The True Software Nut

Dear Tech Support Team

Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 5.0 to Wife 1.0.I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child-processes that took up a lot of space and valuable resources.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activities.Applications such as BachelorNights 10.3, Cricket 5.0, BeerWithBuddies 7.5, and Outings 3.6 no longer run, crashing the system whenever selected. I can’t seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favourite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 5.0, but the 'uninstall ' doesn't work on Wife 1.0.

Please help!

Thanks,

"A Troubled User "

REPLY: What if u upgraded Girlfriend 5.0 to Wife 1.0

Dear Troubled User:

This is a very common problem that people complain about. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 5.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program.

Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING!!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 5.0.It is impossible to uninstall, or purge the program files from the system once installed. You cannot go back to Girlfriend 5.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed not to allow this. (Look in your Wife 1.0 Manual under Warnings-Alimony- Child Support).. I recommend that you keep Wife1.0 and work on improving the environment.

I suggest installing the background application “Yes Dear" to alleviate software augmentation. The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway. Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean 2.5, Sweep 3.0, Cook 1.5 and DoLaundry 4.2. However, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program NagNag 9.5.

Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Sarees 2.1 and Jewellery 5.0STATUTORY WARNING: DO NOT, under any circumstances, install SecretaryWith Short Skirt 3.3. This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system.

Best of luck,

Tech Support....

"Want Anything?".."erm.. Whatever!"

How many of you ask your friends where they want to go and they reply "Anything la anything"! The words "anything" and "whatever" have become so part of Singa Lingo that a start up marketing company Out Of The Box have intelligently (and rather lamely) capitalized this...

The anything drink comes in 6 different flavours .. but the "anything" part of it is that you dont get to choose the flavour for the can does not mention the flavour..! This would hopefully be a rather good lesson to the indecisive local population .. who might then decide on what they want and put a few brain cells into small decision making activities!

The Man who changed my life

"So..what is the equation of xxxx" .. Mr Robert (pseudo name) looked around and landed his scrutinizing eye on the distracted me.. Startled, I looked up to face him and wondered what he had just asked.. Carol, sitting right next to me whispered.. "..F....m a.." ..That was all i could fathom.. I gulped and made the bold decision to answer him instead of asking him to repeat his question.. "erm..The equation is ..erm.. F = MA? " .. His face flushed in anger as he made his way to the front of the class and hit his head against the white board thrice.. The class fell into peels of laughter as I wished the earth would part and I could disappear that very moment.. "Raji.. how many times did i repeat in the past two hours.. SUMMATION F = MA .. NOT F = MA" ..

That was the day i made my royal entry into Mr Robert's bad books..From then i was the butt of his jokes.. Mr Robert was my class form teacher cum physics tutor.. He would ask "Raji, what would u want to become" .. "An Engineer" I would reply proudly.. "hahahahaah.. u ? engineer? look at your physics scores..Please dont dream" he would say sarcastically .. True, my results were not good at all but thats because I was not motivated enough to learn..

On parents-teachers' day at the end of my first year in junior college.. he told my dad..i would never make it.. I may not make it through my A-levels with my attitude and poor results. I had never seen my father more disappointed; I used to be a studious pupil in previous years..That year, I had been playful ..

But the beginning of my second year brought me a new resolution.. I hated Mr Robert then and I would do anything to prove him wrong. My resolution was to prove him wrong. That year was a turning point in my life when I began working very hard and concentrating on nothing but my studies, and dance. Dance gave me the exercise i needed to improve my concentration. Slowly but steadily my E grades turned into A grades, and I excelled in my A-levels. On receiving the letter of admission, I went proudly to Mr Robert "I got admission into NUS engineering faculty. I am going to be an engineer" .. The smirk that I expected would leave his face remained as he said "Raji dear, you are going to be competing with the best students locally and abroad.. I doubt you will make it through all four years" ..

That challenged me further to prove him wrong.. I had to survive and had to survive well.. I challenged him that I would make it and promised to appear in front of him the very day I am presented my scroll ..my degree certificate... My excitement and anticipation grows as i wait for my commencement eagerly.. hungrily.. for it would take me back to my teacher with my scroll and an offer letter from a company... Like a silly child I would enjoy the challenge that I have won for myself.. that did good to me...process that allowed me to rediscover my inner strengths and weaknesses..

I owe this success to him.. the Man who changed my life.. for if not for him.. I would have never been where I am today.......

Thank you sir!

-Raji

Bye Bye NUS!

And the time has come to bid my beloved university a farewell!

As I unbelievably look back at how fast 4 years had sped .. I reflect upon the changes that have occured in me. June 05th 2003;- I recieved a letter in my post.. that confirmed my admission to NUS, Engineering Department. The wave of joy that hit me, is one never to be forgotten. Young, reckless and childish was what I was when I began my first day in NUS, 11th of August 2003. I had promised my father that I was going to support myself financially, for the four years of undergraduate study. I carelessly took up tuition students, enrolled myself in several dance programmes as well as several Extra curricular activities at school and tried to juggle them with the new education system in NUS.

