The Prodigious Finale

"Wait... Is it time to head back to college already?" I thought to myself after what had seemed to be the most gleeful few weeks I had ever had! Whenever we're enjoying and having a great time it always feels endless, so things just didn't seem to add up when it was finally time to leave. The past year had gone by like a blitzkrieg and all my thoughts hovering over a minimum of six cities seemed like a haze.

As I peered down the neck of the empty bag, which had been sitting in some corner of my room collecting dust for two whole months, many snapshots emerged in my mind, including that moment when I had gladly tucked away all my belongings in our hostel's common room, never sparing a single thought to the day I'd return. In anticipation of the excitement ahead, I hadn't even turned back to bid good-bye to the room which had housed me for a whole year. With many of my friends from colleges across the country about to begin their professional careers this year, I had mixed feelings about having to spend some more time as an undergraduate, thanks to my five year dual degree course.

Well anyhow, all this chatter aside, the astoundingly engaging few days which marked the end of my summer break are definitely worth the mention! Other than gulping down a few bestsellers and spending quality time with my family and some closely knit childhood friends (an outline of which I've penned down in the previous article), there's one trip in particular which I'd like to preserve as a part of this blog! How do I describe it? Something which apparently might not seem much may be just what is needed for giving us a kick-start to overcome the challenges which lie ahead. A drive round my home-town taking in the cool breeze, with pit-stops at some of the newest malls, technology hot-spots and eateries, proved to be just the thing for me!...

Of special note was the Amanora Town Centre! With the entire township spread over two million square feet and the Centre itself having the capacity for parking sixteen hundred vehicles at any given moment, coupled with valet service, it couldn't get much bigger than that! After navigating through the car park, a labyrinthine maze of zigzags and U-turns, we entered the lower ground level. After buying some decorative vases and touring various shops and outlets like e-Zone, Home Store, etc, we made our way to the upper floors, which took a total of at least three hours just to take a meager glance at everything.

The second last floor had multiplexes including Inox and two ultra-modern sky-walks connecting the East and West wings of the Town Centre, with a mini train running to and fro between them. From the sky-walk we could get a bird's eye-view of the entire Town Centre, and what a view it was! A massive LCD screen was affixed to the side of the East wing building, with the upper floor glass panes displaying the names of global food chains the likes of Barbeque Nation, McDonalds, KFC, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, China Town and a myriad of other Thai joints. The sheer scale of the whole thing was more than daunting! The ground floor was a magnificently colored show of fountains, with the Manchester United Bar Cafe in the background, its neon lights glowing with all their glory! Overall it was an eye-popping display of modern lifestyles and technology. The supper at KFC which followed made our day all the more thrilling and intoxicating, which was the perfect boost required before another busy year at college!

The Homecoming

As the closing date of our yardstick intern at B.A.R.C approached, my friends and I made sure to visit the few remaining places in Mumbai, whose plans were gradually being washed away by heavy rains. The downpour was relentless, but we still managed to find our way through the gusty winds, to enjoy the beauty and mystique of the Siddhivinayak Temple, followed by the Mahalaxmi Temple and Haji Ali Durgah. Although photography was strictly prohibited in most of these places, I guess nothing compares to feeling their charm first hand!

We successfully completed our internship and collected our certificates, sparing a few moments to glance back at the nuclear reactors which had been our neighbors every day for a month and a half, before finally stepping out through the gates of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center. I looked for a last time at the massive arch built at the entrance of this famed institution, with gunmen positioned on either side, realizing that this might have been the very last reference to B.A.R.C both in my life and in this blog.

But who said this was the end? I still had four more weeks before my summer vacation got over, and I wasn't going to let it slip by me in an uneventful way! As soon as I got back home, I met up with my long standing school friends at Toons, discussing our spoils over a beer. This was followed by loads of fun and a shopping spree with my family, who were overjoyed to be reunited after exuding months of patience.

Among other things, I had the opportunity to buy the latest Lumia operated by Windows Phone 8, while my father bought an HD resolution five incher, sporting the upgraded Android Jelly Bean OS. Hoping to spend a few more weeks of leisure with friends and family, I've realized that it is these little moments of joy which one can share with their loved ones, that ultimately matter the most in life!...

The Jaunt Continues

As Fast & Furious 6 followed by a supper at Kareem's formed our only means of entertainment the past week, we decided to do something grand this weekend, to start off the new month with a bang! The notion of visiting the majestic Gateway of India and the sumptuous Taj Mahal Palace, ensued by a trip to the world renowned Elephanta Caves sounded alluring.

We left early in the morning knowing full well about the daft Mumbai rush in local trains, skipping our breakfast in the hopes of finding something edible when we reached Elephanta Island. We arrived well in time to get deluxe tickets for the first ferry to Elephanta at 9 am, and were still left with ample time to go into raptures over the grandeur of the Gateway of India and the magnificence of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, made infamous by the 26/11 attacks.

The ferry took off as scheduled and since this was one of the very few times I had traveled by sea, I envisaged the one hour long cruise to be equally, if not more exciting than the destination itself. Nonetheless, we reached the island and boarded a mini train which took us from the dock to the base of the hill where the caves were located. After helping ourselves to some delicious corn and salted cucumber, we decided to proceed further with our trek. 

Out of the seven caves on Elephanta, five had been repaired and maintained for tourism purposes, among which the caves numbered 'one' and 'two' were of primary interest. Apart from being the largest of all the caves, they also brandished the heftiest of all the statues of Lord Shiva, the most intricate and elaborate carvings of Hindu deities, and the long forgotten tales of an era concluded. After capturing the astounding beauty of the surroundings in our cameras, we began exploring the direction opposite to that we had just traversed.

