This is a small article which I wrote just before leaving IMT. Its been a while, but I just remembered about it a few minutes back. And thought this blog would be the ideal place to put it up. After all, this blog is about my life.

Click here to access the Word document and engross yourself in a brand new experience.

Someone I know recently bought a brand new IBM ThinkPad. Barely 4 days down the line, he (and me) experienced one of the most horrific experiences of our lives. It takes a lot of guts on my part to tell you that the Thinkpad was infested by fire ants. Yes, you got that right…fire ants…red ants…call them what you like. They are there inside the laptop, and they are surely feasting on something. You start typing and they just appear from under the keyboard. Its like a horror movie!!!

Found this Google Groups post that confirmed that this was atleast possible. But to actually happen, and that too to us is too much to handle.

The permanent solution??? I doubt if anyone knows. And I just wish someone does. Will post a real “lifelike” picture of this ASAP. In the meanwhile, this should be enough to give you the creeps.

PROTECT YOUR LAPTOPS EVERYONE!!!

The last week of April was really hectic. With so many things happening and so many things going the other way. For those of you who do not know yet, my family is slowly trying to raise its head in the city of Mumbai. My Dad got transferred early April and we are looking out for a flat in the eastern suburb called Chembur.

Shifting from Delhi to Mumbai promises to be a big headache and an unimaginable expenditure. Settled comfortably in Delhi for more than 15 years, this sudden shift brings up lots of difficult issues, the least of which are the actual movement of household stuff. Its moving people which is much more complicated. People who refuse to leave their homes and give up control. They say “home is where the heart is”. Well, the heart should not be so strong and possessive that it holds on even when the time has come to let go.

Bachelors like me (and quite a few of you as well) are quite comfortable with frequent changes like these since the responsibility levels are almost non-existent. But once the responsibilities start growing, you tend to assume some things as given, as unshakeable as rocks or pillars. And it is precisely when these “assumptions” are “moved” or “shaken” (which could take as long as 20-40 years) that you realise how wrong you were and how insecure we all are.

Having said that, there is a silver lining. First I am quite happy that my family is coming nearer to Bangalore. Then, I also know that this major change of residence is needed. In fact, a whole shift in the attitude and lifestyle of my family is required. Historically, all upheavals have led to better times. I hope this one does so too.

Good and bad experiences in matters of locational changes are welcome as comments.

Been trying to migrate this blog to a more rememberable address which of course is blog.dhruv19280.com. As it seems I encountered some problems while doing this. But now things are back to normal.

As some of you might have noticed(or did anyone??) links to previous posts on this blog were not working properly for almost 2-3 days. Just got that corrected. Things should be working great now. If you still have problems reading previous posts, please email me at dhruv19280@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Today is Ugadi here in Bangalore. I have no idea what that means. But I found out that it is the time they celebrate their new year.

Besides, I also found out something about the educational system here in Karnataka. Strange as it may sound but the CET conducted by VTU does not allow students from other states to apply for admissions into colleges here in Karnataka. Hmm…that means that if I am from, say Kanpur, I cannot apply for enginering courses conducted by colleges in Karnataka. What the %^#$%#!!! Why protect education?

If you are an economist like me (who does not know the difference between monopoly and monpolistic) then read more about Protectionism and its effects here. And this is what Wikipedia says about Protectionism.

I still havent told you about the most crucial person in my and my roommates’ lives. His name is Vijay. He determines if any one of us can eat at home every night or not. Thats how crucial he is. Actually he is our cook. Wish I could post a pic of him, but I have none.

Every evening, once I am back from work, I wait impatiently for him to make an appearance. Quite frequently, it is at this time that I post blog entries as well. And thats what I am doing right now. Ever since we started inviting him over at 7PM, he has been quite punctual. And I am sure he will make an appearance exactly at 7:10PM tonite as well. So its just a matter of patience.

But frankly, I am very hungry. And I know I will sooner or later have to give in. The last morsel of food that went into my mouth was almost 5 hours ago. Need something to ramp up my energy levels. Lets see…what do we have here….aaahhhh….nothing!!!!

It was on the 18th itself that I met my D mausaji. He is fit and fine as ever. Age just does not seem to catch up with him. About to marry off his second daughter, he has reached that stage where it is quite irrelevant to him what people think or do. He just does what he wants to do. Met his sister who lives quite close to our home. Had dinner with their family.

He was here on an official trip. Came from Chennai via train and left on Monday(20th) morning by flight to Hyderabad. Thanks to M, who sent across some goojas and cake from her birthday.