The Dream Library - At Last

Another long one.
Ever since childhood, I guess since age of 7 I was imbibed with the love for reading (But not exactly study books. I am honest you see!) All thanks to my mom and the lineage on her side. My collection has always had numerous comics, books, novels in all the three languages I read and speak. I have also been life member of various libraries throughout my life. But all of these libraries had one thing wrong with them - they were Not libraries. They were just a one or two room collection of books of some individual running that humble but God-sent place. Yes some real libraries did exist in some of the cities I have lived but either all of them were too far from my home and hence not accessible to the young and minor myself or they belonged only to members of some universities / societies to which I did not belong. Note that one never belongs to an univerity/college which has best infrastructure. Grass is always greener in the other campus, be it facilities or uhmm, gurls:-) Anyway, even when I was independent and eligible (read "Mr small money bags") to be member of such libraries or owned a vehicle for going that looonnnng distance to fetch a book, I was already entangled in the rat race life of an IT professional which left me with little or no time for persuing this hobby at peace.
Cut to circa 2006, I come and land in a subarb of Chicago and I chance upon this treasure trove and huge building which houses the local county library. More research reveals that it was numero uno library in its category of size last year and this year it still ranks in top 5 in entire US of A!! I lost no time in registering there as a life member and have since (3 weeks) been reaping fruits of this small fortune.
It happens to be that dream library I used to see in my dreams all these depraved years of my literary existence (OK. A little exageration never hurts anyone!) It has just two but really huge floors full of book shelfs neatly organized by every category of books that one can possibly imagine. Rows after rows of shelfs containing reference books, study tables, sound proof study rooms and a eerie pin drop silence litters the vast expanses of the library. Every nook and corner has a comfy sofa or chair to relax and read as long as you wish. No pesky librarian will ever come and bother you. That PC where you can look up, search and explore the online catalog of the library is never too far from you. Just search the call number of the book, wade through the shelfs and reach the book you want! Only a reading enthusiast knows the pleasure that this small treasure hunt gives! I was impressed by the number of PCs they have. They also boast of an internet cafe, a small pantry and a entire section devoted to the library of DVD/CDs of latest movies within the premises!! And the proverbial icing on the cake is that the service is amazing. Each member gets a digital membership card which makes check-out a hassle free process and believe it or not, you can check-out as many books as you want!! You don't need to go to library to if you want to renew the book! Do it from comfort of your bed and laptop through their neat website which does much more than renewals and reminders. And as if all this was not enough the building itself is located in a very picturesque place just 10 min drive from my home! I am simply in love with this place and dread the day when I will have to bid goodbye to it. There might be better libraries in the world than this, but it happens to be my first real library.
Since I have devoted so many pixels to this new abode of mine, a few words about "what I am reading" currently are also due! Well my current fav section in the library is "World War 2 Literature". I have read quite a few horrendous and rare books detailing the holocaust in last few weeks apart from some other. Then Asterix and Calvin N Hobbes are my other constant companions. Right now I have checked out "Tales from Arabian Nights" to lighten the dark mood which these war books have created and I have blocked Parvez Mussharafs latest: "In the line of fire" for my next check out.

Don - Remakes Work!!

