Pratik Poddar

This sem has been very very busy due to Placements, GRE, etc.. Still managed to see 50 odd movies and kept myself updated with 2.5men, himym, HM, etc. :) Snakes on a Plane Jashnn 2009 Parichay Musafir 2005 Kambakht Ishq 2009 Boys Telugu Aparichit 2005 Baazi Dil Hai ki Manta Nahin Kambakht Ishq Hannah Montana Black and White Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa ShortKut Sankat City Platoon 1986 Ghatak Love Aajkal Hungama 2003 Mann Sehar 2005 Hyderabad Blues 1998    If Only Sooraj Ka Saatva Ghoda Sivaji Shadow Fox Half Blood Prince Baberr Dashavataram My Bloody Valentine Sadak 1991 Yeh Mera India Kalyug Dil Bole Hadiappa Terre Sang 2009 School of Rock Superbad 2007 The Hangover P.S. I Love You Wake Up Sid Wall E Kaminey Barah Aana New York Kurbaan Pulp Fiction Ratatouille Before Sunrise Amelie American Pie Book of Love Sikander Badhai ho Badhai 21 Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi 3 Idiots Paa Avatar Before Sunset Counter: 59 movies Thats 19...

Clicked some photographs of Qutab Minar on my Delhi Visit (for IndoCrypt 2009) last week. I have tried to click photographs as if they were clicked in olden days (say 1857 :P). I took care of two things: 1) Used "Old Photos" mode in the camera to give that look 2) Took care that there are no people in the photograph. This is difficult on a Monday afternoon when many groups of school children visit Qutab Minar. I think a few of them came out to be good. I would love your constructive feedback. This was my first serious photography attempt, so please bear with me :P Slideshow: http://bit.ly/5Chy81 Picasa Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/pratik.phodu/IndoCrypt2009Delhi1857QutabMinar Thank You!

Dilbert (as usual) Craxx IIT Big Time :) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Thanks to Ajit Burad (CSE IITB alumnus) for the collection :)

India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization) The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus. Chess was invented in India. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India. The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C. The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihade...

Edited version of the list compiled by Zishaan Hayath (IITB 2005 alumnus) Get high on qawwali at Haji Ali Spot a celebrity at Juhu PVR Crane your neck to see the Bombay Stock Exchange building Spot a leopard in IIT Bombay campus. If you can't, then spot a girl Enjoy a play in Prithvi Theatre Enjoy the NCPA in a play or opera Haggle for non-antiques in Chor Bazaar Face the high tide on Worli seaface Bet money on race horses at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Dangle your feet, lean back on your palms and enjoy the sea from the Marine Drive promenade Go for a heritage walk in the Naval Dockyard (first Sunday every month, Indian nationals only) Explore the Sanjay Gandhi national park. A national park in city limits? Oh yeah! Soak in the Victoria Terminus Watch DDLJ at Maratha Mandir Party at Hard Rock Cafe and mourn for a minute the death of mills around Parel Jog on Juhu beach Sit on a tetropod at Nariman Point in midnight till police co...

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/extraordinaryissue/entry/the-art-of-managing-fame Interesting article... Sees inefficiency, bureaucracy, nepotism from a positive side.. Managing fame.. Also, interesting comments made below... One says: Yes, Mr Obama was surprised on the announcement of Nobel Peace Prize 2009. He felt humbled, not embarrassed. It appears he was awarded for his forward thinking aspirations, expectations of achievements. and other says This is quite a damning and hard hitting article on the Peace Nobel to Obama, and understandably so. After all, the world is so much at a loss of words to justify the honour! The article is refreshing in the sense that it goes beyond mere criticism of the award, and looks at the motives (or machinations) behind it. Quite conspicuously, there are hints of the award having been packaged, fixed or managed, probably without the consent or knowledge of Obama, to enhance his fame. It is sad that such controversial choices by ...

1) Father: money doesn't grow on trees Son: But if you grow mangoes and sell them? 2) Mother: u will understand only when ur a mother and have a daughter like u Daughter: Ya right!! Heard of twin sisters.. here comes this twin pair(mother-daughter).. :P 3) Father: have'nt you seen your cousin or neighbour's child? ...how well beahaved they are. Son: Then go and adopt him!! 4) Father: See how XYZ scores good marks! Son: u can say see how that uncle makes so much money! 5) Father: When we were at your age, this isn't what we did Son: Ya I know!! You didn't have TV then and you didn't wear full pants till your 10th class! Thanx for the pant btw. :P 6) Father: When Rajendra Prasad was of your age he went to school swimming across a river. Son: Dude, when he was of your age, he was the president of India!! 7) Shaddi kar le iss TV se..waise bhi toh din raat issi se chipka rehta hai ! 8) Ise Boarding school bhejenge tab hi sudherega .............

