This is a book I have been wanting to read for ages. Ever since I heard that FPS is a lift off from this. Peter Robinson talks about life in his first year at Stanford Business School. Supposedly hell...
A lot many incidents in the book are something which I can relate too from my life as a BITSian. The mood-swings that affect the campus. It wears a sombre look all throughout the exams, apart from that it is so nice, vibrant and noisy.. During fests its full of freakish enthusiasm.. I remember last Oct, where it was hauntingly silent for 15 days.. The point is, the mood affects the whole campus, u cant stay aloof...
Then there are the changes that come in students with every passing semester. In the first, u are in awe of the institute, afraid of the exams, wanting to get good grades etc. etc... In the second you kind of fit into the scheme of things, figure out what you want out of engineering. Then come the CDCs in your third year, a lot of hard work and not enough rewards. And then finally at the end of it all are the placements. Phew.. Quite a journey.
I wouldnt miss BITS for anything. Its given me so much, it has made me who I am...
Anyway coming back to the book, its a must read for wannabe MBAs, and maybe for people who don't wanna be MBAs too!
Friday 21 December, 2007
Saturday 15 December, 2007
Feminism and more
Yesterday had a long and fruitful discussion with one of my friends after ages. Life is so hectic that no one has the time to sit and think, discuss, fantasize and philosophize... Enjoyed it a lot. Here goes a part of what we discussed:
Traditionally women have always been 'suppressed', so to say. The poet Manu even goes as far to say that a woman is always a liability. She always has to be taken care of. First by her father, then by her husband and finally by her son. Question is, is that right? S says it is completely true in the context then. Then, there would be foreign invasions and enslavement, markets 'for' women were all part of it. Was it not right then that they were supposed to be taken care of? Obviously, yes.. You would argue it is even a duty to protect your own.
So what has changed today? Today we live in our cocoon, in a human made artificial world, where things are better for women than before. They have the freedom and the opportunity to do as they please, without fear of anything. They can even growl that they are equals- not a step behind men. Blah blah...
Maybe its not so equal in some parts of the world, but still, there is hope...
For me, the truth is, it is not about men and being equal. Its about them being different, and being able to cherish each others differences. And that's why I believe, feminism of the 'women-can-do-this-too' kind is passe. What is the point of bellowing yourself hoarse that you do something. The whole point of equality is lost when you keep declaring women can do this, women can do that. That itself shows inequality, doesn't it?
I feel now is the time for post-feminism, an era where women work hand-in-hand with men, without much ado about it and at the same time appreciating the differences between the not-so-fairer sex and themselves.
Of course, all this is applicable only to urban India, where a woman can atleast choose to live her life on her own, hopefully without pressure to 'find someone'. In rural, or even semi-urban areas, I guess feminist thoughts do have some kind of motivational role to play. But even then, just having a token women president, who doesn't have that kind of stature, isn't going to help things much. (Except maybe we can crow about it...)
The argument against this is that in a marriage, even now, its the woman who is supposed to sacrifice her will for her mate... I don't know how to counter that, nor do I know when that attitude will change, but it will.
Traditionally women have always been 'suppressed', so to say. The poet Manu even goes as far to say that a woman is always a liability. She always has to be taken care of. First by her father, then by her husband and finally by her son. Question is, is that right? S says it is completely true in the context then. Then, there would be foreign invasions and enslavement, markets 'for' women were all part of it. Was it not right then that they were supposed to be taken care of? Obviously, yes.. You would argue it is even a duty to protect your own.
So what has changed today? Today we live in our cocoon, in a human made artificial world, where things are better for women than before. They have the freedom and the opportunity to do as they please, without fear of anything. They can even growl that they are equals- not a step behind men. Blah blah...
Maybe its not so equal in some parts of the world, but still, there is hope...
For me, the truth is, it is not about men and being equal. Its about them being different, and being able to cherish each others differences. And that's why I believe, feminism of the 'women-can-do-this-too' kind is passe. What is the point of bellowing yourself hoarse that you do something. The whole point of equality is lost when you keep declaring women can do this, women can do that. That itself shows inequality, doesn't it?
I feel now is the time for post-feminism, an era where women work hand-in-hand with men, without much ado about it and at the same time appreciating the differences between the not-so-fairer sex and themselves.
Of course, all this is applicable only to urban India, where a woman can atleast choose to live her life on her own, hopefully without pressure to 'find someone'. In rural, or even semi-urban areas, I guess feminist thoughts do have some kind of motivational role to play. But even then, just having a token women president, who doesn't have that kind of stature, isn't going to help things much. (Except maybe we can crow about it...)
