The Mystery of the Missing Chicken Leg Piece

This could draw flak from various quarters. Notwithstanding my designation as a final year (who are supposed to be aloof of petty and minor things), this is a controversy that I am determined to address in my blog before graduating.

Indian readers of my blog would not find it difficult to associate with the hostel mess system. For the foreign readers (if any!), a rough analogy would be a catered dormitory/hall of residence but without any kitchen system. So, rather than cook my own food, I depend on the mess for my fooding requirements for a nominal charge. Sounds like a nice little arrangement, but here is the catch. Mess food is possibly the closest I can imagine to what I might be given to eat if I were to serve a term in Kala Pani.

It may sound gross. But even though it is a widely known fact that mess food is nowhere hygienic and close to the minimum prescribed quality (what with stray puppies/dogs and kittens roaming the dining hall!), no attempt has ever been made to change it. The blame has been squarely put on a corrupt bureaucracy that nobody can do anything about. If I were to have lunch, I would wait for a spoon (which would smell of soap water) for 5 minutes near the washing area with flies buzzing around my food plate. The washing procedure has been aptly described as being very efficient, “Dip in hot water, dip in soap water and finally dip in cold water.” While a new dining hall costing 15000,000 INR could be constructed (which eventually served as a ‘pathway’ to exit the first dining hall!), it was considered a waste of resources to buy a handful of new spoons.

Ok Ok. But what is this mumbo jumbo all about? What of the missing leg piece? A simple way to understand this would be a two port network. Dozens of live chickens arrive at the mess in the morning, and after some processing inside a black box, what remains is a few cooked chicken bones (sometimes with a little bit of flesh), invariably without any leg pieces! In one particular instance, a chicken leg was found but with minimal flesh. A possible surmise for this rare occurrence has been attributed to the spread of polio to chickens [really?! ;) ]. If this reminds you of Food Inc., fear not, this is much worse.

The scale at which nutritional deficit occurs in this arrangement is unimaginable. Think of 10,000 students at one IIT and multiply that by the number of IITs in India: 15, and you begin to get a small glimpse into the problem. Every week, without fail (summer, winter or rain), the same course is served for lunch: Chickpea, random vegetables/fish, chickpea, random vegetables/fish, chickpea, random vegetables/fish, chickpea. I have a start up idea for the IITs. One that could compete hand in hand with the “VLCC weight loss program”. Some possible success stories:

“Believe it or not, I lost 5 kgs in one week of mess food. Yes, its disgusting and smelly, but it works!”

“Before coming to IIT, I was always depressed because I was taunted about my weight. Now I am even more depressed but I have lost weight! 15 kgs in two weeks! Beat that.”

A rather clichéd question has been: what purpose would such a critique serve to changing the system? My answer: if we cannot solve it at the ground level, the problem is higher up, or somewhere else. By reaching out to a wider audience, it might be possible to bring in policy changes at different levels. I do not intend to provide any solutions (other than possibly advocating an optional mess system and a more subjective feedback system). This has been discussed over and over at various forums. More than anything else, if there is a willingness to change things, I am sure improvements will happen and for the better. Looking forward to fatter and healthier IITians when I come back to Kgp 5 years from now! ;)

PS1: Writing after a re-a-a-a-lly long gap! :)

PS2: Does this sound like an SOP (Statement of Purpose)? Happens when you’re obsessed with applying to universities!

PS3: This one is a really long (and acerbic?) post, but I hope to receive some interesting and constructive comments!

Campus Happenings: Potpourri of Activity

It’s been a while since my last post, and after all the Finnish stuff, it is time to get back to ground reality in India. Even though it may not possible to compress a semester’s worth into a single post, a few keywords have essentially looped throughout the last few months in bhaat sessions – Apping, placements, BTP, grades, HHSS Ravi Shankar, SOS (Sociology of Science!) blah blah blah …

The most exciting event however, has been the arrival of a new carrom board to our wing (with much ado and fanfare)! Yayy! Fervent battles have been fought, delicate shots have been played, “Jacuzzi shots” have been invented and State District level players have been toppled – all in the last few weeks.

JAcuZZi shot., /jəˈko͞ozē SHät/ 2011, CTE (name of wing) proprietary phrase, originating from “a random carrom shot hit by Jazz that cuts across the board and pockets at least two coins in at least 50% of the attempts”. Now a general term for any shot that works on the probability principle (higher the coins on board and higher the power into the shot, higher the probability of pocketing) and gives an aura of a “Rube Goldberg shot”.

