Adieu to the last Kannadiga ...

It feels lonely, when you know that your last few known people are leaving. I know Santhosh well from last couple of years. I was introduced to him as a person who eats too much :D, and believe it or not, he indeed eats a lot :)

As time progressed, we got to know each other better. He was one of the few guys I have met, who has a liberal thinking, can discuss anything under the Sun and he would listen to it peacefully. He is very strongly opinionated, but not the one, who forces his thinking on others. This is something I'm sure he'd make a loving partner and a caring father.

"Looks are deceptive" - suits perfectly for this guy. Looks like a reserved guy, but is very expressive, once he gets to talk or dance or writes. A multi-talented person, whether it be sports (beaten me innumerable times :)), cooking, singing, dancing, writing, and lot more (censored ;)) He is also a connoisseur of food. Always has some restaurant in mind to visit :)

The blog won't be complete without mentioning of his 'Two Generals' Problem' :) You would never know when is ending the call or if he is planning on to continue. I hope Santhosh will find a solution to this potential np-hard problem :P

He is one of the few people, who doesn't stick to conventionality. I remember this quote from Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston seagull, “Why ,Jon ,why?” His mother asked. “Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? " I hope to see him expand his horizon and inspire the rest of us folks.

The title of this blog needs a good explanation too. Probably he is one among the fewest of the few in ASU, who are as intoxicatedly passionate about Kannada as me, Lohith, Vatsa being the others. It saddens to realize that there can be no more conversations, discussions (Remember the heated discussion in the Mexican dungeon :P).

As its said, "this too shall pass", everything has to end and new things will arise. Hope our friendship surpasses this :) Wishing my buddy all the best in his new endeavor and hoping that he expands his 'space' :)

Bon voyage to Raj!

There couldn't be a better occasion than this to start my first ever blog! Our Raj is leaving to Detroit to start his second phase of career life.

Life always intrigues me. We'd never know who we will meet and who turns out to be our good friends?. Ours is one such story. I met Raj in the fall of 2007 in RST (Random Signal theory) class. Our first interaction was filled with a blast of questions from me (as usual!). I'm sure that would have put him off right away. It was only in "Numerical Optimization" course in the following semester that we got to know more about each other. Lack of decent background in that course made us interact, discuss and bitch about the course et. al.

Raj is famously known for his miso-frigity (I coined this ;-)). He hates cold so much that he used to wear his famous jacket to class even in spring (even in April-May)! His strange fascination for heat reached its heights in fall resulting in a heater accompanying Raj to MIMO class! (That used to provide a constant background hum to the class ;-)). I hardly can imagine how he'll survive in the harsh Detroit weather!

He was my constant companion in racquetball (Although I never improved my game, unlike he). He is very sportive and always ready to host a pot luck or help arrange one. He is known for his chole and pav bhaji. Thanks for inviting me on numerous occasions. He is also avid hiker and enjoys scenery (including bird watching ;-)). His extra-curricular activities is not limited just to outdoor activities, but also includes some indoor activities like facebooking, chatting, etc. However, these hasn't limited his capability in academics. Bhat's wealth of knowledge in controls saved my butt in MIMO course.

Raj is probably one of the very few diplomatic, non-controversial person I have come across. I hardly seen him commenting anything bad about others. Witty in his dialogues, he keeps any place lively with his humor. He is also a strict veggie and I remember many occasions, where we roamed from one fast food place to another in search of a veggie burger/sandwich :-).

I feel immensely happy about his start of career and at the same time feel sad to part ways. Feels lonely not to have someone to call/ping when you are bored. Life is a journey. We meet new people and part away with old ones. It's one such phase here and not the last. Nevertheless, these memories will be etched forever in our minds.

Wishing Raj a happy and fruitful journey into his next phase of life and hope to keep in touch forever! Bon voyage, buddy!

Parting ways

Its a sad day for all of us at asu homies. Our lohith biskur shanthaiah aka 'grand old man' aka 'senior citizen' left tempe today morning for good. He leaves USA for India in under a week where he has decided to pursue his career.

I first met him as part of an edulix meet organized in bangalore by srivatsa...My first impression looking at him was that he should have been the youngest among us....But looks can be deceptive sometimes...

He's been a part of our group for more than 26 months and all those 26 months flashed like a series of pictures in my mind when i bid him goodbye for the last time. Those quirky remarks, unbelievably fast pace of talking, a walking style closely resembling Dr.Calculus from tintin comics, a face that looks exactly like charlie chaplin minus the moustache and his favourite recipe 'soppin huli' (spinach saaru) will all be missed. And then there is orange chicken...I doubt if anyone has given more business to panda express outlet on college avenue than lohith...He practically owned that store...And for his stature, he feels hungry amazing number of times...If i had a dime for his every complaint that he was hungry, i would have cleared my loan by now...

I will also remember him for sharing my passion for kannada novels...One of the very few i know...His craze for tamil and telugu films was also something unique (and strange i have to say)...

