Dedicated to my favourite movie !

AAA - Andaz Apna Apna is my favourite movie and today while I was following some community on Orkut, thought I should dedicate atleast one post in this blog to the great script writers and actors and directors, basically everyone associated with that movie !

So giving below an arbit collection of dialogues from that movie ... AAA fans - go on and try to see how many you can identify and give "Reference To Context" !

Warning : This could be quite a long list ... so anybody who hates this movie or something, maybe you should not read ahead ... however it would be great if you could leave me a comment !

My small tribute to the greatest comedy movie ever made !

1. Chyamayla...tu kon?
2. sir ye do number ke badmash raste mein uthapatk kar rahe the
3. Chipakke Chipakke ...
4. Doctor ko bulau kya doctor?
5. Happy B'day Raabert
6. Chai mein shakkar dalne ka time ho gaya kya sir?
7. uthal puthal ? uthal puthal !
8. mein defeat nahi khaane wala ... mein nahi khaungaa defeat !
9. Ooooh Amar .. jal gaye
10. abbbuuu jaaaaan...
11. aha ... tasbeer se bhi jyada khoobsoorat!
12. Miss Kuch kuch ... aakhir aap hai kaun kuch kuch?
13. gum ka saathi rum. par iski aadat mat dalana. isse liver kharab hota hai
14. teja mein hu, mark idhar hai !
15. india to mujhe kabhi pasand hi nahi tha !
16. Yeh toh mujhse ghor paap ho jata
17. acche bhale to ab bhi hai, lekin ye bure bhale kab se ban gaye
18. abe jiske naseeb main hogi usko milegi
19. ye firodi ke paise hai ya maiyat ka chanda
20. sawal ek javab do, sawal ek jawab do, sawal javab sawal jawab sawal jawab ... chup ... lambi khamoshi !
21. Dhakkichiki Dhakkichiki dhakkichiki dha ...
22. abe e ... shaadi hogi meri aur bhabhi hogi teri
23. ye country hi deewano ki hai ... ek dhundo, hazaaro mil jaayenge !
24. thoda niche jaake kudungi dard kum hoga
25. Main jaanta thaa aapmein kuch hai ... lekin itnaa kuch?
26. lagta hai kaccha khiladi hai
27. Yeh vasco dagama ki gun hai ... nishaan lagane ki koi jaroorat nahi ... shikar ka naam lo, goli khudbakhud usse jaake lagti hai !
28. khali hain na ? toh phek de ...
29. chalo chalo ... mein tumhein doosra la doonga !
30. pehli baar tu bahut khush hua tha ... jab ...
31. Aapka plan hi galat hai !
32. Lakh lakh ke pachaas cheque hoenge sir !
33. Teja ... kaise aadmi paal rakhain hay tune. saley suit dus dus hazaar ka pahantay hain. akal dus kaudi ki bhi nahi hay
34. Ye tumhari khandani bimari hain kya ?
35. lekin achha hua ! Bahut Dharam-Karam ki baat karta tha, bahut bore karta tha saala
36. 10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... dhamaka !
37. Ye Teja Teja kya hai ... yeh teja teja?
38. main teja hoon, kyunki mera naam bhi teja hain !
39. mai ab is dukaan me chudiyo ka dhanda karunga !
40. waise aap log jaa kahan rahen hai ?
41. khandani chor hu, aya hu to kuch to lutke jaunga ... mugambo ka bhateeja, ...
42. Sala mereko London nahi dekhana hain kya ? lekin kaise jaata ?!
43. Galti se mistake ho gaya !
44. yeh kiske mama ki gun hain ?
45. Sooraj Doobne ke baad batti nahi jalana ... aur sote waqt awaaz to nahi karte ho na ? Paas mein kabristan hai wahan se complaint nahi aani chahiye ... Bolo mat Sunte raho
46. aapka toh pata nahi....par meri izzat hai yahan pe
47. Strike abhi chal rahi hai ? lagta hai muze hi kuch karna padega
48. Nahi yaar asli wale lal mein rakhe the ...
49. Aray Tumhara Boss hun ek toh do !
50. dekha hai pehli baar saajan ke aankhon mein pyaar ...
51. tum log bolte nai ho yar !
52. Bahut accha, Bahut accha ... fine, fine !
53. jangal mein oye oye ! - this is actually just written, not said
    