This brings me to another interesting point that I wanted to make – I don’t approach placements in the same way I approach carrom. Although most people here approach it in the “JAcuZZi way” consciously or unconsciously (a discussion on this isn’t something I intend here), I’ve been making a deliberate effort to be somewhat narrow and focussed this time around.

This is possibly because of two interesting events that have really stood out – visit of HHSS Ravi Shankar to our campus lately, and a fantastic book that I read - “Code Name God”. It is about the saga of a man of Physics (from IIT Kharagpur, and that does strike a chord somewhere) who became blasé with all the worldly pleasures and found respite in the ancient art of meditation and Yoga. In the process, he also attempts to unify science and spiritually. Quite a read!!

Pandit Ravi Shankar was a revelation. Far from the preaching Sadhu that I expected, he was very modern and talked in fairly simple terms avoiding complex Sanskrit shlokas and references. Some have been really useful, and I’ve been implementing them (with somewhat limited success). For instance, I’ve started being more alert (awake 70% of the lecture) in classes by “being mindful” of my thoughts and breath.

Of course, all of this doesn’t mean I’ve become all spiritual. It is just a new perspective that I’ve found and an interesting topic to read up upon! That’s all for now! More after placement season. Cheers!!

Moi Moi Suomi

So, after a somewhat short stint in Finland: I finally return to India. I won’t go into my reverse-culture-shock (honking cars, hot & humid weather, crowded streets, no drinking water in Hall, no awesome-laundry and red tape were some key words #welcome-back-to-India) when I returned as that may not be so pleasant for the readers.

Canada Day: My best ever!

However, the last 15 days may have been one of the most memorable moments of my life, starting with Canada Day on July 1st. Though I had no idea what it meant, the idea of French-Canadian Crepes (sounds like a treaty!) with maple syrup was enticing enough to bring me to the lab kitchen. To me, it was a cross between omelettes and Dosas, but never mind: it was quiet good.

B’day parties!

I wasn’t going to miss anything. Oh, so you’re going to a bar for the party? Ahem, mm, well … ok, I’ll get some juice. Bottoms up, anyone?

For the other party, there was a variation of dumb charades with personalities. Keywords (read pseudorandom guesses) were Nelson Mandela and the pyramids (Tipping point, Scrabble, ellipsis anyone?).

Hula Hooping & Barbeque. Any takers? Hello? #pre-last-15-days

No one? Well, at least there is one such gentleman that I know of. Very good exercise for the tummy, especially after a good meal of steaks, bread, cheese and all the other stuff.

Oh, by the way, if you are looking for moves to start off with, do drop in here: your one stop guide to hooping! (The playlist deserves special mention).

Berry bee goode

Blueberry season finally arrives. Not knowing that the berries are also meant for the bees, wasps (whatever) and the rest of the animals can be somewhat hazardous.

But some effort (police in black dress in black speed-boat? #all-black. No, you don’t get arrested for picking blueberries. Long story) has to go in for a really tasty blueberry pie.

And it all ends with a glass of juice

Mbar, one of the most happening places in Helsinki. Quiet and almost inconspicuous in the day, it springs to activity in the evenings:

Live DJ, clinking of glasses and the ambient noise. Truly a treat for the senses.

Might have come here daily if I knew of it before! But as someone remarked, it was all planned out to the minute.

Moi Moi Suomi!

Update: Just realised that this was my 100th post!

Aye, aye Vice-Captain

C: Hey! Watch out!

Boom!

VC: Aah. That hurt. What was that?

I will never forget the name after that. Hard to tell if that was meant to be onomatopoeic but that was a tough way to learn the name. Sailing is not for amateur photographers like me. But you can always steer the boat for a few miles in the open sea without crashing into many things.

Subtleties Involved

There are certain subtleties involved like you always have to take the boat on the right of the green sticks (so that you don’t go to shallow waters). Then you have to keep saving your location on the GPS and check the map once in a while. Other than that, if you know the ropes right, you are all set to sail! According to the captain (C), one week should be enough to learn how to navigate the seas independently.

Bastards & Fishy Business

One could see the sea gulls following the ships in search of fish that had been thrown onto the surface of the water because of the movement. Then, there was a really beautiful view of the famous fort of Suomenlinna from the sea. And not to forget the racing yatches, barges, ships and boats in the sea that come in all shapes and sizes (and colours).

