why do we cheer for the underdogs ?

Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers, placed at the bottom last year, will face each other in the 2009 IPL final tomorrow. I predicted them to meet each other in the grand finale and it's exactly what has happened. But why did I predict(or wish) the bottom ranked teams of last years to reach the finals ? Why are we humans(or atleast me) like this? Whenever there is match involving an outright favourite, why do we want the weaker team to win ? What do we gain by supporting the weaker team ? Is it to feel good that we didn’t support the obvious winner but supported the less obvious one and hence did a good deed? Or is it just because we want to see an upset and hence a hot news to talk about by putting up facebook/gtalk status messages etc etc ? Do I want to discuss/gossip about how the champion was defeated and will that give me some wild pleasure ? Is it because we like change and want the underdogs to win for a change rather the same old favourite ? Or is it because we identify the weaker team with our own weaknesses and would like to see, in some part deep in our heart, our weaknesses winning over the competitor's strengths ?
What’s your reason? Why do you support the weaker player?

A day off from office!

I took a day off from office today...more importantly from the monotonous life. Though I was slighta ill, down with cold and fever; the motivation to take a day off was not solely because of that. I wanted to spend some time with myself, retrospect about my past and contemplate ma future plans. Things have become seriously boring and I would love to change that. May be because of that I was so interested to join the party when some of friends decided to head to Singapore and Malaysia on a summer vacation this july. But I have an important assignment to finish before I leave for THE trip. Hopefully, things work out smoothly for me! Amen!

Just unwind!

I felt like scribbling something on my blog today, primarily because I'm having a relaxed time at office; for a change! BTW, the frequency of my blog posts have come down to once in a quarter. I wrote my last blog post during last DESIS quarterly party time and we have one today!
Now coming to the blog title, "Just unwind" refers to taking a break from one's hectic work schedule and daily routine life. We generally don't find enough time for relaxation. Our busy lives are an exercise in itself. Two weeks back I had been to a beautiful place - Coorg, along with my close set of friends (Read : DaBombs). It seriously helped me to recharge myself :)
Also, I have switched to 'Facebook' as my online photo storage. "Coorg Pics!"

The best things in life are free ?!?

One fine day, when I was checking out w3schools.com , i noticed its tagline 'The best things in life are free' ; which turned out to be an interesting as well as an intriguing topic. I put that up as my GTalk status message as well on that day. And I began to do some 'research' on this topic. It took me around a month to complete this blog post. Not that I was doing 'heavy' research on this subject....I wasn't getting much time to write with project deadlines n all around!
One of the global surveys revealed that the best pleasures in life come without a price tag. They rated pleasures derived from a long soak in the bath, an afternoon snoooze (which is my personal favourite :D), spending time with family and loved ones, listening to music, reading a book, enjoying a bottle of wine, spending a laiback day in a relaxed frame of mind ('An entire day to myself') etc gave them unmatched pleasures. BUT I don't completely agree to it. I would rather rephrase it and say 'Some of the best pleasures in life are for free!'. And for most of the pleasures in this modern day world, you need to have money! We Indians are a very emotional lot; being with loved ones, friends and family gives us most pleasure. And the happiness quotient for us lies in the fact that we want to make our near and dear ones happy and take good care of them. If that is done, we are happy. To have those precious moments and to do things that make you feel good, you need money, and I would not be wrong if I say that money buys you the opportunity to get the best things you want for yourself and to make you happy. Another point is that, to spend time with your loved ones you need to have free time, which in itself is an expensive luxury.

what.a.day!

It's a friday! We get up in the morning at around 8 am and by 8:45, we were off. Not to our office But to Inox @ Garuda's for a movie show! [:D] Basically, we were done with our end sems report submission and seminar on the previous day. So, we hit upon this brilliant plan and we bunked office on [Thank God It's Friday]. We went for a muvi called 'CheeniKum' where we laughed away to glory especially in the first half. Inspired by the movie, we then tried to test our stamina [:P] by walking to Ebony @ M.G road from Garuda's. Doodie was treating today in his very own Georgia ishtyle for his full-aid scholarship for MS. The rooftop restaurant was on the 13th floor and you could enjoy the best city views in Bangalore. We hogged like crazy over there and then we hit Amoeba,Church Street for a game of Bowling. By the time, we got an alley to ourselves, we helped ourselves to some video gaming and few Air Hockey matches. The bowling game was a high scoring affair with hemanthe (on his debut) having scored a four-bagger(4 consecutive strikes) ended with a staggering score of 170. I took the honours of finishing 2nd with 130 [:)]. Score Card. After that myself,gobar and thakur set off for S.P Road to buy External Hard Disks for ourselves. We had to rush back home after that so that we don't miss our of-late craze, the Indian Idol show at 9pm !!!

