The Red Scars

Miles below the top a lonely stream flows 

Running a million years with highs and lows 

As the sun shows its many scars 

Like face of general of many wars

Humans from far afar come to see 

One with the nature's Canyon to be 

Through sun and rain and wind and snow 

Layers stand there taking every blow

As ages pass and generations change 

The River continues its work increasing the range 

Withstanding the fury of lightning and Thunder 

Strands boldly Arizona' natural wonder.

The Young Sawai

In glassy waters reflects the city of pink,

While two hearts try to catch each other's wink

In the old polo club waited on by men in turban,

Once sat English generals sipping ice and bourbon

Serpentine roads leading upto walls,

Under lonely moon, a sight enthralls

The history of the place, the guide imparts,

Standing majestically, the fort's ramparts

At the top flies the flag of kings,

At the base, the old beggar sings.

A single lamp lights the palace of glass,

Adorning regal busts of copper and brass

Pondering through the ornate window, sat the young Sawai

Reminiscing the ancestral reign in glory high.

Reminiscence of Pangong

Here I am,

Fourteen thousand feet above,

Heart resting in olive and dove

Under crescent moon, cloudy sky

Not a star shining bright,

Near brown and yellow armies marching, left and right

Barren land with no bloom,

Chilly winds adding to the gloom

Snowcapped giants flanking each side,

Skirting the flowing and ebbing tide.

Above crunching gravel and pebbles fine,

Why do I hear no other step by mine!

Far away you are, not in sight

Here I am, walking into the lonely night.

UID and Numerology

One of the most thriving professions in these days of the UID is being a numerologist.

Imagine, each and every one of the 1.2bn people in India will get a unique number.

Dont you want to know whether your digits add up to the sum of your birthday or to the numbers of your first car or to your cell phone number?

Ok, probably you dont care: but then the Karan Johars and the Ekta Kapoors and the Atanuu Agarwals do.

Bejan Daruwala and Sanjay Jumani & Co make millions each year. Their job? Tell Shahrukh that instead of 5554, keep your car number 5555!

Imagine, now all the hoop la surrounding the disbursing of these numbers.

Indo-Pak XI

Growing up, you see both the Indian and the Pakistani cricket team falter year after year, world cup after world cup (except the T20) against quality world teams. Filled with a plethora of legends, India and Pakistan together have over the years won two ODI world cups, two T20 world cups, and have won (Tests+ODIs+T20s) 983 out of 2290 matches.

I often wondered how would a combined team of India and Pakistan look like, and what would be its impact.

Lets look at the traditional good, bad and ugly of both teams:
India has produced great spinners and Indian batsmen are quality players of spin. Pakistani bowling legends are master medium and fast bowlers with lethal aces up their sleeves.

Indian openers have been devastating, a host of records in the batting domain belong to Indian openers. Pakistan has a much better quality of middle order and lower middle order players.

Both take a hit on the wicket keeper position.

Now, this thought has been in my mind since the past 10 years, and hence below is the team that first came in my mind during my early adolescent life.

Indo-Pak XI:
Sachin Tendulkar
Shahid Afridi/Saaed Anwar
Rahul Dravid
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Yousuf Yohanna (back then, this was his name)/ Yuvraj Singh
Abdur Razzaq
Moin Khan (wk)
Anil Kumble
Wasim Akram (captain)
Shoaib Akhtar
Waqar Younis/ Harbhajan Singh

The above team has the most awesome combination of openers, middle order, lower middle order, spinners and pacers.

This dream of mine has so far remained a dream. I hope that in the future, such friendly contests will be undertaken to show the world and show the people in the two countries that together, the India-Pakistan combination is one of the deadliest, not just in sports, but in also in geo-politics.

I hope to see many share the same dream and view.

The Kairos Global Summit

Yes !! I have an exciting piece of news. I am heading off to attend The Kairos Global Summit. 20 of us from India will be heading to New York to attend the Kairos Global Summit.

The more exciting part is that Nova Global will be a part of the Top 100 Innovative Startups that will be showcasing during the summit. Here is a sneak peak about what all will be happening at the Summit on 17th April during the showcase at the New York Stock Exchange.

Here is a brief about the Kairos Society

The Kairos Society is an international student-run not-for-profit foundation based in the United States. We started with the belief that the key to improving our world lies in uniting the next generation of leaders to develop globally impactful innovations.