One particular yatch kept following us around for no reason at all! At times, World War II era propeller bombing aircrafts could be seen droning away in the sky. On the whole, apart from the cool breeze, it was really calm.

I was about to relax but hey! what is that?! A pirate ship! Heading straight at us. Ok. Brace yourselves.

Danger Staved off.

The important thing to keep in mind is to keep having some Karelian Pasties. This not only ensures that you are never hungry but also lets you look you super calm and scares away the pirates.

Talking about amateur photography, how about a small collage of photos taken while sailing and sailoring?

Now I know why Finnish people spend long vacations (going to different countries even! The Greek islands are pretty much preferred) in the sea on solar powered sailing boats equipped with refrigerator, kitchen, bedrooms and complicated toilets. An amazingly eco-friendly way to have an awesome vacation!

Moi Moi.

PS1: If you are wondering who the bastard is, click here. I didn’t do the christening!

PS2: For a possible origin of the name above, see this.

PS3: Some fun facts about sailing:

1. No sailing license required for privately owned non-motorized boats!
2. You always wave your hand to someone passing by. Really nice sea-culture.

Regular readers must be tired of the long postscripts. But that wasn’t the end of the post. The post ends now.

Hei Hei.

PS: Could I call this a nested post script?

Jugendstil Buildings of Helsinki

Helsinki is one of those few towns in Europe which does not dwell on castles and churches to paint its cityscape. The Jugendstil architecture of Helsinki is defined by a spacious and minimalistic look that is a vestige of the idea of futuristic buildings in the early 19th century. 

The stock exchange that you see to the left is one of the numerous buildings that were constructed at the height of the romantic movement in Finland. Although no longer used for active trading, it is one of those places that is a subset of must-see-Art Nouveau in Helsinki.

First up, on our itinerary though was the Pohjola building. Originally meant to be the offices of the Pohjola Fire insurance company but now turned into a run of the mill office building, one could clearly see the influence of Kalevala on the buildings: the beautiful spiral staircases ending in a skylight shaped like an egg (which apparently gave rise to the universe). And then you have references to the birds that laid the egg:         

It seems, many of these buildings were designed by young people who won architecture competitions. Most of them cared the least about reigning architectural styles. In fact, reeling under the repressive rule of the Russians, the Finns were looking for something that was unique to them and these young architects provided them with  just that! Then there was the Uschakoffin house now turned into a café. The original stained glass was no longer to be found. However, one could still find the owls that are quintessential of Nordic Art Nouveau.

And finally, the trip concluded with a visit to the Helsinki central railway station. Masterpiece of Eliel Saarinen, it stands testimony to the spirit of Jugendstil in Helsinki.

 

Suomi Diaries: A trip to Nuuksio

One of the really cool things about the supermarket in Otaniemi is that it opens at 7 in the morning and closes at 11 in the night.

For comparison, the Tech market in Kharagpur would open for 6 hours in a day and remain closed on all (inter)-national/state holidays and Mondays.

The other really cool thing about the Aalto campus is the cafeteria system for lunch – the staff have the same food as the students. Only thing - it is subsidised for the students. Browse through their menus and go to any cafeteria you wish.

Today was one of those rare days when both the cafeteria as well as the supermarket was closed! And you couldn’t turn to the latest Otaniemi Sensation because it wasn’t a Sunday. A trip to Nuuksio National Park was inevitable (unless I wanted to sit in my room twiddling my thumbs). Not really sure of what to expect, I jumped the bandwagon. It wasn’t very difficult reaching the place thanks to amazingly detailed descriptions of routes on the Journey Planner.

And then you could find amazingly detailed terrain maps in the Tourist Information Centres to navigate the area with information about location of camp sites, lakes and even about details such as the kind of trees (conifer/non-conifer) to be found at a particular place.

After a bit of a dilemma*, some crazy ringing sounds in the woods (read lost mobile phones), we finally found a spot that overlooked a lake.

Someone commented that the small piece of land in the lake looked like the famous painting of Michelangelo: The Creation of Adam. Come to think of it, even the colours seem to somewhat match!

One could find people going fishing, hiking, biking, swimming and picking blueberries. (It was too cold for swimming and it is a while for the blueberry season).

We picked up some interesting lines of conversation which I will not describe in detail here. Compressing a 4D event into 2D photographs does cause some amount of data loss. Maybe some of them could be the subject of a blog post!

