An Egyptian Excursion - Day 10 (25th May 2010) and General Impressions

This was our last day in Egypt with plenty of travelling to be done. There’d be no more calls of Salaam Maleikkum, Y’allah, India India, Insha Allah, Shukran, Amitabh Bachchan etc. after today.

We left the resort at 6am and took the flight to Cairo. Business class was empty except for us and some Sheik who looked to be Saudi, decked in the traditional robe and headdress. Just before we took off, 2 armed forces fighter jets did a flyby and then landed. The flight was good enough and the aerial view of sights like the Pyramids was amazing. We had quite some time to waste at the Cairo Airport. The shuttle bus was a pain-in-the-rear, but we soon reached our terminal and checked in and started our tour of the duty-free sections. There was some guy on a Haj trip being very generous, handing out cash to pretty much every airport worker he met. From Cairo, we took the flight to Abu Dhabi. Some Tamil guy who’d been stopped from boarding for having way too much hand baggage and he was charged for it. Bugger must have been trying to ship way too much booze from the looks of it, from the duty free shopping in Cairo. Abu Dhabi as such seems to be a small airport terminal with never enough seating compared to a lot of other international airports that we've seen. Here, there was some Bangla guy at one of the check-in counters trying his darnedest to make the counter staff understand what he was trying to say (he really didn’t know even a modicum of English).

Anyway, we took a walk to the nearby Terminal 3 where the shopping was slightly better and we loaded up on chocolates as usual. This is one of the few international airports I’ve seen where the Indian rupee was usable. The flight to Chennai was boarding soon enough, and as always there was a big rush to get on. It’s terrible why Indians can’t ever learn to respect the queue and keep their voices down too. There were also plenty of people removing their glittering gold bangles and putting them into their bags – don’t quite know why. The flight was pretty bad though with the air-conditioning system having some problem and we finally reached Chennai at 4am local time on the 26th of May.

The queues at the customs check-in counters were horribly mismanaged. People were jumping queues, and some queues were moving at a brisk pace while others were dead slow. Instead of giving preference to people who’d been standing for a while already, they’d just open a new counter when they felt like it and move people coming from the latest flight onto it. Then they’d close a counter and ask the people to go stand at the back of the queue at the new counter again. Just a whole load of bullcrap. One old man standing in front of his pointed out how this was rather unfair and poorly managed and the customs official standing there had the gall to say “We know how to manage, you don’t need to teach us” with no regard to the poor state of things there as well as any respect he should have accorded the man atleast looking at his age. Such is the hubris of some pompous government servants here. I wonder if they’ll ever be cut down to size and whether things will ever change. Probably not. And so it was back to Chennai and traffic.

General Impressions.

