Author: SK

Using DBabble

DBabble is a popular tool used as an internal messenger in various companies and colleges. I know for a fact that both IIMB and IIMA use it. DBabble has this beautiful messaging feature, where messages are more like emails rather than chat messages. You send a message, and the other person replies to it in his/her own sweet time. There’s no chat window opened. And all such.

I don’t know why but in version 2.7 released sometime in 2004, DBabble introduced a “chat mode” which is similar to GTalk/Y!M. in that there is a chat window for every pair of users who are talking to each other. it’s actualy very similar to GTalk/Y!M.

Till our batch in IIMB, we used to use message mode extensively, and we still do (alumni have access to IIMB’s DBabble – called BRacket). However, from the batch junior to us onwards, the chat mode became popular. And thing is if one of the two people is using chat mode, it becomes very painful for the counterparty if he/she is using message mode. While talking to a first year student at IIMB (one of those people who doesn’t know any lingo and has never posted on arbit), I wrote the following treatise extolling the virtues of the message mode. I thought I should put it here in the larger interests of society.


basically bracket is supposed to be used in the “message mode” and not in the “chat mode“. for “chat mode” you always have things like GTalk. the beauty of the message mode is that it’s non-intrusive. you can take your own time to reply to each message, and you can still continue the conversation.

then, chat mode clutters up with your taskbar with too many windows. very tough to manage. again – it’s significantly inferior to GTalk in that sense. message mode, on the other hand, just flashes that nice red thing on the side bottom, and doesn’t clutter your comp.

another thing with message mode is that you can have N different conversations with the same person at the same time in parallel. BRacket message mode is the only uncluttering tool you have for this. you need to use this a few times to appreciate its beauty.

Need stuff

I got a new laptop last weekend. And missed out on a great opportunity on Sunday in Bombay when I met Monkee, Mukka, Madness, etc. to get stuff. Now i’m in gurgaon and don’t know how to get stuff.

I basically need music and movies. Movies of all hues, in all languages (as long as there are subtitles for all non-English, non-Hindi and non-Kannada languages). Music – classic rock for bread and butter. Instrumental carnatic classical. Indian rock (downloaded Avial; too strong). Trance. Anything else you might htink i might like.

As it stands now i wont’ be going out of gurgaon for a month (except for the odd trip to delhi). So stuff should be procurable here. if you know any way in which you have some stuff i may like, and may  be able to give it to me, let me know. put a comment here nad we can figure out.

The IITM Open Quiz and LTCM

Yesterday, I lamented about the fact that the IITM Open Quiz is no more, because the quizzers at IITM decided to default on their obligation to take the great tradition forward. I then called for volunteers to contribute questions so that we can hold the quiz at a different date.

I’m reminded of the collapse of Long Term Capital Management. There, when the company was about to default, different ibanks all (all except Bear Stearns) pitched in with a little bit of money each to resurect it. Similarly, this time we can expect us old quizmasters of the quiz to contribute a few questions each in order to bail it out.

However, we should remember that the LTCM bailout couldn’t have been done by the ibanks alone. The most important player back then was the US government. Similarly we need a  government-like player here who can facilitate the resurrection of the quiz, and assure all “creditors” (people who “lend” questions) that their efforts won’t go in vain (for the record, creditors to LTCM encashed their bailout money at a substantial profit a few years later).

I had also mentioned yesterday that there is no point if the IITM Open is held at a place other than IITM. The government, we thus think, should be IITM. However, it won’t be as easy to get buy-in from the IITM Student Community (who are critical to doing all the GA work, etc.) as it would be to get buy-in from the profs/admin (who have been sympathetic to this quiz throughout its existence). It’s like the US president agrees to orchestrate the bailout but the treasury department employees who have to actually do the work become hostile.

I wonder what steps we can take in order to turn this situation around, and get the people to organize the quiz. As I had mentioned earlier, getting volunteers on the quizmaster front won’t be fight.

IITM Open Quiz

Most people used to abuse me regarding the amount of time i spent at Sri Gurunath Patisserie, at IITM. It was right opposite my hostel, and I would go across and buy myself a cup of Nescafe for 5 bucks, and settle down at one of the tables. And stay there for half the night, talking to random people about random stuff.

I don’t remember who all were there that day. Anshumani Ruddra was definitely there. And some 2-3 other people. And there was this idea that we should do a quiz. For whom, and why, no one had a clue.

A few days prior to this, Shamanth, The and I had been talking about doing an IITM Open quiz. We had noticed a gap in the market – all quizzes done by IITM were for colleges. True, a lot of non-college people would faithfully turn up one January night every year to watch the open quiz finals, but there was no avenue for them to participate. We figured that the Saarang guys wouldn’t be interested in another literary event. And so, an open quiz, we thought, would be a good idea.