Making our way up a rocky terrain, we could see the metallic glint of something huge round the corner. And sure enough it was one of the two mighty cannons which had been outlined in the tourist guide as a distinctive feature of Cannon Hill. We photographed ourselves with this ancient weapon, which in its day would have showered a hail of lead down on any enemy ship, unlucky enough to have ventured into its range. 

This marked the end of our fanciful trip to Elephanta, with still half a day to spare. So next we made our way from the Gateway of India to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (also referred to as CST Museum). Besides its staggering size, we were dumbfounded by the sheer variety and range of the exhibits displayed. The Museum had everything from an Art & Sculpture Gallery to a Currency Gallery, all the way through to an Ancient Weapons Gallery. I've made a collage of some of the exhibits that I had captured with my camera, which I'm putting up right here. 

There were some other destinations on our hit list too including the Taraporewala Aquarium, which we found out to our great surprise, had been indefinitely shut down for renovations to be carried out. Besides, we were dead on our feet and put Siddhivinayak and Haji Ali Durgah on the back burner. Instead we decided to visit a friend's house, where we had dinner and returned late after midnight, all done in but totally rejuvenated!... 

The Gest Commences

A new city, a new life, a new experience! Whooh...! Having settled down in the Penthouse, which by the way, is a fancy name given to IIT Bombay's Hostel No. 5 (much like the vaguely logical innovations put into everything else around here), and the first week of our internship at B.A.R.C. almost done, my friends and I had planned a weekend trip to some of the nearby sight-seeing spots, last Saturday. With the aid of nothing more than Google maps, we chalked out a rough plan for the day, improvising each step along the way.

First it was the Mahakali Caves, not too far away from Powai Lake. A bunch of run-down structures and carvings still hid some of the magnificence that this place might have once had. The sign read that, ages ago it used to be a Buddhist monastery, but with not much left standing, the hollow cavities in the immense rock-cut structure still entertained us as we heard the ghastly echoes of our voices reverberating within the caves. It also served as a safe haven for singers who wanted to rehearse in solitude, away from the buzzing streets of one of the busiest and most populated cities in India.

Then with the help of our tab, we made our way to a nearby Gurudwara, which other than being a popular religious gathering place for Sikhs, also served us with a free and yummy luncheon traditionally known as Langarh. We were ahead of schedule and so plans were made of visiting the world famous Iskcon Temple next.

With its marble-white walls adorned with colorful paintings, the Iskcon Temple seldom seizes to amaze. We attended the Arati before keenly examining all the effigies that bordered the main hall portraying the life of Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity. Regrettably enough cameras were not allowed inside the temple, but we made sure to capture the beauty of the Iskcon complex from within its premises. But the day wasn't done yet! Not by a long shot!

What better way to finish off such a stupendous day than an evening at Juhu Beach? Juhu is normally known for its posh people, and with every turn sporting a BMW, Audi or Mercedes, it lived up to its hype. Even young osculating couples and actors chilling in roadside coffee parlors weren't an uncommon sight. The beach was baking hot which prevented us from waiting till sunset. We meandered around a bit making full use of our cameras, before finally deciding to return to our humble abode at IIT Bombay.

But this was just the first day of the weekend! We still had the whole of Sunday to bring some of our other schemes to fruition. Although the daedal plans of the previous day had forced us to lower our aims, we did make it a point to visit Hiranandani, which is a fifteen minute walk from the IIT-B campus. We feasted at KFC and toured the whole vicinity. The western U.K. style decor and the geometric perfection put into the smallest details of every single lamp, fountain, garden and building seemed like a distinguished work of art. The Gateway of India, Marine Drive and some other prominent destinations near Colaba were postponed to a later date. So, what does Mumbai have in store for us next? Guess we'll just have to wait and find out...

Gearing Up...!

While a quick pit stop at Kolkata might not sound such an appealing idea at the peak of summer, it still proved to be a real stimulator. Meeting up with relatives and friends after what seemed like eons, and regrouping with my family, who had already come over to the city for attending a friend's marriage, was exactly what was needed after months of toil.

Whether it was strolling around the infamously labyrinthine Gariahat Market, a drive around the famous Eden Gardens Stadium or simply an evening walk down the banks of the Hoogli, it all seemed to take us to an arcadia far detached from our hot and humid bearings. The glamour of Park Street and a lavish dinner at Trincas were like a cherry on the pie to round off the last few hours of our stay in this bustling city.

Trincas which, I might add, has played a significant role in promoting upcoming singers over the years via its live music performances, was all part of the local folklore and the heritage of this amazing capital. Gazing at the parallel Howrah and Second Hoogli bridges, spanning across the Ganga's tributaries, made me think of the chimerical bridge being traversed by each one of us right now, joining our present to our future.

All in all it was a prodigious experience which has given me the required shot of adrenaline and helped me gear up for my much awaited intern at B.A.R.C. and a two month stay in the country's commercial capital. So I guess it's adios Kolkata, and Mumbai here I come!!!...  

The Howrah Bridge, glittering in all its glory

The Cessation

Another year elapses and although I have an innate feeling that the last semester will probably leave me high and dry, it wasn't a total slump. I've reached a ledge on a very steep cliff in my career and have been teetering on its edge for quite some time now. But that's alright! Navigating out of tough situations is not something completely new to me. Every day brings with it newer and fresher challenges and while you might conquer some, certain others might make you feel lucky to have gotten out unscathed. Times like this make me remember a famous quotation by Winston Churchill: "Success is not permanent, failure is not final, but its the courage to continue that counts!" But enough with that already! My Alma mater teaches me to be a professional, and solutions will reveal themselves in due course of time.

