Iron(y) Man

For some unfathomable reasons, Google rejected my application for an ad-sense account for this blog. I want my blog to display relevant advertisements and thus help me earn some extra allowance. However, the people at Google think otherwise. What is the problem if an average ordinary guy wants to earn money by penning down his thoughts? …that too without using any profanities or talking about pre-marital affairs. I’m sure Chetan Bhagat never had any problems for finding sponsors for his website. There’s irony hidden in it somewhere but you’d rather find it for yourself.

Shifting our focus to international matters, Hillary Rodham Clinton praised India for acting maturely after the Mumbai Terror attacks. It was commendable that we did not take up arms and launch a full-fledged attack on Pakistan just because a few terrorists attacked our commercial centre. We should have praised US of A for also acting maturely and not launching military attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq just because a few terrorists crashed their planes on two tall buildings. Something tickled my irony bone (next to my funny bone) here, too!

In other news, Mrs. Rita Bahuguna Joshi came back home…or whatever was left of it. Mayawati’s supporters (apparently) had burned her house down in an attempt to renovate it with gasoline. Mayawati claims Mrs. Joshi bad-mouthed the Dalits so she deserves to be punished under a SC/ST Law that bans any discrimination against the so-called backward classes. Mrs. Joshi has been booked under several non-bailable offenses besides the “inciting violence” infraction. She awaits trial, while those who literally brought down her house go scot-free. Mayawati said that she will make sure Mrs. Joshi is punished severely. No action has been (or, can be) taken against Maya Memsaab. Some idiots with a misplaced sense of patriotism will consider it greatly ironic. They will burn with anger at the mockery that is being made of the Indian judicial system. They will fire self-righteous remarks about ideologies and other such expletives. But…they will do NOTHING.

Why do you think Mayawati is the CM of UP? Why did the Liberhan Commission require Rs 8 Crores to tell us what the media was screaming for 16 years? Why do you think politicians are corrupt? What makes them think they can get away with murder? (I’m serious, quite a lot of them have). The answer to all of the above questions is THE COMMON MAN’S STUPIDITY.

Nobody dares to rise up against evil. Yeah, Gandhiji proposed non-violence but he never said that one should always grin and bear oppression. In fact, He did say, “It is a greater sin to be oppressed than to oppress.” I’ll translate it for you. He said that one should stand up for what is right. The scum of the Earth mock us because we let them. After all, since the advent of RTI (Right To Information), a lot of corrupt officials had to face the music (Jailhouse Rock, I believe).

The most obvious question in your mind, “What gives this jerk the right to tell us to do something? Why doesn’t he get up and do something himself.” Well, if you ever go to Mullana ask the final year students (that means my immediate junior batch) about Anurag Saxena. They may not have all good things to say but they will agree on one thing…the guy tried to bring about a change. And that’s far better than complaining.

If you ever come up with a plan that will reform our country, count me in. I may not lead from the front but I guarantee you will have a loyal ally. Just come out of this ennui and think of something that will change this world…for the better. If you have problems thinking big, think simple…how to improve your locality (that does not mean shifting to a posh area). If you are ready to rebel, you’ll always find me by your side. I hope you don’t see irony here because none is intended.

Be the change you want to see in the world. – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Gotta Be Somebody

What are we but some of our experiences – Anonymous

Who is this Anurag anyway?

During school, Anurag was regarded as a dark horse. He was someone who would not give up even when all the chips were down.
He is attracted to mystery. Any puzzles/problems given to him would surely be solved, even if it means endless hours of effort.

Some of his friends regard him as an Encyclopedia. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge has helped him learn a little about everything. He is always ready to help anyone who approaches him.

Recently, Anurag was the President of ISTE, Student Chapter in his college. ISTE is responsible for organizing events like aptitude tests, group discussions etc. which are aimed at the overall development of the students. President means a bloated ego, right? Wrong!

Anurag would rather be ‘near’ the proverbial spotlight than be in it. There’s an adventurous side to him too. He’d like to grow old without having any regrets about things he could’ve done. He’d rather do them!

Ethics and principles are very important to him. Although he doesn’t sow it, he cares a lot about honesty and scruples. Conscience is a small voice in your head that says, “Dude, we could get caught. Better not do it.” That puny voice utilizes a million amplifiers in his head. So, he stays away from things that might pluck at his conscience.

In case you thought that this character sketch was a wee bit… sketchy, here’s a list of adjectives that Anurag thinks apply to him:

Audacious, amiable, bold, caring, calm, daring, friendly, frank, inquisitive, methodical, polite, sincere and understanding.

