Room.
Tarams.
Room.
Ascendas.
Tapti.
CCD.
GC bus stop.
Satyam Cinema.
Insti Lake.
Insti Stadium.
SAC road.
Sharav.
CCD.
Delhi Avenue.
GC.
ED DCF.
MSB 357.
CRC.
MSB.
CLT.
Outside OAT.
SAC.
Insti Stadium.
Hostel.
Ascendas.
Room.
Room!
Sunday, July 27
Thursday, July 24
New-age Bengaluru
A glimpse at how 10th standard students study for their exams in our own Silicon City. Load-shedding has reached a peak in Bangalore with most places in the city plunged into darkness for almost 6-8 hours per day.
According to a news report, the demand for diesel has increased by 40 pc owing to the increased use of generators in Bangalore. Previously, the daily requirement of Diesel in Bangalore was 1800 kilolitres.
According to a news report, the demand for diesel has increased by 40 pc owing to the increased use of generators in Bangalore. Previously, the daily requirement of Diesel in Bangalore was 1800 kilolitres.
Wednesday, July 16
Weird USB Drive
Came across a cool gadget online. They call it the Sawed-off USB Flash Drive. It was featured on Gizmodo yesterday. It is actually a USB Flash drive capable of storing 2 GB data. It is time we rephrase the age-old phrase to "Don't judge an USB drive by it's looks." :D
Cool thing!
Amd I quote a comment from one of the websites "This looks like it is aching to be thrown away by mistake. "
Cool thing!
Amd I quote a comment from one of the websites "This looks like it is aching to be thrown away by mistake. "
Monday, July 14
Which one?
Tripp!
The following was scribbled during one of the lectures at CIIE. Snapshot of the notebook (read from bottom upwards, two lines):
It was an innocent comment followed by an honest reply. :D
The following was scribbled during one of the lectures at CIIE. Snapshot of the notebook (read from bottom upwards, two lines):
It was an innocent comment followed by an honest reply. :D
Sunday, July 13
The three most...
The three most talked-about contemporary products/gadgets in the tech bloggers' spheres:
- Apple iPhone
- Social Networking
- iPhone Applications
- Start-ups
- Online Advertising and e-commerce
- Mobile Phone applications and m-commerce
- Social Networking
Thursday, July 10
IIT + IIM = ?
[Pardon the barrage of IIT-centric posts; with time, this too shall pass :-) ]
If IIT Gandhinagar takes off in a big way and in about 8-10 years manages to have the reputation of the present IITs, the fact that an IIM and an IIT are within a distance of 30 kms of each other might result in an unprecedented synergy.
In an ideal scenario, the best technologists of the country will be ably supported by the best managers in the county and vice versa. Imagine the situation where a path-breaking innovation at IIT Gandhinagar is nurtured by IIM Ahmedabad and taken to the market. OR a healthy interaction between them resulting in fostering ideas and aiding and accelerating innovation and invention.
Man, I can't wait to see that day become a reality!
PS: I fundamentally believe that we need managers to only 'manage' as such the world can survive without managers but might not survive without engineers/technologists. :-)
If IIT Gandhinagar takes off in a big way and in about 8-10 years manages to have the reputation of the present IITs, the fact that an IIM and an IIT are within a distance of 30 kms of each other might result in an unprecedented synergy.
In an ideal scenario, the best technologists of the country will be ably supported by the best managers in the county and vice versa. Imagine the situation where a path-breaking innovation at IIT Gandhinagar is nurtured by IIM Ahmedabad and taken to the market. OR a healthy interaction between them resulting in fostering ideas and aiding and accelerating innovation and invention.
Man, I can't wait to see that day become a reality!
PS: I fundamentally believe that we need managers to only 'manage' as such the world can survive without managers but might not survive without engineers/technologists. :-)
Wednesday, July 9
I Love You!
Tripp!!
Picture courtesy: Chinmay
----Gtalk Chat----
Chinmay:
you should put this on your blog
you should put this on your blog
ha ha..
where did u get this?
Chinmay:
Gen
Monday, July 7
Will the new IITs do an IIMA?
Further to the diverse comments on the last post about the new IITs, here is a small follow-up.
I was roaming around the IIM Ahmedabad campus this afternoon with a friend of mine and we were discussing the architecture of the place - wonderfully thought-out and carefully crafted buildings which lend the institute its whole 'culture'. I was told by him that they roped in the world-famous architect Louis Kahn, who was a Prof. of architecture in UPenn (in the late 50s) to design the buildings along with NID, Ahmedabad.
