The renaming of Riaan Rodrigues !!

Wheeew...its been such a long time since ive blogged....good lord !!!!.....well its now almost 4 weeks into lectures at WIMWI....and its been one hell of an experience so far.....I am btw, in Dorm 'unnees'...well most dorms are known out here as D1 or D6...etc....mine is spsd to be a desi dorm so it is called just 'unnees'.....and yes i'm on the new campus...which means bigger rooms...less insects(ie few mosquitoes.... :D)....and being closer to the classrooms......got a nice bunch of tuchchas in my dorm....pretty helpful chaps......Now I must introduce you to another WIMWI tradition.....the dorm name.....well guys this is really serious stuff....out here at WIMWI, we are not known by our real names.....well very few of us are....we get something called dorm names....its the resposnibility of our tuchchas to give us our names....just to explain to u how serious this thing is...well....if u guys have ever read articles abt former HLL chief MS Banga in the papers...u would notice that they normally print it as MS 'vindi' banga.....well vindi is his dorm name....and he is still known as vindi in corporate circles!!!......now like i told some of u guys before i left....every dorm has its own culture(like my desi dorm)...and with it come traditions....its a tradition of unnees to name the fachchas..."xyz " Singh...yeah my dorm is the only one that dishes out a surname( it is and always will be 'singh') as well....and the name will be one that serves no other purpose than embarassment !!!....infact the entire campus eagerly awaits the naming ceremony of the unnees fachchas every year!!!.....so lets cut to the chase......my dorm name is ...brace urselves.....ready......."Chuchcha Singh" !!!....yeah yeah laugh ur guts out.....but its certainly better than what some of my fellow dormmates got.....sussu singh, potty singh, khada singh, nirodh singh, orgy singh, semen singh, tevadia singh ( shainu u shud get this one),....etc :D....


neway guys i guess ill wrap up here...below are some photos...keep visiting this space for more stuff....





A shot from my dorm.......rgt opposite is dorm 22....the row of buildings on the right are the classrooms/seminar rooms....each building has one classroom on the frst flr and a seminar room on the grnd flr....



.... of Unnees !!

...and from my balcony......you can see the entrance to the undergrnd tunnel in the left bottom ....we gotta take it to get to the new campus.....its goes under the road u see in the pic.....the tower in the rgt top part of the pic is on the old campus....u can also the wall of the new campus.....

Adios Bombay...well just for now !!!!

Wheew...its been so long since I have blogged...even though I have well...been ..."Jobless"..for the last 2-3 weeks, there have been the loose ends that i have had to tie up.....the bank work, the attestations, the last minute shopping,the reordering of all my documents, the goodbyes and the dinners that go along with them. Its been a boring(well the dinners werent boring... :D ) but not empty 20 days.....
I leave for gujjuland on the 19th....yeah just a few more days.....cant wait to walk around the Louis Kahn plaza, to spend my first day in the dorm.....
This is certainly gonna be an experience of a kind for me.....its the first time I will be away from Home for sooo long.....yeah I get to keep my room as dirty as I want :P , can sleep late...can live like a real "Bachelor".....ofcourse I will be leaving family and friends back, but its just 2 yrs...and like I said it wud be a different experience.....and ofcourse I almost forgot..WIMWI has a Bball court, tennis courts, baddy courts....TT tables(plenty of them), a football grnd and a crkt grnd.....oohhhlala !!...just one prob...acc to our seniors we wont have the time to make full use of them, yeah acc to them, the only thing for a fachcha(frst yr student at WIMWI) to do is to to "magoo". When I met them at the IIMA meet at Bombay, I was askin them how much time we wud get to play everyday....and one of them just gave me that look...u know..the one that says "You poor ignorant bugger !!!!..You are just like me one yr ago...all hopeful, all excited.....they r gonna eat u up alive.." and he just said sympathetically," Well, it depends on your time management.." I mean, seriously these guys were tellin us that they study for at least 8-9 hrs everyday.......I can understand doin it for one day when there is a lot of pressure on you...but everyday!!!!...its scarin the crap out of me !!!
All the same I am really lookin forward to the WIMWI experience keep checkin this place for info on it :P ......next post in Ahmedabad !!
Cya guys !!

