Crossroads leading to crosswords

Perhaps this piece could be the most insignificant of all my ravings herein. But some happenings in life are so pleasing that it is imperative that we preserve and cherish their memories. This is one such rare event.

Sat, Nov 8th 2008, 10 PM: I was preparing for a forthcoming assessment in my hostel room at IISc. When were the assessments not forthcoming at IISc, by the way? So this was a usual dreary night at the institute for me. Unexpectedly I heard someone knocking at my door. It was my IISc-Telecomm coterie visiting my room after their dinner. It seemed they had almost nothing to do that night and had come to my room to chit-chat and pass time.

I actually did not mind, partly because I was not lagging behind in my preps and also I was already mentally drained out by then. One of my friends started trying to enter into my lappy account. The password screen flashed bright in front of him, along with the customary clue.

"Cold Fox" read the clue. I had no prior exposure to cryptic crosswords, so this clue was as anonymous to the cruciverbalist as to the common man. Yet sportively I acceded to their demand of providing better clues.

It was a 5-letter word; A commercial product; Cold did not refer to the temperature-based aspect.

They arrived instantaneously upon "Vicks" - I had included "fox" to remind me of 'vixen'. I would like to move the scene to what transpired some ten minutes later. Rocket science is not necessary to guess the rest.

I was pleading with them to reveal the password! And out came a clue:

A new type of waste cloth, we hear...(6)

I had absolutely no idea of what "we hear" meant. All I could mutter was waste cloth could be supplanted by rag. Yet each of them never really allowed me to proceed in this direction. I was deliberately misled by a countless number of futile clues. Some of them threw out an inkling; others were totally dumb. 

Finally after minutes of desperation, I tumbled upon the hard reality that rag ought to be pronounced differently to arrive at the answer. It was Anurag, my guide for Post-graduation studies.

It was an incredible feeling once I arrived at the answer. The link present in each of those inklings revealed themselves to me. It was as if you had watched a intriguing murder plot unwind itself at the final minute. 

Everyday in the ensuing semester holidays, my first task in the morning was to go about solving The Hindu Crossword. Who wanted difficult sudokus everyday anymore? :)

What I learnt at College of Engineering, Guindy?? - A Memoir

Four years have passed by and I stand at the Entrance gates of my Post-graduation at IISc. Yet questions linger in my mind on what I learnt, after all, in four long years of my under graduation. Maybe these would have been answered some months back had I planned to continue my PG at the US, as they demand rigorous SOPs and recommendation letters. Anyway, I list down all I learnt at CEG, point-wise yet in no order of their priorities.

1) Real learning takes place in your mind


There have been several occasions when I spend time with a view to learning something new, but ended up failing. The root cause of these is the lack of mind control. I believe I have made poor use of the sensory organs that God has gifted me. I don't feel the 'taste' with food in my mouth; I don't appreciate the intricate beauty of my legs as they walk. So the focus has never been there in whatever I do, resulting in an inadequate tapping of myself by me. The biggest demon I could ever encounter is my mind itself. An orderly mind can go a long way in scripting success stories.

2) Real  entertainment takes place in your mind 


The same argument jells well for entertainment. Indian people are always crazy about films. A 
great  "WHAAAAAAT" is always heard when you concede that you haven't watched a
particular acclaimed movie. Similarly, I have come across all sorts of crazes in CEG - about
films, sports like tennis and cricket (myself for cricket;)), outing and friends. Yet I have spent full days sitting before my PC, never feeling tired, bored and lonely.

3) Even two cooks can spoil the broth!


In any arbitrary event, the probability that one will succeed is going to be always small - say 10% or 20%. In that case when we depend on someone for succeeding in a teamwork, the probability that both of us will succeed is reduced poorly (say 10% (0.1) becomes 0.01 and 20% (0.2) becomes 0.04). Of course, an argument that the prob. that at least one of us will succeed is enhanced is impertinent - it takes two to tango in teamwork. So trust your individuality and independence.

4) The World is Not for the Meek

 
A really lovable person is one who is calm, composed and stoic. But that should not translate into being indifferent. Beneath the calmness, it is inevitable that we inculcate a cognizance of what we are capable of and what we cannot afford to forgo at any cost. Equally inevitable are the cries 
of our arrogance that come along with our voices against our oppression. But as the old story of
man-wife-donkey-river goes, it is impossible to gratify all people at all times.

http://nirvanamusing.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-can-man-ride-on-donkey-but-let-wife.html

5) The Omnipresence of Indolence


A truly amazing realisation from CEG. Retirement of professors, recommendations to some inept lecturers and unwillingness of the existing faculty to learn new ideas- Features which simply 
caught up with the students and incinerated their passion for ECE. Indolence is an obnoxious
weed - when you have 2 peers one of whom is lazy and the other hyperactive, you will be only drawn towards taking the cue from the lazy person. Unless you have the elephantine attitude 
to overcome that, of course!