Usually you wont find too many moview reviews on my blog. It's because likes and dislikes in movies is a highly personal and individual choice. So if some slap stick Govinda humour can tickle one it may give seizures to another and like wise Sharukhs stammering may seem "style" to his fans but gives me the hickups:-) So this is my view of Farhan Akhtars "Don-The chase begins" you are free to have yours.
The verdict upfront is that Remakes, if not the Remixes, work well!! You will return fully satisfied with the wholesum entertainment that this thriller offers. Even if you spend $25-for-two as I did, it will be "fultu paisa vasool". Except Sharukhs repetitve acting style of menacing sneers, stupid smiles, slightly improved stammering and a desperate but inadequate effort at matching the original Don (Big B) everything else in the moview is well above average. It is slickly shot and can easily compete any above-average hollywood thriller.
Acting Department: Sharukh is routine. But his extremely trendy wardrobe and a fitter physique make him look ultra cool.He is a delight to (just) look at. Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar are regular looking gangsta molls, hot bods with attitude and everything. Even their acting is believable. Boman Irani, though a misfit (due to his physique) in his role of a crime branch action packed DCP, is excellent as usual. He has a meaty role in the movie and does full justice to this opportunity. Then there is a surprise guest appearance by a leading actress for the main event item number - "Ye Mera Dil...". She fails miserably to oomph even an ounce of sexiness in the gyrating moves of the song which the original protagonist - The sizzling Helen could do even in sleep. But still she looks hot, what with those lost pounds which she badly needed! Om Puri has no role worth mentioning. Arjun Rampal, gets yet another role where is shown handicapped. Poor fellow, as if his handicap of acting talent is not enough!!
Music & Choreography: Considering that new "Don" is a remake, I did not expect new songs. But unfortunately Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy did add few soundtracks of their own and ended up diluting an otherwise excellent remix score. "Ye Mera Dil" and "Khai Ke Paan" have some new foot tapping beats. Udit Narayan did really well at the latter song. But the best part was the background score throughout the movie. It is inspired from the original Don but the music directors were successful at adding a hypnotizing lull to that. There is one particular piece which stills rings in my ears. Dance sequences in all the songs were a treat to watch. But the director cum script writer Farhan Akhtar has got the "set" and "situation" for the rustic holi number "Khai Ke Paan" entirely wrong. Its difficult to digest traditional "Bhaang mixed with milk" being available in Kaula Lampur!
Script & Story: THIS is the biggest plus and stronghold of the new "Don". For a change there is a main stream hindi cinema which has strong, gripping and flawless script which covers all other flaws mentioned above. The pace of the movie is just right, not too fast nor too slow. Gives time to digest while keeping you on tenterhooks until (literally) the last scene. Suspence is maintained well and even and is very hard to guess. Be ready for a double whammy!
The script has many deviations from the original one, which I believe does not qualify this movie as a version-2 but a real remake complete with makeover. Though it is a remake it has its own personality which refrains the audience from comparing it with original Don. And for this I raise my hats off to Farhan Akhtar. It was very intelligent of him to do so, because it frees his new Don from shackles and shadows of original one which otherwise would have been its own dejavu! Well done. Here, take your five stars *****
Now lets wait for Ramgopal Varma's Sholay!

Frogs in the (huge) well

This is a long and maybe a boring post. So be warned.

I have been a regular newspaper enthusiast since childhood. I guess I started reading newspapers since the 7th grade and always had subscription to at least two of them - one in English and other local vernacular edition. That was always in addition to subscription to various magzines like Outlook and libraries. Some of the best papers I have been reading since childhood are The Hitwada, Navbhart, Dainik Jagran,Economic Times, Sakal, Lokmat, and ofcourse the Times Of India(ToI)which I prefer to call TOIlet paper these days. I would love to switch over to The Hindu which I have heard is a much better paper. I will never get tired of praising the benifits of reading a newspaper, especially Indian newspapers.
Thanks to the Brits for leaving us a gift, the lingua pura- English language which I feel is spoken in its purest form only by Indians these days. I see only "slang" and "spoken" English in US, UK and other tradionally English speaking countries. The worlds business language is now limited only to that - business, in form of ultra shorthand emails and crisp news items which sounds like notes from technical manuals. The poetry and prose heritage of English is found only in some rare novels now a days.
Anyway lets come back to the subject of this post again: The above gives a background to the audience that yours truly has been a regular newspaper reader.That holds good even here in US since I have subscribed to "Chicago Tribune". This paper rougly compares with Tabloids as far as dimensions are concerned and is so thick that I feel it is humanely impossible for anyone to ever finish reading the paper all in a day. Such a waste of paper and environment.In contrast,I find the size and dimensions of Indian newspapers perfect.
But that is not my key complaint. I wont mind such thick news papers provided they have some QUALITY news in them. One thing that I have noticed in all the developed countries that I have visited is that their media (Print as well as Television) is very country centered. For them international news is limited to natural disasters
(that too only if they are the size of Tsunami), nuclear explosions,big explosions,tiny explosions,diwali cracker explosion and of course those political turmoils which can be a "threat" to their existance. Everything else is immaterial and not news worthy.
And US seems to be leading the pack of such nations whose media believes in keeping their masses highly ignorant of happenings in the world other than those mentioned above and in their immediate vicinity and radius of about 50 miles. And this I believe is the root cause of the shock and awe an average american felt after 9/11 while he or she was left wondering why on earth would someone want to hurt their "peaceful" country so badly. It was only after that they woke up and took notice of existance of many other smaller muslim/asian countries and read about how their wrong foreign policies lead to a general discontent and discord against US in minds of these nations.
Had the media of these developed countries fed information about the issues facing the developing world, I believe at least the shock would have been less. How can anyone explain the Breaking News of "a mother and a child disappearing somewhere in US only to resurface later" being covered round the clock on CNN when there are many more important news worthy things happenings all around the world? Watching news channels and reading news papers here is a joke.I sincerely wish the media in US sets their priorities right and dishes out something interesting and informative to read in tomorrows paper. That may be a tall order considering the average inability of an american to comprehend issues not related to them! Alas they are the frogs in the Well who believe that they live in a ocean. Only difference here is that the size of thier country and economy is really oceanic so it doesnt really matter to them!