Hei Hei!!

* We couldn’t really resolve*** our starting points and destinations owing to low signal quality on the mobile phone and an interesting fact** I learnt about how the sun moves near the poles.

**East to West via North/South depending on the season (summer/winter). The peak elevation remains about 60 degrees and not 90 degrees like near the equator. To compound matters, it was around noon: but the sun wasn’t exactly on top of our heads because the noon doesn’t always divide the day into exactly two halves. It depends on the rising and setting time of the sun!

*** See photo above.

Summers Finnished – Not Yet!

Moi. It has been an interesting one month in Finland now and if you have been wondering why there haven’t been any updates from me, that is partly because the Brain stuff has kept most of my brain occupied.

PJs apart, Finland is a beautiful country. Here are some nice shots I took from my digital camera.

  

As you can see, all of them are taken in the day. It gets dark for not more than three or four hours in a day. Of course, none of these are famous landmarks that you are likely to find on the Wiki pages. Some of them are taken on the jogging track (12 kms long!!), others from the bird watch tower close to my apartment and a few at a place called Suomenlinna.

But its really cold out here! No wonder Finland won the Ice Hockey Championships without breaking a sweat! Finnish people are very attached to their language. Practically everything from my work contract to items in the supermarket – everything is in Finnish.

Of course, almost everything here is highly advanced. Take for instance, the transportation system. From telling the time of arrival of the next bus/tram at the bus station, integrated travel card for all modes of transportation, cultural trams to live tram maps, it has everything that a passenger could possibly want!

Or the way in which the waste is disposed – different containers for cartons, metals, biodegradable, plastics and mixed waste! And not to forget the recycling centre at the University where one could exchange second hand items free of cost!

The litmus test for a techie is of course – the internet speed. Here are some interesting (crazy?) speeds I got. If you are more inclined to outdoor activities, a wide range of selection is available: roller skating, kayaking, Ultimate Frisbee et. al all inside the University campus.

I guess there couldn’t have been a better place to spend my summers! I have reached my word limit. More in the next post.

Hyvä päivä!!

A Question of Relative Motion

A very interesting discussion came up the other day while we were having a cup of tea in the canteen. The question in contention was:

If a traveller from India boarded a flight to US and then came back, would it take longer one way than the other?

Assumptions

Several simplifying assumptions were taken: no atmosphere which means no drag, no viscous force etc. etc. And of course, we are to do the correction for the time difference to arrive at the final figure.

Several arguments in favour and against it were put forth. To start off with, A argued that it is a simple case of relative motion. You go one way, your relative velocity is higher. You go the other, your relative velocity is lower. So, obviously, it would take different times. Simple enough.

Bump, an apple hit me! (That makes me Newton v2.0?)

“Do you mean to say that if I were to simply take a plane up in the air and hold it stationary there, I would reach USA after 12 hours?” B put forth. “Or if I throw an apple up in the air in a moving bus, it will come back and hit me”, said B consolidating his argument with an analogy.

Playing with Apples on a Bus Top (Nike?)

C pitched in A’s defence stating that the time period in consideration here was very less. What if I stood on top of the bus and threw an apple up in the air? The bus isn’t accelerating. Would the apple come back on me or would it fall behind?

“Of course, it would come back and drop on me”, said A. “Newton’s first law. A body continues to remain in its state of motion unless acted upon by an external force. The external force while throwing up is only in the vertical direction. So, it continues to move with the velocity of the bus while in air.”

My First love: To be a Space Scientist (Ending up in IIT was chance)

A continues , “How do you think a geo-stationary satellite works? It continues moving and remains above a specific country all the time even though the earth is rotating.” A had now switched sides.

Intimidated and discombobulated, C argued, “OK, but think of this. The plane works on the principle of jet propulsion. There is a horizontal force in action”. Silent upto now, D jumps on board the discussion. “That is not an external force. It works on the principle of conservation of momentum.”

Ricocheting Arguments!!

C put forth a last ditch effort to save his argument. “Fine, but how do you explain this? You board a plane at day time in India and after travelling 15 hours, it is still daytime when you land. That clearly means that your relative position with respect to the sun hasn’t changed much even after 15 hours of flight. Which was what B was saying. I take the plane up. Let it remain stationary with respect to the sun and lo behold! I reach USA. The plane expends all the energy only to remain stationary in space.”