Parting moments are always hard. But if anything, these parting moments keep reminding me that nothing is permanent in life. Lohith will be only the first and will surely be followed by more guys leaving the group. We will be lucky if by the same time next year more than 2 guys in our group are in the same city. Maybe then we'll see more posts in this blog... ;-)

I will post pictures from lohith's final days in tempe when i get them...Or Abhishek will post them when he's done mutilating them :D

Total solar eclipse

Look at the irony...For 22 years i was in India, there was no solar eclipse visible totally in India. Now the longest solar eclipse of the century is visible so well from India and i am stuck here. It is especially disappointing, since arizona has a huge astronomy scene. Out of 20 largest telescopes in the world, 3 are here. Kitt peak observatory in southern arizona has the world's largest collection of optical telescopes. The crystal clear night skies here are an astronomer's dream. It is on my list of 'must go' places before i leave arizona. There is a planetarium here at ASU as well in the physical sciences building which offers group shows. They are called 'ASU astronomy open house' and should be considered if you are interested in sky viewing. This is their official website: http://homepage.mac.com/agfuentes/openhouse.html

You might wanna check that if you want to attend their future sessions.

dust storm in tempe

For the first time during our stay here, we experienced a duststorm. I am surprised it took nearly 2 years for us to do that, since we are right in the middle of a desert. Thats probably because most of us were interning somewhere else last summer. The visibility had reduced considerably and most static objects were covered in dust. It lasted for a couple of hours. But dust storms are not uncommon in arizona. Quite a few huge dust storms have been recorded here. I found these pictures in a phoenix library, showing famous instances of dust storms in arizona:

Walkers in Dust Storm. 1972.

Dust Storm Over Residential Area on Labor Day, 1972.

No Rain Had Fallen in the Area for 153 Days, 06/1972.

Dust Storm Over residential Area on Labor Day, 1972.

No Rain Had Fallen in the Area for 153 Days, 06/1972.

Dust Storm Rises Over Phoenix on Labor Day, 1972.

No Rain Had Fallen in the Area for 153 Days, 06/1972.

Dust Storm Rises Over Phoenix on Labor Day, 1972.

No Rain Had Fallen in the Area for 153 Days , 06/1972.

*Dust Storm Pictures from Environmental Protection Agency.

Graduate Recepie for Saaru/Saambhaaru/Huli

A typical saaru recepie of a South Indian Graduate Student:

How to prepare ALOOGEDDE Irulli saaru:

STEP 1) Cut Onion, cut tomatoes, wash toor daal, pour a little oil in the cooker and the above items and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles let it cool down and smash it.

STEP 2) Cut ALOO and boil.

STEP 3) Mix the above put water,salt, saaru pudi and garnish it.

Ready to eat.

How to prepare CAULIFLOWER Saaru:

STEP 1) Cut Onion, cut tomatoes, wash toor daal, pour a little oil in the cooker and the above items and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles let it cool down and smash it.

STEP 2) Cut CAULIFLOWER and boil.

STEP 3) Mix the above put water,salt, saaru pudi and garnish it.

Ready to eat.

By induction it is true for any VEGETABLE saaru!!

Just replace the main vegetable and u get the curry ready!

Pros:

1) Very Consistent taste(rather the stereotype ;) ),

and will not change unless you get a distress call to attend in the bathroom whereby the vegetable overcooks and/or gets burnt out!

2) You can prepare it when u are totally drunk and bet on the taste to remain the same! ;)

3) In case you do not have the main VEGETABLE, just open a bag of FROZEN mixed vegetable and your are done again!

4) You can prepare STEP 1 in a bulk and use it during your subsequent cooking turns as a standard base.

Cons:

1) In case either Onion/Tomoto gets over you are at loss and have to stay hungry whole day despite the presence of all/any other vegetable in your refregirator as you cannot proceed beyond STEP 1.

2) You completely loose the sense of taste and any dish that tastes different than the above preperation will be qualified as a very good dish and in some cases over exposure to the above may cause your tounge to loose sensation to any other dishes! :P

Some variants of above where in use of coconut powder and a mixer may be in practice, but the steps will remain very consistent to such a practice. :)

Welcome to the Kitchen of a typical South Indian Graduate Student! What you are going to taste here today is,......

What you will taste after 2 years.. Please do, Come back for a feast!!

Tempe Festival of the Arts

I was pleasantly surprised to see Downtown Tempe transformed into a fair of sorts yesterday, which I was told was the Tempe Festival of the Arts. It's a bi-annual festival where Mill Avenue in Tempe plays host to a number of stalls displaying artworks created by Phoenix area artists. I had gone to the Post Office, and after the work I thought I'd catch a glimpse at some of the stalls. Most of the stalls displayed paintings, artwork, embroidery and similar stuff. There were a few musicians and street performers as well. 

Apparently, this event has been going on for quite a while now, and the organizers receive well over a 1000 applications from artists to be a part of the fair.  Apparently some of the proceeds go to local charities as well. Check out more at: http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/HomePage.aspx

Pics courtesy: Arvind Ramachander & http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/HomePage.aspx