New Year without Commitments

       First when I joined college, July 2007, I didn't know much about what was happening around. Come Jan 1, 2008 and I confidently made my unending list of commitments for the year.. :P I'll do this, that, and what not... except studies, everything else featured there - play games, go swimming, do workouts, lose weight and so on... The first few days went fine, but later came my usual self. Procrastination and lousiness took the lead and was back to my original form. 2009, 2010, every year came and went by, but the list still remains the same. Every new year was just another reason to get reinvigorated and remind myself of the so-called commitments. This was simply not working!

        And so, this year's gotta be different. Bugged up of these unfulfilled promises, I've decided to try something new this time. I set out to look for a motto to make a satisfied living and finally zeroed in on two statements.

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!" - Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Inc.

"Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow  is a mystery, but Today is a GIFT, that's why it is called the PRESENT!" - Master Oogway to Po, Kung Fu Panda.

        So, decided to make the best possible of every single day. And learn as much as possible.. Hope this works out!! Wishing myself and every one a very Happy new year 2011, Sign off.

What do we make of CWG 2010?

           With the count down towards the D-day of the XIX Commonwealth games 2010 rapidly decreasing, there has been a great amount of hype and violent rhetoric of blame-game going on in the media and thousands of Indian minds without sparing millions of anticipating fans world wide. Leave aside the world beyond the Indian barriers, but thousands of Indians themselves have begun relentlessly finding faults with the Organizing Committee. There might be fraud, or corruption in the massive investment towards the establishment of infrastructure for the games. But, there is a more subtler point to note before openly showcasing one's anger. Where are we going with this? Who is at fault and who is to suffer? Money spent is already spent and cannot be retrieved by unnecessary arguing.

            It is highly important that we show the world what India is. The Commonwealth Games or any event of its ilk is not just an event about athletes and participants. There is a greater audience that will escalate the levels of grandeur and success. This is a great opportunity to showcase to the world, the great culture and heritage of India, the levels of development and talent inherent in the Indian community and above all, the strong ability of India to host such magnificent events. This should not be a time when we start blaming our officials and the Organizing Committee for their mishaps and mistakes. Rather, every responsible Indian rise to the cause of promoting Indian culture, cuisine, custom, technology, tradition and heritage. Instead of bursting one's anger on the status quo of the CWG, let us join hands and loud voices to call out to the world to come and taste the saga of our INCREDIBLE INDIA!. Let us get together to make a loud and clear call from a 1.2 billion Indians to the greater world that Come-What-May, we are there for them and that they would have a successful, secure, safe and comfortable trip to India, that no terrorist or radical fanatic could disrupt the proceedings of the event.

             The success of the Games will come to the whole of India at large rather than Mr. Kalmadi or Mrs. Sheila Dixit and failure at a much greater cost that holds India's reputation as a country at stake. And hence, what I can say is that if you cannot popularize and campaign our grand history, please do not work to defame our country. Let us begin to spread this message of support to the organizing committee and make the XIX Commonwealth Games as Indian CWG as the best among those till date.

Not just living, But death too!

              Of late, the ghost of price rise has been haunting the common Indian and playing it's devilish pranks. From the Recession of 2008, saving rates have receded and investment rates soared higher. Returns on investments have come down drastically, but the cost of investments has been shooting up. We have lot been discussing about the rapid increase in the cost of living. If living has become expensive, how about resorting to death? But, not just living, even death has become costly now. The after-life story has also been haunted with price rise. 

                     I recently happened to be at a funeral when I realized this bitter, yet strange truth. The cost of all the rituals to be done after the death of a person was estimated at a damning 20,000 INR. And Pity me! It could come no less than 18,000 after bargain. :( Where are we going with this? Are we to live or to die? If living has become costly, death has become costlier. And do our elected representatives realize what situations they have led this country into? In spite of their 300% pay hike, our selfish politicians at the helm are not yet contented. They want more, and this more has no end to itself. At least now, they have got to realize the situation and spend time and their intellectual capital to check the situation and help the cattle class - not just to lead a standard life, but also within their budget. I do not know the significance of the bull at the sensex, but the common man has not been able to make this giant leap in spending as the barrier of daily needs is rising beyond his reach.

