barc industrial visit

well , yesterday 24 th our college had planned an industrial visit ..well actually by CSI(taking no credit away from them)....the visit was the 1st one i guess ...During the 1st year we(me, ip,gsb, dev, neavin and niraj) had visited DAKC. that was also a great experience. This time it was going to be BARC, trombay. well, considering it is a sensitive government installation we were not allowed to take any cell phones there,,,,i was eagerly waiting to be at trombay ,....it all began at 8 am ...we left by bus from mpstme....and guess who was accompanying us ..." bhushan sir" ....

so we were all prepared k aaj to iski marni hain.... and we recall his shayri in class once

" kehdo un padne walo se, k jitna course padke woh top karte hain . utna to hum chod diya karte the "

so we all persuade him to receite a shayri ......

he refuses. he is sitting on the 1st seat...and sab uski le rahe hain .....the bus has barely reached andheri flyover....

and juniors start singing and challenge us to play antakshri ...( cant recall wen was the last time i had participated in antakshri....)

dont have the capacity to recall songs.....and all the songs i recalled were the ones i used to sing when i would play antakshri as a kid...songs of 90's .....''

what we did to the juniors was that we would end the song abruptly...like " jag sara jag sara nikhar gaya hud pyaar ka vaashe vich bikhar gaya th ....so we would put a th in the end....."

and since there are very few songs starting with "th" they wont be able to sing ...( we had to do pass time as barc was 90 minutes drive from coll)

also if we would not know a song beginning with a particular letter like "ka"

then we would start singing " kasakali kasakali ".........mazze aa gaye the...

also i recall some pathetic songs

" sarkai lo khatiya jada lage "

" kya ada kya jalwe tere paro "

" jhanjariya uski chanak gai"

"ankhiyon se goli mare"

" kisi disco main jaaye"

" bholi bhali ladki...."

my mind recalls pathetic songs more as i can relate to the pathetic lyrics being a pathetic singer,,,,

coming back to bhushan ...we asked him to sing...as we coulnt recall any song starting

so bhushan starts" mein shayar to nahi ......./........................shyari aa gayi"

and anjaney goes crazy ...he shouts " abey chup baith shayar ki aulad...sala gaana gaye ga "

also to mention how we all r thinking for a song from " chhh"

and shikhar or aseem i dont know who...suddenly starts

" chaat pe soya tha behnoi ( if u recall from karan arjun)"

that left many dumbfounded...( including me)

so finally we reached barc.....must say what a place it is ....

we reached barc. there we waited for sumtime for clearance and all security checks....while we were sitting in one of the buses we were told that..u mustnt have a sim card also in ur pocket ...if u have it give it right away.....if u go inside and the machine detects it ...u r screwed....under the govt laws..no one will be able to help u later...

and i being the disaster king....how can there be any disaster where i am not involved....

so finally when we are just going inside ....the man comes to check evry1s wallet...and i find my old hutch ka sim card inside......chupa k rakha tha kisi wallet k kone mein,.,,,, good i found out before going inside ...else i wont be writing this post !!( i was thinking to throw it out of the window,....but thanks to the prudence of ip who told me to be honest and tell the security guard...)

so we enter the place....

and we are first taken to an audi where we are introduced to barc ....

then we move on to see a supercomputer ...man what an experience ....seeing a super computer in front of u ....having a huge screen where all the images are being processes.... and u can zoom down to look at the car number from the satellite...( heard a lot abt it, but seeing it is believing it)

well this is where india and china stand apart i guess....in china socialist mentality would have never allowed someone other then scientists and defence personnel to view a supercomputer and let students enter a place of such strategic importance to the country ......

well the fastest supercomputer in india is currently at crl( computational research laboratory, pune) of the tata's......and in the world is roadrunner( los alamos lab,usa)

after witnessing the super computer we are taken to the nuclear reactor ...

we actually went inside the reactor ...there was a hydraulic door at the entrance ,,,,,

also a control room could be seen.....the reactor was
Cirus the plutonium obtained from this reactor helped india conduct its first nuclear test .....

