I must admit I have not been too busy. On the contrary, time has been rather generous on me. Blogging, I realised, is just like my dual degree project - DDP - (it is a year-long project that one needs to finish in order to graduate and redeem the times spent during college) - when you start your DDP, there is a lot of motivation to keep working every day and finish it bit-by-bit. After a fortnight, it is "there is always a next week".
Nonetheless, I am thankful to three specific people for rekindling the blogging energies in me - Archana, who for reasons beyond my conscious understanding, likes my blog. Laddoo, who had the time and inclination to remind me, from halfway across the world, that my blog "needs attention". And my Mommy dear for diligently following my blogs without any attempts to 'censor' them to make it suitable for all ages. The tipping point, though, was this blog - one of my faculty member's blog. If a professor can find time to write a blog, so can I! For those who have read my previous posts, the same professor has been referred to, in a couple of previous posts too, albeit not in the most recommended manner - atleast not for a final year student with an incomplete DDP.
To be blogging on a Tuesday afternoon is sure sign of atleast one of the two things: an uncontrollable desire to write OR an outlet to kill time. I suspect it is a holy combination of both. My guess is that it'll stay this way for the better part of this semester - until May, or until I finish my DDP, whichever is later.
It's been quite a while since the last update. It is possibly because of the "9th semester syndrome."
Perhaps, it is that time of life when you reimburse your time and energy spent in the IIT system. Those who think IIT is a "necessarily evil between JEE and GRE" have started being nice to their profs to ensure a couple more adjectives in their reco letters. While the ones who use their IIT-degree as an envelope to mail their cover letter in to a company have started reading The Economist and the Economic Times. Then there is the parallel race for the IIT-IIM tag which involves sitting in a classroom and learning basics of grammar. There is also the segment which values the IIT degree at 15 crore during dowry negotiations who are beaming with a million-dollar-smile. Three million, to be precise. True or not - it makes for good blog content!
Lately, we have been in the news for reasons not particularly pleasant. Why'd you want to get up in the morning to the news of your teachers fasting in protest? On the other hand, it is pleasurable to wake up to news of mass-casual-leave protests. It is not often that your professor mails you saying "tomorrow's class stands cancelled" and wears a black band as a mark of protest. As a sidenote, the day the 9-to-9 fasting was held, the running joke in the insti was: "Aaj main apne do profs se milne gaya, dono ne bola ki lunch ke liye jaa rahe hain, baad mein aao.. ha ha".
The protesters argue that without quality pay, it is difficult to attract quality talent that is crucial for the IITs to sustain their edge. I find it a rather hollow argument because academia will never be able to match the salaries of the corporate world. Clearly, non-monetary incentives are what are needed.
A start would be to attract quality masters and doctorate students. It doesn't give me much hope when I see a PhD student googling for "how to find centre of mass of a thin plate" or when a faculty member tells me, what translates to: "In India, if you have a masters and you can write well, you are God". So, Mr. Sibal and the faculty association might want to try and address more fundamental issues than pay-hike. The faculty is also involved a plethora of consultancy projects, which from whatever little I know about consultancy, should be paying them in multiples of their salary.
Somehow, the administration (be it at the national level or the institute level) always tries to get rid of the syptoms than the disease itself. Why? Because it is far more easier: It is easier for the institute to kick people out of hostels for "ragging" than make a conscious effort to talk to the senior students, year after year. Because it is easier for the institute to increase minimum attendance requirement to 85% (which I must tell you is ridiculous and almost statistically impossible to adhere to - definitely not in the final year) than make the whole teaching experience in class better by investing in faculty training. Because it is easier to blame the poor communication skills of students than introducing compulsory "pesonality development" courses in the curriculum. Because, the administration has no freaking clue of what to do when the water reaches their nose.
What we really is need is a bunch of dedicated staff who can disentangle the threads and repair the system, which reminds me of the McKinsey partner who (in the pre-placement talk) said that they are working with IITB to improve the management of the institution. THAT is a good start. Late, yet, good.
**Hiatus** is a word that comes to my mind. **Long** is an adjective that I may add to make it sound more attractive. **Writer's block** is a term that puts a nice cloak around my sudden loss of enthusiasm towards blogging and makes it presentable.
