Research - Management ??
Scientific - Corporate ??
Hassle vs Calmness - - -
Yesterday, my batchmate, Mr.P.Venky asked me - "Hey, tell me da, am in a big dilemma, I got an awesome course offer from a CAT coaching centre, I badly want to take that, but I'm wondering if I might miss out on Research and the Masters by chosing the CAT, tell me da, what do I do? "
Now, my answer follows, but, it's a strongly biased idea, biased to my notions and ideas and may not appeal to many.
------I start my avarthanam----------
At the abut of this answer, I will say, this is not a guidance, Since you have asked me, I will give my opinion and what I would have preferred at this junction.
A bursque reply would be - "I will prefer Research, the Scientific, Calm life"
At the penultimate year of my bachelors, I have gained some considerable experience in Research and have mingled with many people in the management/economic/corporate sector. Based on these, I will now aver my answer by first stating the reasons for my aversion towards the Corporate Sector.
Eh, I find economic, market life to be too fast for me ! I am a slow runner, like to amble along slowly, grasping things as they come along, not skip things,run, stumble and hassle my way through through things. I find people involved directly in the management of a company, corporate gentlemen, to be always too busy, always on the run, they do not have time to even chat for some 5 minutes, do not have time to listen to music, do not have time to gossip ! , do not have time to sit and write blogs, do not have time to , do not have time to, do not have time to . . . . . . always, u find such a person saying - "hey, I'm sorry, I just don't have the time, I have a meeting at" , or "Hey, I'm sorry, I just dont have the time, I have to complete this stuff before 6 " . . . . so many reasons, meetings, answering 20 phone calls in a minute, working with databases till 5 pm, very often over time work, work, work , work .. . . . too busy, no time , very very very fast, always walking at a brisk pace, submerged with work, tensions, afraid when the market will fall, have to try and defeat time, always to be working along with the clock, always ticking every second, ...OH MY GOD !, I definitely cannot stand such a buzzle, definitely cannot stand such a rapid, artificial life.
I feel, if I get into the corporate world, I will definitely miss out on Simple things in Life ( I will very soon post on what I mean by simple things and why I love them!).
It is indeed a alacritic world, full of brilliance, live time challenges, controlling people, taking some 'in the nick of time' decisions, rapid aptitude, so many challenges daily, dealing with people etc., It is indeed splendind, that is precisely the reason, why I talk to such people. I love to listen to those challenges, I admire the guts of these guys, the simply brilliant ways by which the economic gurus shape the market, how the current industrial lords developed their empire, the economic reforms, I admire the way these guys think, how the producers manage to stupefy the consumers, the way leaders talk and the power and thrust they carry in their speeches, this part of the world overlows with raw brilliance.
But, still, it is too fast, all the guys are brilliant, phenomenal, but, but . . . their only goal - Money. This monetary basis of their life defeats the chance to glean and appreciate simple things in life. Some are bourgeois, always on the lookout of for individual development, which I strongly averse.
Okay, enough of Coporte world, it's already got me tired !
Research . . . for me . .it's pure music ! There is no hassle, no tiny deadlines, no clock to follow, no boss to boss over you, no meetings, no tension, nothing ! pure, raw, crystal clear world, where your brilliance knows no boundaries, unleash your potential to any extent you can, think of anything you can, experiment what ever you want . . . awesome freedom for the vibrating mind. You will be living with things that not many would have even dreamt of, (time travel - can u beat that !! possible in corporate world ???) , do awesome stuff, develop new, novel things. Here, I feel we can get to experience the most simplest things of life. You walk along a calm street, chatting with a fellow researcher, talking some high funda stuff, but, the you move slowly with the nature, (nature likes to crawl) , you blossom along with the flower, you do not try to overtake the snail unnecessarily !
Music, you can spend time to listen to music, you can work with music, it can be your partner, in the counterpart world, music is an extra fitting, an hindrance for your work !
As you dwell more and more into research, you will find things, nature responding to your thoughts, your mind will always KNOW peace, calmness, the balmy nature . . . Everything will be so soothing, you will realise many things, understand many things. The satisfication when you understand completely a concept, be it simple or complicated, can never be experienced in the corporate world. (I told you this is biased !) . When you develop your own concept and the world acknowledges it, such an feeilng can never be even dreamt of in the corporate world.
an simple example -
See, you may achieve something great, make some nice profit for your company, but, you will be celebrated for a short time, you will be cajoled, blandished, but after some time, people will forget you , your effort will be washed away, you will become a void.
In Research , your efforts will be rememberd throughout, every further advancement in that field will give credit to whatever small thing you have contributed in that field. You will always be celebrated, even after you die, your name will be etched and you may be celebrated too ! This kind of honour can never be got in a corporate life, to get such an honour in the corporate sector, you have to strive a lot and achieve something really ground breaking and that takes years and you might achieve that only in your late 50s !, by that time, in the research field, by your 50s, you will be known worldwide and would be a legend !
So, the idea - - -
Coporate is too fast, your simple things will be lost, you cannot continue ur passions - only aim, - get more money
REsearch - you can take it at your own pace, fast , slow, crawl - your choice, you can do whatever you want, develop new passions, - many aims - develop new things - realise a lot - enjoy a lot!
So, that's it da, this is my opinion, it is perfectly biased on my ideals !!!
Anyways da, I do not know why you asked me of all the people, anyways, I am happy that you value my opnion :) !
----------I end with a theermaanam----------------
So, I guess that was one long, coarse post !
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Realisation of the ultimate power, what the power is I cannot say, but I know it exists, is only possible if you can admire and appreciate the simple things in life - - The Maharishi
Hassle vs Serene - - - ??
Today Hitler Raises to Power - Appointed the Chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (The Nazi party). He was appointed Chancellor of Germany in Jan 30th 1933, and became Führer (leader)[2] in 1934, remaining in power until his suicide in 1945.