also the other reactor apsara and dhruva are research reactors ......

i saw things which i had learned back in class 10

coolants, fuel rods( cadmium), reactor core.....

after coming out we were wandering about ...

barc has sea on one side and mountains on other...

we see a tank on the top of the hill . we find out that water would come down from there to cool the reactor....

i had crazy thoughts "there could be something below that landscaped garden,,,,,( ha ha )...say a secret lab...nuclear bunkers ....."

then we have our lunch ...must say was decent.

our final stop was a laboratory wher instruments were kept and testing was done so that nuclear waste isnt passed outside....

we were taken into a room .....a device like thermometer which measures radioactivity was placed into bhushan sirs pocket and we went inside the room.... must say that was scary....going into a place where nuclear waste is treated .....we came outside and the reading was same ...so no radioactive loss had taken place.....

and that was the end of a trip .....

visiting barc made me proud of our technological prowess....we have indigeneous nuclear reactors .,....unlike our neighbour;

also our nuclear reactors are in the safe hands of GOI.

just felt like writing

i can recall this incident when i was goin home, boarding the vadodara express from mumbai central.
at that moment of time, i am sitting in the open area at mumbai central. my train would be arriving @ 11.00. so i still have a good one and half an hour(to be spent @ station) .unfortunately, i am not carrying any book or newspaper with me. so all i do is keep lookin here and there. i see people sleeping on the floor. the large open area in between the surrounding benches at mumbai central. and as i am lookin around a havaldar comes up with a stick and wakes up all those sleeping in that area. all wake up . then i see three tiny tots(must be arnd 2-3) clinging to their mother as the havaldar is about to approach them. and i wonder! wat a force in this world a mother is !! the child knows that its only her who can save her from the havaldar. and surprisingly, the havaldar doesnt go near them. i feel good about it. (atleast he had the heart not to disturb the poor lady and her kids, who i think were waiting for next train, probabaly goin to theri hometown ...just like me ....)and then i start recalling all those incidents where my mother has fought for me or taken my side or just been there for me ......whether i have screwed up my xams or met with an accident. well, she would certainly scold me at the first for being careless(which i am , very much or rather was....have improved in the past 2-3 yrs....guess the responsibility of living alone..but still i am a bit careless) .......and in these thoughts time passes....

and i see a havaldar approaching again. he again wakes up all those who are sleeping in between.
i dont know why my mind wanders about a thought?? what is the thing which can generate employement and gurantee employement , satisfaction and decent living to thousands of indians who spend their nights on railway stations. those small little kids who sit near the ticket window and when you go their to buy a ticket they touch your feet ..call u uncle or sir and ask for money or food. why in such a country where we have multi-billionaires like the ambanis, birlas, mittals and where we talk about tech revolution ...about going on moon...about increasing our defence budget ..where 556 rascals(well, may be we could take off a few of that list) sit in a damn place in delhi ..thousands of miles away ...have no idea about the plight of the poor or the common man ...where false promises sell like hot cakes ....why even after 50 years we dont see a significant change. in percentage we might have reduced those below poverty line..but the number is till very large .....i guess 1/4 th of our population is till below poverty line .....

coming back to my original thoughts, what thing can guarantee employement to millions of our citizens .....well , i dont think that the problem lies in migration to the cities ...its bound to happen ...its happened everywhere ...china,japan, usa ..people have migrated in millions from villages to cities in search of jobs and growth opportunities..but the govts there have created maple opportunities keeping in mind the influx....why cant we have a similar kind of model in mumbai, delhi , kolkatta or bengaluru. we cant control the rapid growth of population ..or can we??

but what the govt can certainly do is fill in the gaps....

there must be something which can intake so many people .,....i hammered my mind a lot for that thing ,,,but than i couldnt come to a conclusion ....

well i thought y cant we have ample opportunities in villages...why cant the tech gap be bridged...
this wil solve the problem of managing huge infrastructure costs for cities and also mainting criminal activities in large cities...