But, 10 days later, I am back on my blog. :-P
Oh, and a "define: hiatus" in your Google search window throws this up: "suspension: an interruption in the intensity or amount of something" - which, makes sense. Also, James Wales gives me a beautiful explanation of Writer's block. He/It says
Writer's block is a condition, associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task in hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers.
So, the next time you are looking for a reason, use the above one.
To move over the inertia, I wanted something motivating to get me back to blogging. And it is here. The new batch of kids are here on campus. Anxious, nerdy, proud and day-1-arrogant freshers.
And here's a (new?) hypothesis I float: Freshies, by nature of their being freshies, are DUMB.
I wake up at 7 AM and drag myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and I find a guy happily staring into the mirror with a toothbrush in his mouth, while the water tap underneath is open and flowing. And at a volume flow rate good enough to force me to blog! This is not a one-off. Hopefully, the freshies will not disappoint me and provide enough evidence over the next couple of weeks to prove my hypothesis. Shall update here.
PS: Hypothesis: a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory";
I think summers are a great time. Infact, summers are friggin' awesome times. I remember thinking last summer that things cannot get more awesome than they already were. This summer is slowly standing up to beat it!
A kick-ass coincidence is this: Three of us (I will qualify 'us' soon) had applied for a really amazing scholarship being offered by Reliance Industries called Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. It is an all-expenses covered scholarship to pursue the two-year MBA at Stanford University. It is not restricted to college students, infact most of the guys who apply are people with extensive professional experience.
So, of the 1500-odd applications (as of last year), Reliance selects about 50 fellows and then finally Stanford selects the 5 who will be offered the scholarship. So, that's a cool 80-odd lakh scholarship for two years!
The information page can be accessed here. The list of fellows of last year is here.
Anyway, the coincidence part is this: Two of my friends...
- Gaurav Sapra - BITS Goa, just finished college this year - He is one of those 'childhood friends' that they talk about in stories and movies.
- Aniket 'Uss' Pangarkar- Insti fellow, going into final year now - He is my mentor, guide, chuddy-buddy etc. etc. He is also my partner in most, if not all, crimes in the insti. (They say gay-partner, but that's not true, trust me).
... and I had applied for this fellowship. And to our respective utter disbeliefs, all the three got through to the top 50!
So, while we reel under the sheer awesomeness (yes, indeed flicked from Kung-fu Panda) of the coincidence, those two have started preparing for their GMAT (provided free of cost by Reliance to the finalists) and I, having already taken my GMAT last month, am planning to write a book on how awesome summers, even summers like the ones in Chennai, can get! :-)
I am not a nature guy. Neither am I a photography guy. But, this post _might_ smell of those elements. Ignore such thoughts.
Of the many things that contribute in making IIT Madras "IIT Madras", one big factor is the deers deer and one relatively lesser but more prestigious is the blackbucks.
When I came here four years ago, I remember someone with the mike saying that there are 11 blackbucks on campus: 7 male and 4 female. I remember thinking then, that it pays more to be a male blackbuck in the insti than a male student. Damn you JEE! Anyway, the count of the deers deer, if I remember right was put at 40.
One fact that was said then but somehow gets lost in the woods often is that IIT Madras is the only university in the world to be in a reserved forest. (No, this post is not about IIT Madras and it's glory. Patience.)
Past month, staying here, I noticed there were many more blackbucks (and one whitebuck - too :P ) and deers deer than I had ever seen. It was a comforting sight because these animals were said to be on the brink on extinction and that insti is not a viable enough eco-sytstem for them. Armed with my phone - I did snap a few pictures. There is only as much you can shoot with a 2 MP camera embedded in your SMS-device! And while I was capturing the pictures, my friends found it to be 'amusing' and 'gay' that I, after staying here for four years, was taking pics of deers deer.
The following are the different pics I took at different times on different days. FYI, deers deer are the ones with the spots. Blackbucks are the ones without. Unfortunately, my photography has lead to spots on both. IIT Madras has often benefitted from the legacy of the forest:
All our Shaastra, Saarang articles begin with "It is that time of the year when the woods are buzzing with [Insert Shaastra-ish or Saarang-ish word]". Most of our brochures, howsoever small the number may be, would mention "sprawling 650-acre campus set in the forests". The Director could make jokes about the monkeys - the ones living inside the room and ones on the trees. Our nature-conscious GATE-clearing students get to complain of dogs attacking deers deer in a mail addressed to all the 5000-odd people on campus.
