Trips

Personal / Trips — 4 Comments
11
Nov 09

MU Convocation ‘09

If you were following me on Twitter or Facebook, you might have been overwhelmed with the massive influx of messages/tweets which had only one intention - Explaining how much I love Manipal.

I had been to Manipal for three days for my University Convocation which was on 2nd of November. This day being a weekday instead of Saturday can be held responsible for a bit poor turnout of this great event. I reached Manipal on Sunday morning and left on Tuesday night.

Sunday

Reached Manipal at 10:30AM in the morning. The bus was unusually late and I was dead tired. When I stepped out of the bus, I could feel the real heat which we had been bitching for the last four years. It was really too hot especially after spending 4 months in Bangalore where the weather is excellent, or say PERFECT!

Getting down the bus, I went to the college hostel which one of my friend had booked for us. The hostel was 14C(MIT Hostels) which is probably situation in the valley.  Going up in the heart of the campus needs some serious exercise as the 15th floor of this block is at the same height as the ground floor of the hostels in the heart of the campus.

After getting fresh, we(Gaurav, me and Atul) left for lunch at Dollops. We were in no mood to miss the finger-licking chicken lollipop. After finished the lunch, we went to college to get ourselves registered for the convocation.

The real fun was at night. Nearly 95% of the crowd who came to Manipal for convo headed for DT. The place was full and for those few hours, it looked like this place was the most happening place in the world. People were enjoying at their max, all beautiful chicks the place was filled with smoke. We all reached back Hostel by 2 in the night

Monday

I got up quite early in the morning, went to the college to get the convocation gown. I was shocked to know that the college had so-so many gowns which can be given to most of the students who came for this event. After getting all the required, we all 3 headed to China Valley, which is another restaurant which I had never missed whenever I got a chance in my engineering. After having delicious food, we all returned back to hostel. The big event needs big preparations.

Everyone I could see was running here and there, getting formals, shoes polished, ties and what not? Everyone wanted to look as smart as possible. It looked like a formal fashion show. We took our gowns in our hands to wear it at the event itself. At evening, reached KMC Greens on time. The venue was well lit up and looked more like a traditional Indian marriage. All of us who had registered had been allocated a seat for the time other’s were receiving degrees.

The Convocation started with Kasturba Medical College and ended with MIT. I was really thrilled when I got a chance to come on the stage and was handed  over the degree. It is a prized possession. After the distribution of degrees, we headed over to Manipal University campus where dinner was arranged for all of us. After dinner, the only place I could think was again -DT. The Mecca of Manipal. Even though it was jam packed as usual, I along with some of my friends managed to find a place with other friends who were already camping for an hour. The experience that day is difficult to explain. All I can say is that we somehow managed to return back to hostel by 2:30AM.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning I got up early. I have a younger cousin studying at Manipal in 2nd year Mechanical. Called him up and asked him to come for lunch. We both went to Saiba, the place which I was not able to visit for last 2 days. We had a normal lunch as opposed to my heavy one. By that time I came to know that all the photos were being transferred by Aavik. I missed no second and went to this room to collect all the snaps from different sources.

Around 4PM, I called up Akshay and asked all the LUG guys to assemble in CCD for a get-together. The people who finally turned up were - Ankur, Djays, Anomit, Sameer, Akshay, Ujjwal, Tushar, Shashank. We had discussions ranging from latest breakthroughs to technology to where Manipal is heading to. This exhaustive session lasted 2 hours.

The day was drawing to a close. I had to catch a bus back to Bangalore. All I could take back to Bangalore were memories. This place gave me so many things. So many good friends. Miss you all! Miss you Manipal

Flickr set

The stage on Convocation

Receiving the degree

Trips / Uncategorized — 2 Comments
27
Sep 09

Durga Puja at Bangalore

After missing the chance to attend PyCon India due to some unavoidable reasons, I was just hunting for a place to enjoy (read fool around).  All the day I was at my cousin’s and relatives house and during the evening I called up my elder sister asking her whether she is going for watching Durga Puja. Out of two options - Ulsoor and Koramangala, I opted for the latter.

She came to Marathahalli bridge in her car and I got in. After that I have absolutely no idea which left-right turn she took. I know the route via Ring Road is it is the way all the buses go. Heh! Cars don’t havt that restriction. After taking hundred or left and right turns just to escape the traffic, we reached Koramagala 5th Block (as I heard) where Durga Puja was being celebrated.

