This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."

This is not going to be a story like Christopher Gardener, he was in way bigger troubles than what I'm trying to emphasize here.

The final year of my B-Tech Life, oh wait, let me make it last one and a half years. Those were the days when depression and anxiety caught me, not just me, many of us. Suddenly, there were too many things happening around. Placements season/ Apping/ CGPA improvement/ B-Tech Project/ Social Life/ Pressure from the family and society. This is when I started to realize how society has a say about leading my life, my own life! Strange right? Of-course it is. 

For me, all I wanted was to concentrate on "Apping/Btech project/Improving CG", but there were times when I was infinitely forced into thinking about the placements for which I've had no importance. It wasn't a significant part of my life, but, I had to think about it. As good as the tagline of "IIT" seems to be, it is also very bad, very very bad, and only an IITian can understand this. With the news about job offerings of 1.5cr to IIT students, everyone starts assuming that that's how every IITian gets paid. Why can't anyone understand there aren't jobs offering 1cr n more for the thousands of IIT'ans passing out every year. Looking at these news, our parents, relatives and social peers start to force you to get a job worth so much and insult you if you can't.

For apping and placements, cgpa is known to be critical, so this was the last chance for everyone to improve on that. Apart from these, we had to finish our BTECH projects successfully on time, it was more imp for apping students. And when you realize that you've the worst guide ever, that just makes it more miserable. Once you realize that you invest all your wealth and happiness into something and you know  very well that it's collapsing? Life turns upside down! Similar things happened in my life, almost similar :P

Inspite of investing almost 24*7 into my lab works and projects, leaving my social life behind, there was no support or encouragement I needed. Overcoming my family pressures about settlement/job/apping just added a LOT n LOT to the existing problems.

That's when depression and anxiety started to take a toll. They were teammates and I was on opposing team. Their one and only goal was to drag me down. They made me paranoid, they made me feel useless, and they stole all energy and motivation.

However, sometimes they go on a vacation, I never know how long the vacation will last, but, I get my stuff back and then concentrate on accomplishing the goals while they're away. Because, I never know when they will come back, it may be a few hours or a few days. I never know. I do know that I've to get ready to enter the battle when they return.

I got soo used to being unhappy and depressed that I'm still kind of travelling in the same phase. All my plans started to ruin right in front of my eyes, but somehow, I defeated them all. Somehow, really, I never understand what happened to my life that time :P With lots and lots of pressure around me, in all directions, I was no less than a "Freaking misanthrope" :P I survived all these only because of my friends support, mainly SRINIVAS and JUNAID. They were not totally successful to make me get over my feelings, but were there when I needed and probably why I am still writing a post now. My friends were more happy than me when I got an admission at Dal and when I successfully submitted my bachelors thesis in time. I failed to realize that some good things were happening around me :P But they did.

(P.S: I'm so bored of my life that I'm not investing the minimum amount of time on this post. :P Don't ask me why I'm writing it in the first place, coz I started the draft one year ago :P)

This fight only made me stronger (I guess :P )! Now if someone tries to steal my thunder, I am ready to let them know that they've no role to play in my life.

Found a zen pencils article which rolls on something related. Go through it. :)

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The well known strangeness.

Umm.. Strange huh.. What's so strange? Me? O no, just me moving to Canada. Ever since I've been here, like a week now, I've come across many strange things that I had knew about before. But this was no tv-series or a friend's experience, but it was absolutely my personal experience, so I had no choice but to consider those differences. I've been saving up my experiences one by one just for this one post. Let me get started..

1. The first strangest thing I found was........... people, wait.. FRIENDLY people.
As I got out of the airport, there was my prof n a couple of other labmates waiting to pick me up. Starting with them, I started to wonder if I knew those people from a long time now. I mean, yeah, ofcourse I knew them but I just knew that he was a prof. And ever since, at the hotel, superstores, depts, roads... people just talk to you, ask how you've been.. like you know actually, if something like this happens in India, I might just consider him/her like a crazy person n ignore. But, people here are very friendly, it's in their DNA. Especially Haligonians (& Eastern Canadians) are known for this.  

2. Traffic rules n Transport system:

Can you imagine full speed driving vehicles suddenly stopping over for someone to cross the road? Well, not a big shot or anything.. someone as common as you. Never, right? That's exactly what happens here.. You try to cross a road and the vehicles stop for you.. even if you don't insist.

And the buses, you just need to press a button if you want a bus to stop at your destination point. No jumping from running buses or running behind the buses. Cool, isn't it?

No one uses horns on their cars, until it's a life emergency. In India, all I can hear is the honking sounds everywhere.

3.  Kitten Missing:

I found so many ads on my way reading "Missing kitten", I can only remember how "Missing person" is the only thing that happens in India, or thats the only thing considered. Thats strange, worried about a cat? woah. Lot of humanity, isn't it?

4. Public Romance:

Considering the very important fact that I'm from India, you can understand how one reacts to public romance. Don't judge me.. I'm a very broad minded person!