Déjà Vu!

           Early this morning, I had one of the weirdest dreams of all times. I had a chat with my prof via gtalk. WOW! At first, I saw a strange name on my friend list. Wondering who it was, I pinged him with a very informal chat. As it progressed and the topic of my project came up, I even mocked at my professor for having made us work all these days, made confessions of bluffing him each time having done nothing, his general attire, physique and what not! It was not until he revealed his identity and I was confused! Oh my shit! How the hell did I land on his list and he on mine? and I said.. "Good Evening Sir!" :P. Damn this digital age when you can destroy a person by concealing your identity with dirty pranks. Of late, there have been many times when my professor and mentor, Prof. PJ Narayanan mailed us (me and my partner :) ) to work harder and increase the frequency of meeting him. In fact, he also suggested that we begin using gtalk and skype to intensify our discussions. In his words "Research is a 24x7 occupation." Probably, he should get happier, I even dream of research. At first, we wondered how informal we could get with him and what id he could probably have with wild guesses. But, after today's dream and the meeting that followed, I realize that nothing is impossible. 

             Just as if my dream come true, my meeting with him today was very informal. As usual, my results were far from satisfactory and he made strange and funny comments on them. I managed to crack jokes at that.. and he also laughed at me.. (Not just me, but my results too! :P). Only God damn knows when they are in a good mood and when not! I just hope this rapport continues for yet another year so that  I could get positive grades on my sheet.(greedy of course! :P) Today, it was like Deja Vu! Except for the difference of gtalk and in person, (dream and reality) the situation and interaction were of the same genre. Unlike my regular meetings, where I am reluctant to meet him, I truly enjoyed it today.. Indeed he is a great professor! :P

My first Conference.. Not as a delegate, but a Volunteer!

       My professor informed that he would be away for the next 10 days and I immediately decided to go home for at least a week. Unfortunately, it was not possible and I had to stay back. So, I decided to volunteer for the upcoming conference PAKDD 2010. The 14th Pacific-Asia Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining was held from 20th to 24th June at HICC, Novotel, Hyderabad with IIIT, Hyderabad as the host. I volunteered for this conference though not my area of research interest. Thanks to Prof. Krishna Reddy who taught me DBMS that I lost all my interest in Data Engineering. I joined in so that I could enjoy 5-star hotel food, get a free t-shirt, meet renowned researchers from around the world and mainly because I was jobless during the last week. Soaring beyond my expectations, I had a great time and learnt a lot from it. This will be a long post and I shall give a daily account of my experiences.

20th June 2010 - Day 1 @ IIIT, Hyderabad

     The first day of the conference was in IIIT, Hyderabad with  a series of workshops running in parallel at different venues and I was to volunteer at one of them. Unlike volunteering at other places where we are employed to do all sorts of laborious work, at such elite congregations, we were to provide technical help to the delegates to connect to the internet etc. and I liked it. Apart from this, I was also to arrange for a press meet. With Jayadev sir's constant pestering and the media persons' demands, I managed to do it well. Damn! They are so arrogant and need proper and dedicated attention. The lunch was good and I had to spend a lot of time with Jayadev as I had some other work with him #torture :( . Though not so interesting, the workshops went fine and the day ended with me showcasing the delegates the research that IIIT-H does and it gave me great delight, to proudly claim that we are unique in ourselves - Research at an Undergraduate Level. Excited about being at Novotel the next day, I retired early.

21st June 2010 - Day 2 @ HICC, Novotel, Hyderabad

          The hotel seemed awesome and most of the time was spent in admiration.  I confess here that it was the first time I went to a 5-star hotel and the conference halls confirmed to me that they were really worth it.  One other thing that really struck me during the conference was the endless count of Indian born leading researchers in foreign universities and research labs. If only all these people work back home for the Indian masses, I guess we could have developed at a much greater pace. Indeed, the conference was a true testimonial to the Brain-Drain that we often talk about. The day went on well with some of the papers presented interesting and some boring. One noteworthy point I realized was that an author can best explain his work/paper. Though one might read it a 100 times, he would not be as proficient as the author. The cross-continental menu on the lunch and snacks tasted heavenly and we ate not just to satisfy hunger, but beyond our excitement. Pitiably, we skipped the reception dinner at the hotel due to a heavy lunch :P.