The Nazi Party under Hitler gained power during Germany's period of crisis after World War I, using propaganda and charismatic oratory, emphasizing nationalism, anti-semitism and arrest and murder of political opponents. After restructuring the economy and rearming the military, a dictatorship commonly characterized as totalitarian or fascist was established. Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy, with an ideological goal of Lebensraum. The German invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered World War II with the British and French Empires.
The Axis Powers occupied most of Europe and parts of Asia at their zenith but were eventually defeated by the Allies. By the end of the war, Hitler's policies of territorial conquest and racial subjugation had brought death and destruction to tens of millions of people, including the genocide of some six million Jews, in what is now known as the Holocaust.
In the final days of the war, Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin, as the city was overrun by the Red Army of the Soviet Union.
--------------------------------------
This was copy pasted obviously, but...I was once a Fuhrer ...before being a Maharishi !
-----------------------------------------------
Amruthavarshini and NITT
Amruthavarshini - The Carnatic Music Club of NITT !
With the happening of the famed Tyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaaru today (27/1/08) , I thought it would be instructive to do some publicizing for our 'famed' Carnatic Club too !!
The club kicked off with it's very first event - The famed Tyagaraja Aradhana - YES !, we (am also a part of the Club ! ) , organized the Tyagaraja Aradhana for the FIRST time in NITT. A pompous hit, it was organized in a humble manner, and attracted many senior artistes from the Carnatic havens like Thanjavur and Srirangam (these places are hardly 2hrs away from our college !) . An unexpected great success it was, Harsha and Sundar and ofcourse our dear faculty who were instrumental in organizing this event we all satisfied and amongst great pomp and fanfare, that event spelled the farewell for Harsha and Sundar, who were in their final year then!
Now, we were bestowed with the honor (or burden!) of carrying on the tradition and organizing the famed Aradhana every forthcoming year, but, we did not stop with just the Aradhana, we went on to conduct various concerts, started to celebrate the Anniversaries of several Carnatic greats, conducted competitions for school children, started conducting the Classical events in our college cultural fest -Festember, in the name of our club and recently, we had Harsha come down from TAMU to give a concert at his alma mater and to cheer him we had Sundar Rajan !!! Last month, we gave a concert, I played the mridangam in it !, supposedly for the invitees and the lecturers who had come down from China, US, London for a conference in our college.
So, this year to, as prestigious beholders of our austere tradition, we are going to have the famed TYAGARAJA ARADHANA on Febraury 23rd-24th , in our very own college premises, and further details regarding the event will be soon put up at www.nitt.edu .
err, so..ALL ARE INVITED !!!!
-----------------------------------------
Entharaomahaanu bhaavulu , anthariki vandhanamulu - The Maharishi to all !
Why can't Mac breakdown like Windows ?
With the release of the MacBook Air (http://www.apple.com/macbookair/) , Apple's innovative creations have reached a new zenith and quite predictably we once again gossiped about Apple's product and pretty soon landed on the MacOS.
Their powerful, sturdy and super fast operating system -MacOS, has yet another feature - it never hangs, unlike the famous, userfriendly, nice Microsoft's OS - Windows.
An obvious question is - "How come MacOS never hangs or breaks down?" . I put this question to a friend of mine, a noted armchair critic !! He replied -
"See, have you ever tried to install a MacOS on an assembled PC ? Well, even if you try so, it would be futile, waste of time and money. You cannot install the MacOS on a PC, you have to buy that beautiful, stylish, powerful and COSTLY Mac computer to run an MacOS, that is, a MacOS runs only on a Mac computer. So, you chose your own hardwares, your own chipset, and you develop a OS that runs only on these hardwares, so how can it hang ?
This is what Apple does, they market their own brand of computer under the name Apple Mac which has handpicked hardwares, chipset and they develop an OS called the MacOS (the latest being the Mac OSX Leopard) which runs only on this hardware configuration - the moral - u take a book, measure it properly, buy a huge sheet of paper to cover the book and cut the paper according to the dimensions of the book - how can the cover NOT fit properly ? ...analogically - how come the MacOS hang ??
On the other hand, Windows - you purchase any arbit hardware from any shop, build your own crappy computer and get a Windows OS - it will beautifully run in that contraption that you have developed ! the moral - you take any book, and take a BIG sheet to cover the book - the cover will fit the book even without cutting but will have some loose ends ! ...analogically - the Windows can run in any comp, the problem - it will have lots of loose ends that may make it go berserk and in the end - it hangs !! also, that is why Windows has a very BIG ,complex and abstruse code. "
A very neat and neutral opinion !! However, the recent Mac OSX Leopard can run Windows as well (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/apr/05bootcamp.html) !! . So, effectively, I can purchase an Apple Mac (if I can afford one!) and run a Windows Vista in it !! Am an Apple and Microsoft customer !!
However, Apple's computer have now shifted to the Intel based chipsets ---Apple's a real revolution in the Electronics world - a apple a day makes you bankrupt in a day --- some comments I heard about Apple.
-------
Know no Route nor Rate...
I reached Trichy today morning, after a nice Pongal holidays at Chennai. It was quite early in the morning, around 5.30am, Vivek,myself and Aditya alighted from Mangalore Exp. We decided to take an auto to NITT since we had quite an amount of luggage.
There was one guy, who eagerly hobbled towards us "Saar, auto?" , "Yea, REC" said we,
"O!, sure saar, we can go, keep the luggage in the back, 300 rupees" ---aahhhahahaha, we started laughing and that automan just lost a juicy customer.
There was this solitary auto, far away from the stands, it had no horn, no rear view mirror, no meter , and it's driver was frail, sitting meekly waiting for someone to approach him. So went we, "Sir, we want to go to REC" , "Well, sure, dump the bags in the back and hop in" said he, "uhh, how much Sir" - asked we ,
"Nah, you give an usual amount na?, give the same thing, how much you used to give, give me the same thing" - okay !!! done !!
What a nice man !, and he started the auto, made a small U turn and set forth on the 20km journey towards our college. Then he suddenly said "Saar, please tell me the route" ----Eh??
Every automan in Trichy knows the route to NITT, this guy, he just asked us to guide him , hmmm, so okay, what's there, after all he is not charging much - "Sure Sir, we will tell you".