Monkeys are not featured in this article. I am thoroughly pissed with them because they broke a wash-basin in the bog. It is a totally different issue that there has hardly been any water in the one that has managed to survive:
Prof. A: "You know what? Vikas was supposed to get a Nobel prize for his ppt, but last minute he got pipped." (Prof. A to Prof. B, with all his sarcasm in the world, when I just entered the Viva room.) Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
Prof A: "Ya ya, Vikas will make a good ppt. So be very careful!", throwing caution to everyone in the room, for no real reason. Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
"Vikas, I don't want a sales pitch. Better show me some meat." Prof. C after looking at my first slide. Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
"So, you are basically saying that if we decrease usage of vehicles, we can save energy. Thats all?" Prof. A after I had explained for over half-an-hour on how we can save energy in the transportation sector. Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. No.... Sir
Me: "Sir, there are two sides to the climate debate...." Prof. A : "That everybody knows. Tell me what you have done." (It's unfair! It's not common sense!) Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
Prof. A."You went and worked with economists and became one yourself. I wanted you to convert them to technologists!" Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
Prof. C. : "What you said over the last 20 minutes is just common sense. Show me some mathematical models" Firstly, it was NOT common sense. I swear by god. Secondly, and I quote myself "But Sir, my company did not want me to develop mathematical models, they just wanted a framework." Prof A. : "But that is what I want you to do: change the way they work!" Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
Prof. A.: "Just because you are thanking me, don't think that I will give you extra marks", when I was at the Acknowledgements slide. Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
Prof. B : "You should put the source of data in every slide, unless ofcourse you deliberately want to confuse us.." Prof. A : ".. which he is very capable of." Me: Sir... Err.. Umm.. Err.. Okk.. Sir
*************** Well.. you win some, you lose some.
It won't be a herculean task to figure out who was the BOSS today in the viva committee. And who was looking like a big big loser.
Well.. you win some, you lose some.
PS: Fellow mates can add their quotes in the comment section, or let me know so that I can add an _update here. :-)
PS2: An old post on quotable quotes from Inter-IIT Sports Meet 2007 can be accessed here
Following is an article I authored for the Energy Bulletin of IIT Madras. It is a beginner's guide to understanding the hype and the ballyhoo of climate change and green energy.
My previous article titled 'At The Crossroads: India's Energy Demands' can be accessed here.
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More than 10,000 people from about 200 countries of the world will meet later this year at Copenhagen, Denmark in what has been touted to be the most important meeting ever to address the growing issue of global warming.
Convention of Parties (COP) – 15, as it is called, is a forum where leaders and policymakers from all over the globe will meet and decide the future course of action on the impending doom of climate change. Kyoto protocol, although a significant legislation, never could satisfy the environmentalists and they complained of political ill-will towards climate change mitigation. The United States which is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the world, was never party to the Kyoto protocol. This fact is often used by critics to undermine the effectiveness of Kyoto protocol. China, the second largest emitter was not bound by Kyoto protocol to reduce its emissions. The Kyoto protocol covered countries responsible for only 29 pc of global emissions, leaving out countries like US, China and India. The very scale at which the treaty operates made tracking and verifying governmental actions and claims impractical.
The 2 degree Celsius barrier:
The academia is unanimous in its opinion that a more than 2 C rise in global temperature from 1990 to 2050 will have adverse effects on human population. Some scientists warn that CO2 levels must be kept below 350 ppm (or about 1.5 C increase in temperature) to avoid serious impacts. Current levels are around 386 ppm, growing at an annual rate of 2.1 ppm. 450 ppm levels offer a 50 pc chance to keep the temperature change below 2 C and scientists argue that a 50 pc chance is not good enough when dealing with climate because the effects could be catastrophic.
The current scenario: developing v/s developed nations
Optimists are betting their money on COP 15 to evolve a new consensus among the nations of the world. They are hoping that the Obama administration, along with the other leaders of the world, takes strong and concrete steps. But there are already signs of discord. Developing countries like India and China demand that the rich countries decrease their emissions levels 40 pc below 1990 levels by 2020. The rich countries, which benefitted from an earlier industrial revolution, should take more drastic steps than developing countries which maintain that strong climate change sanctions could hamper their economic progress.