1. People here generally start off a conversation with some sort of greeting - Salaam maleikkum, peace be upon you, how are you - before popping any sort of question, even if you’re just asking a stranger for directions.
2. Around May 2010, 8 Indian rupees equalled 1 egyptian pound. Damn rupee is always low no matter where we go. Some people called the Egyptian pound’s sub-unit Piastres.
3. The tout problem here isn’t really significant. Just say 'No thank you, la shukran' a few times and they’ll go about their business without bothering you.
4. The Police are ALWAYS around. Plainclothes policemen carry sidearms. Uniformed ones in white sport Kalashnikovs. However I've read that it isn't safe for single women to backpack alone even with police around.
5. Friday is a holiday here so plan accordingly.
6. The drivers here proudly proclaim that Cairo is the worst place to drive. They obviously haven’t driven in an Indian metro like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkatta.
7. Taxi drivers in Cairo are pretty insistent. They may keep lining up, offering you a ride and turning it down again and again is made slightly difficult because of the language barrier.
8. There are plenty of cats around –far more so than any other pet animal.
9. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has plenty of makeup on and a ton of hair gel for guys. Even little kids seem to sport perfect haircuts and several layers of makeup.
10. Amitabh Bachchan fans are everywhere, very few seem to know Shahrukh Khan or Aishwarya Rai. There was just that 1 guard at the museum in the Coptic Area in Cairo who took a look at us and said “India – Amir Khan I like!” and flashed us a thumbsup.
11. There are no Swensen's outlets here. No big ice cream retail chains I came across. And ice-creams don’t make an appearance at most buffets either. Only smaller shops and big bakeries have ice-cream counters.
12. 10am to 4/5pm each day – that’s the only time attractions are open, so plan accordingly.
13. If you’re a college student, bring your university ID Card. They’re actually supposed to give discounts only for Egyptian students or those with an international student ID (a specific kind of ID) but even I was able to save a lot despite my major being engineering and not history.
14. Quote Amitabh (not Govindha), especially if you see a television set playing a Hindi movie in a shop. Once again everyone likes him, so you’ll get a healthy discount at some smaller shops if you do.
15. If you’re vegetarian, things are going to be a bit difficult. I think they use animal fat while cooking even rice, because the rice does have a slight flavour of the same to it.
16. People here drive on the Right side of the road like they do in the US.
17. At most times throughout the year, it’s very dry, humidity is low and the temperature is high. So take enough moisturiser, sunscreen and protective wear.
18. Remember this - my trip was half a year or more before the Arab Spring revolts that began in Egypt unseating the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Things have changed plenty in that country since then, the military is in charge, and it might not be quite the dream fantasy vacation it seems from these posts. A pity really considering all the magnificent sights Egypt has, not to mention the only surviving one of the true Seven Wonders of the World. 

An Egyptian Excursion - Day 9

Today, we were up by 7am. Had a pretty heavy breakfast and the nervous waiter nearly spilled his entire tray of coffee on Mum. He did apologize profusely though. The driver and guide were already waiting for us. In Aswan, the drivers don’t stop all the time and give pedestrians priority when they’re crossing, quite unlike Cairo. Here you have to be a bit more careful when you’re crossing the road.

Our first stop was the old dam in Aswan. Built by the British around 1902, later seized in the revolution of 1952 and all the power dam produced was henceforth used for Aswan alone. Then we drove to the Aswan High Dam. This one was newer and supposedly built with money seized from the Suez Canal during the war. This was the dam that submerged the land of Nubia (hence the migration of the Nubian population to Sudan, and regions like the Nubian village in Egypt which we saw earlier) and several temples of Ancient Egypt. This massive dam powers pretty much the whole of Egypt. Neither of the dams have any locks (not the kind you put on your door), so boats can’t pass through either one.

We headed to the boat dock for a ride to Philae Island. This was one of the numerous Islands that the dam had submerged. However, a coordinated effort was organized to disassemble the underwater temple and reassemble it on a nearby island that still remained above water. An amazing feat by any measure, considering how deep the water is. The Philae Temple, built in Ptolemaic times (time to dust off that old history book) is dedicated to the Goddess Isis – wife and sister of Osiris (yeah, the Egyptian Gods and Pharaohs were pretty messed up that way). The courtyards, pylons, statues and pillars were all covered with ornate designs and carefully preserved with not a hint of any mess left behind by tourists – which is, sadly, hardly the case in monuments back in India. We took our time walking through the temple and caught a boat back to the docks where the map seller followed us around saying “India India, Sholay very good, Shahrukh, Amitabh, Salaam Namaste, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Amir Khan” and went on and on even when it was apparent we weren’t interested/didn’t need a map (all the regions were stored offline on my N79). He could probably named more Bollywood actors and actresses than I ever could. Then there was the souvenir seller who tried to sell us something for 12, then 11, then 10 egyptian pounds, then for the heck of it, dad said 9, then he said 8, 7…and counted down to 1 laughing all the way while waving us goodbye.