22nd June 2010 - Day 3 @ HICC, Novotel, Hyderabad

         I had some truly unforgettable experiences on the second day. We just reached the Conference venue in the morning to make arrangements, when Prof. Kotagiri Rammohan Rao, world's leading researcher in KDD and Conference Chair, PAKDD asked for some help in going out for shopping for his daughter who was to get married. I agreed and we left at around 9.30 AM. Accompanied by another Dr. Sanjay Chawla, University of Sydney, we went to Brisah, Panjagutta. The shop was not open for the day and we waited on a coffee. I was literally perplexed to find one gagra gown at Rs 89000/- in that shop and the cheapest was Rs 40000/-. After spending about 3 hours in selection, he bought a dress for his daughter. Heights of Technology, it seemed funny when he sent pictures of his selection to his daughter back in Australia and bought them only with her consent. On our way back, we had discussions on all sorts of topics ranging from YSR to Quantum Mechanics without the barriers of any student-professor relationship.

      After lunch,  I took chance to participate in a panel discussion on the "Role of Industry, Academia and Government in Encouraging Research". Unconscious  of manners and decency, I put forth  issues before the panel with courage and it was a great experience. I even asked Prof. Vipin Kumar, an Indian born professor from the University of Minnesota, why he was working for the US and why he cannot come back to India... and many more such questions. Towards the end of the day, there was a cultural program by blind children from a school in Bangalore and it was here that I put in my real contribution to the conference. The kids did really good and the delegates enjoyed their performance. As my friends often tease me about talking too much, it helped me cover up on the stage during the time between their performances. I felt it proud to explain the audience, the cultural heritage of India and the immense variety of inherited traditions and innate talent. The show was succeeded by a banquet and awards for the winners of the best and runner up papers accepted at the conference. With some of my friends trying a few drinks and seeing the foreigners unable to control drinking, it was an unforgettable experience.

24th June 2010 - Day 4 HICC and Golconda.

      The last day was simple with only a few papers being presented.  The best paper accepted by the conference was presented in my session hall and I should accept that it was worth being the best paper - "Oddball: Spotting anomalies in weighted graphs". The lady from CMU gave an excellent presentation of her work and it was worth appreciating. After lunch, an excursion was planned and we were to accompany the delegates to either Golconda or Charminar. I chose Golconda and we had a tough time there. As suggested, we bought bottles for them and struggled our way up the fort carrying them and passing on as and when necessary. I should really thank the other guys with me - Pavan, Dattu, Rahul and Baji who helped us out. On our way back, we stopped at Shilparamam so that the foreigners could take something that is indeed Indian back home. We made good friends with some of the foreigners and they in fact asked us to stay back so that we could offer them some real Indian dinner. Most of them complained of spicy food, but we enjoyed their plight. We developed an intimate rapport with Prof. Krishna Reddy and he tried to persuade all of us to continue to do our Ph.D :P.

Indeed, it was a great experience, thanks to Pavan and Vinod who counted me in their list of volunteers. Gratitude always has its reward. When Prof. Reddy thanked the volunteers for their efforts, I could find a strange sense of happiness in all my friends. I also strongly recommend every one to either attend a conference of such stature or at least volunteer. I can guarantee that you would be excited about research and get a totally new perspective about the subject in discussion. And after 4 days of Paneers and Pastas at Novotel, I find my hostel mess a great place to eat. The Tomato Dal and Avakaya pickle give me heavenly bliss  and reminds me of the truth in the ground reality.

The road less travelled

    It is not every day that we get to learn something new. But, today I happened to drive a bike in heavy rain and roads with puddles and hidden manholes. There was a college friend of mine who came to see me today. I had planned a lot to come up with all the possible nonsense that we could do together. But, all went in vain due to some other inevitable commitments. We tried to make the maximum possible out of what was available and his time had come to leave. I was not at all satisfied and my excitement still didn't die down. He missed the local train and I offered to drop him by bike. As we approached Tank Bund, it started raining heavily and I had to send him off. I waited and waited, continued to wait, and rain was getting even more severe.

