Karma and a Rebel

The weekend trip to San Diego was awesome and i was on my way back to Sunnyvale.
It was a Monday morning. The flight landed in San Francisco at 8:15, 45 minutes ahead of its scheduled landing. Me and my cousin(if i may call him so !) Karthik took the AirTram to the Bart Station at the Airport, then took a Bart train from there until San Bruno, and another Bart to Millbrae where we had to catch a Caltrain to Sunnyvale.

Caltrain finally arrived at Millbrae at around 10 AM (which was about 5 minutes late). We boarded it and began the last leg of our travel back home. We sat on the upper level of the train. I was enjoying the journey because this was the first time i was travelling in Caltrain. Finally we arrived at our destination Sunnyvale at 10:50 AM. My luggage included a backpack, my camera bag which holds one of my most valuable possession, my Canon EOS Rebel XS Digital SLR and another kit bag. In the midst of the excitement of reaching back home i completely forgot to pick my Camera bag which i had kept near my leg in the train(Damn!....How could i even do such a horrible thing!)...I realised that as soon as I got out of the train and was kind of shocked. I ran back to the station to inform any official of my loss. Incidentally there are only 2 "lost and found" desks, one at the San Francisco station and another one at the San Jose station. My brother in law was at the station by then and we lodged a complaint over the phone. We decided to drive all the way until the last stop(at San Jose) and try to request the officials over there to ask someone to have the train checked for my camera. But when we arrived there at around 11:30 AM, we were told that no such thing could be done and the only thing i could do was to place a complaint and wait if someone finds it and RETURNS it !...Thats all i could do for now...Now, from my side, i decided to take a whole day pass, head to San Francisco, and try to search through all the trains possible. So, i took the 12:24 PM Caltrain from Sunnyvale to San Francisco and started searching all the bogies at the exact location i was sitting with weird stares from my fellow travellers :P. But with no avail. I talked to the ticket collectors too about my problem. They said that the train i took earlier would have gone to the service yard. So, i thought that if i went to San Francisco and requested the staff over there, they would send someone to look for my camera on the trains in the service yard. The ticket collector also said that the chances of someone returning a DSLR camera are very very remote. I had already put all my hopes of finding my camera in the trash. But then, i had to do something from my part too because my camera is a very integral part of my life !

I reached the San Francisco station at around 1:30 PM. The replies were the same. They just took another written complaint and told me that they could never tell where a particular train would be at any particular moment in time. It could either be because of the fact that there are about 85 Caltrains running through SFO or because of security concerns. I tried asking them in every possible manner about the current location of the train i took, but they would not disclose. I then dejectedly decided to head back to Sunnyvale hoping that some good person finds my camera and returns it. I took the 2:07 PM train to Sunnyvale. I was about midway when my phone rang because of a call from a 408 number. I somehow felt there would be some good news and indeed it was. A lady from the San Jose station told me that they indeed found my camera and asked me to collect it before 8 PM. I felt like jumping in joy. It was one of my happiest moments for sure :)

I finally went over to the San Jose station and collected my camera. Everything was in place. That was one horrible day which ended on a happy note. No wonder why elders say alls well that ends well.

I am yet to come to terms with my good luck. Would you believe that someone actually returned my DSLR Camera found on a public train. I believe that its all karma in the end. This world isnt as bad as we think it is. You smile at the world and the world will smile back at you. Lets make this world a better place to live in.
After all, its for you and inturn the world :)

Me, Daakus and my encounter with cricket in the USA

We are playing the platinum winners, "The Champs" tomorrow at San Jose in our first match of the Fall Open. I am pretty excited about that. This could well be my last game for the Daakus :((Or at most my second last). But I do hope I could get back to the Bay Area as soon as possible and continue playing for the Daakus again. Wish me, both for tomorrow's game and that I return back to the Bay Area soon for a longer stint (You all know what I Mean....Right ??).....I am feeling nostalgic by the way !

