Miscellaneous

Convocation!

2009-11-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

And so 30th October was the convocation and after standing in a queue to get the robes (you couldn't enter the convo grounds without one), a few hours of inspiring speeches, standing in a queue once again to return the robes, then going to back to our faculty audi coz we thought thats where they were giving out the degrees only to find out they were giving out empty envelopes, which by the time our turn came they had run out of, so we didn't those too, we just had to go up there pose with an empty envelope with you holding one end and the HOD holding the other and come back (a little tug told me he wasn't going to let go!). Then we queued up outside our department office, and finally got the degrees!

Oh shit, I forgot to take a pic of the degree! It might be the only one I ever get!

By the way, I made this post today, nearly two weeks after the convo coz today is 11th Nov, Maulana Azad's birthday, ie National Education Day!

A look into the future?

2009-01-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

I hope not!

Click here to listen to Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee telling the media in what looks like a press conference that India has given Pakistan the evidence of what happened in Mumbai on November 26, 2009. Yes, 2009.

the birthday present i got myself...

2008-12-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

As someone said, 'The english speaking world is divided into two, those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and those who are going to read them.'

And for years I had belonged to the unfortunate category (whose existence was ignored by whoever said the above) who had read The Hobbit, but not the sequel.. so I set out to set that right!

And below is the picture of roses my bro sent me :)

40 years ago...

2008-08-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

just like that..., originally uploaded by aamena.

my aunt has no idea that the vase on her shelf has made it to my blog! my mother's cousin, and the last time my mother came to her place was some 40 years ago. Though my mother had the occasion to meet her a few times in Delhi, but it was a strange feeling for me to go to her place and meet her and my uncle for the first time (for me) and with the knowledge that as a girl my mother had spent her vacations with them. It was very nice getting to know them the little I got to know them during the one day stay. We ventured out on a rainy day and arrived at her place completely drenched and in a jiffy (while we sipped some hot tea) she had had ready fresh clothes and a hot water bath for us. :) And she also had this huge novel collection! :)

poor after sales services by Electrolux

2008-06-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so I created this blog for my ravings and rantings. And I seriously feel like doing some right now. On the 4th of this month I opened the freezer door to a shock, everything seemed to be thawing (thank god my 2 something year old demon nephew was at our place, he was a great help in finishing off the ice cream!). On checking the fridge we found out that though it still was working, but very poorly. Let me add here its an Electrolux fridge, and its pretty new for a fridge, only one and a half years old. We called them up the following day.

The next day the fix-up guy (electrolux's authorized technician) was at our door. He did a check up or whatever, said that certain gases had leaked (and he also said it was our fault, we had disturbed the fridge while shifting).

Anyway he came back the next day and filled in those gases, charged us one grand, left the fridge on and said that it shouldn't be used for sometime. But what we did discover after sometime was it still wasn't working.

Another call. The next day he doesn't come ('its a sunday'). He graces us with his presence on Monday and discovers that its actually the compressor that's not working and needs replacement.

But he doesn't come on Tuesday, or the next day, or the next. If we call him up he provides us with excellent reasons ('my car broke down' or 'it was raining today'). When we call the Electrolux complaint office we are told that our fridge has been repaired.

It has been 10 days now since we made the complaint, and seven days since their technician discovered that its actually the compressor which is malfunctioning (I wonder if this is because the compressor is still within the warranty period).

Wow.

switch to induction...

2008-06-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a very different kind of post. And is aimed at housewives. And am going to try and sell the Induction Stove to you. With everyone worried with the rising cylinder prices there couldn't be a better time to switch to induction (though you can't switch entirely, because you need the gas stove for chapatis, but hey you can heat up the tava on the induction!)

Here am listing some things which I think you should know about Induction cooking-

1. Induction Stoves have an efficiency of 90%, while gas and electric stoves' efficiency is around 50-60%. This is because induction stoves heat the cooking vessel directly (due to currents induced in the utensil as its in the presence of an alternating magnetic field), while the stove top (which is a slab of an insulator like porcelain) remains cool. Only the spot where the cooking vessel is touching the stove top will get slightly heated due to the hot vessel.

2. Also you don't have to worry about anything plastic in the vicnity of the stove, as it doesn't heat the air around itself. And obviously no pollution.

3. It is very fast. Very very fast. You can boil water in a jiffy. Ofcourse there are various settings, and you may choose to let your water take a little more time for boiling.

4. Induction stoves require utensils made of purely ferromagnetic materials, i.e. you can use only iron and steel utensils. That means your copper bottom, or sandwich bottom (as they have a layer of aluminium in them) utensils won't work on it.