Clearly, everybody was quiet frustrated and disoriented by now. All tea cups were empty. I for a fact decided that this wasn’t my cup of tea. Back in the room, I sat back, relaxed and started my first assignment from CAOS class: Fahrenheit 451.

Post Scripts

PS1: The flow of arguments may not be exactly the same as discussed. Some changes have been made to present all view points. In fact, there were more than four people.

PS2: I checked the flight timings. There seems to be a difference of 3 hours either way in most flights. Don’t ask me why that is.

PS3: If you didn’t read what was written above and directly skipped to the happy ending, to make a long story short: it is a question of relative motion.

Beggars to Entrepreneurs

Travelling in local trains is always a difficult experience. Sometimes it is enlightening too.

This weekend, for example I found that beggars can be entrepreneurs too. They aren’t as dumb as they are made out to be.

Here are some striking instances where the begging party applies itself to the situation at hand.

1. At the ticket counter: If you have ever told a beggar that you don’t have change to give him, beware. Enter the modern day street smart beggar. Standing at the ticket counter, waiting for you to give him the Re 1 change that you got from the counter. No excuses now.
2. Catch me game: This was a really smart lady who sent her small kid to go around to get something. On receiving the coin, the kid would throw the coin or roll it across to her mother as if it were a game he was playing. Not surprisingly, he was more successful than her mother at raising funds. The true virtuosity of the kid came to light when he got a packet of biscuits from a generous bystander and returned beaming to his mother holding it like a trophy.

A third instance, to whom I had referred in passing here, was the snake charming beggar.

Obviously, as impressed I was, so was I distressed. Why did these people not spend their energy on something more productive? Rather than spend their time begging (which did not come across as an easy profession to me), why not go out there and do something of value. Maybe sell some newspapers. Or start a roadside food stall. Or become a local tourist guide. Thousands of possibilities.

What drove them to beg is a mystery to me? Was it their attitude, the government or just chance. I have many questions but no answers.

The Search Ends

After some amount of procrastination, I finally decided to put some of my random thoughts into a structured blog post.

It has been a hectic semester searching for and finalizing internships. After quiet a bit of fight, I will have to settle with Finland. Casting away thoughts of posting a laconic A?! on Facebook as my status message, I think it would be more satisfying going through the whole process step by step and looking at some of the ups and downs I had.

August-September ’10

Internship season begins. After the initial jitters, ITC finally comes to campus. I get my first experience of a real GD. Not to be remembered, I must admit. I had hardly learnt from experiences last year.

September-November ’10

I never thought getting internships could be this hard. ITC selected 8 from the whole batch. Deutsche Bank selected one from the 3rd years. Schlumberger was my best bet. Made it to the interview stage after a somewhat arbitrary GD (Topic was “Rolling & Stones”).

Interview was even more arbit. Here is a sample:

I: Do you drink?

Me: (Brief Pause) No.

I: Do you listen to rock music?

Me: Yes.

I: Which is your favourite band?

Me: Pink Floyd.

I: You don’t drink and listen to Pink Floyd?! Don’t fib! (Laughs)

Me: (Sheepish smile & an awkward silence)

Although everybody described their interviews as good. I knew the moment the interview ended that I had a very slim chance of making it through.

December-January ’10

Companies coming to the campus had started to dry up. Even those that came didn’t sound very attractive. I started to forget about the internship and concentrate on other things.

SF came and went. I made it to the final 6 teams on 2 occasions in a marked improvement over last year’s performance. Some of the keywords that stood out were Suppandi, The Tipping Point and Scrabble!! (That is an in-joke!)

February-March ’10

Finally, internship gets finalized in Finland. I was pretty excited but institute rules and regulations regarding foreign internships somewhat dampened the atmosphere. Couldn’t really define the exact moment when I got the internship. But, I guess I’m pretty satisfied about it. And more than anything else, the work there sounds quiet interesting.

Had my first taste of an inter-hall event in March when I got a bronze in Whats the Good Word. Keywords were Poltu and Farziaap. More about it in the next post. Cheers!!

PS: On a somewhat unrelated note, I love Asok, the intern

A Beginner’s Guide to Travelling On a Local Train

You’ll Need: One handkerchief (a must), 3 one rupee coins, one 10 rupee note, plenty of cash, headphones, empty purse

Step 1: Buy your ticket

If you have ever come across a joke like the one below and believe that this really works, you are in for trouble.

Engineers may be smarter than accountants. But Ticket Collectors are smarter still (in India!).