54. Bada hi nek beta hai apka ... bola abba ke ilaaj ke liye paisa chahiye !
55. shaab buzy hain ! arey commissioner hoga apne ghar ka hoga
56. chaudry and sons haa suna hai suna hai ...
57. yeh kya program hai ?
58. Woh nahi ... uske neeche
59. kaale mirch ke laddu, adrak ka halwa, karele ka soup, mirchi salad !
60. itne saaare naam ... baaki log kidhar hain ?!
61. Kaleja Thanda Ho Gaya Mera
62. wicket keeper nahi goal keeper, bewakoof
63. mera boss ? kaun hain mera boss ? mera boss kaun hain ?
64. abey, batla danny, idhar aa
65. Mere doobe hue 36,000 rupaye to dilva do
66. milega haan milega ... jail mein sab kuch milta hain !
67. do dost ek pyale mai chay piyenge, isse dosti badhti hain !
68. Nani yaad aayi ? nahin ? toh ilaaj chal raha hain !
69. ye paapi sansar, ye bedard duniya, ye dushman jamaana, ye hamein jeene nahi dega !
70. phone to aana hi hai, woh to aa jaayega
71. tumne sholay picture dekhi hai ?
72. Ho gaya, ho gaya ... Wah Wah production ki izzat the bhajipala ho gaya
73. Dekhunga Dekhunga ... accounts Dekhunga ...
74. ye maine switzerland se kharida ... main wahan aksar jaata rehta hoon ... mujhe wahan ki shaam bahut pasand hain !
75. Chai mein shakkar kam hai
76. Kuch dekhna dikhana hai kya ... fatafat kapde utaro aur so jao !
77. abey sita aur gita nahi idiot ... ram aur shyam
    
78. darata kyun hai ?
79. English know you ? i can Walk engleesh, talk engleesh ... feeneesh, feeneesh !
80. gogo ji, aapka ghagara
81. tu maidan mein tha hi kab ?
82. mmmm main ? yyyyy yahan ? aaaa kyun nahi ?
83. javani mein aap kaafi khandani dikhte the !
84. andhi behen aur vidhva maa ...
85. yeh main nahi mera judwaa bhai hai
86. PLAAANNNNNN ...
87. mujhe bohot zor say sussu aai hai !
88. Darta hu mere haatho kisika khoon na ho jaaye
89. chavanni chavanni jama kar ke to yeh ghar banvaya hain maine !
90. line se andar karo sabko ... arey, yeh log to line mein hi khade hain !
91. unki ankhe dekiye, kitni badi badi hai !
92. aap idhar udhar kyun dekh rahe hain ... udhar idhar dekhiye, udhar idhar !
93. raveena main aaya, raveena main aaya ...
94. are mian yeh subah subah kis per bighad rahe ho ?
95. Jaise do teer mein ek shikar karte hai !
96. Acha hain, acha hain acha hain acha hain
97. acha hain, acha hain !
98. De do ... buddha hai
99. bread ka badshaah aur omlette ka rajja !
100. Muscle dekhee hai muscle, masal ke rakh doonga ...
101. uinuinuinuiuinuinuinuuu ...
102. kyon bey ? naya hai kya ? jaa, fan chalu kar, saaala
103. ek baar raveena mil jaaye, fir batti hi batti hain, batti hi batti !
104. gogo ke kaarnaame. kamaal hain, nahi?
105. main marte dam tak tumhaari madat karunga ...
106. tune raveena ji ko langur bola !
107. sala pavwala
108. Apple achche hain
109. ab hum bhi unhe mazaa chakhainge...Righto
110. yaanee jahaan kainchee chalti thee kachakach kachakach, wahaan ab gataasa chalega khatakhat khatakhat ?
111. kya bhai sahab, chavanni ke liye shor kar riya hai ?
112. Kaisa lag raha hai .... kaisa lag raha hain ?
113. Sir! Ab aap .... piyo !
114. chal chal niche utar niche uthar ! saale godiwaale !
115. Sab cheej time to time hona chahiye, non-sense
     