6) Unswerving - Easier to enter than to Execute



Imbibed this from one giant of a professor at CEG. Amidst all low quality teaching there was this person who pursued silently the US university type of education; he worked all day on projects and burnt his head to understand research papers of yesterday; all this and more at an age of 50! Who else can provide me with a greater inspiration than him? Build ideals and principles - your life is loose if it's devoid of them. And work harder mindless of the environs to pursue them. In short, BE WHAT YOU ARE!

7) Pretension is an Incurable and Cancerous Disease


Face thy ignorance. It paves the way for your learning. Pretension can hurt very badly. Only empty bottles got to be and need to be filled. Pretension is like a gas that fills up the bottle of knowledge. Everyone in this planet can be awed by you - not the least until you are ashamed of yourself at some point of time in your life. Point all your vulnerabilities and vices to yourself. 
If being truthful can move mountains, truth to "your self" can do much much more!

8) Learn to Live with the Vices


Unlike in a mega-serial (soap), clear and well-marked demarcations don't exist in life as to who are the good and bad ones. Men are as good (or bad) as the wireless channel. Countably many factors contribute to their behaviour on a particular day (to wireless reception as well ;)). Many have been blessed with superb virtues which they exhibit on the majority of days.
Some behave (ostensibly?!) irritably on most of your interaction periods with them. Retain some of those vices within you as well (Kalavum Katru Mara,
Thirukkural, Thiru Valluvar). One of the best lessons that we learn in life is Tolerance. It makes little sense to be oppressive without being tolerant.

9) All Limits tend ONLY to Infinity


That's again an undeniable truth. We always have little to boast of, whatever we achieve. There are numerous people who can confront you and say "Have Been there and Done that" without 
batting an eyelid. With proper goals set in life, it is only apt that we keep moving them from time to time away from us. It is like when a mother teaches a child to walk and keeps moving herself farther away from the baby as it eagerly approaches her.

10) Patience - The Ever-So-Elusive Possession


Till date, there is one nice word that I proudly use to describe myself - "frenzied"(borrowed 
from one of my team-mates as he described me). Patience has cost me some really valuable 
things in life. I have been left pondering over the "What-Ifs" on those occasions. Getting
ready for college, waiting for and boarding the bus, lecture hours, preparation for exams
and browsing on the Net - are just some few times (!) when I have found myself
distinctly incapable of being patient.

So guys, time to wind up. I am proud to have found myself in good humour and cheer for most of the times at CEG. These learnings stand proof enough for the fact that academics are not the only things you get to learn from a college. If that were so, I believe I could have learnt more from home than by coming to college. College has enabled me to build a unique personality; to appraise problems and suggest solutions; 
to be vocal wherever I am and to be lucid in explaining about myself and my goals.
I pray to God that I retain these lessons from CEG for a long time and not forget these in a jiffy.

Memories of a fresher

Months since I created this blog and I have not written anything here.. But now it is time to believe that the time has come.

The transition from school life to college life is always an unforgettable experience in every individuals' life. Every moment we are in college, inevitable comparisons are carried out and the dearness of our school friends and teachers is reestablished.

The path to my college days began tragically, putting it in the dilutest of words that come to my mind. 12 May 2004 - All eyes were on me. My father is always a person who has consistently placed high regards on my abilities and backed them up with great support and encouragement. My mother, reticent in relative, has not been far behind though. This day the State Exam results were set to arrive and my father was a busy man praying at our Pooja room for me getting State First and also occasionally switching the TV for checking out if results had come.

I remember myself playing a simple game those days. I had a "cover" ball ( tennis ball) which I used to bounce from the wall and then bat it out with a meter scale! A meter scale inevitably added precision to my batting or so thought I then!! I never wanted State ranks - but just prayed in the midst of my "batting practice" to ensure that I don't miss out on the Medical seat, but those days I was so proficient in those daub State Board textbooks that there wasn't a soul
among my teachers, friends and parents who believed that I would miss out eventually.

And so the day passed slowly - the emotions were strongly rising in the process. A couple of walks to the Internet Centre proved futile - what with a long queue of students waiting for the same. Finally the moment of reckoning arrived with a phone call from my mother's younger sister. And the words I heard blackened out my vision for some moments. Lost out on a centum in Maths and ended up with paltry scores in language papers which I was really good at. Waves of injustice ran through my heart and I felt God had deliberately marked me out for an undeserving punishment. The cheer in my house vanished nowhere and a period of mourning started.