The institute was a brain-child of some of the most respected brains of India, including Vikram Sarabhai - the man who spearheaded India's space missions, among many other things. Infact, the IIMA library is named after him.
I was browsing through the gallery to find out interesting tit-bits about the institute and I came across a very fascinating fact. Here I share it:
"The picture above is of 'Retreat', Vikram Sarabhai's residence in Shahibaug, which would house a fledging institution's office for more than a year beginning in June, 1961, until a proper campus for IIMA took shape. "The institute started functioning... under the auspices of a registered society and the general direction of a Board of Governors. It then had no buildings, no furniture, and only a skeletal staff and faculty. The vision of its early leaders was perhaps the only sustaining factor." (IIM Ahmedabad, The first Decade, 1973)"
It is just so fascinating! It just reminded me of the situation now, with respect to the new IITs and the comments from Jimmy on that. So! So! So!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: I was browsing the website of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad - another premium B-school in India. I quote "The foundation stone was laid in 1999 and the Post Graduate Programme was launched in 2001".
PS2: I am not sure if the title of the post is grammatically correct, but seems to convey the point.
I was roaming around the IIM Ahmedabad campus this afternoon with a friend of mine and we were discussing the architecture of the place - wonderfully thought-out and carefully crafted buildings which lend the institute its whole 'culture'. I was told by him that they roped in the world-famous architect Louis Kahn, who was a Prof. of architecture in UPenn (in the late 50s) to design the buildings along with NID, Ahmedabad.
The institute was a brain-child of some of the most respected brains of India, including Vikram Sarabhai - the man who spearheaded India's space missions, among many other things. Infact, the IIMA library is named after him.
I was browsing through the gallery to find out interesting tit-bits about the institute and I came across a very fascinating fact. Here I share it:
"The picture above is of 'Retreat', Vikram Sarabhai's residence in Shahibaug, which would house a fledging institution's office for more than a year beginning in June, 1961, until a proper campus for IIMA took shape. "The institute started functioning... under the auspices of a registered society and the general direction of a Board of Governors. It then had no buildings, no furniture, and only a skeletal staff and faculty. The vision of its early leaders was perhaps the only sustaining factor." (IIM Ahmedabad, The first Decade, 1973)"It is just so fascinating! It just reminded me of the situation now, with respect to the new IITs and the comments from Jimmy on that. So! So! So!
- Are these IITs going to recreate what IIMA did?
- Are these IITs a brainchild of the best brains in the country?
- Is the vision of the early leaders of the institutes enough to sustain them?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: I was browsing the website of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad - another premium B-school in India. I quote "The foundation stone was laid in 1999 and the Post Graduate Programme was launched in 2001".
PS2: I am not sure if the title of the post is grammatically correct, but seems to convey the point.
Saturday, July 5
un-IIT: Of real and virtual IITs
I was going through my mail-blog-wiki-news routine when I stumbled upon a link that had an old interview of Prof. MS Ananth, Director of IIT Madras . Fascinated by what he had to say on issues like setting up of new IITs, reservation for students, reservation for faculty, JEE etc, I thought I'll catch up on the latest buzz around IITs - the new IITs!!
I happened to visit the JEE website, which provides all the details regarding the admission. I also downloaded the counselling brochure which is an information guide for the prospective students. What I read was horrifying - a nightmare to say the least.
Here's a part of the brochure:
"IIT Hyderabad is one of the three new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The academic session in IIT Hyderabad will commence from August 2008. IIT Madras has been identified as the mentor institution for IIT Hyderabad. To start with, B.Tech program in three branches will be offered, namely, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering with 40 students in each branch. During the first year of the program, classes will be conducted in a suitable campus located in the city of Hyderabad. Students will be provided with hostel and dining facilities within the campus. The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for various courses will be the same as in IIT Madras. The fee structure will also be the same as that of IIT Madras."
If you thought that was unimaginable, wait till you see this:
"IIT Patna is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. Its location and academic calendar will be known in due course of time. To start with, 4-year B.Tech. programme will be offered in three branches, viz., Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering with 40 students in each branch. The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for the first year courses and the fee structure will be broadly same as in the mentor IIT. The first year classes may also be held at the mentor IIT campus after which they will be relocated to the place where the new IIT will be established and the students taking admission in the new IIT will be required to give an undertaking to this effect."
