Random Entries about the developments in and around me

A new mob!!!

2010-05-21T10:00:00.001+05:30

Yeah I got a new old mobile. I bought one. Sony Ericsson K530i and thus this slide show is possible.
So all glories to the phone seller :D.

Thats it for this post ;) !

Ok I ll post one pic that I ve taken from this phone :D Just to substantiate it.

This is how every sunrise and every sunset at BITS is! BITS is worth staying ( sans trees, sans bushes, sans excellant infrastructure :D :D Ok ok now BITSIANs will kill me I ll stop) just to have a glimpse of this awesome scene.

Anyway now more to come in the next sem!

An Education System that we most like.....

2010-05-17T13:49:00.005+05:30

Recently, I came across this article while browsing some pages on British Raj.

After reading it, all I could do was to hit my forehead once and go to sleep !
Well to be frank, this was such an eye opener, that it raised questions in me regarding what we are really doing!
We are just blindly following what the Americans/ Europeans/ Swiss ( OK I guess that comes under Europe right :D!) / Japanese are doing.... Where has the genuine collective Indian-ness gone?

I could see, in my first year at BITS, how badly we are after the standards of MIT! There is absolutely no thought regarding any alternative whatsoever.

Gone are the days when one could rise early in the morning and hear the birds chirping and observe the sun rise at the horizon.
Gone are the days when one could observe open fields and happy farmers tilling them as one traveled to the hometown by train.

Now what do we see? Nothing but fog mixed with smoke, which the vehicles eject early in the morning. (This is of course true with someone who gets up before the sun does, else its an obvious bright sun shining on our heads that we would encounter!)
We see the tall chimneys spitting tonnes of black gases into the atmosphere.

We contend ourselves thinking this is nothing but a byproduct of the much needed advancement in Technology. But are we really advancing? Well, this is a question one has to ponder over!

Well where is all this leading to? And why am I, who is no more than 18 years of age and nothing but an insignificant speck in this world writing all this, posting the article about Macaulay at the beginning?

Let me try to put it all together. To converge the entire topic -
Over the last many decades, all we ve done is to lose faith in the cultural and spiritual heritage of India and place blind faith in the rationale armchair thinkers of the West!
Of course I am also a part of it. But then, this article really made me dig inside and all I could find is a mimicry of what the so-called advanced people are doing. Sometimes we do tend to add our own masala though!

But on an overall issue we have lost all sense of originality and have become nothing more than mere victims of a very planned and gradual degradation. High school students trying to eye the best college. College graduates trying to eye the best CGPA, thereby the best company. Job holder trying to eye the position in the company. Everything just for the sake of reaching the state of happiness. But are we ever happy? All this is just an endeavor to reach that state of happiness don't you think? All this is very carefully imbibed into students minds right from class 5 or class 3 these days with the onset of Techno Schools and Concept schools ( God knows what concepts the children are being taught!).

Anyway, to conclude this entry, Let us just try to give a chance, give some time, to THINK before we act so that a situation doesn't arise where we have to think after acting and repent for it.

These are a list of problems alone and like all amateurs I also presented them in a different angle.....The solutions, I leave it to the Intellectuals to ponder over ;)!!

P.S- This article is not related/not intended to any person/institute dead or alive. Any resemblance is strictly coincidental and must be avoided. I have a very poor fund of knowledge and I genuinely apologize for any wrong information that is presented in this article. Kindly leave me for the inconsistencies. Thank You :D !!

One Sem gone and the Next awaits!

2009-12-25T12:06:00.007+05:30

Oh Yeah! This is happening. What is happening? Hmm.... nothing much as such. But extreme boredom and exhaution have dragged me to pen down ( or say type in) some conclusive comments regarding my first sem at Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences - Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. Yeah that was how we had to say it during our intro to the seniors. The seniors are ( most of them :D) extremely awesome and I hope we follow and improve upon the standards set ( if any !).

And now what are those conclusive comments I was talking about! Yeah to start with, BITS Hyderabad is a wonderful college yeah yeah everybody knows that by now. Atleast I have made it clear in my previous posts - it is good enough to provide a student with all the oppurtunities which shall help him/her to have a complete ground to establish him/her self in this world. What did I just say? Hmm I hope you get the essence ;).