agriculture seems to be the only opportunity india has,,, to guarantee opportunity to a large sections....it must be protected from the importers...or our system will crumblee....we wont have the sustainable development we were originally targetting.....indian population is rising and will keep to rise ...so food security is very much going to be the need always..so agriculture cannot be neglected(especially. by a country like ours ..having 1 billion moths to feed, twice a daily atleast).....


also i wonder, what crime had the child sitting near the ticket window of a suburban station done that he has to do this .....it feels really sad....when i see the old and children(who are helpless)
begging ....asking for a vadapav ...on one side and where people can affors to have a lavish dinner party(where more food is wated than consumed) coz his son or daughter passed the b.com xam after trying for the 4th time ......what an irony !!

what all are the value all the accolades and awards if our country cant guarantee food to 100 million or its citizens..........what value is this blog if so many people living hardly 500 meters away from my house havent had dinner tonite ....

well, i know why cant i start something if i feel so much strongly about the issue and the plight of our country ...why dont i take some concrete action than blogging about it ...the point is i havent got any idea even after thinking about it the whole night in train aboard the vadodara express that night ....but hope someone gets it and i can also contribute towards it ....

Sleep Under The Stars- KHAGOL MANDAL

Khagol Mandal .....FEBRUARY SKY

It's zub who wanted brought out the idea of going to this place...

must tell you i really loved this outing,,,,,,,always wanted to have this kind of over night adventure....

so finally its decided...zub, pulkit, me, vatsal and kartik(extc.) and wait,,,,,srikanth -- who is zubeen's school friend are going for this trip.... the place is vangani---- its the station after badlapur on the central line.... and must say how far away is this place....( now can truly understand the plight of my classmates( ref...abhinav mehrotra)..who travels all the way from thane....

so we are leaving at 2 from andheri station.,,,,,,after doing all those search on the trains for karjat....we head on from andheri...

and i prepare myself welll ..i must say.....starting with torch, nashta( thepla...the best food), towels, jacket.....( intially i thought it would be cold...i was imagining that the place would be on top of a mountain....romaticizing ( although i dont have a gf..bas bracket ni andar bracket...bahu thai gayu)....) so i was fully prepared for this visit...i think its the adventure freak in me,,,,,always game for somekinda experince,,,,,be it going to gilbert hill, pavagadh, matheran, the purana killa in delhi( by far the best place in delhi.....must see akshardham from this place) or risking my life by going on the top floor of mpstme( yaa , its under construction) in the midst of a internship interview( that was crazy )....

so i am this all prepared ...with a bag.....and then i meet pulkit and zub on station....they arent carrying anything ( chalo..chaltein hain)......

so we take a train from here to dadar.... and then to thane...

and i forgot ...vatsal was with us .,,,,,so timepass pakka,,,,,,he can start of a debate on any topic,,,,( must say would be really helpful to you ,,,in cat for gd...)..and then will argue till the end... and most of the time its ( atheism....v/s god..i in support of the latter)////

so from dadar to thane ..i dont know how time flies by.....we are debating on it( in a 2nd class compartment....and the people also seemed interested in our debate ...some of them were hearing us so keenly...)..basically i was alone in this,,,,pulkit( though he says he isnt a atheist )...vatsal , obviously and zubeen having a nonchalant approach and kartik remaining quiet for the major part of it .....so finally thane arrives...

we get down,,,,there zub recommends the nimbu pani wala opposite thane station....( i must say that is the best nimbu paani in mumbai .....never ever have had such a nimbu paani)

but recently i read an article in a mail which said that nimbu paani wala across mumbai use the ice from mortuary in their nimbu paani ( yeah i am feeling disgusted now for drinking that ...and have since stopped drinking all those nimbu paani's on railway station.....)

then after a bit of yes-no-no- yes we decide to go to zub's place...we still had time ...were early...

so we visit his place.,,,,,,do some pet-pooja and head off back for vangani; srikanth joins in from here...

now i must sa

y the real journey begins,,,,,,,the train for karjat arrives....very crowded....( i was expecting that the train will be empty by the time kalyan arrives ....but it doesnt happen ....this was the 1st time i was goin beyond thane....ahh wait once i did travel from vasai to diva and then to thane....that was one of my escapades in the 2nd year...)