5. Bisexual- not funny anymore!

Those were the days in India when I teased my friends as "Gays" just for the sake of it.. Well, I'm in a place where it actually means something (Not offending anyone. Really just explaining the situation). It's really nice how these people open up to who they want to be and the govt's who consider them to be equal with the known two genders of the society. Hoping to see India like that!

6. High Calorific Foods:

I don't say that it's not there in India, but the regular quick foods here give you good amount of calories. Eat less, gain more :P Well, I can't skip mentioning the very bland food. For someone like me, they will SUFFER!

7. Adultzone alert!

I was at a hotel for a couple of days initially, and as I was going through the menu on the TV.. I came across "AdultZone" and a whole bunch of movies/videos or something.. 

I remember people crying in India because of the porn ban and here, porn on tv? Are you kidding me?

When my mind was still on this.. During orientation day, they announced that the Office provides free condoms, if students need them. They had distributed 16,000 last year. And for those who have unprotected sex, the health services team gives out birth control pills..

I don't wanna seem to be narrow minded here, but, university giving out condoms? I don't know man, this is very strange for me atleast! 

8. Tissue is the Issue:
This is a very well known problem.. The use of toilet paper in human history dates back to 6th century AD, in early medieval China. Even though water is more hygienic than a toilet paper, these people still prefer to use only tissues. Very Very Hard for us who use water!

9. Theaters and Plays:
I really wanna appreciate these people for keeping the traditional arts still alive. It was during my childhood that I used to hear about how there were plays and dramas happening in the local villages. I don't think they are being encouraged anymore. The shadow puppet theatre tradition of Andhra Pradesh is one of it's kind and really lovely! It's known as "Tholu bommalata" meaning "Dance of leather puppets". Check out this link: Tholu Bommalata.


10. Water costly than Beer: Need I explain more? :P

11. Heaters and Radiators instead of FANS and AC.

12. The water in the bathrooms is safer than the packaged mineral bottles :P
Sounds eww right? But, that's the truth. The same supply of water goes to the kitchen and bathroom, and is very clean and safe to drink even without boiling and filtration.

13. Garbage segregation:
This is one difficult task I would say. Segregating the garbage everytime you dispose something, recyclables into blue, wet biodegradables into a container and in a freezer, dry biodegradables into a transparent big bag, bathroom waste into another transparent blue/white bag.. Phew.. That's a really good way of getting things better.


These are just a little out of many happening around. I shall keep updating this post as I come across more strange things :D
The best part is that, I'm surviving all of these :P Wohhooo! Way to go ;-)

(P.S: I am not supporting or opposing anything. I'm totally trying to concentrate on how different things seem to be.)

Stay Tuned! ;)

Kerala, yet again!!

Here comes my much awaited post about the much awaited trip. Leaving IIT was not that easy as I thought it could be. For some its the campus, for some its the free internet, for some its the freedom, and for me it's my friends. The sadness of leaving the insti on one side and the fear that I won't get to meet them after I leave to Canada on the other side has completely occupied my mind. So, we had decided to go on a trip for one last time (I really hope its not the last one). Finishing my medicals really soon, I left to my favorite place, the god's own country, Kerala!!! Kerala because......., I was missing junaid a lot, and this time I have more friends from kerala :D !!

The hyper excited me!

As I was travelling alone, I preferred to go in a second class A/C compartment. The adrenaline rush had already begun when I couldn't get a cab until the last 45min. However, a very long super fast bike journey with my friend ET had saved me from that nervousness. The journey was for around 11 hours, believe me, that really felt like 24 hours or even more for me. The hyper excited brain of mine to meet it's buddies, didnt let me sleep all night. It was around 4 in the morning when they said "Train No:12685 , Chennai to Mangalore super fast express has arrived at platform '4' ". Could there be anything more sweeter than this? :P I literally jumped from the upper berth and ran towards the exit.

A Beautiful Church 

Junaid and Thanzi picked me up from the station. 4.30am, cool breeze, the beautiful city, Kerala!! "Wohooo".. I wanted to shout loudly!! Anticipation!!! 4 amazing days ahead. I totally felt like Kuttan returning home from work :P (Ref: Bangalore Days).

Day1: A warm welcome from Femi (Jun's sis) with a nice kaatam chai "black tea". Even though I don't drink Tea/Coffee, somehow I end up gulping each and everything when at Jun's home. ^_^ I was waiting for jasu to wake up ^_^ so that I can give him my gifts. Aunt had prepared my favorite dish for breakfast, "Appam with coconut milk". A perfect start for a perfect day! Jasu was quite shy initially but had started to jump around with me very soon.

Art by Jasu ;)

I had decided to wear Femis dress that day to mix up with the people. Many said that i look fat and funny in that dress. Well, how fat can I look?? ;) I went on a walk to explore the town along with Junaid. I had blackmailed Junaid to help me buy a Kerala saree this time. We all went out that evening with thanzi and bought it finally. I couldn't wait to try it on :D

Day2:
It was a pleasant rainy day. Juns sisters were on a leave that day. With jasu dancing around and me jumping around him, the day went off so quickly!! Uncle had cut down jack fruits and coconuts for me. My tummy was so full with them and the yummy food aunt had cooked doesn't need any mentions.