It feels good to have finally earned a breather as our taxing end semester exams come to a slow and grinding halt. So I thought of taking the time out to jot down all my aces and double faults. It has been quite a while since I last visited the blogosphere and a lot has transpired since then. Some of the noteworthy events include Technex'13, Anveshan'13, TEDx (where TED is a non-profit organisation to bring together people from Technology, Entertainment & Design, and the 'x' stands for independently organised TED event), and of course the job parties and farewell of the passing out batch, one year senior to us, at Taj.

Honestly, the last few months were shaping out to be some of the best in our entire college life, with some of my friends & I receiving an early offer letter from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (B.A.R.C), confirming our summer internship, just half way into the semester. But every thing might not always work out as planned, right?...

The semester ended on a vexatious note as some of the rote demanding subjects left our logical minds bruised and battered, as we made futile efforts to memorize hundreds of seemingly unrelated slides. Well, some things just can't be helped, but looking forward to finding greener grass under the sizzling Mumbai sun and the prospect of working in India's premier Nuclear Research Center is a thought which always welcomes us with open arms!...

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai

The Shortest Month

February is not only the shortest month of the year literally, but also figuratively! The past couple of weeks seem to have whizzed past at breakneck speed!... As North India's biggest sports festival Spardha'13, organized by our college, got underway; IIT-BHU witnessed the influx of over two thousand participants from all over the country for this adrenaline pumping event!... And although I fancy myself as an amateur in certain sports like table tennis and badminton, I decided to spend the weekend with my father instead, who had taken some time out from his hectic schedule and come over to Varanasi for a trifling number of days...!

But due to the ongoing 'Kumbh Mela', the world's largest congregation of religious pilgrims in and around the Allahabad region, booking a hotel in Varanasi became an arduous task. However, after a few grueling hours of searching, my father finally managed to obtain a room in the Haifa hotel, overlooking the Assi Ghat, at double the normal rates.

I had come over from my hostel and the bird's eye-view of Varanasi and the banks of the Ganges, that we got from the hotel terrace, was simply breath-taking!... For the first time since I had come to Varanasi, I was truly able to appreciate the beauty and charm of the old architecture that surrounded the hotel, neglecting the filth in the streets below.

This area has numerous medium to high range hotels and lodges, which attracts a tumultuous number of tourists every year. We noticed some of the foreigners residing in the lodge across the street, opposite to our hotel, keenly analyzing this strange place where they had ended up. Quite frankly observing them was nothing less than hilarious. One of them, with long locks and his mop-like moustache, was trying his best to play a flute but it sounded more like the moaning of a little puppy. He remained engrossed in it for hours on end, as we ordered dinner after capturing the beauty of the hotel terrace and its surroundings in our camera.

A supper consisting of sweet corn soup and some delicious sandwiches served my taste buds much better than the traditional mess food. Sleeping in an air-conditioned room on a cozy mattress was a pleasant change over the countless number of sleepless nights in our hostel, where my room-mate and I used to compete for the title of most mosquitoes killed every night.

We woke up late in the morning today, and the hotel staff, while not as active as in other major cities, still indulged us with the luxury of room service. Its raining outside and as February is about to end as soon as it started, the scene has been suddenly set for me to be writing this article, while enjoying a very late breakfast...!

A View of the Ganga coastline from the terrace of the Haifa Hotel

Breaking The Shackles!!!...

Take away all the expectations to be met, duties to be done and impressions to be created; strip away all the layers of baseless assumptions and fears that builds up within the confines and complexities of the human brain, and all that remains is a guy who simply wants to live, fulfill his ambitions and make a mark for himself before biting the dust!...

You might be tempted to think that these are the conceited words of a despondent, but they unequivocally aren't! I might not be closer to perfection than many of you out there, and that's totally fine because guess what? If your aims aren't laughable, then they're probably too small!...

Like many others, right from my budding days in school, all the way through higher secondary and even now in IIT, I had been struggling to break free of all the chains imposed on us by society, myths and a countless number of other things which tend to hold us back. But somehow, someway, clawing and scratching the rungs of life's ladder, I think I've finally reached that threshold, where I'm ready to break free of all these shackles!

A couple of days back, a few friends and I were just outside our college premises enjoying some hot tea, as the clock's hour hand struck the bewitching hour. Taking in the cool midnight breeze and gazing at the stars in the clear night sky, I was face to face with life's nitty-gritties. And in a flash, bleakness was replaced by chastity. As we leaned against our bikes and sipped on the tepid beverage, we could feel the ardor growing within us, abetting us to decimate all the walls confining us!...

Those few moments resurrected me as I felt reborn! And its only a matter of time before others are gripped by this overwhelming sensation too!...

BE THE FORCE!!!...

Opening New Doors!!!...

I was about to write this article when I came across this wonderful quotation by Walt Disney (given above), which precisely sums up everything I wanted to say in this post. Now, I need not elaborate on this as it is self-illustrative, and volumes of ideas have been condensed into this one punch line!...

I'd say all of us, consciously or sub-consciously, adhere to the given quote in one way or another. We are all trying to advance in our lives at the highest rate possible and the above statement gives us a clear way of doing so. New things are happening all around us every second and its up to us to capitalize on new opportunities, as the age old saying goes: "Strike while the iron is hot!"

In today's world, new doors can not only be opened but also created! It is still the first month of this pristine year and things in our college are already taking shape in a new way, considerably different as compared to that of the year before. It is the time for technical and cultural festivals to get underway... The same fests, but with a new twist!!!...