Then, Academics is not all in all, but it is something that will help you make a living. So, its definitely the threshold and the main reason to enter into a college. As one of my friends, well I guess the entire college knows him by now ( Sampath Krishna!!) put it to me - We must not forget the purpose behind coming to BITS. Well thats a very deep sentence. But anyway, the point is Acads are important.

Phir, extra curriculars - and some put them as distractions ( you know whom I am talking about ;)) are also necessary just to get a feel about the different people that exist. Lets face it, everyone is not who you want them to be! And one thing that I ve learnt, treat the other person as you want him/ her to treat you! ~Very Very Important~

What else... hmm I dont know but as soon as college comes up in my mind, only two things that strike me are Acads and Extra CCs! Am I missing something else? Do let me know...

Well, I really love to put in some pictures, but as I have mentioned and re-mentioned and am re-re-mentioning it, I lost my phone. I sign off by singing glories to my phone stealer!!

By the way wish you a very very Happy and Merry and hmm Wonderful Christmas!
~PEACE~

More on Life @ BITS Pilani ( Hyd Campus)

2009-10-05T22:42:00.000+05:30

Two Months now! I was all alone (wel just accompanied by 1200 crazy people like me ;)). Retrospection brings only surprise and awe! Days passed by, and I could not infact, I am still, not in a position to account for them. Classes happening, Lecturers going on with their respective courses…… I ve got something to add here. BITS has a very unique , I mean it really unique, feature. And that is – A Computer Science student has to study Biology for one semester, Chem for two semesters!! Actually, its my problem and I accept it. I have deep aversion towards Chem and Bio is OK with me. Actually I was on the brink of becoming a Doc ;) (lets say on the brink of pursuing Medico).

Tests, yeah the most important part – the most pinching part too :D, have started , actually they never end here @ BITS. Some very ‘dynamic’ person has introduced this system of continuous evaluation and common men – like me, have to suffer. Series 1 ended just about two weeks ago and here they go, Series 2 – Open book that too! Taking a toll on me! Getting accustomed to the atmosphere (peer environment actually!). Anyway yeah, things (I hope) will improve in the coming days ( as far as acads are concerned).

As of other developments, I ve started giving humble appearances in some activities on campus. To start with, Street Soccer, in which I was the ‘defender’ in a team of 6 and in a ground of two volleyball courts length. I know I know, that’s a very very :D important position. We entered the finals and then , our team lost because of my absence. Ha ha! I hope, none of my team members are reading this, as of now yeah I know they aren’t. Anyway, actually our teams trump card was Aamar – A CS guy again ;)! And infact others – Debo, Anish and Prudvi – oops not to forget Anish 2 ;) – the awesome goalkeeper, were the main team. I just stood there :D!

Then, Dumb Charads, in which again we went till the finals with a lead of 35 points. Our Seniors decided to level the scores in the last round and one question – the deciding one – ‘Mum’s the word’, in which my friends – Sudarshan, Ram Ratnam and ShriRam – understood ‘Dark Water’ as ‘Cloth Bottle’. Yeah we ve got extremely good knowledge about movies! I completely agree!!

The latest event – Who Wants to be an Engineer (2) – in short WWE 2. 160 teams participated ( as Sudarshan put it to me) in the first round. We are in to the second round, in which virtually no effort will shove us out of the competition :D. I am very confident about that.

To put it in a nutshell, BITS Pilani Hyd Campus is extremely active, I feel ‘over’active as far as ECC are concerned and totally fun! So all of you with misconceptions of ‘2 year college etc’, believe me, (why should you? Hmm do so yar, I am not lying), this campus is doing extremely well!

No pics, so all you are left with is this junk of words. All glories to my phone stealer!!

Have Fun!

Life @ BITS Pilani

2009-08-15T17:16:00.002+05:30

I ve not mentioned "Hyderabad Campus" there because.... well even I dont know why I did that! Anyway, from the past two weeks BITS Hyd or BPHC has had my presence. It didnt feel my presence though ;)!

Infact I ve got nothing much to let my presence be felt upon the Campus. Atleast nothing as of now ;)!