Driving back from the docks, our first stop was the EgyptAir office (to check on the status of our flight back to Cairo) and then the quarry of the unfinished obelisk. Soon we were back at the resort. For these 3 hours of sightseeing inside Aswan, the cost was around Rs. 4400 (exchange rates around May 2010), by no means cheap. The previous 2 days’ trips came to about Rs. 20,000 each (no, not a joke). So be prepared to shell out a lot when touring Egypt, especially in the tourist towns of Luxor, Aswan and Edfu. If you have plenty of time, you can even take one of the cruise ships that ply the Nile and stop at the major attractions.

This was our last day in Aswan, so we took our riverside walk yet again, and stopped at the same Aswan Moon Restaurant from yesterday for lunch. The friendly old waiter was there and we had fresh mango juice and strawberry juice to go with our meal – no water, no essence, just pure and awesome juice. Once again, the food was simply marvelous. There was a bit of packing to be done back at the resort and we did that while I watched some cheesy Punisher flick from the 80s. I checked my mail after what seemed an eternity and found an IEEE Project idea of mine had been shortlisted for funding. Looking out my room’s window, I found a mother cat walking about the Nile’s banks followed by her 6 kittens and threw some cheese, butter and any other edible stuff I had in my room. The kittens were happy enough with this. Had to shave today, what with the face fungus growing rather unruly.

Around 8.15pm we took a walk down to McDonalds, had a big combo and a KitKat McFlurry (McFlurry Ice Cream blended with bits of KitKat chocolate). There are always so many more women out at restaurants here than men. Plenty of kids too in their early teens. Everyone seems to eat so much, yet they get to maintain perfect skin and a pimple-less face. Today however McDonalds was a bit too crowded – I suppose it was some kind of holiday. Mum had an ice-cream from a nearby shop on the way back. It was apparent that he’d overpriced it at the last minute when he saw we were foreigners.

And so began our last walk back to the resort along the famous Nile. Finished packing and ended the day with End Game on television (starring Cuba Gooding Jr.).

An Egyptian Excursion - Day 8

Got up at 4.30 am. The minivan and the guide were ready and it was already light outside by 5.30am. There was the usual name-taking by the police on the way out of town. The road out had plenty of greenery on either side – one side was decidedly rocky and on the other the Nile flowed. Passed Kom Ombo and Edfu (all these places I’ve only heard of till then in Egyptian legends I’ve read as a child). Stopped at Edfu briefly for a cigarette – no, not us silly, just the driver and everyone else around. Plenty of people smoke here. The route to Luxor abounds with military and police checkpoints. We made it to the ancient Pharonic town of Luxor by 9.10am, despite the traffic being heavier than the road to Abu Simbel. Then again, Abu Simbel lies near the ancient region of Nubia (and towards the border with Sudan), hence being a tourist spot in a desolate location away from other cities – so the lack of traffic was understandable.

The first stop was at the Colossi of Memnon (meaning Ruler of Dawn) – two large statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Both statues were affected by a large earthquake around 25-30BC. These colossi stood guard to the once-massive Mortuary temple of Amenhotep III – of which little remains today. After a brief jaunt through the Ramesseum, we headed to the Valley of the Kings – large complex of burial chambers (obviously of the Pharaohs) cut into the mountains and spread over a wide area. Several of them were pretty deep and well preserved with even the paintings retaining their color. The tomb of Thutmose III was pretty high up – a steep climb followed by a steep descent, and hence my parents opted out while I took a shot at it. Few people come here, thanks to the daunting climb and subsequent drop, but it was well worth the effort. We visited a few more tombs, with paintings and wooden sarcophagi surrounding the inner metal/stone sarcophagus containing the mummies. Photography inside isn’t allowed.

Our next stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut – erstwhile Queen of Egypt – which had 3 distinct ‘steps’ in its construction. The courts were adorned with images, statues and reliefs of Hathor and Anubis and scenes of Somalia (not quite the war-torn, impoverished country it is today). It was obvious Hatshepsut fancied herself a God and apparently, her son-in-law and stepson got fed up with her behavior, and after her death several of her cartouches and paintings had the faces chiseled off. No doubt she must have been like a certain chief minister in India whose name begins with M, has a Y in the middle and ends with an I – the one that keeps building monuments in her name ;) .