The next problem was to park the car. Looked like each and  every person in Bangalore has come down on this auspicious day. After braving the traffic and taking a few more turns inside the colony, there was a place to park the car. Done!

We all 7 people including 2 kids (thankfully they were sweet and silent) entered the premises of the community hall. A lot of food stalls were put up. We first went inside which was less crowded than the food stalls. Everyone was blessed by the diety herself and then we came out for the next mission.

Is it really a crowd or the worshippers were too hungry?

A more close up view

Sometimes, if you have a huge apetite, you would be delighted after having a look at the varieties of stalls. I had corn, pani puri, veg rolls, ice cream, dhokla, rosogulla, cutlet, diet coke and what not. The celebrations was itself blessed by the King of Good Times. Obviously, the Durga Puja celebrations were sponsored by beer.

Durga Puja bkessed by the King of Good Times

Durga Puja blessed by the King of Good Times

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14
Aug 09

Savan Durga Team Outing

Last month exactly on 16th of July we all trainees were taken for a team outing at Savandurga. This place is approximately 50kms from Bangalore towards Mysore.

In brief, the place is just awesome. They had arrangements for Cave Exploration, River Crossing, Wall Rappelling and a few other sports. We spent a lot of time in the forests to feel the nature closely :)

A rock solid team of 48 people headed for this place in the morning. We had our light breakfast and then headed to explore the hidden mysteries. I never thought that there is so much scope for such adventure that too, so close to Bangalore. We had some excellent witty people who kept the show going on all the time. This was an excellent opportunity for all of the new joiners to know each other and even the team.

Keeping it short, I would show some pics. Rest you can find it in my Flickr Set.

Blogs / News / Thoughts / Trips — 3 Comments
10
Aug 09

Back on seat

I’m back!

I have been in Bangalore for last one and a half months working as a Trainee in Schneider Electric, GTCI as a  Software Developer. Don’t get shocks that what I am doing in this Electric company? They do need software engineers in any sector they move into.

The only thing I can say about this place(Bangalore) is that it’s damn expensive. Travel and food are together responsible for a big portion of my spending. Till now all attempts to put a cap has failed miserably.

I am living a bit near to my office initially, so that I don’t get late for work. Having less idea about the traffic in this city, it’s always preferred to live in a place where bus service is good. The place where I live (Kundalahalli) is out of city but the office is quite nearby.  It’s just 4.5 kms from my place.

I am still left with the job of getting an internet connection and a decent place to eat. These are the two vital thing for my survival. Hope they get sorted out at the earliest.

I have been to an adventure trip along with my office team for trekking, river-crossing and wall-rappling. It was a great fun. I would be regular on my blogging business even without internet, but for twitter I really need a dedicated connection.

More to come up.

Trips — 5 Comments
27
Apr 09

ISRO Exams, biggest adventure

I am just back from Bangalore today after giving my ISRO exams and having a load of adventure which was nearly unexpected. The whole trip looked something like Dil Chahta Hai and Jab We Met or something like that.

I left for Bangalore on 25th evening via Shivamogga to Bangalore. Since the direct train from Mangalore to Bangalore reaches quite late in the morning, so the other route via Shivamogga was preferred since we can reach our destination at 5 in the morning. The bus from Manipal was at 3:30PM to Shivamogga. After boarding the bus, we found that there is no place to sit anywhere in the bus and everyone was going till the last stop. Standing for three-and-a-half-hours is not as easy esp when we had to cross Augumbe in the middle. After standing here and there, we somehow sat on the engine of the bus! Phew! Somehow!

The journey from Shivamogga to Bangalore was as smooth as possible. We reached Bengaluru at 6 in the morning, after which I left for my sis’s house. This was a chance to get fresh and relax myself, spread legs after such taxing journey. The exam was from 12PM at Vijaya Pre-University college. Everything went fine, the questions were easy, some were too easy. After finishing the exam, I left for Forum mall, Kormangla which took around an hour to reach. First, I met Seema , then Anurag Upadhaya. After having dinner at KFC, we left for station. We were to leave back to Shivamogga, train being at 11:40PM.

