TOO LENGTHY A BREAK!

The title of this blog post isn't meant to be an apology for another hiatus from blogging! Rather, it is a call for celebrations at the culmination of a successful summer placement season at IIM-Bangalore. Thanks to the efforts of everyone, primarily PlaceCom, the process got completed in 4.5 days flat, which implies a long break of 5 days, with nothing to do (though there might be desperate souls still willing to reach out to the Kotler and Brealey-Myers books, but I hope they would be very few, and can be discounted)!
For me, the highlight of the placement season was the co-operation of the batch in getting everyone placed. Given the tight schedule, it may be inevitable. Yet, it is heartening to note that, for all the hype about 'competition' and 'RGgiri' at B-schools, the placement season offers the perfect riposte to such nonsense. Hope the same continues!
I will be spending my summers at Standard Chartered, Wholesale Banking division. More details awaited!
And, I am hoping to use this lengthy break to catch up on (a lot of) sleep, read up some new books, drive a bike, try my hand at the guitar, explore Bengaluru in greater detail. A road trip to Mysore and Shivanasamudra falls is already done, and more details about that later. To those who haven't been there, I recommend visits to Mysore and Shivanasamudra, if you happen to live/work/intern/roam in Bengaluru!

GANDHIJI, MONT BLANC and EXPENSIVE PENS

On the 140th Anniversary of "Bapu", it is sad indeed that such a controversy had to come up. We have all read about Gandhiji and his frugal habits, so, marketing a pen, which costs $25000, in the name of Gandhiji and launching it under the name "Limited Edition 241", (241 mile Dandi March)! What is more amazing is that this was endorsed by his great grandson as well, who actually launched the product. One counter-point is given in the link below:
http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_cricketer-dilip-doshi-in-pursuit-of-luxury_1293570
While the philanthropic initiative deserves to be praised, it still cannot justify marketing a product in his name, and all the sacrifices which he made. The Father of Our Nation deserves better, on his birthday.
Greetings to all on the 140th Birth Anniversary of Bapu. To those who haven't watched, do watch "Lage Raho Munnabhai".....a must watch!

Herd Mentality:

Herd mentality....visible in everything we do:
1) Mugging/ghotting: Everyone shall mug/ghot, or in rare alternative cases, chill out completely before an exam (I did witness this during the analog electronics test on 3/3/08).
2) Applying for companies/choosing a career etc.: I salute those courageous few, who choose to go off the beaten track. The rest of us, especially in India, are engineers/fake engineers/MBAs etc.
3) Societal trends: Sometimes I feel watching cricket is also part of the same mentality. Add the English Premier League to the latest list of fads, along with supporting Manchester United just because they have/had Cristiano Ronaldo. There are way too many examples to mention here.
4) Special Mention, 'Whooshing': Jesus said "Donot do unto others what you do not want to be done to you." Apparently, no one cares. People get whooshed at the drop of a hat/coffee cup/mention of transfer pricing. And this is an infectious disease. The only saving grace is that every one gets hooshed by the other. Parity restored.

Maybe, it is part of our psyche, after all. Newspaper articles and movies have been devoted to the same. Is it because of the insecurity, which shrouds us, or an innate dislike for risk taking??
I shall leave this question to psychologists, newspapers, reader's digest and of course, Aamir Khan to discuss and solve.......and to anyone else who is interested!

This blog post has been created owing to incidents in the very recent past, collated with others in the not so recent past.....and in one way, an excuse to return!
Life@IIMB has been pretty hectic, tiring, unforgiving, demanding etc. etc. After all, bring all the toppers at various levels, school/college etc. and put them here, and the resultant mixture leaves NO room for error. Still, it has been an experience to savour....and there is a lot more to savour!

To understand how herd mentality influences decision-making and how reflexive action plays a role in shaping societies, check out: Why Everything You Know About Money, Success, and Power Might Be a Myth on Canvas to Cosmos https://canvastocosmos.com/the-impact-of-myths-from-caves-to-crypto/ .