Clemency for Afzal ? - An unwilling NO

Here is the reproduction of a reply that I gave to an opinion poll on a popular portal on the subject of clemency for Afzal who is facing the noose in the 2001 parliament attack case:

"I am usually against the institution of capital punishment due to the human values and principles that I have imbibed. However since many decades the so called freedom-fighters have been targeting India for the cause of "free Kashmir" and that this idea was fomented by Pakistan is a well known fact.Recent statements made by Pakistan Govt clearly indicates that "free Kashmir" is an already lost cause and all its original instigators have given up on the idea.So what they do next is to make "use" of local Indian youth by misguiding them through false propoganda and cashing on their poverty and unemployment. Even highly literate youth are easily tutored, not because they believe in the Jehadist cause but simply because literate people can think logically and all their masters need to do is spin their thoughts with consistant propoganda and thus make the idea of jehad seem very logical. Thus homegrown terrorist are born. Due to this, difficult times have set in for the country and tough times call for tough measures. It requires us to toughen our hearts, overcome the emotions and clench the jaw and give a nod to hang our own brethren who have gone horribly wrong, including Afzal"

Space Tourism & Blog!

This blog of first women tourist in space, Anousheh Ansari is a must read http://spaceblog.Xprize.Org/.
I am sure you will be jealous of her just like I was when you read about her exploits in space. Well a millionairess can afford such expensive getaways. Sigh...There are some things which money can't buy and for everything else there's wishful thinking! (p.s: Did you note it's my parody on the master card punchline? I might have some blog coming up over my own master card).

Bad Writing? Naaahhhh

Dear A asked me few days back why I tend to write long and complex sentences in blogs or emails in general which she feels average people may not understand. I took that as a compliment because I dont think I am that good a writer! Thanks to a link on Sidins blog I found a article on "awards for worlds most badly written sentences" which I showed to her in my defense. You can read about the awards here-> http://www.aldaily.com/bwc.htm. Some of these very serious and scholarly writings are actually nonsensical to the point of being hilarious. So if I compare my writings to worlds worst writings I feel good about my blogs! Gives me a tad bit more vigour to keep it alive and ticking!

Suicidal Instincts?

How much ever I hate to reduce this blog to just a compilation of travelogues of little interest to others, of late this "trend" seems to be ruling the roost on this space. I would like this space to be used more for current topics which are my favorite. But alas...there's something called lazyness...
So, coming back to the title. Suicidal instinct is about an inherent trait which every human has though in different levels. Ability to kill yourself; one form of which is taking your adrenalin and testosterone levels to himalayan peaks so much so that your heart stops beating for some excruciatingly never ending seconds. What can motivate you to hurl yourself at 300Mph vertically up into the sky to a height of 420 ft and at 90 dgree incline saddled in a open chair on a train going up on metal rails with just a tight harness around you? Or what can motivate you to sit in worlds 3rd biggest and scariest roller coaster which takes you to some 250 ft high and drops at mind numbing speeds into a loop of roller coasters which swirl you around at death defying speeds? And to top it off you are also willing to stand in a serpentine queue moving at snails pace which takes at least 1.5 hours of wait only to experience these 30 sec ride and torture. Ofcourse it is your suicidal instict showing its signs of life!!