If you ever visit Egypt, be sure to take along plenty of sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses and a cap or hat. Else you’ll be hit with a terrible headache – like the Pharaohs would have had when they had holes drilled in their skills through which their brains were extracted before embalming. Of course they were already dead at that point.

Loading up with quite a number of souvenirs (the sellers had a field day) we left the complex and drove to the Karnak temple complex (once the largest in the world) on the opposite bank. Here we found courts with HUGE (and I mean bloody freaking HUGE) columns supporting massive slabs of stone high up in the air. The temple had many sections expanded by different Pharaohs. The entrance itself has small sphinxes on either side. In ancient times, the temple was connected by canals (which have long since closed and disappeared) to the Nile River. The sacred/royal boat was kept in the temple and each flood season it would be able to make its way onto the river when these canals filled up. After a long walk through all the sections, we went over to the Luxor temple, similar to Karnak but smaller. We were pretty tired after all the time we’d spent in the heat and sun and left Luxor a while later.

The rule of the land here is that foreigners HAVE to be back inside Aswan (not outside the cities or on highway roads) before sunset and the police are pretty strict about enforcing this. On the drive back, we found from the guide that he had to take formal exams and such and a course of a few years before he could become one. While he was good with English (which was what we preferred), his wife was a Spanish guide. They must make a pretty penny with the tourist industry in Egypt booming even off season and the prices for tours what they are.

Back at the resort, we freshened up and took a walk by the riverside. We bought more bottled water from the resident Amitabh Bachchan fan (from the other day, remember?). Unlike London or Bangkok, there was no commission or tax here to change our dollars to Egyptian Pounds. We stepped into a nice restaurant by the river (literally ON the river actually) and had fresh Mango and Banana Juice. I must confess it was among the best fresh juices I’ve ever tried anywhere in the world. The resident kitty (very pregnant) was there (plenty of cats around Aswan) and we took a few pictures of her. Her man came along soon enough and sat by her. He chose to meow politely at us while she ate whatever we gave the both of them. Some damned foreigner (probably Spanish :P ) didn’t like kitty and co being around their table (where she headed next) and so the owner carefully picked them up and led them into the kitchen, all the while petting them gently. Kitty was back soon enough though :D . What I’ve noticed here is that, even the locals who are supposedly highly conservative go out and enjoy themselves much more than folks back home. The food was excellent and we headed back to the resort where I watched “The Ghost and the Darkness” (a Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas starrer about a hunt for man eating lions in Africa) and then “The Fast and the Furious” before calling it a day.

An Egyptian Excursion - Day 6

Breakfast today was pretty heavy, an excellent spread at the buffet. We got ready to check out, and our driver for the day, Karam (a friend of Tiger/Nemr's), was waiting for us. And so we started to the airport. On the way Karam pointed out the 6th October 1973 memorial, pretty much everyone seemed to know about it and from the way they talk it's apparent that they respect it and revere the people who gave their lives during the Yom Kippur War. Few of us would ever accord the same degree of reverence to those who laid down their lives in Kargil or the war of 1971.

He proceeded to showed us the Cairo International stadium among other sights. Our flight was leaving from Terminal 3 of the new airport. Pretty large, spacious and pleasing to the eyes. One big airport in the middle of the desert.

There was a dark-skinned African guy who got stopped at the entrance though - apparently some issue with his tickets. His companion, another negro, was let in and he proceeded to find a ticket counter where he could set things right. Meanwhile the man who got left behind (with a thick African accent) kept saying "You let white man go, but I go to America, they stop me there. I go to Europe, they stop me there. Now I come to Africa, you stop me here too. OH MY GOD!!". While I can imagine that it must have been distressing for him, his words were so funny with that accent that I couldn't help laughing at what was happening (not in front of him though).