THE FARCE CALLED SAPL
(The “Indian” premier league)



Disclaimer: This post reflects the personal views of the author of this blog. He confesses to watching it occasionally, even though he wholeheartedly condemns it as a farce. Reader discretion is advised, owing to the heavy bias in the mind of the author. The content should not be taken in any way as an edict against viewing the IPL, Extra innings, the hot cheerleaders, the exceedingly charming Mandira Bedi, and the apologies in the name of the show anchors.



I have never been able to warm up to the concept of the IPL. During the first season, there was the IPL vs. ICL hype and other problems. It was clear that IPL as a commercial initiative came to life after the threat of the Essel Group-run ICL came forth. If ICL could be branded detrimental to the interests of Indian cricket, then what does IPL offer that “benefits” Indian cricket? (Money is not a problem for the BCCI. It has more in it’s coffers than it can handle).

The IPL was designed on the format of the EPL. But, if the IPL teams act as the “representatives” of their cities, then what is the purpose of the Ranji trophy teams, which, like the British soccer and cricket clubs, have stood tall as institutions over decades. Rather, it is all about the rich owners, Messrs Mallya, the “Rab Ne Bana Di” Jodi of SRK and Dada, and so on. As for the other excuses, such as scouting of young talent, development of cricket infrastructure etc. I am sure that IPL is in no position, or atleast, in no better position than the Ranji trophy to rectify the ills, and not surely when it is now the SAPL. The current Indian team, for example, has all of its players brought out through the Ranji system, and not through the IPL.

If we begin accusing English football clubs of using money power to buy up players from other leagues, then the IPL is the biggest joke on those aspects. With the auction of the players to different IPL franchisees, a la cattle auctions in villages, one point is very clear: cricket and soccer are different with respect to the fact that the dominant form of cricket is international cricket, as opposed to club soccer. So, for having a proper league, you need to have more teams, or scrap the IPL, given the hectic international cricket calendar.

One point which I was particularly peeved about is the arrogance of the BCCI with respect to the IPL throughout. The penalties imposed on the ICL players were harsh, and so was the treatment meted out to the Haryana Hurricane Kapil Dev. Indian cricket owes a huge debt to this man, who won us our only ODI world cup. Insulting him by stopping his pension, not inviting him for the 25th Anniversary function of the WC triumph etc. was a bit too bad. Imagine the skipper of that triumph not getting the anniversary invite. (I am not a supporter of the ICL. To me, both ICL and IPL are redundant in the context of cricket. But I do feel that Kapil Dev, EAS Prasanna, and some others were hard-done by the BC

The period between IPL-1 and IPL-2 was full of action as well. The multiple captains’ theory, the “restructuring” of RCB kept the junta interested. Then came IPL-2, and its metamorphosis to SAPL. They might as well have named the various franchisees as Paarl Prancers, Bloemfontein Royal Challengers, Durban Daredevils, Cape Town Superkings, (Port) Elizabeth Emperors, Pretoria Kings XI, Maritzburg Indians and the Kimberley Kite Riders. The whole affair smacked of stupidity. Lalit Modi is an MBA from Duke University (as per wiki), but he, and the fellow administrators of IPL couldn’t foresee the clash with the general elections, and make appropriate arrangements. In fact, all that they did was blame the authorities for….well, God knows what, and finally shifting the IPL to South Africa, as commercial constraints didn’t allow the more sensible options. This also led to various satirical articles in the newspapers and on the internet.

Commercialization isn’t a sin. But, in the name of glitz and glamour, IPL has taken things a bit too far, making it sickening. Imagine having to hear “DLF maximums”, “strategy breaks”, “ads between consecutive deliveries” etc. And, of course, the inept team put up by Sony MAX, to cover the “mega-event”. I am sure of doing a better job than that. During IPL-2, the TV authorities were also forced to make South Africans (not many in number) speak about how brilliant the whole thing was. You could see yawning gaps in the stadia, except during the final few matches. Add the “Miss IPL South Africa” and other gimmicks to the things mentioned above.