The argument against this is that in a marriage, even now, its the woman who is supposed to sacrifice her will for her mate... I don't know how to counter that, nor do I know when that attitude will change, but it will.
Thursday 13 December, 2007
Back to the future
The exams are finally done, definitely among my worse semesters. Anyway, whats done is done, and now I can get back to things I love the most. Plan to get on the next-sem project and gonna start with the micromouse now, designing the sensor circuit.
Active filters, here I come!
Active filters, here I come!
Madhouse Rock
This morning was reading up for the Electronic Devices and Integrated Ckts (EDIC) exam. It was the last paper, and was in a bad mood. The subject is quite difficult, although interesting.
Point being- I saw these activities in the hostel:
1)People running ragged hither-tither, hair askew, like they are about to miss a train.
2)Somebody oscillating in corridors, holding a book to himself, muttering what seem to be obscenities under his breath (maybe he is cramming up formulae!)
3)People shouting, 4-at-a-time, discussing whether or not the IMPATT diode will bring about a lag of 179deg or 181deg!
4)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
5)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
6)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
7)KK shouting out 'Iin Dino", just for the fun of it, to irritate people.
8)Harried people, who have probably been up all night, responding with 'Ae's and asking him to shut up...
Doesn't the scene bear an eerie resemblance with a mental institution?
Point being- I saw these activities in the hostel:
1)People running ragged hither-tither, hair askew, like they are about to miss a train.
2)Somebody oscillating in corridors, holding a book to himself, muttering what seem to be obscenities under his breath (maybe he is cramming up formulae!)
3)People shouting, 4-at-a-time, discussing whether or not the IMPATT diode will bring about a lag of 179deg or 181deg!
4)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
5)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
6)Rock music playing so loud that the whole of BITS hears it.
7)KK shouting out 'Iin Dino", just for the fun of it, to irritate people.
8)Harried people, who have probably been up all night, responding with 'Ae's and asking him to shut up...
Doesn't the scene bear an eerie resemblance with a mental institution?
Saturday 8 December, 2007
Microelectronics
Just had my 4th paper.. Microelectronic Circuits. Its a beautiful subject. Its amazing how you can control devices at such small scales. The sad part is, you have to everything on your own. Faculty crunch hurts here the most. Not enough people is one reason, but what about those who are here? Shouldnt there be some quality control on teachers?
A big step in that direction needs to be evaluation of teachers by students, not the other way. Coz lots of times, I am more interested in learning than that guy is interested in teaching (or more likely, its the lack of ability on his part) :(
Anyway, got no paper for next two days. So peace...
A big step in that direction needs to be evaluation of teachers by students, not the other way. Coz lots of times, I am more interested in learning than that guy is interested in teaching (or more likely, its the lack of ability on his part) :(
Anyway, got no paper for next two days. So peace...
Thursday 6 December, 2007
Does it matter?
Life is not about constantly worrying how it would turn out to be. It is about making the most of the moment. And the sooner I come to grips with this, the better
Wednesday 5 December, 2007
Bob Dylan
Have recently started hearing a bit of Bo Dylan.. Blowin in the Wind is too good. And yesterday heard another of his songs.. The lyrics go something like this:
Am I?
Clowns sittin to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you...
And I am wondering what it is I should do,
Its so hard to keep that smile on my face...
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you!
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you...
And I am wondering what it is I should do,
Its so hard to keep that smile on my face...
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you!
Am I?
Monday 10 September, 2007
An eventful day for the world...
Nawaz Sharif was exiled from Pakistan in contempt of a Supreme Court decision... More importantly Britney made her long awaited comeback.She sucked from what I hear, read and see. Her dress would make any pornstar hide in shame. She has lost her shapely curves too. :(
Her transition from a nice teen icon to a nervous wreck has been heartbreaking to watch. She never was a great singer, but she was a heartthrob of millions for the way she carried herself, the image that she had... They say fame is fickle, but now-a-days its more troublesome than that. It would have been better if she had faded from the public conscience, rather than the dissection of her every action that is carried out by the unforgiving press... I pity her...
Her transition from a nice teen icon to a nervous wreck has been heartbreaking to watch. She never was a great singer, but she was a heartthrob of millions for the way she carried herself, the image that she had... They say fame is fickle, but now-a-days its more troublesome than that. It would have been better if she had faded from the public conscience, rather than the dissection of her every action that is carried out by the unforgiving press... I pity her...
