With the Prior Permission of the Executive Board...

That was one AWESOME MUN! SANMUN completely lived up to its expectations (at least for me! :D).

3 Days of diplomacy can take a toll on a person. Especially when you are NIGER. Not to say that Niger is bad. Well, the country is in quite a horrible state now. Pathetic, so to say. Well, point being I can only say that here. In the MUN's even the mentioning the term 'underdeveloped' gets you a few tuts and frowns. I was still able to put up quite a good show. Me and the USA got the best delegate awards in the ECOSOC. And I'm Thrilled!

Being in ECOSOC ( That's Economic and Social Council for all you n00bs ), its the job description of the delegate of Niger is to BEG. Yes, BEG. But while your at it, try to be a bit dignified.

Tough task, considering the scale at which Niger has been affected. Here is some food ( Oh, the irony) for thought-
The country of Niger is at the bottom of the Human Development Index, 177th position in the world. Now that's brutal. Plus, it has gone through 5 attempts towards democracy. And failed miserably each time, slumping back to military dictatorship this year. And, 60% of the population don't even earn more than a dollar a day!

As wacky as this may sound, you can't help but feel pity for the people. And drawing pity was my Modus Operandi. Plus, jacking the United States Of America ( No one can resist that!)
But through the three days, I found some valuable partnerships with other countries. The country of North Korea being one of 'em!
Then again, no one really tried to pronounce Niger properly. They were either racial slurs or the ever so popular NIGERIA. But, hey I'm cool...and so were they!
But I would either way try to explain the difference between Niger and Nigeria. Well, Nigeria is at the south of Niger. Nigeria is a poor country and Niger is...Poorer! Confusion may bound over certain facts though. Nigeria has a state called Niger. Now, that's just not right, i was practically researching on the wrong place for a day! And plus there is a river called Niger that passes through both Nigeria and Niger. Talk about confusion.

It was real fun, those three days. And now begins the after-MUN-Hangover where I absolutely HATE going to school. Flaunting around in formals and dragging your bag to school rarely have anything in common.

Done for now.
Sudharshan

Caught In That Swirling Vortex Of Work

Don't blame me for the pessimism but really, It's never a good thing when the educational board takes drastic decisions overnight.  And now we have all become test dummies to a litmus test over a two year period. Of course, India strives for educational excellence. Needless to say, their giving it all they've got. But, this is not the way to go...

This year turns out to be one hectic one. I mean, tests around every corner- activities everywhere.( Trust me, I don't hate all of them, but there ARE some that get on my nerves.) So, this is the CCE? 

A letdown really, considering how awesome the other years for Xth grade were....

But there really is nothing stopping this year from turning awesome as well, is there? In fact, apart from the STUDY quotient this year has been a blast! 

Debates aplenty, the WSDC debating scene is picking up! ( Shout-out to RAMCO- you guys rock!) That seems to take up a lot of time on weekends with workshops and what not. Which...is a good thing! 

Then again MUN's are set to kick off! Starting with SANMUN on the 21st, not to forget SISHMUN- it's bound to be fun! ( This post has been brought to you by the delegate of NIGER and PAKISTAN :P ) 

Not to forget the Basketball games we have in store! Starting with the KFI tourney that just got over! That was just amazing fun! Lot of it derived out of the fact it was in KFI. Plus, a learning experience too!

So, more to come! It's not like 10th is a flop or anything. It's nothing near a flop! Wish the CCE could just vanish :) 

Sudharshan.... 

It's all gonna blast off in the Rainbow Nation...

2 more days...that's all there is to it. every other sporting event pales in comparison to this mega sports fiesta. The FIFAWorld Cup. Millions of people across the world will view this spectacle and all eyes will be glued to the screens. 

There has been a phenomenal build up to this event. From constant Television Ads, to a daily 2 page dedication to football in the newspapers, to that THING. What I mean by the thing would be that hideous pneumonia affected leopard mascot they called Zakumi. He creeps me out. 


Anyway, not to let a mascot get between good football, this is a seriously testing time for South Africa. They need to ensure security, adequate arrangements and still put up a good show in the game. It's not like the SA team are star performers or anything but they wouldn't want to disappoint. All this just reminds me of that movie Invictus. A true story about how the underdog SA rugby team won the World Cup just after Apartheid departed and managed to unite a tattered nation. And underdog may be an overstatement. A dead and out team. All they needed was inspiration. IE: Nelson Mandela. I wouldn't count my chances on that occurring this time around. Neither would I count the  chance of a plane flying right above the stadium donned in support for the team (which also happened in the movie, but hey- that was a true story, stuff can happen!).