Step 2: Reserve thy seat

This is where your most precious item comes into play. Even before the train stops or the doors of the compartment open, drop in your kerchief on your favourite window seat. Now, not even Sheldon can move you from your seat!

Step 3a: Put on your headphones

Whether you wish to listen to Pink Floyd, Jagjit Singh or Enrique is your choice. But putting on headphones is a must. This will help you ignore all the low-profile scums and beggars that come along.

There will be surprises. Don’t panic. You cannot ignore little girls coming with harmless snakes in round boxes to be opened at the right moment (Pandora’s Box!?). Use your first lifeline. 1st one rupee coin. You have only 3 lifelines. So take utmost care while using them.

Step 3b: Take off your glasses

If you happen to be among the self-evident geeks with big spectacles on your nose, better take them off once seated. That way they cannot be kidnapped for ransom. In the worst possible case, use your 10 rupee note.

Step 3c: Know thy train

For more details, look up extension of joke above.

SPOILER (highlight to reveal): On another trip on a local train, the engineers buy 3 tickets and the accountants buy no ticket. Guess who is smarter?

Step 4: Follow the herd

Be ready before your station arrives. Once the train arrives, do not hesitate. Do not think. Just follow the herd.

Durga Puja @Kolkata: My 5

Shubho Bijoya/Happy Vijayadashami to all my esteemed readers. It may be a tad late but better late than never.

This Durga Puja was a special one for me as it was the first time I went Pandal hopping in the heart of the festival: in Kolkata. The list of Mandaps are endless and what I could cover is but a small fraction of the humongous number of Pandals in the city. My list is by no means comprehensive or the final word. However, it does offer a sneak peak into this wonderful festival.

The Third Eye

If there is one thing that Bollywood can learn from these Pujo Mandaps are how to not run out of ideas. From Mandaps made of Spoons, Gamchas (Towels!) to thatched roofed ones, the Mandaps had left no stone unturned. But this one according to me was the mother of all! The third eye representing knowledge encompassing everything else.

Writer’s Building

This is a Mandap with a mission. The catchphrase - ‘Dori Dhore Maro Taan/Raja Hobe Khaan Khaan’ is a clarion call to all the people of Bengal to bring in a change at the Writer’s building: the seat of power of the government. Looking at the enormous structure, one really wonders how much money was spent on this to gain the requisite political leverage!

Para Pujo

With the theme of Para (locality) Pujo, this Mandap was wonderfully decorated. Visiting it during the evening added to the charm. The lighting and the props used for the Mandap were amazing. All the buildings around the Mandaps had been decorated. It wasn’t just the Durga idol but the overall atmosphere that in itself was electrifying (literally! they used electric diyas instead of traditional oil diyas!).

The 10 Hands!

This one was a little hatke. The asura (demon) was in the center with 10 hands attacking it from all directions. Although there was a regular Murti as well at the same place, this was the cynosure of all eyes.

Didi’s Creation

How could I leave this one? Conceptualized by the highly evolved mind of Mamata Banerjee, this was a Mandap with a message. What message? God knows! The Mandap itself in the form of an igloo/planetarium was an outlier. So why did it make it to my list? Because it was an outlier.

Others That Almost Made It

PS: There were many others: Mudiyali Club, College Square, Shib Mandir etc. etc. The big crowd didn’t permit stable photos (with all the pushing and stuff!) of those Pandals. My legs really hurt with all the walking. But it was a good experience!

Movie Review: Dabangg

Dabangg is not one of the regular lovey-dovey romantic type movies that are churned out every now and then by the Indian film industry in Bollywood. High on style quotient and in every manner of word, Dabangg: fearless, this is definitely one of those movies that you must add on top of your must-watch list.

To start with, I was tempted to draw parallels of the movie with The Matrix (dodging stuff!) and Sherlock Holmes (look at the final fighting scene in the trailer: ditto Sherlock Holmes), but after getting warmed up to the movie, one realizes that this movie is much above all that. This movie is going to have a cult following in its own right.

Some of the dialogues in the movie for instance are hilarious (हम तुममे इतने छेद कर देंगे कि पता नहीं चलेगा कि साँस कहाँ से ले और पादे कहाँ से) and really gives you the feel of a देसी "Made in India" (not one of those imported ones that you can find if you walk into any cinema hall these days) movie. Salman Khan embraces the character of Chulbul Pandey aka "Robin Hood" Pandey with ease what with the narrow moustache and the sunglasses which he puts behind his neck जिससे आगे भी और पीछे भी नज़र रहे. 