Cya all...Thanks Daakus !

I made a mark..YaY !!

I made a mark...I was the man of the match...Go thru the link below for the scorecard.....Yesssss !

Here is the scorecard

This scorecard is one thing i would like to get over with pretty soon :(.....
(I play for the Daakus)


Here is the scorecard

The Dark Night

Its a Saturday-29th march 2009.

A cloudy afternoon.3 PM.Very very windy.I could barely manage to cycle to the Seagle Building(the place where i work) from the bus-stop.The opposing winds were too hard on me and the cycle.Little did i know that this was just the beginning.

9 PM.I cycle again to the bus-stop.The rain gods start pounding this part of the earth black n blue.That too with heavy loads of lightning and thunder.No wonder Florida is called the Lightning Capital.The 8-10 seconds i took to put my cycle on the bus drenched me big time.I am all wet.I could only see the merciless rain hitting the windshield, sitting in the frontmost seat of the bus.Nothing else.I just wanted to reach home asap and hit the shower.

The driver took about 10-15 to minutes to get me to my apt complex.And guess wat else cud go wrong now amidst the heavy thunderstorms ????.Theres a POWERCUT.Yeah u read it right !! I unload my bicycle from the bus n get ready to ride it till my apt.I can feel the hard rain hitting me. And i could see one more thing which was very abundant.Darkness !! wow...Never ever had i seen Gainesville go so dark.I Somehow managed to ride my bike for 2-3 mins to my apt.

I was finally happy that i reached home.Little did i think that i could do nothing without this thing called ELECTRICITY.My internet wouldnt work, my stove wudnt switch on to cook something, I cant charge my almost dead cellphone, I cant switch on the lights, i dont get hot water in the shower.And to add to all these i was my lone companion in my apt.I must say that everything comes to a standstill here without electricity.Except the clock though.I somehow managed to hav a quick shower in the cold water and hit the bed listening to "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" from Swades.

Its now 3 AM.I'm still awake,writing this.The rain gods are still at war.The thunder and lightning are hitting really really and i mean REALLY hard.Dunno if its gonna be a sleepless night.

 

 

Slumdog Millionaire-Sometime during mid feb 2009

It was maybe feb 12th or 13th---Even until this day i couldnt come up with one good reason why slumdog millionaire was considered to be such a good movie(i watched the movie on december 21st 2008 mind u )...i kept thinking all the time why people liked it so much...because personally, i didnt like the movie very much..i wouldnt say its a crap movie....it was a decent average movie...and surely NOT one of the best compositions rahman has given so far...there are lots of other international projects rahman has done which are way above the league of slumdog millionaire...and "jai ho"...i would rather stay mum than talking about it or even think of rahman winning an oscar for it(wat crap)...rahman is a musical genius and he surely deserves an oscar...but not for "slumdog millionaire"...

Forget the music for now...i was in the local RTS bus riding late night to my lab..the driver and me started chatting...he realised that im from india and asked me if i watched slumdog millionaire...i answered in the affirmative...then he starts showering all praises on the movie...he even said that he thought it was the BEST movie he has ever seen...and he meant it...as i said, till this day i was wondering why people liked it so much..so i asked him why he liked it so much...heres his reply in the direct speech- "I never knew slums and slum life can be like how its shown in the movie...i hav never seen such a poverty driven life......"....and thus he went until we arrived at my stop...i got the point...

Now i realise why people(the westerners) liked it so much and i didnt...Whatever he spoke of, is something very common to anyone who lives in india...not so for an american or an english-man...and thus i thought that was ONE of the reasons(the only reason) why slumdog is still making millions in the box office....im yet to figure out other reasons(IF ANY) why its such a huge hit worldwide....

Do's and dont's for your F1 visa interview...all about it

Here is some gyan on F1 visa interview....
First and foremost-do not carry any mobile phones or floppy drives or cd-roms or pendrives or anything of that sort...

