Popular saying but for a chatterbox like me, this is not even remotely applicable, though I'm sure people reading this would beg to differ.. They are probably saying "Ok.. when is she gonna shut up n let me speak????"
Ah well... today I shall not be talking about the non existant "Mute" button on me but my perennial panga with the same on electronic gadgets around me. My journey begins when I was a toddler and could just about manage to walk, with occasional stumbles. My parents had bought a lovely Sony music system and were sitting right in front of it and investigating the same. Dad fished out a cassette of ABBA (ok ok.. obviously I don't remember these tiny details hence bluffing to make this post a li'l more interesting/believable... but the cassette part is true since I've heard this story several times) and placed it into the player. Then with an expectant/excited look on their faces, Dad hit the "Play" button. But to their dismay they couldn't hear a thing. Dad and Ma exchanged worried glances and quickly discussed "Yes.. it's a new set so within warranty.. We can easily get a replacement". Dad, the engineer that he is, decided to investigate. Took his face closer to the player and checked... Yes it was indeed playing. But then why couldn't they hear anything? He was probably one step away from opening it up when they realised that the tiny "Mute" button was down. Parents were obviously zapped because they distinctly remembered NOT hitting that button. So they started looking around for a possible explanation when they happened to see me in my usual mastiful mood standing quite close by. And there I was the culprit... whose tiny hand had shot out right past them and hit the button.
Fast forward to my engineering days (coz nothing noteworthy happened in between). Sumedh, Anshula, Suvrat and Indranil had come over to my place to work on the ADTL (Application Development Tools Laboratory) project. This was sometime towards the end of Third Year as far as I can remember. Anyways, after a tiring day of designing and coding we started fooling around. Sumedh sat with dad's pipe in his mouth (empty by the way.. he just wanted the feel of it). I got my webcam out and recorded a bunch of videos of all of us goofing around. After that we played all the videos, but to our dismay they were all silent. I was zapped. I remembered using the microphone built into my monitor. But why was it not working??? After a lot of pondering I finally attributed this to the installation of Windows XP on my home PC because the last memory of the working mic was when I had the eternally crashing/hanging Windows ME on my machine. After a few months my dealer paid me a visit with a new keyboard etc (ok people this time I ain't bluffing... I actually remember) and very indignantly I told him that the microphone had stopped working and that it should be replaced. The fella gave me an incredulous stare and then opened the advanced volume panel from the little icon on the taskbar. And there it was.... the culprit. A little green tick in the tiny checkbox below the microphone symbol and next to 1 teensy weensy word "MUTE". Man did I feel stupid or what!!!
Alas, my list of dumb acts does not end here. I have a lovely headset which I use at home. It has a long wire and allows me to walk around and sometimes even lie down on my bed while I am talking to someone. OK.. strayed enough. So getting back to the point... I connected my headset to talk to a friend. The Google Talk call went through. We started off with rounds of "hello".. "Hulllllllo" "Anybody home?" "Knock knock" "can you hear me?" etc. I could distinctly hear my friend but not vice versa. Thought something was wrong with my PC. Hence rebooted my machine. But in vain. I verified the settings several times to ensure I was not repeating an old error. Even tugged and then connected the wires back. Finally I was convinced that the microphone of my beloved headset had conked off. Dejectedly I made the switch... office working headset with mic with the one I use at home. A couple of days down the line, ond fine day (honestly like any other day), I happened to be listening to music while working parallelly. I was toying with the wire when I felt the little control panel. I looked down curiously and saw a little black button on it. I brought it closer to my eyes and realised that the button was pushed to one side and next to were the 4 now familiar letters M U T E. Baaaah! Another feather to my "Dunce" cap for sure.
Well these were the most memorable(actually the only) Mute pangas that I can recall as of now... Will update you guys when I have more related stupidities to write about. So till then Sayonara and have a nice day!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Saturday, June 10, 2006
The final hurdle...
Now that I had the admit, there was only one thing that stood between me and my dream... the visa. It's a well known saying that when you are destined for something then all the forces conspire to make that come true. And that's what happened in my case too...