116. abey, der ho gayee
117. main aap ko bhi hero banaunga, uncle
118. bade mamu kahan gaye ?
119. 30 karod milte hi police ka mooh band, phir na ghar duur, na chabi duur, na lockup duur, aur na heere duur !
120. Police bhi yehi kahegi
121. kyonki sab apni tarah smart nahin hote !
122. party sharty ho jaye ...
123. arey arey munni ka phool gir gaya
124. abe ye teesra kaun hai ?
125. kabhi kabhi sochti hoon, in majboot kandhon ka sahara na hota to mera kya hota
126. sab se pehle mai uthta hoon ...
127. aapka dhandhaa band ho chuka ! aapki dukaan bik chuki !
128. Lagta hai ye paagal ho gaya
129. jab dil toot-ta hain, to uska asar seedha dimaag par hota hain !
130. sir, mera role yaad rakhna
131. chaaron taraf se khushiyon ke samachar milte hain !
132. haan, mark to hona chaiye !
133. topi seedhi tie upar !
134. kuch ubal raha hai kya ?
135. Tumhare to tevar hi badal gayein hai, tevar
136. arre munna apne abba ko kyun yaad kar rahe hon ?
137. Tum dono ko dekh kar mujhe ramanand sagar ki ramayan ka woh episode yaad aa gaya jisme ram-bharat ka milap hota hain
138. Amar Prem aa gaye ! amar prem aa gaye !
139. kya namaste namaste laga rakhi hai ? baaraat mein aaye ho kya ?
140. kahan hai meri laado ramiyaan !
141. aapne bataya nahi aaj mera birthday hain ?
142. Arre wo chhodo, ye dekho, game ho jayega tumhara, game !
143. Bade ajeeb naukar hai is ghar ke pehle de nahi rahe the ab le nahi rahe hain !
144. chalo chalo dande maarne hain !
145. jaise police chor ko dhund nikalti hain, waise main soong kar, mareej ko talaash kar leta hoon
146. khub pyaar karo, jee bhar ke pyaar karo
147. mere baare main koi poochta hi nahi hai
148. tum jaanvar log jungle mei kya kar rahe ho ?
149. usse shaadi karke bawarchi banna hai mujhe?
150. Ungli muuh se aur tum kamrey se baahar !
151. Mujhe koi jaldi nahi hai ...
152. ye le pakad, aur uske muuh pe maar ke aa
153. sir sunne sunane ka time gaya ... ab main aapko kuch dikhata hoon ...
154. nahi iska ulta kar ...
155. toh tum ho teja ke aadmi log ?
156. kabhi kabhi bheed mein yun kahda dikhayi deta hai !
157. nahin jayenge nahin jayenge hum yahaan se nahin jayenge !
158. Maan na maan main tera mehman
159. inki ? arey pushto ki life ban jaayegi, pushto ki !
160. yeh to pakka khilaadi nikala
161. naa surat na shakl na akal, koi bhi chala ata hain
162. darshan hogaye baba ke ?
163. Kya ! Sunita ye to meri maa ka naam hai ...
164. ab aaya hai unth pahaad ke neeche ...
165. ab tumhare bina jiya nahi jaata

Hmm ... I guess thats enough ! Hope I have not made too many mistakes, saw a forum or orkut and copied some from there. I would claim I know atleast 150 of these very well !

That is one ever-green movie for me ! Huge fan of Andaz Apna Apna !

My experiences in Singapore - Iulian Topor

The first week in lab was a nice experience. I met all the people in the lab and found them very friendly. Especially I must mention somethings about Iulian (pronounced Julian), with whom I was going to work. The project is called UNET - which basically means Underwater Networking.