5. They can detect when you remove the utensil, i.e. they get switched off by themselves.

If you would like to know anything more about Induction Stoves, you can always google it.
The one here, is a single stove and costed around 1200 INR, but price may vary depending upon where you buy it, and obviously on the size.

and it all came to an end...

2008-05-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

this is the black beauty who gave me many a sleepless night! beautiful, isn't she? now it has been submitted and the presentation is over... all that drama.. running around like mad.. with one word on everyone's lips 'project,' that too uttered with a frown! everything.. its all over now... yesterday was officially the last day of college.. and suddenly its all so crazy.. i don't need to go to college (which i hated sooo much) anymore, and am not sure if i like it! i think am gonna miss all this... life's crazy man..

it rained today as well..

2008-05-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

this week has been most amazing.. with delhi seeing a fair bit of rain and the weather's so pleasant... and today it rained too, and tho it delayed my report from getting bound still i reckon nature was celebrating with me as i finally finished the report.. and i must really be over my head coz i forgot to take a pic of that black hardbound beauty with embossed gold lettering.. hehe... will have to do that tomorrow for sure...

the weather was so nice day..

2008-05-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

it was drizzling the whole morning... and it was nice and cool and somewhat wet... and we went to meet our supervisor.. and he didn't give us the dressing down we thought we were certainly in for for failing to meet him the whole year... he didn't even know what we were upto... but i reckon he was fairly pleased with our work :) and the weather just made things better.

sir saw me..

2008-05-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

Studying for our last exam today, i came across this page.. as I was taking pics while Haroun sir was teaching, he saw me! and I scribbled the note you see on the right hand side corner of the left page! It was that I wasn't just taking pictures, I was taking his pictures! Haha.. something to look back at and laugh some years down the line :P And I might as well tell you why taking pics and notes at the same time is a bad idea, read the page, I seem to talking about something like the stator of a transformer!

And well yeah today was the last exam and I lost my last opportunity of getting a B sheet.. Its become something of an obsession with me now :( As my sis said yesterday, 'this just could be your last exam ever,' so am all the more sad. Tho she also said something about studying hard coz of that, tho i dont kno where that was supposed to fit in.

another first...

2008-05-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

after 21 years of my life i still have firsts... haha.. this particular first, which made it to the blog, is that for the time i had to submit a goddam totally-jaali medical certificate!

this was the obliging doc's office... he's quite popular among students and famous for his certis... since this was my first visit to his clinic i was a bit amused by the picture of the kabah and the charo-qul (some surahs from the qu'ran) on his wall. He even had a namaaz-ka-nishaan on his forehead. I couldn't help but smile along as watched his churn out those certis, just for 50 bucks each. nice.

2008-04-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

today we had to turn in our library cards.. mine must have been the most unused one... still i felt a li'l bad parting with it.. it made a good ruler for your lab file drawings...

2008-04-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

i and afsana have been together to for ages, first as batchmates, then classmates in ninth and tenth and then again classmates in college.. and now finally i guess i can say we have come to something of a parting of ways... just physically... with different jobs and all... .. today we had a funny farewell cum get together sorta thing...

2008-04-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

afsana got tractebel's offer letter today, with the date of joining. cool.

chums :)

2008-04-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

my mates...

pretty lady!

the cute iranian.. thanks for this one, varun :)

[update (added on 20th may): i have been told again and again this pic is horrible and doesnt do him justice, rather it makes him look *&#@^ something.. aahh.. but somehow i dont feel like removing it.. tho i agree... doesnt do him justice...]

and another day comes to an end. I can't believe that we have to go to college just for one week more. After that, something we had been waiting for four goddam years. Crazy.

are we going to miss this.. :P

2008-04-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

a still from khuda ke liye...

2008-04-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Certificate of Marriage. Between Mansoor Hassan Khan and Janie Aryn Nichols. I dont know why I clicked it.

got some...?

2008-04-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

psst... i think i do :)

mulberry leaf...

2008-04-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

foolin' around in college... :P

2008-04-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

not us, these pups! Man, we don' go to college to do no foolin' around!

Thanks Anshul for guiding us to the spot!

as i make my way back from college..

2008-04-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

this is what i have to face :( No rule of law applies here. By the way it got so bad as i got a li'l further that i couldn't even get myself to take any more pictures..

Yeah, baby, this is the national capital!

no am not getting senti-menti...

2008-04-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

but this was the last (eighth) time we filled out this examination form! Wow! Can't believe it, its finally coming to an end!

Dal Lake...

2008-03-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to making this video slideshow from some pics we took of the Dal Lake on a trip to Kashmir in July, 2007!
Btw, Windows Movie Maker rocks!

in sunlight...

2008-02-29T04:18:00.000-08:00

in shade...

2008-02-29T04:01:00.000-08:00