The Dark Side Of The Moon

Inspired by life.....Or are we?

2008-07-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

15th June 2008...I have completed my undergraduate degree and am headed for a PhD in Electrical Engineering at University of Rochester....I completed my undergraduate thesis viva this week, and am leaving Manipal University for good.
All of us love our alma matter and so do I. Sometimes its just blind love. You curse your institution a great deal, but when you meet some arbit "unclejee"or "auntijee" on your way back home in the train, who talk ill of your institution, you get annoyed.
But now that I look back, I ask myself if it was a right decision to come so far....what did i seek...and what have i found?
Seems a natural question now...
A good decision is based on logic and rationale. It may not always yield the best result, considering the chaotic world we live in...so many parameters...a million choices..and sometimes even choice, is an illusion.
What have I done here that deserves mention? I have done practically everything that i could have, and have been through almost all situations... sometimes.tricky and pleasant at other times.
Perhaps i could have done it differently and perhaps better. But I see myself in the mirror and what I am today, I owe it to this institution. What if i had been somewhere else? What and who would I have been? Maybe someone better....more successful, and maybe worse....But I would not have been what I am today- I would have been someone different.

In all second tier (Non IIT) engineering schools in India life starts this way: You enter, cursing the Institution and think that the institution does not deserve you. Thats what I thought. I was foolish as always. But I did learn soon that for the motivated, there are many opportunities here, a few of which, probably even much more reputed institutions cannot boast of.
But that does not count...To everyone who joins an institution, learn to respect the institution, feel proud about it. Without pride, nothing can be achieved. If you are gripped by the" I deserve better" syndrome, think if you are the best ever to have joined the institution, and think honestly. If you are, do what you please. But if you are not, then there is no reason why you cannot belong there. I say this because this is a suicidal tendency and it leads you into chaos. After 4 years, you will end up in some worse place and crib again. "Vicious cycle".

I have learned things the hard way. But yes, I have, in the end. Yes like all systems, this system has its own flaws. It has all the sham, drudgery that we all hate. But its not any different else where. Trust me, it isn't.

I saw some friends here who keep blaming the system. But in the end its just what you do with yourself. No doubt the system needs to be improved. But did u share your ideas with the management? Did you make a small effort to help out your juniors who are in the same soup now as you were in the past?No. So lets stop all this and get on with it. Lets give back more than we took from our institution, help it grow. Because its yours. By choice or by chance, but you belong here. It made you what you are.

As i leave this place today, I will miss it all. Not only the respect and the affection, also the hatred and jealousy.
It has taught me all what i know today. I raise a final toast to my institution : I indeed am, "INSPIRED BY LIFE" ..

PS: "Inspired by Life" is the motto of Manipal University.

MEETING RICHARD FEYNMAN, AMRTYA SEN AND MAHATMA GANDHI....