Tuesday 14 August, 2007
THE ARC
Starting a club for encouraging students to start with amateur electronics and robotics has been a long standing dream of mine. Especially, at this campus,it is a requirement, which despite all all the amazing things it has taught me, still lacks that technical bent of mind, which you would expect as a must at one of the premium engineering institutions in the country. Now as I start of this club - THE ARC (The Hobby Electronics and Amateur Robotics Club), I actually dream of the campus, getting better and better over the next few years, competing with the best in the world...
Friday 10 August, 2007
Lack of time!!!
As expected, life in the third year is quite hectic.. Its insane to try n juggle so many things. Its no longer like in second year, when you think that you will plan out your third year better... The time is NOW, the place is HERE.
Anyway, its fun being in the midst of something or the other all the time. You don't have the time to brood upon what could have been and what isn't. You are actually doing something all the time. Enjoying every moment of it!
Anyway, its fun being in the midst of something or the other all the time. You don't have the time to brood upon what could have been and what isn't. You are actually doing something all the time. Enjoying every moment of it!
Wednesday 18 July, 2007
Two idlis and a wada.. life at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, TN
Doing my B.E. at BITS-Pilani, Goa gave me this wonderful opportunity of doing an intern at Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research, Kalpakkam – one of the top research institutes in the country. Now that its over, and I got some free time, I ll pen down some of my observations.
1. The first thing to notice at the place was that it has practically infinite funding. It as THE most amazing library and a 1 Gbps LAN connection.. Awraa..
2. For a ‘top’ research institution, real high end work goes on only a few of the departments. At other places, people are typical govt office lazy. Lethargy stinks through many of the departments. Its not that people there are not intelligent, but when straitjacketed and asked to complete the given work, and only the given work, even the brightest minds will be disillusioned. Then life tends to reduce to a dreary routine, with days after days of pushing through.
3. The department I worked in – Radiochemistry Lab (RCL) was one such dreary place. Still with some amount of push, we were able to get work done. Literally, we did a bit of pushing – there was no one, but us, to shift the comp from one room to another!
4. At still other places a huge amount of research is on, places like the Research Physics Laboratory, or the Reactor Safety Division will surely be interesting for people in that field.
5. Despite being in a not-so-gud dept, I did get an amazing project. I got to learn lots. Apart from working on the actual 8051 related hardware, the LabVIEW part was also very interesting. LabVIEW is a totally different idea. A graphical programming language, not a single line of code, it’s the most amazing thing I have worked with.
6. In my last week, I went to see my contact at the Safety Division. Got to see the weather prediction model software he has developed. It acquires data from the World Met Council (or something like it) and uses it to predict the radioactive fallout that would happen if there was some leak from the center. It was awesome. You could predict weather with a resolution of 2*2 km.. Talk about cool…
7. Also saw the Instrumentation Dept there. They work with a higher end software similar to LabVIEW – DasyLab. Wonder how it would have been to work in that department…
8. Now for the title: it was my standard breakfast at IGCAR. There was variety, but this was the stuff that I found to suit my palate. Seriously, the only negative aspect of life there was food. Didn’t exactly like it. Still, eventually, by the end of PS-1 found out a couple of good (more like, not bad), places. But walking 40 min way to reach a restaurant isn’t exactly the most sought for luck now, is it?
1. The first thing to notice at the place was that it has practically infinite funding. It as THE most amazing library and a 1 Gbps LAN connection.. Awraa..
2. For a ‘top’ research institution, real high end work goes on only a few of the departments. At other places, people are typical govt office lazy. Lethargy stinks through many of the departments. Its not that people there are not intelligent, but when straitjacketed and asked to complete the given work, and only the given work, even the brightest minds will be disillusioned. Then life tends to reduce to a dreary routine, with days after days of pushing through.
3. The department I worked in – Radiochemistry Lab (RCL) was one such dreary place. Still with some amount of push, we were able to get work done. Literally, we did a bit of pushing – there was no one, but us, to shift the comp from one room to another!
4. At still other places a huge amount of research is on, places like the Research Physics Laboratory, or the Reactor Safety Division will surely be interesting for people in that field.
5. Despite being in a not-so-gud dept, I did get an amazing project. I got to learn lots. Apart from working on the actual 8051 related hardware, the LabVIEW part was also very interesting. LabVIEW is a totally different idea. A graphical programming language, not a single line of code, it’s the most amazing thing I have worked with.