The first month in NUS introduced me to my worst nightmare of C programming and I promised myself at the end of the semester that I was never again going to do anything with programming.. Alas, after 4 years in NUS, I am vigourously looking for software related jobs! :p..how things change! The results of my first semester was suprisingly good!

Slowly I learnt to cope with disappointments and difficulties, hardwork and sometimes easy luck, smart ways of getting things done and focussed goal oriented hard work.. Semesters sped by.. Beginning of semester normally began with promises such as "I am going to study every module from day 1" (which of course was not implemented beyond week 2),,.. Mid sem break, a hurry burry of 10s and 1000s of CAs..and before we know it .. End of semester examinations.. Social life in NUS though was fantastic.. as i met people from various backgrounds and learnt so much from them..

Then came the semester of Exchange to germany..where i learnt and saw so many new things.. my first winter, first time to a place where i knew noone, first time in a non english speaking country, first time in a hostel..and a whole new first times...That was my 21st birthday gift..Where i really saw myself transform into an adult.. from the innocent ideas i had about life and the world that blindfolded me from all evil, as well as to the world of possibilities. There in germany i lost my blindfold..

Before i knew it, i was in my final year, doing my last projects.. Then too I learnt alot as you might have known from my previous posts..

Woa .. What an amazing 4 years.. Unforgettable and sweet in my memories.. The only and beautiful remains.. my friends whom I hope to always keep in touch with!

Now, here I am ..facing the world of possibilities and insecurities.. What sort of job am I going to get? Where is my life going to head towards? What and where is my tomorrow? Confused, insecure, excited and anticipating.... I wait.............

Need a moral boost?

A man sets out to climb the Mount Everest. His aim was to reach the peak and set his country's flag. Close to reaching the tip, he tripped and tumbled several metres down. Due to injuries, he had to return, unsuccessful.

When interviewed, he was asked what he gained by trying to climb the mountain and failed in the end.. if he thought his efforts were of waste.. and his reply was that compared to men who dint try, or men who tried and reached the top, he had gained the experience of failing. He had learnt the meaning and the pain of a fall, that would allow him to avoid such falls the next time. And this was solely experienced only by him ...he who failed.

Friends! Also remember that every incident in our lives hold extreme significance. Even negative incidents have something to be learnt from ..

Yet another man who lived in a village of farmers, owned a huge farm. One day, a herd of wild horses passed by his fields, and grazed on them while he was out of town. He lost all the plantation he had grown for months in a matter of hours. The other villagers pitied his situation and told him how sorry they were that this happened.. and the farmer replied "Dont be sorry, everything happens for the best!".

He began rearing those wild horses and soon he owned a stable. He rented the horses out to rich men and made lots more money than he made out of selling what he grew in his farm. The villagers envied him and told him how lucky he was. And he said "Not so soon my friends. You never know! "..

That evening, his son rode on one of the horses and due to some unfortunate mishap, fell from the horse and had a major injury.. Yet, the farmer was steadfast in his belief that even that happened for the best of reasons. A week later, the government of the country the village belonged to instructed all young men to join the army to fight a war and the farmer's son who was badly injured was excused.. :)

So, always stay positive. Jobless? (like me?).. Uncertain of your future? Lost a job? Screwed up results? No worries! Its all happening for the best!!

oh well..i needed this boost myself!

Thanks to one and all who got me thru!

Yes, this semester was indeed an unforgettably, unbelievably, insurmountably, unjustifiably ACADEMICALLY CRAZY SEMESTER. Trust me..

However, I really could not have done all of these without the help of my dear friends:

Friends who..

- Bought me lunches and dinners and drinks for me because I had no time for those
- Offered locker unable to bear the sight of me carrying my heavy laptop and huge toolboxes around
-Carried around my laptop half the time scared that I might either fall or drop my laptop
-Print notes for me along with his for the module we took together (for every single class)
-Listened to me whine
-Sat thru hours with me while I nervously waited to present my FYP and said some kind encouraging words that kept me going
-Bore with me not contributing much to group projects till I had a bit of breathing time that allowed me to put the project aside till I finished other work.
-Did the same FYP as me last year and offered to meet up with me just to reassure and tell me I did a good job.
-Gave me place in her room to bunk in
-Gave me 1001 wake up calls

Thank you guys so much! I would not have made it without you :)

-Raji

Fests of Germany

The one thing that I totally miss about Germany.. is the Fests. Within a short period of 7 months that I was there, I have seen at least 5 - 6 fests on all levels.. City level, state level, country level..and why even within our own hostel! Well, in Germany you just dont know if they celebrate to drink Beer or they drink Beer to celebrate.. Anyhow, the festive air and mood is one; - never to be missed!!!

