Science. It works, bitches.

I saw this (pic, see it!) on the internets (on Reddit infact) yesterday. My first reaction was - it's not possible. It's just not. It had to be glued or something.

But curiosity happens. I spent an hour with a paper and pencil trying to work out the physics behind it. At 6 AM, i had finally constructed my own version of it (using only a stick and my pocket-knife). Here it is:

Doesn't it seem impossible? The rod sticks out with no apparent support to hold it up! The only torque is downwards! How is it staying there? But there is no glue or anything. It is simply mechanics.

(Original concept by PhilixBefore. Free body diagram by omicron8.)

Harishchandragad – The First Trek

Harishchandragad. The very very first trek we did. Certainly it was one of the more difficult treks I've done (perhaps only Kulang was more rigorous), it was not particularly green either. And we were lost and sans-water "almost-dead" too. But if this trek had not been so amazing, so much fun, then I would never have gone on those hundreds of other ones.

Now I wonder if I would ever have got to know Krishna and KP so well, and Ankoor Das at all, had we not gone on this trek.

Junta. (L to R):

Jerome, PD, Me, Das, (who is that?), KP, Krishna (photographer)

Ummmmm... Yeah. We're lost.

Konkankada. What an Insane drop!

Ah Waters! We have waters again!

The valley as we crossed hills

KP's bullock cart. :)

It would have been so cool to write down those "Trek Diaries" we always said we would but never got around to doing. Maybe I should do it for real this time.

Happy 4th Birthday, Dear Blog

I'm simply amazed that this blog has not died. I started it so long ago, back in my third year in IIT. Blogging was just becoming a fad back then and I had decided to give it a try. So did a lot of other people, almost everyone I know.

As the fad passed, the internets was littered with dead blogs, and many phoenixy ones as well. Luckily, this one survived. Over 4 years, I've written a little more than 200 posts - approximately 1 a week.

For me, this blog is a very special. It's one of those few hobbies or pastimes or whatever that I have kept alive for any length of time. Over these four years it really has become a sort of diary, a place where I can return to see what I thought and felt over the years.

There was a point when I almost abandoned it. Around December 2006 to April 2007 I wrote not a single post. I was bored. I didn't feel like posting. It's not like I had anything substantial to say anyway.

Luckily I discovered Maya, Vue and Apophysis in April 2007, and mediocre CG artwork drove the next many post-lets. That and shady cribbu posts. I am very cribbu. I remember they wrote that in my valfi as well.

Now, I post once in a while. A sort of whenever type of thing. I'm quite sure that this blog won't perish now. It's passed that point. I'm happy for that.

Wow, it's really been 4 years.

Happy Birthday, dear Blog. And a big Thank You to all those who still read it... I wonder how many still do...

Naneghat

Krishna, KP and I had trekked to Naneghat sometime this August.

I need a Coffee Shack

The IIMA campus is nothing like the IITB campus. There are no tree-lined roads, no cool breezy lakeside, no 20 minute walks to the classroom where you can imagine made-up worlds and elaborate ninja-battles. There aren't any crazy people who play monopoly in the middle of the night, none of the partying and none of the booze.

Sure, there is frisbee which is better than all the sports I played in IIT. But so much else is missing. Most of all, this place needs a coffee shack.

A place to just sit on lazy afternoons with minutes without conversation and a pun thrown in to indicate still-aliveness.

A place for everyone to come and haggle for free food and coffee – for measly treats, yet sizable gestures.

A place where I can sit at all day whilst bunking class. Sit and read comics, books and graphic novels.

It was the life of IIT. I recall Mood I junta being described (by Renta?) as the largest group of people at coffee shack where no one is talking to anyone else – they're all on their cellphones!

A place for companions, old and not-so-old, simply land up and someone is surely loitering around. That's what I need here – some good old wasting time, not in front of a computer but out there talking, laughing and drinking coffee.

Oh, how I wish for Coffee Shack.

Splash!

Experiments with Gelusil and Mixed Fruit Juice

[And ice tea and potatoes]





... and the trusty camera that shot them:

Muhahahahhahahahah.

OMGX AWESOMENESS!

CHDK.

Made.

This.

Possible.





Taken using a Canon Powershot SD1000 (a point-and-shoot camera about the size of a credit card) and an exposure time of 1/10000 secs, and very wierd ISO and flash settings.

It took 2 hours to hack the firmware and then an hour to get it to take pics! Grishma was constantly moving her hand at high speeds to check whether the camera was working!

Finally, experimenting with flash sync and ISO settings, we managed to get a non-black and non-white picture. Then we moved on to taking these pics. It was totally awesome fun.

We need coloured lights. And coloured water. And thicker, more viscous fluids. Any ideas?

<menacing_voice>... This is only the beginning. Muahhahahahhhah.</menacing_voice>

PS: Please view hi-res by clicking on the pics! :)

How I Got My Name (According to the Venerable Saint KP)

Apparently, my father was a most enthusiastic runner. He used to run to work, run back from work and also run whilst on lunch break. He even ran to his convocation.

