Final Year Project

During the initial years at VJTI i was in complete awe of "FINAL YEAR PROJECTS" and looked forward to them in eager anticipation. What is that i am going to create? What brilliant,state of the art project am i going to involved in which is going to be the amalgam and symbol of my 4 years of engineering education.
I perceived them to be highly cerebral, path-breaking and arduous tasks engaged in by highly knowledgeable students who are at the pinnacle of engineering brillance and who are overflowing with knowledge , curiosity and skills and are guided by an equally knowledgeable mentor. I thought we are going to spent nights brainstorming over cups of coffee with our mentor who knew us by our names and treated us like colleagues.

But I also was pretty dumb and naive at that time.

Here's a look at our conversations with the mentor:

Day: Monday
Time 3.00 pm
Location: Corridor

Us: Sir we are from final year tronix. You are our mentor.(This is the starter whether its over the phone or face-to-face.)

Theres a delay in response as he tries to recollect.

Mentor:Ummmmm..Aaaaahhhh. Okkkayy you are the "stateflow" guys(know us by our names!!). I will talk to someone in the industry(wooow industry hmmmm..the "mecca" of all engineers) and we can do something practical.(woow practical hmmm..im drooling man).

Us: Ok thank you sir.

Day: Tuesday
Time: 2.00 pm
Location: Corridor

Us: Sir we are from final year troninx. You are our mentor.

Delay.

Mentor: I have a lecture right now. You meet me later.

Us: Ok sir

After 2 hours...

Day: Tuesday
Time: 4.00 pm
Location: Corridor

Us: Sir we are from final year tronix. You are our mentor.

Delay again

Mentor: Yes??

Us: Sir you were going to talk to someone from the industry.

Mentor: Yes Yes im going to speak to him. I will call you guys(yeah right!!). Dont worry we will do something.

Us:Ok thank u sir.

I am not making up this shit. You cant make up this shit. It really happens.

Now lets take a look at our project group discussions. Our project grp consists of goyal,ketan, guy from karjat whazz is name yeah nikhil(he he ) and and yeah thats it.

No wait theres pakya too.Five of us.
I will now let the pictures do the talking.
Venue: Goyal's room.






























(At this point we are discussing as to what is a reverse swing?? anyone??)

So what if our discussions dont center around technical STUFF, so what if we dont actually create something path-breaking(its not the end of the world).
So what if our mentor doesnt know our names, so what if we always meet him in the corridors, so what if there are no brainstromings over cup of coffee. so what??

I still have my HEALTH.

Times they are toh changinng..

Its the last semester and man does it feel wierd. So many things have changed from the first semester.
Heres what my schedule looked like in 1st sem:

7.00 am:Get up

8.15 am:Leave home for college.

9.00am:Reach VJTI

9am-4pm:Attend lectures and lab.

5.30pm:Reach home.

7pm: Study.

And now...

7.45am: Get up

8.45: Leave for college.

9.30am:Reach VJTI.

9.30-11.15 am:Lect/Lab

11.15-1pm- Project work(basically downloading movies from goyal's LAN)

2-3pm:Chilling out

5.30pm:Reach home

6pm:watch recently downloaded movie

7pm:Still watching

8pm :Still watching

9pm:Start watching a new movie/Update blog.


As i said its a weird feeling. With the impending SP Jain results and Deloitte/Wipro VLSI jobs waiting at the end of the semester its tough to be in the present and not think of the future. But at the same time i cant help feeling nostalgic and delve into the past. Anyway life's going to change and its going to change in a BIG way.One way or the other.

I have lost the motivation to pick up a book and study. Got screwed in all papers but some how it doesnt matter. Thankfully mid-sems are now a thing of the past.

Watching movie has become an integral part of my life. I have watched

Jodha Akbar
Michael Clayton
Oceans 13
Bourne ultimatum
Bee's movie
American gangster
Borat
Thank you for Smoking
The usual suspects
The Good German
Swordfish
Good Will Hunting

in the last 10 days. And there are many more which i dont even remember.

Its 9pm. Time to watch the next movie.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Let me at the onset clarify i have never uttered the word.Never.Ever.Seriously never!!

Ok whom am i kidding. But it was way back in 8th grade.Yeah i still remember it becauuse it was the only time i uttered it.It was more of a reflex.So it doesnt count.

During the Iraq invasion "whiskey tango foxtrot" was a commonly heard phrase over the radio. It was the American soldier's code for "what the f@#k?"

Lately i have been quite fascinated by the word "f@#k". No other word in the English literature can convey so many emotions and be used in so many forms.

It can used as

1.Noun- what a f@#k?

2.Adjective-what a f@#king car?

3.Verb- Active: A f@#ks B.
Passive: B is f@#ked by A.
Transitive: Its good to f@#k!

4.Gerund- F@#king is a good exercise.

It can also convey a lot of emotions:

Aggression: F@#k you!

Curiosity: what the f@#k is this?

Fooled/Conned: He got f@#ked.

Violence: i will kill you with a f@#king hammer!!

Trouble: We are f@#ked up.

Shock:What the f@#k!!

Get lost:f@#k off!!

Greetings:How the f@#k are you?