Iulian is from Romania, and works here as a Research Engineer. He would be around 27-28 years of age I guess, so it was nice working with him. The first day itself, we were talking about the project, mostly it was him trying to explain lots of things to me ... some of which I could grasp, the rest was all Greek and Latin ! We were at the lab till almost 11:30 in the night, but it wasn't a problem as I was staying at the hostel in campus itself, so just had to walk down. Iulian was the only person in the lab probably who worked at odd hours ... or maybe I should say, the only person working at odd hours IN the lab. His workplace was a good sight ... 3 monitors kept side by side, he used them with 3 different machines working as 3 different "nodes" in the network. It was quite impressive ! That was the reason he had to work at the lab, he couldn't really go home and keep working. Slowly that week, I started getting adjusted to the lab environment. I met Mandar a couple of days later, as he was in India for some meetings. That person is a genius - and everyone here at the lab has the same impression. He is working on almost all projects, has tremendous knowledge about the things which we works on and most importantly, is a great person to be with. This project that I am working on is also under his leadership. Ok ... so back to Iulian ... he came late to lab everyday almost ... at around 11 or even later, but then he kept working until 1 or 2 in the morning. He was really putting in great efforts to try and do as much as he can in the days that he had here at ARL. He is now leaving for Bangkok on 1st July and plans to take a long holiday there, or go back to Romania to be with his family for some time.

So now, everyday, I started working with Iulian, sitting with my laptop just beside him and trying to understand the things involved in the project. I started off with testing some of the modules which he had developed so far, in the process learning about them. Then after a week or so, I started getting a fair idea of the things that he had done, and now after 3 weeks at the lab and with Iulian, I must say I have quite a good idea about the UNET project, atleast at the software implementation level. Still, I don't have much knowledge about Networks in general, so how things should be I need to ask someone around, but the implementaion part Iulian has helped me to understand to a great extent. The routine was set then for the next few days - go to lab at around 9:30-10:00, then get started with some work. At around 1 p.m., all of us at the lab go to lunch together, at one of the canteens in campus - they have a canteen at each "Block", and there are blocks like Engg. block, Arts and Social Sciences block, Business Block and so on. Iulian, having come a bit late, was not always there for lunch, he sometimes skip lunch when he had a heavy breakfast or he would have lunch a bit late - he was a bit arbit to sum it up ! Then, back after lunch, continue to work on something, with discussions with Iulian about various aspects of the project in between. Sitting close-by was a great advantage - I could ask him any simple doubts that I had immediately, and he too used to tell me anything interesting that he did right away so that it would be easier for me to understand the purpose behind doing it. Then, at around 6:30 p.m., Varun, Iulian and myself would go for dinner again at some canteen - Iulian's favourite was the Arts Canteen, he liked the Japanese food there apparently. But unfortunately for him, that used to close early and so eventually, almost everyday we started going to the Engg. canteen, which also happened to be the nearest to the lab. While having dinner, we had nice discussions about our foods back home and he used to tell us about different types of food he has eaten in Singapore, and the kind of food he gets back in Romania. Then we would discuss with him the things we are planning to do next weekend and he would give us some suggestions and then tell us his plans for the weekend - which usually were to work at the lab to try and get somethings completed. After coming back from Dinner, if I had the enthu, I did some work, otherwise it was mainly other things, like Photo uploading, emails, chatting, general browsing etc. Iulian called me now and then to explain some things which he felt important to me. Then I would finish whatever work I was doing in the day, and wind up and leave at around 10 - 10:30. Somedays it was even later if I had something to talk with Iulian, but otherwise, this was the generally decided timing !

So, this was my experience with Iulian (incomplete description, of course ... his name will keep appearing in future blog posts of mine I am sure) at the lab. And in a very short time span, he had become somewhat a part of my life here at Singapore.

Almost a month in Singapore !