The First Day was 29th July 2009, a Wednesday I guess ( wont make a big diff, except that my parents had to apply for a leave to accompany me)! I was excited, oh yeah I was ;)!! Not because I was going to enter a whole new world, but because I was entering it 1 hour late :D. Many families with parents, parent's parents, parent's parent's parents ( wait , this is exaggeration ! ). Well yeah many people came with around 10 to 11 family members! Guess joining a college is still a big celebration! Anyway I was with my Mom and Dad.

At the registration, I realised that either my hall ticket or my marks memo ( BITSAT) was needed for the room allotment to occur ! This delayed my process and it threw me into a dungeon looking ground floor! But the looks of it improved ( or say I got used to it :D ) as days progressed ! Mess food was good till day before! Infrastructure Rocks!! Facilities are limited and infact enough! Everything's fine!

People are resorting to various activities like playing football, cricket, Volleyball, Badminton, T.T ( my resort ;)) and ECC like bird watching during the 20 hrs left in a day ( on an average ) after attending classes ( if they attend that is ;))!

The Most Important happening was the theft of my cell phone! A CID team has been put on charge on campus! Abhaa theeke theeke ending it! Actually it was my carelessness and my mistake! Misplaced it somewhere and some "dynamic" guy took advantage!
Actually took loads of pictures of the campus and friends for this post, but all gone !! So, thats it for now!

Signing off! Will be back with more boring stuff later on!

An Hour in a Bus Stand!

2009-05-28T10:14:00.008+05:30

That is definitely a weird title, I agree. And I couldnt wait for my college to start to post this, actually my memory isnt that great. So yeah am posting it right now!

A boy, with a whitish brown complexion, in black jeans with a bluish green shirt got down from a bus at Ameerpet, which happens to be in Hyderabad. He then called his cousin for a confirmation to get to her house. And she wasnt home.

The call which had to be made before the journey started was made after the journey ended and this boy had nothing else to do but 2 hours to spend before his class started. He wandered around on the roads, of which he got bored after sometime and then saw a building with NIIT written on top of it. He entered in, atleast there would be some air conditioning inside.

He sat there for 10 minutes and then moved to an enquiry counter to ask for the course details for CDS and C++. And the executive there did not receive his paycheck that month, so he was after this boy for earning his food! Alas, this boy had nothing but a bag with a notebook and a pen. So he decided to stopby the next day which he didnt btw ;).

Half an hour passed and he started off with his stroll under the midday sun. He found a bus stop. And thought , " Its wiser to sit here than going about on the roads with nothing to do." So he sat there.

Then a beautiful lady (or a girl :D whoever it is) passed by. He saw his co-busstop sitter's heads turn a 120 degree angle gradually as she moved from this end to that. This boy however had a wide veiw range, so he did not have the need to turn his head ;)!

Then came the interesting part in his day. A young man of around 20-25 years of age came to this stop and suddenly stood on the seat. He then turned towards a small case and opened it. He then unscrewed the metre, fuse and an electronic gadget which were in that case and pocketed them and closed the case and went away! I didnt know fuses were also distributed for free in bus stands like Rice in ration shops ( rendu rupayala biyyam ;)).

Anyway that's a glimpse of how this boy is spending his holidays. In busstands, in air conditioned NIIT's and in his Sir's residence eating the best of delicacies!

And I am very shameful to say that this boy is ME!

After all the crap, I leave you with some pics that I took on my way back from Vizag recently!

This is the River Godavari. Authorities shoud consider lighting up this engineering marvel, not the river, but the bridge.

The final image is of a fan in my home . That's a pic I took switching off all lights. My opinion of Nokia's flash changed - its good enough ;)!

From MIT to BITS , the journey was long, tiresome, frustrating and worth all of it!

2009-05-21T12:10:00.003+05:30

Life post-MIT has been very grilling, especially after my fatal performance in JEE.

I thought of ways and means to get into Purdue, did all that I could, even compelled my parents to take a loan, but Destiny had its way!

And here I am with a lot of certainty after BITSAT, the one exam ( after SAT II) that took me to the horizon. Its gonna be BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus now, for four years , the four years ;)!