2006-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

On saturday, i met someone who was all the three combined into one.... [atleast thats what he thinks of himself...] Phew!!! meeting him has been an 'educating experiance' to say the least...
I will never experiment again with profs of other departments without being damn sure of what i am doing....
I had written a paper which involved electrical electronics and a bit of mechanical funda. I thought that rather than just present it competitively, i should develop it further as a project...[poor me]....sobs...
So with my comrades 'SAUDI ANNA' AND TRIPLE P, i headed to meet this HOD of a particular DEPT. (i have always admired the systematic approach of that dept...) A senior prof had recommended me his name [ may that prof go to hell....]
So as i approached him, he was in the lab. My friend SAUDI ANNA introduced me to him, and thus put the ball in my court. I had hardly spoken when Mr. HOD told us to WAIT outside for half an hour as he was 'busy'.
So we did wait....and when he came out, a fourth year girl also suddenly appeared to meet him...We had already started talking to him by then but it seemed he was more oriented to attending to the queries of the lady first....B ut he had no choice as we had already followed him into his cabin by then. So this guy calls the lady in..."CAN YOU JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION AND ENRICH THESE BOYS WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE? He says to her....no offence meant, but in no way did she resemble MADAM CURIE...When she came in, he offered her a seat near him saying-"You are the senior person here, you have the first right to take a seat" (Or DID THIS OLD BLOKE BELIEVE IN THE OLD ADAGE OF 'LADIES FIRST'?
"YOU BOYS ALSO TAKE A SEAT IF YOU CAN FIND CHAIRS" ....
At first i said i was ok standing but then my PPP passed me one and in retrospection i would say i am glad that i did take a seat or (else i would have fainted...)
I explain him the idea...."Sir we are planning to use E-WASTE for making an electronic welding aid." Then i explained him all details in 5 minutes ....
He then ruminates with his eyes half closed....
Then he stares hard at me with his benovalent eyes and says " Perfectly fine idea in concept, but i am not impresed by your claims as it would not be economical"
He made the lady 'COMMENT ' on our plans so frequently that it made us wonder whether he was interested in her comments or in her...
I explained him a hundred times that we are using waste so resource utilization and optimization would reduce cost to a bare minimun. [We later checked that LnT has come up with a device at ten times the cost ] But the prof dosent know all this he starts talking bullshit about world dynamics and economics and my proj wont stant the test of economics.....because india is a poor country and no one cares for quality.....
He picks up a Frontline and shows me the cover story....millions of indians still deficate in the open....Then he talks about how Us in dumping obsolete technology into india and we are accepting it.....he talks about how frequently youngsterrs change their cell phones and not to mention the warrdrobes, when a new movie releases...the world has become so manipulated...
america has taken over oil...saddam...bush...osama...blah blah blah....
We inturrupt him and tell him the merits of our project and also tell him that we have made our mind to go for it.....
He doed not seem to care...he tells us though that our project may win awards from the government...he believes the government gives awards for silly and impractical things....(And thats why he never got one...)
I am usually a good listner, but now he has started to get on my nerves...i reply terrsely-"SIR, I WONT MIND WINNING AN AWARD"
But he replies" You the future of tommorrow should not have such a small goal, you should think bigger in life....You should create some thing with greater impact."

"But sir, the project is an innovative idea, i am not saying that i want to produce it on a mass scale from tommorrow, but i feel it definitely deserves more research", i said.
Mr. HOD ," You people are talking like school kids who get excited about every new idea they have...., you are the future technocrats of india, your vision should be much broader than this...blah..blah.Research in india has short term goals like yours and hence the state...i went to IIT Delhi and find stone crushetrs using crude hammers there..(..bakwaas...aur zyada irrelevant bakwaas...bakwaaas).." HE FURTHER CONTINUES....
" You should learn doing things the hard way.... see when i was a student and did welding for the first time, i burnt my eyes as i refused to use the visor..."[ NOW WHO WOULD CALL THAT SMART ????]
"From kerela, my native place, there are hundreds if illiterate welders and all are earning big money in the gulf...."
[Does that make you sad? why dont you go join them sir??]
Then he starts talking crap about the problem of plastic....it is a social problem...mindset of the people has to be altered....blah blah....again the economics and world dynamics....
I LOOK DOWN UPON MY WATCH...it's already five.... an hour and twenty minutes have passed since i had come..even college time is over..i look towards my comrades...i am angry furious in fact, but still i am having controlling my laughter....
A FOURTH YEAR STUDENT enters...says" Sir, please accept my project report.....it's on stealth systems..."
MR. HOD.."Why do you have such a destructive mindset? all you can think of is war???"
"No sir, stealth helps us enrich our defence and thus protect the country"
Mr. HOD-"the USA has so much technology and you see what happened to it on 9/11....."
STUDENT-"Sir but post 9/11 US has the control of the whole of the Gulf"
Mr HOD-"But it would not last. Control through force dosent last. REMEMBER WHAT GANDHIJI SAID?"
I could not here anything more....i signalled SAUDI ANNA to ask the final question...
"Sir would you guide us through our project?"
MR. HOD -"Why do you need my guidace when you can do it independently? You have everything figured out...dont you?"
We try hard to smile...and take leave.
Even as we are getting out, he says" keep whatever i told you today in mind....".

