The last 3 days were pretty eventful. After 2 days of racking my brains, running around, getting feedbacks and opinions, I finally decided to minor in Financial Management. And I hope to get it.
Herd mentality again showed up. People taking Operations Research left and right, without having the faintest of ideas what it's about. I fell for it pretty much too, in the beginning, until my good friend reminded me of this. I had to rethink. And finally, to my happiness now, I chose FM. This was initially greeted with disappointment at home, the argument being ' You should learn Tech when you're at a Tech Institute'. Anyways, now it's fine, and they're happy too. I'm actually very excited about this. Much more than I was when I came here. Dunno why. (A bit sad though as I've unofficially ruled myself out of contention for the Lehman Intern next year)
After all this hullabaloo, I went on a trip with parents to a few temples near my native place, and around Pondicherry. I seriously had a fantastic time! It felt so good to be amidst people who simplify life greatly. Which puts me to shame. On one hand we're here, thinking of when to have the next pizza, cribbing about shortage of time. On the other hand, there are these people who lead such placid lives, work 365 days a year, without a tantrum. Such starkly different from ours. Kids playing around in sand, not worrying which book is better. Ladies going around in fields, with pots of water, not shopping for clothes. Men selling stuff for a measly 2 bucks, no bargaining for a one fourth reduction. This visit also reminded me how regularly I used to go temples to when I was young, and how complacent I've become of late. The roll numbers I used to leave behind in those temple walls seems a thing of the past. The Kalkandu which I use to eat so excitedly is forgotten. How life moves on!
If there's something that can make me shed a tear, it's nostalgia.
2/26/2006
2/17/2006
Lampooning
Yes. Thats what this post basically aims to do. I would go through a few aspects and details of my profs this sem, exposing many of their great achievements, which have remained in the dark for so many years. A few of my Mech classmates demanded some entertainment, and this is all I can do. Others can nevertheless be imaginative enough to create images of profs in mind.
Lets start on!
1) Ms A
Why she still calls herself Ms remains an unsolved puzzle. Infact, the HOD of our maths department is considering to publish this as an apparent paradox, and as a million dollar problem. Also, she claims that she is the only woman to have understood Einstein's Space Time relations. Sadly, nobody pays any heed to her claim because she thinks that this theory implies that you shouldn't waste time in class. She has also won the 'Fastest Indian speaker' award. Otherwise, a pretty normal lady.
Maa'm, if you by any chance are reading this, it's just for fun.... Kidding.
2) Dr B
Here is the big man himself. He is a renowned person in Vibrations and Machine noise control. His trick to have got him this famous is that machines stop making noise when he's around. To put it simply, they sleep. Now why they sleep when he's around still remains a hot topic of research, especially at Cornell. Infact, several pharma companies have sued him for allegedly reducing their market production and sales of sedatives. He still faces several charges on ' Attempted murder by monotone voice control'. His Phd thesis titled ' Going through the exercise of a 5 dimensional Grashoff mechanism with 1 link fixed, nothin fancy about it' was world famous. Also, he's the heaviest professor alive, and has a bad reputation of having broken 742 benches in Class room complex alone. Owing to the same reason, he cannot take even 2 continuous classes as his legs fail him.
Sir, if you by any chance are reading this, it's just for fun. You're a stud.
3) Dr C
God of all gods. Recently conferred the title of 'Concept King' by the Royal British Association of Old Fluid engineers. This man holds many many records and distinctions. He holds the IITM record for having breathed most of its air, for 45 years. He also holds the IITM record for the maximum number of years taken to do a Phd-21. He believes that the answer to universe, life and everything is Dimensional Analysis. Infact, his Phd thesis titled ' Dimensional Analysis of Boundary layer theory for viscous fluids, in other words, taking into account the Taylor series, or something like that' remains a classic in all of viscous flow theory. He is also credited with the 'Indian with the highest Erdos number' tag, close to infinity, which basically means that all his papers are fraud. He is also the only Indian to have run a marathon through 69 countries, publicizing the Boundary Layer theory. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Lehmann Brothers poetry award for the one liner ' This y is not the same as that y, that is why'. His belief that 'No paradox has a solution' nearly cost him his job, when he uttered it at an International Conference. 'All quantities increase in the positive direction of axes' is one among his many beliefs well known in the scientific community. He is also the propagator of his Bluff philosophy- If you don't know an answer, bluff it.