They found me !!!!

Well, for the first part of the blog, I'll let the picture do the talking.....


Glory, Glory Man Utd !!!

ok...now to the other half....Ladies and Gents...I have been discovered...Remember that post abt all the crazy stuff I did as a kid and abt how I have to hear abt that all the time at family functions....
Well, it just so happened that my uncle Conrad decided to search the internet to find out what his notorious nephew was upto and wala!!...google returned by blog page !!!! and more importantly it returned that very post abt how the family keeps reminding me of my behaviour as a kid.....so on Saturday during a dsilva meet....I not only had to contend with the usual horrifying flashbacks but also with the family discussing my blog entry on the very same thing !!!
I really need to be careful abt my posts now.. :P

The First Bihari !!!

In the beginning, the land of Kings, of the Buddha and of learning lay in peace. Men loved their women, women loved their shopping and the Gods as usual didn't give a hoot. But Loki the God of mischief looked down and saw that all was not good.Loki realised that he needed to send down a conman, a trickster, someone in his own likeness(not image) to save the people from boredom.So he picked up some clay and fashioned a man..stout, with the hair of Diana ross and a brain that can be described as relatively brilliant. Loki looked at this man he called Einstein and realised he was not what he wanted."We will send you to Facist Germany...that should be fun!!" he said and with a puff of smoke Einstein vanished and crashed into the fatherland. Then Loki again set to work, but he made a few mistakes....there was an arnold that he cursed never to be back, there was Ross who he cursed to marry a lesbian and an Arab sheikh who he cursed never to think!!!...but finally it came out right ....just as he wanted...he was brown,had hair that could never be combed, a belly of a laughing Buddha and the wit to charm the ignorant...that was it...Loki looked at him and said," You are the chosen one. You shall save my land from boredom
and predictability. From now on you shall be called Laloo...and you shall be...the first BIHARI."

Laloo was born into the Prasad family and therefore came to be known as Laloo Prasad.His childhood was a very normal one...punctuated though with acts of brilliance...like the time when he left his family at the age of twelve to contest in the annual cow milking festival in Patna. The elders were astonished with his speed and the skill with which he charmed the
animal....legend has it that he used something he called "orbait whaait" to do the same....

When Laloo reached the age of 40 he knew the time had come....his gaurdian trickster Loki had appeared to him 5 years earlier and had given him the effort estimation of the creation of Bihar...it was to begin when he was 40...and was to take 7 days...
So Laloos first act was to create BAST( Bihari Accepted Standard Time)..which incidentally he thought was the spelling for Best. By the standard, 1 year of IST was to be converted to 1 day of BAST. Now Laloo had 7 years to erect Bihar !!!

Laloo woke up one fine morning and rushed to the back of his house where the bulls and cows were. And Laloo said.." Go forth and Multiply.." and the cows continued to chew their cud...another looked at bulls and slid onto the hay.....so Laloo took out his can of Axe and sprayed the Deo all over the bulls and within minutes....well...too graphic to describe....u know what i mean....( any young boys/girls readin this go home and ask ur parents what happened..). So within a year the streets of Patna were teeming with bulls...here a Moo..there a Mooo...everywhere a Moooo MOooo.( Now we know where the term bullshit was
coined)The first part of his triple-headed mission was complete.

In the second year(day accordingto BAST)..Laloo was sitting under a tree when one of crows crapped on him...he knew it..it was another sign from Loki...He had to find a staple food for his people. He searched long and Hard the whole day(IST)...but nothing ...nothing was good enough and he finally collapsed on the ground near what the locals called a paan shop.. It was owned by a man called Nitish Kumar.... Nitish handed Laloo some paan and Laloo beamed with delight..."Come...follow me and I will make you rich...This will be our staple." said Laloo..So Nitish and Laloo opened paan shops at every nook and corner of Bihar..and from there...paan shops went to Bombay, Delhi, Lucknow....etc..Lalism was spreading !!
The second part was completed just under 2 years(IST).