So, we guided him, the vehicle slowly lumbered towards our hostel finally, it couldn't obviously take our combined weight !!
Then, we fished out some currencies from our overly stuffed purses and handed him 200 rupees. "Saar, be a little generous saar, it's early in the morning too and petrol costs 120 saar" - well, frankly 200 is a perfectly just sum and we told him so and he was happy !
We asked him, "Sir, how will you go back?, do you know the route?" - he said "Naaah, I will go back somehow, that is not a problem, there must be some other students like you na, having bags n all, I will take them to Trichy" --poor guy, 't was early in the morning and no one leaves for Trichy at that time, anyway, we bade him goodbye and went to our rooms.
This guy, a nice guy to a very impractical limit, didn't know the Rate nor the Route to our college, and we thought how such a guy might thrive in this city. He can be easily fooled by the public, "You give me the usual rate Saar and please tell me the route Saar" - I bet you will never hear such a statement from any automan in Tamil Nadu.
Sarve Janaa Sukhino Bhavanthu ----The Rishi
Vivek's Researchs...
This is a comment Vivek (my Research partner in all my activities so far) left for my post on "How to do Research...." , I thought this is very important to any budding Researchers, so thought I will put it as a post itself....
----------------------------------------------------
Being Mahesh's research partner in most of his endeavours, I know how much it means to this guy and how enthusiastic he is about getting his work done and getting results. One thing I really wanna point out at this instant is that its not about the money that really drives you into research. It's more like a quest and a search for answers and when you follow the quest with such passion, you will definitely land up with wonderful results, come what may. And there's no such thing as a job in an industry pays more than a researcher or anything. True, the start maybe easier for a person in an industry but if you're not bothered about patriotism or spending your life abroad, research pays very very well and that is no understatement. It is only India, where the research field has been quite mild due to many many reasons..
But a strong advise to those who are in the crossroads of deciding their career, just follow your heart and consult elders and many experienced people. You have a passion, you follow it and try to live it. Dont go about doing anythin just because the crowd is going to it. Then, what would set you aside?? Show who you are and show your induviduality.. As long as you like what you're doing, money will come to you..
-------------------------------------------------------
Cheers..!
Follow the Traffic ....!
Yesterday I had gone to Richie Street (an illegal goods haven) in Mount Rd with my friend Shriram (he's with the Merchant Navy). We had gone to buy an external USB hard disk for him, and we, after a lot of scouring around, got a 120GB Western Digital HDD for 3600 - from a shop called Oasis Network (the Bai Shop!).
Elated with our nice bargain, we were returning home on his Honda Activa and were constantly chatting through the journey that we lost our way !!!! Imagine, we lost our way in the most famous, crowded route in Chennai and we didn't realise we have lost the way and we kept on driving.
Well, soon it dawned on us that we have somehow landed ourselves in alien territory ! Well, the Rishi to the rescue - "Follow the Traffic" was the golden rule that spouted from his blessed lips!!! (I know its a little sad, but after all its my blog !). Since Chennai was getting crowded and crowded, there is traffic everywhere ! So, what we did, followed a stream of vehicles which we chose intuitively and decided to rely on that traffic to take us to a known territory !
We followed the chosen traffic, it turned, twisted, halted, screeched, honked and suddenly the traffic liquidated, each vehicle of the stream diverted ! Again we were stranded - in the search for another stream - Lo! there was another traffic stream going nearby, so - followed we it !~
Like this we were doing for some 30 mins, constantly jumping from one stream to another !, in the end we landed up at a signal on G.N.Chetty Road - a known territory !! From then on, we rode back home amidst a huge amount of traffic !!
A nice time, but we could have just asked an auto driver for the direction, but - see, am a researcher and would like to test my ideas - "Follow the Traffic" - a nice coarse rule, if you do not know Tamil, this rule is a safe bargain - you will definitely reach your destination but it will take a lot of time !!
"FOLLOW THE TRAFFIC" - only on the road, in life - you take your own stream and if someone decided to follow your path, that's your ultimate victory !!
Barber's Anti-Climax...
"Will you first go to the barber's and get your head shaved" - my mom ! ...that was one of the first things she said when she saw me yesterday morning when I reached home !
Today morning, with a lot of grumbling I tumbled out of bed and cycled to the barber's. Oh man, I'm getting very very lazy !
An old man greeted me there at the saloon - "Please come in" , in I went, a perfume scented room, a 4-bladed fan trying to rotate and an old FM radio was screeching on a arbit local FM.
I sat down on a creaky bench and picked up a tamil daily - it has lots of nice nice pictures !!! I waited for the old man to finish of shaving one of his frequent customers.
"Please come sire, what would you like ?" -- "Give me a trim short enough to comb my hair" - said me.
I parked my bottom on the chair, and with an artistic wave he placed a towel around me and tied it neatly around my neck. He sprinkled some water on my head and - "pat, paaat, PaPaPat, pat pat pat , sssappaat" - he gave a nice massage and started off with his slow smooth exuberant motion with snipping of my hair. Slow and steady, up went the comb, the scissors was waiting and SNAP, down fell my hair ! again went the comb, another SNIP ...and SNAP and SNIP...slow smooth exuberant and steady. My head was his seasoned finger's cricket field. He bowled, up came my hair and SNAP caught the scissors.
Then, after what seemed like years, pleasant years, slow smooth years, he placed his instruments on the table, flexed his fingers and cracked his back. Oh my god !, what an experience, this 15mins with the barber....a psychedelic feeling - this guy rocks ! I simply enjoyed every second with him, his musical pattering, the harmony and rhythm with which his scissors snipped...so much comfort and a nice feeling ---all for such a small amount (at least i thought so) ....he is an old man....shouldn't charge me much....
"aaaah, sir, you look perfect, that's the best I have done today,.....now,, that will be 70 rupees"-------------------------------- Eh ????
--------------------------------------------------------------------
It's time Mahesh learnt that cutting his hair is too expensive, that's why we rishi's do not bother to do that ---The Maharishi
Time has dual nature...