Monkeying around :P

The new style, it's jasu's style.

It was around 5 in the evening and jun's sisters vanished suddenly after they got to know that I will be leaving the next morning on a trip with all other friends. That was of course quite suspicious scene because they both went out alone :P and none had an idea about it. And then I caught Jasu :D, the sweet little guy after so much asking had leaked that there was a surprise for me and that they were on it. Paavam he is!! He realized after telling me that he wasn't supposed to. It's so cute to see that little guy bang his head and regretting for that :P

So, yes, they went out to get surprise gifts for me :)

The Girly Evening.

There were so many emotions flowing(really flowing!) within us already. We then started to have a very girly evening. Hair-dos, youtube videos, dressing ups, selfies!! Of course, that was one fun-bonding evening. ^_^

Kerala Saree, YAAY!

As the night went on, all of us became very emotional. We had pained Junaid that I won't be leaving the next day early morning and pressurized him to cancel the trip. Sudev, who had cancelled his family trip for this one. Shafeeq (leaving his ddp) had booked tickets to sudevs place only because the trip. Fight put by nea and especially nithya to convince their parents for this trip. Thanzi put fight for the car. After all this fight, jun was reluctant to even consider our emotions (Well, it's not like he considered them ever :P, but this was for sure ;) ). However, if not that day, I had to leave the next day :/ So, we all wished each other good night and byes (First send off :'( ).

Day3:
The day has arrived (Oh, let me just say it as Jun's big day :P). As planned, Junaid, Thanzi and I left from Mavoor to Thrissur, Sudev's place and from there all of us went to veega land at Kochi, to meet nithya and nea. The trip was kicked off with me being all sick and nauseous :P, could be due to my emotional times the previous night or the excitement about the trip. I really think it's because of the first reason though XD.

The Yelling Batch :P

So, anyway, this was my first visit to an amusement park and I was quite excited about it :D The day went off well, with me enjoying the water rides majorly (Love water and swimming :)). The rides included a huge log splash, water slides from as high as 5 storey building, a pool in which you can relax and several more fun rides. 

The one with all of us.

Due to my nauseousness I wasn't really enthusiastic about the dry rides. Although, my friends did pull me into all sorts of rides including hair raising ones which made us stay upside down in the air. So, I'm guessing that I am not that weak as I thought to be :P As we planned this trip during summer, it was a nice getaway from the hot and humid city climate. Situated on the top of a hill, this is a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

Second send off :/

Thanu kutti and ammu kutti :D

At the end of the day, we all started back to drop nithya and nea on the way near Ernakulum and headed to sudev's chechi's place in kottayam.

Gay couple :P

I was so happy to meet the other kutti, thanu there ^_^ After a long tiring day, there was so much fun with thanu and our gay couple (kidding), shafu and thanzi around :P



Day4:

Marari marari marari.... ;)

The final day has arrived. I had mixed feelings this day (really wanted to leave but was sad to leave). Sudev had planned a trip locally. We had visited Kumarakom bird sanctuary, kottayam backwaters, kumarakom lake and Marari Beach. Heading back to sudev's home, we were quite late reaching our time points.

At sumi chechi's house.

(The final send-off)

Shafeeq and I had booked my return tickets to chennai at 21:30 that night. Although, there was no time for proper send-offs, thanzi made my tears roll out by mentioning just one sentence which he was not supposed to "Prathyuuu... leaving already?". And then the waterfall never stopped. Now, I really wanted to stay back :P The plus point being, shafu and sudu bought me more chocolates so that I stop crying, but they didn't succeed :D Who cares, I had chocolates.

The sad journey back to chennai and to our routine lives had started. I perceived that it was going to be a nice trip, it indeed was a memorable one in various ways for me. The best things in life are the people we love,the places we've been and the memories we've made along the way!!!

The five of us! :D

Signing off with a bunch of memories!

Excitement+Fear+Anxiety!

You really don't want me to start explaining the infinite thoughts running through my mind at this moment, really not. Although, I was always interested in pursuing higher education, especially in abroad countries and even decided on the profs I wanna work with in future, when the moment is in front of me, I really don't wanna go. I wanna cry out loud "Please don't send me, I want to stay here". But, I also wanna reach my goals without any disturbances.

As I kept searching to find some related posts which might be helpful for me, I came across the following which summarized most of my feelings. Hoping that this will be helpful for many like me.



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Leaving home to study abroad is not like going for a college field trip or a sleepover at your best friend’s. You will be gone for a considerable period and it should not make you paranoid to see your family members getting emotional time and again as the date of your departure nears.

Similarly, you must keep your cool when close and distant relatives (who maybe have no real influence in your life) start sermonizing on the dos and don’ts of the new place even when they’ve never left their own city, let alone the country! In the part of the world I come from, you will receive their advice again and again... and again, till they see you off at the airport. (Beware; they may well call you and continue preaching even after you arrive.)

Although you will probably be overwhelmed with excitement at the prospect of starting a new chapter in your life, it’s also natural to feel emotional about leaving home to study abroad. There’s no harm in being sentimental, but you don’t want to spend your last few days or weeks getting irritated with those around you, or feeling sad at the prospect of being far away from family and old friends.