His absolutely favourite phrase, as it is for any self-respecting runner, was "Ready, Steady, Go!". Unfortunately, he was, evidently, from a hidden South-Indian island where due to local language pressures, he only learnt to say "Reddy, Seddy, Gho!"

And later, deciding to name me after his passion, he named me Seddy.

In time, I was knighed, and hence became Sir Seddy. And ofcourse, what use is a knight without a coat of armour and a singh? Hence I came to be called "Sir Seddy Singh". Apparently the alliteration appealed so much to me that I legally changed my name.

Of this story, I was not aware and I am extremely glad that dear KP brought it to my notice. I am forever indebted to you for telling me.

Oh, For A Cake!

This is a story. A true story indeed. It took place almost 1 year-and-a-half ago, in Goa. It's the story of a bike ride. The task - to fetch a cake.

You see, Chaitrali had just celebrated her birthday and Krishna had got her a most excellent cake and wine as well. Now, it was KP's turn and we decided to awesomeofy his day. This involved: (a) Wishing him. (We always forget 'coz his b'day lies in the middle of Summer. To be honest, it was a fair exchange since he never got birthday bumps either). (b) Getting him a cake! (c) Letting him cut his cake in the hotel pool-side bar while sitting inside the pool lounging like a king.

KP arrived in Goa in his own unique true trailblazing style, albeit a whole 2 days late. He hitchhiked "all the way" there. Now while hitchhiking, travel is only possible till about 5 PM, post which a place to put up for the night needs to be sought. For a person who can only get up at 11, this posed a problem. So, after getting only about 200 Km in 3 days (already 1 day late), he simply hopped on a train heading in the right direction and got there.

Upon arrival, he was promptly mistaken for a ragpicker (it was the stench). Jigisha also burned him pretty bad by shaving off the stubble on only half his face. See the pic. It was quite funny :-)

In the meantime, we were up to buying lots of beer. 4 crates of Kings beer at Rs. 12 a pint! This was supposed to be my "getting-into-IIM" gift. Only, the results had been delayed. I bought the beer anyway. Then, we proceeded to close-pack them. What you see here in only HALF of the bottles. The rest are in the other fridge. As you can see, lots of chemistry fundae have been applied to fit them in. This was Joydeep's work. He is clearly destined for great things.

Now, about the bike ride, here we all are pretending that we've forgotten KP's birthday. Already 9 hours into the day (counting from midnight ofcourse) and no one's wished him. I'm sure he must have been debating, "Should I tell them? Will that appear too needy? Ah screw it! I AM needy. I should tell them. But nooo... they'll make fun it it. Hmm. This is difficult."

On the next pic, before you judge us, we were pretending to be a boy band posing a cover photo. Look at the blank stares and the random directions we're looking in. We hate boy bands.

Joydeep and I picked up our dinky little bike and set off like true macho men (ie: Without sunblock). Yes, that is the yardstick of machoness of our generation. No more playing with knives, wrestling or juggling chainsaws.

So we headed all the way to the next town, which we were told, had a bakery! And since we were going, we were also asked to pick up a *few* other things - Carnations for Krishna, Goa-sausages for cooking junta, Prawns pickle, Bibinca and what not.

We reached and purchased stuff without incident. But now, we were faced with the daunting task of carrying a flimsy cake box and 25 Kgs of other associated luggage 13 Km back to hotel on a bloody bike!

And as we set off, we took a U-turn just outside the city, on the highway and this idiot of a bike rider comes and for some reason doesn't *see* us turning (though we had been turning for a good 30 seconds. It was a big turn). Comes and dashes straight into us and goes careening off into the side of the road. Somehow we hold on. The bike falls, but thanks to elite balancing skills, the cake is unharmed. Phew!

The food on this whole trip was just something incredible. Here above is probably the most epic meal we had. Scrumptious lobster, wine, hookahs, fish and a lot more, by the beach. Just. Simply. Fantastic.

Now, after having risked our lives and skins (accident and no-sunblock respectively), we finally reached the hotel, got KP to close his eyes for a while and had a cake in front of him, candles and all! They were playing mafia in the pool and KP got to drink a beer and cut his cake while sitting on the underwater chairs. Success! :-)

The above picture is of a candle-lit dinner that Rylan, Joy and I shared. We cooked ourselves. Fried eggs, Goa sausages, boiled potatoes and bread. Coffee and beer. Bibinca for dessert. Deelicious. As I said before, the food on this entire trip was a mini-trip in itself.

Ofcourse the vegetarians. They ate from subway. Hahahhahahahaha! (Just being a little mean. But yeah. They did loose out big-time on the food bit). We also ate bacon-and-ham sandwiches. I remember getting to a shack and ordering one. Others took a bite and were like "Waiter! One more what-he's-having!" :-)