Most of this post is actually written on 29th ... so its almost a month since I have been here !

I today would be completing a stay of 2 weeks in Singapore, and having seen some parts of the city I realize that even though it is a very small place, it is going to be really difficult to see all the things Singapore has to offer to a visitor !

Something about each person at the lab here:

Navin Gupta : Well .. quiet guy, not bothering much about things other than his work. But whatever little I have got to talk to him, he is a very nice person. Cheerful at all times. A bit aloof from other though, I may say.








Mehul: He is the powerhouse of the lab ! Every 5 mins, you will hear him bursting out into a laughter ! The small project meetings in the lab with him involved are really amazing ! Even though I was involved in it, I could not resist myself from having a laugh when I heard that sound of his laughter ... really amazing guy to have around. From Pune, he has just completed his Engg. last year and is working here as a research engineer. We have some shared interests ... as he was also into tech kidegiri while at MIT, and now, of course, he is officially doing it here at the lab, with loads of hi-tech devices around ! He is our regular company for roaming around Singapore, with myself and Varun. So its now a standard weekend practice - get up sometime, get ready and call up Mehul, he is ready with plans for the day, if not, suggest one and it is accepted ! Then meet at some MRT (Mass Rapid Transport, the trains here) station and leave ! Its been great fun having him around at all times ... and I wouldn't really want to attempt a complete description of this guy here ! He still has some plans charted out for us in weekends to come, one of which is going to Malaysia ... so looking forward to more of his company.

Iulian: Well, I guess I have written all that I could WRITE about him. The rest, I will only be able to narrate ... but working with him has been a different experience. Slightly weird, very humourous ... we are missing him at the lab this last week ... and always ready for a beer !



Parijat: Another guy from Pune ... he was the one whom I first met here at the lab, and he helped me a lot to get settled here, from getting me a place to stay, to giving me a nice place and comp. in the lab ... he has helped me all the way through. Just today, he has handed over a couple of movie tickets to me ... so looking forward to some movie this weekend ! With Parijat and Mehul around, I always felt at home with we people speaking in Marathi most of the times ! As I have mentioned before, there is a majority of Indians working here ... and one particular day, it had so happened that going for lunch, we figured out that out of 9 people having food, only 2 were non-indians ! Now, thats what you would call Indian dominance in the research and education sector ! So Parijat ( or Pari - as he says to people on the phone while trying to communicate his email address, Paris without the 's' ! ) - young, married sometime last year, in fact, going back to India next month as his wife is expecting a baby is a very comforting person and its great to have him sitting just beside me in the lab.


Koay Teong Beng (now try getting that right !) : Its been almost a month now at the lab and I am still not sure whether I am able to pronounce his name right, but it doesn't really matter - whats is a name anyway ! (btw, I do not entirely believe in this, but will mention it here as it seems appropriate) A smiling face at all times, this guy is a Malaysian - chinese. Quite nice to interact with him about things back in Malaysia and Chinese food and traditions and all. Just today, we had a chat of almost 30-40 mins. I guess, wherein some of us tried to explain to him how interesting the game of cricket is ! We started off with him arguing that it is just "throw ball - hit ball" as he put it, and then building up on just his knowledge of some baseball, we ended up explaining him the most intricate rules of the game and made him believe that cricket is indeed a game in which lots of strategic planning is involved ! In the meanwhile, somehow, it also made me realise that really, there is a reason why cricket is more than "just-a-game" for the Indians, I could see that passion while we were talking there at the Engg. canteen - it was amazing ! And now, i am really feeling bad about not getting to watch the test matches going on - WI vs. India - in fact, I am not even aware of the scores. So all in all, this guy is a great person around - and the first non-Indian I have described so far ! Just below Koay is the pic of his wife, Soo Pieng.


Matthias Hoffmann-Kuhnt: He is one guy whom I have not been able to interact with here at the lab, unfortunately. But his distinctive voice and that German accent and style ( I believe his style and accent is German, as he is German ... haven't been to Germany, so its just a guess [:-)] ) is very noticable while he is in the lab. Blends together in the overall friendly and in-formal atmosphere in the lab !



