Last 4 days at IISc we celebrated the completion of 100 years with "The IISc Centenary Conference" from 13-16th December. It was a wonderful event organized in a truly International way. The campus got into festive spirit right from the 12th evening. Alumni from all across the world and from various age groups (from 20s to 80s) came for attending the conference.
First day began with inauguration by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The actual programs began from second day.
Second day onwards there were keynote talks by:
- Mr. S. Ramadorai (CEO, Tata Consultancy Services)
- Dr. Subra Suresh (Dean of Engineering, MIT, Cambridge USA)
- Mr. Nandan Nilekani (Founder and former CEO, Infosys Technologies)
- Dr. Martin Rees (President, Royal Society, London)
- Dr. Sydney Brenner (Nobel Laureate from Cambridge Univ., UK)
- Mr. Sam Pitroda (Chairman, Knowledge Commission, New Delhi)
- Dr. Eric S. Maskin (Nobel Laureate from Princeton Univ., USA)
These people talked on various topics related to their expertise like Mr. Nilekani talked on "Imagining India"; Dr. Rees talked about "Understanding our cosmos"; Dr. Eric talked about "Game theory"; Dr. Suresh talked about "Interdisciplinary Research in engineering"; Dr. Brener talked about "Reading human genome" etc. All the keynotes were overcrowded in an auditorium with capacity of 750.
Apart from these there were number of workshops carried by renowned experts and researchers from across the world.
Apart from keynotes and workshops there were cultural programs like Santoor recital by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and a music program by IISc music group.
Another interesting thing to be mentioned about conference is "food". All the 4 days we enjoyed sumptuous food. There were innumerable varieties of Indian, Chinese and Italian dishes and sweets.
This Conference gave us an opportunity to listen to some of the great people in world in a short span of time and that too at a single location. Where else would I have got to listen to Ramadorai & Nilekani on same day?
The wonderful event came to an end with a speech by our Director Dr. P. Balaram. He stated a famous quote by Winston Churchill "...... this is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, this is the end of the beginning."
I got this in a forward.....
Dear Mr. Prime minister,
I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don't even do that.
Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India.
Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.
We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.
Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?
I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politician, all are rolling in money. Present CM is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.
Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.
If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.
Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.
Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.
Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?
After a long wait finally India's Chandrayan succeeded with a glory. MIP (Moon Impact Probe) with our tricolor painted on it landed successfully on the south pole of moon. Its truly a proud moment for all of us. Only 3 other nations have achieved this feat before, US, Russia and Japan. I can't wait for the Chandrayan-2 when IRSO will send a rover to moon.
Recently Mr. Guy Kawasaki visited India. He is an expert Entrepreneur and author of many books. He has been there in Silicon Valley since 25 years. He has worked at Apple Computers for many years and had major contribution in the success of Macintosh.
While speaking at a talk on "Entrepreneurship in India" @ Mumbai he mentioned a very interesting thing. "America have 300 million population and India have 1.2 billion, so India should have 4 Steve Jobs. I am sure they are out there. You just need to find them. There must be a bunch of young techies in India who are not satisfied with the work left by some American."
In my opinion he surely have a valid point. If a "handful" of such techies join together, some of them will definitely succeed in creating a miracle........something like Steve Jobs did in his parent's garage.
"A Wednesday" is a fantastic movie..............Truly a must see movie of the year......................
Very soon the Beijing Olympics 2008 will come to an end. The host China have clearly scored maximum number of Gold medals, much more ahead than U.S.A. Many other countries have won the medals overall in proportion with their might. So in that sense China is the world's most powerful nation today.
India have won 3 medals, 1 Gold and 2 Bronze. Here we can see that the equation of Number of medals proportional to might of the nation is not satisfied. We have one sixth of the world population compared to which number of total medals is almost negligible.
Looking at the brighter side. We have won our first individual Olympic Gold medal this year. This year we also won the maximum number of individual medals in a single Olympic games ever. If we look back into past, China had won their first Gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles games. And in just 24 years, China is at the top slot of the medal tally. So we can hope that India too will follow the similar path and start rocking the games all over the world.
Its not the talent we lack. We just lack the awareness, training and professional approach towards sport. Nonetheless the success of the 3 Indian sportsmen at 2008 games have created a good awareness about sports. Further the way in which medalists were flooded with reawards, I am sure this will motivate many Indians to take sports seriously. When this will happen, next time we will double the number of medals than this year and all the games which will follow.
So, India's success at 2008 Olympics have a potential to roll the chain reaction for creating some great and more importantly successful sports persons, who will take our nation at the top in yet another field at global level.
Bangalore
4 Aug 2008Finally I have joined Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
The IISc campus is all green and huge, spread across 500 acres of land. Fully covered with various trees, flowers and lawns. And the beautiful Bangalore weather adds more harmony to it.