but the train gets filled and filled ,,,and here again we have sumthing to keep us goin.....the debate of melatonin ( the night hormone ...which i studied in biology in 12th and had a long debate with IP( Ipsit) in the 2nd year)( It was during this debate i opened my 12th standard biology textbook ...didnt care much about it when i was in 12th ...ha ha )

the debate was: is

melatonin secreted in the night or is it secreted in the dark ...

i mean i remember studying that melatonin is secreted in the night,,,,,,

now the confusion was( we all are awake till 1-2 am )...so is melatonin secreted when the it becomes dark or is it secreted when there is physically no light present ...irrespective of the fact that it is night or day ....u sleep in a dark room in the day without any light and melatonin will secrete,,,,,

so this debate occupies us till we reach vangani ,,,,and by that time its 7 ..so its already dark ( melatonin secret hona chalu ho gaya hoga....)and i must congratualte srikanth ...he is a commerce student ,,but still the way he participated in the debate ....arguing and throwing valid points..

so we reach vangaani ..the volunteers of khagol mandal are alr

eady there......i must say what a unfrequented place it is .....

we have to walk down towards the west ....after walking for 10 minutes we reach this farm.....

here we all are made to sit after the registration.....( we were asked to carry some bed sheets or chhatai...none of us brought..thx to zubeen...)

and the lights are off....and then the presentation starts ...actually its in an open field,,,,,

around 200 must be there... there is another ..field on the side of this .,....where there is a separate section for marathi ....\

so the presenatation starts ...it tells all abt the night stars ......half an hour into the presenatation...the guy suddenly remarks.....look there ,...that is an artificial satellite....must say what a site it was....i was seeing it for the 1st time......it was moving

so fast,....but i managed to grasp its view....a bright light ...moving fast .....

( those of you who would have seen the movie ---october sky would be able to relate easily with this ...)

Then he talks about the crash between two satellites lately ( the iridium and the russian on 11th feb 2009).

so after this we get back to our presenatation........he shows us stars with a laser...and the beam makes it possible to identify exactly which one he is pointing at ...( how many stars could i see from this place....being in mumbai ...or any other city for that matter ...we are so much deprived of stars ...natures beauty ...ma grandpa was a very good at reading the night sky...,,,he could easily point out the common stars....)

he pointed out that the brightest star was sirius...and there was some log sclae attached to the brightness of the stars.....we do see that star.....later via a telescope/////

also at this pointi cant remember what else we did there...but must say was a gr8 experince,,,,

we also saw saturn and jupiter,,,,..the rings of saturn wer

e awesome,,,, also he pointed out vega...ursa major....ursa minor,.....pole star ...saptarishi ,,,,,

my mind raced back toward 10th standard ... the last time i studied all this things...ws so fascinating then ,,,,now all i do is roting and puking at in xams ,,,,that is mpstme....( naah i shud nt be so harsh to my college ...its not that bad afteralll.....)

in between the breaks ,,,,,we ventured out of the farm....the road from farm to the main road ..hardly 50 mts ...was creepy ....and plus there were dogs ....

so we were standing at the gate ....and far i see on the top of a hill a fire( (beacon) to be more Specific for the GRE/GMAT/CAT Junta......man again this was an awesome moment....after the artifical satellite ...( my mind raced back towards the movie AUSTRALIA ) which i had recently seen ...the old man lighting fire on the top of that hill and in the night ....looked awesome,,,,,

so this was all about that trip .....and yaa the tharki inside me also said ....

( next time i come, i am having a gf with me ,..ha ha ....for all those who already have one , what are you waiting for .,,heres the link for Khagol Mandal,,,,,do visit it next time...)

so finally i came back home....we were sleeping in the train ...but then it was one of the best times i spent in 3 yrs in mumbai....and yeah while goin back we rated the trip ...i as usual gave it a 10....others gave 8 , 6 ,,,,but for me ..anything which is out of the convention is a bingo...)