Schlossgraben Fest (25.05.06 - 27.05.06)

This was the first fest of its kind that I managed to catch.. It took place during Spring.. Perfect weather for hanging out..

From Wednesday of that week I had noticed people constructing tents and temporary stages outside my university, TUD and in the city centre. Though several of my friends had told me that there would be music all evening and many stalls selling food and drinks, I could not imagine how interesting that could get! This always happens in Singapore when they set up some temporary tent to perform the Chinese Wayang..Was it going to be like that? Usually for such events only the older generation attend.. :p ..Why a fest for something like this?

With a thousand questions in mind, I eagerly awaited that evening. My friends and I took Bus H which was diverted.. It stopped near the Schloss. As soon as we got down, the air hit me and the enthusiasm of the atmosphere got to me..!! There was so much music, so many people..The whole of Darmstadt was lit in coloured lights. As we walked towards my university.. I could hardly recognise it!! It was beautifully lit and the whole area was littered with shops and broken beer bottles .. Mann!



When I neared the rock stage I was overwhelmed (ofcourse there were many other stages for other kinds of music like classical, etc.. But your guess.. Rock was the all time favourite among youngsters) !! It was like being in a real concert.. The colourful lights and the professional bands! The music got to us and we started dancing.. The whole of Darmstadt looked like a huge Disco! There were so many shops selling alcohol (duh!) .. It was drizzling a bit.. But that was something anyone was the least worried about..


This three day event.. of good music and drink all night was one unforgettable experience for me indeed! And ofcourse the most amazing thing about all german fests is that .. the very next day life returns to normal..no more lights..no more broken beer bottles..no more stages.. Like a dream.........


HeinerFest (30.06.06 - 02.07.06)

Heinerfest was equally awesome .. especially because the first day of the fest was the day Germany unexpectedly won against Argentina..! My friend and I had gone to watch the match at a Biergarten (for more info check out my blog on Weltmeister) ... after a toiling Mikrocontroller lab.. When Germany had won unexpectedly, we found reason enough to celebrate and joined in the Heinerfest Gala.. Everyone was not just in the festive soirit but also in the height of patriotism.. The mix of the two excitements caught me offguard and I loosened up to enjoy the fun.. An old man was going around painting the German flag on faces of people whom he passed by..and lucky us! We had the flag stamped on both sides of our faces and we proceeded to take part in the games..

That day was the day the kid in me broke loose.. It felt so good feeling that way after such a long time.. heehehe.. Awesome summer weather..and toy shops..(and of course the usual drink shops..goes without saying) ..Biergartens in the middle of the road!! And not to mention the equally playful policemen! :)







See the photo above..My first time sitting in something as exciting at that! I swear i will never forget that ride.. I was only screaming the whole 5 minutes away. And u know what is the best part of all this?? There was a silent 8 year old right next to me... :(.. Really cool but mind boggling rides at Heiner fest!!!




Karlshof Fest (22.07.06)

The last fest I experienced in Darmstadt :) .. Karlshof fest as the name suggests was a fest that our hostel held. During this fest, anyone who wished to put up a stall selling foodstuffs could do so.. All the indians in our hostel teamed up to sell indian food..

Ofcourse, as usual our planning stage was longer than the fest itself. Several ideas generated and several ideas cancelled... Our plans changed till the last minute. On Friday night, we finally decided on our menu and started shopping for it.

A group of us were in charge of buying things and marketing, etc and the other was for the main cooking.. Of course people like me (effectively the 'extras') were helping anywhere and everywhere unskilled help was required.. :p.. On Saturday morning, I found myself cutting a dozen onions to bits and some other common vegetables..


The cooking started full swing.. At 4 O'clock, the 'non cooking' group started setting up the tent and tables.. Unfortunately, the weather turned against us and heavy rain started pouring.. As in any usual scene.. excitement added to our lives as we wondered when the rain would stop.. The tents were destroyed and when the rain finally ceased.. tents had to be set up again..



Disappointments soon turned into enthusiasm as all stall owners decorated their stalls.. The Brazilians, Africans, Pakistanis.. Excitement ballooned as we rushed to keep up with the pace of the other stall owners.. All set and ready, customers started pouring in.. Awesome weather was finally of help to us.. Summer kept the sun going till 10:30 at night..



Lemon rice, chicken curry, Sambhar and Gulab Jamun for dessert.. Mango Lassi..Yummmm...That night there was striptese and belly dancing too at our hostel pub.. Took a photo of the dancer and her hmm.. husband i think..



Sales went really good..and most of all we had real good fun cooking together.. A nice time to bond! :) .. That night we were totally exhausted but excited..


Shaade ! Germany.. I miss you... :( and your fests of course.. :)

Beautiful Tulips..Legalised drugs ..?!?!