I have written a flowering account of the birth of the IITM Open Quiz in my CV. Looking back, I don’t recall exactly how much “work” i had done. My B.Tech. Project was going nowhere, and I seemed to be getting into trouble with my advisor. I remember setting questions, though. And participating in all the “idea” meetings. In terms of the implementation bit, though, my greatest contribution was to have been at both the above discussions – which led to the birth of the Open Quiz.

It wasn’t easy to do the first IITM Open quiz. The Dean Prof. Idichandy was the only person who seemed to support the noble endeavour. The Saarang guys hated it, for we would probably become competitors for sponsorship. Moreover, it was unthinkable for them that a bunch of “events guys” wanted to do a public event. They flatly refused to help out with sponsorship and facilities.

We bribed the  general secretary of our hostel to help out with the facilities. Shamanth, Bhaand and the dean put fight for spons, and managed to tie up TCS – they would remain our sponsors for the next five years. Shamanth and Nisheeth came up wtih the logo – the commies that they are, they came up with a small variation of the hammer and sickle, and promptly got into trouble with the authorities (the logo was changed for subsequent editions). We paid a fortune to the Hindu (China’s national newspaper) to put a small ad. Most of the publicity, though, happened free of cost. Through mailing lists and announcements at other quizzes. Shamanth, Ruddra, The and I set questions. Bhaand was “special officer for administrative affairs”.

This was the first major quiz I did in my life. Looking back, my questions were nowhere near excellent. But they weren’t too bad. This quiz, we intended, would be a paradigm shift from the usual IITM style. We put effort to make the questions less verbose, but didn’t succeed. We put all questions on a powerpoint. Prelims, too, were on powerpoint. Modified infinite bounce. And Shamanth’s brilliant idea of the Long Visual Connect, which is a fixture in major South Indian quizzes nowadays.

I have written on my CV that this quiz was a grand success. I think I have told the truth there. 350 teams of 4 members each. A full SAC. People traveling from Bangalore, Hyderabad, etc. All the big shots. Anustup sent us a long mail after the quiz listing out all our faults, but even if you take them out i think we did well. A few days later, I graduated from IITM.

The quiz was to become infinitely better with each passing edition. They “captured” the October 2 national holiday spot. Organization became much better. Questions became better – though there remained a bias in favour of Christian Theology. TCS stuck on as the sponsor. And the train from Bangalore on the morning of the quiz was getting fuller of quizzers.

I don’t know if you’ve heard the story of Taleb’s turkey. With every passing day, for a hundred days, the turkey is fed more than the previous day. And it becomes nice and fat. So what does it expect on the hundred and first day? That it will be fed even more, right? Unfortunately the 101st day is Thanksgiving.

I don’t recall if it was a coincidence or a conscious effort that a freshie (The) was part of the organizing committee. The next year, another freshie (Pota/Cindy) was also inducted. Induction of freshies meant that they would carry on the quiz at least as long as they were in IITM. And by the time Pota graduated, the quiz would be in an evolved state, and would take care of itself.

Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to have happened. Pota graduted this summer. And there’s no one to take it forward. A prof was among the quizmasters last year, so we thought he would put enthu. But for profs to put enthu in something, it is essential for students to put enthu. And that doesn’t seem to have happened. For some inexplicable reason, the quizzers of IITM have put NED. And have killed a budding institution.

Sitting here in Gurgaon, i don’t know what to do, except feel sad. Maybe I should’ve given this a thought earlier, but the only option seems for some of us Alumni to resurrect the quiz. I’m sure that if enough of us get together every year, questions will not be an issue. Organization and facilities, however, will be. And that needs to be done by insiders. Will we find people to do that? When they didn’t have the enthu do interesting stuff such as setting the  quiz, will they have the enthu to do uninteresting stuff such as setting the facilities for a quiz?

If other alumni are interested, let me know. Later date doesn’t matter. What matters is that the quiz should happen. I already have a few questions ready, and can contribute. But that, I don’t think will be a problem. I think we can catch hold of six alumni and ask them to give 5 prelims questions and 10 finals questions each.  But I need insider support. It’s not good to see a baby die. We should do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.

IIMB culture seems to be dying

On Saturday I had the opportunity to interact with a few not-so-young first year students (fachas) from IIMB. The interaction was, in general, good, but I came back disappointed. , disappointed that IIMB culture as we knew it was on their way out.

These people hardly use BRacket. Some of them don’t even know what is Arbit. It is reported that they hardly play tsepak nowadays. And it might be a biased sample that I met, but most of them hadn’t attended more than one or two L^2s in their first term (there are usually about five or six L^2s in a term). If people put NED for drunken partying, I dont’ know what they will put enthu for. The list is endless…

The more shocking bit was their absolute ignorance of IIMB lingo. One fachi kept saying “strong da” but that was about it. Great institutions that we had introduced – such as “are”, “K” and “NED” – didn’t seem to find a place in their vocabulary. In fact, when I happened to say K2U to one of them (the same fachi who kept saying “strong da..”) they all gave me strange looks.