Without much ado, I shall now launch into an account of how things proceeded during my visa interview...
Since my parents were acompanying me, I had taken the VFS lounge service. Morning went to that place at around 8.20 am for the scheduled interview at 9.30 am. Waited n waited n waited.. Finally at around 9.40 am the bus came to transport us to the consulate. Apparently the embassy was running behind schedule. Eventually we were allowed in at 10.30 am, after waiting in the light drizzle for sumtime.
After the usual stuff (read security check n collecting the DS forms et al), I stood in the queue for the finger printing part. One chap hurriedly came n told all of us... "keep your hdfc receipt etc in.. u don't need that now." Now clumsy as I am... I struggled to open the piano folder with 1 hand and just when i felt good about having achieved the superhuman feat... SRRRR.........CRASH!... Okay.. for those uninitiated that is the sound of my docs landing on the floor and finally the complete folder. I hurriedly bent down to pick everything up... in the process the sequence of docs to be placed inside the passport was messed up. Anyways, I finally entered the booth in front of counter number 3 to be greeted by an American lady and an Indian dude who was assisting her. That chap got a little irritated to see that the olive green (or yellow as they actually call it) envelope was below the passport and not inside it... (grrr!) and said "Had it not been for the long queue, i wud've sent u back"... I flashed a sheepish grin and mumbled "Actually my docs had fallen down"
Anyways, so I placed my left hand index finger on the scanner and after a few rounds of "Press a leeetle more" from the american lady, she concludes that my finger is too dry. The chap rapidly wiped my finger with wet tissue, dried it on a piece of brown paper and attempted it again.. this time no problemo. Next right hand index finger... no problems here too. Soon I settled down in the waiting area.
Within 5 minutes or so the fella at counter 7 hollers my token number. I went and stood in the queue... the 3rd person there. I craned my head and saw an American gentleman sitting out there. So I looked at my watch and practised to myself "Good morning Sir"... Anyways, the 1st chap is done within a few seconds and exited with a huge smile on his face. Then the 2nd met the same fate and now it was my turn and here's how it went (while the chap was furiously typing away at his terminal).
VO: Token please
Me: (i hand it over and then realise i haven't greeted him)
Me: Good Afternoon... (fumble as i look at my watch)...ooops I mean Good Morning Sir
VO: (smiles) Good Morning (i look around feeling like a complete idiot)
VO: (mumbles sumthing)
Me: I beg your pardon
VO: Which university?
Me: Carnegie Mellon University
VO: Why this university?
Me: Primarily because of my area of specialisation....
VO: What specialisation? (doesn't let me complete)
Me: Information security Sir. There are v few univs that offer that course and carnegie mellon is the best
VO: (looks ok with the answer) So, where else have you applied?
Me: (I launch into the list and barely get 3-4 names out and I get the next question)
VO: So where have you been working?
Me: IBM India Software Labs
VO: (Now he looks interested and happy) Where?
Me: Pune
VO: What are you doing there?
Me: I am working as a software engineer (pause... then realising that the VO wants more details I continue)... I have been working on a security product Tivoli Access Manager for Business Integration
VO: Ok.. so who's financing you?
Me: My father and my grandparents
VO: What does your father do?
Me: He's (post) in (company)
VO: (now the VO seems impressed) Where?
Me & VO in unison: Pune
VO: Have you been to US before?
Me: No
VO: (mumbles sumthing abt passport delivery that i didn't hear and then says the magic words) Enjoy your trip!
I trooped outta the room with a huge smile on my face and left the consulate... Wondering how simple it was in hindsight and how I wasted time preparing that folder that I didn't even open....
Wasted my time the entire afternoon and finally at around 4.30 went back to the VFS to collect my passport. Got it finally at 5.30 pm....
So with this I crossed the final hurdle and I came home at 12 am and the first thing I did was change my status message on different messengers to "CMU Here I come... nothing can stop me now"
So CMU Here I come!!!
Without much ado, I shall now launch into an account of how things proceeded during my visa interview...