Today I was reading an article on BBC News website about this Man who was brought to court after being found with 3 million pounds worth of Drugs at Essex!

Sure wouldnt have been a problem if the country he had imported the drugs to was Holland! In Holland, drugs are legal.. so is prostitution!

My trip to Amsterdam was in the second weekend of May this year. My friend and I took an evening train from Darmstadt. We had to ofcourse change 5 trains to get there. Real chore and had to run from one train to the next within a matter of minutes. And worse still, our second train got delayed and we had to wait in the train station for long till we got the next one. We reached about an hour later than we should have.

Another friend of ours had reached there earlier and found a place for us to stay. We reached at about 9pm and took a walk to our youth hostel, 'Kabul' to leave our luggage. As i walked through the narrow streets with multitude of shops on both sides, the liveliness in the air induced excitement in me! 'Kabul' hostel was friendly and it was the first youth hostel i had been to. The room we were allocated to had around 20 beds and several lockers.

That night we went to the famous stand up comedy show, Boom Chicago. It was held in a small stage attached to a pub like area. The comedy show was simply amazing. They played several games involving the audience and everything was impromptu!! For instance, they would create a funny story with random sentences given by different people in the audience.."The apple is yellow.." and " I am late for work" .. for instance... And a whole lot of imaginative ideas added in between to connect the two sentences!! My first ever visit to a live stand up comedy show!

The next morning we had breakfast at our youth hostel which was by the river. One thing about Amsterdam: There is seriously no scarcity of water anywhere. There is just water, water and more water. This is the scenery that one would see facing out of Kabul Hostel:


That day we were going to "Keukenhof".. The place famous for its Tulip flowers. We had to take a one hour trian to Leiden Centraal and then a bus to "Keukenhof" ..

Mann! It was the most beautiful place ever ! I have never seen so many flowers of so many different colours in one place.. It is a huge garden. Indians: If you would have seen the movie "Anniyan" , one of the songs was shot here. I have no words to describe the beauty of Keukenhof.. Check it out yourself in the following shots! :


At the park i met a woman clad in the tradional dress of Netherlands:

That evening we returned to Amsterdam and took a relaxing ride on a ferry around the city. There are innumerable canals! So much so that it is called the Venice of the North! Even with the enormous amount of 12,000 bridges and 160 canals, the city has no problems with water prone diseases, floods, pollution, etc! The next best thing about the waters is the houseboats! Buying a plot on the water is more expensive than buying one on land in Amsterdam!!


As we were cruising..we also realised that buildings in Amsterdam were tilted. Apparently, this is because of the nature of the soil which is generally soft due to the presence of abundant water.

Before retiring to bed that night, we saw a very interesting place :- The red light district!! (A place probably more dangerous to men than women!) Prostitution is legal in Holland. The red light district is really huge and almost located right in the city centre!

I can afford to say that it came as a culture shock to me! Nowhere else on earth are the women so straightforwardly on display,(just like we have clothes on display in any of our shops) sitting sparingly attired on stools behind windows. Nowhere else except in the other main Dutch cities, because this conspicuous window prostitution is distinct to the Netherlands, as distinct as the habit that many of its residents have for living their lives behind open curtained windows.

As u can see in the above picture, the red curtains are drawn, this indicates that the XXX activity is taking place. When it is not, the curtains are open, and the women stand behind those glass doors displaying themselves..

After a good rest that night,, we went to the Heineken brewery. As you would probably know, Heineken beer comes from Holland.
It was very informative as we learnt the process of making beer. At the end of the tour we even got to try pouring the beer into a beer glass. I never knew it was such a tough thing to do. The lesser the foam the better!


The last but the most exciting of the whole trip was Mike's bike tour! Basically, we went around the whole of Amsterdam and to the outskirts of Amsterdam with a tour guide and entirely on bicycle! It was real cool.

As he took us around he explained various things about Amsterdam. The easy availability of drugs, even in Cafes was one thing i was shocked to learn about! We visited the windmills and the cheese factory!

Overall, the Amsterdam trip was a wonderful one and I would recommend it to anyone who would consider a Europe tour!

My experiences with the Weltmeister..aka Worldcup

woohoo! Glad to be back in Singapore.. clean roads.. 2000000 dustbins.. automatic doors.. my old life..and most importantly.. my dahlin friends!!!! So glad to be back with u guys!

Been meeting up with my friends.. one grp a day for the past few days.. and they generally have two reactions when they see me..

(1) " You have not changed one bit.. u look the same!!!!!" .. Compliment or insult? I know not
(2) " You were there during the world cup!!!" .. Indeed something that i should feel lucky about!

The Weltmeister, 2006 is indeed an event that has captured a permanent place in my mind. Though I ofcourse did not manage to watch any of the matches at the stadium, being part of the fever..was something I would never ever forget..