The very important lesson that I have learned in this journey is that every , I mean it 'every' single event in Life has something to say. Its just that we understand that sooner or later!

And I have learned that lesson! Thanks to this Pre-Frosh Experience of mine! This is just to end the suspense that was hanging around my college admissions. Its not official yet, but most likely its gonna be BITS Hyderabad.

My Next post will be from my College ;)

Last One about Decisions

2009-04-04T18:15:00.002+05:30

Its not April 2, but who cares ;). However, I got almost all my decisions before my birthday and am not really happy to receive them! But then, Its life ( lets say we ve made life like that ;) ).

So this is what my past was -

Applied to four and got in one! Yet, with no scholarship ( I missed the deadline, Yes I DID!).
Put JEE preparation aside for the MIT and SAT.
Felt Great about applying to the best colleges in the world ( may not be technically, but yeah they are ranked the best ;) ).

And Now my Future - ( A lot of uncertainity here !)

JEE on April 12 - Dont know what I ll do that day in the exam hall. ( Sorta preparing :) )
Other exams follow!
NTU/NUS results in June and the Desi results in May/June.

So this is where it has come - from a lot of options to a single one! And yet, the most deserving one !

Boards are done and so are the majority of Decisions

2009-03-21T22:22:00.005+05:30

I recently gave my last Board Exam ( Chemistry). It was fine. And this time, I feel most of my board exams went well. Ofcourse, the uncertainity lingers till the announcement of results ;).

I also got my Caltech Decision by mail today ( March 21). It was posted on March 4. So it took around 2 weeks ( guess a lot of time!). It doesnt matter because the mail wont really have any effect. ( Already knew it via email!).

Now most of the students in India, and that includes me, have resumed their preparation for JEE, which is on April 12. I thought I would not be in that group of students once I get through MIT or Caltech or Stanford or Purdue Alas! I am here. And I have finished mailing many companies and foundations requesting them for Financial Assisstance for my Undergrad course in Purdue. Well, to be frank, I dont think I ll go to the US.

I dreamt of a good US undergrad life and then coming back to India and doing an MBA and carrying on a calm and peaceful life. But as fate would have it, I guess I am going nowhere this soon. I am waiting for Stanford to give out its rejection letter to me ( so that all the waiting will finally come to an end and I can carry on with my Non-US side of life).

Its not the craze for US that drove me, but the uniqueness in their Education system just struck the right chord. Well, we too had a great schooling system in India. But, unfortunately, due to various political reasons ( reservations, quotas, donation seats etc etc), we are falling back.

I hope that God throws some light on this dark path and helps me find a suitable place, where I would not regret after a few years.

Thats all for now. Will post on April 2, which happens to be my birthday and the day Stanford releases its decisions).

An Experience worth 25000 bucks

2009-03-15T19:11:00.005+05:30

The Day I have been waiting for around 6 months has arrived and the result that I never wanted to see also showed up.

I dont form a part of the World's No. 1 Institute of Technology's Undergraduates. I realise this and I do not have any regrets. Its been a terrific experience and I am so very happy to have the association of many awesome and wonderful people through out this journey.

Well the SAT scores and TOEFL scores really made me confident of getting in! But its just not about scores. All you future applicants, please realise that! And I dont know whats the criterion for getting in either. Its been a mystery and I guess will be a mystery!

But you surely should apply, because in the end, who knows, may be you ve got the stuff that MIT needs. Every college has its unique demands and MIT has its too! So Its not any of these things -

1 - A Perfect score on SAT!
2 - Cool and Crazy Application!
3 - A perfect Interview!

I have had these partially and some who got rejected have had these completely, so I assure you, it takes more than those things to get in!

My endeavor for success doesnt stop here. I hope to continue my journey at Purdue or some other brilliant college.

This blog too, is a result of MIT. And I am not stopping blogging now. I ll continue to express my views and share every information that I have with you ( whoever is reading this!).

Two Done! Two to go!

2009-03-12T13:32:00.006+05:30

In my previous post I mentioned that I'd be getting my Purdue results in April. But they mailed me on March 6 ( One Month Early!).
And the News is I am IN! I chose Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. Well I might have chosen the major with the same major sans Technology, but didnt find a big difference in both.