But Laloo wanted more power...how else could he shape Bihar according to Loki??...how else could he establish the Third Wreck?? He had read about "Robain Hoood" and wanted to emulate him....what a noble idea he thought...rob from the rich and give the poor...but he wanted his own mark on it...Laloo had to be written all over it...so was born extortion. And thus Laloo and his men became rich....Extortion was hailed by the communists as a great economic leveller..Laloo was getting stronger politically !!

By the fifth year(IST)everything had fallen into place....people abducted bulls, men extorted from the rich paanwalas and Loki was rolling in laughter...Laloo smiled as he looked on...after all he had completed his task 2 days early !!!

PN: Laloo went on to become chief minister of Bihar...one of the first things he implemented was BAST. There is a story about him marrying a certain Rabri that has been debated all over India...Infact one story says that he and Rabri had many kids...who are still protected by the Municipality of Patna...to ensure that anarchy continues in Bihar !!! Only his trusted henchmen ..the gundaas of Ranchi know this secret.(also known as the secret of the Bullshit.)

[the above story is not intended to make fun of people from any part of India.......I hope the readers of this post see the funny side of it all....]

A Bittersweet Week....

Well...first the good part....I have RESIGNED from TCS...my last day will be the 31st of May...what a relief...IIFT wants the first payment by the 27th of April so with IIM results coming out in mid April...it seems all ok....But the biggest achievement for me was resigning on MONDAY Morning...yeah...I had this planned for God knows how long......ever since I took the CAT I dreamt of resigning on a monday mornin....for 18 bloody months the stupid day slapped me, kicked me....and dragged me to work...now it was time for revenge!!!!...so even though I got intimation abt the IIFT result in mid-week...I waited for a few days just so that I could slap Monday for a change...so it was decided..even though I had a UAT that day...and worked the previous day....I made it by 9:30 in the morning to the fort office...so that my first act of the day in office could be my resignation....sooooo sweeeet!!..well my PL wasnt so taken aback..I guess she was expecting something to happen sooner or later....so I gave her the letter and even though she said that she didnt need a copy..I insisted and gave her another signed copy....I felt like I was rubbing it in for Mr. Monday now...It felt sooooo wonderful !!!

Now for the bitter part...well, unfortunately..this week has seen me work like a freakin dog!!..2 night outs in the last four days(2day inc) and approx 60 hrs of work so far(2 consec 19 hr days)..so considering that will I be working on Saturday too..this week will most probably be the longest working week for me ever!!!...hmmm.. talk abt extremes!! what a way to start..what a way to end !!

Anyway..now just hopin for the best and looking forward to dumping work on my juniors ..hehehe....:D

Cant think of a title for this one.....

My life so far can be divided into 2 major segments...the first when I was a kid.....made a hell of a lot of mischief, troubled everyone I met...and the second when I became a little older and had to(still do) have to hear about it from everybody who knew me during the first part!!!....yeah for those of you who have only known me only for a few yrs..well apparently I was a crazy little imp when I was small!!....You just need to come for a D'Silva or a Rodrigues get-together and you'll know....It normally happens around lunch/dinner or a little after that...like any family get-together(I'm sure u must have all had this experience), now the drinks have settled down nicely in everyone's bellies...the women have finished their gossiping...the men have finished discussing sports...and then its time for the elders to discuss who would be next in line to get married!!!...and since I've shown no promise in that area so far....they begin to dig into my notorious past!!!....somebody just has to drop the idea of a 3-4 yr old Riaan and then it begins..."My God...I remember him running after his Aunt Judy's wedding cake!!!"..."Remember the time he told his KG teacher that he could see her panty...???" and "Oh..My..how he troubled the air hostess on the plane!!!"...sheeeesh!!!.....It is at this point that I make quiet getaway if possible to another part of the house...any outsider hearing all this for the first time would wonder whether I was sent to boot camp to change into the person I am today!!....but quite frankly I think coming to India had something to do with it..what exactly.. I do not know ..but the changeover began when we moved here....every experience teaches you something...I remember the TCS ILP as one example...that was the first time that I was away from home for a considerable time....I remember being in awe of everyone there...they were all so focussed on their careers...In this respect, I on the other hand was more like a drunken fool wandering through a forest and getting smacked on the forehead by branches and bumping into tree trunks every now and then....people saw a different side of me there.....just read by scrapbook and you'll understand....even I found out things that I didnt know about myself....for one I never knew how exhilarating it could be to sit in the front of the rickshaw next to the driver and poke your head out like a canine...I didnt know that I had an interest in photography until I met machcha...didnt know that literature could be interesting until I met Niraj....and I never knew I was so shameless so as to simultaneously drink banana juice and dance on one leg to the tune of "Hail banana..." sung by my friends at the local juice center while the locals(in bubaneswar) in at the center looked on wondering what to make of the whole show(It was the second last day of ILP and everyone thought that I was dead drunk with the celebrations..).....Yes I know It may seem that I'm gettin all nostalgic about my ILP...just trying to cite an example though....I await the next experience that will change my life and my personality!!!