In their defence, the fachas claimed that no one had taught them. That no one had taught them to use BRacket, to use IIMB lingo, to play Tsepak, or what arbit is. And I admit this is one problem with a two year course – every batch is a “cut vertex” in the cultural chain. One useless batch and the entire chain which had been painstakingly built up gets broken. And there is only so much that a handful of interested alumni can do. It is the responsibility of the incumbent senior batch to ensure that the essential knowledge is transferred to their juniors.

At a high-level meeting of representatives of batches of 06 and 07 held in Mumbai on Sunday, it ws decided that it is imperative to take urgent steps in order to resurrect the great IIMB culture. A resolution was unanimously passed to condemn certain practices and language followed by the current first year batch. A decision was taken that we need to start an education and training program for the current inhabitants of the institute. How far we will succeed, no one knows.

One last thing. The fact that the fachas didn’t know about K was bad enough. When I looked at the blank look on their faces and proceeded to explain the great concept, one bright fachi (no, not the one who kept saying “strong da…”) interjected “oh it’s just like saying something is ‘gay'”. And the rest of the fachas and fachis enthusiastically agreed.

Quality of blogging

I want to apologize to my readers for the drastic drop in quality of my posts over the last one month. The problem is that so far I haven’t had net at home, and hence have had to blog from work. And it is extremely difficult here to concentrate on writing.

Most of my posts in the last one month are those that were written at a time different from when they were thought up. And given that I’m a “flow types”, this has resulted in horrible quality. The only post in the last one month which I wrote impromptu (as i was thinking about it) was the one on Orissa violence, which I thoguht measured up to my usual standards.

Anyways, things are looking up. I got a laptop over the weekend. Dell XPS 1525. Tomorrow the Airtel guy will be coming home to install broadband. Which means I can start blogging from home. And that will, hopefully, ensure better quality of posts.

Bongobondhus

On Sunday I got my new house cleaned. Some three bongs came to do the job and the first thing they wanted was some consumables. “Tezaab, saarof aur bhim powder”, one of them said. The first was understandable – I clearly remember from the posters of the Anil Kapoor – Madhuri Dixit starrer (incidentally the first ever hindi movie i saw) that “Tezaab is acid”. But saarof and bhim? I thought it was something local to Gurgaon. So I took one of them along to the shop.

It turned out that he wanted Surf and Vim. It seems I was too late to put on my “bong filter” .

I must say they did an excellent job of cleaning (and they better have done, for the small fortune they charged me for it). Finally I ask them where their names and where they are from. One of them had disappeared by then. The others gave their name as “bhokto” and “orjun”. And they said they are from Kolkota. I asked them if they are from Kolkota or from Bangladesh, and they immediately pulled out their Election Voter ID Cards to ostensibly prove they are Indians!

Dear Lehman Employees

Or should I say ex-Lehman employees? Assuming that most of you haven’t been fired yet, I’ll drop the ex. I know that a couple of days back, I wished for your company’s demise. That had nothing to do with you. I wished for that because I thought that was the right thing to be done. And the right thing has been done.

I know that you are out of a job, or will soon be without one. And that there are millions of Lehman people out on the street now, looking for a job. You may soon be joined by some people from Merrill, so you may not be alone. However, this is not the kind of thing where one appreciates company – after all that would reduce your chances of getting a job early.

I’m told that a number of you are desperate to quickly get into other jobs. I even heard that some of you are willing to take fantastic pay cuts in order to get employed again. I also heard that some of you are planning to apply to jobs that have nothing remotely to do with banking. i would advise you against doing things like this.

I know some of you have mortgages to pay. Some of you have families to take care of. And by embracing the American culture, you don’t have enough stowed away to take care of this. Some of you may not be allowed to legally live where you are currently leaving unless you find another job soon. Yes, if you are in this kind of a situation, you would do well to find a job early. However, keep in mind that whenever you are looking out, all that matters is your last paycheque. I figured out the hard way a few months back that the job market is Markovian. It doesn’t care for what you used to do. So if you end up taking a pay cut now, you might have to live on a different salary scale for the rest of your life.

However, a large number of you may not belong to the above category. You might have some savings stashed away, or you wont’ have mortgages to repay, and you aren’t really desperate to retain your visa. If you fit this category, I would advise you to hold out. I know you are upset now, but don’t panic. Don’t be in a hurry to find a job. Don’t sell out. Unless there are more large-scale layoffs in the near future – with Merrill having been sold, the chances of this aren’t too high – the job situation is going to get better with time.

