PATHS OF GLORY :)

"Paths of glory" by Jeffery Archer.I finished reading this book last night.
And now it has become my favourite Jeffery Archer book.Mind u- I am a huge Archer fan!

Everyone has some or the other ambition in life.How big is our ambition?Have we ever thought of doing/achieving something that is considered 'IMPOSSIBLE'?Are we ambitious enough to risk our lives to get what we want? What if we do manage to turn this impossible ambition to reality?History reminds us that people have done this in every age.And that is the reason we remember the names of all greats who were the first to do something out-of-the-world.

But what if even after achieving our goal,we are not able to prove it to anyone?What if people dont believe that you did it?This reminds me of a dialogue in the movie 'Kate and Leopald' (A rather forgettable one,but anyway ) - "Dogs cannot see colors..I am the dog who has seen the rainbow..Its just that the other dogs wont believe me!"

This is the backbone of "Paths of Glory".Its inspired from the true life story of George Mallory,the man who dreamt of conquering Everest (29002 ft) in the 1920's when not even the airplanes had ever reached that height ! He never returned from the expedition and his dead body was found in 1999 -75 years after his death (preserved by the ice).There are a few reasons which suggest that he may have reached the summit.Some believe it-others dont!But one thing for sure-history cannot be trusted with the name of the first man to climb Mt.Everest!

Mountaineering was George's life.In one of the press conferences he was asked "Why do you want to climb the Everest?".He answered "Because its there!".These 3 words became a kind of slogan for mountaineers in coming years.

The book is amazing right from the beginning.Archer's writing is as always-impeccable !What touched me most was the way the character of Ruth Mallory-George's ever supporting wife is potrayed.George was so fascinated by the Everest that he called her the other love of his life besides Ruth.Therefore the tag line of the book says "This is a story of a man who loved two women and one of them killed him".Ruth's struggle with herself -about the safe being of her husband and his fascination is the most sensitive part of the book.As in all Archer books there are traces of humor but most of the book is quite serious.The description of mountaineering expeditions especially of the weather changes during the Everest expedition is brilliantly written..Overall an amazing book :)

Happy reading !

Just a trivia : I googled for more information about Mallory.His grandson (also named George Mallory junior) did manage to climb Mt.Everest in 1995.And he kept a laminated picture of his grandparents on the summit and quoted "Just finished some family business" ! (\m/)

Bout PICT...

Today its been three years since we have been students of PICT..So this one is for my college... :)

21st August,2006 : This was the day we officially became "students" of PICT..We had "Principal address" where we were all cramped in that tiny room no.301 n Potdar sir going on about the "discipline" in PICT,about how cell phones were NOT ALLOWED,(OMG !I believed that) ,how attendance was compulsary and so on..We all had the typical FE look (maaz of getting in PICT + total confusion due to the new surroundings)..This was the first time I shared a bench with Ruta having no clue that this was the beginning of such a wonderful friendship :)
FE was fun..The first timers - First addiction ,First rule breaking and hence First encounter with principal ( FE 6 played ranga panchami in college !!! \m/ ),First exams,First results and First INC (Escorting :( )..We were so sincere-we would even STUDY for the unit tests... :D



21st August,2007: As far as i remember we were wondering when the results would announced and whether FE had commenced (Just because we wanted to be called "seniors").Nuthing special..
Whatever innocence was left after FE was completely washed off in SE..We were "BRATS" by SE..The 'G' batch had fun...Organised Addiction this year..and were promoted as hardware lab assistants in INC (Though during the event sir pulled us out for escorting :( )...But overall SE was quiet...

21st August,2008:I dont remember what I was doing at all..But TE was definitely the BEST year I have had in PICT..Our class got the "notorious" tag right in the first sem and we did well to continue bearing it in the second..We became "SUSPENDED TE2" towards the end of Sem 1..Suspension resulted in starting of group activities including starting of (in)famous community :P..I made many new friends in TE..Some friendships that I wish to cherish all my life..