PAINTBALL

Wanna play CS ?? But NOT on a wired network.....Then u can try PAINTBALL!!! I got a chance to play this exciting sport when we (Team Pacman!) had gone for a team outing on last friday. It's a chance to shake off your boring monotonous routine corporate life and satisfy the spirit of adventure and relive those beautiful college days of gaming (seeeyes) BUT this time in a real arena!
"Go Go Go" "Team fall back" "Storm the front" "Hold this position" "Aim Headshot"
Check out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintball for more details about the sport.
A company called 'Yuyutsa' offers a PaintBall arena here on the Bannerghatta Road. And they have a tie-up with the adjoining Confident Cascade Resort which takes care of the food and the other sports and swimming pool facilities.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitansu/sets/72157600274662075/

wen students bcom invigilators!!!

Last sunday, we had been to Wipro (Electronics City,Bangalore) to do an invigilation on behalf of DLPD, BITS-Pilani and it was a pleasant experience (thanks to ma n70 and fever 104.0 :D).It felt kinda strange and something really different to be on the other side of an examination hall , invigilating(ahem ahem inspecting :P) students ; rather than writing the test as we have done till date! It was nHice to see questions of known subjects like CP-II, DSA and the same answer sheet that we used in our 4 yrs at pilani. It was exciting to see and observe students' behaviour during an examination.....last minute discussions before the test begins; various cheating instances; some students taking lotsa additional sheets; junta writing after the final bell; invigilators running behind students to collect their answer sheets,post exam discussions,tallying the answers with friends....n so on. And the best part was trying to recollect what invigilators used 2 say during our exams and speaking out the same in an authoritarian accent....."Please do complete all the details - Write your Name,Id,Course No and Course Name on the front page of the answer script before attempting the questions" "You have to mention explicitly the Section No on top of ur answer sheet" "1 hour over" "1 more hr to go..." "Time's up...Hurry on...SUBMIT" "SUBMIT!!!" "Do you intend to submit ur paper ?" .....and things like that ...hehe :)
We were treated to a brilliant lunch there and on top of that, we were entertained by some god-level mime by KD!!!

PICTURE!!!

Dare to Bet ??

Mighty AUS shall crush SA in today's semifinal clash in St.Lucia! wat say ??.

Bet by: amitansu Member Since: 24/4/2007 Last date to participate: 26/4/2007

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An entire day to myself...

One of the things I love to do is have an entire day all to myself. A day of rest and relaxation, a day to recharge my batteries and forget about everyone else; a day when I let go of the world of responsibilities and enjoy the whole day to myself. After all, cultivating a relationship with myself is supposed to be one of the most important things -right? So here's how I do it...

I sleep really well the night before because I know I don't have to catch the company cab early next morning and also I have nothing important/planned to do the next day. It's going to be a day of pure indulgence and if that means sleeping in or generally surfing the web or chatting/orkutting all day then so be it. There really is something magical about having a large expanse of time with nothing planned – not even one small task/obligation. I can still spend it cleaning or working or doing whatever I usually do, but just doing it because I want to feels so different.Any 'shoulds' I may have get thrown in the bin - things like 'I should clean my clothes, tidy up blah blah'. If I feel like doing any of those things in the morning then fine, but I have my own permission to just do what nourishes me, what feels good. It's amazing how much lighter I feel as I lay in my bed, a sense of excitement and freedom filling me up just like a child.I still vividly remember how I used to spend those beautiful summer holidays ,spending the whole day to myself, doing whatever i WANTED to do!

Generally,on such days,I skip breakfast and go for a HEAVY lunch ; especially chicken :) In the afternoon I may lie down and listen to some slow soothing tracks or check out the television for a moment. Or simply, lie down on my bed upside down and surf the huge resourceful internet and blog, as I am doing right now [:P] Various weird thoughts then creep into my mind.Things like what shall I do next in my life ? or rather What do I want to do next ? If I let myself go into it I usually emerge feeling wonderful. I can sense my body responding and feeling simply beautiful!.I then search the kitchen cupboards and fridge for some Tang/Rasna to make a cool afternoon drink.