A blunder

We entered station at 11PM. Suddenly I saw the ticket and found a major blunder. I had booked tickets for 26May instead of 26April. :( For precaution we took tickets for General coaches and entered the platform. The train which is usually not so much full was jam-packed on this special day. The only thing I could see was RAC on the reservation charts. After checking with the TTE’s, we came to know that there is one First Class coach which got some seats. We had a nice argument and bargaining with TTE, he wanted to share the same seat with many people and take the full fare.

Train Tour

We then moved to the last sleeper compartment. Me and Rock met an engineering student from Mangalore who was also in the same fate as us except that he didnt make the mistake we did. We kept standing for an hour, when train reached Tumkur the TTE tried shooing us out. After running here and there, that guytold us that there is three general compartments in the beginning of the train. Crossing 9 coaches, that too running with luggages was something  I had never thought of , especially we didnt know how much time the train stops there. In one of the comparement, we got  place to stand on the door. All three of us closed the doors and cuddled in one place and started discussing about our engineering. He was also from 8th semester and had just a few weeks left.

Troubles pours in

After  half an hour, I felt a lot sleepy and maybe I dozed off. Suddenly I woke up by the flies which came inside the coach, thanks to our location which was next to door. The place had become a headache, we got off the train on a station to relax ourself. After moving 2 coaches ahead, I saw a luggage compartment which was closed. That guy said “Look! People are inside”. This was a time, banging the doors since we never knew how to open the luggage compartment doors. The door on the other side was open. Now came a challenge to cross the coach and get off the other side that too crossing the general coach. We were not even able to enter the general one, how come cross it completely? We pleaded people to allow us to cross somehow, jumping over others and opening doors here and there to get off.

Hunting for a place to sleep

Even though we managed to get off the train on the other side which didn’t have a platform, getting up was a trouble. The tracks are laid on a heap of pebbles and stones and luggage compartment dont have anything like ladders to help us climb. At that time the door was at the height of our head :( I somehow hurled myself in the compartment after pushing aside the door. After entering, I was like “What to do next?”. Fortunately, there was ample place on the shleves of the compartment which is the railways probably uses to keep small boxes. After sleeping for 3-4 hours, I got up around 5:30 in the morning. The train was standing as usual in some unknown countryside which didnt even have a station. Our other friends were in AC. Now we both jumped out and tried to move in the AC coach. The other guy from Mangalore had left an hour back before we got out.

Return journey ends

After reaching Shivamogga, we took a bus back to Manipal. Though the seat we took was in the front, the whole journey was a PITA and even worse than the up journey on saturday. The bus driver took 4 hours for a journey which can take around 3:15 hrs. He was driving with so much ease as if we are the most vella person on earth and have loads of useless time to waste. Reached Manipal at 11PM, got fresh, had lunch and off to sleep! Slept for 6 hours and am still now experiencing the hangover.

Personal / Trips — No Comments
6
Feb 09

Cousin’s wedding

Hi everyone,

I am enjoying my stay at Manipal. We final year students just have to attend the lab either in first half or second half depending on the day. We do get time for anything we want to do on our own. This includes projects, trips etc.

I am going to attend my elder’s cousin bro’s wedding at home. Leaving tomorrow night, I would reach by monday morning. The wedding is on the same day starting evening. Would bring a lot of pics and sweets too when I return.

I would blog next when I come back. I would be micro-blogging on Twitter if I time permits. You can follow me at @ManishSinha to get the latest updates. I would try my best to keep it updated.

I would land back in Manipal on 15th morning. Guess what? I would be celebrating spending Valentine’s day in Chennai. More when I return

Bye

Trips — 3 Comments
28
Jan 09

Shringeri Trip

Shringeri is a small town 90 kms north east of Manipal and the first maţha established by Adi Shankaracharya. Its a place of divine interest and indeed a very beautiful place.

We left for Shringeri on this Sunday at afternoon around 2:30PM. The place is some 90 kms when visited through Kudremukh National Park inbetween the forests. After 2 hours of non-stop bike journey we reached out destination, had rest and then left for the temple premises.

The presiding deity of the temple is Maa Sharada, who is Goddess of learning and wisdom, the obvious fact since Adi Shankaracharya was a learned person and a great scholar. The temple has still maintained its rituals and I still consider it as an orthodox temple where rituals are performed with great care. Adi Shankaracharya had four disciples who are called Shankaracharya of the Maths, the current one of Shringri is Jagatguru Baharathi Theertha Gurugalu

If you want to know more about Shringeri, visit this blog

The trip was really exhausting and we returned back at night around 11:30PM. Deadly tired, sleep was the first priority. The entire trip was awesome, I just hope to get one more chance.