Since my parents were acompanying me, I had taken the VFS lounge service. Morning went to that place at around 8.20 am for the scheduled interview at 9.30 am. Waited n waited n waited.. Finally at around 9.40 am the bus came to transport us to the consulate. Apparently the embassy was running behind schedule. Eventually we were allowed in at 10.30 am, after waiting in the light drizzle for sumtime.
After the usual stuff (read security check n collecting the DS forms et al), I stood in the queue for the finger printing part. One chap hurriedly came n told all of us... "keep your hdfc receipt etc in.. u don't need that now." Now clumsy as I am... I struggled to open the piano folder with 1 hand and just when i felt good about having achieved the superhuman feat... SRRRR.........CRASH!... Okay.. for those uninitiated that is the sound of my docs landing on the floor and finally the complete folder. I hurriedly bent down to pick everything up... in the process the sequence of docs to be placed inside the passport was messed up. Anyways, I finally entered the booth in front of counter number 3 to be greeted by an American lady and an Indian dude who was assisting her. That chap got a little irritated to see that the olive green (or yellow as they actually call it) envelope was below the passport and not inside it... (grrr!) and said "Had it not been for the long queue, i wud've sent u back"... I flashed a sheepish grin and mumbled "Actually my docs had fallen down"
Anyways, so I placed my left hand index finger on the scanner and after a few rounds of "Press a leeetle more" from the american lady, she concludes that my finger is too dry. The chap rapidly wiped my finger with wet tissue, dried it on a piece of brown paper and attempted it again.. this time no problemo. Next right hand index finger... no problems here too. Soon I settled down in the waiting area.
Within 5 minutes or so the fella at counter 7 hollers my token number. I went and stood in the queue... the 3rd person there. I craned my head and saw an American gentleman sitting out there. So I looked at my watch and practised to myself "Good morning Sir"... Anyways, the 1st chap is done within a few seconds and exited with a huge smile on his face. Then the 2nd met the same fate and now it was my turn and here's how it went (while the chap was furiously typing away at his terminal).
VO: Token please
Me: (i hand it over and then realise i haven't greeted him)
Me: Good Afternoon... (fumble as i look at my watch)...ooops I mean Good Morning Sir
VO: (smiles) Good Morning (i look around feeling like a complete idiot)
VO: (mumbles sumthing)
Me: I beg your pardon
VO: Which university?
Me: Carnegie Mellon University
VO: Why this university?
Me: Primarily because of my area of specialisation....
VO: What specialisation? (doesn't let me complete)
Me: Information security Sir. There are v few univs that offer that course and carnegie mellon is the best
VO: (looks ok with the answer) So, where else have you applied?
Me: (I launch into the list and barely get 3-4 names out and I get the next question)
VO: So where have you been working?
Me: IBM India Software Labs
VO: (Now he looks interested and happy) Where?
Me: Pune
VO: What are you doing there?
Me: I am working as a software engineer (pause... then realising that the VO wants more details I continue)... I have been working on a security product Tivoli Access Manager for Business Integration
VO: Ok.. so who's financing you?
Me: My father and my grandparents
VO: What does your father do?
Me: He's (post) in (company)
VO: (now the VO seems impressed) Where?
Me & VO in unison: Pune
VO: Have you been to US before?
Me: No
VO: (mumbles sumthing abt passport delivery that i didn't hear and then says the magic words) Enjoy your trip!
I trooped outta the room with a huge smile on my face and left the consulate... Wondering how simple it was in hindsight and how I wasted time preparing that folder that I didn't even open....
Wasted my time the entire afternoon and finally at around 4.30 went back to the VFS to collect my passport. Got it finally at 5.30 pm....
So with this I crossed the final hurdle and I came home at 12 am and the first thing I did was change my status message on different messengers to "CMU Here I come... nothing can stop me now"
So CMU Here I come!!!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Dream --> Reality... All in a day...
Well... to be very honest my last post was a tiny bit incomplete... as in I didn't divulge why after so many years I was getting my passport rectified and all. But now I suppose would be the right time to reveal what really has been going on in my life for the last few months, since that fateful day in March when it sorta changed forever...