The idea of IPL itself never enthused me, owing to the above reasons. The horrid coverage on TV makes viewing IPL all the more boring and irritating. The thing that did make me watch some matches are the extremely close finish to the matches, even though I felt that some of it did smack of fixing (refer to Maneesh’s blog for details), or at the least, very substandard cricket. There were hardly any consistent performances, barring a few exceptions. The hatricks by Yuvraj (2) and Rohit Sharma, and the all-too-frequent collapse of the batting lineups point to the poor quality of cricket on offer.

With Messrs Modi suggesting now 2 IPLs in a year and two extra teams, I await “with bated breath”, the next stupidity in a long series. But now, it is time to focus our attention to England and the T20 cricket world cup. I enjoyed every bit of the previous edition in 2007, especially the semis and the finals in the BITS Auditorium. I am hoping (and confident) that “YE CUP KAHIN NAHI JAAYEGA”.

SAYONARA BITS-PILANI


A poem describing 4 wonderful and defining years of my life, spent in a sleepy little village/town called Pilani.


Four years of immense pleasure,
Friends whom I shall always treasure,
Hardly any sweat, lots of leisure,
And Memories are all that remain.


Krishna 304: The first base,
All about adjusting to this beautiful place,
Everything pretty much fell in place,
Until the PC came, and so did “that pretty face”.


Pilani felt pretty much like paradise,
Extreme fire (51.5 C), and January ice (-2.4 C),
It all seems a bit too nice,
But memories are all that remain.


Vyas 294, the second stop,
Himalayan fall in CG, but no enthu drop,
Love, madness etc., all this seemed to prop,
In terms of fun, this period came out on top.


The four posts and the consequent load,
Vying for the attention of the babes on the C’not road,
Life was then in CS/FIFA/Wi-Fi mode,
And now, memories are all that remain.


PS-1@Hyd, work at Bharat Dynamics Limited,
Quite some work, but fun unlimited,
The memories of Hotel Swagath, Iyengar bakery,
Gokul chat, Abids, iMax, all shall remain.


Ram 248, the CDC year,
Atleast 5 tuts a week we had to bear,
MOSFETs and amplifiers had gone into top gear,
Enthu had given way to ghotting machines here.


Worries for the future had come calling,
There was always an air of classes and test-cracking,
The FIFA- league in these times was every bit enjoying,
These memories are all that remain.


PS-2@Chennai, a time for earning and learning,
Work@Cypress, followed by trains and 5E-induced sweating,
The memories of the brilliant CY-Chennai office,
And the time spent with family@home shall forever remain.


Bhagirath 265, the final checkpost,
This was the psenti-sem, of which we made the most,
The wing’s future well-set, despite the recessionary ghost.
To the finish line, it was now time to coast.


Unlimited downloads, onto my new 250 GB hard disk,
Jogged, played and cycled, never before did I feel so brisk,
Savoured each moment as the last, took not a single risk,
And these memories are all that remain.


An ode to all my wingies and friends who made the 4 years so special,
An ode to the profs and tut instructors, who bore with us through 4 years of laziness,non-attendance, brazen Ctrl C+V activity and shamelessness,
An ode to the BITS-LAN, without which there would have been no LAN FIFA (unimaginable) and DC++,
An ode to ANC, Foodking, C’not, sky and the RADIs, for giving us eateries doubling up as spots for time-wasting,
An ode to the beautiful campus, and the not-so-beautiful weather,
An ode to BITS, the name itself, which says it all.

A RAY OF LIGHT BETWEEN THE CLOUDS

Despite all my promises of a regular post, I am back after 5 months and 4 days. The previous post was hastily typed in the Cypress office, and life has been hectic since then, until recently.

Despite the hectic schedule at CYpress Semiconductor Chennai, the experience at the place is what the post title suggests. In the midst of all the gloom surrounding us, the last five months at Chennai have been an experience to cherish.

Practice School-2 at Cypress Semiconductor Corp. was a fantastic learning experience. Despite the office at Chennai being a centre for Corporate Marketing, I worked on some important technical projects with the Applications team, and also worked on some marketing projects. I worked on about 8 projects, each concerning a different domain. Hence, my knowledge, technical or otherwise, increased manifold. Also, Practice School instilled in me many other things, such as an unshakeable work ethic, working in a group, time management etc. Working with a team, where almost 90% of the employees have a degree from IIT/IIM/BITS has its own benefits.