Some people might recall few of the articles I'd written this time around, last year; outlining the details of Kashi Yatra [the cultural fest of IIT(BHU)] and Technex [the technical fest of IIT(BHU)]. This will be the very first year for my colleagues and me, witnessing and participating in these fests as true IITians, which makes the occasion all the more animating. Festivities are in the air and coupled by India's Republic Day on the 26th of January, these few days are going to be extremely fervid. Kashi Yatra has already begun the day before, and other than the traditional Kavi Sammelan (the poets' get together), Natraj (the dance competition), Mirage (the fashion show), etc. [which I've previously given an account off]; today something totally new is already being experimented on, in the form of a competition, i.e. Model United Nations (MUN).

MUN basically emulates the structure of the United Nations, including its General Assembly and everything else, accurate to the smallest and most insignificant detail. Each participant or 'delegate' represents a particular country in the world, discussing and debating on the topics of concern or more accurately, the day's agenda. Watching the proceedings first hand gives us a very good idea of the real-life UN, something which we can only dream of ever being a part of!... A new event called DJ Night has also made its debut in Kashi Yatra'13, with 'The Electroverts' (the female DJ duo of Malika Haydon and Nina Shah) rocking the stage and setting their magic to motion!...

The Electroverts: DJs Malika Haydon & Nina Shah

Other than this, it'll be interesting to see what new modifications and additions are made to Technex'13, which is coming up very soon! Personally speaking, a lot is going on in my life too; fests, celebrations, and at the same time, academics and the question of this year's summer intern!... Haha, you know the routine...! I am eagerly looking forward to a confirmation email from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (B.A.R.C) where I've applied for my third-year summer internship, and the indications are looking quite positive. And although I have a few back up options, I've not had the opportunity or the time of giving them a serious thought as yet, and hopefully won't need to...!

I sincerely hope everything turns out well and wish everyone else the best too!!!...

  BE THE FORCE!!!...

The Agni Night Club

'Agni' in Hindi, means 'fire', and the night club literally lived up to its name. Some of my colleagues and I had gone there for attending a friend's birthday party, and what a thrilling experience it was!!!... Food and drinks were being served in the disco itself and the DJ was mixing it up real nice! It had been quite a while since I had visited a pub, so it felt all the more exhilarating. While people were going to Allahabad to wash off their sins in the holy Ganges, I felt as if I was doing the same in this heart pounding den, in some recess of Varanasi...!

Well! All buffoonery aside, the frolic and tango always breathes new life into us. While the birthday gal was busy checking out her gifts and stage managing the whole thing, we were having the time of our lives, dancing away with her friends and family. She had arranged some games for us too, the first one being 'Signature Dance Moves', in which we would have to individually perform the signature steps of the songs being played.

Then, after all the mirth, candles were blown and the birthday cake was cut. I can't help but say that it reminded me of the good old school days, other than the fact that the venue and drinks were worlds apart!... We feasted on the ambrosial cake and followed it up with more drinks and snacks. Finally, after hitting the dance floor once again, we had dinner followed by a prolific photo session. Before calling it a day, we took a bed sheet and made our unique palm prints on it with some paint, leaving our names and a special message from each one of us for the birthday gal, to make the occasion all the more memorable for her...!

With just about two years remaining in college, such care free days will probably get more hard to come by, but the night of 19th January, 2013 will always be something which I'll carry with me into the wild blue yonder!!!... Many many happy returns of the day Rachita!!!...

The Circle of Influence

Now, whenever we hear of 'circles', many flimsy things like Google+, etc. might come to our minds. But attending a lecture on 'The Art of Making Presentation', by one of the foremost professors in our department, has changed my perception of this word forever!

Sir divided everything around us (including people, problems at work, etc.) into two broad categories, viz. 'Circle of Influence' and 'Circle of Concern'. Although I personally feel that there should also be a so-called 'Circle of Non-existence', as some rarities are not even worth concerning ourselves with, I shall include this under the 'Circle of Concern' and stick with Sir's point of view to keep this discussion short and crisp.

Now, the 'Circle of Influence' is actually a subset of the 'Circle of Concern', which encompasses all those concerns over which we have some control. Proactive people are the ones who focus only on their 'Circle of Influence', to cut out any kind of negativity which might creep into their lives, thanks to their 'Circle of Concern'! On the other hand, reactive people are those who can't resist focusing on their 'Circle of Concern', and as a result get wound up in unnecessarily time consuming, distracting and fruitless issues, which causes their 'Circle of Influence' to shrink! Why should your identity be stifled by your peripheral presence in someone else's circle, when you can have your own unique individualistic identity and form your own circle as an elemental member?...

Now, this topic had connected to me instantly when it was being presented, because I had already felt a major change coming over me throughout my third year in college, i.e. from reactive to proactive. I used to be one of the most unpredictable, impulsive and vengeful guys even until a few years back. I guess that would easily put me under the category of reactive people, right? But, due to all the enlightening experiences I've had throughout my engineering college life, I'm slowly but surely being transformed into a positive thinking, aim oriented proactive person. I'm grateful for this change and as I further continue to develop, I'd suggest others to give this topic a serious thought as it can really play a major role in changing your life for the better!!!...

  BE THE FORCE!!!...

Some of my closest friends & I at Lal Bagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore

Industrial Tour

Don't let the name fool you!... The so-called Industrial Tour which our college batch embarked on this winter, was anything but 'industrial'. Amid all the conundrum, with the 'end of the world' Mayan myth turning out to be a poor joke in colloquial terms, and an explosion in the number of debatable topics worldwide, 2012 had an equally exciting finish for us.

After having enjoyed the Durga Pooja and Diwali festive seasons with friends and family, and the semester witnessing a successful finish for most of us, a ten-day rejuvenating tour was all that was needed to keep us psyched and re-energize us for the onset of the brand-new year. First the calm tides of Vishakhapatnam and then the modernity of Bangalore were like a double treat.

