Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Lets save!
The water is trickling down all pipes in the insti today. I walk up to a friend who usually doesn't mind heaping excess subzi and chaaval on his plate, knowing very well that all that is going down the drain. 'Dude, start saving water, yaar! Looks like we are out for the day.' And I wonder why adversity alone can jerk us into acting responsibly.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Minor issues
Ha! Seems like I have a controversial post and an even more controversial title.
Its a day after what is hopefully the last set of Minors I shall face on this planet and I thought about what they mean to various people I see around me and at various times.
Pre-minors
Almost everyone starts talking minor-stuff about a week before they actually begin. The reading room strength starts building up, the mosquitoes in Ex-Hall get busy again, Nescafe and the like have a ball. Attendance is pretty steady overall (one of my profs boasts about how his students attend classes till 5 in the evening and take their exams at 8 the following morning without cribbing).
The night before
Lights don't go off, the night canteen begins, much to the respite of all hostelers, suddenly everyone is so interested in what they are studying (what they have just started studying, rather!), the reading room is full, smelly, sweaty and very, very noisy. The crowd has spilled onto the street, the library and hostel reading rooms as well. Ah! the library. Do not enter this place if you want a quiet corner, for the Insti does not believe in silence. Right from the librarian to the French exchange students, who seem to have breathed the Delhi air big time.
Day 1
And they are here, it feels best to go through the grind happily. Easy and fast... that's what everyone wants them to be. Fast alright... that's the good part, but easy? Naah! Not for me, at least. But yeah, as the minors kick off, life is suddenly changed. More time to sleep, eat, read the newspaper, etc. No boring lectures and labs, no listening to trash, no running to catch the shuttle, a way to spend your weekend that's definitely unique to the Insti.
Days 2 and 3 fly away and I don't recollect much except the daily pilgrimage to hell and back.
Day 4
This is by far the best. There is the wierd feeling of being on the edge of something. A few hours away from freedom? Or just another phase that shall come back in some form or the other? Anyway, its fun to know that life will come back to normal in a few hours. There is always this extra motivation to end on a high (I mean an academic high, no pun intended!).
The following evening
I look around and everone's having a ball. Multiple games of cricket on the same battered grounds, brick wickets and stuff. The sportsies are back, so are the wannabe Federers. The hostels are back to their noisiest, the latest movies are being downloaded and dissected. Cinema tickets are being purchased in black or white, that's the coolest way to have fun right!
All this seems like on big game, that I happened to be a part of for the last two years. A land where a few digits are bigger than your name to a lot of people who are doing what they are doing only because of the same few digits, where four mad days can make or break the way you look on paper to the Insti and the blind world beyond, where biogas vehicles run on streets littered with coffee cups. I stand confused, knowing not what to say.
Are the minors just that - a minor issue that everyone just goes through and gets done with, or are they the ultimate assay of one's academic abilities? If the former is true, then what about the majors that are just a month away? A major issue in my story?Hmph... lets leave that for later.
Its a day after what is hopefully the last set of Minors I shall face on this planet and I thought about what they mean to various people I see around me and at various times.
Pre-minors
Almost everyone starts talking minor-stuff about a week before they actually begin. The reading room strength starts building up, the mosquitoes in Ex-Hall get busy again, Nescafe and the like have a ball. Attendance is pretty steady overall (one of my profs boasts about how his students attend classes till 5 in the evening and take their exams at 8 the following morning without cribbing).
The night before
Lights don't go off, the night canteen begins, much to the respite of all hostelers, suddenly everyone is so interested in what they are studying (what they have just started studying, rather!), the reading room is full, smelly, sweaty and very, very noisy. The crowd has spilled onto the street, the library and hostel reading rooms as well. Ah! the library. Do not enter this place if you want a quiet corner, for the Insti does not believe in silence. Right from the librarian to the French exchange students, who seem to have breathed the Delhi air big time.
