Kamat Yatri Nivas

After living on hostel mess food, office cafeteria food and tiffin food, don’t we long to have food that is closely related to our homeland? For e.g., a Tam guy would be desperate for dosas, idly or pongal, a Maharashtrian desperate to have pohe or vada pav when thrown into alien land.

Why am I saying all this? I’m myself currently in this situation. Six months in Bangalore and I’ve been away from misal-pav, vada-pav and most importantly, the jowar bhakri and pithale (made from gram-flour). That is when the restaurant Kamat Yatri Niwas (KYN) came to my rescue. Situated in the heart of the city of Bangalore, this restaurant serves authentic jowar bhakri with brinjal (egg-plant) masala and other vegetables that are close to the Marathi style of cooking. They call it the North Karnataka meals but I find it way close to the Marathi style of cooking. Man, at least for the cooking style, north Karnataka should be merged with Maharashtra. Spacious and well ventilated, situated on the fourth floor of the KYN building, this restaurant is seriously a place where the entire north Kannadigas and Marathi crowd should go for a meal.

Enter the restaurant and you feel you have left Bangalore and literally come to north Karnataka. For the Marathi public, they’ve entered into Maharashtra. Why? The guys who serve the food dress in a white dhoti and brown cotton kurta, a common way of dressing in rural Maharashtra. Once seated, a fresh banana leaf is laid in front of you. And then in the true Indian style of serving food, each item in the menu is served. The serving begins with spring onions and methi, and then moves on to vegetables, curd, buttermilk and brinjal masala. Not to forget the koshimbir (salad mixture) and the chutnees. Once your “plate” is full with these, the star item of the lunch—the jowar bhakri—makes an appearance. The only drawback of the jowar bhakri is that it is rolled by the chapatti roller and not roll pressed by hand. However, considering the demand for the meals, you can accept this drawback. Eat as much as you like, no questions asked. I managed to consume seven bhakris before I felt like stopping. However, do not forget to eat rice, even if you want to eat a little bit. Rice and sambar, along with a generous serving of ghee is the near perfect way of finishing your meal. Finished? Well, if you are done eating, your bill will be presented to you. Not alone, but along with ‘pan’ and a banana. Thus bringing an end to a well-eaten and thoroughly enjoyable meal. Now, the best thing to do is to reach home and go off to sleep. One of the best things you can do on a Sunday afternoon.

Life after IITB

Well, this is after a very long time. Precisely four months. I've taken up an internship position for a year in Bangalore. The transition from IIT life to life outside IIT has been difficult. It has been difficult in both terms- a) to adjust to the professional parameters of the organisation and b) to adjust to the fact that you have to live doing nothing on weekends.

To speak about Bangalore... well there is nothing much to speak about. All must have read Devegowda's statements and N.R. Narayanamurthy's outburst in news papers. Traffic situation is extremely bad, couple with it the fact that the locals are trynig to loot you in every possible manner. I think there would be a very few land-lords who would accept rent by cheque and issue a receipt for it. Even my land-lord told me that I shouldn't give him a cheque but instead pay in cash. One land-lord told me bluntly that if we pay by cheque he'll have to pay tax at 30% rate, hence he would prefer everything in cash. Even the outrageous 10 month rent that these guys ask for, he wanted in cash.

Bangalore is not meant for guys who want to commute around. After 9:30 PM, the auto guys ask for 1.5 times the meter reading. Boss give me a break, 9:30 PM is evening not night. They also flatly refuse to come to places that would fetch them only minimum rent.

I am eagerly waiting for my internship to end. I'm interested in getting back for my Ph.D. Well, let's hope the time comes soon. I cherish the work here. It is giving me a lot of exposure to various technolgies and also the work culture, which I wouldn't have had if I'd taken my Ph.D. directly after M.Tech. Also, this insight into life after academics is very much fantastic. If I had taken up a Ph.D. directly, I might have not come to know about this life. Well, it has enabled me to underestand what all should go in before deciding what job to take. I would like to thank almighty and all those who encouraged me to take up this internship before doing a Ph.D.

