Student Partner’s Meet

After a lot of confusion of ” to go or not to go ” i finally made it to Microsoft IDC @ Hyderabad for the SPM 2006. Once i did decide to go there was no mode of transport available for me to do so. Thanks to Laxmi that i got to go in her place.

It was a 3 day meet of All India Microsoft Student Partners and it was fun to have met all the guys there. IDC was as tempting as ever a place to be.

The travel was by a KSRTC Volvo and we left on the 29th Sep at 19:30 amidst a lot of thought process in the head. The PTHUA !!! ( Or is it APTHUA!! ) gang had united again and it has always been fun to be around these guys. Sunil , Sharath , Ghana , Sabarish .

Had dinner in Chikkaballapur that night and then the journey to Hyd continued with a lot of laughter and planning for a so called ” Mad Ad” that we planned to present for the ice breaking .

Prateek ( Yellow ) Ghana ( Pink ) Sab ( Green ) Abhinav ( Jacket and white T’ Shirt) and me having dinner on the way to Hyd.

Day One : 30th Sep

We reached the Mahatma Gandhi bus station at 06:45 and three cabs were waiting to take us to the hotel room. We were slpit up into three different Guest Houses and that was something that was annoying. We could not get a chance to lay our hands on Gaurav was the first among the thoughts . After having Checked In ( If thats the term ), we took a shower and had breakfast and left to IDC.

I was walking down the hallway the second time round after having visited the IDC while on the Bandwagon back in Feb, but it was the same feeling of being there.

This is the BDOTNETStudent Family outside the IDC.

Inside IDC

Once we were inside IDC, plans were on for the ice breaking thing. We had done nothing on that front apart from a few crude ideas that were put down in Sunil’s Diary while at the Expressions Seminar @ Capitol Bangalore.

Got a room for ourselves and the plannings were on, working like secret agents on a high profile project. Entry into the discussion was highly guarded by the right of being a passionate BDOTNETStudent Member. I am yet to recieve comments as to how it all went and what the others thought about it .

We almost fooled everyone that what we were presenting was a technical session on REMOTING in .NET by Sunil. The joke on ” BAD SECTOR ” really clicked and we had a few guys laughing at it. All in all it was nice fun with me playing two roles here and there.

Had lunch and really missed my food partner in Jaddu and i had a few bandwagon guys asking me everytime i went to have food ” where is your food partner ? “. But Jaddu busy with Embedded Sessions was coming in only by 2nd.

Later that afternoon was about briefing as to what the program was all about and senior champs in Shreenath, Garima and our very own Bhaskar Mitra speaking. Met Bhaskar after a break and it was nice to be meeting him as ever.

Evening was spent in playing basketball in the dark which we won. Playing basket ball in the dark was fun. Shooting in the dark and Sunil with a 3 pointer from no where . ( Did u really aim it ??? )

Well what happened in just 5 min after an hours exhausting basket ball was more tiring than those 60 mins put together.Birthday Kicks to Reza !!!! It was tough to lift him in the first place and then to hold him in the air was yet another task. Had to use my shoulder to keep him in the air. I guess this was long pending from the Bandwagon days.

Had dinner and went back to the guest house late in the night at 00:30. Watched a movie and slept.

Day Two : 1st Oct

Woke up by 07:30 ( we had to be there @ IDC by 07:00). It took all of us 10:30 to leave our rooms. Today in Live T’Shirts. It was day for sessions by Pratibha, Kevin, Hardik and an interaction by Aswani with Tejas doing something here and there . Today it was the turn of Hardik to get the Birthday Treatments which the Pune guys were so enthu about doing and we always have been ready for such endeavors.

We tried to spend our time on the Soccer Field , but the Footballer of Century – Nirmal kicked the ball out of the playing area into the adjacent ISB campus and had to do a lot of running aroung to get the back the ball. He was not able to get it back and the play was suspended for an indefinite period and Nirmal was awarded a Red card for life and asked to stay out of Soccer Fields.

It was a kind of a boring day but for the Award Ceremony that happened late in the evening and a “Disco” and ” Dandya Night ” .

