Semester Ends

Tomorrow as the grades get posted on the site, the final ritual of my first semester will be over. For the MS students that’s a major milestone, for people like me it’s just the beginning. More so for me as I have to start all over again with a new advisor. What I gained in this semester is the realization that things can go bad, and then they might become worse but finally you can find your way out. We, in the hostel of our school, used to say that the only good point about the food being so bad, is that we will never face any problem having any kind of food anywhere. Now I think I will be able to cope with bosses of any kind after working with my would-be ex-advisor. I don’t know if that sounds funny, but it wasn’t a nice experience after coming to the US of A.

However at the same time I must say that seniors were of great help. It was because of them that I could make decisions fast and effective. Thankfully, there are always people who are ready to help when some others are busy messing you up.

Once again ....

The last one was on the last week of April 2005. Long time since then and once again a very similar situation. The end-semester, one of the most dreaded aspects of semester life. Last year, I remember talking to my friends and juniors who were still in KGP and were going through another ordeal of week-long nightouts, photocopying, mugging, giving up and then giving it a one last try and finally coming out of the hall, laughing, after being thoroughly screwed up yet again. That in a way made me feel better. Being in the professional life without facing the endsems was so nice (specially when there is no work-load). Right now, as I prepare for the exams next week (even though it‘s far less hectic than what we had to face in our third year), I miss my days in Mumbai.

The First Snow

This time it was the real version. The first snow. It has snowed now and then in Chicago in the last one month but finally I got to see the white world. It looks nice. Mind the verb, it ‘looks’ nice. It sometimes becomes a pain to walk on it. With time, it gets dirty and looks nasty near the edges of the roads. It is like the replacement of our desi mud. Still, in spite of its occasional ugliness and the inconvenience it causes for commutation, it has its own beauty and charm. May be I will get bored with the snow in a few months, but the white world after your first snow is a real treat to watch.

Thanksgiving

The thanksgiving was a nice break. It was getting too boring and add to that the chaos I was, or rather, am going through. Got to meet Dipanjan after a long time; I think first time after leaving IIT. On Wednesday, he arrived from Pittsburgh. From Jackson, we went to the University of Chicago campus from where one of the seniors of UIUC drove us to Urbana. It was around a 3-hour-drive. He dropped us at Podu’s. The apartment was nice. It looked like Podu was pretty comfortable with P.Bhora. Those who know him will understand how great an achievement this is. Well, I think Pratik is actually an improved person. The evening was great with Dipanjan’s enthusiastic cooking and scotch. The next day we had a brief tour of the campus. Since all (literally all) shops were closed on account of the Thanksgiving, Podu and I had to shoulder the cooking responsibilities as Dipanjan had an invitation for lunch. We were the only two to eat and were unanimous that the food was good.
We took the Amtrek train to reach Chicago that evening. We put up at BArnab’s (Bhalo Arnab!). With the fine culinary skills of Dipanjan (although all along he complained about not getting the right spices) and the accompanying beverages I think I gained a bit of weight on those few days. We went around the city, on one occasion ‘up the city’ to the 95th floor lounge of the Hancock tower. Debjeet too was there for a brief duration. Chanced to meet V.V.Chandrasekhar once. Arnab’s camera was in continuous action (Bhubanjyoti gets the credit for that). I will be uploading them soon. Dipanjan went back on Saturday evening and Podu on Sunday afternoon. I am again busy with assignment. Shit!!

Thanksgiving: Almost there

Things are going all okay right now. Tomorrow is the last date for a proposal submission. So day after tomorrow should be free. And Thursday is the Thanksgiving. DD is coming on Wednesday. We will be going to Podu’s in Urbana together and will be back to Chicago on Thursday evening. We will go to Arnab’s and will stay there in the weekend. PJ and company are also coming, so weekend will be fun. All set. Hopefully there won’t be a spoil sport.

Umrao Jaan

The first movie in theatre in the USA … ‘Umrao Jaan’. Still not quite American, you see. The multiplex wasn’t of any surprise, like any of those in our metropolitans. $9 ($1 concession for students -:) ). The movie was rather long. The first half specially I feel could have been shortened quite a bit. Overall, it was good. I have not seen the original one, so can’t make any comparison. But I think Aishwarya has done a good job. She looked gorgeous and delicate in the costumes and sets. Abhisek Bachhan, Sunil Shetty, the couple who took care of Umrao and others have played their part well. Sabana Azmi was elegant in her own style. The lyrics by Javed Akhtar was really good and that was an absolute necessity for the movie, umraao jaan being famous for the sher and shayari of Lucknow. Anu Malik has given a music which I think he is not very much used to, it’s in keeping with the mood of the movie. I would recommend that you watch it. However, if you are looking for fun and enjoyment, this is not the movie you should forward to.
By the way, the first two characters in the movie except Umrao Jaan (one who listens to the story of Umrao and the other whom he talks to in the beginning) sounded pathetic. Their dialogues just too mechanical. Who are they?