In Vishakhapatnam, although the main purpose of our visit was to tour the Vizag Steel Plant of R.I.N.L, it was quickly over-shadowed by our two day site-seeing trip in which we experienced everything from the majestic Ramanaidu Film Studio and the placid shores of the Ramakrishna Mission Beach (popularly known as R K Beach), to the INS Kursura Submarine Museum. We followed it up with a visit to the Borra Caves and the well-known Araku Valley on the final day of our stay at Vizag. After ceaseless photo-sessions, it was time to take the satiating experience to our next destination, Bangalore!...

After an interesting journey with a bunch of Ayappa devotees occupying the same coach as us, having woken us up in the wee hours of the morning by their clamorous prayers, we reached the city with heavy eyelids. But a visit to the Lal Bagh Botanical Garden, with its wide variety of flora and picturesque Glass House, and its background outlined by the benign rays of the setting sun, would prove ample to freshen us up. This followed by a late-night visit to India's first luxury mall, UB City, set the stage for an awesome stay in Bangalore!...

But before our final day visit to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., we were left with one more day in our hands. So after a decisive vote, plans were made of visiting Wonderla, an amusement park 28 kilometers from Bangalore. And what a gut-busting experience that was!!!... It had everything ranging from a Wave Pool, in which real life waves (up to 2.2 meters) were being pulsated at regular intervals, and a Rain Disco to the gut-wrenching Dry Rides, not meant for the faint-hearted. 

Overall this tour would easily rank among the most enchanting trips of my life, especially since I got the opportunity to share my elation with all my friends and colleagues. From Bangalore some guys went off on an unofficial trip to Goa as an icing on the cake, while others including myself, having already visited this paradise, preferred the serenity of our hometowns for a few days of leisure. 

Signing off, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy new year and prosperous 2013...!       

Future Express...!

As the obscurity of the night fades away and murk gives way to the aurora of day break, new ideas blossom and energize us to work for the future. The will to get better, feeds the heat from our young blazing hearts as we prepare the mold for our futures.

It feels amazing to have inspiration at your doorstep, with the people next-door uninhibitedly working for their cherished dreams, and yet finding time for things like putting up a performance at the celebratory function being held for Teachers' Day in our department today.

With pre-placement offers being received by our friends and seniors, and countless number of bright minds getting placed, the circumstances also act like a catalyst propelling everyone forward. Its great to see friends from different walks of life unlocking their varied treasure-trove of opportunities and careers in front of our very eyes. They act as a measuring stick to try and visualize what we want to see ourselves as, a few years from now.

I can speak for a lot of people when I say that life in college, whether easy or tough, has gone a long way in bringing out the best in all of us. Some of us have learned to do things we never thought we'd try, while others have taken their previously acquired skills to a whole new level.

Coming down to specifics, I'd also like to take a second to congratulate all those who are already looking at shining futures in the foremost multi-national companies like Oracle, Adobe, ZS Associates and Rio Tinto among many others. Hearty congrats and good luck also to the guys pursuing higher education, may it be MBA, MS or Ph.D. in India or abroad.    

So, as all of us eagerly board the Future Express, and although I have more than a year to go before facing the placement scenario, one question always pops up in mind: What's next after IIT and what's our 'final destination'?..... 

The Calm Before The Storm!!!...

As the month-long suspense awaiting our semester results ended a couple of days back, it set the stage for the commencement of a short period of bliss, which I'm experiencing right now. And although my pointer fell a little short of my expectations, it was still a definite improvement compared to the semester before. 

Just the other day, I was speaking to a close college friend of mine and hearing him talk in such a jubilant and care-free way made me feel all the more liberated. And with a week remaining before we leave on a family trip, I've been gifted with a fortnight of euphoria, after more than a year of tribulation, in which quite frankly I'm content with having to do virtually nothing!...

But with our 2012-13 college session about to start, this is merely the calm before the storm brewing ahead. Step by step rowing against the strong tide, I'll have to buckle up and get ready for the roughest ride in one's career. But I seriously do hope that our long-awaited family outing just helps me chill out like all our friends, watching movies, dining at our favorite hotels and simply hanging out with each other.

With so many bonds formed, a few unfortunately broken and new ones being cultivated every second, this year has been insightful and noteworthy to say the least. Not being able to get a preview of what's in store ahead is surely deplorable but it's the same thing which creates all the buzz and the flurry, and I've come to accept it all as an interesting part of life.

But right now, all I care about is to do all those things in these few days, which I longed for in college. It will help us all return to action not having missed a beat, braced up and fortified to take and dish out impacts alike. It's going to be a real hoopla!!!...

The Magic Spell...!

Now, before you might be tempted to close the tab thinking that this might be just another one among the long chain of brain churning and philosophical articles I tend to write many a times, then I assure you that this shall put an end to all of its kind! After five whole years of searching trying to find the magic spell of living life, the perfect solution I was so desperate to find, is still quite illusive. But I have found certain eye-opening facts which I thought I'd share with my friends without further ado, as walking down this path any longer will only result in a worthless waste of time.

Now, whenever I finish writing an article, I always get the eerie feeling that something's missing. There are always some trailing doubts, some things which were about to be shot out but weren't, which give me a recurring notion of something left out and offer me more food for thought! But this particular piece of text aims to clear all of that... There is always so much to keep us occupied that we often find it difficult to get our minds off the bustling fast lane and concentrate on what's actually important. But I've finally figured out the answer to all my queries. This might sound a little annoying to people expecting something extra-ordinary, but what dawned on me was a simple realization, that there is no magic spell, there never was and there never will be!