• Bangalore won the best Technical UG Award
• Nirmal – Best Champ Bangalore
• Sunil & Sharath – Best Ambassadors ( Developers )

And me ??? I was on the COMMUNITY BANDWAGON and here are the travellers .

Thats me in the white T’Shirt

Then came Dinner . Where were u Jaddu ????

Here is another pic. Me and Reza having dinner . Thanks to Sharath for the photo. Nice foto Sharath

After that i left with Bhaskar and Kunal to Bhaskar’s Apartment where i met his parents. He has a big 3 bedroom flat whose description goes like this …. All windows have new curtains . Newly bought. Thanks to mom dad , not Bhaskar’s effort at all . Two of the bedrooms totally empty. I mean totally empty. The thrid one has three items

• A few carton boxes
• A new double cot
• A foto frame :)

The only other things in the house is typical to Bhaskar’s taste. His comp , A white board, and lot of shoes.

Then we went to our guest house where the Booze gang was on a roll ( names not to mention for obvi reasons ). Mixing Maaza with whisky ( or whatever that was ) !!!!!!

Was too sleepy and fell asleep as soon i went to bed and did not even know when Bhaskar left.

Day 3 : 2nd Oct

We did not go to IDC today. Thought of going around the city. Was not feeling well when we left , but as the day went along i felt better. We thought was watching a movie at IMAX but could not get a suitable show and hence quit the idea and went hunting for ” DUDES” in that mall who could help us reach Freeway9 – Karting @ Hyd.( Longest Kart Circuit of the county with a length of 712mts.)

Me and Sharath found two guys who gave us the address to that place. We had somemore time and also wanted to wait for Shreenath so we took a walk by the sides of Hussain Sagar Lake. Once Shreenath came we left to Kompally – Freeway9.

I had never been in a kart before this and had an exitement filled with fear to kart. I thought not to get into one but after a lot of checks ( does it topple over ?? does it hurt if we crash ??? and many more ) I took a ticket. Was afraid when the kart first took off. But as the track went along so did my fears shed away and it was a great experience. One that i shall remember forever. I was so happy and exited having karted that i wanted to go 4 more laps , but the rain gods came into action and i did not get the second shot. The Bangalore Circuit as i have heard is much better and i shall try and go there sometime soon.

This is the foto after i had finished the 4 laps.

Then we had lunch @ Paradise ( it was not as what i had heard of the place). We then went to IMAX to watch a movie but could not get a suitable show again. We went around the mall for sometime , played some video games with Sharath ( yes the ones that kiddos play) and then planned to leave to IDC when Sab called and said he would be there in 20min. He did not come for the next 45min and we left, leaving him behind :) .

@IDC i checked my mail for a while and then we left to play Table Tennis. That was a good experience as well. Me and Sab teamed up to beat Reza and Sharath 2 games to 1. All L boards at work.

I was supposed to go by the 19:00 bus, but then due to change of plans took the 22:30 bus with Sunil, Sharath, Sabarish & Shreenath ( All S ). We woke up at 03:30 to find the bus having stopped in the middle of nowhere to learn that the 20:30 KSRTC Volvo bus had crashed on a curve. No Casualties. One Coimbatore champ was on this bus. He got away with a thumb injury. Others were sent to the hospital and those who were fine were picked by our and the 21:15 bus.

Reached Bangalore on the 3rd Oct @ 08:30. Over slept and got down at Mekhri Circle.

This was three days of SPM. Did i miss anything. I think i have .

How can i forget Ajay. Yes, Apna Ajay!!!!

Here goes his story. A guy on public demand always. All his PJ’s work somehow :) Calls himself the Logistic … ( dont remember his whole title ) Manager of the Microsoft Community. Also he thinks he is the Punching Bag. Any one has any complaints – Ajay is there to listen to them all and say sorry …. sorry …. sorry !!!!!

All this on the lighter note, but seriously this guy by the look itself , needs a lotta sleep. Ajay !! great job buddy . Nice to have u around . Want a pic ?? Here it goes

Ajay in Hip-Hop style addressing the Champs.

and here is Ajay in Rajni style …… what this foto is all about ??? Ask Ajay or Sharath