kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

It feels really strange to realize that in those few minutes when I was at CCD, just after having felt the bombs; I was there, between two bombed sites, joking, trying to preserve my calm, while people were injured, while they were crying, trying to find their loved ones, while they were witnessing violence, gore, and death. It is a tragedy of unknown proportions…
A tragic end to a day full of twists and turns. Sadness and sorrow fills me as I write this. As I began my day, I had never thought how it will end. I had no clue at all.

September 13th, 2008. New Delhi
8.0 AM
It started with me rushing to my Ahok Vihar office for the monthly strategic review meetings. Had to work on the Marketing Divisions strategic intent and planning and put it across the board. Had just updated Open Coffee Club Delhi in the morning that I shall be attending the OCC Delhi Meet at Café Coffee Day, Outer Circle, CP later in the evening.

At around 12:40, between the series of meetings, got a mail at the OSScamp Community mailing list about the offline Drupal Meet up at Srijan Campus, Nehru Place. God! I was going to miss it as my schedule was already overflowing. I didn’t want to miss it anyway. But that’s what short notices do. No offence.

3.20 PM
Started my presentation. Discussed the various aspects of our brand building exercises, problems we are facing and possible solutions and the ones the marketing team would recommend. A fierce discussion on a new brand identity that needs created. A lot of discussion I wouldn’t want to bore you with. Finally, I was free by 4.15PM.

4.20 PM
I left a note for my boss that I am leaving for the OCC Delhi Meet at CP; an unusual first for me. At the time it felt the right thing to do even when I have never really cared about updating my boss with my every movement. It’s like we have an understanding at OSSCube that if we are doing quality work in stipulated time, it proves that I am a good judge of how to utilize my time and we don’t question each other. My boss doesn’t question me and I don’t question my team. That’s the way it goes. So it puzzled me: why I wanted to leave that note. Obviously, now I can speak a lot about my intuitions and premonitions and other such myths. But that wasn’t it, exactly. Not very easy to understand what it was.

4.35 PM
Trying to get an auto for CP has always been a tough job for me at Ashok Vihar. Finally I got one and I called Satpal to update him about my being late. The problem with unconferences is that people generally don’t take the deadlines very seriously. Or let’s put it correctly, diplomatically: we all are busy people with overflowing schedules; unconferences are just flexible enough to accept such situations. Needless to say, moron me was not the only late guy. But that’s what the game is all about – people coming.

5.11 PM
Some problem at Ramakrishna Ashram. The road was closed. Had to take a detour through Gole Market for CP. A thick jam there due to all the vehicles detouring.

5.20 PM
Finally reached CP. Café Coffee Day, Outer Circle. A few hundred meters from Central Park and Gopal Das Building.

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on my flight back home:

And I’m coming home now
It’s been so long now
Gonna get there somehow
Praying you’ll be there

10:40 AM	I am glad to be going home. Here Comes the Sun; Here Comes the Sun, And I’ll Say – It’s Alright!
11:03 AM	I keep running into bad weather, or so it seems.
11:07 AM	Its common to have Turbulence due to the current weather. Current Height is 38000 Feet. Just crossed Hyderabad. Scheduled to fly over Bhopal at 11:55 AM and over Delhi by 12:45 PM.
11:20 AM	I wish they had bigger windows to enjoy the view.
11:22 AM	I wish I could feel the wind on my face.
11:31 AM	Bad Weather Again: Be Seated, Fasten Seat Belts, Don’t Use Lavatories. Great! Bleeding Great!
11:35 AM	I am rocking my toes, my feet are numb. I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there! Become so tired, so much more aware
11:38 AM	Through with bad weather and no visibility for once. Cloud Cover Lost. Land Ahoy!
11:50 AM	Hey Bhopal! How you doin’ man?
11:52 AM	Aaj main upar, aasman neeche Aaj main aage, Jamana hai piche I dunno why, but I am humming this song. And grinning shamelessly.
11:56 AM	Ah! Be Damned You, Turbulence!
11:58 AM	It’s kinda weird the way the craft wings shake in the wind. I hoped them to be hard and firm.
12:02 PM	It’s like a vast ocean of clouds that I am flying over. Nature’s Call. BRB.
12:08 PM	I have been a great discomfort to my seatmates with all the walking from and back to the seats. Wish they had more space between two subsequent rows. Sorry!.
12:19 PM	I want to be a space tourist next.
12:27 PM	Approaching Home. 20 Minutes to Terra Firma. Wait! Isn’t TERRA supposed to be FIRMA? Ain’t that implicit? I mean, do we have Terra Infirma? I wouldn’t want to be there.
12:28 PM	Preps started. Changes in direction and altitude.
12:28 PM	We will be landing shortly in Delhi. Descending Now.
12:29 PM	Mother Earth and Gravity playing their little games.
12:40 PM	Touche!