There was another problem with our seat allotment which kept us standing at the counter for some time, though they did resolve it. Next stop - duty free. After browsing through many of the shops there, we boarded the plane. As usual, there were a few Indians laughing loudly on the flight as if it was some train compartment they'd hired exclusively, drawing looks and giving us a 'good' name :P . When we finally landed at Aswan, the tour operator from the Pyramisa Isis Corniche was there. One Mr. Abdul Rehman, who gave us a full briefing of the sights to be seen on the way to the hotel.

Soon after checking-in, tour arrangements were to be discussed. Now like I always say, we never take group tours, we prefer traveling alone - just the 3 of us - with a guide and driver too at max in a vehicle. All the prices were in dollars (they kinda prefer that to the Egyptian pound here) and they were all pretty damn expensive. Even compared to London and such high-flung places.

The view from the room itself though was just too beautiful to describe. Right on the banks of the Nile - the cradle of the Egyptian civilization, with the Tombs of the Nobles right across the river on a hill, and the sun's beautiful rays shining down on the water. We decided to take a Nile cruise on a boat from the hotel's dock.

And so we went, taking in the beautiful scenery as we watched the rich greenery and civilization on the banks on one side contrasted with the stark desert and sand dunes on the opposite bank that extended into the distance.

Mind you though, we kept our hands firmly within the limits of the boat. The Nile crocodile is the largest crocodilian in Africa (with some 20 feet plus specimens recorded) and is sometimes regarded as the second largest crocodilian after the Saltwater crocodile. A fact we were well aware of. One of the rocky little islands in the middle of the river even had an ominous "Croc warning" danger sign.

We saw Aga Khan's mausoleum (now closed to the public) on the way too. Soon the boat stopped at the Nubian village. These Nubians live in a somewhat more traditional fashion on the west banks of the Nile and on Elephantine island where they settled after being displaced to make room for Lake Nasser. Here, we had Hibiscus juice at a traditional Nubian house where they had croc skins among other weird paraphernalia hung up all over. There was even a relatively small crocodile in a makeshift tank in the middle of the hall.

Walking through the streets of this little place, we nearly got run over by 2 camels. Periodically, a camel or two run down the streets with a tourist or the owner himself on it. There are shops where you can get souvenirs made by the locals here too, and the shopkeepers call out "Hey India India" based on the color of our skin, except one dude who incorrectly called out "Hey Sri Lanka" :P . We took the same boat back with our guide to the point where we started this little journey where a car from the hotel was waiting for us.

We skipped over to the opposite side of the road (crossing the road is a slightly more perilous affair here compared to Cairo) to look for some place we could get plenty of bottled water. We did find one such shop where the shopkeeper was busy watching some old Amitabh Bachchan flick on his little TV. On seeing us, his eyes lit up like two 100W bulbs and he went "India India... Amitabh Bachchan you like??" and only after he confirmed this would he sell us the water. Even gave us a discount LOL. We had the car drop us back in front of the hotel's entrance and from there we took a walk along the road on the banks. Some tout tried to accost us saying he was a cook from the restaurant, pity we come from a land where touts are a dime a dozen. Didn't work. A little bit of shoe shopping and currency exchanging and Hostess Ho Ho buying later (I just love HoHos and I was frankly amazed to find them here in Aswan too). Had an ice cream too after many days (we'd been unable to find much in the way of ice cream during our time in Cairo).

There was no dearth of people of Sudanese origin here in Aswan. Everyone seems to like Amitabh Bachchan more than any local stars. Google it too if you don't believe me, but they kinda greet Indians here with "India India?? Amitabh Bachchan!" hahaha and they just love his movies (as we would find out during the later days). Soon it was dark and time for dinner, which we had at our resort's restaurant (they sort of messed up with a Vindaloo that wasn't quite a Vindaloo) with the dark water lapping the shore barely a few feet away. Wonderful setting with the Movenpick Hotel (yes the same folks who make that awesome ice-cream) on the opposite bank showing off its ever-changing lighting. I was beginning to miss the constant texts I'd usually keep sending a friend of mine by now. The phone had instead turned into my travel diary of sorts, keeping track of everything I did wherever I went. Stored the location I was at on the phone's GPS for memory's sake .

