! Its like KGP, there is a loop (2.2 kind), we have a huge ground (About the size of Jnan Ghosh) and some of the houses in the centre. On the outer side of the loop we have the rest of the houses. Every house has a nice garden, amazing greenery, all kinds of plants, flowers, insects. Simply beautiful!
But then there is also a flip side to all this, the area outside. The boundary of the Park, is a really high wall, with a barbed wire top, the kind you will see in jails. Just inside the wall, after abound 5 – 6 feet is another barbed wire fence. And we have dogs patrolling here. I have been told there are at least 5 Doberman’s on the patrol at any point of time. At every corner in the Park, you have armed guards, some with walkie – talkies, saying “All clear, All clear” every few minutes. It’s something like a fort it seems!!!
Will post pictures of this place which I think I will call “Heaven, right inside Hell” in the next post. For now, I m off to Hyderabad for my cousins marriage, will return on the Thurday.
Ragging – Interaction Period !!!
Well, a very controversial topic to put out your views on. In IIT Kharagpur, the juniors are introduced to the senior halls in the Second year. And there is a three to four week interaction period to break the ice between the sophomores and the seniors. I have been hearing very strange things about KGP recently, about RP Hall and Patel Hall getting Gymkhana and TnP bans, about the second year batch in Patel being shifted to MS, about the OP being stopped in LLR Hall and Azad Hall, about the Hall Councils being dissolved in RP and Patel, about people being given DC’s. All this and more have been really disturbing news.
IIT KGP is basically a village right in the middle of nowhere. There is absolutely nothing outside the campus, it’s a complete island. Inspite of this, I have undoubtedly had the best time of my life at KGP. I have made great friends at KGP, people I would never forget all my life, friendships which are worth a fortune. It is the friends you make in KGP, who make KGP either the best place to be, or just another village in the middle of nowhere. I am sure most KGPians will agree with me on this point.
Well like all KGPians, I was also allotted a senior hall in my second year, I was allotted RK. If I were to mark out the single biggest influence in my life, it would be this hall, it would be the seniors I met there, it would be my wing mates, and it would be my hall mates with whom, I have partied, with whom I spend those long nights arguing and quarrelling. It is these people, who have easily been the biggest influence on my life, who have influenced the way I think, the way I work. It is been these people who have supported me in my hours of crisis, and had been the first to smile when the demons tormenting me turned into sweet successes. It is these people who are responsible for what I am, for a job in ITC, for a Grad studies call in MIT. And I must tell you, I met most of these people through the Interaction period.
In all my first year, left to myself I hardly knew 30 – 40 people. I would have remained that guy had I NOT been pushed a little to meet new people, pushed to know my own batch mates through the interaction period. I have met all my best friends in RK (the list would be too long to mention here), all my wing mates (save Naween), through the OP. Some of my favorite seniors are people I met in my ragging. And when I mean ragging, I am not talking about anything physical or anything very abusive. All big things in life need you to press yourself a bit, NEED YOU TO STEP OUT AND MAKE AN ATTEMPT. Left to myself I would never have known a tenth of the people I met in KGP, I would never have met those seniors, batch mates or juniors, the same seniors who advised me in my hour of crisis, who gave me all the funda I needed, whenever I needed it, the same seniors who made me aspire for more, the same batch mates, who were my pillars of support, who stood by me in my hours of need, and all my juniors who were the first to scream when I triumphed, whose confidence in my abilities has been a great force in whatever little I have done.
KGP would have surely been a depressing place but for these people. I am lucky the OP was not banned in my time. Or I am really not sure if I would ever have come out of my shell. The current trend in KGP, to curb any interaction among seniors and junior is just going to kill the already declining social life at IITKGP. Given the amount of time people spend in front of the computer, I am afraid all that this IIT in the middle of nowhere will produce will be geeks who will never have seen a play at Netaji, or who would never have worked in Illumination. I feel extremely sorry for all those second years of Patel who are being shifted to MS. It is very difficult to express in words what they would miss. I am sure all of them will want to get rid of KGP every minute in MS, will wait every day for their three – four years at KGP to get completed. The same KGP we all loved, the same KGP we all miss…….
It was frankly in RK, that I was forced to look out, to try and be a part of many more things than I could think off, to experiment with myself, to realize that you can do multiple things at the same time, and do well in all of them. It was in RK, that I learnt more about myself than at any other time. Had I not been pressed to get involved in the hall, would I have really done anything non-academic in KGP, I am sure I would never have.
I hope the second years in KGP take this opportunity of the interaction period to meet their seniors, to interact with them, it is going to be these seniors that you will miss when they pass out, it is these people who would have left their lasting impression on your life’s, who would have shown you, where your strengths lie, and finally it is these seniors who would have made you better human beings at the end of it all. Please get out of your shells and go meet people, meet your batch mates, meet your seniors. Trust me, if you miss out on this opportunity, KGP is going to be one of the most boring places ever, and more importantly you will never get another opportunity to get to know yourself better, and hone your personality for the better. Please get out of your rooms and meet people.
Why a new blog?
Its been over an year since I last blogged. Well I kind of quit blogging an year ago probably because I ran out of ideas, and more so because of the paucity of time. The last one year is been, well to say the least, demanding, and I guess I did well, and surely very rewarding.
Now coming to the question why a new blogger address. Well the last one year is really put me through a lot of different situations, and it surely has changed me, hopefully for the good. And I hope I will update this blog of mine more regularly. I sure have a lot of things I would like to write about: my final year at KGP (it couldn’t have been better I guess), some amazing high points in life, and finally some really different decisions that I have made by choice, or sometimes I have been forced to take.
Well for a quick round up, I am right now in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Well I have joined ITC, and my first training stint happens to be in here (June 20th – August 4th). We are a group of six AUT’s (Assistant Manager Under Training). All IITians representing 5 IIT’s. Well coming to Saharanpur, and more so to ITC Saharanpur. ITC SRE is very much like KGP, a small place in the middle of nowhere. Its like we have the residential area right adjacent to the Factory, and all the Managers stay in the “Park”, as the residential area is called in ITC. The campus like all IIT’s has all sports and fitness facilities. It also has a nice club house.
I have been having a ball here at Saharanpur. My normal day begins like 8 in the morning, get up have a bath, reach our conference room around 8:30 – 9:00. We generally have a few lectures and shop floor visits daily. We break around 4:30 PM. Then I go swimming whenever I feel like. Sometimes I go to the gym, sometimes I just sit and browse on the net, and chat. Then we have dinner around 9 PM. One thing bad about life in SRE is the internet policy of ITC-ITD. All Web-based email, ORKUT, Yahoo Messenger are blocked in the office. Yep each of us have been given a laptop, and we have also been given internet access. So we have to log on later in the night using my Reliance phone to check mail. Well that is like a typical day for me.
But we have these parties rather frequently. Lets say about two parties a week. I have also been to Mussorie, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, and to good old Kharagpur in the weekends. Well we AUT’s also did a skit here, ‘Gabbar Cut’ in of the parties. Will write about all this and more very soon. That is more like what is going on in my life right now.