TE sem2 ,we organised INC..I dont think any of us would forget those 2 months and the "INC ROOM" has definitely become a special place for all those involved..We played tt,roadies,uno and even 'raja-rani-chor-shipai' (Yeah! We are 'THAT' cool :P) there.I vividly remember the poor marketing people talking on the phone and yelling out at us "CHUP BAITHO NAHI TO BAHAR JAO!!".

College definitely is our second home..Maybe becoz its such a tiny place or maybe becoz of the less number of students,everything here is so homely and secured..I dont think there will be many who have NOT stayed in the college till late at night...The typical "hangouts" in PICT (very few of them actually)...The basketball court where except swimming (Thank God!),all sports events take place..It is also our dance floor during addition n dandiya nites :P..Talk of multiplexing !...The gloomy canteen which serves the most tasteless food..Steps in front of the audi...the parking.... and the INC room for TE people...Thats it -thats our college !

21st August,2009 : I am writing this blog..remembering the last 3 years spent in this place I have loved so much ! Just one more and we become "ex" students..Well,time to get senti WILL come..As of now..planning to make sure that this year will also be as wonderful as the others !

Happy reading !

Things you CAN DO when stuck at home..

This one is for all those stuck at home (bored !) because of the swine flu scare...
Here are a few things you can do to kill time :

• Hunt for PROJECT DEFINITIONS...Definitely kills time and energy..Rather boring work..But well since you have no choice.. :(
• Study hard for GRE,CAT,GMAT,GATE,etc...No better time span to have college off.. (Last non-fun CAN DO)
• Play FARMVILLE...Excellent pass time..Plant RASBERRIES..they need to be tended to every 2 hours..This one definitely ought to keep you busy and well,considering the progress from the two above mentioned CAN-Do's one may think of considering this as an alternate career ! :P
• POKE people on facebook...This is fun of its own kind..A better variation will be to SUPERPOKE - kick,throw cake at,pass bear to,etc
• Take all the irritating QUIZES available on facebook and not to forget ..PUBLISH them.. :D
• Read other's orkut profiles,especially the ABOUT ME and TESTIMONIALS..
• THINK about what u want to do in life,about your existence,about how u r wasting it,about ur soul ....(ALL RITE .. Was just kidding on that one ;) )
• Start watching some TV series (FRIENDS,HIMYM,etc)..or movie series (STAR WARS,MATRIX,LOTR,HPetc) ..Its long seasons are enuf to keep you occupied..
  
• READ ( or write ) such useless blogs !!

HAPPY READING !
(More CAN-DO's are welcome in the form of comments !)
:)

Bout "THAT" time

..this one is about the result times..I have had wonderful memories with "results" in the past 3 years.. :)
These times have been fun rite from FE..I remember our very first result in engineering..that was the day we had our first successful common-offs..Yeah,we were THAT sincere..
The next one was better..we were a lil experienced ( :P )..well versed with the technique of common offs by then..but then that was the start of the rumours..thats something i still havent understood..It happens everytime...someone from PICT says "result tom..notice in SIT"..SIT students say "notice in MIT" and after covering all colleges from the city..by the end of the day we realise that it was a rumour..The whole day u c ppl smsin friends from other colleges for confirmation...
SE 1st sem we went to the rajiv gandhi udyan to see the white tiger super (basically to kill time before results)..That was fun..I still love going to the zoo :)
SE 2nd sem i decided to have some fun..i myself started a rumour bout notice being in cummins..by day end ppl were telling me what i had started in the mornin...ppl tend to believe ANYTHING in such times.. :)
TE 1st sem result was on valentines day !! With the INC work pending and TOC to worry bout,(besides its date) this one was rather less eventful..
TE 2nd sem results were out on monday ..maybe becoz of the placement or becoz of the realisation that results dont matter,no one was tensed...spent a lazy monday in snack shack (?) hanging out with friends..Its always fun bunkin classes be it for ne purpose..
Now just 2 more results left (hopefully)...well not that it matters but yeah-lookin forward ... ;)