After dinner, I tried to turn in early (big trip next day), but to no avail. There was some crazy prom slasher film on the tube which ended with everyone else dead but the target of the obsessive slasher.

Then, quite coincidentally, The Mummy came on. Couldn't resist watching The Mummy all over again what with this being the land of the Pharaohs ;) . For the record, Hamunaptra is imaginary and Imhotep was an architect, engineer, physician and adviser of the King Djoser, and he didn't quite stab the king in the back and go about cavorting with his bride.

College Chronicles : Sector Seven ;)

Now that I'm into the final semester of my Bachelors in Engineering, here's the customary College Chronicles post mentioning highlights of my time at college during the sem gone by.

When the 7th semester began I was juggling the work I had left at IIT Madras and all that was happening at college. The seventh semester being tight as it was didn't quite help matters. Had some friends to help out though:

(OK, so he didn't help out but he joined us on the benches we occupied near the co-op store)

Professional Ethics was one subject which we all took easy. The professor who took it had to leave for Italy on some training program for 10 months. So what he did was hold classes on Saturdays too (which I conveniently missed to continue my internship at IIT). Can't say he had too many fans though, especially with the way he corrected papers. However, this did have a positive effect on the latter part of the sem. He pretty much disappeared after mid-August leaving us with a whole day free.

The other faculty members couldn't leave well alone though, so we inevitably had classes on most days. In the midst of this, a classmate and I were working on a project sanctioned by the IEEE itself (yeah, with funding from them). That took up a lot of my time with welding, metal cutting, frequent trips to electrical and mechanical part shops and some electrical stuff to be done. I guess I was wrong to expect a "free" start to the 4th year. Once my extended internship at IIT was completed, there was the GRE to prepare for with just 2 weeks left on the clock. The kind of English the ETS tests us on is filled with words you'd rarely ever use even if you were a literature major or a lawyer. When that was done with, it was back to concentrating completely on college. Most of us were so engrossed in what was being taught that we didn't notice this dog take a walk through out class.

Now, when I say "concentrating completely" what I mean is enjoying every day to the fullest and preparing for exams on the very night before the test. Some would only study on the morning of the test. While class was on, you'd find most people looking more at their watches than at the professor teaching. When a particular teacher once asked why everyone wanted the class to finish so soon. Reply from our representative Praveen: "Ma'm, Pasikkidhu (hungry)". LOL. Yes, Thalaivar Praveen is a very hungry young man as evinced below.

The next bit of comedy came as a result of a particular report we had to submit each week. Now, this was for one of the lab classes. While some of us did do it sincerely (yes, that includes me), there would always be a few groups rushing to put together a report at the last minute. Code "borrowed" from one report, theory from another, calculations from yet another. A composite report so to speak. :) Why, some reports would only differentiate themselves from others in the kind of font they used.

This year was also the beginning of a new phenomenon during Dr. PK's classes. Some diagrams from Petrochemical Instrumentation are, strictly speaking ;) , just insane to say the least. And not all of us can depend on our quick rough sketches which are quite often far from accurate. So I took the initiative and asked him if he'd let me photograph the board after he'd drawn it. Contrary to popular belief, he was more than willing to oblige. Ever since, it is his wont to put forth a sly "Gaurav, don't want a photo?" every few diagrams :P

One of the staircases was declared off-limits 'officially' this semester.

Beginning at a 019019, frequent trips to college helped me breach the 20,000km mark on the car. Besides the work on the new Metro lines in the city was creating traffic snarls all along the route to college and driving me nuts. And when it rained hard, oh my, the roads would be flooded. At such times, especially when an exam was close by, we'd resign ourselves to eagerly keeping watch for this announcement courtesy of Mr. Ramanan.

(It reads "Chennai schools and colleges are on leave today thanks to heavy rain")

On the home front, Mum thought it'd be a good idea to change out the old mats and put something more..umm... colorful... there to say the least. I knew there was something fishy going on.