Getting back to where I left off, people are terming this year's cup as of prime importance to the whole of Africa as it's the first time this is occurring in African soil. That being said one would expect a good turnout. But no, the usual suspects play spoilsport again- economic recession and co. Yes, we have heard from them far too many times. 


So? The contenders? The obvious ones. Brazil, Argentina (Read: Team Messi) from South America are in. Spain, riding on their Euro victory are a team you can put your money on for sure ( At least I'm gonna). 
England with a turbulent practice round and  with their team in a sorry state, may not make the mark but still contend. Italy, France and Germany too will go through biz as usual fighting for the cup. And high expectations are also places on African teams, most importantly Cote d'Ivoire ( Read: Ivory Coast)  with the powerhouse Drogba fresh right out of Chelsea. Of course, now he fractured himself...!


Speaking about fractures, many players have been struck off the lists before the tourney commences, many important names missing this once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity. Reasons? Well, perhaps there are idiots like me who like to slide tackle the hell out of anyone within a 2 meter radius. ( OK, fine. perhaps that would be me playing good ol' FIFA 10 on the computer...!) Yet another culprit to name- The English Premier League. This league takes such a toll on a player. Sort of a slow death, injury of some sort or the other is simply inevitable in the long run.  
So many names,so many faces, out of action. Michael Ballack, succumbing to a slide tackle from the back. Out. His Chelsea teammates Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel. Out. A big blow to England's hopes- Rio Ferdinand. Out. 
All this while the others such as Torres, Rooney and Drogba just manage to sneak in fighting injury. Well, I wonder what will happen to the players during the world cup. Hopefully not some sort of anticlimactic letdown. We will just have to see.


Estoy a favor de España. Too all you illiterate souls out there, it means- I support Spain! ( Oh! alright...I used Google translator :P)
Meanwhile, who do you support? Comment if your jobless enough.


Signing Off...Sudharshan!

Facelift....!

So, your reading this huh? Good job! (Cos' I'm pretty sure you have better stuff to do than to read my blog...)
And if you are indeed going though my blog you might notice a few changes. OK, correction, so many changes you would think you are on the wrong site. Even the name is different...

Yeah, I changed the theme a bit, tweaked this and that. Spent some time, that's it. For starters you'll find the subscribe button right on the top left. That's to catch the eyes of the innocent victims who were dimwitted enough to visit this godforsaken domain. Of course, you don't NEED to click it. It's not like I'm falling at your feet asking you to subscribe...........(PLEASE!!! SUBSCRIBE!! PLEASE!!! )
Ahem....nah! Just joking, do what you wish :)

And then the most strikingly noticeable background. Plus I've also tried to include location data....but I don't know if that will pop up.
And finally...yes, the name and description at the top...yeah, that!
So, yeah that's about it, I think....any of you have any comments or suggestions or rants about my layout, speak out! Hehe....that rhymes. Layout, speak out!

Cutting that Balderdash at this point!
Sudharshan!

Into the gloomy skies...

Never before has aviation faced such a crisis as it faces now. Problems keep piling up over each other. Recession, a crash in Africa, the Russian crash, the volcano in Iceland and now out of nowhere an air-crash in Mangalore.

Said to be one of the worst aviation disasters since the mid-air collision back in the 1990's killing about 150 people. Yes, a few people do live to tell the tale, but why did this happen at all?

A runway overshoot. Simple. But dreadful. And the sudden nature of this crash makes it that much more tragic. Mangalore has a very challenging airstrip, so to say, and perhaps a crash here was simply inevitable. A pilot must discard all notions of natural instinct in order to pull off a landing on table top runways of that type. Only further investigation can shed light on many crucial facts.

Well, all these News flashes may put flight at a higher level of danger for the public. I for one have a sort of fear towards flights. Well, not the sort of fear that makes you shiver and fret on the flight but rather a continuous conscious contemplation on the planes every move. And Maybe EVERY move would be an overstatement but you get my point.

It's not that I hate flying but rather I have a sort of love/hate relationship with flight. I love every thing about the concept of flight. The thought that at that moment your over 37,000 feet in the air exposed to blasts of freezing negative temperature while you leisurely sip your coffee. The prospect of going to the other side of the globe within a day. The prospect of sitting still in a massive jumbo jet which flies in seemingly perpetual motion. 

But, at the same time I hate the feeling of flying, the constant modulation of engine sounds, the rapid oscillation of the planes wings when in turbulence, the accumulation of frost on the windows...yeah, I'm paranoid all right.

