End of another year

2010 hasn’t been the best year so far, but it wasn’t the worst. Though if I have to rate it, it would more towards the wrong side. I mean it wasn’t an eventful year for me. It was very fast, the whole year went by even before I realized. Two semesters, 1-2 was good but 2-1 was bad (in academic sense). It’s my mistake, I admit it. I didn’t give much importance to my courses, n naturally expecting a moderate gpa, less than last sem’s.

I don’t know why people celebrate the new year on January 1^st. Is it just because there is a change in the year? Strictly other than that nothing starts on jan 1^st. Financially it would be april 1^st, academically too its somewhere around the start of autumn. Anyways, it is not my business.

I never celebrate the eve on 31^st and never will. I don’t consider days like jan 1^st, my b’day because they symbolize the end of an year in my life. You would be journeying away from childhood, (those carefree days, where nothing was expected out of you), towards being a responsible, reliable person. You are supposed to be more grown up, reaching up to the expectations of your parents, peers so on. Who wants to grow up? (not me).

All in all I hope 2011 would be better than 2010. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous year

I Hate Holidays

I hate holidays. Especially the holidays after the sem. You wait a lot for the exams to end but after that you would be at complete loss of what to do (only those ppl like me). Its pure hell; believe me, not being able to find something to do. Don’t tell me to relax, that’s what we do for the whole sem in the campus :P.

When I was very young, in primary or even high school I used to look forward to hols, u have a lot of ppl of ur age in your neighborhood , so u can easily pass the time. But now not being able to find someone to talk to, and being a burden to my mom, there is absolutely nothing I can do but wait for January 4^th to board the Godavari express to secunderabad.

I am writing this out of frustration, so plz don’t mind if it didn’t come out well.

Alchemy

It is said that chemistry came from alchemy. But it is the opposite at BPHC, alchemy being the name of the chemistry association.

When I first came to know that I have been transferred to Msc chemistry I was ecstatic. It was more than I expected. I thanked my friend for conveying it to me though I was sorry that he didn’t get bio. I ran all the way to admin block to check it. Never once I was disappointed. I was satisfied with it. I didn’t even apply for a transfer; I would have got Maths for sure had I applied. But I was happy with b2. I always wanted to study pure sciences.

I still remember our first association meeting where our seniors graciously welcomed us. Our first meeting with whole chemistry faculty, they introduced themselves n discussed their areas of research. The Director was also present to my surprise, I didn’t expect him. We were to introduce ourselves and state specifically why we all took chemistry. I am sure many including me would have lied for sure.

An year went by. We became seniors, inviting our juniors for their first every alchemy meeting. It was fun as we watched them give various reasons for being in b2 (vaguely remembering our own experiences and being nostalgic), it ended with a quiet dinner with all the faculty including the director. It was one of the my best evenings in BITS. I was one of the first few to arrive there and thought no one would come. But the turnout was huge. The faculty came along with their kids who made the event more lively.

I used to like chemistry in my 11^th and 12^th standards because it was in that subject that I used to score the maximum. Same with chem 1 and chem 2 at BITS. I recall all these things as I begin to think of next 3 semesters which would be consumed mostly by chemistry courses.  I hope there wouldn’t be any change in the way I perceive chemistry.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"-Gandhi

The Old man and his God

Sudha Murthy. The first thing everyone remembers about her is that she was the one who wrote a letter to JRD Tata against the gender discrimination in TELCO. But she is known for more than just that. For her philanthropic work, her ability to accept and understand new things no matter from whomsoever.

It is just out of curiosity that I took a book written by her (Wise and Otherwise). But I was captivated by the theme, her personal experiences; she presents them in the form of short stories in simple English without much jargon. Her books emphasize the fact that “known is a drop and unknown is an ocean”. They tell us that there is something to learn in every other thing we do daily, people we meet and the circumstances we (or those around us) face in our lives.

This particular story about her friend who complains a lot; she goes on complaining that things are not working out the way she want them to be. This is something which each one of us face at some point or the other in our life. I could give my personal example; I was not getting the expected results, I couldn’t take the career path I wished, regrets keep on increasing. Life’s never easy. It doesn’t have to be the way we want it to be. But its in our hands to make it better. I am not saying we can alter it completely but we can be more accommodating.

We humans are insatiable. Can’t we just be grateful for what we have or do we go on wanting more?  Like the old man who refused pension because he didn’t need it; he had enough income to take care of his necessities and the village doctor to approach in case of medical emergencies and above all, his God.

Home Alone

The whole of last semester I was waiting for the exams to end. But now I am complete loss as to find something to do. The last week was total waste. The first two days we went here and there, but after that I was left alone at home. It would have been better if I was alone, but u know mom comes at specified times like 2pm, 7pm and ask you ‘have u done that particular work which I have assigned?’  The whole of past few days I was doing household things, paying bills, cashing refund orders so on.

I was reading Arabian nights and calvin n hobbes simultaneously not to mention jefferey archer’s ‘a twist in the tale’ and dickens’ ‘great expectations’. I pity all those people who got stuck up in their homes just like me. I was doing some research on greek mythology though I am not able to remember all those names they sound interesting.

Life’s same around here. I am very busy you know. Sleeping early (10pm) and getting up early (8.30am), later hitting the gym, breakfast, tv and bathing at noon, lunch, afternoon nap, evening maggi, a little chat with my best buddy adelpha and sometimes Winnie (when she is free), a few soaps which my mom watches (she comes all the way from office just to watch them) and a quite dinner before retiring.

I am writing this now unable to find anyone who is jobless like me. I miss those days when you look forward to holidays; playing with all the kids in the neighborhood. All my classmates of school days are busy in their respective colleges, and of course with their own batch of friends. I am left all alone. That’s the reason I am eating your brains (if you are patient enough to read till the end of the post).