The accelerated/decelerated camera frames, the panning of the camera and the the background music playing whenever Salman Khan is in a scene that demands some amount of studappa really adds to the zing in the movie. And how can one forget the dance scenes with some amazing lighting (Diwali style? notice the expanding hearts on Salman Khan’s glasses!) and refreshingly unorthodox dance moves (How they move their belts?!) that are unlike any other Bollywood movie in recent memory.

One is so enraptured by the antiques of Chulbul that one really doesn’t seem to notice much of the plot. One does find surprises along the way, not many of course but a few small ones for sure (the death of Chulbul’s mother for instance or the Mango box which very innocuously seemed nothing but a box full of mangoes!). 

Content-wise it wouldn’t possibly add up to much, but it is a movie with some class and some Masala. This isn’t a movie for the film critique to analyse an intricately woven plot. But a movie for the masses that is fun-packed, low on Funda but surely full of clean, pure entertainment! Go, watch it!

OP a la Control Systems

Disclaimer: This isn’t meant to be a technically sound post. Any similarity with electrical devices either existent or non-existent is purely coincidental. The author of this post is not to be held responsible for any content that is either a result of frustrating lab sessions or somnolent lectures.

 

Actuators: I remember the first time I was in the common room. The GSecs introduced themselves. The Warden was there. And then it all started. Everything was set into motion. Who are the actuators? We all know!

 

Motors: I always wondered why second years always did the brunt work. Whether it was making the diyas for Illu, winning the GC or shifting rooms, everything was done by the 2nd years. Then I realized it is all part of a system: a control system.

 

Feedback: Now this is where things get interesting. The unique thing about OP in Nehru Hall is that it is a closed loop system. Not an open loop like in many other halls. If things got bad, OP stopped for a day or two and then the 2nd years themselves went and pleaded their seniors to start things again. Perfect mechanism!

 

Reference: We had 3 common room meetings every week which ran for a duration of 3 hours each. This is the minimum expected of you to become a Nehruite!

 

(Pressure) Sensors: “Was it too much or anything? This is for your own good.” “No sir, peace. Only xyz seemed to be under some amount of load. (Resistive, capacitive & inductive behaviour all taken into account) ”

 

System Output: Nehruite!

 

Note: If some things didn’t make sense, consider it like a 2 port network. All you are concerned about is the input (a non-Nehruite), the output (a Nehruite) and the transfer function (tempo).

A Dozen Ways To Spruce Up Your Summer Vacations

This is the toughest time of the year. 2 and a half months of languor now coming to a full stop. It all started with euphoria, turning to ennui and now ending with a sense of wistful longing.

It has been a wonderful summer for half a dozen reasons.

For one, I could get back to playing Squash after a long long time (Yeah! Kgp has no squash court and half the IITians don't know that such a game exists. One more reason to detest IITs!?).

Secondly, I could get back to doing what I loved doing most. Reading books. And what better way to spend your vacation than in the company of Joseph Keller, J.D. Salinger, Michael Crichton and the like.

Thirdly, I took this as an opportunity to refuel myself with all the good food that I could get my hands on: Chinese, Italian, authentic Mallu fish curry and Bengali Mach Jhol & Posto bhaath.

Fourthly, I discovered that gambling(?) isn't all that bad. An outhouse at Tambola fetched me not just 300 bucks but a flurry of 10 rupee notes so that I could become a bus conductor if I wanted to (Alternate profession?!).

Fifthly, I discovered the joy of meditating on the sea beach with nothing but the waves crashing against the rocks.

Sixthly, I can now do the one legged situps and use the swiss ball to do pushups in the gym (Beat that!).

Those of you who have been wondering what to do all summer and couldn't come up with something to do: there you are. Half a dozen ways to spruce up your summer vacation.

P.S: You might be inclined to think that bloggers like me are incorrigible narcissistic egocentric personalities. But this is just half of the dozen. The other half is yet to come! More in another post.

P.P.S: Ignore the P.S.

P.P.P.S: I love writing post-post-post scripts. [Nested{P}s?]

P.P.P.P.S: On second thoughts, how did you spend your vacations?! Leave your valuable thoughts as comments to this post.

P.P.P.P.P.S: That is 5 Ps!

55er: Was That A Nightmare?

