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.