OF ROBOTS AND MEN

Characters

Homer

Donald Trump(Trump):Chairman of the FIRM

Marvin the robot

PB: phoebe Buffet

SC: Simon Cowell

Kramer: Well, as you all know by now, Azhar has left THE FIRM.
PB: And why did he leave....was it because of Simon's rude comments??
Kramer: No, he fell for the ZEROX offer...so he has left for Hyderabad..
Trump: I didnt know Xerox has a branch in Hyderabad???...btw they make the best photocopiers
Kramer: No..No..this is Xerox witha Z ..you see ZEROX...
Trump: Ahh yes...my previous hairstylist quit to join them!!!
Kramer: Yours too??...Hmmm
SC:So I'll begin scouting for someone else??
Kramer: No, I have already done that..
SC: Hey, why dont you take my advice on these matters?
Trump: Cos...nobody is ever good enough for you..you are always cribbin ..you arent a team player!!!..you need to step it up...
SC:Oh C'mon...I'm a nice person....people just cant handle my constructive critisicm!!
Kramer: Anyway, I would like you to meet the CFO of the firm....but before that I must say that as an organisation we must move forward...and as my guru says..we need to decrease dependencies on the human kind..
Homer:who is your guru anyway??
Kramer: Err..umm..a man by the name of ...errr...Vonnostran...
PB: Oh i've heard of him....He's goooood
Kramer: So taking his advice..I have made my selection...members of the firm...meet Marvin !!!!
Marvin: Introductions!!!...they are so depressing!!!
Homer: hey cool we got a Robot!!..hey hey...can u stand on your head??
Marvin: Yeah i suppose...when you have a brain the size of a planet..i suppose you can..
Homer: and can you juggle 10 balls at one time?
Trump: So you are a genius eh??...We'll see how you perform here..
Kramer: I'm sure he will do well..He is a robot generations ahead of his time!!!
Trump: Ok for your first task..you will tally this restaurant bill of mine..(hands him the bill)
Marvin: Wonderful!!!...a million computations a second and he gives me a bill to tally!!!
Trump: You know what Marvin...ever since you stepped in this office you have been nothing short of depressing..you are a negative influence on the team and Mavin..you're fired!!!
Marvin: Oh my ...and what on earth will I do if I cant tally your bills..
Kramer: STOP IT ALL OF YOU!!!...I'M TRYING TO WORK THINGS OUT HERE AND YOU KEEP ARGUING!!!....I WONT HAVE ANY OF IT...I WOOOOOOONT!!!
Homer:hey Marvin can you shake your head like Kramer just did??
PB: oh shut up Homer!!
SC: I'll give you a burger if you agree to shut up for the rest of this meeting...
Homer:Ok...munch...munch..
PB:Poor Marvin!!!...
SC: poor Marvin??...what happens when I'm abused??
PB: Oh..that's ok...
Marvin: So you hate me too SC??
PB: Nobody hates you Marvin..
SC: I do..
Kramer: Look...everyone...Marvin is here to stay and he is a valuable asset to our organisation...
SC: Yeah...100 bucks of metal!!!!
Kramer:daaaaaaahh... THIS MEETING IS OVER..FINISHED....FINITO...OUT ALL OF YOU OOOOUUT!!!
Trump:Thats it all of you out!!...and I think you all have potential!!