That very much sums up my and Dear A's trip to Cedar Point (www.cedarpoint.com) in Sandusky, Ohio yesterday. (Dear A also shares my penchant for thrill). Cedar Point boasts to be worlds best and biggest amusement park for 8 years in succession. It has 4 of the top ten roller coasters in the world, each scarier than the other. I was talking about "Top Thrill Dragster" and Magnum XL 200 roller coasters respectively in the description above which rank as worlds number 7 and 3 respectively. Unfortunately we could not do the worlds biggest and number one ride the "Mellinneum Force" due to lack of time and long waiting queues. But we also experienced "Raptor" which literally stretches your face skin back as it hurls you around in impossible twists and turns. But magnum is scariest of them all though Top Thrill Dragster simply scares the sh*t out of you just by looking at it. I had been to this place two years back as well and then I had chickened out of riding Top Thrill Dragstor, but this time I did it! We could not do Reverse Bungee jump due to lack of time and a small dis-agreement on its moneys worth :-(

Our day started bad, first we both and two other friends got up late and reached very late to the park only to find these long queues for each ride and could manage just one ride on Raptor by late evening. We were about to step into Top Thrill Dragstor when it was shut down due to mechanical failure (I though it was not in my destiny 2nd time in a row!) but just one hour before park closes at 10 PM we got to do both Magnum and Dragster! That rounded off the day well and happy for all of us. We had the fun and rides of our life. On the way back we had to drive 6 hours with sleepy eyes in the witching hours and finally reached safety of the home at 5 AM. On hitting the bed I just went into baby sleep but not before this thought - "How the hell I managed to do such suicidal things" I believe I have a lions heart and am game for such thrill, but still these death defying rides in one single day was stretching luck too far. But then what the heck, I enjoyed and then with a smile of achievement retired for the day. Been there and done that. Peace!

Will be back soon !

I was off from this space for an extended period. Hope to be back soon :-)

Amsterdam!

Yet another vacation and yet another Travelogue. Its little long and self-indulging.

We are just back from a 3 day trip to Amsterdam (27 to 30 Apr), the city of canals and known as the most tolerant country in the world. Sex, drugs, gays and lesbians are all perfectly legal here. You can just walk into any authorized coffee shop and order your spacewalk Hashis, Weed or Marijuana cake or jut smoke it the old style. Then there is the famed red light district complete with its exotic escorts sitting in shopping window. Interested in Window shopping anyone? Well, ofcourse I did not indulge in any of it thanks to the "you know what I mean" angry glare from Dear A! You know, there is some cross between me and this city, I passed it thrice before, planned a trip 3 times as a bachelor but still it evaded me. Fate wanted me to visit this city for bachelors only as a married man! So be it. I still made a perfect vacation out of it!

On Day-1 we visited Madam Tussauds Wax Museum, Amsterdam Dungeon (which depicts the atrocities and torture inflicted by raiders on the dutchland in 16th century, its enacted byy live dummies, its horrible, not meant for weak hearted.) Then we visited the Anne Frank house belonging to Anne Frank and her family. This Jewish girl is famous for her immaculate daily diary she wrote when she and her family were in hiding for 2 years in that house in a secret Annexe. Even the neighbors did not know for 2 years about their existance in that house! I am currently reading her diary which was later published as a book. Later in eve we vistited the Teaser club, the disco and pub chain famous for its topless waitresses and beer. Its works on the lines of Cayote Ugly. Later we had leisure walks on sides of many canals and also the red light district.

On Day-2 we started with a 3D movie showing all Holland attractions. It was a dream come true because we took the early morning show and theatre was empty with just two of us!! Then we visited Rembrandt (16th century dutch master painter) museum, Van Gogh museum (over 200 of original Van Gogh masterpeices) and the National museum showing the prime time of Dutch royality of 17th century. Later in eve we visited the Holland casino and tried our (rotten luck) on some tables. Then we had a romantic canal city tour by on a cruise. It must be heaven for those living in house boats in those Amsterdam canals. In late night we saw a live show meant for couples at one of the joints in the famed red light districts. Been there and done that! You cant miss the red light district in Amsterdam and say that you visited it!

On Day-3 we visited our prime attraction and reason to visit Amsterdam- The Tulip Gardens. The Tulips are in full glory in this season and we had a fortune to have a bright sunny day. Its the most romantic place and has to be experienced first hand to belive it. All photos are like picture postcards...perfect! Yash chopra made the Tulip feilds immortal in his romantic classic - Silsila. Though the tulip feilds (not the gardens! in Holland they farm variety of Tulips on miles and miles of land, its a sight to behold forever) were already cut to a large extent but we still saw a major part of it. Next we visited Madurodam, the minitaure to-scale model of all attractions of Amsterdam. Its amazing, you feel like King Kong in a toy city. Wonder why India cant have something like that. Its such a hit with the tourists!