Day 1
And they are here, it feels best to go through the grind happily. Easy and fast... that's what everyone wants them to be. Fast alright... that's the good part, but easy? Naah! Not for me, at least. But yeah, as the minors kick off, life is suddenly changed. More time to sleep, eat, read the newspaper, etc. No boring lectures and labs, no listening to trash, no running to catch the shuttle, a way to spend your weekend that's definitely unique to the Insti.
Days 2 and 3 fly away and I don't recollect much except the daily pilgrimage to hell and back.
Day 4
This is by far the best. There is the wierd feeling of being on the edge of something. A few hours away from freedom? Or just another phase that shall come back in some form or the other? Anyway, its fun to know that life will come back to normal in a few hours. There is always this extra motivation to end on a high (I mean an academic high, no pun intended!).
The following evening
I look around and everone's having a ball. Multiple games of cricket on the same battered grounds, brick wickets and stuff. The sportsies are back, so are the wannabe Federers. The hostels are back to their noisiest, the latest movies are being downloaded and dissected. Cinema tickets are being purchased in black or white, that's the coolest way to have fun right!
All this seems like on big game, that I happened to be a part of for the last two years. A land where a few digits are bigger than your name to a lot of people who are doing what they are doing only because of the same few digits, where four mad days can make or break the way you look on paper to the Insti and the blind world beyond, where biogas vehicles run on streets littered with coffee cups. I stand confused, knowing not what to say.
Are the minors just that - a minor issue that everyone just goes through and gets done with, or are they the ultimate assay of one's academic abilities? If the former is true, then what about the majors that are just a month away? A major issue in my story?Hmph... lets leave that for later.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Delhi
A wonderful thing happened yesterday - I walked into a grocery shop in Delhi, minus my usual carrybag, thinking that I could accept a polybag, for just this one time. It was only after i paid the bill that I realised that this shop had stopped giving polybags. Had to balance all the little items in my hands, but it was fun alright. Knowing some people who were going by rules and ethics was refreshing.
The Delhi Government seems to be taking the aggressive approach to its modernisation plan. While work on the Commonwealth Games front seems to be slowly picking up steam, I have my doubts as to whether it would actually take place here, given the safety situation in the subcontinent. That apart, banning polybags was a very bold move. I would bet all my money (which, considering my student status, is definitely not substantial) tha the ground situation hasn't changed a lot, but incidents like yesterday's give me hope.
The traffic situation has improved, and the heart of the city has managed to sustain its greenery. The big success is, undoubtedly, the Delhi Metro. Moving in swiftly into NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad over the next couple of years before its own deadline, the Metro makes for an eye-opening case study.
While more attention is being given to the maintenance of monuments, the glaring absence of guided tours is something that worries me. Given the rich history of the city, I guess we are missing out on a lot of money, tourism and goodwill.
Still a long way to go for the Walled City, I guess.
The Delhi Government seems to be taking the aggressive approach to its modernisation plan. While work on the Commonwealth Games front seems to be slowly picking up steam, I have my doubts as to whether it would actually take place here, given the safety situation in the subcontinent. That apart, banning polybags was a very bold move. I would bet all my money (which, considering my student status, is definitely not substantial) tha the ground situation hasn't changed a lot, but incidents like yesterday's give me hope.
The traffic situation has improved, and the heart of the city has managed to sustain its greenery. The big success is, undoubtedly, the Delhi Metro. Moving in swiftly into NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad over the next couple of years before its own deadline, the Metro makes for an eye-opening case study.
While more attention is being given to the maintenance of monuments, the glaring absence of guided tours is something that worries me. Given the rich history of the city, I guess we are missing out on a lot of money, tourism and goodwill.
Still a long way to go for the Walled City, I guess.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Evening delight
These 'Music in the Park' evenings are just that - a treat to the ears. Set in the lush green expanse of the Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi (a stone's throw from the Moti Bagh flyover on the Ring Road near Dhaula Kuan), this series of concerts brings thousands of music lovers up close with the stalwarts that carry Indian music and art forms forward.