Here are my tips to guide you through this emotional phase:

1. Listen!

Whatever those around you are telling you, listen. Yes, you read it correct: listen to them. Make them feel satisfied, as it is their love for you that is forcing them to act weirdly. They care about you and want you to be safe. This doesn’t mean you have to actually act on their advice, but it does mean you should respect it.

2. Spend time with friends & family

While you will make new friends when you study abroad and have loads of new activities to keep you busy, nostalgia will one way or another bother you. Collect as many good memories as possible. Spend time with your loved ones and cherish all the memories; in those times when you feel homesick and unable to concentrate on anything, they might lift you up.

3. Remember they are rooting for you

You may be struggling leaving home to study abroad; you have a room to keep clean, assignments to complete, laundry to do, maybe a part-time job to manage your little expenses, and when you are done doing all that you have to prepare your meal. Sounds devastating, but this is what gives you invaluable life experience. Enjoy it and know that your friends and family are rooting for you.

They trust in you and believe you have the potential to make it big. One of my cousins wrote to me when I told him about my departure: “I am sure you are excited, nervous and perhaps even a little weary all at the same time which is entirely natural – just be positive and re-mindful that we’re all rooting for you and that things will always fall into place.” This is my advice to you. You can choose to ignore it if you like!

4. Have fun & take care of yourself

You are in a new place, new environment and a different culture. Enjoy every bit of it; this time might never come back. But you have to be responsible as well. Even if you are not following the instructions of your family and friends, you must take care of yourself in the best possible way. You are not a kid anymore so make all the decisions carefully and make your experience worth remembering.

Last but not the least; never forget those who care for you when leaving home. Keep in touch while you study abroad. Even an email once in a few weeks/months can suffice.

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Kudos to the writer!

From D/O to W/O.

And she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. The sudden anxiousness and terror was in the air surrounding her. Not very late that she started agitating about this, and realized the big thing happening to her.

It wasn't like any fancy doll wedding she was organizing during her childhood. As she started pondering, she glanced on her life up to date, the free, independent, ambitious, pampered daughter of her mom and dad. She finally understood that it's all going to be different.

She was conscious that she will not be free to do whatever she wants. The fear that none of her plans will ever be made without wondering about what her husband or in-laws will say, just instilled the anti-marriage thoughts in her mind. The mere thought of changing home (sometimes even city or country), family, entire lifestyle, etc., gave her a terrible headache. The constant reminders from others saying things like "your mother-in-law will not bear your tantrums like your mom does", was simply enough to freak her out. The expectations filled up post the wedding, like have kids, take care of them, save for their education, take care of your new family, behave according to them etc. 

Similar to most of the girls who think that getting married means an end to their ambitions and career plans. She started to wonder about the halts or breaks in her career for which she had worked so hard all her life. This stands true at least in the situations where the woman has to leave her city or country, as she might not get the job in a new place immediately.

The responsibilities of a woman change and increase manifolds after marriage. She thought about a long list of new relatives that comes along, whom she has to deal with. And, even if she dislikes them, she has to pretend just the opposite of what she feels. It is not just these new relations that scares her, but the adjustments that she would have to make with an entire set of new people after marriage.

She was worried that she would be sold (the dowry) to slavery and sex and that her identity would totally change. It is about the change of identity that she had lived with for her entire life, which bothers her more than anything else. 

It was all different, and suddenly, she found herself shedding tears. She understood that she wasn't in a stage in her life to make any such commitment. But the norms of the society instilled into her parents forced her look into this strenuous part of her life. Her mantra of 'my life, my choice, my goals' was about to come an end. This is not going to be a small change-over like before. She was all helpless. And she killed herself all night thinking as to why she was born as a girl.

#This might not be applicable to everyone. But, at-least in Indian scenario, the marriages always demand more than necessary. It is not a person to person thing, but a family to family and more families. Especially the arranged marriages situation has become like "Their way or Highway" kind. Well, they do have their own strengths and flaws.

Trip to Kerala!

I would like to introduce my #bff Junaid before going into the post, because this post revolves around his place :-P  It started during my 7th end semester examinations. The day before the last exam was as usual too exciting for our brains to concentrate on preparation. I couldn't apply myself to it and kept chatting with people, in the middle of which my friend #Guru proposed this idea of going on a random trip (without any plan) to some random place during our winter vacation. After improving on it, we have finalized to visit #Kerala and surprise #Junaid. Though the surprise didn't work, we finalized the trip to his house for 3 days and to celebrate new year's eve at his place. At last, I and my other friend #Srinivas only could make it to the trip.

I had too many plans for this trip and I sure bugged Jun a lot for that :-P I kept reading so much about kerala and it's ancient culture and traditions, made a list of items to shop, bought the tickets and then ready to go :D

Day 1: The day started with a beautiful sunrise in between the coconut fields in kerala. The Malayalam slang has begun :-P With much awaiting eyes, we kept gazing at those beautiful scenarios of the villages as we pass by. As we got down the train we met Jun there and then started to his place, around 20 minutes from the city. I started cramming few malayalam sentences, in order to wish Jun's mom.  <Sukhamaano?>

While Srinivas was more bothered about the scenarios, I couldn't wait to get to his home and try out all kerala dishes, coconut oil (made at his home :D) and other traditional items. As soon as we arrived at his home, his parents gave us a lovely beverage made of coconut, followed by breakfast, pathiri with chicken curry. I also caught Jun's younger brother #Jassu's attention by offering him chocolates and my mobile to play Subway Surf.