Apart from this I must mention the lively ness of the city itself which manifests in the numerous coffe shops, bars, pubs and discos which can be found in every nook and corner of this city. Its always full of young party animals and the city itself never sleeps, its like one big party day and night. We also had the fortune to visit the city during the time when Queens day is celebrated in Amsterdam, its their yearly showpiece event celebrated this time on 29th Apr when whole city traffic comes to a halt as party animals, road side stalls, live music bands swarm the city which bears a look of one bug 24 hour carnival. It was simply amazing, not a inch of space to walk. It was full of revelers. The city smacks of beer smell for next 3 days! Amsterdam is one hell of a city to enjoy, married or bachelor. It has something for everyone. I wouldnt mind visiting it every year!

Down With Lido !

The icing on the cake in our trip to Paris was a 'big-dent-in-pocket' but must-see hotspot of the famed nightlife of Paris - The Lido cabret on the Champs Elysees square (akin to the more famed but too crowded Mouline Rouge cabret). It was a formal black tie affair with a sit-down evening complete with champagne served with a flourish while the exotic and elegantly-nude dancers present various spectacular dance and gymnastics sequences on equally elaborate sets.

However after many breathtaking and awe inspiring sets they came up with a "eastern" (read Indian) dance sequence which had some nude dancers dressed like Lord Ganesh and the Deity Nataraja giving the backdrop of the imposing set for that sequence. I can understand their usage of dummy Elephants and may be even Nataraja (which I guess is a godess worshipped by dancers) in designing the sets. I can also understand other dancers dressed in mythological Indian dresses dipicting the Apsaras, because the beautiful Apsaras who used to dance for the Gods are mentioned in Hindu mythology. But neither the nude dancers were any Apsarsas and nor the audience were any Gods. So seeing Lord Ganesha in female form portrayed by boob showing whores was bit of a shock even for a mild atheist like me!! It was out of place and smacks of complete ignorance to cultural sensitivity of the French who boast of their religious tolerance. It was downright disgusting and deplorable and I strongly protest through this humble blog. Though I can try to do it myself, but I leave it to the numerous cadres of the saffron Brigade to book the culprits and bring an end to this sequence in this show (not the show ofcourse because other sequence were really good!!). I hope someone reads this and takes it up in Paris! I am a couch potato for doing all that.

This and all the further acts did not get any applause from us. Period.

Evenings in Paris !!

I am just back from a 3 day vacation to Paris- the numero uno romantic place and the fashion capital of the world!! Me and A had a perfect spring vacation. Memories of the Eiffel, Louvre Museum/Mona Lisa, Champs Elysees square, Notre Dame, Siene river, Arc De Triomphe, Disneyland, Mouline Rouge, Lido, Renault F1 showroom are still fresh in our memorries. And so are the leisure walks on sprawling Parisian boulevards, fashionably dressed french babes and the evenings in Paris in open air bus which are well captured in about 900 odd snaps in my digi cam!!

Paris is a city you will never get tired of, its lively a any time of the day and has got romance in its air. Its fun to just walk hand in hand along the siene river and see the illuminated historic monuments in the evenings. Then there is so much to buy, see, eat and if there is nothing else to do then just travel in the parisian metro during non-peak hours. The metro is fun and it probably ranks the best in the world. I guess after our Italy trip this one would rank next best in our memory! Now we are planning to visit Amsterdam on the coming weekend, hope that turns out even better!

The let downs were the Mona Lisa which seems to be too small a painting for its tall fame and a bit of cultural in-sensitivity of the famous cabret of The Lido. Read the next blog for details.