This was also the first time that I was staying with my 87-year-old maternal grandmother for such a long time. She is my only grandparent whom I have interacted with. Hence, staying with her, listening to her stories and advice, enjoying her brilliant cooking and "teaching" her english are memories which I will cherish for ever. This space ain't enough to write about her. Some day I do hope to write a biography on my grandma. I enjoyed being with my maternal uncle and aunt and other cousins of mine as well.
Other notable things include the City of Chennai, which I shall talk about later, the 28/11 floods and another "noticeable" thing: I have become slim in this period, owing to the use of Public transport "only" for commutation in the city.I shall talk about that also in another post.

It is hard though, to keep ourselves from all the crap happening all around the world. Infact,
all that I have been reading in the newspapers are headlines like "Unemployment at an all-time high", ".... to lay-off", "worst recession since 1930" etc., and also stuff related to Mumbai 26/11, Chennai-TN 28/11 and dogfights in the Lok Sabha etc. In fact, despite BITS-Pilani's 100% placement record in the last decade, students are apprehensive regarding placements, this time around. Surely, this is a bad time to be passing out of college for a job. It makes sense to head for higher studies and go for a job when all this ends.
Ohh, The performance of team India under MSD HAS BEEN something to smile about, after all!!

Anything else about the five and a half stay at Chennai worth mentioning? Hmmm........
As of now, no.

Hoping to be more active on blogosphere in my final "vetti" semester at BITS.
Till then, this is Ashwin, signing off from Bhopal!!!!

Keep smiling, and commenting!

MEN OF HONOR, WIELDING THE RACQUET

The title is self-explanatory; It is about the two tennis players at the pinnacle of men's tennis (really, you now cannot choose one over the other); two players, who have already reserved a place for themselves in tennis folklore, and yet have some years of tennis ahead of them;two gentlemen, who can be called "model celebrities", for want of a better word.They are thoroughly ground-to-earth and have a good friendship off the court, yet, on the tennis court, they have given us the best exhibition of tennis in history.Salutations to the great guys!!!! Given below are my opinions about these players, and the profound effect they have had on the game.....

ROGER FEDERER:
Never count out the great man!!!You may say he has had a pathetic season, but tell me, from the viewpoint of a normal player, are 2 runner's up finishes and a semis appearance in this year's three grand slams bad??But FedEx is no ordinary tennis player. Indeed, we view his season in such a light, because the man has set such superhuman standards for himself, that "very good" is simply unacceptable. As Roger himself put it, after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Aussie Open Semis:"I have created this MONSTER myself, so people expect me to win everytime I step out."There have been doubts cast on the fact whether he is the greatest tennis player of all time. Thinking sensibly, every great tennis player has won in his own different way, in different conditions. So, each legend deserves to be respected, not subjected to unnecessary comparisons.In any case, Roger's place in history has been cemented. People will point out that he has never on the French Open, but the, who can do so at the moment, with Rafa at the helm at Roland Garros. I would like to ask, which player has ever taken tennis to such unfathomable heights?Which player in tennis history has dominated the scene as Federer as?Indeed, the word "dominance" is an understatement.
He is a great champion.And great champions always bounce back.Great champions always write their own endings, a la Pete Sampras.Expect to see more of FedEx in the years to come.He is not gone yet!!!