Note: The list is by no means exhaustive!

Also, he likes to boast a lot. He can sing his own praises day in and day out. Yet, he feels embarrassed if someone else appreciates his talent. Why? There is probably a screw loose somewhere in the enigmatic machine that is his brain.

(This article is written in the third person. I apologize, but I felt it easier to describe myself as seen from the eyes of a third party.)

Take a Bow

I never thought I’d be writing this post. But now, the end is near.

In the week 27th April – 1st May, I organized SYNERGY 2K9. The name was given to the otherwise boorish sounding ISTE WEEK last year. President Aashish Aggarwal and VP Anurag Saxena had come up with a unique name for a mini tech-fest consisting of five events in a span of three days. Mr. Kapil Goyal, a notorious teacher from the Mechanical Department had said it was impossible. “In your face, KKG!” was our triumphant response at the end of three days.

Fast forward to 2009. I had already proved myself with ISTE WEEK (See: Tears in Heaven). The name Synergy was going to become a fixture every year. Planning was in full flow. And then it hit me. My last contribution to college. My last hurrah! After dedicating three years of my life to ISTE, it was finally time to say goodbye. I felt heavy. No more events, just spend some time peacefully as a regular, ordinary student. But the path chosen 3 years ago did not let me return to mediocrity. SYNERGY 2K9 was destined to happen.

This time around, all technical events. The list:

• Tech Yard
• Web Hunt 2.0
• Bravado – The Corporate Quiz
• Bit Fighters
• Gladiator’s Arena

We had an event from every discipline. From Mechanical to Computers. But something was missing. Electronics! There could be no robot making or circuit designing because frankly, ISTE in our college is a cash-strapped society. Our budget did not allow us the luxury of thinking about ICs or bread boards. We all were confused. And then- There was Light!

Tech-Chat was the answer to our prayers. Something that was loved by all…students as well as teachers. All applications duly signed and approved, all material bought. And so began the last dance.

The week preceding the events, I had gone to Ambala to place the order for the prizes. Nothing can be more embarrassing than selecting the trophy you are going to be presented with at the valedictory ceremony. I blushed but placed the order anyway.

In the prize distribution ceremony, I was where I had always wanted to be – on stage as an anchor. One last time!

May 1st 2009, 1545 IST: It was finally over. The name of the new President had been announced. Now was the time to be alone. ISTE had been my everything in college. I ran a lot less behind girls than I ran for events and meetings. It was fun, no doubt!

ISTE helped me salvage some pride. In a desolate middle-of-nowhere college run by a capricious management, it had given me hope. I used to think joining MMEC, Mullana had been the biggest mistake of my life. It wasn’t. Whatever work I did, it benefitted me and my fellow students. I came in contact with talented individuals who were all ready to bring about a change in college.

The winds of change are blowing harder than ever. I just hope that the foundations of the college do not crumble under the pressure.

And now, I’m gone! In July, a new batch of students will arrive. And I’ll be just a memory…fading away into ignominy.

Goodbye ISTE, it was worth every moment!

Be the Change you to see in the world. – MK Gandhi

The Quest

In college, one of the things i discovered were WebHunts. These were tidy little sites which could fry anyone’s brains.
The simplest was:
www.freestuffhotdeals.com/hacker/1.html

Once I was addicted, there was no looking back. I solved Klueless, Notpr()n and a lot of the like. The concept is simple, get to the next page by solving the clue given on the current page. Sounds easy, right. It isn’t!
And then, I had one of those bizzare ideas. Why don’t I create a WebHunt of my own?
ISTE’s Synergy 2K8 proved the perfect platform for its launch. I don’t know if it will be available anymore, but here’s the link:

http://return.of.moriarty.googlepages.com

I got a lot of positive criticism (Why diidn’t you make one earlier? was the most common question).
Fast forward to February 2009… Planning for the eagerly awaited Synergy 2K9 had started. And another WebHunt was forming in my mind.
Voila, WebHunt 2.0 was launched:

http://istemullana.googlepages.com/webhunt

GooglePages is going to migrate soon to Google Sites. And probably the WebHunt will be destroyed.
But, it was fun while it lasted!!
You can try the WebHunts whenever you like, and if you really get stuck…you know where to find me.

Tears in Heaven

Oh crap! Another entry about ISTE. But what can I say? I’m the President, this is my blog and my country’s constitution currently grants me the freedom of speech.