Japan, a leading emitter or GHG recently announced that it intends to reduce its emission levels by 15 % in 2020 as compared to 2005 levels. Critics argue that this is not enough and such shallow commitments by rich countries will not drive countries like India and China towards stronger action. Japanese government, on the other hand, defends their decision by arguing that Japan is already a very carbon-efficient economy and any further increase in efficiency will be unrealistic. Japan emits less relative to other major economies. Though it has the second largest economy, behind the US, it ranks fifth in global emissions, behind US, China, Russia and India.
The European Union has committed to 20 pc reduction by 2020 as compared to 1990 levels and by 30 pc if other rich countries follow suit. The congressional panel in US recently cleared a bill that aims at a 6 pc reduction in CO2 levels from 1990 to 2020. Overall, the developed nations have offered to reduce their emissions by about 8pc to 14 pc, whilst a reduction of 40 pc by them is required to carry any real hope of mitigating the change. Clearly, the developing world is at loggerheads with the developed nations.
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS:
Another important consensus that needs to evolve at COP 15 is the architecture of financial instruments needed to curb climate change. The Kyoto protocol adapted a cap-and-trade mechanism. Cap-and-trade mechanisms put a ceiling (cap) on consumption/production of a commodity and then the involved parties can trade the sanctions. Kyoto protocol imposed upper limits on carbon emissions for about 37 developed countries (called Annex-I countries). The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was the preferred cap-and-trade mechanism adopted at Kyoto which allowed Annex-I countries to trade Carbon Emission Reductions (CERs) with developing countries (called non-Annex I countries).A CER is a carbon credit which is equivalent to a reduction of 1 ton of carbon dioxide.
The Clean Development Mechanism and why it is not the solution:
The intentions of the CDM were noble – impose continually stricter sanctions on rich countries so that they shift towards a greener economy and in the process, the developing nations benefit from the green investments. In order to earn carbon credits, the rich countries would invest in developing countries, thereby enabling technology transfer. All the nations of the world therefore had economic incentives to reduce carbon emissions.
However, recent research suggests that CDM has been very ineffective in reducing carbon emissions. The market architecture of CDM stresses on carbon credits as a tool for mitigation. The private players in the carbon credit market have suitably taken up “low-hanging” projects to generate carbon credits – projects that are easy and cheap to execute but which do not significantly aid sustainable development. It has been reported that of the CER production, 51 % are from HFC destruction and N2O capture that do not deliver any sustainability benefits.Also, when developing countries themselves would have sanctions in the future, all the cheap abatement options would already have been exploited by the rich countries, leaving them at a disadvantage.
Interestingly, the carbon market is predicted to be the largest commodity market in the near future, slated to rise to $400 billion by 2012 -2015 from about $ 11 billion in 2005. Critics describe this as a “market for hot air” and accuse legislators of creating an artificial scarcity when none existed. With such a huge financial value attached to the market, industry lobbyists are working hard to retain the CDM. The CDM is particularly prone to manipulation by politicians and polluters. Also, given the advanced stage to which countries have committed themselves towards the CDM, it is highly unlikely that the COP 15 will see any major changes in the architecture of CDM.
A Carbon Tax regime: advantages and bottlenecks
The cap-and-trade is a quantity-based approach. A large fraction of economists and environmentalists advocate the use of price-based mechanisms. Experts suggest the use of a “carbon tax”, as a pigovian pollution tax for a global public good. There will no country emissions quota, no trading and no reference period. It will be a tax on services and goods that will increase every year at a rate commensurate with desired abatement of emissions. Although the intricacies of this system are complex and need substantial discussion to be agreeable across the countries, it offers many benefits. Al Gore says “tax what you burn and not what you earn” – he advocates the implementation of carbon tax, while reducing other taxes so that the consumer has a disincentive when buying a gas-guzzling car or coal-produced electricity as against a hybrid vehicle or hydel/wind power.
