kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

Sorry guys for not being in touch these few days. I was seriously unwell. Bam! Just like that! But these days have been exciting.

First of all let me explain to you the topography of my room – in my room there is a big window with a ledge outside it. In the initial room design, there were only the window-doors on this window and I was practically wasting the ledge space. Pigeons used this space to shit and make their nests, which was very unhygienic. So, in a flash of inspiration – the decision was taken to cover up the whole ledge space with a grill. Now, as luck might have it – there was, perhaps, a nest of pigeons on my AC. For 2 days after setting up the grill (yesterday morning), my mom and I noticed a baby pigeon inside the window.

Now we all were concerned of the pigeon-ling. Its care and nourishment. The biggest dilemma was how to ensure its safety and how to re-unit it with its mother. For we saw the mother coming to the window sill every other hour and the son (by the way, how do you check if its a male pigeon or a female one?) running towards her, both sharing some moments together and then the mother flying away and the son left stranded. We felt so sorry for the poor thing that mom and I decided that we should nurture it. I placed some rice grains and some water near it, and left it in peace. This was around 11.

I checked again around 3 and found him trying to hide behind the glass panes in the window-door due to the sun. His little cage must have been burning. The best I could do at that moment was to create a make-shift home for him using a carton box. He likes that shelter very much. It was then that we decided naming it and I came up with the name ‘Tunnu‘ – cheesy! I know! Yet all nicknames in my family are rhyming to the ‘-unnu’ sound so we went forward with it.

Tunnu has been drinking some water, but not touched any food as yet. This was worrying me very much. He should eat or how else would he have the strength to live. This went on whole of yesterday and till 2pm today.

It was then that I observed that the mother who has been coming every other hour to the window, is actually feeding the child through the grill. So now I am not very worried about feeding Tunnu, now my only concern is to how to reunite Tunnu with his mother. His beaks and claws scare me so i don’t think I would be courageous enough to lift him from the window ad place him in an open environment from where he can fly away. I am not even sure if he knows how to fly. Even if I “free” him, I am worried about his sustenance in the ‘wild’ world. The only option that seems viable to me is break open the grill so that Tunnu can learn to fly and fly to freedom one day.

Can you think of any better solution? If yes, any help is welcome.

These days with Tunnu have also been very illuminating. It is very inspiring to see pigeons exhibit complex relations. I had only heard of them, now I am seeing them first hand.

Folks

I have been working on this idea and concept for some time now. Since, my early open source game-dev days (early 2004), I have felt the need for having a pan-india indie game development community. Me and Yadu kept discussing it for so long, its hard to even recall. This all happened while we kept jumping projects on Sourceforge.net and then Launchpad.net.

November 2008, saw the setting up of a mailing list on Google Groups. I called it Indie Game Developers India (InGDIn) community. With no active promotion taking place, the community kept growing at a snail’s pace to the present day 32. That was until yesterday.

On September 2, 2009, Yadu and I, we have finally come up with the InGDIn Community formally. Currently, the website is under development – so we have an active presence on Facebook. See the InGDIn Page on facebook and become a fan as well (just to stay updated). InGDIn is also on twitter now! Follow us!

To propel the whole idea forward, and give us momentum, we have also come up with the idea of DiningCamps (organised by InGDIn). The objectives of DiningCamps are three-folds:

1. Create a platform to interact and network with people interested in game development – create a talent pool
2. Create a platform to showcase one’s work, find team members, investors and publishers – create an indie marketplace
3. Have loads of fun while doing the above both

A lot of stuff has still to be planned. Check out the event page on facebook – DiningCamp 04.10

A lot more will follow… keep your fingers crossed!

Have fun!

Dear Readers

My Hard Disk Drives have gone bust for the last two weeks and I have not been able to find time to get them replaced (i am not busy, just lazy). Consequently, I am running my PC on Ubuntu live cds. There is a limit to what all can be done through a live cd, and I have been defying all limits. Somehow, I am not able to achieve much. At work, I don’t find enough time to keep updating stuff either.
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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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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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