6. In my last week, I went to see my contact at the Safety Division. Got to see the weather prediction model software he has developed. It acquires data from the World Met Council (or something like it) and uses it to predict the radioactive fallout that would happen if there was some leak from the center. It was awesome. You could predict weather with a resolution of 2*2 km.. Talk about cool…
7. Also saw the Instrumentation Dept there. They work with a higher end software similar to LabVIEW – DasyLab. Wonder how it would have been to work in that department…
8. Now for the title: it was my standard breakfast at IGCAR. There was variety, but this was the stuff that I found to suit my palate. Seriously, the only negative aspect of life there was food. Didn’t exactly like it. Still, eventually, by the end of PS-1 found out a couple of good (more like, not bad), places. But walking 40 min way to reach a restaurant isn’t exactly the most sought for luck now, is it?
Tuesday 26 June, 2007
Danny Pearl's Murder - A new view
Came across this blog recently. It gives an interesting though obviously not unheard of theory.
Sunday 24 June, 2007
Chennai... Its blacks and whites
1) Staying at Kalpakkam for the past month, I have visited Chennai atleast thrice.. Time n again, Chinmay’s words resonate in my mind: “This place is a pseudo-metro”. Its like a small town grown which has grown too big. It doesn’t have the metro culture. Other metros; Mumbai, Delhi or even Pune and Bangalore, have a distinctly western influence on the lifestyle of the junta. You see Baristas, McDonalds, Coffee Days and Pizza Huts and the like mushrooming around every street corner. Around Chennai you are still likely to see Adyar Anand Bhavan or some Udipi Restaurent.. All around is a distinct color of conservativism. You would be lucky to see a girl and a boy talking to each other at the street corner… Case in point: Two weeks back on my way to Bangalore, overheard this conversation between two ladies on the train:
(Lady 1 – In her early thirtees, among the type who wear jeans but only with an Indian top. Lady 2 – Pompous 50 year old who would consider love marriages nothing less than blasphemy. Topic : How Bangalore has changed)
L 1: I grew up in Bangalore and I have seen the city has changed a lot.. The IT industry has brought alongwith it very western influences.
L 2: I know. Now you see pubs n discos everywhere. It was never like that before.
L 1: When I was in colleges there would be no such thing. (C’mon lady maybe you didn’t know them, but surely they existed!)
L 2: Last time I was in Bangalore, I got the shock of my life.
L 1: What happened?
(Hold your breath… Such a huge thing happened.. Wait for it.. Now its coming.. You see.. the expectation is nerve jangling.. What a scandal…)
L 2: I had just woken up, and looking out of my balcony at 7 AM, I saw (C’mon I cant take it anymore) a girl and a boy, (What?? Were they doing it??) they were having tea together. (Phew??!!!!)
…Chennai isn’t still westernized. Its still very conservative at heart… Its interesting to see this direct contrast between Mumbai-Pune & Chennai-Bangalore. It makes you think what times would have been around 40 years earlier-even in urban areas…
2) Another thing worth noting is the Poster phenomena – All over TN you will see posters of politicians put every 100 metres on the road (Or is it 10!) Huge faces of Amma (Jayalalitha), Karunanidhi, MK Stalin(How could you name anyone like that??!!) staring down at you or smiling into the emptiness. A poster would be anything from around 6 feet high to a mindboggling 50 feet. I don’t know what they say (they are in Tamil), but below these figures which we generally know are smaller faces of local politicians, of every Tom, Dick n Harry who ever got into politics.. Geez.. The funniest part: When in Pondicherry, there was a poster- huge- of Stalins. Not 1, but 10.. Stalin at his graduation, Stalin as mayor, Stalin with a gold necklace. Infuriating… How do people bear with it? ( And how do these politicians themselves? After all, what happens to the posters after their use? Burnt off? Shredded.. Hehe..)