Sir, if are by any chance reading this....No, that won't happen. Because I'm pretty sure you don't know how to operate a comp.
4) Dr D
He was initially suspected to be a Japanese refugee in India, until recently, when it was known that he's actually a visiting prof from Tokyo. Apparently, he was denied a visa from Tokyo, because the official's details and the voice did not match in the telephonic interview. Only when they reached his home did they know that he was actually a guy. He is also the recipient of the prestigious ' IIT student's sympathy' award for having made a statement that proxy will hurt the sentiment of the other guy. Otherwise very nice.
Sir, if you're reading this, kuosowhaahaahwikoi. (I hope that's something in japanese)
5) Dr F
He supposedly ran out of Nimhans. Was admitted for ' Chronic urge to take classes ' by the IITM elec department. He is of the belief that the answer to universe, life and everything is Analog circuits. He also has wordly knowledge. Citing an example, 'Consider Volleyball, where the players put the ball into the basket'. He treats other departments, especially Mech, close to how he treats his Ambassador. He's the first prof in IITM who is known for blatantly refusing to do research. He was the main reason why the slot system came about in IIT, imposing a maximum limit on the number of classes in a week. Many students have had their hands come out separately because of excessive writing. He is also the reason why the number of piles' cases in students doubled a few years back.Anyways, GOD.
Sir, in case you're reading this, Mech rules.
6) Dr G.
He is known more commonly by the name Sloth LV.. His belief that 'The slower you talk, better the students understand' won him critical acclaim all over the world. He is credited with the tag of the 'First Indian to use Powerpoint in Mantech, unsuccessfully'. He believes that the answer to universe, life and everything is Sand Casting. There are rumours that he's been stopped from presenting conference papers because the Russians get irritated and throw abuses at him. What he's concluded from Einstein's space time relations is that time can always be got back, provided you conserve energy by bunking your own classes.
Sir, if you're reading this, Mantech sucks.
Hmm..thats about it. More to come later, perhaps.
This is all a joke. Please don't take it seriously.
Lets start on!
1) Ms A
Why she still calls herself Ms remains an unsolved puzzle. Infact, the HOD of our maths department is considering to publish this as an apparent paradox, and as a million dollar problem. Also, she claims that she is the only woman to have understood Einstein's Space Time relations. Sadly, nobody pays any heed to her claim because she thinks that this theory implies that you shouldn't waste time in class. She has also won the 'Fastest Indian speaker' award. Otherwise, a pretty normal lady.
Maa'm, if you by any chance are reading this, it's just for fun.... Kidding.
2) Dr B
Here is the big man himself. He is a renowned person in Vibrations and Machine noise control. His trick to have got him this famous is that machines stop making noise when he's around. To put it simply, they sleep. Now why they sleep when he's around still remains a hot topic of research, especially at Cornell. Infact, several pharma companies have sued him for allegedly reducing their market production and sales of sedatives. He still faces several charges on ' Attempted murder by monotone voice control'. His Phd thesis titled ' Going through the exercise of a 5 dimensional Grashoff mechanism with 1 link fixed, nothin fancy about it' was world famous. Also, he's the heaviest professor alive, and has a bad reputation of having broken 742 benches in Class room complex alone. Owing to the same reason, he cannot take even 2 continuous classes as his legs fail him.
Sir, if you by any chance are reading this, it's just for fun. You're a stud.