Last month @ IIT

Well, all good things do come to an end... My last month in IIT. Almost finished with the project... The 1st yr. M.Tech. junta gave us a farewell in the dept. Well, it was some fun. The profile reading was good. Also, faculty took their time out to attend the valfi... We were asked to share our experiences in IIT and the dept. Well, I told about my mimicking habit an the incident when Karra was almost trapped in our plot... It was fun. Ananth and Kamat have some fotos of the celebration. In the end, everybody was given a huge cup (the ones you get in Archies) and a plaque that carries a senti message.

Now, for my project. I hope to complete the report by Jun. 20th. Defend by Jun. end. And then I'm a free bird. Will go back home for a few days and then join GE on 18th Jul. Mother is so worried that she has started contacting everybody she knows in B'lore to make temporary arrangements for me. Now, some one tell her that even GE would be glad to help me ;)

Rajul was in IIT yesterday. It was her b'day. Well, she hadn't come 'coz it was her b'day but she was in Mumbai for her summer project, and had come on campus to meet her boyfriend... And since I was also there, she met me too. She become much more gorgeous than she was in school... I just forgot to wish her happy b'day when she came in front of me!! Boy, that's bad thing to happen. We (me, she and her boyfriend (Vivek)) had a nice time @ coffee shack and then she gave us a b'day treat at Baskin Robbin's. Oh God, this ice-cream has f****d my throat since then.

I guess that's it for now. Hope to get back to work.... This net usage is now going to decrease as no more 24 hr net connection in B'lore.

Hostel valfi, new format, et al.

Just got over with the hostel valfi. though wasn't tooo exciting as we'd just spent 1 yr in the hostel and 2 yrs in IIT. Not a very senti mood. Although profile reading was fun. But the Chem. junta hadn't given their profiles, hence my profile was read along with the Mech. junta. Ne ways I'd spent more time with the Mech. guys as they were my wingies.

Just the next day, we submitted an abstract to AIChE conference. Hope this stuff gets accepted. Could give me a huge boost in terms of a Ph.D. admission in the US. Recently, the new format for M.Tech. thesis submission was announced. We feel that Prof. Preeti has written the regulations and guidelines. It is visible from the statements where it is said - "Your guide is the best person to advise you on these matters, since she is experienced in writing and reviewing papers." God, I didn't know so many guides were females!! Had this been the other way round, there would have been a cry of gender discrimination. Also, I do not know how many guides from the Chemical Engg. Dept. are reviewers for international journals. Of course, they have a good command on English and writing (most are US returned, hence their GRE should be of help).

My M.Tech. project work should be complete by this weekend. I'm taking a leave for 3 days, as my guide recommened it. Then, when I return, I'll begin with report writing. Should be easy, as I've completed one part of it already and the remaining shouldn't be difficult to complete.

After a looooooong time !!

It's been a long time since I last entered a blog. Lot's of things have happened. We'd been on a trip to Alibagh in mid-April, I've almost completed 80% of my project work and much more.

Basically I was busy with the job interview at GE, Banglore. The good news is that I've been selected as a Research Assistant for a period of one year. After that, I am free to pursue my doctoral degree.

The Alibagh trip was a fantastic one... We freaked out. After a long time, I travelled by sea on a launch boat. The Gateway and Taj appear majestic. I've shot them on my handycam and plan transfer that to the comp. on Sunday. My comp. is currently being tortured. It is running simulations for 12-15 hrs daily with 2-3 hrs break in between. Well, coming back to the Alibagh trip, Nitin was a person worth being with... Ohhhh, he generated so much entertainment for us, I don't know what we would have done if he wasn't there.

The proejct work is now coming to an end... I've to tune a few PID controllers and voila, the project work is over. Then it is only typing the report in the prescribed format. Hope to complete everything by 15th June. Let's see.