This story begins about six months ago in one of our government engineering colleges, NIT Kurukshetra. A technical fest called Literati – 08 was being organized there. Sure as hell, a team from Mullana was there. Our team consisted of about nine students from Computers branch. On Saturday, there was an event called Junkyard Wars. The participating teams had to build a rocket out of scrap. The concept involved was very simple. A 2-litre PET bottle was to become the projectile. We had to build a launcher out of cardboard and plywood. Lots of duct tape was provided along with saws and hammers. The mode of propulsion was hydraulic pressure. The bottle’s cap was replaced by a cork fitted with a valve. Once air was pumped into the bottle, it was only a matter of time before the cork popped out of the bottle and the bottle was on its way. Our team managed a measly 59 feet as horizontal range (The winning team got 106 feet!).

The one doing all the explaining is me. And the person pumping the air is NISHANT.

Anyhow, its quite painful to see big events being conducted in other colleges while MMEC is stuck up with Group Discussions as a mega event. I always wanted to do something that would leave a mark. Something that could give me the satisfaction that I contributed towards the upliftment of my fellow MMECians. And I found my quantum of solace in Tech-Yard.

My stint as President had been marred by arguments and controversies. ‘The laziest President ever’ was the most polite tag I came across. So, I decided to show the nay-sayers that I was a force not to be underestimated. Three weeks before the semester ended, a bunch of events were organized. The bundle of events was to last for one working week and was imaginatively titled “ISTE Week”.

All the executive members were assigned roles as event coordinators for various events. The previous best for maximum number of events (Non-Fest) was five (in Synergy – 2K8). The record went one notch higher with ISTE Week’s grand total of six. There was only one event that I was interested in organizing. That was something based on “Junkyard Wars”. Now, easy as it may sound, creating a junkyard requires a lot of effort. I had to think of the different things that had to be provided to all students. N. K. Batra, the faculty advisor of ISTE and HOD of Mechanical Department was quite dazed when I told him about my intentions. He is a very nice & cool person and gave his full support. However, he was quite apprehensive about the success of the project. Anyhow, I began collecting the required materials for building the rockets and the launcher. Heck, the fact that most of the stuff we needed was supposed to be junk, we had to shell out a lot of dough (over a thousand bucks!!!).

The work that I did can be summed up in a few bullet points. However, bullet points do not convey the toil and the hard work that we did.

• I had to got to various eating joints (canteen, Indian Kitchen etc.) to collect the PET bottles.
• To get plywood (6 mm thick 2′X 2′), I had to make rounds of Mechanical department, Store (near Hostel No. 3), Diploma block and Accounts branch (about 1 km from rest of the college) on foot.
• For hammers and saws, recursion was applied between ME department, Diploma Block and first year engineering block.
• A trip to Ambala (25 kms away) was imminent, considering the fact that there is a Science street in Sadar Bazaar there. We found duct tapes, corks and most importantly, corks.
• In all, thousands of kilometers on foot (I can exaggerate a little, can’t I?) were travelled by me.

On D-Day, (20 November 2008) the event started off right on time, materials were provided in the right amount (except for hammers and saws). Pumps for the final judgment were arranged from God-knows-where by good old Nishant. Heck, Nishant is a great friend and fellow Infoscion. He deserves an entire blog dedicated to him. Anyways, the event was a huge success. Mr. Batra brought teachers from Mechanical Department to show them a whole new perspective.

The students enjoyed to the fullest and learnt something basic to engineering (Newton’s Third Law of Motion) practically. Students came and told me how much they enjoyed the event. Seriously, I wept. Not in front of everyone, thankfully. I had achieved what I had set out to do against all odds. For once, I could say that I had given back to this world for all that I had taken. For once, I could afford to be proud of myself. Ahh, the sweet smell of success!

To have and to want more that is life. – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Wind of Change

I’ve been bashing my college for quite sometime now. I hope someone from the idiotic management will actually understand the need to bring in some drastic changes. This is the story of a very tiny idea that signalled a wind of change.

Introduction:
Well, I’ve been to quite a few reputed colleges to take part in their fests. The list includes PEC Chandigarh, NIT Kurukshetra and IIT Roorkee. And I have seen the differences between the students there and in our college. The need of the hour is to bring our college at par with the rest. So begins an experiment…

Description:
Almost all brainiacs I know have tried KlueLESS. If you are a brainiac and don’t know what I’m talking about, Google for Klueless. You’ll find a link that goes something like www.iimi-iris.com/irising/…etc. Its a real test of general awareness and mental ability. People have appreciated the effort. However, in my college its absurdity mortified. Students can’t tell the difference between Ray-Ban and Fast-Track. Implementing something of the sort in my college would be a waste of time.