3) Dr C
God of all gods. Recently conferred the title of 'Concept King' by the Royal British Association of Old Fluid engineers. This man holds many many records and distinctions. He holds the IITM record for having breathed most of its air, for 45 years. He also holds the IITM record for the maximum number of years taken to do a Phd-21. He believes that the answer to universe, life and everything is Dimensional Analysis. Infact, his Phd thesis titled ' Dimensional Analysis of Boundary layer theory for viscous fluids, in other words, taking into account the Taylor series, or something like that' remains a classic in all of viscous flow theory. He is also credited with the 'Indian with the highest Erdos number' tag, close to infinity, which basically means that all his papers are fraud. He is also the only Indian to have run a marathon through 69 countries, publicizing the Boundary Layer theory. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Lehmann Brothers poetry award for the one liner ' This y is not the same as that y, that is why'. His belief that 'No paradox has a solution' nearly cost him his job, when he uttered it at an International Conference. 'All quantities increase in the positive direction of axes' is one among his many beliefs well known in the scientific community. He is also the propagator of his Bluff philosophy- If you don't know an answer, bluff it.
Sir, if are by any chance reading this....No, that won't happen. Because I'm pretty sure you don't know how to operate a comp.
4) Dr D
He was initially suspected to be a Japanese refugee in India, until recently, when it was known that he's actually a visiting prof from Tokyo. Apparently, he was denied a visa from Tokyo, because the official's details and the voice did not match in the telephonic interview. Only when they reached his home did they know that he was actually a guy. He is also the recipient of the prestigious ' IIT student's sympathy' award for having made a statement that proxy will hurt the sentiment of the other guy. Otherwise very nice.
Sir, if you're reading this, kuosowhaahaahwikoi. (I hope that's something in japanese)
5) Dr F
He supposedly ran out of Nimhans. Was admitted for ' Chronic urge to take classes ' by the IITM elec department. He is of the belief that the answer to universe, life and everything is Analog circuits. He also has wordly knowledge. Citing an example, 'Consider Volleyball, where the players put the ball into the basket'. He treats other departments, especially Mech, close to how he treats his Ambassador. He's the first prof in IITM who is known for blatantly refusing to do research. He was the main reason why the slot system came about in IIT, imposing a maximum limit on the number of classes in a week. Many students have had their hands come out separately because of excessive writing. He is also the reason why the number of piles' cases in students doubled a few years back.Anyways, GOD.
Sir, in case you're reading this, Mech rules.
6) Dr G.
He is known more commonly by the name Sloth LV.. His belief that 'The slower you talk, better the students understand' won him critical acclaim all over the world. He is credited with the tag of the 'First Indian to use Powerpoint in Mantech, unsuccessfully'. He believes that the answer to universe, life and everything is Sand Casting. There are rumours that he's been stopped from presenting conference papers because the Russians get irritated and throw abuses at him. What he's concluded from Einstein's space time relations is that time can always be got back, provided you conserve energy by bunking your own classes.
Sir, if you're reading this, Mantech sucks.
Hmm..thats about it. More to come later, perhaps.
This is all a joke. Please don't take it seriously.
2/15/2006
Fear..
I somehow keep having this fear these days that the Best in my life is over. Walking with your head held high after topping your state, or being micrometers away from your 'one', are not going to happen again. Duh.
2/13/2006
2/09/2006
IITians in politics
The major news item covered today:
IITians start a political party.
Now, as amateur as I am in politics, my opinions might be as far from reality as it could get.
Firstly, as far as an invisible, hypothetical support from my side goes, they have it. But support can be of different cuts. A sympathetic one, for instance. Or a fully passionate one. The instance here would salvage more of the former. There are quite a few points to be discussed here. At the outset, these 5 guys definitely need to be congratulated for even thinking of starting something which a normal IITian cannot think of even in the delta sleep. But, how far will they go is a big question. I know it's partly stupidity to ask this, this is similar to asking how many marks a person will get in an exam before he's even started writing it. But you can definitely find out the range of marks he's probably going to get, after finding out his preparation before the exam. And thanks to the government of India, for giving a holiday today, I could sit at home and watch this 'big story' on CNN-IBN. An exclusive coverage, interviewing the students forming Paritrana, watched a couple of times, could easily tell me that they were very very unsatisfactory in their approach. Simply because it seemed to me, that there wasn't any fire in the belly, or the adrenaline rush any entrepreneur has. (If this maybe called entrepreneurship)
It was more of a sprightly talk. Clear focus seemed to be lacking. Again, if I was given the chance of interviewing them, I would probably have asked them more specific questions than just the motive behind this, or their future plans. Also, the most important point being that this issue has come to limelight solely because of the 'IIT' tag associated with it. Just any 5 students in a remote corner of India forming a political party (am not sure if there already are) have faint chances of figuring in the national news of a leading news channel.