By now I suppose some eyebrows are raised (kinda reminds me of that msn emoticon.. can just about visualise it), while close friends have started chuckling "Aah.. finally she comes out with it." Sharmistha, yeah yeah.. you can start yelling and telling people about what you've been yearning to broadcast for a long time.
The day : 22nd March, 2006
Time : 0800 hours
Place : My bedroom....
Ok.. more raised eyebrows and flying imaginations... STOP! Don't let your thoughts wander.. I shall explain.
Getting back to the story, it was 8 in the morning, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside my window. It was a beautiful Spring morning but my mood was as dark as the nimbus clouds filling the skies on a wet afternoon in the Amazon jungles. I woke up groggily as my alarm clock created a racket. My mom comes in gingerly and waits near the footboard.. trying to gauge how I was doing, given the fact that I was miserable the previous night and had been very very upset... Ok, given the fact that I mentioned "bedroom" and am now talking about a "bad night", I wonder what rubbish people's imaginations are churning out. Lol! Here's what had really happened. I had applied to several universities of USA for a Masters program in Computer Science/Information Security. It was the 3rd week of March and everyday and every night I used to pray fervently for that 1 mail/letter that would change my life but no luck till then. Honestly speaking I was miserable. Suvrat, Amit, Rohan(Shah) and Ameya consoled me that it was gonna come... my ticket to a new life in a fantastic university taking up courses in the area of my interest. But I was impatient and this was magnified by the fact that several friends of mine already had multiple good admits by then. Even people I didn't know personally seemed to be getting admits left, right and centre. I used to dread coming online coz I knew I was gonna meet someone or the other who would say "Btw so-and-so got an admit from so-and-so university.. amazing eh?" Anyways, 21st March was when I got my first reject, from a university where I thought I would get through (Blame people who were cock sure and convinced me that I would). This brought back the terrifying memories of the previous year's application process and the fate I had met back then. I promised myself I wouldn't cry so I didn't but deep inside a river of sorrow had already begun to flow.
Ok.. now that I've built the scene, it's time for the curtains to rise. I sat in front of my computer without even brushing my teeth and turned my computer and modem on, something I had been doing ever since early February when universities start responding. I connected to the internet and then signed into Google Talk. I was sure things would remain as bad as they were. Well I was wrong... so wrong....
Anyways, as soon as I signed into the messenger, I started receiving the mail alerts at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. I had 3 new mails and the 1st one was what changed my life forever. It was a mail from one of my dream universities (and the only one that I had applied to) and I just managed to see as much as I could in that split second. It read something like "We are pleased to inform you". That's it! I knew this was what I had been waiting for all my life... ever since I comprehended the concept of going abroad for higher studies. This was what I had dreamt for for as long as I can remember. Anyways, the look on my face underwent an immediate change as I burst into a broad grin. Mom meanwhile was watching the proceedings and she realised that her prayers had been answered. My hand was shaking while I struggled to click on the Mail icon on the messenger. I had to read the complete mail after all. After about 5 seconds or what then seemed like an eternity, the page loaded and there it was.... I had my first admit and that too from the university where I had been yearning to go. None other than Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US of A!!!
I just managed to tell Ma what happened and then started laughing and crying... all at the same time. My brain stopped working. I didn't know whether to sit down or stand, dance or jump with joy, scream or just laugh. Mom gave me a hug and started crying as well... Guess if someone had caught all the water or tears Mom n I spilt all over our clothes and the floor, we could have probably filled several buckets. After a long time finally managed to regain my composure and started calling people with the news. Relatives and close friends who had always believed in me. Forwarded my admit mail to dear friends as well.
That day.. I couldn't stop smiling. People would've probably thought that I had slept with a hangar in my mouth the previous night. But as my mom rightly said that the reject the previous night added to the joy I experienced the next morning. So within a span of 12 hours I had experienced the nadir and the zenith of emotions. And once again my faith in the saying "Whatever happens, always happens for the best" was restored.
That day was a landmark in my life... The day that would change my life forever.... The day that took me 1 step closer to turning my dream into a reality......