    It was then I decided to drive in rain and I learnt the lesson of my life. "It is not so easy to drive in rain." Several motorcyclists stopped by to take shelter and I felt like a hero fighting bravely against it. I was drenched in rain but continued, though not long before I had to give up the feud against it due to strong winds. Once the winds calmed, though rain continued, my journey back to college resumed. The fuel was low and the horn not working. The bike began skidding every few meters and I experienced my worst ever traffic jam.. from Secratariat to Masab Tank Flyover, that too in rain. Moving at snail's pace, I reached the flyover. As I tried to escalate up, I could feel the current of the water flowing down the road clogging me in ankle deep water. I tried to stop, but the traffic behind me persuaded (forced) me to continue. I managed to somehow get back to the hostel, and to my utter astonishment, there was not a single drop of rain at home.
       It was a great experience and I enjoyed it to the fullest. It is very rare that we find ourselves in such situations, and this was my first. Indeed, it was of course a road less traveled for me.

Back to Reality

           Something really important I realized during my trip back home last week was the need to go home. In every instance, I found myself perplexed with the question - "Is-this-where-I-came-from? and Is-this-what-I-truly-am?" It had been tow months since I went home. Studying in Hyderabad, away from home, it seemed like going into a new world. From the ecosystem of towering buildings amidst barren lands, wide roads with bustling traffic, travellers plugged with earbuds with a minding-their-own-business-mentality and the like, I felt a totally new and guilty feeling when I returned back home. Guilty because, I almost forgot who I was and where I had come from.
            The lush green fields on either sides of the road with stinking dung laying the divider and small and thatched huts decorating the boundaries, narrow roads with little traffic, a traffic constable who wishes you a Good-Morning rather than collect a fine and to top it all, a nice and ever caring family - that always thinks of me - irrespective of what they do.. all of these put together awakened the dying spirit of nativity. Infact, my mom asked me what she should cook the next day before I went to bed everyday so that she could make it by the time I woke up. Heights of love and care - and yes - with Mother's love - there is no heights.. It towers beyond imagination. I used to laugh at myself when I heard people say - "Never forget who you are or Where you came from?" and this had happened to me too..
          

Education for living - Not just for life

            The modern schools of learning that impart domain specific education and knowledge mould their students as experts in their domains. The students do cutting edge innovations and inventions in each field, but all this is to make a living. Every job, every profession is to make a livelihood. It is a source of income. Earning does not make an entire life. Two other important things that make a complete living is to do judicial and confident spending for a happy today alongside with a sensible savings for a secure tomorrow.  It is not just sufficient to learn to earn, but also to spend and save. And it is on the shoulders of the centers of learning that produce graduates or indirectly taxpayers into the economy every year to teach them to spend and to save and also pay taxes :P. Graduating students are the major portion of the country that begin contributing to the pool of taxpayers in the country. Paying taxes is another issue that majority of us would not like to do... Why is it that we pay the government the money we earned slogging like donkeys for our employers? is the question that often pops up in my mind. I do not feel shy to confess that many of us even do not know what it is to pay taxes and how they are calculated. When we pay taxes, we have every right to know how the money is being spent. But though we have access to that information, we are handicapped in understanding those details.
                    Coming to our institute, it is highly commendable that the governing body concentrates strongly on inculcating human values in the students. Measures like Jeevan Vidya, the Human Values sessions or the Humanities courses are being introduced to make students realize the importance of these values in life. True to the fact that life is not just about money, but about relationships and values, we should also agree that life is more about living rather than principles and values. And living includes earning, spending and saving. It is only when each family strives to develop its economic standards that the country's economy can grow. Having fulfilled its moral responsibility, it is also the economic responsibility of the institute to make its students aware of the economics of the country and our individual lives. It is not just the business schools that should pass on this education, but this responsibility vests in every institution that is producing graduates. In fact, it is due to this reason, that our lives are being controlled by some financial consultants (business school graduates) whom we do not know. The institute should teach us to spend our money, take our own decisions  and make a prosperous living leading to the development of the nation.
              In short, this is a request to the institute to introduce courses that teach the basics of economics, business and finance so that each individual need not depend on others for his living. He can make his decisions, save and spend according to his choice. Values and Spirituality can come at a later stage in life when one gets frustrated with money and living. This is a greater necessity and institutions should realize and take immediate action.What is the use of having Vedic Darshan or the human values when one does not get two square meals a day? It is more important to teach about money, about diplomacy and decision making rather than values. It is with these talents that today's students can develop into better leaders of tomorrow.