We then roamed around in his town, through the lanes, into the river and the beautiful paddy fields. We also explored his house, they have a huge backyard with several coconut, areca-nut, sapodilla and other small plants.

After getting the #feel for his town, we went back home for lunch - Chicken biryani :D :D It was sooooo yumm!!! I can spend my entire life savouring it :D The special part of these receipes is the usage of coconut and coconut oil,  which imparts that flavor. In the evening we went to S. M. Street for shopping and then to Kozhikkode beach. We also visited a pet show in front of the beach where many species of fishes, birds, dogs etc were displayed.

Back to home, Dinner - Butter naan and chicken curry :D

Day 2: Junaid planned to take us on a long drive along with his kerala friends. We drove the car to wayanad. We visited Chembra tea estates and went for trekking on Chembra peak (tallest in wayanad), one of the beautiful hills I had ever seen. The total distance was around 4.5 kms and was quite an adventurous trek. There is a heart shaped lake (natural lake) on the top of the hill, which is believed to have never dried up and sits as a major tourist attraction here. This lake is known as 'hridhayathadakam'. The weather was cloudy and the enthralling beauty amazed me. I would say that if you are an admirer of soothing beauty and if you love adventurous trek, Chembra peak is your place to be.

After lunch at a decent hotel near by, we went on to visit Soochipara waterfalls ('Soochi' meaning 'Needle' and 'Para' meaning 'Rock'). The way to the waterfall is superb and you will just love the drive which is lush green and full of tea, coffee, supari, Black pepper plantations. This a sentinel rock waterfalls and is a popular spot for picnic and trekking. At Soochipara, water falls from a height of 20 metres and forms a pool before gushing away as a small stream. The pool at the foot of the falls is ideal for a quick dip. The more restrained can have equally good fun just taking in the scenery. The walking path is well maintained with paved walk way and wooden benches along side. This is a place to enjoy fun with water.

After the long drive back home, we had fish curry (kerala spl) and rice for dinner :D Then started the new year's eve. Well, quite late though :P, I and junaid's sisters had plans of making earrings by quilling. Quite an artwork, but those 2 are well skilled with it. Srinivas, I and Jun's sisters sat together and started working on them, while Jun was busy texting and talking on phone initially:-P (busy person ;) ), later on he was tempted to make some attempts and tried out some star shaped weird single earring :P (#WiredJun). After wishing each other for new year, we went back to rest ourselves. New Year, New Place, New Friends (Jun's sissies) :D

Day 3: Such a sad day :'( I didn't want it to come, I wanted a longer night, so that I could stay for longer time there. I couldn't believe that I will be leaving kerala in few hours. :'( After having my favorite kerala breakfast (Appam + coconut milk :D ), I and Jun went to help his father with arecanuts, while Srinivas was busy trying to befriend #Jassu :P I was struggling to take selfies with that cute little lass and finally got few. We had fish and choru (rice) for lunch and then packed up everything to leave :'( Jun got me a quilling kit which kept me little alive :-P We went back to the station to get into the bus to Chennai. Within few hours, we started hearing tam voices, and back to routine :-|

I would love to stay back at that place for rest of my life, enjoying the beauties, delicious foods, rich culture and mainly Jun's home :-P Overall, I gulped a lot at his home :D :D A lot! lot!

God's Own Country! Jun's Own Place :-P My Dream Land! ^_^

Meh..! :-/

I don't want to be boring. Let me keep this SHORT.
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ENDSEMS :'(

CFI Open House - The day!

Well, not the only one, but one of the much awaited days of this month. With much more enthusiasm and much more commitment, we kick-started the BioTech Club. Need not mention, our second year juniors (Club Coordinators) really did a great job with DIY-BIO projects. After a series of continuous brain storming sessions, night outs, this is a list of what we finally ended up with:

1. Vein Finder
    To combat the difficulties faced by nurses to find the veins during infusions. Biomedical!

2. Augmented Reality - Image Processing
No Biological Significance. A study aid to be able to interact with the 2D molecules with their 3D structures. More like a "COOL-FUN" project.

 
3. Smart Phone Microscope
    Well, do you have a smartphone? Then, there is a microscope hidden in it. Join it with a lens and observe the cells. Overall, a cheap-o-scope, of paramount importance for small schools.

4. Electro Myogram
    Who doesn't know about EMG? So, we aimed at developing a portable model of it, which I think we are half done with. Crucial in medical field.

Well, it was decent enough to be displayed by our young inchoate club. These could attract many people because of the interdisciplinary theories with a flavour of biology related application in it.
Wait, something just stuck my mind, our professor commented regarding our work that it is always the last one week we fight. But, infact, I just realised that it is the first one week which we put fight which was supposedly the last one too :-P
IRONY! :-D

Just the first step :-) Go BT! Go CFI! :D

The 3 mistakes of my life!