Trips — 1 Comment
28
Oct 08

Happy Diwali to everyone

To all my fellow blog readers and friends - “Happy Diwali. Enjoy this festival of light”.

Continue reading →

Internship / Trips — No Comments
31
May 08

Fun @ Hyderabad

So finally have reached Hyderabad on Thursday itself, joining is on 2nd of June- Monday. Microsoft has arranged a guest house for our stay for the next 15 days. Am speechless at the facilities provided here- AC, Plasma TV, wi-fi, Fridge etc.

Our office is too far off from this place. Firstly we have to walk 2 kms from guest house to get to the nearest bus stand, from where Gachibowli is more than 10 kms. Bus service is too cheap at this place. Yesterday we went to central mall, where we watched Chronicals of Narnia- Prince Caspain at PVR. Did a lot of shopping and returned back late at night.

At present am relaxing at the guest house, (mis)using the wi-fi connection at the most. Only sleeping eating and TV is out routine. Who knows what is in store of us from Monday?

Check out some pics Here

News / Personal / Technical / Trips — 70 Comments
13
Apr 08

Microsoft Conquered !!!

When Luck Shines, there’s a heavy downpour of opportunities and success. This is what I felt after being being addressed “Congrats Manish! You have been selected for the internships, just tell us the time frame when you would like to pursue it?” It still echoing in my ears, what a pleasant surprise! I never ever thought of this day. My whole family is delighted, too much delighted, too too much!! :)
Want to know the whole story? Read patiently below, or test your patience.

We left Manipal for Shimoga at 5PM on Friday leaving behind the sessionals at a risk, well its a bit stupidity on my part to abandon the interview just for the exams. We were total of 7 people who headed on a Qualis. It takes three and a half hour to reach Shimoga by road, which crosses Augumbe Point (better known as Sunset Point). We stopped for five minutes just to have a look at the place and then headed on.

Reached Shimoga at 8 at night, had our dinner and went to station to catch our train, we had a third AC ticket which is supposed to be reimbursed by the Microsoft guys. The train left at 10 and reached Bangalore at 5 in the morning. We took a hotel room, 7 people in a room, got fresh, changed to formals, dumped our belongings and went to Exam Center without breakfast.

At the center we were told to sit in room no 11, after we had done our first question, the Microsoft dudes told us that my mistake they had put us in the wrong section, so now we will face a different pattern of exam. Our paper started at 11AM. First question was traversing a matrix in spiral order and secondly deleting n nodes out of every 2n nodes in a linklist.

Results came out in 5 minutes, 3 out of 8 people got selected. Now I had to face two rounds of interview. IN the first round, I was asked to implement memcpy and second to reverse adjacent nodes of a link list using address not values. The interviewer was very much impressed by my approach as I had prior idea of the both questions, thanks to PCS and DS papers which we had been taught we studied ourselves.

Second round was the most dangerous round. The problem statement is as follows

Given a whole C/C++ program in a program buffer, remove the single and multi line comments from this program. Draw a Finite Automata (or DFA) for it and write down the corresponding program as precise as possible.

After writing this program, he evaluated it thrice each time finding some or the other minute and minutest errors (guess that person was a genius and had an eagle eyes, catching even the smallest bug). He asked me questions on hashing, clash in hashing values, open hashing. Order of hashing etc etc etc. After it was done, he asked me to wait outside.

After 5-10 mins, a guy came out and said exactly the same words which I had mentioned at the top of the post. After that we were busy waiting for Adi’s results. God’s luck shined on them too and rest two of my friends were also selected. Who two? Drown yourself if you didnt come to know by this time. Its Sathvik!. Then had my dinner at 9PM after exactly 24 hrs. All this time I was alive on WATER!

We left Bangalore at 10PM night by a horrible but the only bus available was of come National Travels (or something of the sort). It had only 8 seats left at the last of which we booked 7. God! All the seats were defective :( . Mine was turned, Harry’s seat didnt slide to semi-sleeper and bulk loads of problems. There were mosquitoes all inside the bus. Reached Manipal at 9:30 in the morning. Am deadly tired, writing this post after sleeping for 3 hrs and missing my lunch!

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