Following is a Gtalk conversation with a friend of mine who is a complex function of engineering skills, innocence, intellect and disinterest. The background is this: he is supposed to stay back in Summer [yes, the mention of 'Summer' was warranted because its the Chennai summer that is being referred to] and finish his project which involves setting up two modems and making them 'talk' to each other.
No, he is not a technician at Devraj Computers. He is a pre-final year student in the Electrical Engineering Department at IIT Madras. Getting back to the project, he has to use two postpaid sim cards and insert them in those modems and make them work (if not in reality, atleast in his report). Among the other things that were a pain in his ass was the fact that his prof. forgets to get his ID card everyday AND/OR forgets to get photographs to obtain the sim cards. BUT, lets leave that there.
I knew that he was not particularly enjoying the work, so as a good friend I asked him about the progress of the project. Here's the excerpt :
me: dude, how is the project going?This leads me to quote by Robert Heinlein, a famous Sci-fi writer. He said:
him: pain
me: why what happened?
him: modem dude
one of them broken and other not working
me: ohh ok
him: with the working one, i actually called my cell :D
it was aawesome
me: he he.. first time felt like an elec engineer enh?
him: yeah dude
it was like magic!
no kidding
me: ha ha ha ha ha ha
ok ok.. :D :D
fack! magic it seems
him: yeah
me: trippy man.. trippy
him: anyway, if the modem gets repared i will be done with saarathi for good.
me: i will blog this!
"One man's magic is another man's engineering."There are indeed those times when we feel engineering is mythical and magical - those are the rare occasions when we - I am referring to the people in my boat alone - bump into the engineer within.
The first time I can recall it happened to me was when I first saw my name dancing and turning and twisting in rainbow colours in the screen saver on the 15" CRT of my first computer. (Yes, we've all done it! ) Ofcourse, this has got nothing to do with engineering!
The last time it happened at IITM was when a Latex code (non-pervert perspective at this juncture is appreciated) worked on my computer and did NOT work on my Prof's computer at the time of submission.
"Magic Sir", I should have said then, "Pure Magic!"
PS: If you bothered to click the Tesla wiki link and read about him OR you are one of those kids my mom talks about who knows everything about everything, including Tesla - and are even fractionally (?) turned on, then check this Bad Ass article about Tesla out.
8 comments:
You should've been there, when I called my cell using that modem.
Awesomeness it was.
kids!
Tut tut.
"because its the Chennai summer" should actually be
"because it's the Chennai summer"
Careful with your essays.
Ugri's description is perfect - "engineering skills, innocence, intellect and disinterest"
The badass article on Testla is awesome. Never knew the chap who contributed two more chapters in my tenth standard physics textbook was that stud man!
@ Ugri, LOL. Again.
@ Rathee, manager!
@ IDR, I did not know tut tut was an expression of annoyance - thanks for introducing. Or as Normal would say 'lingo-ing'. And yes, apologies for the mistake. Damn!
@ Pradeep, totally agree. He kicks ass. That badass writer is also amazing man.
Wow, good for your mate! This is One Of Those blog posts that makes one feel all warm and fuzzy inside:)
About Tesla- he was awesome as far as engineering goes but he totally lacked business sense, which explains why Edison was able to churn mint and gain fame by ripping off his ideas while Tesla himself died alone, broke and steeped in debt. Perhaps the world would have realized the benifits of the AC sooner had he not projected himself as the eccentric idealist he was and worked on his sales/marketing/PR skills- you know, been more of a Sarnoff than an Armstrong.
@ The Dryad:
Thats an insight. Thanks.
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