Shiraz: A great guy, very young ... completed his masters I guess recently. Has completed his graduation from NUS itself, so well acquainted with the things here. It has been nice to discuss many things with him - ranging from "Tourism posters in India and elsewhere" to "Behaviour of different layers in a typical TCP stack" ! Generally quiet in the lab, one of the very few pure-vegetarians around ... and a great fan of Indian food - I haven't seen him eat anything else in a month here ! Very cheerful and helpful ... from his appearance he would give you the feeling he is very serious, but I must say, he's not very close to being that way ! A fantastic Pool player and I just love that huge bike that he rides - its amazing !


Mandar: Well ... how do I start off describing him ! This person has got an amazing brain on those shoulders of his. He is involved in almost all the projects here at the ARL, has just completed his PhD in "Underwater Acoustics in Shallow Warm Water Channels" and has an almost to anything and everything you can ask ! There is so much of inspiration one can derive from the people here at the lab, and Mandar would have a very large contribution to it. Again, a person from Pune ... but he has been here for a long enough time to really get mixed with the style and language here. I was lucky to be here at the right time, so I had a party after he successfully completed his PhD defence a week after I landed here. He is also my bridge-guru, having given me a head-start in the basics of the game ! Starting to get a lot of interest in the game ... it is one of the games which I felt is so deeply studied, yet just the gigantic number of combinations that can arise out of the random distribution of a deck of 52 cards adds so much of interesting things to it, that its mind-boggling ! Hope to continue learning this wonderful game here as well as after coming back to India. The other day, a chat which I had with Mandar was quite revealing - he was telling me about the general work culture here in Singapore and that I shouldn't be misled by the kind of environment that I am seeing in the lab here, becuase that is NOT how it is like outside in the other work places in Singapore. Not many places appreciate the idea of having a enjoy @ work kind of philosophy, which is the basic principle behind the working of the lab. So, Singaporeans apparently are very hard workers, and though they seem to have adopted much of the western ideas in terms of facilities and way of living superficially, deep within, still an Asian mindset of working hard, trying to accumulate enough wealth to own a house, buy a car and provide for the education of your children is very common - much like what we see back in India.

While at it, something I find great about this place is the way they have developed rapidly after the 1970s ... its amazing how they have grown from a small port into a major tourist place and one of the best (or probably THE best port) in the world - with the port having facilities which enable the shifting of cargo from one ship to another in about a couple of hours, whereas at some of the other ports, the same process can take upto 3-4 days ! So, they have ships coming to their port just to get their cargo moved to some other ship and continue transporting it on some other ship ... quite amazing ! Also, the tourist places they have developed here are too good, and I guess Indian tourism authorities have a hell lot of things to learn from them ! Very limited resources, but through perfect planning and strict implementation of rules, they have made this tiny place a wonderful city and country - a very pleasant place to live in.

Hmm ... back to some other guys at the lab !


Jolyn: One of the two members of the fairer sex working at the lab. ( The other is Teong Beng's wife, Soo Pieng, whose place I have occupied currently while she is on maternity leave ... and hence her description wouldn't be found here ! ) I haven't interacted much with Jolyn but she is an interesting person ... she was a dolphin trainer before she joined the lab some time back ! One of the professional divers for the lab (the others being Mandar and John, the head of the lab), again a very young and sweet lady ! Interestingly, she was the first person whom I met who pointed out that I have exceptionally long and lovely eye-lashes ... well, I hadn't noticed that before !