I have pointlessly pondered upon certain aspects of the past long enough and have finally decided to learn from it and move on. Instead of complaining and whining about how tough it was, now I can finally come to terms with life. Living in college with colleagues from a myriad of different cultures and backgrounds, has taught me to appreciate how revealing life can be... The way some of us are placed right now is a privilege, and we should be grateful for it, instead of arrogantly taking everything for granted and exuding even more greed. I was off-track for a while and it took me quite some time to find my mojo, but some back-tracking has finally paid off and forever cleared my doubts.

Sometimes we need to stick to the things we believe in, irrespective of whether anyone else has faith in our goals and methods or not. Some sacrifices are necessary to serve a bigger purpose. Not all people will agree with you and some, quite frankly, won't be the least bit interested in looking at the world from your perspective. Some might like you, while a few might detest you, but one should always remember what his initial targets were. Our goals should remain unadulterated and shouldn't be modified by temporary roadblocks.

As for me, I'm living life completely by my own laws and don't regret anything I've done so far. I have played the game hard even when life seemed no better than a thorny impenetrable maze with hounds chasing you down. It feels great to have overcome all those thick endless dark clouds which always shrouded the way ahead, achieving my childhood dream of becoming an IITian, and barging my way through all the impossibilities which stared me in the face. My bluntness in saying this might be interpreted as cocky by some people, but I have found that many a times, it's in our own interest to see things just the way they are. I've written quite a few articles on similar issues, but this should serve as an ultimatum to sum it all up!...

As my best summer break ever comes to an end, it feels nice to cap it off with a family trip after three long and busy years. Having tried my hand at everything worthwhile the year before and with the director of Bharat Forge asking us if we would be interested in a future career in the company, after having successfully completed both the unique projects given to us in our intern, things can't look any better!

Of course, there are still a few minor issues that need to be addressed, like trying not to blow off steam when not at all required and being like a precision guided missile when it comes to hitting the mark, which have to be gradually worked on! But, with the prospect of our careers looming large in the horizon, everything else from now on takes a backseat. Extra-currics, parties, personal issues and similar stuff lose their place to the forthcoming academic challenges. We have had enough of the former in the first two years of college and it's time to get a little bit more serious and couscous about the latter.

The time for talking is over and our actions will be the only things which define us and decide our futures. So, carrying in mind all the fond memories of my friends and family and the inspiration obtained from my summer intern at BFL, I get ready to bid goodbye to my hometown in the hopes of returning a winner, better than ever before, and wishing everyone else the same.

ALL THE BEST!!!...

&

BE THE FORCE!!!...

A Recurring Doubt...!

When you think of the seemingly limitless expanse of space and then try to place yourself and your surroundings in it, it just gives you a sense of sheer pedantic nonsense, no matter how much you zoom in! We are all so concerned with life, which is itself such a flimsy thing, that we seem to forget what tiny specs we really are, especially when compared to the bigger picture.

And, no! These are not the simple musings of a daydreamer. These are valid questions which each and every one of us face at a certain age and learn to ignore or defer to other issues as we grow older. We never truly understand life, and even the most enlightened of men offer only partial solutions to all our queries, which often just answer the 'how' part of living life but not the 'why'!...

I've spent most of my time in the recent past working, enjoying, thinking, writing but most of all pondering upon the reason why I bother to do these things at all. What's the most which can happen to you if hypothetically speaking, you decided to just exist, assuming for a second that you had no personal or social responsibilities to live up to, and looking at the situation from a strictly logical standpoint? 

In any case, you would spend your time here, and then your soul (if there indeed exists such a thing) would become one with nature or however you want to put it. If you have lived a successful life, people benefit from it and build on it, and if you haven't then no one really cares. But my constantly recurring doubt is where does all of this get you, at the end of it all?

Visualizing the end of life as we know it, sometime in the very distant future, we can picture ourselves asking questions like what did this endless cycle of life and death, creation and destruction have to do with anything? What did it do for us? On the larger scale, things would have gone on as usual even if we never existed. 

It's a scary thought, because if there's something we humans love to do, it's to try and validate our lives. We put our faith in a 'master controller' and detach ourselves from things which are too vast to fathom. Instead, we concern ourselves with the pettiest of issues, just like me thinking about whether the title of one of my past articles was a little too brash!...

I frankly don't know how to answer these questions or what's the right thing to do. This is where science collides with faith and during the heated debate, people begin to lose sight of the question itself. I really hate it when I'm in doubt; but the best I can hope for is that things sort themselves out, just like they strangely always seem to do. Some things, I've learnt are just not for us to meddle with, especially for an engineering under-graduate like me!... I guess I'll just enjoy the wonderful rain outside and go about life the way I usually do!...

Self Made Voyage!!!...

So many articles written this summer and yet I find it extremely hard to find words worthy of describing this awesome experience. A countless number of priceless lessons learnt, with a soul renewed and a heart pumping more horse power than ever before, I get ready to step into my third year in college!

If there is one thing which Bharat Forge has taught me, it is to remain in one gear only and that is 'constant over-drive'! It might not necessarily mean physically running around all day, but it surely means getting into an unbeatable state of mind! Project after project successfully completed and consecutive reports timely submitted, it's been one hell of a ride!...

I think I've literally done almost everything conceivable in the past year and the summer intern which followed, and in fact, 'eventful' would be a very mild description for depicting this epic voyage. But, with my third year in engineering college just round the corner, things are about to get serious. This is the year which will probably have the most profound effect on our careers, with companies arriving in our college to offer interns and placements to all the students.

Although there are certain walls yet to be scaled, building for the future has rendered every other small priority irrelevant. Reality can't be changed and hence among other things, getting good grades is of the utmost importance, without which all other efforts would be in vain. I was fortunate to have done this year's intern with one of the topmost students of our department, one year senior to me, who other than being a good human being, also served as an inspiration.