Preparing for my first interview

           Qualcomm had called for applications for summer internships. Just like every other blind trial, I put in mine too. It's called "Cheekatlo banam" in Telugu. :) And as days passed, got busy with other things... assignments, SE and so on. Suddenly, one day, a mail popped up in my mail box that I was shortlisted for interview. It came at a time when I almost forgot that I had applied for the interview. The D-day(as it was my first) was scheduled to be the 10th of March. From the 6th itself, there was an unknown and uncontrollable shiver going down my spine every time I looked at the mail in my inbox while going through the other mails. It was an interview and I had to prepare for it.

               My little and incomplete knowledge of what an interview meant, and especially the stories I heard from friends helped me get my ass to be more stable and start preparing for it. But, going by reality, the mind was more powerful than the conscience. And as it happens for every exam, I began to study with the least amount of dedication and the maximum reluctance. I searched for Qualcomm on Google and what the hell !!! an ECE company??! had no words. Was I working hard to get an intern in an ECE company? Of what use will I be to them? Why will they take me? What about Image Processing?  What is the use of preparing for this interview? And infact what should I prepare? were some of the many damning questions that struck my head. The newspaper on my desk read "Better Half: Ex-wife Katherine strangles Cameron's Oscar Bid". And I need not mention explicitly the latter half. I was going through with the second CD of the ceremony when, this guy, Vignesh pinged me -"What about your preparation? What are you doing?" :( I put away with him that I would watch for just 10 min and get back to my preparation. The three parts were over and I realized that it was 9PM 9th March. With the deepest regret, I opened my mails to find another most pacifying note that the interviews were postponed to 12th March. Yes. This was indeed consoling. I decided to prepare hard atleast for the next two days.

              Studying is one of the toughest jobs for a student of my nature. Food and bed are two things in my life that get the maximum priority though I donot wish to go by them. A nap daily after lunch and the best food are two things I never manage to miss. Along with all this, I continued my preparation. I started with C, went on to DS and slowly went on to DBMS. I realized that I knew everything but could remember nothing. I had to redo all the syllabus taught. Infact, the worst of doubts spring up during exams. All sorts of strange doubts, loads of material to revise and friends wishing good luck for the interview, all went hand in hand. And ofcourse, I should not forget to mention those guys who really gave that moral support - Srinu, Vignesh, Abhishek. It was great. They were giving me tips on what to prepare and how to do so. Thanks to all of them!

          It was 11th night and all my friends decided to go for a party. And as I mentioned, I cannot forgo food for anything. I attended the party, and as a matter of fact, the party also helped me a lot. Learnt many things as to what can be asked and so on. Kudos to the hosts.. It was a grand and nice one. I came back and realized that I didnot have a proper dress for the next day.It took time and struggle to arrange one formal pair. Arranging everything, I cotinued to prepare, but this time, with more vigour and concentration. Picking each subject, one after the other, went through the best I knew from that. Each topic seemed new, couldnot remember what I had learnt before, infact just 3 months before. Google helped me a lot! It became 12 AM and my battery came down! Had to sleep. But, that night, I could not sleep. A wide variety of thoughts and questions struck me. What if I am asked this? What are my interests? My goals? My achievements? My drawbacks? and so on... Finally, managed to sleep.

             It was a great experience to work for that interview. A great revelation, I decided to start for my placements at the earliest. It takes a great amount of time to revise and revisit all that was learnt and infact "FORGOTTEN". I resolved to work from then itself for the placements later this year. But as I had mentioned before, I did not start till now. :P