With that sort of parents I have and with the indomitable faith that they possess in me, a period
of obvious attempts at redeeming pride followed. Photocopies of answer sheets and revaluation processes made one thing crystal clear to me - there was just one college where I could possibly join; and finally that was where I landed up. So, when the journey to the College of Engineering, Guindy began in July 04, when it was increasingly becoming apparent that it was here that I would be heading to in X months of time, where X solely wrested in the hands of the Judiciary!

College life always begins with a lot of doubts in our minds - especially here in India, the doubts are primarily about ragging. Ragging had shown its ugliest face some twelve years ago culminating in the death of a professor's son, yet the escape of death sentence by the murderer did its thing to illuminate the loopholes in our law. Putting aside history, my mind was plagued by questions of how successful I would be at
college. My cheer was well destroyed by my impotency to quell my parents' desires and within my heart I longed for the court battles due to a scandal in our Entrance exams to prolong for Eternity.
Days passed by passing time - nothing notable I did in this period except watching movies, playing games and creating my E-mail ID: scintillatingstuffs - a name that was more a product of epiphany rather than thoughtful execution. Finally on a August morning (6th, the Friday), I realised that it was finally time for me to face my fate - the counselling session for the Engg. seats was scheduled on the coming Tuesday - the 10th.

Like a lamb to the slaughter, I prepared myself for the day. I never chose to deliberate about the courses with people. Newspaper Information told me that ECE was the first choice followed by CS and EE, so my prerogative was to try for ECE and else go for EE. Given the hard luck I was having those days, I had made my mind up for becoming an Electrical Engineer at CEG.

But God had other ideas as always. Traditionally with a rank of mine, ECE at CEG was impossible, yet I suffered from another quirk of fate and ended up as an ECE student. I was required to join college 8 days later.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Bus. This has been the quote for me all through my UG days. With a distance of 20 km to and another 20 fro to travel day in and day out and coupling this with the appalling frequency of buses en route, reaching the college was the usual first ordeal that I faced. Aug18,2004 wasnt any different. I climbed onto my 47G and watched at the passing
scenes from my window seat. As the bus neared its destination, my heart came closer to my mouth. Finally an hour later, I found myself at the entrance of the Vivekananda Auditorium, something now popular as Vivekaudi.

Seniors looked at me up and down. When it was confirmed that I was a fresher, they simply frowned. The program had begun an hour earlier. And more prominent was
my apparel first day into college. A fluorescent green shirt that could assist people in picking you up from a crowd of a five-hundred. I never knew that it could itself be a target for seniors to pick on me.

Notwithstanding my temerity, seniors sent me into the auditorium and except for a lone event
where a sophomore "requested" me to be more formal in my dressing sense, I passed the day to a monotonous lecture on language skills. Another replica of a day passed
and I had succesfully evaded my ragging blues and had my first weekend of collegiate times to cherish.

Monday, the 23rd was my first day in the college classroom. Scenes of joking and laughter from the DAV days kept flashing through my mind. I felt I
had enough of all that and chose to lead a silent and "ascetic" life at college. I chose a quiet corner seat in the front bench of the room and was largely reticent. For the next month or so, I barely spoke with some tens of pupils in a class of 80 and used my free will to bunk as many classes as possible - not to enjoy some movie but just to go
home and sleep.

The jackal can jump into a blue paint but it wont take long for its true colours to reveal. A couple of guys brought my true self back and I wasn't strong-willed to go against. Following this, a period of infatuation began for me. The girl was, unlike me, taciturn by nature rather than will. Extremely sincere, academically focussed, "girlishly" talented, commodities that I would on anyday search in a girl. I absent-mindedly blurted out my feelings to my near, and the usual teasings ensued.
Academically I inculcated the collegiate tradition of studying for exams the previous day, something that would have been heinous at school. I coped well with it, as it did not burden me with portions which I felt I wasn't naturally talented in. Except for a physically demanding workshop, where once I burnt my eyes and spent a full sleepless night troubling my parents as well with my mumblings, I felt myself at ease with all the courses.

Semester 1 passed out somehow and I topped it with a grand CGPA. In the next semester, I had to be in a classroom full of ECE students, and my infant feelings of love broke. I wasn't isolated by any means, but somehow I felt bitter. I craved to see the face that I would see every morning. But reality got the better of me as time passed and my mental state was restored to normalcy.