As wer hurled out of the corridor, we were laughing like hell. He could have heard us, but we couldnt help it....Trust me i hav not laughed like this in ten years!!!"

I laughed, BUT now i feel the pain. This man, a scholar no doubt, wamt's to be FEYNMAN, AMARTYA SEN. GANDHI-all in one, but he dosen't want to be what he is-A TEACHER......and so i know he will never be able TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON SOCIETY......

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

2006-08-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

The stuff that i've written relates to the state of affairs of my college, but i 'm sure that other 'engineers' would be able to relate to it too.If you do, please let me know your views and comments...

'What use are all your tools?
Shannon's theorem, algebra Boole's?
The jargon of our engineering schools,
If it makes us all frustrated fools?

If you are not a nerd and have had the pleasure of occupying one of the backbenches of our class, you could not have missed this bench graffitti.You may smile as you read on, But a smile can hardly veil the deep anguish within. Surely the person who wrote it was no idiot.

This year has been spent learning and unlearning and has been really frustrating.Not that the syllabus was bad. It has been framed by intellectuals whom i cannot challenge. But the manner in which it is taught makes the difference. Whatever our system demands it is most logical to strive for a clear understanding of the subjects and an application based learning methodology. However, it is sad to note that our university which boasts of being global in outlook only by having the maximum number of foreign students, is nowhere near its goal.

Consider the elite branch of electronics and communication which attracts the best of talent. The 'communication' aspect of this branch makes it truly modern and saught after. However, the way in which these supposedly interesting subjects are taught, reduce them to a thinly disguised course in mathematical discipline.Mathematics is definitely the language of all scientific learning, but we should not confuse the language with learning itself.Formal proofs, derivations and mathematical orgies take away the charm of the subject almost totally. Moreover, the physical understanding, which helps to apply learning to real life applications is toatally ignored. The teachers blame the students lack of interest for the poor standard of education and not the system, but i humbly beg to differ.
An anecdote by RICHARD FEYNMAN, the versatile scientific genius would not be out of place here to convey what i mean.
"I often liked to play tricks on people when i was at MIT. Once in an engineering drawing class, some joker picked up a french curve (a smooth piece of plastic used for drawing smooth curves) and said,"I wonder if the corves on this thing are described by a special formula?" I thought for a second and said," Yes, on the lowest point on these curves, the Tangent is always horizontal."
The students verified it and were excited by their discovery.Now these people had already done calculus and 'knew' that at the lowest point or minima of any curve, the slope of the tangent is zero.The tangent would thus, be horizontal for any curve at the lowest point.They could not put these two points together. They didnt even knowwhat they 'knew'.
Now if the students at MIT Boston were like this, we cannot blame their talent or lack of interest but only the system, which at our lesser known MIT, is definitely worse.
The teachers blame our lack of interest and 'minimalist attitude' for the debacle. If interest equates to being able to make neat notes in class without comprehending a word, yes, i am not interested. We students are adult learners and would only be interested if we are convinced that whatever we are learning would hold us in good stead in the future.But all of us, be it a ten pointer or an idiot like me, know very well that whatever we have learned and 'derived' in the sessionals,we would forget in less than a week, only to commit it to our short term memory just before the endsems. Seldom can such 'learning' help.

Let us now talk about the learning resorces available to us. We either study books by foreign authors or by the indians. Einstien once said, " Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler." If we apply this to our books, the foreign books, devoid of any methodical teaching in class and the availibility of self help manuals, overwhelm us totally. I am not commenting on the quality and presentyation of these classics, but the patchy manner in which we learn from them makes thier impact suboptimal. The indian books, by contrast are shallow in content and character and not much different from the photocopied notes we use. What would be ideal is a middle path and proper teaching which is dynamic, and changes in light of perceptions and industry demands.

A respected faculty member of my department once said that it is futile to aim for IIT standards as our students are not interested enough. Nevertheless i feel that the learning process should be made interesting in the interest of the interested student atleast! Also, excellence is not about aping some other institution, but creating our own standards. It is a culture in itself and cannot be developed in a day or an year. We cannot put all the blame on the teachers to, as the value of each dedicated teacher is incalculable. So it seems that we need a joint effort. There is hope for the future with the coming up of the multicrore INNOVATION AND RESEARCH centre. However our future course of action would decide whether it proves to be a centre of excellence or extravagance.