The biggest point is this: IIT tag doesn't mean a shit in politics.
This tumultuous field offers neither the scope for analytic thinking , nor intelligent rationality. It offers scope only for street smartness. Experience tells us it is only for those who have the uncanny knack. Statistics tells us, it's not for IITians. But, being an IITian here is a double edged sword. It makes people recognise you instantly. Your job is half done. But the other half, conquering this salacious field, is almost certainly far from being done. And being an IITian does not even take one remotely close to it. This is a field which originally started with the meaning 'The art of governance', and now has become a popular household term, in the derogatory sense, thanks to all the wonderful people who make up this field. Anyway, leaving that apart, I seriously felt this news issue wasn't dealt with properly, as in, it wasn't ripped apart the Rajdeep style. The guys would already be sleeping with brimming confidence, for having to go through such an easy day with the media on the very opening of their party. Aah, definitely not for long. Not long before they realise that tackling MPs is a tonne better than handling the media. Now they're under the ubiquitous camera. No escape. Chosen path, stick on!
Also, the media in general (especially in our country) is known for evading certain miniscule points, not because they're irrelevant. But because the Sensation, the sole reason for its survival, is avoided or nullified. Today is a perfect example. Note how conveniently, and glibly they avoided putting forth the facts about the students' past. A comment in passing which appears on the website just mentions that one of the guys was doing farming for three years. Yes, correct. Farming. Nothing about the others. I mean, doesn't this even raise a few eyebrows? I know I have been too cynical regarding this, but facts are all I want. Considering that there might be more politicians having flunked their 12th than those who have passed it, it is definitely NOT necessary to submit, or declare openly the academic qualifications. Only Tanmay's qualification is spelt open.(Btw, only God knows why he did an MA in economics after a Btech Mtech). The basic reason I'm really uncomfortable with this not being mentioned is, we fail to follow if this was their sole motive. Are they doing this just because they want to do it? Are they starting this just to create a sensation knowing that they have the hallowed letters aside. I feel slightly in the negative. One, because, there is no gut reason they offer. Making a statement ' We want to take India to its right place ' is as general as it gets. Goddamit, if I was Swati, I would have asked them to explain right there what 'right place' was, that they were hoping to reach amidst 10000 other politicians. Two, as I said earlier, they seemed so languid in their approach. Succesful politicians are those, who are passionate about their ideas, who can go any stretch to achieve what they want, make the most of all sweeping statements, but climb up the ladder pulling others down deceitfully. Peacefully too. How far these guys can do the same remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, a revolution starts somewhere. In all circumstances, we may as well find a total flipover in Indian politics in the coming decade or two. These guys have to stick to and uphold the responsibility they've taken. Which no IITian, to my knowledge, has done, again, even in the delta sleep.(Dunno why I'm obsessed) All I hope for is that they have realised what they're upto. And what they've aimed at. This is going to be 10 times tougher than working at MIT. I just pray these guys have cognized that fact.
Anyways, here's to their success.!
IITians start a political party.
Now, as amateur as I am in politics, my opinions might be as far from reality as it could get.
