Playing by the book

[For the most avid readers of this blog - Arjun, Abhilasha and Himanshu.. this one's for you. Thanks for following]

Strange day to update your blog! Just lost a string of matches in one of the games I love to play the most. Of course, the competition was fierce. But, it was one of the days when your luck runs out!

Enough of rona dhona. I am sure, we will bounce back.

Purpose of the blog is to infuse some humour into my otherwise boring life nowadays. Do, treat it as humor only. And if you've lost your sense of humour, the following contents may be harmful for you.


My loyalties

His Highness always feels, I have messed up my loyalties, but I'll love to prove you wrong.

I have a soft corner towards the other team - Yes, I do! (but not for any particular player in that team..... hang on ... maybe the Sexy Beast :))

But that doesn't affect my performance, in fact it inspires me to play harder.

And my current team gave me something, which no other team would.....

Any Guesses?

I am not talking about the sword here.

Hmm.. It's the Choco Chip Muffin named after me at CCD. Do try it once, see if the taste has improved :P

P.S

Dear OC, I have carefully worded this blog. Please do not restrict it via the Computer Centre (The CC rarely provides access to sites, but it's very quick in blocking them)

Dear Owners, Wish I could contribute more. But you already know I am pre-occupied by you know what. But Madam, here's the blog that you wanted. I will write more, if needed.

Thanks for counter bidding (I was procured at a price more than Suri) and the muffins too!

Dear OC (again) - Request some points on marketing due to this post :)

SexyBeast - We'll meet again :D

Signing off (for at least the week),

Amit

I know what’s wrong this summer

“How is your internship/project?” -  is the most common question that is thrown at you when you encounter a familiar face. After answering it so many times, what eventually comes out becomes as clichéd as your one word reply - ‘Nice’, ‘Good’, ‘Terrible’ or ‘%$^&$@!#$’

Well, there are two reasons why I’m writing this -

1)      Tomorrow when we see each other, you won’t bother me with any question about my summers J

2)      One of the most avid readers of this blog, Arjun, feels that it’s been a very long time that I’ve added anything new. Ditto for Gappu and Abhilasha.

Thanks for the feedback. It’s great to know at least 3 people are reading (and not just pressing the like button :P)

And DJ suggested a few themes to write upon earlier. I explore a few of them below.

Summers

My ‘summers’ has become a comedy of errors. I feel like my services have been traded like a commodity well below its par value J

And I still don’t know whom to fix the blame upon. I hope to get more clarity by the time it ends (June 7^th).  From now onwards, I request the People Concerned to apply a more humanistic approach than the traditional commodity trading methods followed by their predecessors.

Actually I want to write more on Summers. (In fact Naveen from Kol batch also wants me to elaborate our _____ experience. Don’t know about my other co-intern Shilpi G as she is too busy in the pursuit of a non-existent PPO. In her moral support, I’ll delay the detailed blog post)

IMHO - The training period should only be for one month i.e. May. The month of April should be added to the third trim. And June should be given to us to escape from this cruel weather. (But interns in Bangalore and similar pleasant places, should be assigned work in June as well J)

NH

It is constructed like a haunted castle. (And it is maintained in a similar manner!)

What you’ll find inside is a lot of isolated rooms and closed doors spread across two levels. The ones at the lower half appear like bunkers, where you can hide if Delhi goes to war with its neighbouring states. (Gaithuan has a similar opinion; she says rooms are constructed like caves)

But two groups clearly benefit from this architectural disaster.

Our student body, which won’t have to fight another civil war based on issues pertaining to gender bias. Because you all are smart enough to realise that the OH is a better place to be.

And couples who need privacy 24X7 – They don’t have to bother about the extra loomie/loomies. They no longer need to elope to the lover’s lane at odd hours. So, vehicle owners can peacefully park without the fear of killing random love birds.

IMHO - PMF can organise a bidding process where rooms are auctioned as per individual requirements. Vedhus will no longer have to run for his life and everybody will be happy. All proceeds will go towards our cash depleted clubs which can utilize this money by distributing actual prizes and certificates instead of cattle class chocolates.

Food

With the mess closed, it’s like a daily treasure hunt to locate food. Other options of Dhabas (specially Tanku) are no longer available, as they’ve been driven away by the corporation.

The silver lining – Sitaram’s Café is closer to NH (Aditi’s argument from our Buzz encounter echoes whenever I eat there) and JNU has good eating options as well.

IMHO – Tanku should be relocated to our student mess. In fact, batch meets should be called only to discuss and implement such serious issues in the future.

The silver lining

Actually not everything’s wrong –

·         I get to stay with quite a lot of my batch mates. (Although most of them are not recognisable after their daily slaughter at the workplace)

·          Its fun playing midnight TT matches.

·         Watching T20 on the idiot box with expert commentators.

·         Bird watching in South Delhi.

·         Not having to go to office daily in the killer heat.

That’s all. But stay tuned. There’s lot more stuff in my partly unemployed mind.