BLACK FRIDAY: THE FILM IN NEW LIGHT

2006-08-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since i wrote this piece but i find it relevent in the light of recent Mumbai blasts....i was in Mumbai few days before the blast and i know that nothing can rock the spirit of this 'never say die' city. Hail Mumbai! Hail Mumbaikars!

On friday, 12th of march 1993, 12 explosions bled Mumbai (then Bombay), targeting strategic locations and causing an unprecedented loss of life and property. Anurag Kashyap's BLACK FRIDAY is a rare foray by an indian filmmaker into the hard hitting ground realities of this dastardly act.This controversial movie was banned by the supreme court. Nonetheless, it was critically acclaimed all over due to it's intense outburst and realistic portrayal of characters.
The plot of the movie deals with police investigations after the blast led by inspector Rakesh Maria (Kay Kay menon). As the truth unfolds itself, it becomes evident that the blasts were intended to 'avenge the atrocities faced by the minority community in the bombay riots which followed the Babri Masjid demolition.
The human aspect of one ofthe accused is shown thrugh Badshah Khan (Aditya Srivastav), who eventually realises that there is no justification for the act he has committed.The movie also uses actual documentary footage at places which is really touching.
The movie soundtrack by the band INDIAN OCEAN is nothing short of phenomenal. In particular, the track 'bandeh' is full of anguish and paroxysm. The guilt of the perpetrators is reflected through the track 'BHARAM BHAAP KE'. The whole score is a fusion of eastern sufi rock, jazz and pure classical. The effect leaves you mesmerised. Try getting the album and you wont regret it.
The supreme court's ruling on the movie accuses it to pass judgement on the accused and hence the ban.The movie explores the involvement of Dawood Ibrahim, and directly accuses Tiger Memon and others. It is perhaps too close to the truth, baring all- the irresponsible behaviour of the politicians, inhuman methods used by the police for investigations, the foreign influence and the governments apathy towards the riot victims. It is a pity that a movie with such content and character be banned and it reflects poorly upon the freedom of expression in our country as compared to say the US where movies like Farenhiet 911 are freely screened. However, we being a nation where public opinion is based on jingoism and devoid of rationality, the fear that the movie will bring about the age old debate about prejudices seems to be real for the time being.
The movie reinstated my faith in the fact that terrorism in born and routed in the mind. It can be curbed not by brute force, but with love. BLACK Friday leaves the viewer pondering;
Why are we so gullible?
Influenced by false perceptions into bestial cruelity?
Do we all have a brutal self latent within?
If yes, it thretens the very fabric of our existance.
The message of the movie is contained in Gandhi's words, with which it ends:
'An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.'

P.S: Watch the movie.....

CHILDREN OF THE LESSER GOD

2006-06-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

I am a child of the lesser God
But i blame him not
Painfully but patiently i bear
The burden of his yoke.
I die of thirst while you
Sitting in a gaudy bar
Drench yourself in champagne
And complain of life being 'dry'.
What made you an unfeeling creature?
I submit to the fury of nature
And you're furious about
Being blessed with education.
You show your wrath
On me as i cross your path.
But have you ever thought of me?
A child of the lesser God?
You mock at my eroded clothes
And the callous on my heel.
But jeer if you can at your eroded values
Your callous conscience?
Today i groaned in pain
And stole for food.
Even accepted another religion
Merely for a piece of bread.
But who gave you the right to discuss
The morality of my actions?
Have you ever felt hunger?
Do you have within,reverence for religion?
You endlessly blame me
For the plight of our country
Yes, i am illiterate, ignorant, unaware.
But let me ask you young Indian,
What have you done for 'your' country?
I know my cries of distress you wouldnt hear,
Let alone the thought of bearing it.
None wil cry as i die..
But my God will forgive me.
As i face him, i will plead
That you be born as me in your next life.
And though i wish i was born in your place,
I detest the thought of being born as you.