He has done it all; right from getting the first rank in one semester and winning several events like IDP in Anveshan [the Metallurgical Engineering fest in IIT(BHU) Varanasi], all the way to forming his own dance group with his friends, called NUTS'11!... To have achieved all of this and yet be the very personification of humility inspires me to respect him all the more. What's even better is that he has become a very close friend of mine, and its good to finally see someone who lives by his own common sense and follows his own self-made principles, just like me!...

It was a pleasure to have him come over to my house for our report completion today, followed by lunch. He never speaks as if he's older to me, and a chat with him on a personal level spread a sort of calm over me, which I had not felt since a long time. So, hope we always remain in close contact Himanshu bhaiyya. Looking forward to cracking this new academic year, as the word 'fighter' is much more than just a cliche, I repeat the words which are, and always will be, the closest to my heart:-

BE THE FORCE!!!...    

The Technological Edge!!!...

I've heard of living life on the edge, but this is the first time I'm truly experiencing life at the 'technological' edge! Our first summer project being very pin-pointed in nature, at least as of now, leaves us with plenty of time in our hands. And although a second project on 'EMD Welding' is on its way right after we finish developing the 'Creep Test' procedure for Bharat Forge, life at the moment is pretty alleviated. Sitting in the comfort of a sofa in an air-conditioned research library and catching up on every earth shattering engineering breakthrough that has taken place in recent times is, without the shadow of a doubt, my favorite part of the day. 

Surfing the net to find extensive details and combining it with the knowledge gained from the latest research papers available here, is by far the best utilization of time I've done in ages. Many a times I feel like I'm already living my dream, even before I pass out of college with a master's degree in hand. The dim fluorescent lighting in the beautifully carved ceiling and the few rays of sunlight entering through gaps in the curtain totally detach you from your current bearings and take you into a world where science combines with technology to give rise to new ground breaking theories and their varied mind-numbing applications.

It was just the other day that I picked up a magazine titled 'New Scientist', in which Einstein's space-time theory had been challenged by physicist Lee Smolin and his colleagues at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. They had made a radical claim that we actually live in an eight-dimensional world called 'phase space', which combines our familiar four dimensions of space-time with a four-dimensional world called momentum-space. If this theory was indeed proved to be correct it would solve certain intriguing problems like the 'black hole information-loss' paradox.

Spending your days at the research facility of one of the foremost companies in India, trying to conjure up the secrets of the very fabric of reality in your mind, is probably a strange but one of the most interesting and fruitful ways one can spend time here, that is if you are interested in such stuff! Time flies and we don't even look at our watches. This is one of the first and only places where I think of staying a little longer, instead of being keen on returning home as soon as the clock's hour-hand strikes five every evening!...

I wish this amazing journey would last a bit longer than the duration of our summer intern, but alas with only a month remaining, the time to leave Bharat Forge draws nearer every day. But, what's more important is enjoying every present moment as such good times might not last forever. With so much uncharted territory yet to be explored, I can now say with conviction that: "Even the sky is not the limit!..."      

A Weird Day.....!

I had this weird sensation when I woke up this morning. I don't exactly know what it was or how to describe it! Whether it was the remains of the mixture of dreams I was having the night before or just the stress from the past few weeks playing up, I can't really tell!... So many thoughts were fleeting through my head on such a wide spectrum of isolated topics, that I was going through philosophical extremes!... 

It started with a vagabond shouting and creating a ruckus at our doorstep, which had woken me up from my reverie in the first place. He had dressed a cow in some paint and covered it with holy rags, claiming to be a fortune teller of sorts. As I peered out of my window, covering my eyes from the sudden glare of the sun, I was told that he had already predicted our guard's family facts correct to every infinitesimal detail, without having known him previously. But, having seen these gimmicks a million times over, a lone reaction came to mind... Whatever!

Then, as I sat down to have my morning tea, the dipped biscuit fell to the floor with a splat. I kept staring at that wet mass and somehow drifted away into a world of my own. I was thinking about the biscuit which I'd just wasted and the elaborate processing which might have gone into it to give it its unique shape, texture and flavor. I saw the letters of the company engraved on it with an intricate design. It made me remember the first time when we had been taught to write autobiographies in school, on inanimate objects.

My mother, out of the blue, shouted something at me and I was violently woken from the subconscious state of mind in which I had passed into. I was shocked to find that twenty minutes had already passed and my cup of tea was still filled to the brim. I finished the tea in one sip and decided to watch television.

I switched to one of my favorite channels, Ten Sports, and found the weekly episodic Monday Night Raw being aired by the WWE. I sat down to pass some time with it, and again fell into a sleepy, dreamy phase! I started wondering about all the hours of abuse those wrestlers had had to doubtless overcome despite it being kayfabe, to even get a shot in the main roster, leave alone become a full-fledged star in the business. I began to compare their situations with those faced by regular people in their day-to-day lives. Just like them, we need a legitimate and interesting story line to become someone notable in life. At the end of the day, life can be visualized just as a game, in which we are the key players. It's our choice what kind of character we'd like to be and how we decide to play this game to the best of our talents and abilities. Some people just decide to sit it out and do nothing out of the ordinary, while others decide to fight it out and compete with others to become the winners of this game, who can be rightfully regarded as the 'Champions of Life'!...

Now as I write this article, I'm still getting an entourage of thoughts varying from our ongoing intern right to my attempt at writing fiction some time back, as one of my FB notes. As I try to put a bunch of weird and unrelated stuff together, which I'm hardly sure why I'm doing, I realize that sometimes we might go through so much even without stepping outside the limits of our house, that its mind boggling!...

From tomorrow, the same office routine starts again, and I wonder if I'll ever have such a mentally strange day again, when all the doubts accumulated in our minds for weeks at a time, come boiling over at the slightest hint of idleness!...

