Mishap in Cozumel

Well, its been a very long time since I blogged now. Semester 5 exams are on and I have been studying from 12am to 5am in a stretch, sleeping till 12pm, having a bath by 1pm, having lunch at 2pm and watching t.v. till 6pm. This has been my schedule for a few weeks now. And it is yet to continue coz I have to undergo a month long semester 5 examination to successfully become an electrical whacko.

I have been watching National Geographic channel lately n I saw this very interesting half an hour long show which I would like to share with all of you.

In Mexico, there is a small island called Cozumel. It is an Island where tourists crowd to enjoy the bright sun n the cool sea. The island is 48kms long from north to south and 16kms wide. This island has number of endemic species of birds and animals. Animals like raccoons and coatis used to be found in large numbers on this island.

But, since the last 30 years, a number of these animals are vanishing. Consequently, the number of boas in these areas are increasing to a large extent. These boas are making a meal out of these native birds and animals. There are about 3000 boas in Cozumel now. This is a very strange thing. Because, boas never inhabited Cozumel 30 years ago. The question is, where did they come from?

Many biologists tried to find an answer to this question. Some theories suggested that the boas swam across the sea from the mainland to the island. But, that is a very rare possibility. Another theory would be, a female boa which was about to give birth might hav come to the island on a log. However, the trade winds in the region blow from Cozumel towards the mainland Mexico. Trade winds never change their direction of flow. So, even this possibility can be discarded.

However, some natives hinted towards a movie that was shot on the island in 1971. Many animals were used for the movie. On further investigation, it was found that 6 boas were used for the movie and after the movie was shot, the man who was incharge of the animals released the snakes on the island itself. A female boa can give birth to around 40 offsprings in a year. This means that a simple mistake made by the man incharge of the animals has affected Cozumel's entire bio-diversity. Why I am telling all this to you is for a simple reason.

Man and nature have to learn to co-exist. Nature will flourish without man. But, man cannot exist without nature. Man is on the apex of the pyramid(and George W. Bush is at its tip) and if the tip breaks off, the rest of the pyramid will stand but if the base of the pyramid is destroyed, nor will its tip stand erect. We have to learn from the above disaster in Cozumel, that we should not do anything that may affect the biodiversity of a place. So, the next time you pick up anything that belongs to the nature, please return it back to the place where you found it or the place it belongs to. Misplace could be hazardous not only to the animal but also to you.

The superior breed!

Ever since I have opted for engineering, I have made few inferences about this wierd community of people called the engineering students who seem to be talking tech stuff for the first time but later you learn that they are talking crap.

I don't know why, but engineering students always have a feeling of superiority over other students. We believe that we are the better breed of social animals. Even I have had this feeling at times. "BComwale to kuch nahi hain yaar, apan log to engineering kar rahe hain. Wo log to padhte hi nahi." We usually keep comparing ourselves to commerce students, BSc students and arts students. But when medical students crop up, our feet tread backwards, "Yeh medicalwale log to saal bhar sirf padhte rehte hain. Apan dekh padhte bhi hain aur masti bhi karte hain. Balance hona chahiye"

The funny part is, during the judgement days, I mean the submission days, we are so fed up with our lives that we keep saying, "Kaash apan log ne bhi BCom ya BSc kar liya hota!" without realizing that we cursed those very BCom and BSc students with friends. The one month long submissions feel as if joining engineering were the worst decisions we had ever made in our entire lives. Mental pressure and pain in fingers due to writing journals. We engineering students are known to complete our journals and assignments on the last day of submission. So, a semester long of tit-bits pile up into a huge mountain.

The submission times are a havoc. One person completes one journal and forgets about it, because the rest of the class borrows the journal for copying the experiments! After a month long submission tension its time for the bigger tension. The Exams. 20 to 25 days is usually provided as preparatory leave. But we engineering students study only for a week in the end and pass gracefully.

We are true engineering students. Semester long masti, and a month of submission and exams. We know how to manage time really well. We always meet our deadlines! Come what may, we make sure that we have had our part of entertainment. I don't know if you would understand how it feels to us. But I bet a true engineer would!

The superior breed

Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine - The lead guitarist and vocalist of one of the greatest thrash metal bands "MEGADETH"

The best riffs I have ever seen have come out of his fingertips. This guy by what I have read, is a man full of attitude. When I heard Megadeth for the first time, I didn't know that singing Mustaine songs would be difficult. But God save me! He has a very high pitch. It really gives me a headache to sing in his pitch. As far as playing the Guitar goes, you can simply call him the Guitar God! Playing the signature Mustaine riffs and singing in the signature Musataine pitch is not simple. Infact it is not easy at all. There are people who can do it. But no one good enough to stand toe to toe with Mustaine.

I read somewhere that he had broken his hand and he learnt playing guitars all over again. He asked his tutor to teach him scales. The tutor was stunned. Mustaine played him some solos and his tutor told him that he played Pentatonics. If self taught guitarists can be so good, I guess i should stop learning from a teacher myself. But nevermind, he is The Dave Mustaine. He is a gifted human being. Gifted with a wonderful voice, great guitar playing skills and loads of attitude.