The Roller Coaster

Well, well, well …………. So I got the laptop and the internet connection. But blogging just couldn’t be regular. Excuses are there, some might be a bit justified but still the main reason is plain, old lethargy. I can never be too busy to write a few lines.
So here is the update from my side. It looks like my stay in the US is riding a roller coaster. The first few days was all good. New place, new people …. Nice place, nice people. Soon that changed. Classes, exams, assignments …. all over again and add to that the TA labs at 8 in the morning twice a week, research works, no weekends (effectively ….) I felt overwhelmed. It took me some time to recover. I talked to old friends, made some new friends, got used to the TA burden (it actually is not a big deal), reintroduced me to the lectures, familiarized with the work and there I was, all set again. How long can lectures intimidate me?
But that spell has ended. In Mumbai, I had the money and the time and most importantly the people to have fun; here, painfully I realize, I have none. At least not the quality and quantity I need. But the worst part of the story is that I am right now in a very awkward position. I have a problem with my advisor. I have found the solution too; only, it needs some time to execute. And the solution is simple, I have to change my advisor -:) Yeah, I am decided. I am not going to discuss all the details here. Hopefully there won’t be a problem. But the situation is pretty delicate, I am not exaggerating. I am not being able to concentrate on other issues still this one is resolved. Let’s see, how things turn out to be. Hopefully the roller coaster will see a new high soon.

The Road to Laptop

Finally I got it! The laptop!! Well, it didn’t come without its (what I think in a way is somewhat fair) share of hassle. I ordered one using the SBI Vishwajatra card online. I got a confirmation email and everything looked fine. But after 2 days I got another email stating there was a verification problem with the credit card company and my order had been cancelled. Well, I already knew there could be some problem regarding the billing address, so gave it another shot, this time using the debit card of a senior guy. Then I waited and waited for 5 days before checking the status. To my utter annoyance, the order had been cancelled again. The guy whose card I had used got a call for a confirmation of the shipping address. He didn’t know the address and gave my number for confirmation. This somehow convinced the company agent that it was a fraud order. I have had enough of ordering online and finally went to the store to pick up a machine on my own. So in Diwali of 2006, I got my first laptop. It’s a HP Pavilion 15.4” Widescreen Notebook PC (DV6119US).

The Call

The scene is set in my room. Saturday morning. I am in deep sleep after a round of partying last night. Suddenly the cell phone starts ringing.

Voice: Koushik?

Me: Yes

Voice: @#@$$@!$ (I don’t understand & don’t reply)

Can I speak to Koushik? (Confused a bit)

Me: Ya, speaking.

Voice: Hi Koushik, this is Sudip here.

(I have a friend named Sudip but why the hell should he talk to me in English)

Me: Which Sudip?

Voice: Suuuudiiiiiip (He can’t believe that I don’t recognize him).

And then it strikes me …. Guess what? He is my advisor.

Me: Oooooooooo (I should have said sorry and apologized and all but I was unable to find the right words may be due to alcohol jamming)

Voice: Are you sleeping?

Me: Yes.

Voice: Sorry to disturb you on Saturday morning but I need your help. Can you come to the lab?

Me: Ya, sure!
(I wasn’t that sure but anyway I got up and what followed wasn’t interesting enough to write in the blog.)

First Snowfall

Yesterday Chicago experienced this year's first snowfall, and I, the first one in my life. It was nice but only for a very short duration that too when I was rushing for a class. Not the perfect situation to enjoy! People are not supposed to forget the first experience of snowfall but this wasn't that good. May be, it's just a demo version. I will wait for the real one.

So it begins ...

So it begins … yet another phase of erratic blogging. When I am not writing one, I feel like writing one and once I start, all my tempo vanishes. Still let me begin. May be it will be different, who knows. I wanted to give this a broader perspective, broader than what mumbaidays.blogspot.com was, so that I do not have to change my blog once I move to a new place :D I went through a whole lot of names, all my brain could come up with and blogger had just one answer
“Sorry, this blog address is not available
How about one of these?
kb-abcd
abcd-kb”

‘abcd’ stands for the different phrases I searched for. By the way, I just checked even abcd.blogspot.com is already taken. Tired, I tried the name some people had already suggested, chicagodays.blogspot.com, and you guessed it right. Someone who has posted just once stating “please check back after september 1st.” has already taken it. He forgot to mention the year though. Finally I landed up at this place. Hope to be regular this time though I am afraid whether I can fulfill that promise till I get my laptop. I have not yet ordered it, and it will take a while before I do, waiting for a right deal. Let’s see.