It is the same case with IIT Rajasthan.
As with most nightmares, this one too doesn't seem to end. Extremely unfortunate, but here is more. Further to the drama of overnight 'establishment' of more IITs, a circular was released which can be accessed here:
"The Government of India has announced setting up of 8 more new IITs in the 11th plan. Admissions in the following six new IITs, subjected to the approval@ of the competent authority of the Govt. of India, is likely to take place during the counselling session of JEE 2008."
@ If for any unforeseen reason the start of any new IIT is delayed, admission to that IIT will not be taken up during counseling session of JEE 2008.
To aid in my memorizing the names of the new IITs and for my future reference, here I list them:
Interesting and extremely amusing points to note from each of them: (By now, the whole experience was turning to be funny)
IIT Gandhinagar
...Till the campus of the new IIT in Gujarat gets established, the classes will be held within the premises of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, which is within the municipal limits of Gandhinagar. Students will be provided with residential and other facilities at a temporary location. The curriculum will be similar to that of IIT Bombay with some differences until the time the academic bodies of the new IIT is in place. Fee structure will be same as that of the mentoring Institute...
IIT Bhuvaneswar
...The location will be intimated in due course and the academic programme will start from 24 July 2008 in the IIT Kharagpur campus. After completion of first year in IIT Kharagpur, the students will be shifted to new location where IIT Bhuvaneswar will be established. The first year fee structure will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur.
Don't be mistaken, we are still talking about the famous Indian Institutes of Technology, which have made a mark for themselves all over the world as the strongest Indian brand. Fortune 500s, the Navratnas, the PSUs, the Scientists - you name it, they are there. And the government believes it can recreate the brand overnight, even without a single brick being laid? Without any external support? WITHOUT FACULTY? For the records, the Engineering Design department building at IIT Madras, only a building, was supposed to be completed by Dec 2005 and it is May of 2008 now - it is still only a civil-engineer's sight-visit place. Also, IIT Madras faces a acute shortage of faculty. [When IIT Madras was founded way back in 1958, it had funding from the GoI and support from the German Govt. and there was no dearth of quality faculty. More importantly, they were founded to build the country; unlike now, to win elections.]
Here's my take on the whole issue:
Having spent three years being part of the IIT system, I can safely say that the system teaches you much more outside the classroom than inside. So, all those dumbfucks in Delhi need to realise that just announcing the formation of IITs within their ignorant midst does not make the IITs, it merely creates another college. IITs are not colleges, they are IITs. For all that the IITian is valued, it is not his technical know-how, not his competency in academics; it is his sheer intelligence and analytical skills (which I am assuming the JEE still upholds).
But where I see the new IITs just being another college with bright kids is the fact that they'll miss out on the system; Being in the pioneer batch of a new department in an established IIT itself was tough enough for me, I can't shudder to think the plight of the students in departments of non-existent IITs.
Here's another perspective. Of the real IITs (the established seven), B-D-K-Kgp-M are doing very well according to the Indian standards (mind you, according to world standards, we are still lag grossly behind), while R and G are still second-rung IITs. Their placements are not as good, infrastructure not as good, faculty shortage blah blah and a thousand other blahs. Now with the virtual IITs also in the fray, it is but natural that these IITs will be third-rung. Perhaps, my prediction is they will be worse than even the NITs and quite a few private Engg. colleges in the country. Brand-IIT will cease to exist; individual brands will evolve - IIT Madras for example will be a much more formidable brand than IIT itself.
If you are a non-IITian who painstakingly read this long post, here's an insider's info: The placements in the real IITs itself is not the best and we ourselves are grappling with the poor response from the industry. The 1-crore job you read about in your favourite newspaper is a myth - no such thing exists. Think of the virtual IITs now!
Final comment: If I were to advice my sister on joining IITs now, I would definitely ensure she does not take up the farce new IITs - those which exist only in Arjun Singh's letterhead. She would be much better off in an NIT or a good-enough private engineering college in Bangalore. Infact, I think I would encourage her to start-up after 12th! :-P But, thankfully there is a good three year period before I need to think about it.
I pity those 720 non-fellow IITians.
I happened to visit the JEE website, which provides all the details regarding the admission. I also downloaded the counselling brochure which is an information guide for the prospective students. What I read was horrifying - a nightmare to say the least.