This week I experienced duality of time !!
This semester started on Monday (for me!) and I decided to start setting the patches on the drum pad (for a couple of songs that our music troupe plan to perform in a forthcoming event) on the same day. We thought we could finish all the settings by Friday and break off for pongal and resume a complete practice with the entire troupe from next week. So, we thought, we have 5 days, lets leave Monday and start off from Tuesday. OKAY! ....blah blah...ohoh..heheh..hihi..zzZZ..Yaawwnn....Hi ..!!
eh..?..what happend.?? ....IT's FRIDAY !! what happened to Tue, Wed n Thursday ? I just landed in Trichy...Monday....decided to set pads on Monday....well..tuesday seemed a nice day to start off...and ...and....IT's Friday ! ...Time...went ...soooo fast !
This winter holidays, I spent in Bangalore, I was a Research Assistant in IISc. Well, it was tough, yea, real tough and I got screwed all the way. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and was a nice experience (my posts under the label IISc Life quotes some interesting experiences). But, I spent the entire 4.5 weeks in Bangalore, didn't go home at all. Semester Exams got over on Wednesday, I caught Mysore Exp on the same day and went to Bangalore, reached there on Thursday. My appointment as an RA began from Friday and went on till the Saturday before the Monday on which my college resumed. I really yearned to go home during the pongal holidays which was just one week from the day college resumed. So, I landed in Trichy....Monday...and couldn't wait for the Friday to go home..meet my family...enjoy pongal. Oh my god !, I had to wait 5 whole days....at laassttt !!..IT's Friday !!...Time...went..sooo slow...!
------- So, in that week - I landed in Trichy....Monday....I had time till Friday to set the drum pads...I had to wait till Friday to go home....and....................................'ts friday already ?? ...at last 't s friday !!!
Duality of Time - - - The Experiences of the Researcher----Time is slow and fast -
Nature exhibits duality in LIGHT (particle and wave nature) .... and....TIME (fast and slow)
---------------
't s time Mahesh realised that 't s he who controls his time --- The Maharishi
How to kickstart a Research ....things that I've learnt from various experiences (Part 2)
Part 2 --- Some Difficulties a fresh Researcher may face
"disclaimer - i am not trying to woo anyone to do research nor am i attempting to discourage taking up a job, choosing the field is left to the individual, maybe later i will post about the research opportunities available in different streams and sometime if possible will make a comparison between job and research."
So you have chosen to proceed with Research. Nice !
Okay, now that you are a researcher - how to proceed ?...what is research ?
It is instructive to start off with a dictionary definition of Research -
Definition:
- [noun] systematic investigation to establish facts
- [noun] a search for knowledge; "their pottery deserves more research than it has received"
Synonyms: inquiry, enquiry - [verb] inquire into
Synonyms: search, explore - [verb] attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner; "The student researched the history of that word"
Every piece of info , formula, graphs etc., has a huge amount of stuff hidden, when u see an equation first thing you should see ......uhh...well i will take those up in detail later !
What are the initial confusions ? Here are something i felt worth noting -
1. Finding a Mentor - For any fresher, it is very crucial to find a mentor, a guide who will give you initial guidance and a preliminary idea to work on. You may be in you Sophomore Year, with a sound basics of engineering math, some classical mechanics and fundamental chemistry (organic/inorganic). At this juncture, you may not have a suitable idea or any idea at all on "what to research on". What should I do or what should I work on that will be useful, that will bring me credit, that I can complete. A guide, will initiate you into a topic in which you may not have any idea at all. But, the guide will help you to get a peek and get the feel of the topic. Then the guide will give you a topic, a hot field, in which you can work. He might give you a small part of his research work that you may start off with, or he may ask you to collect all the work done so far over the years on a particular topic (a bibliographic study) etc.,
Now, choosing your guide is important. For a fresher, I strongly suggest you approach a prof. in your department or in your school who is doing some research in a field that interests you. Tell him that you are interested in assisting him and some flattery ! Then, he will take up things from then on. You may not initially like the topic he is giving you, but its okay, as a beginning you can take it up. That will help you to understand how to go about research, how to do a survey, who are the leading personnel etc etc., So finding a mentor is the prime most important step. Choose the mentor carefully!!
2. Getting a trustworthy partner - Now, it's very advantageous if you could find yourself a friend who is interested to pair up with you in this research activity. Make sure you are able to get a very very interested and keen person. He should not drop out in the middle for some stupid reason or the other. Also, do not form a huge team, huge meaning 4 or more. I sincerely suggest you to choose just a single partner. Just the two of you !
It is not mandatory , but you might need someone to confide in !
3.When do i do it ? - Now, you are studying, you want to play, you are in lots of clubs, you want to go home, you have exams, you want to watch movies, you want to , you want to, you want to.......and you want to do research !
So, when do I do it ? How do I allot the priorities ?
Well, that is left to you, choose your priorities well. If you are seriously want to complete your research and present it somewhere and get it published, I suggest you give it a top priority amongst your other activities. Remember, once you find a guide, you are committed to him until the work is complete ! So do not get him pissed off !!!!
Try to read up stuff properly, neatly organize and do take some pains to get the necessary books etc., these things the prof. will tell, but you have to sit and read!!
4. Is it like an exam ..eh ? - RESEARCH IS NOT AN EXAMINATION !!!!
You need not, and should not do research like you sit and study for examinations. It is not about by-hearting stuff and vomiting it to the prof. NO NO NO. There is not an immediate deadline, there is no pressure, there is no schedule. You can carry out research at a slow pace, take your own time to get the basics strong - BASICS SHOULD BE ROCK SOLID. Never progress unless and until your foundation is solid.
There is no necessity to mug up complex equations, memorize definitions, practice drawing diagrams etc., The key thing is - Research is a attempt to understand the stuff conceptually. When you look at an equation, you should be able to rip it apart into its physical implications.