Nice article by Chetan Bhagat in TOI http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Wheres-My-Nobel-Prize/articleshow/5153978.cms I wonder why I like reading blogs and articles by IITians so much.. :P Indeed the article is one of the most profound articles I have read in recent times.. I have always felt the same way.. Putting it in simpler words, is he not saying that we should have no nepotism/cronyism in the country... (New words learnt for GRE!! :D) In all, if corruption in this form is eliminated from the spheres like sports, R&D, management, e.t.c. where talent is really more important, India would become a talent-driven country and this would go a long way in making India a world power... Interesting idea!! The writer ( Chetan Bhagat ) is a best selling novelist.

Interesting site: Results are pretty interesting and sort of true..

Great article here by Atanu Dey A few excerpts: There is a "joint entrance exam", or JEE, to get admission into an IIT and an estimated 400,000 students appear for it. That means about two out of every 100 who apply get into an IIT. To a first approximation, as economists put it, nobody gets into IITs. Getting into an IIT is serious business. The insane level of competition to get into an IIT infects not just the students but also their families. Preparations start years before, often when the student is in the 8th grade - a full four years of slogging. There is a mad rush to get into the better JEE coaching classes. Let's call them A-level coaching institutes. A-level institutes have to conduct their own entrance exams not only because their capacity is limited but also to select the best among the students. So there are coaching institutes - let's call them B-level - whose business is to coach students to pass the A-level institutes' entrance exams. I su...

I have to take GRE on 26th.. My vocabulary was definitely "poor".. I never paid attention to improve my word power.. The effect being I had to work significantly harder than most people around me.. I have not read Word Lists.. I have only read Word Power Made Easy (By Normal Lewis), including the word-list given in the end. I have started practising from Power Prep, hoping to complete all practice tests and all practice questions given. Given that I have not studied much, I am not expecting a great result (1300 I think is good enough for me). But preparing for GRE has provided the following to me: 1) If not of the level of GRE or if not of the level of the "magniloquent" people, I have definitely improved my vocab to a normal acceptable level. 2) It might help me in CAT. I practised a few CAT questions with my sister. I think the preparation is helping. 3) I have developed an interest for languages. I am now able to relate Sanskrit, English, Latin, German, Hind...

Answer the following questions and then match the answer. You will be surprised to know how less we know about India or Mumbai: Lets start with a simple one. 1) Population of the country in 2009? 2) Population in 1961? 3) Rate of increase? 4) Percentage of Hindu population in India? 5) Population of Mumbai in 2009? 6) GDP of India? 7) GDP growth? 8) GDP per capita? 9) Inflation? 10) Population below poverty line? 11) Unemployment? Answers: 1) 116 crores 2) 40 crores 3) 1.58% 4) 80% 5) 1.2 crores 6) $1.209 trillion 7) 6.7% 8) $1016 9) 7.8% 10) 22% 11) 6.8% Did any one of you get it even 80% correct? Update: (19/11/2009) In fact, I was doing this for case interview practice. I read these wiki pages to learn some basic facts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_Suburban_Railway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways Enjoy!!!

Copy pasted from a blog but totally worth it... -- A Mother passing by her son’s bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then she saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to ‘Mom’ With the worst premonition she opened the envelope with hands and read the letter. Dear Mom: It is with great regret and sorrow that I’m writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Dad and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it’s not only the passion… Mom she’s pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana...

Here is a list of social networking profiles I have: Websites: http://pratikpoddar.wordpress.com http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~pratik Blogger Profile: http://www.blogger.com/profile/11577606981573330954 Blogs: http://pratikpoddar.blogspot.com/ http://pratikpoddarcse.blogspot.com/ Orkut: http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=11806987233895192329 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pratik.poddar Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/pratik.phodu Google Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/pratik.phodu Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/pratik.phodu Froogle Wishlist: http://froogle.google.com/shoppinglist?id=2953912892882476472 Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1H1YX29JDIEOT/ GeckoGo! Traveller's Profile: http://www.geckogo.com/profile/pratikpoddar Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/pratikpoddar05051989 Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pratikpoddar Project Euler Profile Page: http://projecteuler.net/...

Personal Favourite.... Jai Hind.. Happy Independence Day... Bilqis: Jinhe naaz hai hind par -RABBI Mera naam Bilqis Yakub Rasool Mujhse hui bas ek hi bhool Ki jab dhhundhhte thhe vo Ram ko To maen khadi thhi, rah mein Pehle ek ne puchha na mujhe kuchh pata thha Dujey ko bhi mera yehi javab thha Fir itno ne puchha ki mera ab saval hai ki Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mera naam Shriman Satyendra Dubey Jo kehna thha vo keh chukey Ab padhey hain rah mein Dil mein liye ek goli Bas itna kasoor ki hamne likha thaa Vo sach jo har kisi ki zuban thaa Par sach yahan ho jatey hain zehreelay Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mujhe kehte hain anna Manjunath Maine dekhi bhatakti ek laash Zamir ki beech sarhak Lakhimpur Kherhi Adarsh phasa jahan naaron mein Aur chor bharey darbaron mein Vahan maut akhlaq ki hai ik khabar baasi Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mazha nau aahe Navleen Kumar Unnees june un...