For those of you who didn't know, Mustaine played with Metallica long back. James Hettfeild kicked him out due to ego problems. Mustaine formed Megadeth to kick some Metallica rear. I bet if he stayed with Metallica any longer it would be him kicking Lars and James out! All hail Dave Mustaine and may Mustainisms live forever!!!!!

Jinju -The name

Well, many of my friends ask me why my name is Jinju. Well I was born in New Delhi. There lived these lovely people in the neighbouring flat. Mr. Krishanmurthy whom I fondly called "kichchamulthy mama" n Mr. Lakshmi Krishnamurthy whom I called "Lachmi mami" because I couldn't pronounce properly. Well, mami n mama have been like family to us ever since my parents shifted to the flat in Delhi. Mami used to take more care of me than my mother, atleast thats what my mom confesses. And not to forget that I was a very good boy back then and I have never troubled her, not that I am not one now. So when I was born, I don't know what struck mami's mind that she nicknamed me Jinju. I really don't know what it means. And I bet even she doesn't.

Ever since then, there had been a strange grin on my face when anybody asked me what Jinju meant. I was passing through this "What does my nickname mean?" crisis. But last year, things began to change. My sister, sent me an e-mail of something called an ego-search. Well, for those who are ignorant as I was back then, ego-search is basically googling your name. Trust me, it feels so good that it deserves to be called ego search.

I totally forgot about this e-mail. Just a month back the mail struck back to my mind. I began searching Jinju on Google. And believe it or not, there is this cool city in Korea which is called..... u guessed right "Jinju". Oh my God! This thing was really cool!! Moreover, the city's got a sword dance which was designated as an asset on 16th January, thats my birthday! What a coincidence! This city's even got natural history. Its got fossilized dinosaurs and stuff. Jinju is such an ancient name. I bet even mami doesn't know this.

Now I think that if I go to this city, I will be treated like a King. But never mind, I am Ganapati. I am GOD here.

Pictures from top to bottom

1.A picture of the city

2.Sword Dance of Jinju-si

3.A three storeyed Pagoda in the city

The sports day massacre

This incident took place when I was in the 9th standard. It was our school's sports day and we were at the CRPF grounds in Jogeshwari. Not many people had arrived. A group of 30-40 students, principal Fr. Phillip and few teachers were there. Buses were yet to arrive with students.

On the way to the ground, we had seen Hrithik Roshan shooting for a movie. This was the time when the Hrithik craze was at its peak. We all stood watching the shoot until a policeman asked us to leave that place. We went to the ground where our sports day was being held.

On the ground, we were discussing about Hrithik and the shoot. Some said it was an ad shoot, while some said that a movie was being shot. Our principal came towards me and asked me what was going on. I told him that a shooting was going on and Hrithik was starring in it. I had a strange feeling when i said this. He asked me where it was being held. I told him that it was being held at a ground nearby. I had this strange feeling once again, when I spoke. I could hear voices. I looked around. It was then that I realized that Fr. Phillip was holding a microphone in his hand and he was trying to hide it in his robes. And I could hear my voice through the PA. All the students started laughing. I said "SHIT!!!" and the word echoed all over the ground. Silence spread all over the ground. Fr. Phillip stared at me and started laughing. Every one laughed once again.

I was really embarassed. When the rest of the students arrived, the other students made sure that even they knew what had happened. It didn't take a long time for everyone to know what had happened. Thanks to God, they forgot about this incident in a day or two. Nobody spoke about it at school the next day!!!

Adding fuel to fire can burn hands

I suddenly am reminded of this incident which took place maybe a decade ago. This was the time when I was still living in Hyderabad with my parents. There was this notorious but really smart guy called Vasu. He was 2 years elder to me. He was standing with two of my friends, Prakash and Shashank.

Prakash called Shashank an idiot. Vasu said,"Oh my god!! He called idiot!!" Then Shashank called Prakash stupid. Vasu said,"Oh no!! He called u stupid!!" Prakash and Shashank were fighting and Vasu was adding fuel to fire. I saw this and thought this was fun!!!!

I went one of my friends and told her that a little girl called her stupid. She said, that the little girl was stupid to have said that to her. Now, it was my time to act like the Narad muni. I went to the little girl and said that my friend called her stupid. Before I could say anything else she started crying and ran home and before I could think, she brought her mother down.

Her mother pulled my friend to her parents. My friend came to my home to complaint to my parents. She was a smart girl and she knew that it was all done by me. My dad beat me up badly. I was really ashamed for what I had done. But deep inside I knew that doing something like that needed guts of immense proportions. I was feeling heroic like Mangal Pandey deep inside because my friends were peeping into our house from the door and watching me get beaten up by my parents. And amongst all my friends, there stood Vasu. He is really a very smart guy to have escaped without getting beaten up, I thought to myself.

Poor girl, she cried a lot. I really feel bad for my friend even today. I don't know if she remembers the incident. I am not specifying her name. If she does remember she will really be surprised to read my side of the story, because no one knew why I did that, but me!!!