My first attempt at any kind of fiction, let alone 55er. It reminds me of those good old days in Xth when we had 50 words as word limit for notices and messages. Exceed the limit by 1 or 2 words, -1/2. Exceed by more than 2 words, -1. It is 55 now. So let’s see.

***

Ramesh was in a fix. Physics was tomorrow and today is Hindi. Four chapters from literature! But he thought today was Physics! Why do they have Hindi in IITs?! Now only physics could rescue him. He sat down quietly and closed his eyes. As he opened his eyes, he was back in his room!

***

PS: That is what I call true teleportation.

PPS: If only they could use technology for such useful purposes. As an aside, why don’t they simply filter out the vuvuzela frequencies instead of banning it?

PPPS: Thank God they have no Hindi in IITs.

മൂന്നാര്::Munnar

As I looked up from the book, I could see rain all around. Tall trees towering around us. We were moving through the clouds. But no Velociraptors, Dilophosaurus or T.Rex. Thank God.

It seemed we were in for a dampener with the monsoons hitting the coast just as we planned to visit Munnar. The bad weather notwithstanding, we decided to continue.

Persistence always bears sweet fruits. The next day turned out to be much better. (Better weather == better photos && wonderful trip); The tea gardens around Munnar were wonderful. This is where the Kannan Devan brand of Tata comes from. If you happen to visit this place, don’t forget to drop by at the Tata Wholesale Outlet and take all the Tea & spices home.

You would find lots of waterfalls and lots of winding roads as in any other hill station. But what I was really looking for was being atop Anamudi. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be so and we had to settle for a peak that was 200 metres shy of Anamudi.

Apart from that, the echo point was pretty good. Never expected such a good echo with so less effort. I really wonder how the cows in hill stations always look wonderful. Such a contrast to the cows in the plains (Different cultures? Different races? Who knows?!)

Other than the cows, the other animal worth mention is the Nilgiri Tahr. Finding it near the mountain peak grazing in (almost!) herds was quiet a sight.

That was about it. Nice peaceful place to spend some time. No laptop. No TV. Just peace of mind.

As usual, I’ll leave you with some of the highs of the journey.

All photos courtesy Sony Cybershot (Click to enlarge).

	LEGEND 1 Tea Gardens 2 Echo Point 3 Cows 4 Bird’s Eye View 5 Winding Roads 6 Waterfalls 7 Rubber Plantation 8 Nilgiri Tahr 9 Jurassic Park

One Night + Day @ Kgp

OK. That was one of the dumbest post titles that I have come up with lately. But you cannot expect more out of a title a la Chetan Bhagat. Nonetheless, my luck hasn’t be half as good as his.

Last night as I went to the canteen for some midnight refreshment, I stumbled upon “Country” who after staring at me for some time finally commented, “Are you staying back for the VLSI course?”. “Yes.” “Lots of girls from outside?”. “Not really, it is the same scenario. Nothing different”. “Oh! (Lot of stress on the oh!) Your bad. People in our time judged the scenario in the first two or three days. If the scene was good, they stayed back. Else, swoosh back home.” (It really sounded like those conditionals constructs in C when he was saying it!).

Anyway, I did land up at a Professor’s home a few days back. But there I said. Life isn’t fiction. The nearest I came to “the man on what not to do at IIT” was flipping across some of his books @ Professor’s residence. “Sir, have you read his books?” “Oh yeah! read it after seeing the movie. Interesting. Contrary point of view.”

Vodka at Insti top? The closest I came to the insti-top was a padlocked door that stood between me and history/Chetan Bhagat, closed allegedly for security reasons. Smuggling question papers out of the Professor’s office? “You can copy if you want to, but do not talk” was how our Maths Professor put it when we were taking a test.

OK. So does Chetan Bhagat represent the picture of an IIT which is extinct and only exists in his dreams? Not really. It is difficult to imagine Chetan Bhagat conjure up such novels out of thin air if not for the vibrant campus life at IIT (That reminds me. Signets! Oh, my Signets!). But it is also equally difficult to equate campus life at IIT with 5ps/imagination of Chetan Bhagat.

It is really interesting how novels capture the imagination of the masses. How one might think of the real world and the imaginary world as running in parallel. One drawing the other along but never meeting each other.

Disclaimer (in the end as opposed to Mr. CB): This post isn’t meant to help you choose which college to join. This is just about: what not to read before you get into IIT.