RAFAEL NADAL:
When Rafa first stepped onto Roland Garros in 2005 and won, many were quick to dismiss him as just a "prodigious clay-courter", in the line of other Spanish clay-courters such as Carlos Moya, JC Ferrero,Albert Costa etc..However, the muscular "Bull of Majorca" has gone on to a stratospheric level on clay.As yet, he remains undefeated on the French clay.He is 22, and looks invincible, to say the least, on clay.You never know, this way, he may end up undefeated at Court Phillippe Chartrier for the rest of his career, thus racking up a dozen French Open titles[:O].
More importantly, by reaching 3 consecutive Wimbledon finals, he has safely dispelled the notion that he is all at sea on grasscourt and hard courts.He gave Federer some semblance of a fight in the 2006 Wimbledon final, stretched him all the way in 2007, and this year, first he won at Stella Artois, and then finally got his hands on the trophy, after being denied by a Federer masterclass in the 5th set in the 2007 final.The next few months will be crucial, because Rafa has shown a tendency to fade into oblivion after Wimbledon.However, Rafa is a constantly improving player, in all aspects of the game.Infact, we can attribute his Wimbledon triumph to his rigorous practice, and the way he tweaked his game to win.He has constantly added new skills to his repertoire, he has worked hard on his shortcomings on faster courts.His serves have improved, and in tune with "traditional Wimbledon style" comes to the net more often.This, coupled with his tenacity on-court, amazing stamina and a tendency not to make unforced errors,has helped him dethrone Federer on grass.So, knowing Rafa, we can expect him to get better on hard courts as well, do well post-wimbledon, and eventually take over the numero uno positon from FedEx.This race to greatness will be close.


These two gentlemen are "model celebrities". Fame and success has not gone to their head.Indeed, we have never seen them in the limelight for the wrong reasons.They remain thoroughly professionals, feet firmly placed on terra firma.They would prefer to spend their holidays with family and friends at their respective homes in Basel and Majorca respectively. Both seem to be approachable and of a pleasant demeanour.There is no semblance of cockiness or arrogance in them.I can go ranting on and on about these two gentlemen, but well, my arms are aching.Rafa and FedEx share anamazing cameraderie off the court.Indeed, after every match,no duel, they hug each other. I have become tired listening to each player praising the other. Infact, Rafa, after walloping Roger this year at Roland Garros, kept his celebrations to a minimum, out of respect for him.This speaks volumes for the respect one has for the other. This off-court friendship is matched by an equally ferocious attitude on court. The Wimbledon final of 2 weeks ago is still fresh in our minds, and is testimony to the way these two players slug it out oncourt.

Not a flaw that you can find in either of them, is there???
We are lucky to be watching them create history....
Cheers to Rafa and Roger....You are an inspiration to all, whether it be budding tennis players or your huge legion of fans all over the globe, in all respects.

THE PROBLEM OF PROPORTIONS

So, against all my promises, it takes me 7 months and 17 days to return to my Pensieve. Life was tiresome in 3-1 and it has redefined the word boredom in 3-2, as far as acads go, though, frankly speaking, I enjoyed all the slogging in 3-1, and it just isn’t fun any more, in 3-2.

Nevertheless, let me move away from boring you with my own tale, and let’s get down to the topic of this blog.

The blog is not about my own disproportionate-looking tummy, but rather about the lack of proportion, which exists within the Indian nation, in every walk of life.

Let’s begin with Forbes’ list of the wealthiest people on the World. Statistics show that half of the top 8 richest people in the world are Indians (LN Mittal, the Ambani brothers and KP Singh of DLF fame), yet, on the other hand, we see people struggling for even 1 square meal a day, in many parts of India. These 4 people are hardly a reflection of the true India.

Even if we remove these “exceptional” billionaires, statistics show that globalization has improved the quality of life by leaps and bounds, and they also show an increase in the per capita income.

These statistics are misleading. They are depicting the urban scenario, more often than not. In a situation of huge contrasts, we can find headlines depicting the “achievements” (for want of a better word), of Messrs. Ambani and farmer suicides, on the same front page of a newspaper. Remember though, that we needn’t go over the moon regarding the former headline, since the person is a businessman after all, and is concerned about his company, and all the good that he does to the nation is restricted to providing jobs, or open a few educational institutions for profit. Without these farmers, however, we might have nothing to fill our stomachs. This might seem an exaggeration, but until we sort this problem out, we might see the food crisis deepen further. Already, people are dying of hunger, and the last thing we need is the food suppliers giving up on life. (PS: Apparently, the chief Minister of Maharashtra, in response to the farmer suicides in Vidarbha, enlightened us with these gems: “Suicide is a crime, and the farmers are lucky to get away with it.)