Preparation:
I was too impressed by the idea so couldn’t give up that easy. And the idea turned into a pet project. A small timeline is provided for the benefit of people who want to make one on their own too.

Brainstorming/Thinking up questions/site layout : 2 months.
Collecting data/Photoshop imaging : 2 weeks.
Uploading content/Formatting pages : 2 days!

And the site was ready to go!
Now, the tough part! Convincing the President of ISTE that its a hip event requiring ZERO manpower during execution was easy. Convincing the rest of the college was the real challenge.

Observation:
In my college nobody knew what was going on, as expected. I had to make myself extremely approachable so that the students could atleast try to solve it. Word-of-mouth publicity was done by all organizers and event managers in the college. Even my phone number wass replicated on the site at atlest two places to make the contenders feel comfortable. Even the level of difficulty was reduced to almost 0. Besides, the time limit was changed to a staggering 56 hours. Praying for glory, I left it all to fate.

Discussion:
Occasionally, diamonds are found in coal mines. Unbelievably, my site was solved by a student of MMEC, Shaurya, in 8 hours (The fact that we are friends is not concealed from anyone in college. And the transparency applied made the decision irrefutable). In all 7 students solved the site. And plenty more discovered googlepages. So we have 5 inspired sites competing with each other for glory. A lot more sites on different themes have come up on googlepages courtesy of Mullana students. So everyone learnt something useful while doing something creative.

Result:
Mission Accomplished. End of Paleolithic Age and beginning of Neolithic Age. There IS intelligent life on this isolated planet called Mullana.

External Links:

For beginners: I have to thank my good friend NITIN KHANNA for this.
www.freestuffhotdeals.com/hacker/1.html

KlueLESS: use Google to search the term. Link looks somewhat like
www.iimi-iris.com/iris…game.asp

Return of Moriarty: My own creation.
http://return.of.moriarty.googlepages.com

Head Held High

Okay. This one’s about coming to terms with my college. Frankly, everything I write in this blog is true (atleast everything about myself and my college). For those of you who think I did not write the truth, start your own blog. My perspective may differ from yours. Write your side of the story if you want to.

My college is one among the several engineering institutes located in desolate villages that are non-existent on Google Earth. Unbelievably, Google Earth shows only a barren area where our college should be located. I must admit, “Don’t see Evil” acquires a whole new dimension!

Anyways, being admitted to the middle-of-nowhere wasn’t that bad. As a matter of fact, as much as I hate the place, there was no competition for me. The undisputed leader of the unled. I was King!

Studies are something for which our college is famous. Because of the simple fact that there is nothing else. Sports? The college is meant for Narayan Murthys, not the Bhaichung Bhutias! Girls are reprimanded for wearing tops and jeans (salwar Kameez is the way to go). Boys are suspended if found in the company of any member of the opposite sex. Or if they are discovered in the hostel during college timings. Girls staying in the hostel have to be inside the hostel premises within half an hour of college getting over (Mr Dahiya, how can we ever repay you?). At around 5:30 pm local time, the Girls hostel is Curfew Zone. And if that wasn’t enough, the college is located in the scenic surroundings of dung-ridden farms and fields. As a result, the guards do not discriminate much between cattle and students.

Having an above-average IQ turned out to be a bane for me (Yes! Its true! ABOVE average). All my talks seemed to fall on fall on deaf ears. First year was depressing enough. Second year began to eat away at my skills. My talent was rotting in an institute of the pre-cambrian era. Then one fine even semester, I became the organizing member of an event. ISTE, the name is enough. Find the details HERE. The entire third year was dedicated to the society. I even took a PG accommodation near my college because of it. One year after I had organized my first event, I was made Vice-President. The sad part is though, I wasn’t made VP because of my skills but because I had no competition.

The sixth semester is about to come to an end. It is certain who the President will be next year. Oh well!

Then comes the story of my department. Computer engineering students are not just good at studies, they are all-rounders. However, to bring about a change, you have to be the change. Every year, 100 bucks were collected from all students in the name of our society. The catch: There was No such society. So I got down to formulate a plan for making the computers department society. And TROJANS was born. Due to the immense effort of a great friend and fellow Infoscion; Nishant; a dream was realized. The Head of the Department was impressed. And I learnt a new lesson.