We watched one of the first few matches.. England vs Paraguay at the floating screen in Frankfurt.. It was simply amazng..
Ya, so ttz the floating screen.. We were allowed to watch the match on either side of the river.. Casually sit by the river side..with a nice drink..and enjoy the fever and the cheering! ;) ..All matches were played live on this screen.

Well, the rest of the matches, i watched it in Darmstadt itself. There were plenty screens all over.. Every shop had a tv and there was a crowd watching.. There were flags everywhere.. Also, Karlshof had residents from nearly every country in Europe..and no matter who won or lost.. there would be celebrations and partys going on the whole night..
The one match that is etched in my mind.. is Germany vs Argentina. A friend of mine and I had gone to watch it at a place, Lichtwiese which had a Biergarten (an open air place to drink beer) where they had erected a huge screen. Most of us were nearly sure that Germany was going to lose against the very strong Argentenien team. But unexpectedly during the penality shot Germany won!! The nervous and anxious atmosphere broke into a joyous and excited one!! My friend and I proceeded to the City centre to celebrate. The mood was simply superb! Many were cheerin "Berlin, Berlin, wir fahren nach Berlin"..this meant.. that the german team would make it to Berlin where the finals were going to be held.

We painted our faces..and were in the city the whole night cheering away! It was an amazing experience!

Beauty in Imperfection

I sit here in the morning at 4.30, 2 days before i leave this lovely country.. reflecting.. Just as a very naughty child who looks so naive and innocent during his sleep, my normally bustling and noisy hostel is so silent and beautiful in the early morning, that i cant but appreciate the immense beauty and meaning it holds to me... I am gonna miss Karlshof (my hostel)..

How do i describe it? Highly untidy.. There is no wall with no graffity on it..


The lifts .. in some of them, even the buttons are invisible because some people have even found some stuff to draw ON the buttons.. And every friday and Saturday nights, the whole Karlshof stinks of alcohol, and u see broken alcohol bottles all over the floor..

My building is block 10C. The first building you see when you walk from the bus stop to Karlshof. In between the busstop and 10C, there is a small 'forest' of various trees ..in Summer, with flowers..



Just on the other side of this 'forest' and somewhat behind my block is a punkhouse. This is where many punks in Darmstadt(the city where i live) are housed. Harmless and imperfect as they are, i find many punks unique in their own ways. Colourful and attention seeking in the way they dress, and quiet and mysterious in the way they are.. They certainly stun me in many ways..

On the other side of my block and between 10C and 10A is the famous Exil...the discothek of Karlshof..happening and wild..:) .. A place i would never forget..

My darling WG (Wohn Gemeinschaft..).. Well, here in germany, there is a concept of apartment sort of thing with 4 rooms and a common kitchen and bathroom. This apartment is called the WG.



My WG is very special to me.. When i was alotted to it, I was told that it was the untidiest WG in Karlshof, and that I was going to have the toughest time because they were all guys and tidiness was probably the last thing i could expect from them.. But when I moved in, and settled down..there couldnt have been something more that I could have asked for.. Lovliest and most caring neighbours.. providing me with day to day entertainment..Dirty as the WG was, it is really dear to me..



Imperfection... has its own beauty...

Adventures in Germany... Part 2

First and foremost, I have to apologise from the bottom of my heart for updating my blog so irregularly. I was not having internet access at home till last week and was unable to do all this in my office due to firewall. From now on, I will religiously update my blog..and this is a promise!!

And so, we left off with me in Stuttgart, being taken care of by my friend. Well, the very next day I left Stuttgart after having lunch at a Chinese restaurant(where of course the food had so much European touch that it dint taste chinese at all!!!!).

The next day was new year. I had never felt worse in my life. There was not one person on the streets, no sweet, excited voices of young children clad in new clothes.. no anything.. It was just so different for me. I went to the phone booth and called my parents to wish them. It was a really short call though I yearned to speak more. I had also called my dance friends who had all assembled at one person's house to celebrate. I could hardly talk, just had tears in my eyes. Why on earth was I here? Miles away from home? Yearning to be happy but finding no means to.. Everything was a barrier.. the weather, the language, the people.. There was no friendliness..there was no happiness..

I did not want to go back to the huge house and stare at the ceiling the whole of new year. I had a laptop, but no internet and no adaptor for the battery. All plugpoints in germany were 2 pin. I decided to just walk around the estate. There was pin drop silence. No evidence of life..No birds chirping.. no life absolute. Everything looked so white and eerie.. Snow everywhere. I should have been excited to see snow for the first time, but I wasnt.


My cousin had given me the number of his friend who stayed in Schwardz Wald (Black forest). I had tried calling the number several times, but in vain. Everything was just so dull. I walked my way back home and right outside my house, two small sweet girls were playing with fire crackers. It took me just a while to realise they were the grand children of my house owner. Not being able to resist my temptation in taking part in their fun, I joined them and in a while they were my first friends in Germany, Yara and Leya. Sweet and adorable.