State Governments want to promote foreign investment in their own state, and bring the city life up to the mark by opening malls, multiplexes et al. The Central government, on the other hand, is engrossed with formulating policies it cannot implement, or sign MoU’s with other countries (definitely, not wrong). The governments, both at the Centre and at the State level, have got their priorities all wrong. The central government cannot bring forth a definite framework for national development. The state governments, on the other hand, are going for the glitz, instead of strengthening the roots. And no one needs reminding that weak foundations will lead to the structure capsizing. Great nations have been built through strong development at the grassroots.

This unequal development leads to a widening gap between rural and urban life, and a lack of facilities in the villages. Further, it also affects the cities, as people migrate to the urban areas in search of a better livelihood, thus putting extra pressure on the city, and depleting the rural areas of the required human resources. Great nations have been built on strong foundations, and there is no need to reiterate the danger, which “weak roots” pose to the national structure.

All that I can say regarding imbalance in governance and development is: The rich can take care of themselves; it is the poor who need the helping hand, in the form of resources, education etc. Obviously, food for the poor is more important than a new mall for the spoilt brats of the rich. Let governance be more uniform, and let it first focus on grassroots development.

The scenario in the sphere of education is none too rosy. Here also, we have a disproportionately large number of engineers, yet there is no fruitful research work going on in India. The guys either end up writing useless bits of code for the software companies, or drain their brains in the US of A. Such a large population of engineers, but the country hardly gets anything back. Again, in the field of medicine, we cater to patients coming from the middle east etc. yet there is no one to ensure better healthcare in the rural areas. For all the subsidized education that they get, the medical students protest against being sent to the rural areas on deputation. A fine way indeed, to repay your debt to the nation!!!!!!!!!!!! Basic sciences have been neglected. Great institutions like IISc Bangalore and TIFR Mumbai are not getting the respect they deserve. And, the less said about commerce and arts, the better. My view is that people from all education streams are needed, but somehow most Indian people have a tendency to believe that commerce and arts (especially) is for losers.

And last but not the least, we can see the same lack of proportion in sports, where poor administration, combined with neglect, has ensured that the Indian hockey team won’t walk out onto the turf in Beijing. Those people, who, 40 years ago, believed that it was a shame for the national hockey team to come second, would never have envisaged such a horrid turn of events for Indian hockey. Similarly, with a 1 billion (and counting) population at it’s disposal, our football team can’t even qualify for the Asian Cup. A sad state of events for the country, which narrowly missed the bronze medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and won the Asian Games Gold medal in 1951 and 1962!!!!! And, on the other hand, we see the Indian Premier League, a cheap publicity gimmick in the guise of cricket, which reflects the times, and how business and commercialization of cricket has spelt doom for the other sports. Every leap year, there will be voices saying “1 Olympic medal for a billion”, and yet somehow, with the largest non-participating contingent to the Olympics, we manage to come back with the solitary medal. In other countries, they may as well be scoffing at us, for such a PATHETIC track record.

There are many more “disproportionate” examples which I can quote, but I am more interested in speaking the reason for this imbalance. I may be wrong, but two reasons which I can point out are 1) Money and 2) Herd mentality.

There is nothing wrong in earning money. Nothing wrong!!! The more money people earn, the further the living standards increase. However, doing anything blindly in the name of earning money is foolish. This is precisely the malady which India suffers from. OK, choose your career stream judiciously. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Ensure that you will be earning sufficiently, and can have a comfortable life. At the same time, just don’t choose any stream, only because there is more money in it. Give some credence to your interests. If you are good enough in it, the money will automatically follow, you will have a comfortable life, come out in life with flying colors, and what’s more, be at peace with yourself, because you are doing something because your mind is in it. Else, you will end up like those people in the Monster Ads. Out of Place!

This may seem too philosophical, you may have heard it a thousand times before, yet it is necessary to bring home this point again, because, in recent times, people have made a habit of repeatedly going against these tenets. People enter Engineering in droves, only because thy feel that it is a route to a hidden treasure chest. Catering to this large population is the recent trend of “An Engineering College per Colony”. And to cap it all, at the end of 4 years, every engineer; civil, chemical or electrical, ends up in a software company. And the others, who end up as true engineers, go to the US to do an MS, and add to the burgeoning population of Indians in the USA.