Before you start making some false assumptions keeping Chetan Bhagat's book in mind, let me tell you, it has nothing to do with it or may be very little in common, just like Donovan's Life Is A Merry Go Round.

"Life is a merry-go-round.
  If you miss out this time,
  Don't let it fret your mind,
  Love will come round in the end."

Imagine a race where you encounter the rocky muddy roads. After crossing them with a great difficulty, you reach some smooth concrete path. Wouldn't you feel happy and enthusiastic about it? Well, that is when, you realize the deterrent effects caused due to the rocks stuck in between the patterns of the wheel. Nothing can be worse than that. But, will you just stop there? No. We would probably change the wheel and keep going. Life in-fact throws at you this kind of rocky paths and punctures, but the repair is not always possible.

Coming to the mentioned "3" mistakes, consider me as a muggu or whatsoever, this is about the choice of courses I have made for my minor elective. After getting out of the messy screwed up first year, when I started to believe that things are going well, it took me no longer than a year to realize this mistake. Fascinated by the challenging "Operations Research" course, I and a couple of my friends opted it. I love challenges, true, but I realized that this course/ challenge is not my thing. The three courses (my 3 mistakes):

1. Fundamentals of Operations Engineering
2. Advanced Operations Research
3. Computer Simulations

have just made me curious over time to realize that it's not my thing and when I realize, there was nothing to change. I couldn't go back in time.

Ok, why am I cribbing about it now? Coz it's all in the grades :-/ Unsure how the foreign educational systems work, but at-least in India, it is considered very important, your life. The overall CGPA depends on each and every course you take, screw one and you are done with it. Even after so many efforts put into the course, I never gave a satisfactory performance, and I am giving up now. I can't believe that I am still fighting for it. Can't hang on anymore. It's not my thing.

Among the chaos and the wheel, scattered all around.

On the wild windy wave I'm tossed, cast away and lost.

"Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore"

The Busy Bee!

Something unexpected happened these days. I still can't get the sense of how it all happened. I had been listening about this "BT Club should be established" kind of catchlines from past 2 years. But, it was never there. There were discussions on mails, debates regarding it's significance and all. Suddenly I saw a mail saying "Call for Heads - BioTech Club".
'Woah, the club is finally there? Cool, why not give it a try, the last thing I can do for my department before leaving' this was how I felt and applied to it, and got selected. Being selected as a Head Member is not a big thing, it's all in the Club!

So, here comes the busy bee mode!
Being the youngest club, still trying to compete with the other clubs of CFI, we are working to our best. CFI Open House on 21st, September 2014 and all of us are trying to finish some DIY Projects for display. It's all about the Club! With the thoughts of the Club activities lingering around, I am still trying to concentrate on my GRE, BTP and placements, let's see how versatile I can be. It is quite a hectic job to my 'Brain' though. For a moment, I thought to enter the "I donot socialize" mode, which I don't think is possible :D :-/

What am I trying to conclude? "Nothing" :P I am here to blurt out the randomness I have in my mind.
The mode is on! But the busy bee has activities including social networking to get busy :-P
Hoping not to screw up anything :-|
Signing off for now.

A moment of.........!!??

I feel so different, now, right now. Being in my final year, I have decided not to miss any of the events. One among them is Placements. Though I am not very enthusistic about it, I have registered for it because this is the only chance :-P I am now determined to attend Pre Placement Talks of companies from different sectors.

Today, I attended a PPT from BCG (Boston Consultancy Group). It was so amazing! A couple of our seniors, one HR accompanied by two other colleagues were here. In a way, I can say that this had been my first exposure to non-core stuff. The ppt went really well. I was mesmerized by looking at the case studies and by the functioning of the company. For a moment, I was wondering how come I never touched upon that area in my 4 years at IIT!!

A moment of 'regret'!? If only I weren't laconic in my first year, would I got to know about all the opportunities out here. :-/ (Aah, this rhymes :-P ). I even thought about possible chances to enter that field.

Ok, where is this going? I like 'Bio' and 'Research', now, focus! -_-
Phew! I am sure everyone faces this kinda situation at some point in life. Stay Strong! :D

Just a 'Hi'

Hello everyone!
Of late I haven't been active here. Everytime I plan to write something, my laziness prevents me. 'Procrastination' in every way wins :(

Just to update few things happening now, THE FINAL YEAR FEVER!!! I can't believe that I am in my final year already :-O Time just flies, it's already been a month since our college began. We have quizzes from next week, Phew! A 29 credit hectic semester. I really feel like putting 'N' peace now. But, the fear of our last sem, only chance to improve our GPAs :-P (though it doesn't really matter now).  Most of us are already feeling nostalgic thinking about these memorable days and the pain of missing our friends & insti.

