Section Name:Grub
Article Name: Of Gults and Bongs...
Author Name:Anant S Kamath
External Introduction: An interesting Anthropological study


Before you read this article, two gentle warnings. First, most of the
following statements are based on observations on a limited section of
junta. Two, some of the statements have been made without giving them
sufficient thought. Now, go ahead.

Here are some interesting things about the people at IITM.....

The gults:
At first glance they look like a totally arbit lot. You will see
them at the dinner table making arbit jokes, teasing each other singing
the latest from the gult film industry and your first reaction will be
similar to what Obelix's might be : These gults are crazy. But as you get
to know them gults are a very kind, friendly ,jovial and helpful lot.
They make friends easily and they are very good friends. Gults like gult
food which is very very spicy. Anybody who feels that life has lost its
spice is advised to go and have dinner at a gult restaurant. A speciality
of gult grub is the variety of their pickles.

The mallus:

the mallus at iitm never talk. They sing. If the gults add colour
to our lives the mallus add music. The accent is irritating at first but
after a while you start to like it. Then, whenever a mallu says, "Appo
pinne..." it's like Hemant Kumar starting with " Na tumm hame jaaano...".
You close your eyes and listen.

The next remarkable thing about mallus is the way they stick
together. When two mallus meet the younger one says "Cheta.." ( big
Brother ) and they start off as if they have known each other for years.

The Northies:
Till recently there were very few of them down in IIT-M. But then
FIITJEE happened and more and more of them are condescending to live in
dull old Madras. Gaali chanting, mess-grub cursing, rice-hating and
Madras bashing these guys constitute most of the hot blood and agression
in the campus. Their crib about Madras is that nothing is happening here.

The Tams:
The localites. The top notch of every discipline. Hardworking,
sincere, intelligent. Bunking classes and not doing assignments is a sin
to these gentlemen, perhaps even worse than using obsenties. They use
Tamil as frequently as the rest of us use English -Very rarely. They are
avery religious lot and never forget to go to
the temple before every test or exam. Some of them wear religious marks on
the forehead everyday with jeans and T-Shirt which must take some guts.
Most tams have learnt some or the other sort of classical music but
they rarely put it on display which is such a pity. Cricket and studies
are two topics that Tams like to talk about the most. And when lots of
Tams start discussing either of these topics they make a hell of a noise.

The rest of India is represented too. But not in such good numbers
as the above four gumbals.

Its a real real treat to sit at the lunch table and just
listen and observe all the different people, which is just one of the
learning experiences at IITM.


Section: Kela Awards..
Article Name: Star Struck
Author:Anant Kamath
External Introduction: This guy predicted he was going to win this
award..

This month's kela award goes to K Naga Siva Srinvas , KNS or Kans
for short, for among other things his researches into astrology.

Kans has been studying and practising Astrology and Palmistry for
quite some time now. He studies people and maps them on to their Sun
Signs. He claims to have found some perfect examples of peolpe who
exhibit all the characteristics of their Zodiac signs. Kans perfoms
secret experiments on people to verify his theories and to get insights
into people's characters. Based on these insights he makes more theories.
In his free time Kans can often caught surfing astrology websites. In
addition to the knowledge he has aquired from reading, he has drawn his
own inferences based on his studies.

Ofcourse Kans never fails to use his standing as Astrologer to get
to see some of the more interesting hands. " I want to give up Astrology,
but junta are not letting me " he laments.

Kans is fighting it out in the final year of Electrical
Engineering. He loves to sing and is taking classes in Carnatic Classical
music. He is also a crossword enthusiast and loves forming clues for his
friends to crack. Kans is also a cul and lit enthusiast and is in the
core group for organising Saarang 2002.

Kans can be reached at ee98239@ee.iitm.ernet.in


Section: IITM Diary (Or Anything else if you please)
Author: Anant Kamath
Title: A Tennis Match
Introduction : When things can go wrong they do.


It was the Wimbeldon men's final. Goran Ivanisevic vs. Pat
Rafter. When I entered the common room, Ivanisevic was leading two sets
to three. I sat down to watch. It would be a good match.

I was supporting Ivanisevic. I don't know why I support certain
players when I do. I remember last Wimbeldon I was supporting Rafter.
Generally I support the underdog, but Ivanisevic was'nt exactly an
underdog. A guy who serves aces like that cannot be.

There was major support for Rafter in the crowd. The whole
Australian Cricket Team was there cheering him. Plus there were noisy,
Flag-waving, Kangaroo-wielding, Face-painted Australian fans rooting for
Rafter. The sight of the Australian Cricket Team members made me a
stronger supporter of Ivanisevic. The Australians are very good at
cricket, but they are not very good at being humble about it.

The English were supporting Ivanisevic. Tim Henman having crashed
out in the semis, and Australia having inflicted a crushing inning defeat
on England in the first Ashes Test, this was not surprising.

When Ivanisevic goofed up and lost the 4th set 6-2, it only made
the match more interesting.
Just then DD had to walk in.
" Who won? " he asked as soon as he walked in.
" Ivanisevic " someone replied.

I jerked my head towards the TV. The small legend "LIVE" was
missing from beneath the star sports logo.

God! I had been watching a recorded match! And all the while
uttering things like "@$%#" and "Good shot!" and what not. What a fool
the others must have thought me!

Now that I knew the result there was hardly anything in the match.

But anyway, Ivanisevic HAD won ! I would stay and atleast watch
his emotions at the end of the match. All that crying and laughing and
kissing the earth and running into the crowd and hugging his father and
all that. He does these things so well!

But even these simple pleasures I was to be denied. Exactly at
11.30, with the last set tied at seven all, the cable channel went
bzzzzzz. Shit! I was informed of some insti rule which says no cable
transmission after 11.30 in the night.

I had to contend with reading about the whole thing in the
newspapers the next day.



Section: The Writing on the wall
Author: Anant Kamath


The freshies join a fairly modernized IIT-Madras on the 31st of
August.

Our old canteen which we used to call RBG has been revamped. It
is called Nandini now. Not only does it look more sophisticated now but
the range of grub and stuffs is also much broader. Plus a new canteen has
been opened in the hostel zone near the recently built free browsing
centre, with the usual pizzas and puffs and shakes.

And there is this flurry of construction activity which the insti
has seen over the last two months. All the bathrooms in the hostels have
been rebuilt in a very modern fashion, which is sure to please the parents
of the newcomers. The department buildings have been receiveing a
facelift too. All this inspite of the severe water scarcity which caused
postponement of classes for everyone except the final year students.


But the freshies will have one kutti problem. They are faced with
a packed semester of six day weeks. Most Saturdays and even some Sundays
have been made working days to account for the delay in opening of the
semester. Quite a dreary prospect. The only plus point is that the
semester is ending in just three months.

*****
A spate of accidents, sports injuries and illnesses among students
have led the management to moot some sort of medical insurance for
students. The proposal is students pay a sum of Rs 300 every year and get
all their medical bills reimbursed. The IITM hospital itself cannot
handle any major complaints and patients are often refered to Apollo or
Malhar. The proposal if implemented will bring some relief from the
fleecing bills of these hospitals.
Incidentally, from last year onwards fresh entrants into IITM have
been made to sign an agreement saying they will not bring motorized
vehicles into the campus. This was done in view of the rising number of
road accidents in the campus.