Oma, on seeing me with the kids invited me home for lunch. I had lunch with Oma, Opa, their daughter, son in law and their two children. Nice, family lunch where there was constant chit chatter and laughter and happiness. For once, I felt that Germany was after all not devoid of love!! And for the first time after reaching I was happy. We spent the whole day together and I only went down to my part of the house to sleep!! The next day, my internship was to begin....

.................To be continued............

Adventures in germany .. Part 1

It has been really so long since I have written a blog entry! Yes here in Germany and surviving finally. So where do I begin?

8 weeks back…. 29th of December, I left India, my homeland. My mom, brother and cousin were at the airport and I bid them farewell.. Part of me was filled in fear..and the other part was filled with excitement.. So many qns filled my mind and I knew not whom to turn to for ans. I dint know a single soul in Germany! I weighed my baggage and it was 2 Kg over the limit (that was 2 Kg of rice that my mom gave me thinking that there would be no rice in the alien west).. I looked pleadingly into the eyes of the officer and he said.. “ Ok,ok.. not next time though”..

After a super long journey, first of this sort in my life.. I landed here in Germany on thirtieth of December. After checking out, I stepped out of the airport .. The first feelings of extreme fear.. first whoosh of extremely cold air.. is etched in my mind till today. I had the adderess written in my pink notebook..the notebook presented to me by Shiela and Ray on my 21st birthday.. It said,
13, Im Grossen Garten
Weitersadt
I just kept staring at it and wondered what on earth it meant and exactly where on hell or heavens this place could be. How was I going to get there. I was given some directions by some far away relative who stayed down South and I had no idea what that meant either except that it involved me taking some two busses.. I was left alone with 32 Kgs of Baggage..How was I going to travel by bus on my own?? Man! I had never felt more forsaken than that in my life.

Ok, then I decided, I should take a cab. And looked around for one. And there was none in sight! Where were those black cars with yellow tops or blue comfort cars.. ?? “Oops..this is not Singapore babes.. Taxis around the world don’t look the same for goodness sake.. What are u thinking? Ok…so problem no. 1 is I don’t know how to get home. Problem no. 2.. I dint know how taxis looked like??!!” ..God! I walked up to this woman who was nearest to me and I asked her in a trembling voice.. (coz of cold).. hmm “Wo ist Taxi?” .. in broken german it meant..Where is taxi.. She pointed in some general direction. When I walked in that direction I saw several white Benz cars and collected that these could be taxis.

Finally got on to the taxi and showed the driver my add.. Then I saw an instrument I had never before seen ! The navigator. I was so awed by that in the beginning..U just gotta enter ur destination and it tells u when to turn right and left till u reached! When I reached my home, my mouth fell open. Here was one of the most beautiful structures I had ever seen! It had a chimney and I looked like the chocolate cake house in the Hansel and Gratel story!



There was snow everywhere and I had never seen anything more beautiful or angelic in my life.. An old lady(whom I now call Oma – meaning grandma in German) opened the door when she saw me and was extremely hospitable.. Atleast 3 times my age she was a whole lot stronger than me and carried my baggage with 3 times less difficulty than me down the staircase. She showed me my part of the house which was in the cellar.,,i.e the basement. Oma’s daughter came along and she could speak English. She offered to take me around in her car to show me the places around.

Well, that night I had horrible diarrhoea.. and I wanted to run away from Germany. My place in the basement was haunted for sure.. All I heard was silence.. There were no signs of cars or people anywhere on the road..and it was dark at four o clock. I looked at my watch every one min and noticed just how slowly time passed. How were six months going to pass? Impossible!!!!

The next morning, I left my home and got down at the last stop of the only bus from my home. It was called Schloss and after walking around a bit I landed at luisen platz. I was so overwhelmed because there were too many busses and trams on the road at the same time and I just dint know where to stand!! I went into the famous Luisen Centre. After wandering around a bit I found the telephone and made a call to Brindha.. someone I got to know thru my far away relative. She was the only contact I had. I was totally lost and needed to run into some English speaking soul who understood my position. I called her and told her I wanted to get to her place immly! I had no idea where Stuttgart was(where she stayed).. I thought Stuttgart was some place like City hall from Serangoon North.. And to my shock when I went to the counter, I realised it was 2hrs away !!! I got a train ticket and rushed to her place. That was the start of a slightly better life for me as I got medicines for my diarrhoea, got a phone line and got some real good Indian food…

………To be continued…………

Post Deeparaya

Hi guys,

This week was a festive week indeed! Happy Deepavalli and Hari Raya! I had a really good Deepavalli this time and would blog about it when i get the pics i took on that day.