Thanks to the office-hour traffic, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, were stranded on the road for more than two hours beyond schedule. It was very understanding of Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, an acclaimed vocalist from Bellary, to keep the audience engaged with his Kirana and Gwalior style of singing. A short wait later, Sunit Tandon announced that the two aformentioned maestros had arrived, and within a minute they were there, Panditji finetuning his santoor - apparently for the first time on stage!
What followed was pure magic, a rendition of the raga Jog followed by a dhun based on raga Darbaari. The jugalbandi between the two was breathtaking and the ease with which Ustadji read his senior colleague's mind was something to watch.
My first experience of hearing these two wonderful musicians perform has been wonderful. Looking forward to March 1 and Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar.
Thanks to the office-hour traffic, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, were stranded on the road for more than two hours beyond schedule. It was very understanding of Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, an acclaimed vocalist from Bellary, to keep the audience engaged with his Kirana and Gwalior style of singing. A short wait later, Sunit Tandon announced that the two aformentioned maestros had arrived, and within a minute they were there, Panditji finetuning his santoor - apparently for the first time on stage!
What followed was pure magic, a rendition of the raga Jog followed by a dhun based on raga Darbaari. The jugalbandi between the two was breathtaking and the ease with which Ustadji read his senior colleague's mind was something to watch.
My first experience of hearing these two wonderful musicians perform has been wonderful. Looking forward to March 1 and Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Virasat'09
Virasat'09 - the SPIC MACAY week at IIT Delhi, was kickstarted by Sonal Mansingh - well known exponent of Odissi, with a performance titled 'Aaj ki Kanya'. Inspite of making up a majority of the billion Indians, women in most parts of the country remain deprived of their rights. Grave thought, and a true one at that. Powerful act, I thought. Dance can be such an effective medium to put a point across. And I waited eagerly for her final performance. For some reason, she decided to portray eight 'rasa's of life using bollywood numbers. While it is a treat listening to old hits like 'Aye Bhai, zaraa...', I surely didn't expect it at a SPIC MACAY concert. Her ideas were clear but I am sure they did not need any Bollywoodish touch. I was confused whether to accept it as an innovation or to stick to my gut feeling that such a portrayal was unnecessary. There should be some places and issues that should be kept away from Bollywood, I guess.
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia then lit up the latter half of the evening and this confusion was quickly forgotten, till I sat down this morning. He was, as usual, impeccable, witty and courteous - introducing his regular accompanist on the tabla - Pt. Vijay Ghate, as 'a much better musician' than himself.
Congratulations are due to Dr. Kiran Seth, faculty in the Mechanical Engineering department of IIT Delhi and a slogger for SPIC MACAY for over thirty years - for keeping Indian culture alive and kicking.
And its a treat for all Hindustani music lovers this evening - Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pt. Shivkumar Sharma at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri. More on that tonight!
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia then lit up the latter half of the evening and this confusion was quickly forgotten, till I sat down this morning. He was, as usual, impeccable, witty and courteous - introducing his regular accompanist on the tabla - Pt. Vijay Ghate, as 'a much better musician' than himself.
Congratulations are due to Dr. Kiran Seth, faculty in the Mechanical Engineering department of IIT Delhi and a slogger for SPIC MACAY for over thirty years - for keeping Indian culture alive and kicking.
And its a treat for all Hindustani music lovers this evening - Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pt. Shivkumar Sharma at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri. More on that tonight!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Swapping purposes and days at IITD
My Biomaterials professor started his course by asking how long everyone wanted to survive. The answers ranged from 60 to 100 years (one guy memorably asked whether the question pertained to this particular course! So much so for dedication and the A grade!). Next, prof. proclaimed that the human body was programmed to live optimally for only 45 years, that we humans were controlled by DNA and that we had no purpose other than reproduction and sustenance of our little masters. 'All the lazy B. Techs will hail this guy', I thought. Not to be mistaken, it is an awesome thought - that we are mere survival machines housed and run by the supreme forces on the planet - genes.