I agree, post-graduate engineering education in India is not up to the mark, but then, that’s due to the absence of good teachers. Even if we remunerate the teachers well and ensure that facilities are available for higher research through Government funding, I don’t know whether they would want to stay back. Their attitude will be “Who would become a professor?” A clear case of false notions, herd mentality and money-mindedness!!! And this herd mentality also ensures that these students never take up the long tough, yet highly rewarding path to entrepreneurship. If we had high-level research in India through entrepreneurs, many of the problems mentioned above would be rectified. However, there are two other reasons for the lack of entrepreneurs. The tendency of the young generation to expect quick results, coupled with the familial pressures to get married, settle down etc. are deterrents to entrepreneurship.

There is a lot of money and fame to be earned in basic sciences, and all that is needed for a person is to chart out the path towards his goal. This is the same of every other field. This might sound cliche’, but money and fame are there to be earned everywhere, and all that a person needs to do is to create his own destiny. Unfortunately, no one wants to chart out the path, and all that they want is the roadmap and the directions to be given to them. This is the reason why someone interested in the sciences often goes for engineering, because the “herd” is going there, and he/she doesn’t want to miss out.

PS: In terms of encouragement to the basic sciences, BITS-Pilani rox to the core!!!!!

It is commercialization, coupled with poor governance, which has spelt doom for the other sports. While the presence of industrial barons such as Dalmiya, AC Muthaiah etc. in cricket ensured the flow of the big bucks in cricket. All the other sports federations are being headed by politicians, with 1 or 2 exceptions, and they are champions in that useless game “the BLAME game”.

Sample this: Mr. VK Malhotra, MP from Delhi, and chief of Indian Archery Federation for atleast 35 years, when asked about the failure of the Indian archery team to win any medals at the Athens Olympics replied: “Why are you asking only me? Ask the chiefs of other federations the same question.”

Very Snappy retort, one may say.

But, we return to the point, it is their lackadaisical approach, because of which proper facilities are not being provided. They are simply not interested in attracting sponsors and promoting the sport. This, coupled with the fact that the sponsors see money only in International cricket, not even Ranji Trophy finals, has ensured that other sports are not getting any attention.

The governing bodies have to generate public interest in the sport. This, they can do, by ensuring better sporting and training facilities, so that we are able to churn out champions. Public enthusiasm, and hence sponsorship will also follow. More people will thus take to the various other sports.

PS: I don’t mean to criticize the Indian cricket team in any way. I am myself a big cricket buff, and extremely pleased with the professional performances Team India has given in recent times. Yet, I feel that the benefits of employment under the sports quota, as is the case with other sports, needn’t be extended to them, since they are well off, in fact, raking in the millions without these benefits.

btw, All is not rosy in the World of cricket. Read this:

http://in.sports.yahoo.com/080320/48/6rz2f.html

For the junta reading this blog post, take some time to post a few comments, it will make for a lively debate. The next blog post may have to wait, as the ADVD assignment will soon show its ugly head one more time.

Till then, Goodbye!!!

Signing off On “Holi”day

Ashwin Iyer

Well, back to Blogging after exactly 6 months(5/2/07-5/8/07), and it has been hectic, full of toil, yet heartbreaking to me!!!Dunno what happened, I studied Hard, worked hard on my Responsibilities, and to no avail....the past one year has seen my CGPA drop by one whole point.It has seen my heart broken one-n a half times...(exaggerating), forced me to rfethink my career aims and Left me now thinking of nothing, neither the grades this sem, nor my future plans, nor the ELUSIVE SEARCH(u know what i mean).Maybe this does work for me after all, i seem more at peace now, and well, from my past experiences , i feel, i might be just back once more once more to WHAT I WAS.

