Hiking @ Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

 

We took the Stone Mountain Loop Trail

 

 

 

 

 

Strolling down the memory lane

May 2010, Hall 5, Kanpur

I am lying half-naked on my hostel bed. It's just another sweltering summer day.

Exams are over and there is ample time to kick-start my SnT Summer Project. I have no clue how would I go about it. But more than that what is bothering me is an year I had spent in this place. Met some cool guys, some strange; mostly with spectacles, but not even a single one who could replace the Tanki ke topes from my life. 

I unfolded a torn sheet of paper, having equations scribbled all over it. 

Took a picture of it. Posted it on Facebook. Tagged them.

And then silently slipped down the memory lane.

January 2009, Prerna Towers, Jamshedpur

"Abey JD humko corner wala seat mein aaj baithna hai." 

"Kahe bey? Hum nahi hatenge. Humko Raj ke saath baithana hai. Tum bahut KC karta hai. Doosare taraf jao."

Panda, Raj, Ra'ul and Adi started laughing, each one giving JD a high-five.

"Tumlog kis baat pe hass rahe ho? Did I miss anything?" - Manoj

"Nahi rey Manoj, tum continue karo. JEE aane wala hai aur tumko Osama ke saath baithkar RMO ka sawaal banane se fursat mile tab na."

 And again we started laughing.

JD turned his head to the right.

Saw something. 

Turned back with an increase in excitement with decreasing theta.

"Oo Mato, ab samjhe. Beta mere us taraf purple jacket mein baithi hui hai woh ladki is liye tumko baithana hai. Kya naam hai bey uska?"

"Kaun ladki! Kaun Ladki!" - Raj 

"Woh dekh woh jo purple jacket mein hai." - JD

"Abey woh purple nahi pink hai. Uska naam kya tha? Humko yaad nahi aa raha hai" - Raj

"Advaita" - I interrupted.

"Abey bahut patli hai woh." - JD

"Aur tum bahut mota hai mota." I quickly replied.

Another round of laughter, after which Adi went back to his usual activity of sharing sms with some chick from his school. 

Saurabh Sir entered the classroom. The classroom automatically silenced. Except Namrata who was still chattering with some Loyolean folks four rows back. He projected the first set of questions.
"Yaar aaj phir khali sum banayenge humlog." I mumbled.
"Yup." - Raj was already occupied with the first question finding the number of diagonals of the polygon whose no three diagonals were concurrent and the total number of points of intersection of diagonals interior to the polygon was 70.

By the time the class ended we had already solved 4 such sets with the fifth one bestowed upon us as homework. People started pouring out of the class.
"Yaar, yeh set toh solve nahi hoga merese." - I remarked
"Ho jayega bey. Arihant mein aisa ek do sawaal hum dekhe hai. Aaj raat ko karne baithenge. Yaar Inorganic chemistry bhi padhna hai. BK Pandey physical chemistry karata raha pura 2 saal aur Mishra ji toh Mr.G naam ka character ke peeche haath dhokar padh gaye Organic padhate samay."
We all agreed with what Ra'ul said.

"Haan laundo toh jaisa ki aaj decide hua tha. Class khatam hone ke baad Raj chalo mereko Simple Harmonic Motion padhao. Kuch samajh nahi aa raha hai. Phase.. velocity .. frequency .. jo toh ho raha hai."
I took out my notebook and tore a sheet.
Adi and Ra'ul joined me," Humlog ko bhi SHM samajhna hai. Concept clear nahi hai."
"Abey SHM asaan hai yaar. Rotation jyada mushkil hai." - Manoj
Osama nodded his head in agreement.
"Abey, batoli mat do tum dono. Mera madad karo tab inlog ko padhane mein." - Raj
Half an hour passed and we continued scribbling on that sheet unearthing SHM spring-by-spring.
"Oye woh relative velocity leke jo sum banate hai woh samjha na."
"Yaar woh toh mera bhi clear nahi hai." - Raj
"Abey humko aata hai woh accha se. Us samay hum SMS nahi kar rahe the aur sir jo bole humko samajh aa raha tha kuch kuch." - Adi
So the role was reversed. Sheet turned. And the concepts started pouring it yet again.
Half an hour passed even faster this time.
"Toh sabka concept clear ho gaya hai." - Adi
"Haan bhai aaj toh maja aa gaya. SHM ka feel aa gaya. Ab toh SHM padhne ka bhi jaroorat nahi." I was over-excited.
"Itna jyada confidence nahi hota agar tum FITJEE ka AITS ka SHM wala sawaal dekh lete toh. Dekho is saal JEE mein kya poochta hai SHM se." - Manoj
"Hmm.. ab toh exams aane wala hai. Kaafi masti kar liye humlog. Pata nahi aage kaun kahan hoga. Naya groups ban jayega sabka. Mil bhi payenge ki nahi. Kisko kaun yaad rakhega. Sab apne apne life mein busy ho jayenge."