Read it like a novel - when you read a novel, say you are reading the 15th Chapter, and in that the author might have referred to a small incident in the 1st Chapter, but you can still sharply recollect that event and you never turn back to the 1st Chapter to see what the author is referring to.
Same thing is to read a technical book or paper. You should understand and remember the ideas , the concepts, but you can always turn back to look at an equation, that is not a problem at all. Those equations, graphs etc., will start flowing like your blood once you get some experience, so you can take it easy. CONCEPTUAL understanding is IMPORTANT.
5.Will I become a Nerd ?? - Bah !...you will become a more cooler dude !!
Again, once you get the hang of understanding stuff conceptually, your intellect will automatically start developing and reach an acme that you would have never experienced. Your thoughts, your lifestyles will naturally become more mature and neat ! You will no longer be spending time with your heads burrowed under books, rather, a single glance will make you get the stuff into your head ! You need not spend sleepless nights, abeyance lunch-dinner, -Overall, Research will be a beautiful experience and a fun filled ride!!
You will be seeing and working with stuff that none of your fellows know, none of your profs know, sometimes, you may embark on something that is so advanced that no undergrad would even know such things existed ! You will be making magic with your computer, you can scribble arbit complex equations in that carry immense power, you can thrash and rip apart any one who claims to be an expert.
Everything around you will be speaking to you, you can understand all the things and invisible stuff happening around you, in the end - you will learn to appreciate the 'Sound of Silence' - a melody !!
6. Should I neglect course work so that I can spend max time with Research? -
Definitely not, you need not bunk classes, flunk exams, forget academic work - Definitely NOT.
It does not imply that if you are doing research, you should be thinking of high funda stuff that you have no time to attend mere classes and learn some stupid basic stuff that a bloke blabbers. Never dude !..do not get that attitude and do not assume that you are doing high funda stuff !!
Research does not immediately propel you to some zenith. You are still the normal, sane person you were, just that, you are doing some research, some innovative novel work. Get a feel man, do your coursework neatly, do justice to research, play and pursue your hobbies, life is a mix of everything!!
----------------
Well, those are some thoughts that occurred to me that a fresh researcher might face. If you are facing a confusion, learn to solve them on your own, do not take it as an hurdle, its rather a challenge !! Take some time off, sit and relax and learn to solve problems allay manner, assess all the possibilities etc etc.,
----------------------------------------
I wanna some projs...so that I can get a good MS and a good Job..
I had a nice incident yesterday, there is this classmate of mine - Mr.Ram (name changed on account of privacy!!)
He is a brilliant man, no doubt, but very very lazy and lethargic. He said "Macha, get me a project in IISc da". Well, I believe - "Sarve Janaa Sukhinoo Bhavanthu" , so I helped him out, gave him an idea and we are currently in the process of procuring him a guide in IISc.
He suddenly asked me - "Macha, do you know what is the prime difference between you and me", well I rattled of a lot of differences blah blah..!
He said - "You do research because you love it, I want to do a project which I can call as a research so that 't will help me land up with a nice univ. in America for my Masters"
Me - "o O o , that's great !, but remember da, even to complete your Masters, you have to submit a Thesis that should involve purely novel research, and in the US its a lot tougher than you think"
He - "De, I can take care then da, if the need comes I will do it, why do you think I did not do a project or a training during my 2nd year ? because I was not interested "
then we drifted off...
The point is, Ram clearly understands what is Research and why he wants to do one. That is very important, he sure can take it up if the need arises and am confident his Masters would pose no challenge to him. He just wants to add value to himself so in the end of the day he may land is a good company with a juicy salary and a neat little family !
So , that is the major feelings and purpose for many who do projects and strain a lot to crack the GRE to enter into one of the top schools for Masters. So, be confident that you can tackle the pressure in the US during the Masters and simply Surf Ahead !!!
How to kickstart a Research ....things that I've learnt from various experiences (Part 1)
I claim myself to me a Freelance Researcher, and being one, I thought I will share some very critical topics that will help a fellow budding researcher to kickstart his research -
----------------
Part 1 - Getting committed towards Research
This is the most fundamental preliminary step, it's like, you have just crawled out of the womb, which is your schooling or the ground work education, and now stand facing the huge ocean laid out in front of you - research ? job ? , there are the two main questions that you will be facing towards the end of your undergraduation. Be it an engineering stream, pure sciences, a commerce course, or electronic media, visual communication , anything you may do, in the end you will be left staring at these two questions -
RESEARCH ? or JOB ?
There may be some who want to take research and then a job, some who want to go to job directly etc., The main difference amongst the various genre of courses you take is, some course may tilt a lot towards job (vis. comm, elec media, arts etc.,) some will give a better reason to prefer research (engineering , commerce etc.,).
Now, the next important query - 'Which will pay me more?', that's the first question any fresh UG will've to face. I'm not commenting on that simply because am still a Junior and have no idea which is gonna pay me more, but I will take up Research (and then maybe a Job). So, as for this question, people may ask their seniors, parents, relatives etc., and after a lot of mixed responses, brainwashing attempts an UG will (or should) have to decide - Research or Job ?!
Some may say - 'Job Satisfication', however in the end, it all boils down to ' will it pay me?' . There is no point in painting posters, masterpieces just because it gives you satisfication, will it fetch your daily bread ?? See, am trying to be practical.
So, in the end of the day, you chose between the corporate world or scientific world.
This article (post!) is inclined towards people who have chosen the scientific world.
Remember, any person who has chosen to do an MS or M.Tech ( with an idea that he may land up with a better job with a juicy salary ) has to submit a thesis as well and that thesis should contain some novel stuff for which you have to do some RESEARCH !!