And I didnt get any Aid from the University and the scholarship deadline has already passed. This has drastically reduced my chances of getting into Purdue. I am looking for scholarships elsewhere. If you ( reader ) have any idea regd scholarships given to International Students please let me know ! Thanks in advance ;)

As of MIT is concerned, Its Pi Day, the D - Day ( D for Decisions ;) ) for us. The Analogy or whatever one calls it is wonderful. Pi is a non - terminating number ( I know you know it, just a reminder ;) ) and it equals 3.14159............ and on it goes!
MIT Chose 14th March 1: 159 pm EDT to release its decisions. I am glad it didnt choose 1:59 am though ;). So for us Indians, Its March 14 23:30.

Stanford is another University which hasnt released its decisions and I hope they ll not dissapoint me on my Birthday :D. Just kidding!

All the very best to all of you again! Merry Xams!

Which cover will I receive?

2009-03-06T11:18:00.007+05:30

The Caltech Decisions are out! They have mailed the decisions to our postal address.

As Caltech Director puts it .......

"We received 4,400 applications for the Class of 2013. Including early action, we have offered admission to 669 students. We have offered an additional 623 students an opportunity to accept a place on our waiting list.
All decisions for students living within the United States were mailed first class. Offers of admission for students with mailing addresses outside the United States have been sent via FedEx. Students not offered admission and students offered a place on the waiting list with a mailing address outside the United States will receive their hard copy decisions via airmail.
We know that there can be delays in the mail. For this reason, we will email an unofficial copy of your decision letter at approximately 4:00 PM (Pacific Time) on Saturday. The email will go to the address you provided on your application. "

So if I get a postal mail before my email, that means I am in! If the other way happens, then.... Lets wait and see....

Other Results
Caltech - Sunday ( IST )
MIT - March 15 or March 21 ( IST )
Stanford - April 2 ( IST , which happens to be my birthday!)
Purdue - May be in April 1st week. ( 14 weeks from Jan 09)

BOARDS
My Boards have started on March 5. I am done with French ( as far as exam oriented study is concerned). Gearing up for the Groups ( Math, Phy and Chem) and English! They ll be ending on March 19 and then start my "Career deciding exams".

IIT JEE - April 12

AIEEE - April 26

NDA - April 18

VIT - April 19

BITSAT - May 20

Manipal and GITAM - ( yet to decide)

Thats my tests schedule for the months to come.

Wish you All the very best (whatever exams you are appearing for)

My MIT Essay....

2009-02-26T14:04:00.007+05:30

It took me three nights to bring it to this shape. A good revision of my Grammar and English basics. :D

" I hail from an Indian family which has affection, sentiments and simplicity as its roots. My parents are my pillars of support who have instilled in me courage, confidence and strong value system. I owe the philanthropic part of my nature to my family background, not just my parents but my grandparents too.

My love for greenery and environment dates back to my early childhood. We lived in the campus of IIT Madras and later we moved to the campus of RCI in Hyderabad which is again home to many huge trees and plants. The greenery has left a desire in me to work towards a green world. In addition to greenery, the campus I lived in abounds in scientists the true intellectuals. As a child I was fortunate enough to imbibe a scientific temperament and strong determination to achieve the set target.

I went to the Defence Labs School situated in the same campus which provided me the right platform for my overall development. Academically I topped in every class I studied. I also had keen interest in Bharatnatyam and acting in plays. As I grew up to be an 8th grader, my interests started diversifying from dance to computers. One day, in course of my operation, all the data stored in it was lost, which made me jittery. Nevertheless I worked with an undying spirit and managed to retrieve all the lost data. This incident further enhanced my amity with computers. My cyber-aptitude culminated in an all India 3rd rank in the National Cyber Olympiad and a 100 % score in IT paper of my CBSE board examinations, for which I received a letter of appreciation from the CBSE.

I always felt concerned for the less privileged people around me. As an eighth grader, I was so moved by the visually impaired children who visited our school that I made every effort to collect maximum donations. When I visited old age home on my birthday, I felt that my existence would become purposeful only when I learn to share and care and genuinely contribute to the society.