Here's a part of the brochure:
"IIT Hyderabad is one of the three new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The academic session in IIT Hyderabad will commence from August 2008. IIT Madras has been identified as the mentor institution for IIT Hyderabad. To start with, B.Tech program in three branches will be offered, namely, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering with 40 students in each branch. During the first year of the program, classes will be conducted in a suitable campus located in the city of Hyderabad. Students will be provided with hostel and dining facilities within the campus. The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for various courses will be the same as in IIT Madras. The fee structure will also be the same as that of IIT Madras."If you thought that was unimaginable, wait till you see this:
"IIT Patna is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. Its location and academic calendar will be known in due course of time. To start with, 4-year B.Tech. programme will be offered in three branches, viz., Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering with 40 students in each branch. The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for the first year courses and the fee structure will be broadly same as in the mentor IIT. The first year classes may also be held at the mentor IIT campus after which they will be relocated to the place where the new IIT will be established and the students taking admission in the new IIT will be required to give an undertaking to this effect."It is the same case with IIT Rajasthan.
As with most nightmares, this one too doesn't seem to end. Extremely unfortunate, but here is more. Further to the drama of overnight 'establishment' of more IITs, a circular was released which can be accessed here:
"The Government of India has announced setting up of 8 more new IITs in the 11th plan. Admissions in the following six new IITs, subjected to the approval@ of the competent authority of the Govt. of India, is likely to take place during the counselling session of JEE 2008."
@ If for any unforeseen reason the start of any new IIT is delayed, admission to that IIT will not be taken up during counseling session of JEE 2008.
To aid in my memorizing the names of the new IITs and for my future reference, here I list them:
- IIT Gandhinagar
- IIT Punjab
- IIT Patna
- IIT Hyderabad
- IIT Bhuvaneshwar
- IIT Rajasthan
Interesting and extremely amusing points to note from each of them: (By now, the whole experience was turning to be funny)
IIT Rajasthan
The location of the new IIT in Rajasthan will be announced by the Government of India. In the meantime, IIT Kanpur would be acting as the mentor institute of IIT Rajasthan.. Till the required infrastructure comes up, the classes will be held at the IIT Kanpur campus, after which the students will be relocated to the place in Rajasthan where the new IIT gets established. The students taking admission to the new IIT Rajasthan, along with their parents, will be required to give an undertaking to this effect.IIT Gandhinagar
...Till the campus of the new IIT in Gujarat gets established, the classes will be held within the premises of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, which is within the municipal limits of Gandhinagar. Students will be provided with residential and other facilities at a temporary location. The curriculum will be similar to that of IIT Bombay with some differences until the time the academic bodies of the new IIT is in place. Fee structure will be same as that of the mentoring Institute...
IIT Bhuvaneswar
...The location will be intimated in due course and the academic programme will start from 24 July 2008 in the IIT Kharagpur campus. After completion of first year in IIT Kharagpur, the students will be shifted to new location where IIT Bhuvaneswar will be established. The first year fee structure will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur.
Don't be mistaken, we are still talking about the famous Indian Institutes of Technology, which have made a mark for themselves all over the world as the strongest Indian brand. Fortune 500s, the Navratnas, the PSUs, the Scientists - you name it, they are there. And the government believes it can recreate the brand overnight, even without a single brick being laid? Without any external support? WITHOUT FACULTY? For the records, the Engineering Design department building at IIT Madras, only a building, was supposed to be completed by Dec 2005 and it is May of 2008 now - it is still only a civil-engineer's sight-visit place. Also, IIT Madras faces a acute shortage of faculty. [When IIT Madras was founded way back in 1958, it had funding from the GoI and support from the German Govt. and there was no dearth of quality faculty. More importantly, they were founded to build the country; unlike now, to win elections.]
Here's my take on the whole issue:
Having spent three years being part of the IIT system, I can safely say that the system teaches you much more outside the classroom than inside. So, all those dumbfucks in Delhi need to realise that just announcing the formation of IITs within their ignorant midst does not make the IITs, it merely creates another college. IITs are not colleges, they are IITs. For all that the IITian is valued, it is not his technical know-how, not his competency in academics; it is his sheer intelligence and analytical skills (which I am assuming the JEE still upholds).
But where I see the new IITs just being another college with bright kids is the fact that they'll miss out on the system; Being in the pioneer batch of a new department in an established IIT itself was tough enough for me, I can't shudder to think the plight of the students in departments of non-existent IITs.