OH/NH wars

I know i'm playing with fire by writing this one. Guess it happens after watching a movie like Hurt Locker.

As far as this format is concerned, just want to prove a point. If something informal like a blog can be written sticking to a format, why can't this much minimal effort be put into the most important annual report released on an official website. And i also proof-read it.

Introduction

Girls are agitated........ I just got slaughtered on Buzz by three females.

Guys are rejoicing....... They have a hostel to their own.

Honorary Roomies......  Devastated.

All due to one decision.

But, my blog got the "Next Big Conspiracy" that it desperately needed to stay alive.

Personal Opinion

1.  I like OH. NH seems like a place for loners. Privacy - I don't need. It's fine if I share my day to day life with 5 other friends.
2. In the current situation, deciding who stays where can be decided by any of the below mentioned processes (read Methodology). I find the third option as the best.
3. I'm here for summers. So, I don't have to stuff my luggage in the basement.

Methodology

The decision can be taken in 3 ways -

1. Toss a coin - I guess, then the decision will be "fair".

          Source : "The Dark Knight",Motion Picture, 2007

    2.  Tug-of-war - Let the warring parties battle it out in Lover's Lane (the place which is going to be   deserted after the mass migration)

        The match can be between : Guys vs Girls (We can even have the Women's reservation bill implemented in team formation) or more relevant, Couples vs. Their Past Relations (I'll be dead, if i take any names here)

    3.  Open for all - Float a spreadsheet as to who want to stay where. Girls/Boys in NH or OH or live-in's. An IB college should go in for International Best Practices.

I want to write more. Have some new ideas like - "Who'll be the most affected post-partition?". Tomorrow, maybe.

Opinions/Suggestions/Critique in comments please.

My first Holi-day

I've never played Holi in the last 25 years of my existence. Here's how it changed today.

0500 - Went to sleep after finishing AOE.

1000 - Loud Music from Buffy's giant speaker wakes me up. Try to sleep again, curse Buffy - but still can't sleep.

1010 - Never take advice from Singh Saab on such important issues. I was scared to go down and have breakfast. But he convinced me that nobody other than Buffy is playing Holi downstairs.

1015 - I go down in the lift. Sneak till the mess door. But that was the farthest i could go. Manjari smears tons of color on me. After exhausting all color that she had, gives me a saintly advice to remove my spectacles. Then IMF Prez takes charge. Insures that his rival Prez has eaten more color than his breakfast.

1020 - Forget Breakfast. Its time for revenge. I ready myself for counter attack. Apply an insane amount of oil, and jump in to the battlefield.

1025 - Now outside. These people haven't left a square cm of my original skin color. I'm looking like every one else now. Multi-colored.

From then onwards, i allow nobody to look less colored than me. Later, we launch an attack on seniors. They start tearing each others clothes. We pick up the tradition quickly. Within 20 mins, all guys are topless. Then, after a photo session and dancing, we decide to call it a day.

1300 - The longest bath of my life starts. All different color blends come out each time i pour a bucket.

1400 - No food inside or in vicinity of campus. We embark on a long trek to search for food. With me are Singh Saab, IMF Prez, Stallion, Koshish Tiwari and Papa Ghosh. What aggravates the problem is lack of ricks and buses. We walk till Mezbaan - closed. Move on towards IIT - Nothing. Finally we spot a bus, and fortunately its going to Saket

1500 - So, we reached Saket in 1 hr. At least McD's didn't disappoint us. We ate like famished beings. Found ricks on our way back. And happily slept from 1600 - 1830.

1830 - Made calls to all friends and family. Over in 30 mins.

1900 - The search for food continues. I must add, we always happen to eat at the most unexpected places for the sake of food variety. Now, me and I-Prez don't maind wandering around. The third person always pays the price for our adventurous journeys. This time it was Papa Ghosh.

2000 - Instant shortage of ricks again. Even JNU is closed. On top of it, we got lost in the vast campus. Finally came out after walking 4 kms. But, Mezbaan was directly opposite to the gate and it was open. But, a huge waiting line outside.

2030 - Papa Ghosh has had enough. We are now at Al Kauser, Munirka. But there are no waiters to take our order. Prez tries to exert his influence on the manager but he refuses to budge citing staff shortage. Papa Ghosh decides never to come back here again.

2130 - We are done with the food now. It was quite delicious for our hungry souls. Papa Ghosh has cooled down. He may come here again. We get into another rick. Old songs playing. And the gentle breeze. Enough adventure for the day.

2200 - Suri calls for TT. Even Doctor has started playing, it seems. Skipped the CB group meeting to play.

0000 - Just finishing the blog. One of the best days in IIFT. Back to work.

Q&A

According to the website Wikipedia.com, a question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information is provided with an answer. 