Yesterday was a hectic day. Had so much to complete in the morning..and then had to go to school to do my alien project. Actually, I am a little disappointed with the way things are going for the project. I had expected much much more and things are just not going right at all. I think Eugene should know what I am talking about. I am frustrated about projects and kinda have had enough of them this semester. Too many projects and group work. It was great in a way because most of my group members for most of my projects were really good..but teamwork is a different realm altogether.. ! Was a new experience for me.

The later part of the day was pretty rewarding actually. Went to meet Kalai for a drink and we had so much to catch up from the past. Too busy to meet anyone or call for a chat in the past few weeks so it felt good. A refreshing break.

Went home and slept like a dead log. Today morning up and alive again to finish up the final part of my EE3001 project report and my alien project powerpoint. okey dokeys.. enough of grumblings for today's post.. will put up the deepavalli post with pics really soon. Take care guys..

and oh ya.. I got my employment pass in Germany done. So i will be getting my employment letter from Degussa really soon i think. One by one things are getting sorted out. Pretty exciting too..just tt i will miss all of u guys!

Love,
Raji

HALLO!! Stressed Raji

Hi all,

I am really so stressed.. 2 assignments, Deepavalli, 2 projects..exam in 2 weeks.. My life is so 222222222.. I miss everything peaceful in life..

But yet, in a way i enjoy this exam period because there is this excuse that i can give everybody.. Sorry I cant do this coz i have exams.. sorry i m too busy coz i have exams..hahahaha.. and in a way this is the time when all of us realise our maximum potential in last minute mugging.. For the past few semesters i have noticed something about myself.. In the two weeks before exams I will realise and learn things i had never known throughout the semester..hehe..its simply amazing..i will be like thinking..oh ..there is so much to this subject? not bad not bad..

Anyway, amidst all this craziness, my friend Divya and I were talking about being passionate about what u learn. I have been reflecting on this ever since we spoke abt it 2 days back. Learning and mugging and everything becomes so much more bearable if we enjoy what we study .. To tell u the truth, I am suddenly beginning to fall in love..with my faculty and especially electrical engineering. And esp from third year. I actually enjoy lectures.. Mayb NUS has transformed me into being a nerd..hahaha

My time of leaving singapore is nearing.. and.. i have made no preparations. The visa processing and the work permit..everything is taking forever.... I am looking forward to seeing my mom and living an European life and take a break from my conservative asian one...

Regards,
Raji

A blog entry after a long long time

Hi all,

Today is 25th October and it is 11 45 am here.. Pretty cold at computer cluster in NUS ..And i have abother 15 min to my 2010 tutorial class as I decide to make this quick entry..

My past weekend was terribly hectic! On friday night I left to JB to start practicing for my dance performance on Sat and Sun evening. The practice went on and on and on and on till 4 in the evening on Saturday and all of us were completely exhausted though in high spirits and energy to perform and do our best after so much last minute practice..

This was my first time performing odissy properly .. as in with all the costume and everything.. It was just so exciting for me.. However I was really nervous about my really quick change in between from one costume to another in a span of 10 min between 2 items...esp given the fact that I am slow in all this dressing up matters.. Added to that was my infamiliarity with the odissy costume tying..

My first item went really well because of the whole atm ..it was so divine and energised.. just kept us going though we were totally exhausted! When time came for me to change.. i really panicked and tried to pull all my cloths out of me at one go.. i must have looked really stupid..haha.. till one of my dance mates had to remind me not to panic. I think I had like 4 ppl helping me .. I got ready much earlier than required actually.. Second item was good too..

Sunday went on well..much less stressed..on home grounds..hahaha.. Only thing..the whole weekend disappeared without me studying one bit even..now ultra stressed and with things to do..

ok ..the time now is 11 55.. better get gg..

Hey.. what has been going on on ur side? Fill me in...

Love,
Raji

Today, October 17th

Hey all!!

Today was just such a remarkable day. I loved the way it started in the morning.. I had my favourite class, MNO..Today was the big day when we could show the 8-min video that we had conceptualised and created to the rest of the class. We had worked day and night on it!! Our group was the first to present and it looked so awsome on the big screen.. I was really so happy and had such a great sense of satisfaction!!!! Loved it..And i love my group mates.. We took a few photos after class today.. we were so dilirious..




Then of course there was the EG1415 report that we had to submit. I should say it was pretty badly done.. i dunt wanna talk abt it!

After school today.. met up with Hafidz and Divya today for our group project, EE3001. We got some good work done today..but more than that we were laughing away. We were all so burned out after all the stress of handing in projects and what not..that we were going mad!!!!! And some really wierd things happened.. This old man who is a cleaner at the canteen somehow just could not stand the three of us sitting there and chatting.. I had milo from macdonalds and Hafidz had milo and fries! The old man cleaned our table then snatched the milo from my hand..!!!!!! it was so unbelievable.. and i was trying to pull it away from him.. this tickled divya so much that she could not stop laughing. Even funnier was that that man tried to do the same thing with Hafidz and he held his milo and fries far away from that old man's reach..hahaahahaaa.. it was such a comical project meeting.. nothing was that funny..but me and divya were so stressed that we cracked up for every single minute thing..hahahah

Infact, i m still laughing thinking of those silly things that we found so funny!haha..

