"Deja Vu" and a Lecture on Algorithms

So the summer is over and I am back at school at USC!! To say it was a fruitful summer would be stating the obvious. I thoroughly loved my work and learned a lot during my stint.

Anyhow, last week I attended a lecture on algorithms - the Prof. discussed the concept of stable matching. While explaining the algorithm, he described a very real situation that lead to a fascinating sort of "Deja Vu".
He took up an example that said a person will leave  his current internship to move to a position he feels is better for him - say leaving a start-up not doing what he wants to do and joining Bill Clinton when he asks for him (bigshot example) :D . This leads to a new vacancy at that start-up which is filled by some else who leaves a lower preferred job to take up this one. So we don't have a stable matching.

So where's the "Deja Vu" - well I remember wanting to come to study here when all my close friends were seemingly going towards US, I followed them here. I use to keep a photo of us Awesome Foursome to remind me of them at all times. Whilst in India, I became a part of another fantastic set of us four friends, Ze Gang :D Now three of us here and the fourth one is contemplating joining us and use our photo as motivation. Life can be quite amazing!!!

And yes yes this isn't really a Deja Vu but that's why I used the quotes - hopefully correctly like Joey only once did with Ross :D (I think I watched too much Friends during my stay in the Bay Area :p )

Transiting from T(SC) to U(SC), and taking three months for it..

T and U are adjacent letters in the English alphabet, however, my job at TSC and my current status as a graduate student at USC are as different environments as possible. The change in a single letter took me a huge three months to complete. But as I flew from Delhi to LA, I couldnt help but look back at the days at my first job.

My year-and-a-half-and-a-week-and-a-half at TSC had been a most memorable experience where I have learnt so much more than I could ever imagine and made such wonderful friends that even my co-travelers on the flight to LA reminded me of them :P The three months have been an interesting time; at times I have felt like I am still an employee at TSC, albeit one without work - and without pay, obviously :p - simply because I have been in such close contact with my friends there that I have felt their presence all around me. Sometimes it has scared me because I wonder if it is unhealthy for me, an opinion that several of friends seemed to have as well, simply because that part of my life has now ended and a new has begun. And yet, I have never been able to do it. In mid-June, I closed my office bank account as a step towards closure - not very successful in attaining closure though. But now that I am here in LA it will finally begin to happen.

But that is no way to say that I want to let go of my friends. They are well and truly all over my thoughts. The memories of my time at office are amazing to say the least. I tried to get them all these presents with me as well but only a few could make it with me across the Pacific (due to airline baggage policy :p)

Some great memories from office

Girl Next Door is one of my favorite movies and I love the part where towards the end when Emile Hirsh's character recounts the three things from high school that "I will always remember...".  For me, TSC was no less than a school - the one that taught me an insane amount about myself. And as I will leave it behind to start a new life, I will be remembering more than just 3 things :P

I'll always remember...

• AK's smiles
• GO's thoughts
• Ze Gang!!

                  The "idhar aa" to AS; and standing at my desk and observing the office 
                  Tech gupshup with RN
                  Talking to PS

• Wittiness of Furobiker
• The amazing memorabilia I collected at my office desk
• Bakar and Calivin and Hobbes with AM
• NB and SG, and clicking pics of RB :p
• Discussing movies with SR
• Working with the MD
• My baymates - RM and AMa; the emptiness of the bay and later PS
• 240 
• Cabbies - esp. RR 
• Lancedowne and the office parties

And of course, I will remember the fun I could have on weekends - life as an MS student might not give me time for that :p

And other than all this I will remember pretty much everything, on and off :p

Signing Off,
An ex-TSCite and a brand new Trojan :)

Of Staying in Touch and Wishing for the Right Things

My last post was the day after I resigned, a little over two months ago. A lot has happened since then.When I left my job the general emotion was that of happyness of looking forward to a new adventure with little sadness in leaving behind some amazing people - because I always knew they were important enough to me to stay in touch with them even after I leave my company.


I have been an unemployed youth for a month now and it has not quite been like how I thought it would be. For the first two weeks, I suffered from withdrawal symptoms - missing my everyday jibber-jabber was a little too much I guess :p I made a truck load effort to speak with the ex-colleagues I really cared about - calling them myself, sometime being disappointed with unanswered and unreturned calls - Not very pleasant :p

The prime idea behind the efforts was the knowledge that I would hibernate first thing I leave these ppl.. Fair to say, I didnt let that happen :p .. In the month gone by I have typed and received more emails and FB messages on a daily basis then I would get even at work :p (Some from ppl I didnt interact with much before I left or they did :p) My phone bill for the last month is the highest in an year :p But I am right there for everyone I care about :) Mission Accomplished :p :D

In other news, I got through to Univ of Southern Calif, LA in the US - an admit that I positively craved.. And what followed the admit was the coming true of the old saying - Be careful for what you wish for :p An admit to USC meant that I had to make a decision - cheaper Canada's serene study environment @ Mcgill or the bright lights of LA with a fight of a Master's course @ USC.. Needless to say, my poor decision-making history - as Chandler once said - scared the bajesus out of me - what if I chose the wrong place, what if the other is where I shd go? But this time I took the decision from the heart - c'mon I wasnt going to pass the opportunity to go Hollywood, even if it is for a MS program :p :D Georgia Tech are yet to reply though and I would probably go there if I get through - not wishing too hard for that though - itna lalach accha nahi :D

Amreeka, please grant me a visa on time :p :D

PS> Got a reject from Georgia Tech :p

Priceless is too small a word

There are good office days, there are bad office days and then there are days when it just doesn’t matter anymore. But there are also days where a few great moments blind everything out else in life, office or not. Just had those few great moments of my office life today. 

Sometimes you need to work overtime at office due to too much work. Ironically, that's when it hits me that that there's more to office than work. The people around me are simply awesome and it because of them that I can pull it off. Friday the 14th was a day that had everything - am email asking me to work on the weekend (and the cribbing that followed :p), an office lunch, some lovely ppl  walking up to my seat to chat :), and an email from my manager letting me know of a (female) neighbor :D coming to sit next to me next week.

But it all just fades in comparison to an impromptou photo session that captured my best time of the day - the post-lunch gupshup :) I know all too well that I will be working on the weekend. But I know what will get me through it.

So here's a big hug going out to the Ze Gang!!!