Here is a sneak peak at the summit itself –

The Intrepid Air and Space Museum

Kairos is bringing together some of the world’s most influential and globally impactful leaders to meet a select group of the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial students. Aboard the former USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, these leaders will address the importance of the future generation of global leaders to work together on cutting edge innovation and ventures.

The Dinner Cruise over the Hudson River. During this special gala dinner cruise, students will have a chance to build lifelong friendships with other future leaders who share a common passion for entrepreneurship and come from different walks of life. These students will also have the opportunity to learn from and build valuable relationships with leading CEOs and mentors from diverse backgrounds

The innovations that will be showcased at NYSE will cover cover everything from new alternative energy technology to cross media entertainment platforms to global relief services.

IIT Hostel Life not a luxury??!!!

Hostel elections just round the corner and candidates come to our rooms for ground work and campaigning asking us what we want to change in our hostel life.

People say that if you can survive an IIT hostel life, you can survive any place in the world.
So, what do we infer from this phrase? That hostel life in IIT is so bad that enduring that is the worst that can happen to you from a habitat perspective?

Well, for me, staying in an IIT hostel is like staying at a country club as a permanent resident.

True the mess food may not be upto the 'maa ke haath ka khaana' or even 'domino's ke chef ke haath ka khaana', true that the cleaner only comes once a week to clean your room, true you need to do share your bathroom and toilets with other 30 people staying on your floor, and true that bliss is punctured by exams and compulsory attendance.

But the below standards stop there.

Other than that, IIT hostel life is a life of luxury.

1. Freedom and Independence: True that these were the two space ships in the movie Armageddon, these two words capture the mindset of every person living in Room No. XXX at Hostel No. X at IIT. No tension, no responsibilities, no answerability at all. You dont have to get up to help your mother do chores. You can pretty much live the way you want to. The 12ftx10ft abode is yours and yours truly.

2. Electricity and water without bill payments: Uninterrupted supply of electricity. Thanks to the deemed status of 'Temples of higher education' IITs enjoy an uninterrupted supply of water and electricity. Each hostel pays close to INR 1L in electricity bills, (the numbers coming down thanks to Energy GC). You can charge, keep anything you want on for how much ever time. I forget the last time I had switched off my laptop (except for the mandatory restart for updates installations). No one questions you on this.

3. Toilets and Bathrooms: IITians dont bathe for days on end, and hence its very improbably that at any point of the day you find any two of the three cubicles shared by 30 people filled. You never have to stand in line, you get hot water in the tap and even the bathrooms get cleaned twice a day. So even if you have soiled them dont worry, in a maximum of 12 hours someone will come and clean them. The only downside is the pigeons that annoy you especially when your half asleep in the morning.

4. Food Options: Go out at whatever time you want. No curfew. Atleast for IIT Bombay a plethora of food options both inside the campus and outside the campus available. In the mess too you pay hardly Rs.40 for four meals in a day. Your canteen is open from 6pm to 3am serving fresh best selling parathas. Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Laxmi, everything delivers to your hostel and calls out your name when they arrive.

5. Internet option: High speed lan connection with DC++ that can last you for your life's entertainment. Apart from lan ban, its the fastest internet connectivity you can get in India.

6. Hostel Facilities: Gym, Football ground, cricket nets, pool table, foosball lounge, any newspaper, tv room, computer room, frisbee ground, volleyball ground, all sports equipments are available for the use of any hostelite. And this is available in all the hostels along with the other facilities that the institute provides.

7. Getting your work done: You always have juniors who will go fill your bottle, get your clothes from the laundry, get your order from the canteen, move around your furniture, in short 'help' you with anything you want just because you give good 'fundaes'.

8. Keep you socially entertained: Events happening at the hostel and the institute level, all festivals, make you feel at the epicentre of all activity in the universe. You are culturally catered to with not just your culture but with all cultures.

9. People around you: Through this country club you meet people from such diverse geographical backgrounds that, atleast for me, I know I do not need a hotel room in any state of the country.

10. Feedback to improve: Over and above all this semester after semester people come and ask, 'How do we make this better, do you have any ideas?'

Coming to the final one month of my stay at the country club called Hostel 3, I am sure I am going to miss this luxurious life.

From being a self-proclaimed 'ghaati' in the first year and a half to a 'lazy-to-go-home-that-is-half-an-hour-away' person lets hope that I learn to move on.

Cheers!