Karthik’s Reception Pics

My Bro Karthik, got married on Sep 28th, 2006 in Chennai, TamilNadu. Somehow I tried to limp here and there on that day. Have a look at the pics and do add your comments

Family Pic (From left – Priya Bhabi, Mom, Dad, Karthik and me (standing)).

With my friends (From left – Britto, Me, Shashi, and his wife).

For more pics, check http://picasaweb.google.com/sara14/KarthikSReceptionPics

Funny Auto Incident in Pune

This incident happened in June/July 2003, when I was working in Chennai. Well that was the first time I am travelling to Pune. A s/w company requested me to come to Pune for a final interview. My friend promptly arrived at the railway station and picked me up in the morning.

We drove in his scooter to his room, I got freshened up and was ready to go to the company for the interview.

I asked him how should I go to the company? He said catch an auto and  pay the meter I was very much surprised, well coming from Chennai, you can know the reason. My company was located near NDA-Pashan road and my friends place was close to the railway station.

Somehow I took an auto and started my journey. Well, the auto meter was similar to Chennai (I am not sure if it was heated, like they do in chennai – to make the meter run like a cheetah). Surprisingly, the meter was running damn slow. My journey took almost one hour and the meter was running very slow. That is when I decided, if I get a job in Pune, I will travel only in Autorickshaws ).

I reached my company and saw the meter reading. It read 17 rupees and 40 paise. So, happily I gave 20 bucks to the driver and asked him to keep the change. He gave a funny look at me and said “give me 100 bucks”. I was like WTF? I said…”dude, read the meter, it says 17 under rupees and 40 under paise and on top of that I gave you 20 bucks and asked you to keep the change. So why should I give you 100 bucks”. I told him that he is cheating me.

That’s when he took some table/chart (similar to our log table) and said the readings are not rupees and paise, but the km reading. I said he is cheating me. But the table read for 17.5 km the amount is 90 bucks, I dunno the damn calculation for it

I tried to argue with him and that’s when he started howling at me and shooted some Marathi gaalis. I did not want to create a scene, so gave him 100 bucks and cursed him (of course, within myself).

I went inside the company and met the HR. I narrated the incident and he said, the driver is right (I cursed myself ) .

So, if anybody is leaving to Maharasthra for the first time, do take care of these

Apart from this Pune is a fantastic place, if you guys have been to MG road in Bangalore, you can see a similar place in Pune also. Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi

Latest pic…

Most of them were asking me about my latest status, etc…I thought of adding my latest pic to the album, so you guys can atleast have a look

Thanks to by friend Britto, who took this pic in the hospital before discharging and thanks to Sandy for accompanying him…hehe

Don’t get frightened at the image, it is just a knee brace….I should not bend my knee for few more weeks, otherwise the operation was done on my knee and there are only three small holes which are binded together by a skin stapler

Updated status is that I am able to walk with less weight bearing, still need to walk with single crutch only.

So, me have booked my tickets to Delhi on October 4th. Main reason is that I have my first semester MBA end exams on Oct 5, 6 and 7… I have missed the classes for a month and I dont want to miss the exams too. My dad is gonna come with me and stay till december. We are coming back to Chennai on December coz the doc need to remove the stapler that is placed inside my knee which binds the ligament to the root.

After that will be normal, from January 2007 Till that time I am not supposed to ride by cruiser

Arthroscopic Surgery on my right knee

I underwent an arthroscopic surgery on my right knee (Sep 13, 2006). After the surgery, the doctor gave us a video cassette containing the video clipping of the surgery Since nowadays we dont use VCR anymore, we had to convert it to a DVD.

There were three complications in my right knee…

1. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) – tear
2. Medial meniscus tear
3. Lateral Condyle tear – Femur

All three were corrected with this surgery.

But before, just a small insight of the surgery and injuries

In the above image, you can see how the knee is placed and surgical instruments are inserted in the knee. They insert three pen sized surgical instruments on the knee, one is for illumination (using OFC cables) and camera, other is for flushing and using suction to remove the wastages, last one is to insert surgical instruments like knife, scraper, etc to perform the operation.

This image shows the longitudinal tear of the medial meniscus. Exactly what happened in my right knee They debrided the tear, where they cleaned the tear and placed it back in the same position.

In the above image, you can see the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. In my right knee, this ligament teared from the root (Tibia). So, they have planted it back to the root with a help of Avulsion stapler Oh that reminds me – I need to undergo another surgery in December to remove the stapler

The lateral condyle tear was debrided and scraped.Hope you enjoyed the caps, do add your comments. I really enjoyed the video, it was like a movie, and the climax was too good )

If you folks need the full video, let me know…will try to upload it

India vs West Indies – DLF Cup – 20 Sep, 2006

It happens only in Cricket – Expect the unexpected.

India won the toss and opted to bat. Top order as usual collapsed. At the end of 20 overs India were 78/6. Thankfully, Sachin and Harbhajan had a wonderful partnership. Unfortunately, Sachin got run out at 65 and India collapsed very soon. Final scores read 162 all out in 40 overs.

West Indies had a good start but after 10 overs wicket started trembling. WI were 63-6 at the end of 23rd over (India were 78/6 at the end of 20 overs ). Wickets kept falling at regular intervals until Lara came as 8th down. It was really shocking to see Lara playing in the lower order. After Lara’s entry, the ball started kissing the boundary rope very often.

It was really a close call, when the scores read 20 runs in 10 overs with two wickets remaining. But then Harbhajan and Sreesanth helped India to scalp the last two wickets thereby getting India’s first win in this tournament. India won by 16 runs. Harbhajan Singh (8-0-35-3) was adjudged Man of the Match for taking 3 crucial wickets.