Only 2 things matter most...Confidence while answering the interviewer's questions...And most importantly ur documents...Your documents are fine means 90% of the job is done...

Now coming to the actual things that happen....

1- you are made to queue up in front of the consulate on the footpath...they dont allow any accompaniments even on the road...be at the consulate 15 minutes before ur actual appointment..never go early...u ll be made to wait on the road in the hot sun...going 10 mins late is better than going 10 mins earlier here...trust me...if say ur apointment is at 10 being there at 945 is ideal...being there at 930 wont simply help cos they wont let u in...if u go around 5-10 mins late than the actual appointment time its not a prob cos they ll directly let u cut the queue in that case...

2-To enter the consulate u shud show the security guy your passport and ur appointment letter printout..he checks the date and time of apointment and your photo on the passport and lets u in once he finds that everything is appropriate...

3-once u enter the first door another security guy checks ur file and covers(if any)...he basically checks if u have any sealed covers...do not carry any docs sealed in an envelope...

4-after that check another security guy bodychecks if u hav a cellphone and the things mentioned first up..

5-after that u open the second door...there are 4-5 counters to ur right and 4-5 on ur left...these are basically document verification counters...the volunteers will automatically send u to the shortest of the lot...however we by ourself can go join the shortest queue...

6-these are the mandatory docs the verifiers ask for before allowing u for an interview...so once u r in the queue hav all these docs as a group and be ready for ur turn...cos they usually dont tolerate any kind of delay u make...


a)passport
b)DS 156,157,158(dont forget to sign on all 3)
c)SEVIS fee paid receipt
d)HDFC visa fee paid receipt(both)
e)degree certificate or a provisional degree certificate(not marks card)
f)ur appointment letter for the interview
g)ur i20(dont forget to sign)
h)GRE and TOEFL marks sheets

all the above docs should be actual ones...not xeroxed ones...these are the only docs the verifiers ask for....so dont miss any of these...if u have all these docs, they ll be verified and ur fingerprints will be taken...this will take around 5-7 mins for each person...then he/she puts that in a file and gives it back to u and asks u to enter the next building for the interview..the last counter on the right in the same building is also an interviewing counter btw...if this counter has a small queue u ll be asked by the volunteers to take ur interview here...

7-while ur in the queue lend ur ears to what the other candidates are being asked..u ll get a feel of the interviewer's accent and the kind of questions being asked...this will make u feel a lot comfortable when ur turn comes...

8-when ur turn comes, u shud give the file the doc verifier gave u to the interviewer...he/she will take ur fingerprint again...if ur lucky enuf u ll be asked a few simple questions and let off...my interview lasted for less than a minute...so listen properly..answer to the point...have the visa approved and get lost from there...quietly...

9-u maybe asked to show the following docs during the interview...so have these also ready...


a)ur sponsor's bank account summary or ur sponsor's bank pass book or any other proof of funds(most often asked for by the interviewer)
b)ur work experience certificate(asked very very rarely if applicable)
c)hav some affidavit made in ur name on a stamp paper just in case stating that u wish only to study there and not to work there after ur studies...(this affidavit wont be asked at all..hav this just to play safe)
d)hav ur transcripts and all the marks card from 10th standard to 8th sem BTech/BE(not usually asked..but hav them just to be safe)
e)i had a photocopy of all the docs mentioned in this article just in case...i never saw anyone whose photocopies were asked....i personally think that carrying photocopies is a waste of energy..

If everything goes off well....i dont need to say that ur visa will be stamped on ur passport...

A few tips to end the article
1-Have all ur docs in place...that ll 90% assure that u ll get ur F1 visa...
2-Be confident...the next big thing...
3-Dont try to act too smart...
4-Never lie about anything...
5-remember that u are the interviewee and not the interviewer...
6-hav a proper hanky...going to chennai is like a free trip to the sun...

Go thru my visa interview experience here