3) Last weekend Rajnikanth’s movie released. Sivaji- The Boss. All hell broke lose. The whole of South India went crazy to see their superstar. This guy seems to be a cross between Govinda and SRK. Apparently, he is a people’s actor – like Govinda, or Laxmikant Berde in Marathi- he charges rates higher than SRK. From what I hear he charged a cool 35cr for this film.. That’s more than half the film’s budget. But from the crowd pulling ability he has, the spending is totally justified from the producer’s POV. Again from hearsay, his movies aren’t even that good. Just common junta stuff.. I had thought that atleast in the south, where people are more educated, such mediocre stuff wouldn’t sell.. But then I guess, India is still just 60 year old. That’s just a kid in terms of nation-age. She has a long long way to go…
4) The only thing in Chennai that is metro-class (by that, I mean Indian metros, mind you) is public transport. The city’s bus system would be a great envy to Pune. Pune out to learn. Without going into numbers, I bet the public : private vehicle ratio is 5 times that of Pune. The buses aren’t exactly comfy or anything, but they RUN. They will be so crowded, that you cant even stand on the footboard… But still, they RUN… And they do that well… In the overpopulated cities of India, that is what is the order of the day.
(Lady 1 – In her early thirtees, among the type who wear jeans but only with an Indian top. Lady 2 – Pompous 50 year old who would consider love marriages nothing less than blasphemy. Topic : How Bangalore has changed)
L 1: I grew up in Bangalore and I have seen the city has changed a lot.. The IT industry has brought alongwith it very western influences.
L 2: I know. Now you see pubs n discos everywhere. It was never like that before.
L 1: When I was in colleges there would be no such thing. (C’mon lady maybe you didn’t know them, but surely they existed!)
L 2: Last time I was in Bangalore, I got the shock of my life.
L 1: What happened?
(Hold your breath… Such a huge thing happened.. Wait for it.. Now its coming.. You see.. the expectation is nerve jangling.. What a scandal…)
L 2: I had just woken up, and looking out of my balcony at 7 AM, I saw (C’mon I cant take it anymore) a girl and a boy, (What?? Were they doing it??) they were having tea together. (Phew??!!!!)
…Chennai isn’t still westernized. Its still very conservative at heart… Its interesting to see this direct contrast between Mumbai-Pune & Chennai-Bangalore. It makes you think what times would have been around 40 years earlier-even in urban areas…
2) Another thing worth noting is the Poster phenomena – All over TN you will see posters of politicians put every 100 metres on the road (Or is it 10!) Huge faces of Amma (Jayalalitha), Karunanidhi, MK Stalin(How could you name anyone like that??!!) staring down at you or smiling into the emptiness. A poster would be anything from around 6 feet high to a mindboggling 50 feet. I don’t know what they say (they are in Tamil), but below these figures which we generally know are smaller faces of local politicians, of every Tom, Dick n Harry who ever got into politics.. Geez.. The funniest part: When in Pondicherry, there was a poster- huge- of Stalins. Not 1, but 10.. Stalin at his graduation, Stalin as mayor, Stalin with a gold necklace. Infuriating… How do people bear with it? ( And how do these politicians themselves? After all, what happens to the posters after their use? Burnt off? Shredded.. Hehe..)
3) Last weekend Rajnikanth’s movie released. Sivaji- The Boss. All hell broke lose. The whole of South India went crazy to see their superstar. This guy seems to be a cross between Govinda and SRK. Apparently, he is a people’s actor – like Govinda, or Laxmikant Berde in Marathi- he charges rates higher than SRK. From what I hear he charged a cool 35cr for this film.. That’s more than half the film’s budget. But from the crowd pulling ability he has, the spending is totally justified from the producer’s POV. Again from hearsay, his movies aren’t even that good. Just common junta stuff.. I had thought that atleast in the south, where people are more educated, such mediocre stuff wouldn’t sell.. But then I guess, India is still just 60 year old. That’s just a kid in terms of nation-age. She has a long long way to go…
4) The only thing in Chennai that is metro-class (by that, I mean Indian metros, mind you) is public transport. The city’s bus system would be a great envy to Pune. Pune out to learn. Without going into numbers, I bet the public : private vehicle ratio is 5 times that of Pune. The buses aren’t exactly comfy or anything, but they RUN. They will be so crowded, that you cant even stand on the footboard… But still, they RUN… And they do that well… In the overpopulated cities of India, that is what is the order of the day.
Friday 22 June, 2007
Starting off...
Well, had a plan to start a blog for a long long time... Times have changed from where I used to scoff at blogs, to being curious about blogging, to when I read my first blog on a friend's reco to where reading blogs is now as imperative as reading the news... Here goes...
Anyway, thoughts suddenly come in torrents, but right now its not the time of this torrential downpour. So, basically, I cant think of anything to write.
So hell...
Anyway, thoughts suddenly come in torrents, but right now its not the time of this torrential downpour. So, basically, I cant think of anything to write.
So hell...
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