Major activities:
BT Club Head: Well, I am one X-D
Placements : Not sure why I registered, gonna happen in december :-/
GRE : Not sure when I will start preparation, exam next month :-|
APPING : Not sure about the universities and financial aids. :-(
BTP : Not sure when and where to start o.O
FRIENDS & OUTINGS : Not sure where else to roam :-P

And finally, QUIZZES : Not sure how to manage time. -_-

On the whole, Confused! O.o O.o O.o

Though I feel that I am not even eligible (:P) to apply for non core companies, I just want to see where I stand. Aaahhh.. Fight! -_- Last sem fight. Battle now and next sem is gonna be very peaceful! Only a couple of courses and BTP!  Yaay!
Waiting for next sem :D and not willing to let the time run :-(
Conflicts in the mind.  So, this is how it is. Confused, Tensed, Challenging, Emotional, Exciting.

Signing off with a bunch of random thoughts in mind, see you soon with more posts!!! :-)

Friendship Day Celebrations!

Happy Friendship Day to all! :D Hope all of you had a great time with your buddies.


For a change, I have celebrated this year's friendship day with my laboratory (BTP lab) friends. We along with our professor went to Ideal Beach Resort, which is located on the breath taking beach of Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram). Though most of us were a little skeptical regarding behaving crazily in front of our boss, it turns out that we indeed had quite a lot of fun. We booked a mini bus for our travel and had variety of activities going on in bus :-P, most of them done in a secret way.


After reaching the resort, we had a delicious meal at the restaurant there.The hotel houses a multi-cuisine restaurant, specializing in Indian, Srilankan and Chinese delicacies, wherein you can get to experience some sumptuous food that will just tickle your taste buds away. We went on to hit the private beach to relax. This is a peaceful place that gives guests the enjoyment of strolling along the blue waters and silvery sands. They also have outdoor tennis courts along the beach. We spent some time enjoying in the water and later went on to play volley ball. I was amazed to see my professor play it along with us. He was quite energetic and gave a good competition to the opposite group. We played for around 2 to 3 hours in the exhausting sun. This is probably the best time we had with our boss. He was incredible. I haven't been actively involved in sports after entering into IIT and this day was so awesome, reminding me of my school day sports activities. We indeed had a wonderful day with our friends. Following are few pics from this memorable day! :-)

Selfie time ;)

Yaay :-P

All of us :D 

The GAME Gets SHORT!

Did you achieve anything significant before your 20's? or before your 30's?

Come on, it's time for a world race, RAT RACE. Run, run and achieve instant gratification or you will never be recognized as a successful person. This is the overtaking conception of the current generation.

In the trauma of achieving things in life, we fail to apprehend the reality. In these modern days, the notion of doggedness "Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time" is overlooked. We are developing a culture aiming at immediacy and overnight success, ignoring the years and years of struggle that paved the way of many legends to be noticed as one. From the several years Marie Curie spent in poverty while researching radioactivity to the nine years of thankless writing Stephen King plowed through before selling his first novel, we need to realize that showing up day in and day out is the surest way to achieve lasting success.

The celebration of technology has distorted our perception of time. The world moves faster and so do our expectations. Today, everyone wishes for instant success, like the computers which solve the problems in few seconds, minutes or hours. Who wants to wait for years? Truly, do we have to trepidate about this? Not sure! But, this is what connects the great people and disconnects us from them. They played a long game.

Though all of us have brains, talent, creativity and most importantly the advanced technology with us, now, when it really matters, none of us have the perseverance!

P.S : Grit is a greater predictor of success than intelligence.

DANGER: The Social Comparison

I often notice few of my friends falling into a dangerous trap of 'social comparison'. I can imagine the torture they face and the hatred they develop staying in a fantasy world pretending to be like a third person. They fail to appreciate themselves most of the times.

The very reason you don't feel satisfied with yourselves is that you compare with others. Well, some would argue that by comparing with others, it drives us to accurate comparisons of ourselves and break the barriers. But, at what cost? While comparison is considered a valuable source of motivation and growth, it can also spin us into a tail-chasing frenzy of self-doubt.

Picture it: You observe someone else doing a job in a great company and think you are not doing that great in your career. You see someone enjoying their life and think yours is not that exciting. You see someone hotter than you and feel bad about yourself. You see someone scoring a 10 pointer and feel depressed that you didn't. How would you? You aren't the same person to be just like him.

This comparison doesn't make sense. You can't compare apples with bananas. Similarly, we are all different. Do our fingers ever compare with themselves and regret for not being alike? No!

The only thing we need to focus is on ourselves. How good am I at 'my thing'. Enjoy the life, learn from your own mistakes and make yourself better. Compare with yourselves, with your past and present. Keep going in life, and never stop for anything.

This is the only thing we need to be bothered about. Do what you want and be what you are and what you want to be. Do not compare with others.

                                                 
 "LOVE YOUR JOURNEY OF LIFE"

This picture sure depicts how it actually works:

MODELLING OF STOMACH AS BIOREACTOR - Choose Focus Analyze

This is one of the best things I did during my first two years. In my 2nd year, I had to do a course "Transport Processes and Unit Operations" under Dr. G. K. Suraish Kumar. The course name and structure seemed to be quite boring to me initially. But, the professor changed to view of the course entirely by this exercise "Choose-Focus-Analyze". He says that this develops the creativity, rational choice, focus, analysis and others in students taking this course. Well, it is very true. In this, we had to choose a biological system of interest and analyze it using Transport Phenomena concepts. All of us worked so hard for it, read many research articles and banged our heads for innovative ideas. And most of them came up with really amazing applications. This sure changed the way we appreciate the course material. This is the video demo of the model we choose. Professors like this sure make your life simpler and lovable.