This hectic timetable had me tired and bored. For reasons unknown, my scratch support chief (like tech support, except you scratch him when you have a problem and you feel better) seemed much more tired than me throughout the semester. Yeah, Mr. Cactus:

It's common to hear the expression "Padichu kizhichitten" when referring to the intensity of one's preparation. However "Padichu Chair e odachen" is a new one. Broke it and fell flat on the ground during one of my pre-exam night study sessions. Might have had something to do with the fact that I was falling asleep sitting....

Birthdays were celebrated with pomp and splendor as always in class. And yeah, with cake and plenty of ice-cream too. Observe how one of our daredevil class representatives spits in the face of danger and licks cream off a knife. Mr. Vigneshwaran attempts to recreate the effect albeit in his dream world with his finger.

This time around, we also hit a few big malls and went to the movies to celebrate the majority of us securing employment offers.

Our intra-college festivities took place as always in the form of Sivaranjini 2010 as well as the intra-college technical fest LiveBeat held by our department (hats off to my classmates who worked pretty hard to make this a success). Some posters (concerned with other events happening around  campus) invited us to enhance our electromagnetic properties too, not sure that was quite what they were getting at :P

There was one workshop by National Instruments conducted for our benefit. Only issues were that the class was packed and the microphone didn't work. Didn't help that the guy from NI couldn't really raise his voice either and that we were seated behind our juniors. End result - I slept through some of it despite trying my best (with my fingers even lol) to hold my eyes open. I'd imagine most others were far worse. Props to Topper Harini for capturing this snap.

I mentioned employment a few lines back. This semester we had companies coming to campus to recruit us. What this offers us, apart from a chance to write placement tests, sit for interviews and group discussions, is an opportunity to enjoy a day out with friends without fear of losing attendance. The only placement session I attended ... well the company HR Manager told me that I was "overqualified" for the job with the stuff I had in my resume. LOL. The only thing worthwhile that day was the trip to KFC with my classmates:

(Yes, Santhosh was busy looking at the food tray in Vigneshwaran's hands)

I'd put in a word in my last College Chronicles post, if I'm not mistaken, about a paper of mine that had been selected among the ones to be published in the conference proceedings of an IEEE conference in Shanghai. Well, it was dang in the middle of our end semester exams and that led to a drastic change in the timetable giving us pretty much 9 days worth of holidays inbetween the 3rd and 4th final exam dates. While the guys went back to their native places and the girls revised the remaining subjects' portions 10 times over (no offense meant hehe) during that respite the university afforded our department, I headed to Hong Kong first and then Shanghai where I presented the paper. It was received quite well and I got to see a lot of sights. The university didn't pick up the tab for even a portion of the (considerably large) conference registration fees (or any other expense for that matter) though because I'm not a PhD scholar or professor, and Vigneshwaran, my co-author, couldn't accompany me for lack of time to prepare for the conference and his management exams. So I turned this into a vacation with my parents. Had a wonderful time, really, and I'll be detailing all the sights seen and things we did in Hong Kong and Shanghai (with pictures mind you) in later posts on the blog. Stick around for that, or better yet subscribe for e-mail updates or the RSS feed so you won't miss out on anything. The links are on the left hand side column. You can also get notified of articles if you're in India using Google labs free SMS notifications.

Special thanks to my friend Kaushik and his driver for picking me up on their way to college whenever I hadn't slept enough to drive myself to an end semester exam. Without him, a lot of my last-minute reading wouldn't get done because I'd have to concentrate on driving during that last one hour. Speaking of which, this was my final odometer reading:

21111

And so ends this College Chronicles post. Another 5-6 months and the final part of this tale will be up. The 8th semester has started off just fine, here's hoping it goes well too - especially our final year project. 

Do note that the remaining days of the Egypt trip will be up shortly on the blog, followed of course by a travelogue of the Shanghai-Hong Kong vacation + conference. Don't miss it. :) 

PS: Cheers to you if you got the Transformers reference in the title!