1. My sincere request is to limit this "linguistic expression" to the "request for information" only.
2. Everybody has personal opinions. It is better reflected in 'who you vote for' than in the paragraph which precedes it.
3. Before terming a candidate as 'weak' or 'average' and substantiating with an assumption 'that it is a general feeling of the entire batch', please gauge the actual sentiment of the entire batch.
4. Sports and social activities play an important part in personality development. At no point, the participation in such events, is a hindrance to your short term or long term goals. If it was, man would evolve into a machine.
5. Multiple questions are not allowed, fair enough. Questions longer than 30 sec should also not be allowed.

IMHO,
Amit

How to configure Netmail account on Outlook 2007

Warning - This post is useful!

Many of you wanted to know how to configure Outlook for Netmail. To save time, i'm writing the steps here. 

For those of you who've never used Outlook, do read the intro. All those who are already familiar, please move on to the settings directly.

Intro

Outlook 2007 allows you to store your email's on your PC's hard drive. So you can access your old mails when there is no internet connectivity or when the Netmail server is down. Also, due to limited space in Netmail, you have to delete mails on a regular basis. Having Outlook configured on your PC, lets you access all mails without having to delete them.

Settings

I could not configure Netmail to directly flow to Outlook. There's a workaround. Forward all mails from Netmail to your Gmail account. Gmail can be configured on Outlook.

a) Configure Netmail

1. Log in to Netmail. Click on Options -> Rules -> Select 'Forward' from the drop down -> 'Create'
2. Under Rule Name, write 'Gmail'
3. In 'To' write your Gmail Id. eg - amit.103@gmail.com
4. Click 'Save'

All the mails that you receive on Netmail will now be forwarded to your Gmail account.

b) Configure Gmail

1. Log in to Gmail. Click on 'Settings' -> 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP'
2. Select 'Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on' and 'Save Changes'

c) Configure Outlook 2007

1. Make sure Outlook 2007 is installed as a part of your Office 2007 in your PC
2. Now follow the instructions given here

Known issues

1. Some mails are not forwarded from your Netmail account due to server issues.  Please check once a day, so as not to miss important deadlines.
2. On some PC's a particular port number may not work, while configuring Outlook. These are my settings.

Anything else, feel free to contact.

People of Mango Forum

Statutory Warning - The following contents may create history. So don't get left out, be a part of it.

 PMF Charter

Introduction

People of Mango Forum (PMF) is a Non Government Body (NGB) registered under no act. It is formed to help the Aam Aadmi (read Mango People) of our institute, who do not have any role whatsoever in any of the serious committees that have been formed or will be formed in the future.

Mission

To do nothing substantial. As it is life is short, why waste time on serious matters ?

Vision

This forum provides a sense of belonging to fellow individuals, who do not get a chance to wear formals at odd hours, venture out of the campus for pitching/sponsorship, perform cold calling 24X7, assign DGP's or gather a batch meet.

 (I still don't know the difference between vision and mission)

Membership Details

Anybody can join, provided he/she is not a member of any official committee. No joining fee (We don't want funds to be confiscated to sponsor upcoming college events). And no DCP's please!

Agenda

1. There shall be no elections/interview. Each member is free to choose his/her own designation.

e.g - I appoint myself as the President of PMF. Similarly, you can choose any post you like. Just declare it on the blog (comments section).

2. Batch meets will be held at the most obscure places like mess, lover's lane (we'll make sure nobody is disturbed) etc. It will not amount to wastage of time, because our time is not precious, as it is.

3. The forum is not answerable to anybody and we do not need a PR agency. Word of mouth/ FB/ GTalk status publicity will suffice.

4. Simple 'Hi/Hello' is a preliminary greeting for fellow members. 'Kya chal raha hai' may follow later.

5. ForEx students should have an equal right for 'fancy' positions.


Guess, this is enough. Add more in the comments part, if anything new is required. The following people have already registered. Now, please select your own fancy posts.

Karthik, Aditi, Indranil, Ramakrishnan (France Chapter head), Arjun

President
PMF

Election Symbols

I see a lot of lobbying for student body elections. Politics makes me stay away. But i really like the concept of soap box. A lot more can be added to increase my interest levels. Having election symbols for each candidate is one of them.

Let's see what kind of election symbols some of our friends might have : (Pure Imagination. Don't kill me for this)

1. Doctor - Vertical Bed
2. Vedhus - Dates (commodity; not services)
3. Fresher Moorthy - Chai
4. Preyoshi - Weighing Scale (can apply to Moorthy too!)
5. Ramki - Any food item will do.
6. Sonali - A large handbag.
7. Peter - Bicycle
8. Aditi - Origami
9. Arjun - Tractor
10. Madhuri - Sweets

That's all i could manage before my hands freeze. Feel free to add anything in comments. Will write more if the mercury rises. But don't let it desist you from voting responsibly. Ciao :)

DISCLAIMER - The contents of this blog do not confirm the participation of the above mentioned noble souls in the upcoming elections. Nor does it indicate any kind of support that i may or may not extend towards them, in case they contest. And also, whatever is stated in this disclaimer, i may or may not follow :)