November 2012, Hall 1, Kanpur

I am lying double-coated on my hostel bed. It's just another cold winter day.
The penultimate semester just got over a few days back.
My eyes fell on the black purse lying in one corner of my desk.
I picked it up. Pulled out something tucked behind the coin pocket.

I unfolded a torn sheet of paper, having equations scribbled all over it. 

I silently smiled.
"I was so wrong. You guys are irreplaceable," I said in a muffled voice.

Took a picture of the other side. Posted it on Facebook. Tagged them.

Antaragni Leadership Initiative [The Questionnaire]

"The Antaragni Leadership Initiative is a campaign aimed at igniting the social consciousness of the college youth ... blah blah blah .."
I'll cut short this description. You can read it here.

Well this year Antaragni folks came up with this really nice concept, especially for the IITK folks as every second person in our campus thinks he is a great leader heading a three tier student organisation  .

The first round comprised an online questionnaire submission.
I just got over with it. Some of the questions were really intriguing and thought provoking.
So I am sharing my form below.

1. Current Affairs 
Politicians should not play with educational institutes and their functioning. How far do you agree with this and why? (Max. 100 words)

About a thousand years ago India ushered in the field of education. Students from all across the globe came to study in the Nalanda University which made it the greatest center of higher learning of its time. Nalanda had its own autonomous body who made all decisions in order to take the institute ahead and the king showered it with the signs of his respect. It was at the pinnacle for six centuries. In modern scenario politicians think they are the kings, but they have forgotten that what our educational institutes need today is patronage, not intrusion in their functioning.


2. Creativity
You have the power to eliminate one problem being faced by modern India. What will it be? Briefly mention the steps you would take in this direction. (Max. 100 words)

Education System in India is still a major issue and it will not progress into a dynamic field unless the problems inherent in it are identified and solved.
To eradicate this problem, I would take the following steps:
Create a transparent, but rigorous regulatory system that will focus on the academic standards and the learning, not just on structural aspects.
Encourage private participation in education by creating incentives for them to focus on the social and developmental needs of the country.
I think the simplicity, elegance, and effectiveness of this solution is something which can make an impact.

3. Critical Thinking 

65 years ago, We had resolved to establish a sovereign, secular, democratic republic with justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all. Have we as a nation been able to live up to those ideals? (Max. 150 words)

Today, UN ranks us 134 and 147 in terms of Human Development Index and Education. The Gender Inequality index tell us that inequality is predominant. Even the party which claims itself to be secular is backed by religious sects. Justice exists, but by the time it arrives, it is already too late.

"What we had resolved, we haven't been able to live up to those ideals !" 

I disagree. 

Its not about talking about India in terms of statistics, its not a propaganda. The whole point is that India is the nationalism of an idea. Its an idea of an ever-ever land, emerging from an ancient civilization, united by a shared history, sustained above all by pluralist democracy. That is a 21st century story. If there is anything worth celebrating about India it is this fact that India is a rare example of successful management of diversity in the developing world.

4. Self-appraisal 

If someone wrote a book about you, what would the title be and why? (Max. 40 words)  

I yearn to do something innovative and out of the box. And I'll definitely succeed in my quest someday. My story should be named 'Aiming Beyond Infinity' because that is the motto of my life. I live by it everyday.

5. Additional Question 

Answer any one of the following two questions (Max 150 words) 

• In your opinion, is the dollar value increasing or the rupee value decreasing?
• What do you think the youth of the country can realistically do to make it better?

The Indian Rupee is in a downward spiral. Not just the dollar, it has depreciated against all major currencies. 

When I read that rupee is sliding against the US dollar, the first thing that came in my mind was that the dollar value is increasing, but how come the rupee is also sliding against the sinking Euro.

Price of any asset is a function of its demand and supply. The growth in Indian economy has slowed down global investors shunned Indian equities. India imports majorly  crude and gold which is bought and sold in dollars. Thus, increasing imports increase the demand for dollars and people sell rupee to buy dollars. This puts a downward pressure on rupee. 

The problem however is the not the Rupee slide itself – the fall in the Rupee is the symptom of underlying problems and we have to look at those problems to find solutions.

Impact of 'The Third Wave'

Well I had an awesome day today :)

After winning the best blog post prize in the Blog Writing Contest organised by Association of Mechanical Engineers this summer, 'The Third Wave' won yet another laurel.

This time it was judged as the best entry in the story/fiction category in a contest held by Book Club of our institute. They received more than eighty entries for this competition and my third wave surely had an impact.

If you haven't read it yet, do check it out!