0626 Hrs. Get a call from home. Rise and shine sleepyhead. Thomas is coming over too. He is a fellow camper from chennai; he needs a place to keep his luggage and to take a bath. I need some company; I invite him over.

He is there by 8AM, by the time I was fresh and ready. We start at 8:20 for the venue. I am the organizer for chrissake! I have to be there early, get things arranged and organized. But first – Breakfast!

Me and Thomas head over to the Kabini Canteen for a quick breakfast while discussing FOSS. It feels so great to be talking like you really know what you are talking about, even if you don’t. Post breakfast, Thomas and I start on our mission to find and reach the venue. I was to experience the vastness of the IISc campus, now. 40 minutes and 15 guides later, we reach the CEDT Building. Welcome to OSScamp Bengaluru!

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I am sharing with you an exchange of emails with someone from the Free Software Foundation, India, while working on the OSSCamp Delhi (September 2007). I am censoring it, snipping out few portions and identities from the email that would hint or disclose the other person’s identity for the sole reason that he never gave me his permission to post this exchange on my blog. Other than the identity-hinting portions, I have not snipped anything else. Let me know, what you think of the discussion.

***

Dear FSF India
My name is Kinshuk Sunil and I am a Student. Me and my friends are trying to organize an Open Source Event on the lines of the world famous Bar Camps (http://www.barcamp.org ). The name of the event is OSS Camp Delhi [Open Source Software Camp, Delhi]. It is scheduled for September 8th-9th 2007. More information about the event is available at [http://www.osscamp.in/OSSCampDelhi]

The event is free for all and all cost will be managed by the sponsors. I am not writing you this mail to request you to sponsor us. The target audience of the event are Open Source Practitioners and Open Source Enthusiasts, alike and we plan to arrange about 300-500 people. I am asking for your help to spread the word for the event so that people interested in Open Source may choose to be present at this event and contribute to its success.
Some of my friends have already organized one such camp OSSBarCampMumbai in Mumbai on 23rd March 2007 [http://www.barcamp.org/OssBarCampMumbai] and so we are confident of successfully organizing this event too.

I am requesting you to help us spread the word about the event so that people interested in Open Source technologies may attend it. This is a free-for-all event and our objective is not to make any money out of it. This is just facilitating the open source community in India by providing it a favorable platform.

And if you find it deserving, you might also help us by sponsoring it.

Thank you for your valuable time.
Kinshuk Sunil

I got the following reply:

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A Very Warm and Sweet Valentine’s Day to you. I hope you enjoyed the day with your loved ones (read: the loved one). But wait a second… What exactly is love? This is what Wikipedia has to say:

The word love has many different meanings in English, from something that gives a little pleasure (“I loved that meal”) to something one would die for (ideals, family). It can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love. Probably due to its psychological relevance, love is one of the most common themes in art and music.

Just as there are many types of lovers, there are many kinds of love. Though love is inherent in all human cultures, cultural differences make any universal definition difficult to establish.[1] One definition attempting to be universally applicable is Thomas Jay Oord’s: to love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being. This definition applies to the positive connotations of love.

Expressions of love may include the love for a “soul” or mind, the love of laws and organizations, love for a body, love for nature, love of food, love of money, love for learning, love of power, love of fame, love for the respect of others, etcetera. Different people place varying degrees of importance on the kinds of love they receive. According to many philosophers, the only goal of life is to be happy. And there is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. Love is essentially an abstract concept, much easier to experience than to explain.

Read More.

Easier to experience than explain. Oh! Point taken.

So, How did you experience love? In English, Love has many forms and meanings… same is here… love for your family, kinship, the special one, nation, culture, your favourite superstar (??), err.. well… back to the point:

What is Love to you? How Did You Experience Love?
And yes: What Would You Do For The Ones You Love?

PS: Read this excellent post on first loves… [First] Love’s Labours Lost