Firstly, as far as an invisible, hypothetical support from my side goes, they have it. But support can be of different cuts. A sympathetic one, for instance. Or a fully passionate one. The instance here would salvage more of the former. There are quite a few points to be discussed here. At the outset, these 5 guys definitely need to be congratulated for even thinking of starting something which a normal IITian cannot think of even in the delta sleep. But, how far will they go is a big question. I know it's partly stupidity to ask this, this is similar to asking how many marks a person will get in an exam before he's even started writing it. But you can definitely find out the range of marks he's probably going to get, after finding out his preparation before the exam. And thanks to the government of India, for giving a holiday today, I could sit at home and watch this 'big story' on CNN-IBN. An exclusive coverage, interviewing the students forming Paritrana, watched a couple of times, could easily tell me that they were very very unsatisfactory in their approach. Simply because it seemed to me, that there wasn't any fire in the belly, or the adrenaline rush any entrepreneur has. (If this maybe called entrepreneurship)
It was more of a sprightly talk. Clear focus seemed to be lacking. Again, if I was given the chance of interviewing them, I would probably have asked them more specific questions than just the motive behind this, or their future plans. Also, the most important point being that this issue has come to limelight solely because of the 'IIT' tag associated with it. Just any 5 students in a remote corner of India forming a political party (am not sure if there already are) have faint chances of figuring in the national news of a leading news channel.
The biggest point is this: IIT tag doesn't mean a shit in politics.
This tumultuous field offers neither the scope for analytic thinking , nor intelligent rationality. It offers scope only for street smartness. Experience tells us it is only for those who have the uncanny knack. Statistics tells us, it's not for IITians. But, being an IITian here is a double edged sword. It makes people recognise you instantly. Your job is half done. But the other half, conquering this salacious field, is almost certainly far from being done. And being an IITian does not even take one remotely close to it. This is a field which originally started with the meaning 'The art of governance', and now has become a popular household term, in the derogatory sense, thanks to all the wonderful people who make up this field. Anyway, leaving that apart, I seriously felt this news issue wasn't dealt with properly, as in, it wasn't ripped apart the Rajdeep style. The guys would already be sleeping with brimming confidence, for having to go through such an easy day with the media on the very opening of their party. Aah, definitely not for long. Not long before they realise that tackling MPs is a tonne better than handling the media. Now they're under the ubiquitous camera. No escape. Chosen path, stick on!
Also, the media in general (especially in our country) is known for evading certain miniscule points, not because they're irrelevant. But because the Sensation, the sole reason for its survival, is avoided or nullified. Today is a perfect example. Note how conveniently, and glibly they avoided putting forth the facts about the students' past. A comment in passing which appears on the website just mentions that one of the guys was doing farming for three years. Yes, correct. Farming. Nothing about the others. I mean, doesn't this even raise a few eyebrows? I know I have been too cynical regarding this, but facts are all I want. Considering that there might be more politicians having flunked their 12th than those who have passed it, it is definitely NOT necessary to submit, or declare openly the academic qualifications. Only Tanmay's qualification is spelt open.(Btw, only God knows why he did an MA in economics after a Btech Mtech). The basic reason I'm really uncomfortable with this not being mentioned is, we fail to follow if this was their sole motive. Are they doing this just because they want to do it? Are they starting this just to create a sensation knowing that they have the hallowed letters aside. I feel slightly in the negative. One, because, there is no gut reason they offer. Making a statement ' We want to take India to its right place ' is as general as it gets. Goddamit, if I was Swati, I would have asked them to explain right there what 'right place' was, that they were hoping to reach amidst 10000 other politicians. Two, as I said earlier, they seemed so languid in their approach. Succesful politicians are those, who are passionate about their ideas, who can go any stretch to achieve what they want, make the most of all sweeping statements, but climb up the ladder pulling others down deceitfully. Peacefully too. How far these guys can do the same remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, a revolution starts somewhere. In all circumstances, we may as well find a total flipover in Indian politics in the coming decade or two. These guys have to stick to and uphold the responsibility they've taken. Which no IITian, to my knowledge, has done, again, even in the delta sleep.(Dunno why I'm obsessed) All I hope for is that they have realised what they're upto. And what they've aimed at. This is going to be 10 times tougher than working at MIT. I just pray these guys have cognized that fact.
Anyways, here's to their success.!
2/05/2006
Saarang pics
CLT
Paapi, me and caesar. 
Phoebe Buffay
The inside 'CLT' shot
Informals
Cycle, sania and me
Powerchords
Paapi's room. Paapi's guitar.
NITK guys performing at Powerchords
Very own 'GC'
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