Here's another perspective. Of the real IITs (the established seven), B-D-K-Kgp-M are doing very well according to the Indian standards (mind you, according to world standards, we are still lag grossly behind), while R and G are still second-rung IITs. Their placements are not as good, infrastructure not as good, faculty shortage blah blah and a thousand other blahs. Now with the virtual IITs also in the fray, it is but natural that these IITs will be third-rung. Perhaps, my prediction is they will be worse than even the NITs and quite a few private Engg. colleges in the country. Brand-IIT will cease to exist; individual brands will evolve - IIT Madras for example will be a much more formidable brand than IIT itself.
If you are a non-IITian who painstakingly read this long post, here's an insider's info: The placements in the real IITs itself is not the best and we ourselves are grappling with the poor response from the industry. The 1-crore job you read about in your favourite newspaper is a myth - no such thing exists. Think of the virtual IITs now!
Final comment: If I were to advice my sister on joining IITs now, I would definitely ensure she does not take up the farce new IITs - those which exist only in Arjun Singh's letterhead. She would be much better off in an NIT or a good-enough private engineering college in Bangalore. Infact, I think I would encourage her to start-up after 12th! :-P But, thankfully there is a good three year period before I need to think about it.
I pity those 720 non-fellow IITians.
Thursday, July 3
Roller Coaster May-June!
The last two months have been exhilarating. What with a roller coaster time I had.
The prototype being engineered at CAD lab
- Became best friends with a Prof.
- Made a design prototype of a page-turner along with a friend of mine, Balu.
The prototype being engineered at CAD lab- Applied for a provisional patent for the same
- Got my passport finally
- Visited UK for a product design show
- Met a good friend at UK
- Bridged old broken relationships.. err friendships
- Most good friends ventured into the industry for the very first time for their internships - Ugri, Shammo, Shatto, Ayush, Karthik, Aniket etc
- A few others went abroad for their interns - Shruti, Varun etc
- Seniors, who were the bestest of friends got placed at reputed companies - Caesar, CB, Cycle, Ankita, BC, Gigs, Anand etc
- A fair few of them made it to the IIMs - Naresh, Pico, Deepu etc
- Some of them are off to the US for higher studies - Dharik (Purdue)...
- Finally ventured into entrepreneurship - got my hands deep and dirty
- Started-up on a venture called Lypas along with best buddies Chinmay, Aniket, Sanjay and Hrishikesh
- Read-up a lot of tech-blogs to get a hang of the internet and the mobile domain, falling in love with Google Reader all over again
- Launched the website for the company www.lypas.com, co-designed the website with Chinmay and co-authored the content with Aniket
- Came to IIM Ahmedabad for iAccelerator, a dream that materialised a tad too early, all because of a freak co-incidence and 'being at the right place at the right time with the right people around'
CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad
- Got to interact with a lot of brilliant people - entrepreneurs and industrialist
- Being mentored by two awesome individuals - Freeman Murray, a man worth $110 Mn, who founded and sold two software companies and the man behind the '8080' port that we use.
- Tarun Dua, who is in his own words is a 'Linux Enthusiast' and a brilliant tech-blogger, who understands the internet domain very well.
- Aditi, our one-woman force for iA here at CIIE has been the "Conti-woman "arranging for mentorship sessions by who's-who of India.
- Got to know the secrets behind companies like naukri.com, makemytrip.com, mouthshut.com, zoho.com and many many more from the horse's mouth
- Visited Delhi on my first 'business trip'
With Aniket; Metro in Delhi. After our first 'Business Trip',
- Planned the largest student initiative in the country, the technical festival of IIT Madras - Shaastra 2008
- Lead a bunch of enthusiastic individuals as part of the sponsorship and the PR team along with Aniket and Hemanth
- As a team, contacted more than 400 leading companies in India. A truly remarkable feat
- Dreamt big golden dreams
- Roped in corporate biggies for a never-before sponsorship amount
- Understood the nuances of leading a team and 'HR Management' hands-on
- Personally, been very stable for the better part of the last two months apart from the occasional bout of 'lows'
- Been talking about and planning the future course of life of a dear friend - marriage and relationship
- Scary enough, been talking to another friend about the concept of marriage and relationship quite often
- A very dear friend and a idol-of-sorts is actually getting married this July 12th at Delhi. Here's wishing him a very happy married life! And ya, he is off to Lancaster Univ for an MBA after his marriage. Cheers bro!
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