Staying with purpose, gone are the days when a ticket to IIT guaranteed a grade A job, or a fully-funded stint in a prominent US university. To quote another enlightening prof (one who makes up the dwindling minority of story-telling-teachers in the Institute), firms across the country are slowly waking up to the reality that engineers from other institutes are equally good, if not better, and have spent quaity time in workshops instead of swatting flies in front of their sleek dual-core machines.
I had a mid-week break last week, on account of Makar Sankranti. In lieu of this, Saturday was working, and functioned as a Wednesday. Such day-swapping is not uncommon to people on campus. But its funny to note that what's Saturday to the whole world, and even to the clerk in the PG section, is a full working day for the departments and centres. Thankfully, the shuffling is limited to days. God knows how things would unfold if some Head gets the bright idea of bending time!
Staying with purpose, gone are the days when a ticket to IIT guaranteed a grade A job, or a fully-funded stint in a prominent US university. To quote another enlightening prof (one who makes up the dwindling minority of story-telling-teachers in the Institute), firms across the country are slowly waking up to the reality that engineers from other institutes are equally good, if not better, and have spent quaity time in workshops instead of swatting flies in front of their sleek dual-core machines.
I had a mid-week break last week, on account of Makar Sankranti. In lieu of this, Saturday was working, and functioned as a Wednesday. Such day-swapping is not uncommon to people on campus. But its funny to note that what's Saturday to the whole world, and even to the clerk in the PG section, is a full working day for the departments and centres. Thankfully, the shuffling is limited to days. God knows how things would unfold if some Head gets the bright idea of bending time!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Insti anecdotes
Insti t-shirts - loudmouths
1) 'We will be what we will to be - IIT Delhi' (Alas, the only will that exists is to huddle together for the latest bollywood flick).
2) 'STAND OUT - IIT Delhi' (Nice message from Grade A companies, keeping in mind the placement scene this year).
3) 'I am what you dream to be - IIT Delhi' (Now that we have given up on ourselves, we will play smart and assume that the others haven't found out yet).
Insti rules
1) Gender sensitization committees will have samosa-chai as Hostel funds are 'officially' wasted on Socials (for the uninitiated, this event involves 'interaction' between the opposite sexes. Insti doesn't mind if this requires the fairer sex to be transported all the way from IP, Miranda, Gargi and the like; to as much as attempt to satiate the desperate souls at Hauz Khas and Kathwaria Sarai)
2) The sole natural water source on campus shall not be touched, nevermind if dengue, malaria, etc call the shots. And even then, the student is sick only if he has been to Sick Bay (that most become sick after visiting Sick Bay cannot be contested!).
Insti Chemistry
Overheard this morning as I went past a PhD student walking to his lab with his eyes burning an NMR spectrum,'Kaisi paheli hai ye, kaisi paheli...'
1) 'We will be what we will to be - IIT Delhi' (Alas, the only will that exists is to huddle together for the latest bollywood flick).
2) 'STAND OUT - IIT Delhi' (Nice message from Grade A companies, keeping in mind the placement scene this year).
3) 'I am what you dream to be - IIT Delhi' (Now that we have given up on ourselves, we will play smart and assume that the others haven't found out yet).
Insti rules
1) Gender sensitization committees will have samosa-chai as Hostel funds are 'officially' wasted on Socials (for the uninitiated, this event involves 'interaction' between the opposite sexes. Insti doesn't mind if this requires the fairer sex to be transported all the way from IP, Miranda, Gargi and the like; to as much as attempt to satiate the desperate souls at Hauz Khas and Kathwaria Sarai)
2) The sole natural water source on campus shall not be touched, nevermind if dengue, malaria, etc call the shots. And even then, the student is sick only if he has been to Sick Bay (that most become sick after visiting Sick Bay cannot be contested!).
Insti Chemistry
Overheard this morning as I went past a PhD student walking to his lab with his eyes burning an NMR spectrum,'Kaisi paheli hai ye, kaisi paheli...'
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