There are two major roadblocks for the carbon tax. Most of the arguments against it have come from a “it’s a tax and therefore it is bad” crowd. Taxes have never been welcomed by politicians for a fear of backlash from the public. Secondly, it is the unwillingness of a consumer to pay a higher price for a product although it translates to an overall saving over years.Consider the incandescent light bulb v/s CFLs debate. Although the CFL offers a longer lifespan and consumes significantly less energy than a light bulb, people tend to choose the incandescent light bulb because of its cost, which is a fraction of that of CFL. It has been estimated that the average US household might need to pay about $ 1500 per annum in 2020 if the government imposes such legislations. The average consumer responds only to economic incentives. Governments, therefore, have a strong role to ensure that there are adequate economic incentives for the consumer to switch to cleaner and greener products.
India, for one, has fared very poorly in this respect. Reva, the revolutionary electric car from a Bangalore-based company emits about 60 pc less carbon per kilometer as compared to other cars in the market. It costs about Rs. 4 Lakh against a Maruti which costs about 2.5- 3 Lakh and the new Nano which’ll be around 1.2 Lakh. In spite of the lower cost per km and lower emissions per km, Reva has managed to sell only about 1000 cars in India. Interestingly, Reva has sold about 2000 cars abroad in countries, many of which offer incentives for such environment-friendly products.
Cheap GHG emission reduction possibilities:
McKinsey & Co. in a recent report has identified developing Asian countries to possess about 60 pc of the world’s cheap GHG abatement potentials. These measures do not require any substantial investment and can be met with existing technologies. Measures like improving vehicle efficiency, better building design and greener power account for about 70 pc of low-cost abatement options. These measures require involve very little technology (like those in forestry or agriculture) or mature existing technologies like nuclear power and energy-efficient lighting.
Continuing on the same lines, a substantial public investment by governments (as opposed to private investments through CDM) will intensify the action to implement clean energy technologies. Past examples in the US - the JFK Apollo program in the 60’s, Carter Energy program in the late 70’s and lately the investment in security after 9/11 have accelerated the developments in those sectors. Governments across the world have to invest massively in clean energy technologies because no effort to achieve emission reductions will be possible without adopting cleaner energy over fossil-fuel based energy and currently low-carbon energy is significantly costlier.
Conclusion:
The COP-15 should develop a robust institutional framework for mitigation and adaptation, with enthusiastic participation from countries willing to take bold steps and embrace ambitious commitments. The stretch from here to Copenhagen is difficult and uncertain. It is imperative that the leaders and policymakers evolve consensus on mitigation practices and policies. Countries like the US need to own-up for their previous actions and lead the world in climate change efforts, while countries like India and China has a major role to play in deciding the future course of action. Copenhagen, in all probability, offers the last chance for the world to design a greener tomorrow and in these designs lay the fates of millions of poor people who are the most vulnerable to adverse climate change effects.
*******
The ticker on the side panel called 'Countdown to Copenhagen' is about COP 15. Should you need references, I'd be happy to share.
"City boy tops ISC with 99.25 %" screams a TOI article. It turns out the city is Kolkata.
Disclaimer: You may stop liking me if you are one of those people who don't think evil people should exist on this planet. On the other hand, if you are one of my ex-es or their friends, you anyway don't like me, this post will give you one more reason.
Excerpts from the post:
Subhajit had succeeded in beating over 50,000 students to the top spot. With cent per cent marks in maths and computer science, the St Joseph's College student notched up 99 in physics, 94 in chemistry and 97 in environmental studies. He scored 98% in English and 92% in Bengali.
Surprisingly, the first look at the marks he obtained don't suggest they'll result in 99.25%. Indeed, (100 +100+99+94+97+98+92)*100/700 = 97.14 %.
Now, I wonder what's wrong. Am I missing something? Is there another subject in which Subhajit scored 114 out of 100 (which probably is not a feat considered worthy of a mention by TOI) so that the percentage makes sense? OR is it another of those TOI articles where they fabricate details/title to sensationalise the article? If it is latter, TOI needs to fire their chief sensationaliser. Notwithstanding that fact, 97.14 (or 99.25 as the case may be) is an amazing feat.
Subhajit Ghosh isn't the average nerdish topper. "He paid a lot of attention to what he studied, rather than how much. He spent time on solving question papers and also went through the study material other than his prescribed books. He only took tuitions in English and Bengali, the rest he prepared by himself," said father Subhashis.
OK, let me be mean. (Yes, you are welcome to leave those anonymous comments! :-P ) No one would come on national newspaper and accept that he is a nerdish topper. I was not, and I am sure neither were you! AND we all paid a lot of attention to what we studied, rather than how much. We all spent time on solving question papers and also went through the study material other than our prescribed books.
