Whose Sounds Are These?

99% of you reading this already know me, so just skip this.

I mean it! There’s nothing new for you here!

Oh well, read on.

The other 1% - how in the world did you land up here?! Wait, don’t tell me. I know - it must be that chap named Google.

Now since you’ve not made a quick exit and have taken the time to explore more of these pages, I’ll reward you with an account of the person whose words bring these empty pages to life. (I have delusions of being a writer extraordinaire.)

Born in February, 1982. The Asian Games were to be held that year and Appu (the elephant), the Games’ mascot had caught the nation’s imagination. Being on the chubby side, someone thought I looked like the fellow and so I was named Appu .

Deepak - that’s the name I chose when my parents realized that Appu wouldn’t do as a real name and offered me a choice between Nitesh and Deepak. My older siblings are Hitesh and Jyoti. For those who don’t get it, leave now, you won’t get most of what is on this site.

That account of my naming might be entirely fictitious, but I choose to believe it.

Lived most of my life in Hyderabad studying in a school where the only challenge was to avoid the PT instructor’s cane. Being a lit stud and acads topper in that school, I had these delusions of being smart, intelligent, etc. and decided to give a shot at the JEE.

This page pretty accurately describes what the JEE is.

(Note: The following joke is not racist and is, in fact, Kushwant Singh approved.)

I think a sardar evaluated my answer scripts and seeing another (Deepak Sarda) of his ilk, decided to let me through to the IITs. It was an attempt at increasing their perceived collective IQ. Who cares even if it was an attempt at world domination, I was in IIT Madras.

Four years of lazing around, making great friends, watching OAT movies, paining profs, hating mess food, bunking classes, shooing monkeys, struggling with Aero, servicing the Kinetic, cogging assignments, learning Linux, eating at Quark, listening to rock, playing Quake, philosophizing, waiting for Saarang, waiting to go home, extracting treats, exploring the jungle, discussing Anshul’s Mallu-girl fetish, getting high, not sleeping in Saarang, trying to score with girls, watching FRIENDS, Shakes and Creams, pulling each other’s legs, eating at Patisserie, catching movies on Mount Road, getting ripped at treats, Besant Nagar beach, and trying to preserve sanity would summarize my stay at that place called Ganga Hostel, IIT Madras.

This wholesome experience also gave me delusions that I had the ability to convince people to fund me for a Master’s degree.

Turns out, this time the delusions were actually true.

So currently I am in Singapore, doing my Master’s in something I am yet to figure out. Keep watching this blog for updates on that.

“But, my dear chap,” you say, “where’s the Dungeon?”

I had this computer in my hostel room which I christened ‘The Dungeon’. I don’t know why I named it so but there are indications that it was due to a frog eating a flapping butterfly somewhere on the other side of the world. The machine served me well for 3 years and is still going strong. My brother uses it now but he’s changed its name. It’s now called Tehkhana.

I bought a laptop here in Singapore and named it ‘Dungeon’. (I am brimming with creative ideas). And since most of my posts to the blog happen on this baby… I am really questioning your intelligence now. ;-)

Update: (Sep 2005) How the years fly! I finished the Master’s and then worked for an year in a field that was completely alien to me but very relevant to my MS studies. The conflict was too much and so now I am in a field that is neither too alien nor too relevant to my years of schooling. Oh yes, I am still in Singapore.