14th December

This is the day I have been long waiting for. Last of comprehensive examinations, marking the end of the semester. I usually am in a good mood in such a day. But the paper distribution of ES 1 paper ruined it. I went from mid sem  A to final B. Mechanics of solids was not good either. I am gonna say the same thing as that of every other exam. I didn’t perform to my expectations.

Watched break ke baad. I liked it, the story, especially Imran Khan’s action. But it didn’t cheer me up. So I am writing this post.

Winter vacation started. This is the first time I am looking forward to go home, not to enjoy but to freak out. I really really hate Electrical Sciences. Maths 3 ought to get some credit for putting me in this condition right now. 

Post exam babble

I watched the rising sun through my window thinking about the exam scheduled later today. Even with the assurances Winnie gave me I was worried. My preparation hasn’t gone well. I didn’t even look at 3 chapters of the total 10 chapters. With tension overpowering me I made my way to the exam hall. All my petty sentiments were working in my favor. So I expected a moderate performance.

But all my hopes crashed after seeing the question paper in the invigilator’s hand. No objective, 3hr subjective paper for 120marks. I was banking on the objective component. After going through the paper I felt I could answer 88 marks, they were from the 7 chapters I have read. But at the end of 3 hrs I couldn’t solve even one question fully. This would make its way into my top ten worse exams.

Worse of all is adelpha telling me the correct answers of each question thereby reminding me that I have done them wrong.  I can now understand why people often say that one shouldn’t have any sort of expectations. My precompre total was pretty good; I was expecting an A grade in this course, but with my pathetic performance in the final and the most important component, only God can save me now.

P.S: I am sure I would say the same with my next exam.

Tedium

Had cp2 today; next exam on 9^th. Feeling bored. At 12 in the night I am trying to think of ways to dispel boredom. Even Calvin n Hobbes failed to capture my attention. No one to talk to; they all have exams or busy socializing on facebook. So this post goes…..

Watched orange. The characters are pretty confused (are we all not?) but bhaskar did a great job.  Its good to see appu(gayathri rao) once again. I tried to study but…

Electrical sciences trying to burn me in its cursed fire; mechanics of solids got stuck up due to lack of friction. Maths is at logger heads with me; management has its own strategies.

It seems we are gonna get our mt1 papers tomorrow, so wish me all the best. And I almost forgot to tell u– I messed up cp2.

So what am I going to do now? Think of compre(both written and those to be written) and have nightmares or travel in the realm of my  fantasy world. I think I will go with the second one, what do u say?

Sem 3

29-11-2010. Today is the last working day of this semester 2-1. The last week has been particularly hectic with last minute paper distributions (we still have 2 more test 2 papers to be distributed), precompre totals being put up, and completion of courses. I had made a resolve to study sincerely for compres but as usual I didn’t touch any academic books this week. I hope I do some studying at least now so as to get an average score. By the way I am done reading ‘The history of Napoleon Bonaparte’ by John Gibson Lockhart.

I have been told by some seniors that 2-1 is very light, ‘you don’t have to worry’. I disagree with them in one context, it is light but there is lots to worry. For example maths 3 (differential equations) and electrical sciences 1 are extremely boring and too difficult for me (thank god I am not in msc maths or eee or ece). I am never gonna forget those two courses.  Management is slightly tough from an exam point of view, 18chapters +8modules. And cp2, mt1 are as usual ambigious (u don’t know what to study). And last but not the least, my favorite course of this semester mechanics of solids, the whole of summer I had to prepare myself to take this course, as it is supposed to be one of the toughest  :P. Anyways it wasn’t half bad. All the credit goes to the IC and our instructor Dr. Amit Kumar Gupta. I sincerely thank him for his efforts to make this course interesting. As days passed on I was actually enjoying mech sol class. Though I may not have scored good marks my appreciation for this course has been increasing.

Compres start tomorrow. Best of luck to all those people who, like me haven’t started their preparation.

I thank all my instructors for bearing with me for this whole semester. I apologize to my team members (of mt, presentation, project), if I had irritated them knowingly or unknowingly.

MY BITS, my voice

"Engagement is the willingness and ability to contribute to the success of the institute which ‘happens’ when the three major stakeholders of the institute viz students, faculty and staff are feeling fully involved and enthusiastic about their roles in the institute.

Engagement measures the level of emotional bonding and psychological commitment of its stakeholders with the institute. To measure the level of engagement, a survey is conducted and the analysis of this survey helps in identifying the gaps. Based on the identified gaps an action plan is drawn to strengthen the emotional connect of the stakeholders with the institute and among all the stakeholders.

To achieve the goals set in Vision 2020 - Mission 2012, the need for engagement survey for BITS Pilani across all the campuses has been identified as one of the action items of Task Force on Campus Life dealing with Engagement & Extension. To execute this survey, BITS Pilani has commissioned the services of Gallup – a management research organization.

Gallup is recognized as the world leader in the measurement and analysis of people’s attitudes, opinions and behavior. With operations across Globe, Gallup specializes in engagement survey.

BITS Pilani is the first Indian University in the country to take 'Engagement Survey' for its students, faculty and staff"

Survey takes place between 23rd and 29th November. I am very happy to see changes happening in BITS though I may not be there when the proposed changes are implemented. Redefining the curriculum is what I feel is a positive change for students. If only I would have come to BITS 3 years later.....

Last 30 days of the semester

Diwali may have brought happiness and peace of mind to the people of ayodhya because of Lord Rama’s return but definitely not for bitsians. The month after Diwali , you can actually see people running along the corridors books in their hands at 3am; doing night outs for exams. It marks the beginning of test 2 continuing to quizzes, online tests, lab tests and swiftly moving towards compres. So I guess my next post would be only after the end of the sem.