Choosing a MS or M.Tech involves some thinking. It is not so easy to get a thesis done and get away with your masters very easily, that is if you are doing it in a reputed institute. A Masters is a very serious, yet fun, undertaking and one cannot do away by fooling around and time passing in Orkut or GTalk or Ennadu ! From my short life at IISc, I interacted with lots of masters studs, they are all really inclined towards research and show a great passion in doing some novel study. There are lots of hardships, pitfalls and long days that one might encounter and sometimes he/she might feel that her research is progressing nowhere, there are certain periods that you don't seem to understand anything at all, all those papers you read seem to be gibberish cluttered with equations, graphs, etc., Sometimes, or most of the times, you will have to do some thing that no one has ever done in before, tackle a problem that people have never even dared to think about, debug some huge problems tat may run for millions of lines, etc etc., And, there is an equally jolly side towards research, that is if you enjoy doing it, the thrills you get when you solve a problem, the unbounded happiness when you publish a paper, the joy you get when a great bloke from some of the top schools in the world commends your work etc etc.,
So, Research - getting committed towards is tougher than get committed to a person !
A person who has already decided that he is going to do research, but so far has not embarked on any such activity, kindly read on, I will be posting more Parts quite soon. A seasoned researcher may find nothing new as this is titled "How to Kickstart a Research" !
---------------
I have no reason to get you committed to research or brainwash you against a job, I just thought this might be helpful for some person who may come across my blog !
Pillar Pillai.....
Pillar Pillai - His name is Arumugam Pillai S, he calls himself SAP and the the profs here call him Mr.Pillai.
He is a Technical Officer at the Chem. Dept , IISc (http://chemeng.iisc.ernet.in/) and also the library incharge , ............now that is where I come in ! I was stationed in the library (aka The Bunker) during my stay there this winter !
This person, he says he doesn't talk much, but somehow, right from day one, he started jabbering with me ! A very kind hearted, staunch believer of GOD is GOD , thinks everything happening around him is because of GOD and a very affectionate father and a powerful researcher !
He joined the Dept. during 1979 and during my 1month stay he rattled off his 28 yr experiences at the Dept. Gave me lots of tips, various stories of students whom he has seen, how and what the students do after the IISc life, some inside sneak-peek stories about the profs in the Dept., and a lot about Sai Baba and GOD.
He would go out of the way to help me ! and I really mean that. He allowed me to carry home library books when Project Assistants are strictly prohibited to do so, used to go to the main JRD TATA lib in IISc and borrow books for me in his account (we don't get to borrow books from there, it's a huge repository of the rarest books).
He was my spiritual and philosophical guru and kept bombarding me with pep talk and encouragements. He works a lot on utilizing fibers as adsorbents to remove Cadmium from water and has quite a few publications to his credit !
People who may go to the Chemical Engg. Dept at IISc, do make it a point to be-friend him, he may himself come swaggering towards you, but do not neglect him, he is a very nice person and lovable one too ! Kudos to Mr.Pillai , my Pillar !
A steady suitcase...
Today, I boarded a bus towards Majestic (a place in B'lore) and 't was going from Malleswaram. The roads from Malleswaram to Majestic aint so good, they are quite bumpy and coarse.
There was this man who boarded the bus with his suitcase, a small one that office goers usually carry, and sat infront of me and kept his suitcase beside him. It was erect and was standing steadily. The bus began to move and suddenly went over a speed breaker. This suitcase, toppled, or rather it seemed to topple, and went all the way over to one side and surprisingly came back to it's erect position ! I had actually bent and stretched to catch the toppling case and then F**k, so much for the effort !
Then, another bump, this time, it toppled towards the other side, again, seemed to topple, and this time, it's owner bent down to catch it. And, 't casually oscillated back to its erect posture and the man just touched the case to make sure Ye, 't s fine !
Now, the road was becoming really rickety. The suitcase started wobbling so much so that a person sitting in the opposite seat stretched all the way to catch the poor case. It was wobbling rather dangerously and was twittering around a lot. I was simply watching it ! This poor guy from the opposite seat was straining himself, really. Then the road became quite even, the case gleefully swayed some small oscillations and regained 'ts calm composed erect position.
By this time, Majestic had come up and the bus was slowing down and as it neared the stop, the driver applied a gradual brake, slowly the speed reduced and the bus screeched to a halt, 'Scccreeeecchhhh ....' and the deceleration was so gradual that no one even shifted. Suddenly a loud THUD ,this small suitcase had fallen, toppled over ! hahahahahaha..!..we had a nice hearty laugh ! , the owner said 'the case must've got tired' , the opposite guy claimed 'nasty case, when we tried to help 't fooled us, it deserves this' , lol !....
A nice incident that left me in elated spirits !! , So people, do try to notice your surroundings and absorb them !!
The Coffee Cup Phenomena
The what Phenomena ? , Ahem !, I've just coined that as Coffee Cup Phenomena. So, what is it ?
I had taken up an industrial plant training at Manali PertoChemicasl Ltd., Chennai, India, during my 3rd Semester and I was guided by one Field Engineer who happened to be a graduate from Anna University, Chennai, India. This guy, one day, asked us (two of my friends were with me for the training)
Seems pretty simply and straightforward aint it ?
. I put this question to my kid(1oth std) cousin bro, he gave a neat reply -
"The coffee is at a higher temperature than the surrounding air, so heat flows from higher temperature to lower temperature and when we blow, it loses heat faster" , these were not his exact words, but 't was somewhat like this.
. I then, had a discussion with Srinivasa Ramanujam (a Unit Operations expert, whom I met in Orkut) , and here is the convo.
SR : the process which you described in your question is nothing but forced convection heat transfer which you will learn when you take heat transfer course.
In absense of blowing, the beverage which is at higher temperature will lose heat to relatively low temp air in atmosphere. The heat lost by the beverage will be picked up by the air and its temperature will increase (upto a limit called boundary layer). when this hot air is removed by blowing, more and more cool air will come into contact with the hot beverage surface which can remove more heat. while the absense of blowing is called natural convection heat transfer, blowing by external means is called forced convection heat transfer.
SR : what you are talking about is two-phase heat transfer coupled with mass transfer which depends on specific and latent heat of fluid(s) as well as concentration difference between them. your explanation is partly correct that some amount of hot beverage will be carried out while blowing (mass transfer), however the dominant mode is heat transfer due to high temperature difference.
for eg, during summer the water in reservoir will evaporate due to heat transfer, but during winter it is by mass transfer. you will learn more during your heat transfer course.