Unfortunately, India could not get the extra point, so the points table looks (read Played – Win – Loss – Draw/No Result – Points):

• West Indies 4 – 2 – 2 – 0 – 10
• Australia 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 7
• India 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 6

For sure, India needs to win the last match against Australia on Sep 22, 2006.
Do share your valuable comments regarding this match.

Five Point Someone – Book Review

• Book Name – Five Point Someone
• Author – Chetan Bhagat
• Pages – 270
• Publishers – Rupa & Co
• Price (India): Hardcover Rs 295, Paperback Rs 95

Five Point Someone (FPS) – One of the best novels, that I’ve ever read. I was completely bowled over by this 270 paged journey of an IIT-ian.

The book comes with the subtitle – “what not to do at IIT!”. It is a story about the three friends who join IIT, Delhi (Mech), how they spent their four years and played with the college system.

The three wheels represent the three friends and the lonely flower represents a girl. Yes, you are right. The novel also talks about love and sentiments

This picture is not in the book, but I took it from http://www.fivepointsomeone.com/thebook/cover.html

You might wonder why I added the second picture. Well, they have special meaning, the ice-creams, letter, marlboro, and keychains…all these items play a major role in the novel

I normally have this policy, for any novel, read one chapter per day but then for FPS, I could not wait to read till the last page and I did it, few minutes back.

Three friends Alok, Ryan and Hari, live in the same hostel. From day one they became friends. The usual tussle, arguments, fights happen between these friends. That’s when a gal Neha, enters into Hari’s life. Soon they both become friends…

During their first sem, all three get grades ranging from 5.01 – 5.88 (that explains the book title Five Point Someone ). They decide how to beat the system and get good grades and they do it for the next two years.

Before reaching their final year, they come across lotsa troubles (interesting…). Finally did they passout of the college or not…do read the book

Eyes were moistening, when I was relating most of the incidents with my college (REC, Warangal) incidents. It was a great nostalgic moment

Things that I missed out in my college:

• I should have jogged near the staff quarters instead of jogging in the ground
• I was a pure tee-totaller, no smoking grass, no vodka, no g/f’s (I remain the same)
• Never had too mucha ice-creams coz I was easily affected by tonsils (But last June 2005, got it operated finally…phewy)

Some similar incidents:

• I was also one of the five-pointer in my college
• Spent first three years, enjoying life and studied hard in the final year
• Big foodie and active movie-goer

After long years, I can proudly say that I am also a five-pointer

If you folks have read the book, do share your feelings by commenting in this blog. If you have not yet read the book, please do so

Australia vs West Indies – DLF Cup – 18 Sep, 2006

Dramatic finish by West Indies. Australia went on with a bad start losing early wickets but Michael Hussey on his debut captainship was able to hit a well deserved ton (109 in 90 balls). Australia made a good total of 272/6 at the end of 50 overs.

West Indies came out, though they were off with a bad start, later Chris Gayle and Brian Lara made a terrific partnership before Gayle was caught by Hussey off Watson. Brian Lara was playing solid with the ball scattering all over the ground. Unfortunately at 88, he was caught by Hussey off Lee. The last ODI hundred made by Lara was in January 2005, against Pakistan in Adelaide.

Last 10 overs saw few wickets falling, but finally WI won by 3 wickets at the end of 47.2 overs. Man of the Match was Mike Hussey for his amazing hundred.

With this win, the points tally looks (read Played – Won – Lost – Draw/No result – Points):

• Australia 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 7
• West Indies 3 – 2 – 1 – 0 – 10
• India 2 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 2

West Indies are already qualified to play in the Finals.

It implies that India has to win all the games to reach the Final. India plays against West Indies on Sep 20th and against Australia on Sep 22nd.

If India wins both the matches (with extra points), the points tally looks:

• India 4 – 2 – 1 – 1 – 12
• WI 4 – 2 – 2 – 0 – 10
• Aus 4 – 1 – 2 – 1 – 7

Hope India wins both the matches

Go India Go!!! (of course to the finals and not out of the tournament )

India vs Australia – DLF Cup

It was a nice show by Indians when they restricted Australia to 244 in 50 overs. I guess it is one of the rare occasions for Australia to get all out and score less than 250 in 50 overs Bhajji was the pick of the bowler getting three wickets.

India was off with a bad start, Dravid 0 for 11 balls and Sachin trying to do some change in the scoreboard. Rain God showed His presence for few minutes and when the play resumed, Indian wickets started falling like ten pins. Johnson was bowling amazingly well. His bowling figures read 4 overs – 4 wickets.

Luckily, this time the Rain God helped India by interrupting the play. The match was abandoned and 2 points were given to each team.

India has two more matches to play, hope they make good use of that.

Tai Chi – Yin & Yang

I am sure you folks must be knowing about Tai Chi. It is chinese equivalent for our Indian yoga.

There are three levels or speed in which you do the exercises. The fastest speed is used for attack/defence in fights. The other slow speeds are used to energize your body.

This works with the principle of Yin and Yang. Tai Chi exercise is to blend yourself with nature and enjoy it

Where does the Yin and Yang symbol come from?

To know more about Yin and Yang, check the wikipedia site for Yin and Yang

Auto Driver – Hyderabad Vs Chennai

I had travelled to Hyderabad recently during August end. While returning to the airport, I took an autorickshaw. That guy was very genuine, asked a nominal amount and as soon as I get down he said, “Happy Journey, Sir”. I was thrilled, I thanked him and came to the airport.

This incident was striking me for many days and that is when I thought of Chennai drivers

Even before you get into the Auto, you will have a great fight in finalizing the amount. After that I wonder how many auto guys wish you when you get down Till the time you reach your destination you need to hold your breath

If you guys had any such terrific experiences, let me know