Remember that once you are in a job, you will never get a break. You might get your statutory three weeks of privileged leave, but you will never find an opportunity to take a longish break. You will never get an opportunity for a sabbatical. To take some time off and do what you want. Yes, personal experience tells me that it’s really tough to chill when you don’t know where your next cash flow will come from. But given your experience in what was considered to be the best bond house in the world, it shouldn’t be that tough to find another job, when the supply in the market isn’t as bad as it is now. I would still advise you to take a short break, and breathe, and introspect, and ask yourself all the  questions you haven’t been able to ask because you didn’t have the time.

You might think I’m crazy to be telling you this, but I think this is what will work best for you. Yes, there is a small chance you might get a good enough job paying well enough soon enough. If you hit upon this, then, you must count yourself lucky, and take it. However, there is a good chance that you may not be able to do this. All I’m saying is that in that situation you shouldn’t panic.

Just one last thing. If you are from Lehman, and are interested in working for a quant-based algorithmic trading hedge fund trading in Indian equity and equity derivatives markets, and based out of in Gurgaon, let me know. Drop in a comment with your email ID. Look up on this page, and you find a tab saying “Contact”. Click on that and you’ll get a form. fill it up including your email id and submit it. You might find someone responding to you in a few days.

Thanks and reegards,

SKimpy

Recipe for disaster

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been staying with some relatives. For most of this period, my aunt has been out of town, and so there’s no “natural choice” to cook (my 24-year old female cousin has put total NED wrt cooking, and so has my uncle). So my uncle arranged for a professional cook. Unfortunately she’s been so irregular that on a number of days we’ve had to eat bread for breakfast (if you are a South Indian, bread is the last  thing you’ll want to eat for breakfast; there are so many other awesome options).

On the other hand, it’s been bugging me that I’ve been bugging these people too much by staying on in their place for longer than I had initially planned for (i’ll talk about househunting in another post), and so I should do something to “compensate” for this. My first thought was to help out my 20-year old cousin, who is writing CAT later this year. However, he spends most of his time in his hostel, so there isn’t much impact that I can have.

I love cooking. I may not love it as much as Madhu Menon, but I still like to cook. The only other time when I had an opportunity to cook on a consistent basis was when I was in bombay 2 years back. But a floyd job, and a floyd house meant that I put full NED, and ended up just heating MTR ready to eat stuff. And yeah, I like to experiment.

Putting two and two and two together, I volunteered to cook. My uncle was initially sceptical but most of the scepticism vanished after I had made onion rice on Tuesday night. Then, he figured that the cook he had arranged for could come only in the evenings, and since then I’ve assumed responsibility for breakfast. Uppit (upma) is one thing that I’m really good at making, so I proceeded to make that yesterday. And as usual, did a splendid job. Then, this morning I decided to make poha (avalakki). For the first t ime in my life.

I had called up my mother last night and asked for basic directions. Based on this, I set out to work in the kitchen this morning. The bad news is that it didn’t come out too well. The good news is that everything that could possibly go wrong with my cooking went wrong this morning. So hopefully the law of averages will mean that I’ll get back to making excellent food from tomorrow. Here is what was wrong with today’s poha:

  • The poha was soaked too much. So it was a bit soggy
  • When I boiled the potato, I didn’t remove all of the water. This ended up making the poha even more soggy
  • I didn’t put enough oil in the pan when I was boiling the onions. Hence I’d to keep them boiling for too long. A part of the onion got a little burnt. Not that burnt, but it went brown – and looked bad.
  • There wasn’t enough salt
  • There wasn’t enough sourness in the poha. I made amends on my plate by adding a bit of lemon juice, but the others refused to heed my advice.
  • There was no coriander or curry leaves. But this isn’t my fault, since there were no coriander or curry leaves in the house.
  • There was no coconut – which is so essential to give that sweetness to the poha. Again not my fault – there was no coconut in the house
  • In a flash of inspiration, I had decided to put tomato. It ended up making the thing even more soggy, but not sour
  • There was no chana dal or urad dal in the house. Hence I didn’t add it in the seasoning thing. Again not my fault but it took away some taste from the poha.

My uncle decided to ignore all these faults and cribbed that the poha was too spicy. Yes, I’d underestimated the power of the Delhi chilli and put a bit too much, along with the usual quota of the red dry Guntur Chilli. But then, this was the least of the faults of the poha.

Anyways, despite the disaster, my uncle has agreed to my suggestion that I cook pongal for tomorrow’s breakfast. I found some MTR vada mix in the fridge, so probably I’ll make some Vada also. And hopefully all my bad whatever got exhausted in today’s poha and I’ll continue to make awesome food tomorrow onwards.