The Toy Train

How many of us have an attraction to the coochie cooing train when we were kids? I guess to some extent all. Every little boy (and some girls also) has a collection of toy cars and trains in the kinder days and I was not an exception. I too had my cache of toy cars and amidst them was this toy train which did the job of carrying around the cars and other assortement of toys from one room to other:-) This train was down to earth it had a dummy steam engine with about 3 bogies. It had nothing electronic about it. So I had to push it around while kneeling on the floor and all the time wishing that it somehow worked on remote control. This childhood fantasy never came true, but I did have the fortune to see the spectacle of one man actually using a real life train for real life purposes with remote control as part of his daily work! The train station in the city of my work place has a some manufacturing factory behind it and it requires train to transport its goods to and fro. The factory has its own locomotive shed and a mini railway station. There is this man who doubles up as driver, lineman, shuting man and signal controller all rolled into one. He uses a hand held remote control to shunt wagons and attach or detach them to the engine. He also runs along and changes tracks manually until he gets the sequence of engine and wangons behind it correct. It is such fun to watch this man working that almost every passenger on the railway station enjoys it while waiting for their respective trains. It is my favorite pastime in the mornings. I really wish this stranger of a hard working and lucky man who is living my childhood fantasy all the wishes!

The Baby Boy - 12 Feb 2006, 11.24 PM

This blog is for the latest addition to our family and my brand new nephew, who was born on 12th Feb 2006 at 11.24 PM actually while I was writing a blog (the next one) :-) until named formally he will be known as 'baby' and will be the cynosure of all eyes. He will always have a special place in my heart. Love you baby and wish you all the good things in life!
Yours
Mama (maternal uncle!)

Music and Swear Words!

Sounds like yet another indi-pop remix? No! This blog is about two songs, which seemingly are latest college and hostel anthems across India. One of them originates from Pakistan! After a long time I came across some rustic teenage humour which reminds me of the carefree college days and it was quite refreshing!

The first song "Sutta Na Mila" is by a pakistan based band called "Zeest" and has swear words like BC and MC used liberally:-) The second one, "G***d mein danda" is by XLRI band "Bodhitree". Its interesting to note that XLRI band also has some girls jamming on these words!! They also have other songs which are also ok....

Read more about the songs and download free mp3 from the links:

Sutta Mil Gaya-> http://www.jammag.com/etc/etcshow.php?art_id=21
G***d Mein Danda-> http://www.jammag.com/rock/show_rock.php?article_id=66

Rashmi Bansal too has covered them in detail. See the link to your right. Enjoy the songs, and just dont take them too seriously!

~Amit

Yuva!

The Indian youth is breaking traditions and daring to explore new avenues, freeing themselves from the rigmarole routine of every average Indian household-> kindtergarten-high school-graduation-engineer-doctor-service-retirement (and a marriage in between)! We are going the Western way and for once, imitating a better trait of "doing-your-own-thing". Two such news I heard recently were Sidin, a fellow and already famous blogger quitting a dream consultant job after going through labour pains of IIM-A and deciding to become full time writer, and the other was about 5 ex-IITians who floated a political party called PARITRANA (www.paritrana.org) with idealogy that was depicted in Mani Ratnams experimental movie - Yuva (sans violence). Rashmi Bansal's - "youth curry" has covered both news in detail, so that spares me from re-writing a stale story. Look to your right for the links. My best wishes to both endeavers!
~Amitk

VIT Alumni Association Formed!

I am an alumnus of VIT, Pune. I could have easily been an alumni of a much better known (at least then) competitor institute (OK, I will name it- PICT) but for a freak twist of destiny. But within a year of joining VIT all my regrets were gone. VIT raced and arrived neck to neck with PICT in just one year. So, for those unaware, VIT does have a good reputation of its own and I am proud of being an VIT alumni!
The news is that VIT is still doing good and it has also started a brand new initiative - "active alumni association" complete with well defined goals and objectives and a also a new dedicated website! My best wishes for its success! It offers further education programmes, free access to library, meeting point with other alumnus et all. It is really heartening to see your alma matter growing. But I do have some cribs, first, please paint that building and second, make all links on the website working!! While updating my profile on it, I encountered a question whose essence was- "in what way do you think VIT has contributed to you?". Honestly I was at loss of words for this one. It never occured to me to think seriously about it and figure out "exactly how" it has contributed to my career! I always thought that its not the alma matter but it is the "quality" of your peers and the competitive environment that they bring with themselves that shapes your future! Atleast that's my experience with my batch at VIT and even my secondary school. Had I had been an alumni of some big ticket brands like IITs or the IIMs it would have been much easier to say "I owe all it to you". But a lesser sibling like VIT contributing to my career almost as equally as an IIT/IIM could have done is really creditable. So on the hindsight, apart from the peers, the alma matter itself does seem to play a major role which one can't possibly define. I have left that question in the profile un-answered, will think about it and update it later!
Peace be upon you VIT, may your tribe grow!