Tuitions! HAH. I did not take any tuitions, not even for English and definitely not for Bangla. Did you?
But here is the clincher:
The Kolkata boy is now looking forward to testing his academic mettle at the finest engineering institutes in the country. "I am looking at either studying aerospace engineering at IIT-Kanpur or mechanical engineering at BITS, Pilani. I've given the competitive entrance exams and I'm expecting to rank between 500-600 in the IIT-JEE," said Subhajit confidently.
This, IMHO, is the cue when we should all pray "Bhagwan iss ladke ko satbuddhi dena." If some dude (with a 99.25 TOI %) is getting a rank between 500-600 in the JEE, WHY, in this whole white world would he take Aerospace engg. There are no god-damn jobs in that department. And no Subhajit, you will not be working on Airplanes and satellites and shit like that. You won't even be recruited by Boeing or Airbus. I know you want to join NASA and emulate Rakesh Sharma but I doubt even if ISRO trusts an Aero engineer from an IIT. Next, Mechanical engineering from BITS Pilani? - IMNSHO - It will be a disaster dear topper. I am told their dream job is with John Deere. I'll leave the smart readers to figure out the rest.
And I almost missed this point: How can he so confidently suggest that he is getting a rank between 500-600 in the JEE. I am sure the JEE chairman himself may not be in a position to make such comments. Anyone who has written JEE can vouch for this fact. I think this is a result of all the fake ranks that the FIITJEEs and likes dole out on their website. But then, this guy is a whiz-kid, with a 99.25 TOI %.
Here's the wicked part of my post: (skip it to spare yourself the BP rise. If you are a faculty member in the anti-ragging department of IITM, you are prohibited.)
Here's my wish: I hope this dude comes out with flying colors and joins IITM and he gets Alak and he is in 357, (which will be empty next semester; I'll stay in 358) so that I can send him to Minar at 1.30 in the night to fetch Egg Biriyani! And r@g him till he breaks down. MUHAHAHAHA. Worst case, if he joins IITK, I'll hunt him down in December during the inter-IIT and send him to their Minar!
[I used r@g because I don't want to end up in jail 'chakki-peesing' for ragging. What if the goons at MHRD have a Google alert for 'rag'?]
Strange things happen when you are enrolled for an engineering degree. Especially when you are neither particularly delighted about the field nor are you bestowed with the skills of Niccola Tesla.
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? 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!
This leads me to quote by Robert Heinlein, a famous Sci-fi writer. He said:
"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.
The following algorithm has been devised by Mr. Anurag Verma. He is a '07 batch alumnus of IIT Madras pursuing his Ph.D in Operations Research at Texas A & M University, USA. He was a student of Computer Science with a keen interest in OR. An avid cricket-lover, he also captained the IIT Madras cricket team to win Gold in the Guwahati Inter-IIT in 2006.
Ok. Enough. Laddoo is basically a cricket fanatic. He was my captain in the above-said year and a very very good friend. He is the muggu cricketer type and boasted of a nine-point-infinity CG. Cricket is his religion. Left-arm-fast ..Sorry, Left-arm Opening bowler and Left-handed batsman, he was Shtudd! Rahul and Sachin are his idols. We all love Laddoo.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Following are snippets of the chat I had with him:
achcha, i loved the dravid algo - i thought i'll reproduce it on my blog with your permission
Laddoo: zaroor... but BNU license agreement ko follow karna padega
*GNU
me: woh kya hota hai
i will credit you and put your orkut/facebook link
I, like everybody else, have a mortgage to pay. So, they want me to get a 'pseud' job. These guys here will give me an engineering degree very soon and ask me to leave. Others outside want me to have fun while I still can. Some people here are lost, like most other people here. A handful few here see that light at the end of the tunnel. She wouldn't believe me, though she says she does. And yes, to top it all, there is global warming, which I am told needs to be stopped.
Here I am trying my level best at changing the world, being a Douglas Adams. And I am, to change the world, quigga! View my complete profile
Email me: vikas DOT shen AT gmail DOT com. A turn-around time of less than 24 hours is assured unless the mail amounts to spam or requires (very) deep thought.