 

The Last Question

"How to read a binary file using Python?"
"Use open(filename, 'rb') to read a binary file." - Quick came my reply.

"Any other question ?" - I announced.
"Why should I use Python instead of C/C++/Java as it is quite slow?"

"Because life is short and you need Python !" - I smiled.
"It maybe slow, but you save a lot of time when you are coding. Something which can take you a year to write in C++ might take you just a month in Python, which makes it an excellent prototyping tool." - I added.

"Time is running out so now I will take one last question. Anyone ?"
There was silence for a couple of seconds then a lean guy sitting in the back slowly raised his arm. He shuddered then spoke -
"I was quite happy to see in your last slide that you are a mechanical engineer. We have a software in our department called Abaqus. I needed some help regarding scripting. It is based on Python. I have searched the net, but could not find any tutorial or example on how to go ahead with it."
"Well if it is based on Python then it is not possible to not even come across a single tutorial. Moreover what I taught you in the past four days, might be sufficient to give you a head-start."
"No, it is not like you are thinking." - His voice softened as he completed the sentence.
I smiled and ended the lecture. A guy sitting in the front row applauded, others followed.
My first lecture series in IIT K came to an end.
I was happy.
I was feeling proud.
But somewhere deep down I had some remorse. His helpless look passing my mind time and again, and his last question, which remained unanswered.



14 months later ... in a slightly better lecture hall.

"So with this we come to an end. In this lecture we explored the tremendous potential of this software. How Abaqus can be used in Computer Aided Engineering to design better products."
"Any Questions ?"

Someone darted a question.
"How can we vary the seed density for meshing? Suppose I want more density of seeds on one side."
I quickly gave him the solution demonstration.
He beamed.

"How can I add a fixed boundary condition at a node?"
"Well you can use the selection toolbar and activate 'nodes'."

"So now I will take one last question. Anyone?"
No hands were raised, but this question triggered a memory. It was as if I was still searching for that person a midst the folks sitting in front of me.
I addressed them softly - "If someone needs any help with Python scripting in this software feel free to contact me."
It took me such a long time to figure out the answer to that last question !

Website Live Again \m/

Well after taking down my website for 2 months finally its time to be live again :)
With lesser content and greater emphasis on the aesthetics it looks cool ( isn't it :P ? )
Check it out :

http://home.iitk.ac.in/~amahato/

MACFAIR'08

I came across this very old newspaper clipping which reminded me of Ankit Raj, an awesome person who taught me the value of teamwork !


Jamshedpur, Aug. 21: When steel city schools are in the habit of doing their hometown proud, why should DBMS English School be an exception?
Students of DBMS recently bagged the runners-up trophy at a global event, beating more than 70 national and international schools. It was the first time that the school participated in Macfair International, organised by City Montessori School in Lucknow, and were declared the second best team.
The DBMS students also won the first prize for their model to test the purity of transparent liquids using refraction. They also won the third prize in the mathematics quiz and were, finally, declared the runners-up at the four-day event that began on August 2.
DBMS was represented by seven students — Ankit Mahato, Ankit Raj, Rabi Shankar Guha, Debjyoti Banerjee, Sukanya Sharma, Mrinal Ranjan and Mukesh Kumar.
“It was a huge experience. We were a little nervous, but we mingled with other students and found we were on a par with them. We have the same potential but lack exposure. But the times are changing now,” said Debjyoti. "The standard of questions asked was good, but we were equally determined to win."said Ankit Mahato.
“The opportunity came along when the students enquired about the event on the web and wanted to take a shot. We just supported them and today they have made us proud. Teachers have just guided them. The students have won because of their out-of-the-box imagination,” said Sudha Mohan, a teacher. Mohan had accompanied the students on the tour.
~ The Telegraph








From middle Clockwise: Sudha Mohan Teacher, Sukanya Sharma, Rabi Shankar Guha, Ankit Mahato, Ankit Raj, Mrinal Ranjan, Mukesh Kumar, Debjyoti Banerjee.

Environment Quiz '08

Yet again DBMS English school organised a successful Environment Quiz . This quiz was totally based on our environment and the main motive was to promote awareness. Ankit Mahato and Rabi Shankar were the Quizmasters and after 10 grilling rounds Loyola emerged as the winners , followed by KPS Mango . Sacred Heart Convent were the 2nd runnersup .

- as reported in The Telegraph ( Jamshedpur Live )

THE ENTIRE ECOCLUB TEAM


ME HOSTING THE FINALE

Etrix blast

DBMS English School again made its presence felt by winning the 2nd Runners up crown in the Etrix 08 (8th-9th Sept). Ankit Mahato and Ankit Raj bagged the 2nd prize in programming whereas Tushar and Rabi where declared 1st n 2nd in Debate n cartoon making respectively.