All the buildings on the campus are spread horizontally, not exceeding 2 stories.
The sport facilities are very good. There are state-of-the-art facilities for almost all the games.
I am allotted a Hostel room which is single seated. Only disadvantages of the hostel is no internet connection in the rooms (there are some academic reasons behind it).The department i.e. CEDT (Center for Electrical Design & Technology) have many labs set in collaboration with companies like TI, Intel, Freescale etc.
The course structure is mainly design oriented. Equal credits are given to Compulsory courses, Electives and project. There is lot of freedom in choosing the electives. One can choose any course offered on the campus as elective.
That's all for now.
Pune9 July 2008 Today was my last working day at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. My first job which I joined on 28 Aug 2006, is now over. Resigning from TCS have created a void in my mind today. Mixed feelings, a little sadness cause of leaving the job and at the same time the anxiety of future.In the last 2 years at TCS I have learned uncountable things. A very good experience in Embedded Systems, especially Automotive sector. I got to work on various Microcontrollers. A close insight into end to end product development. I got knowledge about work processes and very systematic approach for managing an organisation with more than 100 thousand associates.
But I have also seen the other side of the so called 'Indian Software Industry'. But looking at the positive side, it was an awesome experience. Something I will never forget.
~~ Adhiraj
April 10th 2008, I got a letter from IISc (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) that I have to attend a test at IISc campus on 21st April for admission to M.Tech. course offered by CEDT (Center for Electronic Design & Technology, IISc Bangalore). This came to me as a surprise since IISc is known for calling only the top rankers of the GATE exam and my rank being 349 this was least expected. But this letter put me in confusion of what to do, whether to go to Bangalore or not, whether to waste my money and time because I was almost sure of not getting selected. But since I had nothing to lose, I decide to go for the test and convinced myself that I'll get to see the Bangalore too.
As much time wasn't there, I rushed through a few forums on internet regarding the exam pattern of CEDT and got a little idea. Collected 2-3 books from friends like Engineering Drawing and Electrical Machines. Prepared very basic things and left for Bangalore on Saturday 19th April.
When I reached Bangalore it was a summer Sunday afternoon but temperature was quite cool (much cooler than Pune). Next day i.e. on 21st April I reached at IISc campus at around 8.30 AM. IISc campus is very much green. Fully covered by trees, lawns and gardens. Most of the buildings are old and new buildings are also built in the similar fashion. The ambiance is very quiet though it is situated in the heart of the city.
Around 500 students from Electronics and Communication Engg, Electrical Engg and Instrumentations Engg had came for the test. The test began at 9 AM. It was a 90 minutes test. It contained varied questions divided into 5 sections. There was a funny thing about the first section. First section had maximum i.e. 20 questions and marking system was like 2 marks for correct answer, -1 mark for wrong answer and -2 marks for each un-attempted question :) . But overall the test was easy. I did well and was hoping to clear it.
The results were to be declared at 5 PM on same day. So I decided to explore the campus in the mean time. After a long wait of 6-7 hrs the result time came......the list was put up and as expected..........my name was there in the list. Selected candidates had to appear for an interview scheduled to be on next day. 160 people out of 500 were selected for interview.
Next day i.e. on Tuesday I appeared for the interview. It was conducted by panel of 4 Profs. They asked me about hardware projects I had done and very basics of electronics. It was neither great nor bad type. That day I did a little bit of sight seeing and left for Pune.
After coming back to Pune, I was checking the result everyday on internet. When I checked it on 8th May it showed that I have been called for joining M.Tech. course in CEDT..........I was just thrilled (Since only 30 people are selected). For a few moments I couldn't realize what actually happened.
It took me 2-3 days to adjust with the fact that I'll be joining IISc. But as now it is finalized, I can surely say that "journey is more fun than getting there". All the events like trip to Bangalore, test, interview and everything was truly a great fun. And I am looking forward to much more fun after joining IISc.
I'll write separate post about IISc and CEDT once I get there.
~~ Adhiraj
After overcoming the procrastination of a few months, finally I have started writing (Hurray!!!). I couldn't think of any better title for my first post than श्री गणेशाय नमः.
It is also in line with the common Indian tradition of starting any good work with Lord Ganesh's name. Actually I can name it with my own name too, since Adhiraj is one of the Lord Ganesh's names. The idea of writing a blog is inspired from my friend Deepak. Also recently the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan have started blogging, what a coincidence!
Another choice before starting blogging was that of the blogger. As I am also like many other millions a google fan, so I chose google's blogger. Thanks Mr. Page and Mr. Brin.
Thats all for the day. Will always try to be true to myself while writing all the future posts. And I hope that writing activity will bring a hidden writer and maybe a poet out of me.
~~ Adhiraj