Origins

Okay so I was preparing for any questions that I could be asked in my interviews...One of the questions they could ask me was about my community of east indians...I started reading stuff on the net and a book a neighbour gave me entitled "The East Indians" by E.Baptista...what I found was absolutely startling...Now, most of us catholics here are under the impression that christianity was brought to India by St. Thomas and the people of Kerala or more specifically those on the malabar coast were the first ones to hear the good news. I always assumed that we east indians being Rodrigues',Dsilvas,Fernandes',Dsouzas..etc were converted by the portuguese and therefore the portuguese brought Christianity to us...Well, the first part is true
but the latter is wrong... all wrong..What I found was absolutely astonishing!!!
Now, we all know that St. Thomas preached to the people of Malabar and there starts the history of the Orthodox church in India. But, what we dont know is that historians are almost certain that St. Bartholomew visited Norhtern Konkan. Infact it is said that he met his death at Kalyana (Kalyan) where he was skinned and crucified.Also Pantaneus, some religious head from Alexandria visited north konkan in 189 AD and apparently found a group of christians wih the gospel of Mathew in Hebrew, most probably one left behind by St. Bartolomew himself.This is according to 2 ecclesiastical writers of the 3d and 4th centuries ..Eusebius and St. Jerome. However, there is this dispute amongst historians as to what "india" meant in the texts of those
times...Very often Ethiopia and Arabia was confused with India. Thankfully, Eusebius had made references to the practice of Sati, while St. Jerome referred to India as the land of the Brahmins..clearing up some of the confusion.Moreover, Kosmas, a sailor, visited India in the sixth century and wrote that he saw a christian community in Calliana ( Kalyan). So, this means
that christianity reached not only the malabar coast, but could have also reached the north konkan coast as early as the first century....much before it reached countries like England and Ireland!!!!. However, this wasnt a Roman Catholic church...The North Konkan(NK) was under the church of Persia...yup an eastern church...Now here is where the confusion
begins...Apparntly the church of Persia turned to Nestorianism in 800 AD..The question is..what happened to the christians in the NK???..Friar Jordanus visited India in 1321...He was incidentally the first missionary from Rome to visit India with 4 others who were martyred at 'Thana' (Thane). He took their bodies for burial to 'Sopara'..yes..sopara as in Nalasopara!!

* Sopara incidentally was a religious and cultural centre. Buddhism and Christianity were flouishing there. The old testament refers to Ophir as the place from Solomon got his Gold. Well, Historians believe that Ophir became Sophir to Sophara to Sopara!!!!*

Jordanus wrote that he found a few christians scattered here and there, unbaptised and not sure of the doctrine..they even thought that St. Thomas was christ. When he began to baptise people though, hundreds came forward!!! This could mean that christians held on to their faith but since the church of persia sent no priests, they were left without sacraments. Also The muslim rulers had destroyed quite a bit of the churches in NK, taking with them part of the christian community. The Portuguese on the other hand say that when they arrived in NK, it was a nestorian church that existed there. They went about comverting these christians to Roman Catholics. Historians also believe that there were Nestorian churches in Daman which were destroyed by the Moghuls. So, that means Nestorianism did reach the shores of India. Nobody is sure if the early christians of St. Bartholomew actually converted to Nestorianism or whether the portuguese used it as an excuse to convert them to 'European Christians'. Nobody is even sure if the Muslim rulers managed to wipe out the christian communities of NK creating a break in between.

But one thing is for sure....my ancestors could have been some of the first christians on the earth and they heard the good news from an Apostle of Christ!!!