It is not that my childhood had only string of successes; I had my share of failures too! My failure at the National Childrens Science Congress did dishearten me but only momentarily. The very next year I mustered up all my skills and went with thorough preparation to the National Aerospace Olympiad with my project titled Aryabhatta to Chandrayaan Indias Space Journey. This was widely appreciated by the judges who were eminent Aerospace scientist of India. That success refurbished my confidence levels and focus to target achievements. The target-focussed attitude was ignited in me by none other than revered- Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, who visited our school when I was in my 9th grade. It is he who has left an indelible impact on my mind to achieve high by dreaming big in life.

I consider myself privileged as even today I am being by my lecturers at the college wherein I am undergoing coaching for the IIT-JEE. My past has propelled me to have an equally bright future.

I only hope to achieve success at this dream target of mine. "

Do post your comments.

Some Light on MIT OCW ( just to add to its current illumination)

2009-02-22T18:30:00.004+05:30

In my pursuit for MIT, I have discovered a magnificent tool which has been extremely helpful in my preparation.

IT IS THE MIT OCW( OpenCourseWare).

Its is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT. I managed to download all the lectures in the Physics Section. Most of the curriculum that we follow in our classes 11 and 12 is repeated there.

So all of you who have not seen it. Go through it. Its awesome. The courses are very relevant to Indians especially as the syllabus that we have in 11 n 12 is covered in many lectures. There are many demonstrations that you should watch out for. Simply superb !

I am posting some links here. They are worth visiting ;).
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/index.htm ( Physics)

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Chemistry/index.htm ( Chemistry)

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/index.htm ( Mathematics)

Have a great time doing OCW.
I hope it aids in your exam preparation.

What in the World has made me a blogger!

2009-02-19T14:01:00.000+05:30

Firstly, I used the word blogger with the liberty that it can be used for any person who has a blog :D ( no matter how many read it :D ) .

Now coming to the point. Why Blogging?.....

Well there is a small story behind this.

Fortunately or Unfortunately, I have applied for the world's No.1 Engineering College ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT, lets say "the MIT". There are many MIT's in India :D.) .

And my journey so far towards this college was fine, until recently, when I saw people with outstanding web presence. Some of the applicants' have partially hacked the MIT admissions website and are using it for blogging :|. Well I thought, why work so hard when Google is doing the work for me :D.

And the www.mitadmissions.org, which has become my homepage for the last 4 months :D, is managed by students of MIT. So incase, just incase, I get selected, "If" that happens, I would love to be a blogger for the MIT. And the requirements for that is a blog, some basics in English and ability to express.

I am trying to showcase all that in this blog. I am also copying some content from my mails, which I find interesting.

So I hope this blogging experience remains with me for days and nights to come. I am doing whatever I can to express genuinely ( kabhi kabhi kopy karta hoon, magar just kabhi kabhi hi), what I feel and please do whatever you can to keep this alive !

Identify yourself....

2009-02-19T13:42:00.001+05:30

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed.
The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised.
That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn't sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.

Moral of the story: If you don't give your hundred percent in a relationship, you'll always keep doubting if the other person has given his/her hundred percent.. This is applicable for any relationship like love, employer-employee relationship,friendship etc., Give your hundred percent to everything you do and sleep peacefully...

So whom do you identify yourself with?

I found something worth reading......

2009-02-12T20:41:00.000+05:30

An Interesting Conversation....

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and .....

Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student is silent.

Prof: You can't answer, can you?
Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?
Student does not answer.

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive. . . . . . .

THAT STUDENT WAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.

Why I posted all that stuff on the blog.....

2009-02-10T22:03:00.000+05:30

All of us Indians have the idea of making it BIG and achieving things like no one can. But then, when we make a choice, the society and not us becomes the primary factor.

The idea of " What people will think of me?" dominates many of us while taking any non stereotyped step. People might not realise this, but many are influenced by this.

So my message is that "Do Something After You know All the Different Ways of Doing That Thing, No matter what the society thinks!".

I ll continue this soon...... ( no matter how many read it :D)

Many ups and and not so many downs :D...