Love,
Raji

15th October..Work Work Work

Hey all,

Today is Saturday, the 15th.. of October..my most dreadful weekend of this semester. I have so much work to do.. At 10 am today I had a systems and Controls test. After which, I am staying back to do a project with Divya.. for the next 6 hrs or so I think.. (seriously interesting project..but.. loads of work)! and After that.. from 10pm onwards.......................................I am staying night out at school to finish my MNO project.. Looks like I might have to stay back on Sunday to finish EG1415 project. Help!!!!!!

Also, quite upset that I can't take part for shabdham since my dance performance also falls on the same day.. Can't attend sitar practices regularly either.. So sad! I miss sitar and my dahling sitar mates!

Just met my best buddy in Year 1(haha.. I make it sound like some award!!), Flash.. Ya.. funny name right? His actual name is Jun Xiong and proudly calls himself Flash! Flash is from Malaysia and an absolutely fun chap to hang out with. However, we hardly hang out together any more now that he is in ISE and I am in EE. Kinda miss those year 1 days when things were still not all that stressful!!

Friendships are so wonderful. However, I have come to realise that I might be close to the same degree with quite a number of friends and be different with them all. With a few of my close friends I feel that I dont need to keep in touch and yet I never miss them..With a few others, just not talking for 2 weeks or so builds a gap between us. I feel the necessity to talk to a few ppl everyday while some others..just saynig everything one day a year is more than wonderful.. Everything in this world so complex.. So many things that cannot be mathematically/scientifically defined..

Sigh.. Life..

Raji

Today.. October 12th!

Today is October 12th and as i count down to the number of days to exam.. I panick! Just 4 weeks! How come semesters are always like this? I feel like it has just begun and now it is ending in another 4 weeks..

In a way, I want it to just end.. Then time for me to escape this sad island, and even sadder university..haha.. and time to see my mom!!!!! yipee..just cant wait for that..

Well..what did i do today? Had school today from 9 to 2..rather short day .. Then I met Srivi, and spent some really good and quality time with her.. After which, I left school and went to meet Indhu my dance buddy and set off to dance class...(spent some nice time with her too coz i met her near her workplace and we travelled to dance together!)

Today is the Vijaya Dhasami, one of the most important days of the Navarathiri. This day is really important to me because, this is the day we thank all our teachers for the knowledge they have imparted to us. We went to dance class, and presented flowers and fruits to all the teachers. I felt really good. When we had the prayers today before the presentation of gift and respect, I thought about all my Gurus.. As many as i could (not just dance..but also school teachers!)and thanked them in my mind..However much we may find fault with any of our teachers, in uni..or elsewhere.. Where would we have been without them? And ... they are God sent ppl to put us in the right tracks and elevate us to a higher level. I really loved today and am happy that I got a chance to express my appreciation mentally and physically to all teachers I have known since young.

Me,being a "relief teacher" in my dance class, was also presented with a beautiful saree... I was wondering just when I should wear it.. Probably on New Year in Germany!! haha..

Ok guys..that was me today.. what about u?

Raji

Today, October 10th..with Embarassment............

Hey guys!

I just finished my MNO tutorial. And I am essentially done for the day since I am going to skip my lecture later in order to study for two of my tests tomorrow.

Today's MNO tutorial was really interesting. We had to share our experiences at making mistakes that we have committed at work. One unforgettable one that I had made was when I was working at a travel agency after my A-levels. What happened was that, when I first joined the company my boss was trying to teach me how to use the system there. He asked me to practice by booking a few tickets ... just for practice .. So I just kept coming up with names and flights and destinations in order to play around with the system. I was constantly warned by my boss though that I should delete these pseudo bookings once i am done practicing with them.

I did delete most of them.. but forgot about one. This one that i will never forget ..I had created the pseudo name "kukubuku" and gave some date of travel. When tt day arrived the airlines company called up my boss and asked what happened to Mr Kukubuku..When my boss asked me since the sys showed that i was the one who made the booking..I was really so embarassed and told him i did that on the first day when he had asked me to try out tt sys. The airlines was mad at him for making a false booking and warned him tt he had to pay a fine the next time something like this happened. Of coz I got a nice scolding from my boss that day.

I can never forget that incident!

Raji

Happy Navarathiri

(Here is a pic of Goddess Durga)
Navarathiri is a ten-day festival celebrated by indians.. It is believed that Goddess Durga on her 10 day journey around the earth removes all evil....... May Goddess Durga destroy all evil around you and fill your life with happiness and prosperity.

Wish you a happy Navarathiri..