Paul: (This section will be completed by my friend Varun - who is doing his project under Paul ... so I am taking a break for bath !)
Hmmm....Paul, where do I begin. What is most interesting about this jolly English guy? Is it the fact that he rides his bicycle to the lab dressed in nothing but his banian and a pair of shorts that look more like underwear? Or maybe that he plays the Sitar and the electric guitar? Or maybe that he loves Pink Floyd and that one can almost always hear music from his cubicle? Probably the fact that in his spare time he's a surrealist painter? Or maybe that he has married a Malayali woman who calls him everyday at the lab and nags him ( It's almost a daily ritual hearing Paul talk to his wife..." Yes Baby....NO Baby.....I'm coming home early baby.....yes baby......very early baby...")? Or maybe that he holds a doctorate in applied math and has lost his PhD certificate that he needs to apply for PR status? Easily the funniest guy in the lab.

Well ... after that short spell of good pleasant words from my friend and room-mate Varun, I am back to continue writing about some other people at the lab.

Mohan: He is the lab officer and I must say he is doing an awesome job of keeping the lab in some sort of order, which is difficult to do, given that there is a bunch of very crazy people working in it ! But Mohan is a very calm person, always busy with something or the other, and has been very nice to help me get settled in the lab giving me anything I needed. He has a cubicle near Paul - so God bless him !




Dr. Venu: Dr. Venugopal from Kerala is the seniormost person in the lab. Apart from being involved in a lot of projects, he is the person who looks after all the administrative stuff at the lab and hence was the one whom I had to correspond with to get my formalities completed before coming here. Though he is not young as others, the enthusiasm has not really dropped with his age ... he is very excited about anything and everything - be it some good design someone has come up with in CAD for an AUV or be it playing football with some huge ball lying just outside the lab, while going for lunch,or even playing pool while having a mug of beer during Mandar's party ! He has been very nice to share with us his experiences in Singapore, about the life here and his visit to India recently, when he got to meet some DRDO officials and access some information as a senior researcher at a Singaporean lab, but which he otherwise wouldn't have been allowed to, as a doctorate from a university in India ! But thats how these things work - I guess one can't really look for the most obvious common sense to prevail in all situations. Dr. Venu was telling us the other day about an incident when his son had fallen off his bike and was suspected to have got a fractured left arm. The doctor called for an X-ray of his left arm and after trying to analyze the X-ray, he called for an X-ray of the other arm to be taken as well because he couldn't make out whether that arm was normal or fractured and he needed something for comparison ! The point to be made was that some of the doctors here are so heavily realiant on technology that they are not really good at the diagnosis which still has to be done by humans ! And supposedly the system here is that to practise medicine here, you need to be a graduate of some Singapore based medical college - so, wish all the people here the very best of luck !

Now, last but not the least, John Potter, the founder and head of the ARL and associate director of TMSI - The Tropical Marine Science Institute:
He is probably too great a person for me to write anything about him ... so just copying his description given on the ARL website. Its definitely worth a read !






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Starting with a joint honours Mathematics and Physics Degree from Bristol, UK, John went on to a PhD in Glaciology and Oceanography (in association with the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Univ. Camb. UK) while working for the British Antarctic Survey doing research in the Antarctic, where he spent four consecutive summers. In stunning testimony to the inscrutable methods of the British Empire he was graciously awarded the Polar Medal for this work by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988. John migrated into Underwater Acoustics in 1986, moving to Italy to work for NATO on high-frequency acoustics for 5 years, where he met and married his beautiful and amazing partner, Caroline. After a 7-month sail across the Atlantic the Italian caffeine rush subsided to find John and Caroline washed up at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in California where he worked with Prof Mike Buckingham on Acoustic Daylight, leading the team that built ADONIS, the first camera to produce real-time moving images using only ambient noise and which gave rise to an ASA award for best scientific paper, published in Scientific American. In 1994 his family (now expanded to include two sons and two cats) sailed across the Pacific to Singapore, where he founded the ARL and helped launch the Tropical Marine Science Institute. In August 2004 A/Prof Potter embarked on a 14-month 'sabbatical' with his family to sail round the Indian Ocean on an expedition of marine research, education and environmental awareness. Check out Jocara Indian Ocean Quest for more information! Miraculously, he and family returned intact (though the sailing boat fared rather less well). John has now resumed work at the ARL and TMSI, albeit in a altered state of consciousness about the appalling state of the environment and mankind's failed stewardship of this unique and beautiful planet. A/Prof Potter is a Senior Member of the IEEE, an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and an International Fellow of the Explorer's Club, among other things (some of them unmentionable in polite company).