2009-02-10T21:16:00.000+05:30

My class 12 has turned grade 12. This is one of the few developments that took place.

And the cause for the development has been my acquaintance with SAT.

Back in August 08, I got to know about this SAT. I owe this discovery to my frustration in the mode of preparation for IIT. My zeal to be unique, too played a part in venturing into this unknown territory. Here is the sequence of events that took place in my life which led me to this state of anxiety....( about decisions)....

This is the part 1 of my IIT Prep saga......

I was put into IIT Foundation in my class 8. I did not know what it was for, but it did give me an edge over my classmates in school. And I took it with utmost seriousness. I went for the classes in my 9th class too. This time school and foundation were given equal priority. Then in class 10, though I was a part of the classes, my attendence register had more "a"s than "x"s.

Then the first boards of my life - class 10. The output was way above my input. Came out of the school with the "so-called" flying colours. I managed to scale upto 95.3 and this was something that made me think I was a sure shot candidate for the IIT. But then I still did not know what IIT basically was so renouned for.

This is the part 2 of my IIT prep saga....

I joined the Krishna Murty IIT Academy and managed to be in the top 20 or 25 for an entire year. In the Grand Test, my rank sounded awesome ( 4 ), but my Physics Marksheet looked awful. I got a single digit in it. :D....

Then in second year, I could not keep up my interest in Chemistry and in August, I found something which did not require depth in Chemistry. That was the SAT. I just wanted to get something higher than IIT. I did not have the slighest of idea why I wanted that. May be my decreasing confidence was a factor, but the irony is that I was second ( by pure grace of karma) in the test held that week. Somehow the SAT and the colleges like MIT, Stanford and Caltech appeared to be much better paths to take. I got a way which was unlike the stereotyped preparation that I had been doing for a year and a half.

Instantly I applied for MIT [ something I believed to be world number 1 (which it is I have realised in the past three months) ]. I even thought of applying to Caltech and Stanford but thought of waiting for the scores as the applications were pricey.

I took up preparation for TOEFL that I had to face in October from August 08. Got a score that totally dumbfounded me. A 111 on 120 totally boosted up my confidence.

I took up English revision from September for the November SAT reasoning test. And the scores for the first time in my life were not in proportion to my preparation.

Here they go....

Critical Reading - 580

Writing - 610

Math - 760 ( was expecting a perfect score in this section though)

This score had done the opposite of what the TOEFL score did to me. But then MIT says it accepts both TOEFL and SAT. This was and still is my hope.

Then in December I took the SAT Subject tests and got perfect score. I felt there was no turning back then. I applied for Caltech ( even if it does not accept TOEFL) and Stanford. I applied for Purdue too. The intensity of the idea of "FLYING OFF" reached a maximum. But then there were people who were on par with me and some much better than me. So I am keeping my fingers crossed till D Day - March 20.

Lets wait and see.

There are certain corrections !

2009-02-09T12:50:00.000+05:30

I posted that when I just passed out my school. And school at my place means till 10. And after 10 it is called junior college.

So i was kind of emotional and stuff. But then all of our schoolmates meet thrice an year. So we didnt really part our ways !

Schooling surely is an experience worth remembering when we meet.

Class X and Post School Life.

2007-05-23T21:44:00.000+05:30

The Best Year in my entire School...
This might be the same case with many more students like me...

"Students for whom X is the last year in their school....
Students who are attached to their school, their teachers and their friends.."

But once the Boards are our we realise its our last day with our friends....
And the very next day we seem to indulge in activities ranging from Sports to Outings...

The very Fact that one has to learn here is that....
Life is a wheel, a wheel which moves, a wheel which isnt stationary, and when it is in motion it meets new frontiers, new places and sometime it gets damaged and always and is repaired..

And in this journey one may always return back to their previous memories... But one should never let those memories overtake the person. The Past should never Ruin ones future..

I really dont know if i am criticing one post school life...
But this is what i from my personal experience have learnt.

One should always keep emotions and relationships but his/ her goal should be the primary aim.

We alwyas will meet our friends later but we can never get back our oppurtunities that we ve lost...

So one should always concentrate on the present to shape one's future.