To some flying may give them some sort of superficial joy and maybe to some it may mean catching hours of sleep between international business meetings. To others it may present to them the experience of waiting countless hours in a claustrophobic metallic bird. But there is something common for them all. It's dead costly.
In a world where dough isn't so easy to come by, today's air costs burns hole in the common man's pocket. And the situation doesn't seem like it is improving either. Rising jet fuel prices and credit crunches cripple airlines worldwide. Most airlines have presented some dreadful gains in the past years and it looks like all that cost cutting is going to cease.

The future of flight seems as foggy as the skies out of the cockpit windows. But, the harsh truth is that aviation learns from its mistakes just like everyone else. Each air crash teaches them something. And that is the way the industry is.


R.I.P Flight 812 and all those who went down with it...

Signing off for now...Sudharshan!

The Big Apple!

New York City, the city that practically never sleeps, the big apple. Now I seem to have stumbled upon the reason to why it is called the Big Apple. In the 1900's the Jazz scene in NY was huge. And people were attracted to the money involved here. And they used to also refer to the money as 'sugar'. So NY got 'Da Sugar'. And the apple has the highest concentration of sugar amongst fruits. So there you have it folks! After drawing a few links here and there, this is the birth of the term "The Big Apple'.


Now first thing you realize when you are in New York is the massiveness of everything, huge scale of buildings...
And next would be the people there. A bustling crowd is what greets you here with every body running around with fancy formals and sweaty ties. They all have enough on their own hands to care to look up and see the sights.

Another thing that would come to mind is the amazing inter connectivity in the City. Every place is connected by the strands of Subways, Taxi networks, buses and metros. Subways are right within your reach almost always under the roads of streets. The sounds of trains whistling through the tracks can even be heard above. Sum up all these modes of transport and what you get is a perfect three-dimensional transport network for everyone and anyone.

NY is the financial hub of the world. But, clearly the recession has not taken as much of a toll on the city. Life is as always the way it is.Times square is always lit up. Metros are always on time. The grand central station is as majestic as ever. But the National Debt clock is always ticking. The Debt of the country has gone skywards and the old school place value system isn't working for me. I'm gonna take a wild guess and estimate it amongst the 100 trillion dollar range. And plus before this they had run out of digit space so they had to insert another digit.


The sights of New York are staggering.Take the Empire State Building for example Now the tallest building in New York ( I guess everyone knows why), it presents an absolutely unprecedented view of the New York skyline and surely have you wondering how on earth they build these things. Thankfully the city is blessed with solid bedrock. But I don't think bedrock would be a key issue for the New Yorkers.

Terrorism would though. NY had been badly wounded by the 9/11 and the only mark I see today would be the intense security. They have learnt their lesson and beefed up the security big time. Now those are good signs.

There are so many people donning those I <3 NY shirts on the streets and so I wonder, how can anyone NOT love New York??

Signing off...for now! Sudharshan

Yes, I still know I have a blog!

I haven't been posting anything, because I don't seem to be getting the time in NYC. Because I'm an idiot.


OK, ignore the last statement unless you guys have already taken that for granted. Coming to my point...I'll be posting something as soon as I'm back from NYC or as soon as I can leech wi-fi for a considerable period of time.

BTW...just finished off with the big apple and will be leaving for Buffalo and Niagara Falls tomorrow.

Signing off....Sudharshan!!

Destination NY!

It's late tonite. Well, late considering i gotta catch a flight tomorrow morning. And no! Don't get me started on how much I hate flights. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. So, yeah...an 8 hour flight with a boring stopover. But, where? New York! That is the only real good thing. The Big Apple, Manhattan! Now that's worth the flight.
Anyways...
Signing Off for now...Sudharshan!

Are we there yet?

7 and a half grueling hours from Barstow back to Folsom. May sound like child's play considering already going through a 20 hr flight but nevertheless quite a long journey. Well, perhaps it went better than I expected. Correction- MUCH better than i expected. Couldn't realize time fly. A quick complementary breakfast (with the same sneaky methods of dining as we practiced in the previous hotels), and we begin the journey.
A relatively boring route in comparison to the others we inched our way through Arizona and into Cali. From here a marathon of Owl City's monotonous trebles set the tone of our journey. After a quick pit stop at Little Caesars for a bite we progressed through our journey. A hearty game of 20 questions entertained us throughout the second leg of the trip and before we knew it we were back home!

Signing off for now...Sudharshan!

{Bloggin' starts here!!}

The date is may 15, midway through the month and nearly through the vacation. The United States is a fabulous place and I guess I'm going to start with blogging here ( My uncle's amazing idea...!).
I know it's kinda late...but as some guy used to say...Better late than never.
So, I'm going to be working backwards and forwards in time here..Good luck to myself!

Signing off for now...Sudharshan!