Trip to Pondicherry!!

The whole idea started in our 4th semester itself. After our incredible trip to Mahabalipuram, many of us had plans for our 4th semester but apparently none of them worked. Our plan to pondicherry was finally executed this semester. Though the turnout number was less, we finally geared up to PONDY! We started our journey at 4am in a MINI VAN. The place is around 160 km from Chennai. 

Away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, Pondicherry is a quiet and peaceful town.The intrinsic beauty of Pondy is conspicuous in the oldest part of the town which flanks the seachore boulevard. 

Colonial buildings, line along a grid of straight clean streets and house the French institutions, and private homes. The famous "Sri Aurobindo Ashram" is located in the same area. The visitor is greeted by the ornate garden with splashy flowers and fruits. 

We then visited "Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple" which is located next to aurobindo ashram. It is dedicated to Lord Ganesha and is a very interesting Modern Temple one must see. It has an amazing collection of Ganesha idols of different kinds from all over the world. The silver and gold chariots were beautifully crafted. The temple premises had many shops where we could get souvenirs. 



The peaceful ashram and Temple visit made us energetic. Gearing up to have more fun, we reached "Paradise Beach". It is a beautiful island and the visit started with a wonderful boat ride, clean water, beautiful and serene beach. The beach palm trees and huts makes it more interesting. We played in the shallow and beautiful beach for around 2 hours. It was EPIC! Insane FUN! Unlike other beaches in India, this has changing rooms and showers. A place to throw away all your sorrows and enjoy with your friends and family. Truly a 'Paradise'.  

We had lunch in 'Cafe Xtasi'. Believe me, we put a lot of fight to eat there, but were disappointed with the food :( We also visited "Auroville", an experimental township in Villuppuram district.

Though we didn't have much time to explore it, we visited "Guest house" and checked out the dazzling "Matrimandir", a golden metallic sphere in the centre of the town (from distant) :P. Matrimandir is equipped with a solar panel. After sunset, the sunrays on the globe is replaced by a beam of solar powered lights. 

On the whole, it is a place which captivates all kinds of tourists. Place to visit to take the pace of life down a few notches!

Coz it is FRIENDSHIP DAY!

Friend.. Different people have different quotes, sayings and meanings about this word. Friends are like stars. We can’t see them all the time but we know that they are always there with us.. The distance is not measured by miles but by the heart!

This begins in our schooling.. school friends!? continues with college.. college friends!? work.. friends!? friends everywhere!. Friendship day bands.. those outings.. stupid arguments.. long talks.. mischievous actss.. all these memories stay with us as we grow older. We are all busy with our own lifes, but.. today, all of a sudden 'that awesome feeling' to be with friends.. talking to old friends.. wishes surprises. hmm.. really excited!! We tease each other, knockdown and irritate each other, still we are always together. We are stupid, weird, we laugh at randomest things (all the inside jokes), we know each other's ugly sides.. we sometimes are soo crazy that people might feel we are high! :P We are similar people always together with different paths.. But when the going gets tough, we are always there for each other, to make sure that our precious star is always happy!.

Ultimately, "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves"..

Found this image on facebook today. Isn't this true? :P

Happy Friendship Day all!

Project Presentation at CDFD

I was recently asked to give a presentation, work report of my IAS Fellowship at CDFD. The signs of the presentation started off raising my excitement and tension to peaks followed by cramming many research papers and textbooks. I do have a lot of experience giving presentations, but never gave a proper project presentation, but, the thought of presenting in front of Research Scientists and PhD's stressed me out. I took help from my PhD guide and was finally ready for presentation before 5 days.

1st slide of my presentation

I spent my day before the presentation day (24th June) watching movies and my favorite tv show F.R.I.E.N.D.S just trying to cool down but still the situation was terrible! All my friends were jam-packed reading papers and googling. They were surprised to see me peacing out. In the night at around 9pm I called Soumya, my PhD guide, asking her what else to do and she asked me to sleep :P

So, ultimately nothing did I do on sunday. Monday morning was so terrible. I ran to lab and uploaded my presentation. Then at 11am, it was my turn to present.

Huff, it went really well. My prof was very happy with my pertinent answers. It was an awesome experience. Frankly speaking, I actually understood more about my project while preparing for presentation. Presenting in the field of research and that too in front of high-fi people. Feel!

Hmm.. Fascinating! :D

Success!

I found this very appealing and wanted to share it.
There can be many ways to reach your goal. But unless and until you are determined to work hard, you can never achieve it.

                             This is one of my favourite quotes:   

                                                                    "Arise!
                                                                      Awake!
                                                                      And
                                                                      Stop Not
                                                                      Till
                                                                      The
                                                                      Goal
                                                                      Is
                                                                      Reached!"  - Swami Vivekananda.