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That much for this post ... I guess it has already been too lengthy. Thanks a lot if anyone has made it all the way down !

First impression of Singapore

Well ... my first impression about Singapore had started forming long before I actually came here. It was through a lot of friends and relatives who had been to Singapore and all of them had given positive opinions about the place ! So I was quit happy when I actually got the Visa approval letter and all the formalities were finally completed and I was all set to go !

What follows in this post could be quite boring to others, but I consider it as a nice memory for myself .. so would write down somethings !

The last few days were quite busy as I had to pack up and leave in just 3 days from receiving the letter and before that, the only preparation I had made was probably to buy a suitable bag for my luggage ! Finally we decided to go to Mumbai for a day, spend the day with my Mama, Aai, Didi, Nikhil Dada of course Chaitanya. We started off from our house at around 11 which was around 3 hrs. delayed from the actual time which we had planned ... but it was okay, didn't really matter.

Reached Thane around 2 p.m., then had lunch, played with Chaitanya for quite some time before he slept in the evening. Then went to Shantanu's place, met him, Shreyas and his parents and came back home at around 10:30. Everything was going on too smoothly and there was no real fun apparently, when the lights went off, and there was very heavy rain. We didn't sleep after dinner, final packing was completed, some unnecessary stuff was got rid of and I was ready to leave for the airport around 3 a.m. The reporting time was specified as 4:30 a.m. but it was raining and with this being my first experience of boarding a flight, I didn't want to take chances ! But it turned out that the rain stopped just as we were leaving and we made it to the airport sometime before 4 a.m. and probably was the first time I was so early to any place !

But the whole experience at the airport was very nice and comfortable - no problems at any place whatsoever, and without any trouble, I boarded an international flight for the first time in my life ! It was an Air India flight I think numbered 471 or something ... don't exactly remember.

And about 5 hrs. later, after a nice comfortable journey and not-so-great food during the flight, I was here at the Changi Airport in Singapore ! The plan was quite well-defined for my first day, check out and complete the formalities at the airport (Immigration etc.) and go straight to the Lab (as I landed on a working day in working hours, the lab was open then). So I took a taxi and got staright to the lab.

There it was a nice pleasant atmosphere and I was assured by seeing the atmo. that i would be having a nice time here. It was very informal, with quite a few Indians and infact 3 Marathi people around (out of some 15 people at the lab, around 7 are Indian !). First day, I did not have a place to stay, but Parijat here helped me out with it and got me a room to stay at one of the hostels on campus called "Price George's Park" or PGP as it is known commonly here. I had some veg. food at the canteen (probably the only time I would have veg. food here - not that its bad but non-veg seems more tempting at all times, and is better than veg in most cases)and then went and relaxed in the room. Next day, I went to MoM - Ministry of Manpower and some nearby places like Chinatown point - had a nice day. I completed all tha formalities at the MoM and then had to take a taxi back to lab as it had started raining and I was not carrying my umbrella with me, and also being unaware of bus routes and all, thought taxi was the best choice !

And so, after a day in Singapore, I was officially a part of the lab here and ready to work ! So, I had not seen much of Singapore yet but felt quite comfortable and was ready for a new experience in my life !

I felt Singapore was like India in some things - the weather being the most important factor. But it is a different feeling altogether to be in your country and probably the first time I realized what probably "Independence" or "Freedom" would mean !

Nice lines ...

Well ... I am here in Singapore for a week almost now and well settled and having fun. Somehow, I don't seem to be finding the time to write a new post in my blog describing things here.

But the lines below I got in one of the emails, I really liked and hence putting them down here ...

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fights when you're hardest hit,
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

And finally, I hope I get some time to write about my experiences in Singapore as well.