Bad day: what a f@#king day!

Face the music: We are in for a good f@#king.

To mess with someone:Don't f@#k with him!!

Request:Get the f@#k out of here.

Apathy: Who gives a F@#k!

I will keep updating the list. You are free to make a contribution.

Simplicity And Humility: Signs Of Perfection

I had read this article while waiting for the 2nd round of interview at SP Jain.At that time i found this article so enlightening that i still remember it today and i thought to share it with you.

Here are two excerpts from the article which i found very enlightening as i could relate to it myself.

..to explain something in a simple way is not easy. It requires thorough understanding of the subject..

....We make ourselves complicated by splitting our personality. Inwardly we are something but outwardly we are different because we mistakenly feel that our outwardly pattern of behaviour should be different under different circumstances.....

How true!! Think of all the vivas and personal interviews.Think of all the grilling we endured and the utter bullshit we uttered. It was either because we didnt know the subject so well or we were trying to be someone else just to impress the panelists.

I hope you do not just read the article but contemplate on it.

Simplicity And Humility: Signs Of Perfection

R K Langar

Where there is greatness, you are bound to find simplicity. Simplicity is a characteristic of greatness. It is the perfect alignment of one’s thoughts, words and deeds.
Great truths are simple but we make them difficult. When you are simple your outer and inner lives coincide. When you are simple, there is no trace of crookedness. We make ourselves complicated by splitting our personality. Inwardly we are something but outwardly we are different because we mistakenly feel that our outwardly pattern of behaviour should be different under different circumstances.
We present ourselves as what we are really not. Such a person may or may not fool others but he is certainly fooling himself. He equates simplicity with being unimpressive and backward. He feels that a simple person cannot be successful in life. But simple persons have done great things in life. They are not only successful but are also perfect in all aspects of life.
A simple person sees things as they are and presents them without adding to or subtracting from them. So there is no scope for untruth. Their conscience is clear, free of any ambiguity. They create plenty of space in their mind to allow noble thoughts to enter. Simple people earn through fair means and are at ease with themselves and with others.
A materialistic man presents truth in a complicated way. He may distort facts to impress others. He is used to making mountains out of mole hills. If you present things in a complicated manner, it covers up your lack of knowledge of the subject. But to explain something in a simple way is not easy. It requires thorough understanding of the subject. It requires talent. The more knowledge a person has of a subject, the more he would be inclined to put it across in a simple way.
When something is presented in a simple manner, it is well received and understood. The same goes for simple writing. There are writers who show their scholarship in their writings, even if what they write is not accessible (comprehensible) to the vast majority of readers.
Simplicity means doing what is necessary and remaining balanced. It means your life is an open book. Simple living means living in moderation. The thought process evolves corresponding to simple living and high thinking. Simplicity comes by living a regulated and organised life. Simplicity can be applied in all spheres of life, dress, food, talk, behaviour and in our interaction with others. For being simple one has to be oneself. A simple person leads a stress-free life since he is pure and truthful. Sri Aurobindo says that to express harmony, of all things simplicity is the best.
Simplicity is a prerequisite for spiritual advancement for it is those who are child-like who get divine illumination. There was one common factor in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Maharshi Ramana and Mahatma Gandhi: Every one of them led a simple life. Whatever they wanted to convey was free from any kind of multiplicity. They were men of character with deep concern for the welfare and well-being of others. Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated how simple living generates high thinking. Simplicity is also one of the divine qualities as enumerated in the Bhagavad Gita.

Bhaiyya to the rescue..

Last Sunday i happened to be at Kandivali station on my to Thakur polythenic college,thakur complex(which is different from thakur village). I reached station by 1 pm half an hour before the reporting time.
However i soon found out that reaching thakur college wasn't going to be so easy. All the autorickshaws(f^*$@ing ppl) simply refused to go to thakur college. I despearetly tried to convince them but to no avail.
Soon it became 1.20 and the place outside the station got swarmed by students all desparetly trying to get an auto. Finally i decided to walk all the way to highway hoping to catch an auto. But alas my pleadings fell on deaf ears.
It was 1.30 and i still hadnt found the auto. That plus no one knew for sure whether thakur complex and thakur village were the same place or different!!
I thought God was testing me. I thought may be i wasnt meant to appear for CET.
Fortunately i dont know how but out of nowhere came this knight in shining armour or should i say a bhaiyya in khaki. I asked him"Bhaiyya thakur complex chaloge?? Exam ke liye ho raha hoon" and with the gentle flick of his neck he said"Chalo baytoh". Thank God. A bhaiyya helping a marathi manoos.
At that moment i didnt think it this way.Neither did he. He could have easily said NO. But he didn't. In retrospect all that talk by Raj Thackarey seems utter nonsense.
I can tell you one thing for sure. Mumbai's social fabric will always remain intact. Nothing or nobody can undermine the important contributions that migrants have made to this city.
God bless the bhaiyya!!

P.S: CET was fine.

hE HEE

WHO'S IN CHARGE?

Visit the following site and it's pretty amazing as to how accurately we can guess who is the band leader just by seeing the publicity photo. Some weird science maybe....

http://wichone.blogspot.com/