SR : juz now i had coffee with my collegue which stimulated my thoughts furthur. first of all, the mechanism involved in heat transfer from coffee to atmospheric air is more complex than described earlier, because coffee is not an ideal fluid. it is a mixture of milk, sugar and decoction of coffee bean so you will have fine solid coffee particles, water vapour and milk (which itself is a mixture of fatty acids and water). the water vapour which is trapped by coffee will help to retain the heat, by blowing we are releasing the latent heat stored in water vapour which will eventually bring down the coffee temperature. also the high temperature fluid will lose heat by convection to the atmosphere. moreover, the concentration difference between coffee and atmospheric air will carry away some mass (and heat stored in that mass). try to stir with a spoon instead of blowing and see what happens :).
SR : first of all, i appreciate your learning interest.
hot coffee is a mixture of sugar, fatty acids, fine coffee particles and water (and probably few more which i don't know!) each of which will boil at different temperature. the vapour composition is not an ideal gas and it depends strongly on temperature, density of the fluid and other properties. fine coffee particles will also be carried away by this vapour tha heating effect and hence its temperature will reduce.
I do not have my scraps as Mr.SR had deleted them and I think he is not in Orkut anymore.
Well, one explanation I can think of is this -
In any liquid system, homogenous or heterogeneous, there exists a Vapour Liquid Equilibrium (VLE). What this means is, in any container containing some liquid, there exists a default layer of the vapour phase (of the liquid) just above the liquid surface. This vapour and liquid phases of the substance are in equilibrium with each other. Why such kind of equilibrium exists and further explanation can be found in Mass Transfer Operations by Robert E.Treybal and numerous texts are available to cover this, its a fundamental topic.
So, in our cup of steaming coffee, there exists this vapour phase, or coffee vapours, just above the liquid surface, it is this vapour that we see as the steam. The coffee molecules, take up the inherent heat (the coffee is hot) and get converted to their vapour form. So, the steaming coffee has - a vapour phase that takes up the inherent heat in the coffee to sustain, the hot liquid layer from which molecules vapourise.
Now, we happily blow !, what happens ? We are actually blowing away the vapour molecules just above the liquid coffee layer. We blow, the vapour molecules go away. Now, VLE comes into action, since there has to be a vapour layer existing, more molecules from within the liquid take up the inbuilt heat (due to the coffee's high temp) and vapourise to the top, we blow again ! , these newly formed vapour goes off. Again, more molecules consume the inherent heat and become vapours that are blown away, thanks to us !. So what is happening, the coffee loses more and more of its inherent heat to maintain the VLE, in this process what happens ?the coffee loses heat and ..COOLS DOWN !!. Summarising -
-Vapour molecules - Liquid coffee exist at equilibrium
-We blow, vapour molecules go away
-More vapour molecules come up by consuming inherent heat to maintain VLE
-coffee loses its heat to sustain the VLE by providing heat for vapourisation of liq. molecules
-coffee loses heat and cools down.
-----------------------------------
So, there, that is the Coffee Cup Phenomena !! It was nice to write about it, think about it!, such a simple, day to day activity, but it involves a beautiful mechanism , nature rocks !!
-------------------------
Have a nice coffee..!!
Apple I-Phone Ripped Apart
I chanced upon this interesting piece of news, a couple of blokes have sat down and ripped the Apple I-Phone apart, its interesting to have an inside look !! Check it out !!
http://thinksecret.com/archives/iphonetakeapart/
Apple rocks !!, and their latest OS, the Mac OSX Leopard, it can run Windows as well !! I just bought a piggy bank , saving money for an i-Mac :P
Assassinating a Political Leader - Benazir Bhutto's Death
Disclaimer - I am NOT a reporter, news press person, political leader,politician, employee of the Government of India, spy, police, CBI, detective, associated with politics, underground Don, news reader, owner of a company,critic, rebel, mastermind. ( I think that covers it all)
---------------------------
To start off, people who expect this post to rattle about Benazir's political prowess, her ideals or about her as a person, am sorry, this has nothing got to do with that. I barely follow Indian politics, least Pakistan's, but, I have heard from some quite reliable sources that She (Bhutto) aint a good leader , she is corrupt (all leaders are so) and has been involved in numerous police cases etc etc, but, she was , now she aint .
I just wanted to muse about the amount of planning those assassins must have done to embark on this mission. It's really a beauty and we have to admire the guts and the nerve of these people to actually get the ideas rolling. Imagine going in and killing a person who is guarded on all sides by some of the country's best trained and ferocious guards. In Bhutto's case, she was actually killed by using a rifle and recent news show a vague picture of a unknown person having a gun with which Bhutto was presumed to be shot. Indira Gandhi, a very powerful woman, she was assassinated by her own gaurd, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber, Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a rebel (Nathuram Godse) and many such major political assassinations have occurred throughout the world. It is not so easy to just carry a gun and simply shoot the person. The intense, minute by minute, inch by inch planning is to be done. Still, no one has any idea how (yes, PPP says she was assassinated, Pakistan Govt. says she got accidentally injured in the bomb blast which lead to her death, lately PPP has strong evidences and witnesses to disprove the Govt.) or who killed Bhutto. In most of the cases, the job is done neatly and subtley that no has a clue how or what happened. Sometimes, the killing is done at the unexpected moment and by the unexpected person.
Just take some time off and ponder, think that you want to assassinate say Mr.X who is the President of Namek (some fictional person and place). Think how you can do it, the necessary things, arms, time, people etc etc. You just think, and you will realize what it is to be a real rebel and have the blood to go and assassinate a political leader. Also, its very difficult to do it single handedly, you have to have a team , a very very very TRUSTWORTHY team who can be completely entrusted with the job, who can remain secret, who does not have any police records etc etc. And, how to carry out the killing, a suicide bomber ? a land mine ? a bomb in the car or convoy ? get out there and shoot the head off ? use a sniper ? drop a bomb from a plane ? poison the food ? ...oh my god, its not easy at all, its tougher than anything in the world. The amount of money involved, must be astronomical! Procuring the necessary equipments, unnoticed, customs cleared, in neat technically sealed packages, arranging for them, oh man..so many things to be considered. Convincing your team that it is possible, maintaining the zeal, that urge to pursue the project, envisioning etc. I can go on and on, its tooo complicated and not in the least simple.
