Jaipur Trip - SKIT & Amber fort

Ah...time to pen down some thoughts of our short visit to Jaipur yesterday, to attend a national conference on telecommunication at Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology (SKIT). We started at 5:30 AM (sharp) in two Innovas and broke our fast at hotel Maharaja in Behror, at 120km from Delhi. After refreshing ourselves with parathas, omlettes and tea, we picked up Anaconda-2 CDs for the 9.5'' LCD snugly fitted to the ceiling of our Innova for the rest of the trip. How time flew! The star cast on the screen and shops of Jaipur started appearing together when we realized that we had reached Ramnager (in Jaipur) where SKIT was supposed to be situated as per printed sheet of Google Maps (with proper driving directions) that we carried. Unfortunately, the natives seemed to disagree with Google and we were deftly directed to Jagatpura (with its own Ramnagaria) where SKIT was actually located.

Prof. Kar delivered spell-binding talk on the price and burden that telecom levies on us while bestowing its blessings. I was especially impressed by the part where he talked about the difference between maintaining fast-depleting social connections (and relations) over the notion of staying connected that is obsessively glorified by telecom.

Post lunch, we headed back to Delhi stopping briefly to peep into the Amber (also pronounced as Amer) fort, the abode of Raja Mansigh et al. Our guide explained the organization of the fort and palaces with excruciating detail. He was more in awe of the remnants than us though we took in every bit of what he said with child-like innocence. He took about one hour to show us through Diwane Aam, twelve palaces of the queens, Sheesh Mahal, royal kitchen and what not, with all designs and sculptures on and around them heavily influenced by both Hindu and Mughal art in close unison. Mesmerised, we headed to Delhi, stopping on our way at Maharaja for dinner and of course to pick up the CDs of Commando for the return trip. After that we gaped at Arnold till we reached IIT. How time flies!

Go Kiss the World!

Just finished reading this masterpiece of an autobiography. Just 'Go Get it' and 'Kiss the World'! What a way to start the new year!

Chennai Trip

That was one nice trip to Chennai. Made a lot of friends and visited the fantastic Besant Nagar and Thiruvanviyur beaches. The seemingly unending return (train) trip helped me finish "The 3 Mistakes of my life" and "One night @ the call center".

Reach for the Clouds with Ubuntu 9.10

Got the first taste of Ubuntu 9.10 and Cloud Computing. Reliance NetConnect simply works out of the box. Just loving it!

A conclusive trip to Vellore

Hello World! Welcome to my desk! Being a computer engineer, this is presumably the best way to introduce myself.

I have just returned from VIT University, Vellore and what I had expected to be just a pleasant break from my regular schedule turned out to be much more. Impeccable hospitality, excellent accommodation and food, and brilliant conference arrangements, with 1st year undergrads popping in their heads every now and then to ensure everything is ok. What can I say, words fail me....