That night I sleep deeply, feeling really good and special, and the next day I am ready to get back to work and into the world of other people and their demands. The fact that I have rested gives me extra energy and I usually enjoy my day.

vi.v.a go.a

Memories of the Goa Trip:
GOA BECKONS....,tickets nahin mil rahein hain yaar, gobar n ghom, wednesday > teyk it!, i m ready, office lite!, wats d budget yaarron, ATM,not all cash at one place!, volvo ac sleeper, seats exchange, antakhshari with ONLY new songs, himesh...., click!,mera bhi le yaar!!, ehh n70 me,n91 4gb,n91 8gb!!, the HALT in our journey, police investigation, finally, we reach gOa!, NEPTUNE, we meet a f.r.i.e.n.d!!!, pulsaaaaar rocks!,splendor n activa lite!, first goan food, itna sab kuch 55 rupees mein, simply beautiful!, panaji city ride, off to our first beach: MIRAMAR beach, tanha tanha, jump jump...jump in d air!!, thrills, gaja buja thrills, viva dabombs, off to DONA PAULA, dry beach, lite hogaya goa, limesoda, here comes d ferry ride errrr d feni ride, wat a enthu man!,who joins our dance thrill? ...the phoren babe, screaaaaaaaaaam bangalore!!!!, konkani dance, off to BAGA beach, beach shacks, sea food,prawns,lobsters,oysters,crab!!!, kingfish steak,mix nv sizzlers....whers d party 2nite ? on d beach shack :) , boooooooooooze, back to neptune!, every1 set ur cell alarm for 5am, finally we start at 9am!, sunscreeeen bath, ghom baba stomach upset..., newys,its DCH time, AGUADA FORT, only d poses, flickr PRO, SIX of us!, then comes ANJUNA beach, rocky beach,into d waters, thakur njoys d swimming pool :) , every beach has got its own charm yaar!,no watersports here wtf man!, off to CALANGUTE beach, d queen of d beaches,let d thrills begin...,walk against d tides,I CAN...I WILL,watersports kicks off with d waterscooter ride!,get tattooooed,hippy!!!,need body massage....,lunch > only sea fud machaa,back 2 waters..,kara n pd touch d floors,kara scared!,banana ride and parasailing,mnm single!,kArA fighting with the parachute on d ground! :),need energy man!,chillax with fruit juices n feni,back 2 waters....,nite life at BAGA!,hunt for disc/pub...stag entry!, oriya waiter n bong cook wala dinner ,encounter with ppl having dual core technology!!!, the discussion which led to a verbal fight...SMART work!,one more peg..,stop yaar! u guys hav 2 drive back, lets spend d nite here, pulsaar ride back to hotel at 4am with high spirits!, okie guys we hav 2 check out at 9am, tring tring > the alarm, get started for BITS-PILANI,GOA CAMPUS, werever we go, we see sura!!, run to meet dmk, the holes!, gals r better yaar :),unka c'not kahaan hain ????, naah not tat gud....,back to panaji!, i luv panaji,hav 2 use the reamaing fuel,shall we suck it out ?, take lite...lets go 4 gen bike ride,vroooom vroooom, CCD @ goa!, wow is now menu, final view of d beach, sea....sand....sun tats goa for u!!!, simply beautiful!, simply amazing!!, simply orgasmic :)

FLICKR slideshow of GOA pictures!

My Prediction!!!

World Cup Predictions!!!

Semifinals-

• Australia
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka

Dream Semi Finals-

• Sri Lanka defeats Australia
• New Zealand defeats South Africa

Dream Final

• New Zealand defeats Sri Lanka

New Zealand becomes the Champions of the 2007 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup!!!!!

A Trip to Nandi Hills!

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PACMAN

ohh man!...i still remember those school days.
once a week,computer lab period (i m talking of 1994-1995).....we used to fight for a computer in the lab to play PACMAN!!!
those prizes such as cherries,strawberries,apples etc that used to pop up, which accounted for some value points....those four large round power-up objects ,tat used to provide Pac-Man with the temporary ability to eat the ghosts...:)
man...those days were simply beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

btw,i was reminded of 'pacman' coz the new project which was assigned to me 2day is code-named 'PACMAN'

office office!!