I suggest you to read The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, its a brilliant rapid novel about how a team of rebels hire an internationally acclaimed assassin who's supposedly known by no one ,no one knows his real name and who has no police record anywhere, to kill President Charles deGaulle. It seems, after reading this novel, a real attempt was made to assassinate deGaulle using the method outlined in the book. You can get a true feel of what it takes to embark on a mission to Assassinate a Political Leader.
PS: My friend said, " Hey, i pity the state of Pakistan man, imagine the present atmosphere there, how can the people be at peace now, its a troubled country" , I truly agree with this, and I recently read that Pakistan looks to be deserted now, the streets are empty, the shops are closed, no buses, no vehicles plying and people are terrified to even venture out to get basic groceries and there are some families who have no food to eat and are toooo afraid to even open their doors. And, lets hope that Bhutto's 19 year old son who has picked up the reins of the PPP can bring peace and restore the happYness in Pakistan.
--------------------------
Disclaimer - I am NOT a reporter, news press person, political leader,politician, employee of the Government of India, spy, police, CBI, detective, associated with politics, underground Don, news reader, owner of a company,critic, rebel, mastermind. ( I think that covers it all)
Sarve Janaa Sukhino Bhavanthu
Why it took SIX MONTHS...? - The Inside Story
Sometimes, I wonder why it took me 6months to resume my blogging, or rather, why in the first place did i stop after my first post ?
Its difficult aint it, to do some indepth self analysis on topics related to ur downcomings ..eh ?
To begin with , I did some analysis for this 6month gap and came up with this ..umm...neat results -
1.Laziness - Yea, I have no qualms in listing laziness in the top of the list, because, its it that was the cause of this 6month gap. So screw laziness, you s**k bigtime laziness, you are a spoilsport laziness, you dimwit laziness, you are the cause of all this trouble laziness, you are..you are..you are....wo ho ho ho...what am i doing ?? 'ey you are punishing and ridiculing laziness, you dumbo'
Errr..?? Whaaattt ?? ...Well, what am driving at is, plain and simple, laziness is a character which you have created and its mere existence in you is only due to you.So,there is
absolutely no point in saying 'Oh my god !, it was this carelessness that got me into mess' or any such quote, things happen, be it good or bad, only because of you and you can't put the burden of blame on others or other things.
So, in the end, its laziness, the prime reason that caused this 6month gap and I am slowly and successfully removing it from my mind and Universe. ( I will be very often quoting my Universe, what it is ? and why am I quoting it so often ?.things will unfold..)
2. Academic Work - I say it as Work , what it means is, I was waylaid by work, so much so that I could not find time to blog ! . Well, I call it Academic Work , why ?
It's plain and simple, the education I am being offered in NITT, is Work , there is minimal knowledge being imparted. I'm being told (not taught) things, which I have to mug up (not learn) and simply reproduce (not apply) in the test (not examination). People having excellent reproduction skills ( girls ! , i hope you get it..! no offence meant) tend to score (not secure) high marks and thus high gpa and cgpa blah blah ! . So, 't s actually Work that we do in college, the main difference is , in the corporate world, we are paid to do Work, in NITT we pay to do Work. It is another major reason that triggered this 6month gap.
3. Research Activities - Well, i wouldn't call it a negative reason, it's just that I had to complete lot of research activities that I had taken up over the year and, since i particularly enjoy doing research, i felt it had a higher preference than blogging ! More details about my research will be posted in a separate label titled My Research. I love research, but sadly, it was another reason for this 6month gap.
4. Zilch Net facilities - I do not want to be harsh, and am not being justified in being harsh too, but, it's another reason. The I-lab (we did not copy from Apple) in our college, is good, very fast, quite stable (it just breaks down some twice a week) and it has some very powerful computers. But, but...there is only one I-lab ( 'ey , isn't that enough for you?) which has just around 250 computers for 5000 students ( Oh !, that's sad :( ). So, the time I spend in I-lab is either devoted to research, answering mails etc, that I couldn't find time to blog ! When the lab is full , usually its overflowing :P , the speed drastically reduces and opening www.google.com takes 1 whole minute. So, yet another candidate for this 6month gap.
After reading this post, you might say, 'ey, he's bluffing, he did not have any ideas and did not know enough english to blog' , well, I did have ideas and still have them, you think I spent this 6months just trying to get some ideas ? And, i need not know english to blog ! , i can type in tamil and people interested and who know tamil can read it !
--------------
Well, so says Mahesh, after all he is just another of my avataars (incarnations) , I will tell you the real reason, I have told you already in my previous post - I was tending to the needs of the million mortals who believe in me and who need me and who have faith in me. How come I have time now ? Don't those million mortals need me anymore ? things will unfold...
Cheers....Mahesh
The Rishi has morphed into a Freelance Researcher
It's been half a year since I have blogged ! Well, that's accountable, being a Rishi, the representative of GOD on Earth, I had to tend to numerous mortals and so so ....
Well, tired of those duties, errr. . . no no, am not tired, it's my pride to keep the people in my Universe gay and happy !
Sarve Janaa Sukhino Bhavanthu (Sanskrit, an ancient Indian Language, Language of the Gods)
All People Be Happy (a direct translation into English)
I strongly believe in that and I do live so. Being a natural researcher, I am have transformed myself as Mahesh, a Freelance Researcher, doing his Junior Year in Chemical Engineering at NITT (www.nitt.edu). So, henceforth, for another few days (that will be around a trillion years for you mortals) , I will be blogging as Mahesh and ...uhh..yea, that's it !
I'm back and this time, the juggernaut's rolling and no stopping it !, look out for a fun filled, happY and a researchish blog !!
Cheers..Mahesh !
.jpg)