PRECAUTIONS ARE NECESSARY, AS PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!!!!!!!!!
ON 11/11/2006:
A golden rule of life, which i forgot, yet again last week.Saturday afternoon lunch at the mess is a complete torture, even by the mess's ordinary standards.I was having a headache and in no mood to tolerate that crap, so, i had a packet of biscuits and ICE-CREAM!!!sacrilege!!!!!Cough followed, just 2 days before the ES test, and the night before the ES test, cold followed.I was done for, couldn't take any medicines or syrups, because they push me to sleep, and, u know what, i cannot control my sleep, even in exams.Infact, there have been 2 instances, in which i slept during the course of me writing the exam.So, avoid medicines, suffer silently and write the exam.This happens too many times when u are in a hostel.At home, your parents are there for the precautionary work, but once you enter a hostel, all caution is left in the trunk, and adventure takes over, sometimes to the brink of foolhardiness.I have suffered before with icecreams and frooti, but this is a bit too much.You cannot put nite-outs any more, and u cannot do anything properly, be it studying sleeping or FIFA.This results in a boring life, even if you do crack the xams.Seriously, boredom does kill. And ya, no more frooti or litchi juice.Forget that, no more cold water, and i had to make runs to the cooler with Sujay's electric kettle, watch the water heat up, then allow it to cool a bit, and ten drink it slowly.What a waste of time!!!!!!Cold and cough don't seem a serious thing, but they can get you pissed off.IT is TORTUROUS, even if it is not serious.SO,
MORAL OF THE STORY::
Don't have an ice-cream in the winter, three days before an exam.

THE TESTS END, OR DO THEY.......????????

This has been a constant feature for the past 2 semesters, the continuity of exams. No sooner do the 2nd tests end, tat the comprees (or the end sems, for the non-bitsian) enter. Having finished 4 continuous days of slogging, rather 3.5 bcoz i slept through the last half-a-day, and well, still donot know what i have written in the computer programming-2 exam today. I feel like telling the authorities that the mid-semester system was much better, but then realize that we cried hoarse during those 3 days of torture(3-10-2005 to 5-10-2005). This brings us to the point, every system has it's pros and cons, and if we are crying hoarse, it means that we haven't mastered the art of exam-cracking.(note:studying and exam-cracking don't exactly mean the same).Now, come what may , i would prefer the mid-semester system, because that helped me in getting a good GPA atleast. Here and now, i am getting pissed off by this continuity. But, this continuity has been an integral feature of the lives of not only myself, but also of the countless other engineering students in India.I remember complaining to my mom like:" You told me to study for JEE, saying that you would have a secure future, and college life won't be as hectic."Now, i am in BITS, my future is no less secure, and yet i complain that life is still hectic.The more i complain, the more i feel guilty that i have after all neglected my duty. As they say,(in most cases), in a hosteller's life, studying is a hobby.only to be done a day before the exam. The people who don't belong to this school of thought are the ones who crack exams.To some extent, because of the rigorous "tut"system, i belonged to the latter school of thought in sem1, and flourished. Note that they don't just study always, they do everything, but study "uniformly".As of now, i can find in my own wing, Srikanth and Rohit, who belong to the uniform school of thought.I am trying to seek inpiration from these two dudes to "resurrect"myself, but one question stll persists in my mind, what did we study for in class11 and 12?To clear the exams and study more?Now someone would say, "Study well, and you will have a comfotable future ahead"This is never going to end, atleast until retirement, and at that time we would regret it, we would regret being idle......Work is a never ending part of life, love it and enjoy it, and yet take time off for that coffee at c'not, being the manager of Chelsea FC in FIFA 07, or hitting headshots in CS.....

A few blogs posted by my friends were what got me hooked on to "BLOGistan".I saw it as a forum where u can pour out the very deepest of your thoughts, and give your friends a chance to tell their opinion and advise you if necessary.There are so many things crammed up in our mind, so many things we feel about, but can't say in normal conversation.The thoughts in your mind, which others would normally rate as obscure, can be expressed through this medium.Also, this is your very own personal space, and people may know more about u thru this.
I seriously don't expect any comments for this post, but if some1 wishes to post something , he is MOST WELCOME(i don't need to reiterate that, i think).