Learning from the Best

Discussion on the Section NB a few hours ago - was Gabbar being a fair executioner when he loaded three bullets into his revolver during the unforgettable "Kitne aadmi the?" scene? That is, was the probability of each of his three henchmen being shot equal? The consensus seems to be that he was being fair and that the chance of being shot was 0.5 for each of the men. This being the reasoned opinion of IITians and BITSians (and top-rankers at that), I dare not express dissent :) But what happens when you bring a maths course on probability and a bunch of Amitabh crazy WIMWIans together is very entertaining, and educational :)

The sixth and last term for the tucchas began today. Our dormies came back yesterday and today - including those who had gone on exchange visits to Europe and Canada. Is really nice to see all of them back. No foreign students in our dorm during this term though :(

The facchas meanwhile await the end-terms and look forward to a vacation. Going back to Bombay is going to be great, though the journey will be a bit spoilt. I had booked a ticket over a month ago on the Aravali Express. The waitlist number then was 17, and today, it remains 17. Don't think it will budge in the next 10 days. And because there will be some luggage with me, no chance of fighting it out sleeping on the floor. Will have to go by bus, in all probability. Though with the NH-8 being completely 4-laned, the journey should be quick and smooth.

Being in Bombay will be splendid. I am most eager to see Sid, who is coming back from the US after 5 months. There will be Atish and Kartik too (The rest of the people who're doing an MS will only come next year - that will be an even better reunion, I hope). Devesh will return from Hyderabad for a short stint. Seemed to have missed meeting Aditi on each of my previous trips. Hope this time will be different. Plus the usual gang working in Bombay and Pune. Will be fun sharing stories and adventures. I still marvel at how a bunch of twenty-somethings who have mostly never lived away from home, are now builiding careers and experiencing life in different corners of the world (I know that, to borrow a phrase I learnt in WIMWI, I'm getting max senti here, but year-changeovers induce that mood in me).

I do hope I'll be able to visit town this time though. Haven't been there since June...