Life At KCTI......!

Just in case you're wondering what KCTI is; it stands for Kalyani Centre for Technology & Innovation. Its the place where my friend and I have been assigned our core project from Bharat Forge Ltd. Its a newly built campus full of greenery, on the outskirts of the city and has a charming feel to it. Its scarcely populated with just a handful of people in the three labs and the administrative office, making the place all the more peaceful!...

Now, how often is it that a summer trainee gets to do something which has never been done before, on a machine which has been imported fairly recently from the United States of America, which is still awaiting its first ever specimen to be tested? Whether it was our college name or something else, in either case we have become the only students this summer in BFL, who have been granted the privilege of developing the testing procedure for this brand new machine for creep testing. Thus, our project would not only benefit us, but would also help the company tap into the growing demands of this newly developing field. After our project is done, Bharat Forge will become one of the only companies in Western India to have successfully implemented a creep testing facility, which has already received standards and customer specifications from major companies in India including giants like BHEL!.....

The centrally air-conditioned building and the state of the art research library, which quite frankly looked more like an executive lounge, were a pleasant change compared to the heat treatment furnaces and the other challenging and physically exhausting work environments we'd visited in the company plant so far. The library had books, research papers and articles varying from the tiniest details of fracture mechanics right to recent developments made in aerospace engineering, automotive parts, etc.

The canteen was awesome too! Today was the first time away from home that we feasted on such quality rice as is only found in high standard hotels, which is the least expected from an office mess. Quality sure increases with decrease in quantity! With the number of people lunching there limited only to about twenty, we took several helpings of that delicious cereal and chatted for a long time over our luncheon.

If only KCTI wasn't located in so isolated a locality so far from our houses, it would have been the perfectly ideal work place for would-be engineers like us. In fact, the Research & Development Centre has been so recently developed that it did not even properly feature on our GPS devices. The rocky terrain which needs to be traversed every day to reach the place causes a back-breaking journey, but it pales in comparison to the excitement of our project ahead.

But all said and done, working here is a treat! Taking our time to understand the machine and getting familiarized with its working, with no signal in our mobiles to distract us; and with so much being expected from us by the company, that its even ready to provide us with vehicles for our transportation, its a whole new level of professional work experience.

So, I hope this wonderful and enlightening project of ours goes through without a hitch and meets with the best end possible, with us developing a tried and tested method for creep testing, that can be used with minor modifications in future tests as well. Wishing everyone all the very best for achieving all their future goals, until next time, take care!!!...

BE THE FORCE!!!...

Harnessing The Power!!!...

Life can sometimes change at the drop of a dime! A new professional workplace with new people from all over the country is the perfect medicine for revitalizing oneself. It's an exciting time with people from our college still getting used to being regarded as IITians!... In college we are just normal guys, competing with people who are at least as good as we are or are, many a times, better than us. But it's surprising to see the number of accolades we carry outside the IIT campus!

On the very first day of my intern, who would have thought that I'd end up meeting a senior, Himanshu Singla, from our own college, in so far a place? I had seen him on countless occasions before but this was the first time that we formally got acquainted with each other. There were also two other guys from NIT Raipur and some MBA final year students, one of whom was from IIT Roorkee. Not to brag but it pleases me to think that the first thing the HR officer, who conducted our introductory session at Bharat Forge, said was that she needn't give us the normal advises as the names of the colleges were already 'so big'!...

This was the first time I was getting a proper industrial exposure, and I must admit a sweet one at that. On top of this, in spite of being the junior most in the group, I was happy to have been given the responsibility of getting our training papers signed by the concerned people. It was an extremely minor thing but it gave me the first taste of holding some actual 'position' in an organisation.

We successfully finished our three day induction programme, which had left us battered having to walk more than ten kilometers every day to visit the various shop-floors situated at different ends of a widely spread out plant. We submitted our report and were again showered with compliments like 'well-compiled' and 'nicely done'!...

Today while returning from work, staring at those ever so familiar streets of Pune through the dark car windows, I had a flash back of the day when I'd first traveled those very streets almost two decades back, trying to get admission in the kinder garden of the Bishops' School. Man-o-man! Haven't we come a long way? Life's come a full circle; completing my schooling here, having to leave home after getting admission into IIT and then returning to my hometown as a Summer Trainee in Asia's largest forging company! Everything just seems to have passed in the blink of an eye!...

Now, Himanshu bhaiyya and I having been allocated the same department of MQC (Metallurgical Quality Control), are looking forward to our main project in BFL. But all this aside, I feel like something inside me has drastically changed this summer. Even my neighbors have noticed the topography of my face being much more relaxed than usual. It may be because in the past year, I've let out everything I had built up in my soul since a long time. I've done everything that I wanted to do and have tried to prove everything that I wanted to prove. I feel absolutely free, strong and focused on my future.

As usual there are a lot of mountains still left to climb including my preparation for the Common Admission Test (CAT), which is supposed to be one of the toughest exams in the world, and obviously improving my academic pointers, along with winning some extra-curricular activities! There is also the question of next year's intern, but that's a long time ahead. As far as CAT is concerned, I'd heard people say the same things about IIT-JEE being tough and nearly impossible to crack, but some of my friends and I did it and proved everyone wrong, didn't we?!!...

So, it's time to harness the power and the true potential of the human mind because now there's fortunately nothing holding me back, and I refuse to be judged on anything else other than my true credentials. So, when all of us meet up again at college this July, with the experience of various research centers and companies like BFL, SAIL, BARC, HINDALCO, HZL, etc. behind us, I'll ensure that I remain in the same state of mind as I am in right now, relaxed but confident. Signing off, I'd like to say my patented million dollar statement once again:-
                                                 

  BE THE FORCE!!!...