By now I suppose some eyebrows are raised (kinda reminds me of that msn emoticon.. can just about visualise it), while close friends have started chuckling "Aah.. finally she comes out with it." Sharmistha, yeah yeah.. you can start yelling and telling people about what you've been yearning to broadcast for a long time.
The day : 22nd March, 2006
Time : 0800 hours
Place : My bedroom....
Ok.. more raised eyebrows and flying imaginations... STOP! Don't let your thoughts wander.. I shall explain.
Getting back to the story, it was 8 in the morning, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside my window. It was a beautiful Spring morning but my mood was as dark as the nimbus clouds filling the skies on a wet afternoon in the Amazon jungles. I woke up groggily as my alarm clock created a racket. My mom comes in gingerly and waits near the footboard.. trying to gauge how I was doing, given the fact that I was miserable the previous night and had been very very upset... Ok, given the fact that I mentioned "bedroom" and am now talking about a "bad night", I wonder what rubbish people's imaginations are churning out. Lol! Here's what had really happened. I had applied to several universities of USA for a Masters program in Computer Science/Information Security. It was the 3rd week of March and everyday and every night I used to pray fervently for that 1 mail/letter that would change my life but no luck till then. Honestly speaking I was miserable. Suvrat, Amit, Rohan(Shah) and Ameya consoled me that it was gonna come... my ticket to a new life in a fantastic university taking up courses in the area of my interest. But I was impatient and this was magnified by the fact that several friends of mine already had multiple good admits by then. Even people I didn't know personally seemed to be getting admits left, right and centre. I used to dread coming online coz I knew I was gonna meet someone or the other who would say "Btw so-and-so got an admit from so-and-so university.. amazing eh?" Anyways, 21st March was when I got my first reject, from a university where I thought I would get through (Blame people who were cock sure and convinced me that I would). This brought back the terrifying memories of the previous year's application process and the fate I had met back then. I promised myself I wouldn't cry so I didn't but deep inside a river of sorrow had already begun to flow.
Ok.. now that I've built the scene, it's time for the curtains to rise. I sat in front of my computer without even brushing my teeth and turned my computer and modem on, something I had been doing ever since early February when universities start responding. I connected to the internet and then signed into Google Talk. I was sure things would remain as bad as they were. Well I was wrong... so wrong....
Anyways, as soon as I signed into the messenger, I started receiving the mail alerts at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. I had 3 new mails and the 1st one was what changed my life forever. It was a mail from one of my dream universities (and the only one that I had applied to) and I just managed to see as much as I could in that split second. It read something like "We are pleased to inform you". That's it! I knew this was what I had been waiting for all my life... ever since I comprehended the concept of going abroad for higher studies. This was what I had dreamt for for as long as I can remember. Anyways, the look on my face underwent an immediate change as I burst into a broad grin. Mom meanwhile was watching the proceedings and she realised that her prayers had been answered. My hand was shaking while I struggled to click on the Mail icon on the messenger. I had to read the complete mail after all. After about 5 seconds or what then seemed like an eternity, the page loaded and there it was.... I had my first admit and that too from the university where I had been yearning to go. None other than Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US of A!!!
I just managed to tell Ma what happened and then started laughing and crying... all at the same time. My brain stopped working. I didn't know whether to sit down or stand, dance or jump with joy, scream or just laugh. Mom gave me a hug and started crying as well... Guess if someone had caught all the water or tears Mom n I spilt all over our clothes and the floor, we could have probably filled several buckets. After a long time finally managed to regain my composure and started calling people with the news. Relatives and close friends who had always believed in me. Forwarded my admit mail to dear friends as well.
That day.. I couldn't stop smiling. People would've probably thought that I had slept with a hangar in my mouth the previous night. But as my mom rightly said that the reject the previous night added to the joy I experienced the next morning. So within a span of 12 hours I had experienced the nadir and the zenith of emotions. And once again my faith in the saying "Whatever happens, always happens for the best" was restored.
That day was a landmark in my life... The day that would change my life forever.... The day that took me 1 step closer to turning my dream into a reality......
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