In case you dont know him, we are talking about Maoo (Anirudh Shekhawat) Roll No. 06005012, 4th year, CSE, IITB. Maoo, Anirudh Shekhawat (Id: SkywalkerGuy) had a girlfriend Emily (Id: Emily2781), Probably born on 27th of some month in 1981 (a bit too old for maoo!!). Everything was going great. They were having a wonderful time together. Just then the following happened. I got a screenshot of maoo's screen and here is what I saw. :)

Hillarious!

IIT Bombay Student Dancing... Anirudh Shekhawat (06005012), AIR 31 JEE 2006, CSE Senior Undergrad, IITB being "ragged" in 3rd year... Love u maoo...

Thanx to Sharjeel, I know how to write my name in Urdu. پرتیک

So true...

Still enjoying the Bastille Day Fireworks memory, I present Eiffel Tower with "Made in India" tag :)

Took this pic in Etretat (North-West France)

It was bright sunny weekend in Bruges and once you see this, you got to stop and take a pic. After 5 tries, I got it right and worth publishing it on blog. Comments welcome....

I made a few wallpapers earlier this year. Thought it would cool to upload it somewhere. You can have a look at some of them. A old "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" type poster. Making the main background paper, giving it the feel of being old, dusty and dirty was real fun. Same wallpaper with Achin on it. :) My attempt to write "PRATIK".. DevD style.. Failed Terribly... But there is always a next chance to improve... Keep seeing next posts for newer versions... My first wallpaper ever... Made by PFA actually... start maine kiya tha... par ki fark painda hai.. :) More awesome Eurotrip theme wallpapers are in the making. Watch this space for more wallpapers and photoshop"ed" images.

To keep it as small as possible: a) Eurotrip b) Started drinking c) Attended my first conference ever d) 3 firefox addons accepted e) Good work done at the internship: Possible Inria research report and a possible paper at ISSAC f) Smoked for the first time g) Spent the most amazing time in my 20 yr a few days life lived till that moment.... the bastille day celebration

In India: Malena Hindustani Dev D Raat 1992 Saajan Golmaal 1979 In Paris: Click The Express Catch Me If You Can She's All That Good Luck Chuck Meet The Parents Someone Like You A walk in the Clouds City of Angels Hannibal Black hawk down Scent of a woman Apocalyto Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle Eurotrip Batman Begins Illusionist Kitaab 1977 War Games - The Dead Code 2008 College Road Trip Parzania 2007 Hannibal Rising 27 Dresses Goal Baazigar 1993 DDLJ Deewar Goal 2 Death in a Funeral Bandit Queen Guide Dead or Alive 2006 The Dark Knight August Rush Safar 1970 In Bruges 2008 Sweet November Ab Tak Chappan Fly boys Style Schindler's List Master and Commander - Far Side of the World Oceans 11 Oceans 12 Oceans 13 Still Waiting 2009 Sex Drive Marley and Me The Boy with the striped Pyjamas Mission Impossible I Mission Impossible II Mission Impossible III The Departed Die Hard 1 Die Hard 2 Die Hard 3 Die Hard 4 Madagascar 2005 Aa De...

Forgot to add TV series in the last post Season 3,4,5,6 of 24 :)

Just updating the list of movies seen... Number reduced to less than 80% of that in the previous sem.... Bommarillu 2006 (not Hindi) (thrice) Ghajini (not Hindi) American Beauty Basic Instinct 1992 Hackers Slum Dog Millionaire The Day the Earth Stood Still The Girl Next door Little Manhattan Maharathi 2008 Salaam Bombay 1988 Ghajini 2008 Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi 2008 Pinjar Deewangee 1947 Earth Chandani Chowk to China Kidnap 2008 Luck By Chance 2009 Lolita Billu Barber DevD (twice) Daud 2002 Waqt Hamara hai 1993 Wafaa Raaz 2009 Dil Kabaddi Aitraaz Paap Chandani 1989 Tum Bin Dhoondhte Reh Jaaoge Delhi 6 Lolita (English) Kisse Pyaar Karoon Yes Man Cast Away 88 Minutes Kisse Pyaar Karoon 2009 Aaloo Chaat 2009 Dhoondhte Reh Jaoge 2009 Straight 2009 Gulaal Mistress of Spices 13B Jugaad Ek The power of one Saas Bahu aur Sensex Lottery Taxi No. 9211 A walk to remember 2002 Serendipity 2001 When Harry Met Sally 58 movies

I have made four firefox addons. It was great fun making them. I am pretty excited. You need to make a mozilla account for downloading and adding comments. I think I have a chicken-egg problem now. A addon is allowed public only if it has sufficient amount of downloads. None of my friends have mozilla account. So the only way I can increase the number of downloads is to ask them to make accounts. :( wierd?? ya.. i know... In case you are interested to explore what I have made: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/user/3629528 The four addons are: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10089 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10242 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10164 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10174 I expect that number of downloads would increase after this post... :) If you have downloaded it.. please add comments.. They would be appreciated.. Thanx..