There are good people and bad people. People who work and those who can make others work. Just put others before self and you’ll end up going lower than any self-respecting man has gone before. And finally, I found meaning in my college life. I was meant to change the course of history. Bring the college from the pre-historic times into the modern age.

And I’m happy to be here,
In the middle of nowhere!

Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values

9 am IST
I was sitting in yet another boring substitute lecture. Our regular teacher had his MTech exams so we were left in the safe hands of another. First lecture of the day and I was already counting sheep.

9:30 am IST
As soon as the first lecture was over, I ran out to get a breath of fresh air. That’s when I bumped into Aashish. Aashish (sir) is in final year. He was the new President of ISTE. (Check out the article on Akhil Sir for more information about this notorious society). It turned out that he was looking for me since 9am. Too bad he didn’t check room 125. I could have given my left hand to bunk that lecture!!
Anyways, he took me to Mr. Manjeet Singh Ladhar (Introducing….the Training & Placement Officer of MMEC, hereon referred to as the TPO).

9:40 am IST
It turned out that an important official from Infy was coming to our college to give a small presentation about the company. The TPO wanted me to take care of the management. According to him, I had volunteered. In fact, I had…sort of. You don’t go out saying NO to your TPO. Refusing your TPO is like Bungee Jumping without a rope! So I took the responsibility for making announcements in all the classes and other menial jobs like checking out the equipment in the Seminar Hall, arranging the mikes and stuff.

10 am IST
Things had turned out great! After making the announcements in all the classes alongwith a friend, I headed towards the Seminar Hall. Four of my friends had volunteered to check out the equipment, the same way I had volunteered. By the time I entered the Seminar Hall, the TPO had begun a preliminary session telling the students how they should behave yati yati yata. He’s a good person at heart, I will probably write about him someday.

10:50 am IST
HE entered the Seminar Hall. Mr. Sudhir Mishra, HR Department, Infosys.
I can never forget him for the simple reason that he looked just like one of us. About 25 years of age, a smile on his clean-shaven youthful face. That’s when I realized the gravity of the situation. A person from Infy was in our college because he saw enough potential here to actually adjust his schedule and come to our out-of-the-way location. Amazing!

11:00 am IST
Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values
For those of you who don’t know, its the motto of Infy. Somehow, when I first saw the words on the projection screen, it struck a deeper chord. Ethics and Brains, the two things I value the most in a friend. Every word uttered by Mr. Mishra made me even more impressed by the company. Humbe beginnings in the minds of four friends, over twenty years in the unforgiving IT industry and now one of the most sought after company of our times, he gave me every reason why I should join the Infy family.

11:40 am IST
Mr. Sudhir was showing a powerpoint presentation. He focused on one word, “OPEN DOOR”. He asked us what it meant. I said that it meant that anyone could approach their seniors anytime whenever faced with difficulty. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “How do you know? Do you have a brother or sister working in Infy?”, he asked. If only I had not been taken in by the moment I would have replied,”No sir, no one in my relations works in Infy. But I want to!”

I wondered whether anyone else felt as passionate as I did when the presentation concluded. There was only one thing in my mind. If there was any company in the world for which I would dedicate my lifetime, it was Infosys. And still is!
Placement interviews start one week from now. And I have just one goal in mind, To become an Infoscion.

Akhil Sir

Back to my college life…
I seriously need to document my cllege life for one simple reason. I hate my college.
Well, hate is such a big word so lets change it to dislike.
Frankly, even though the dislike might soon change to hatred and the first few lines will become obsolete, sometimes something happens which actually makes me believe
that my perspective might actually change.
Meeting Akhil Sir was one such event.
There’s a student organisation in our college called ISTE. I won’t bother with the
full form. Anyways, in my freshman year, I was bored to death by the sheer inactivity
of the students. For starters, there were no events. If there were events, there would
be no participants.
Life was dull and consisted solely of assignments copied from my friends.
In second year, I decided that I would stand up against the sheer monotony, even bunking classes was boring, to say the least.
One fine day, I saw a notice for an ISTE meeting. The agenda of the meeting was
forming an Organizing Committee for an upcoming event. “Yeah, right”, I thought “As if
anyone actually attends one of those.” But then, what the heck, I thought it would be
better than wasting my time bunking classes.
There were hardly 15-16 students who turned up for the meeting. That’s when I first met Akhil. He happened to be the President of ISTE. The meeting began with his introductory speech.

He is an orator beyond compare. Akhil’s words were so well brought out that I finally began to believe that, ‘yes. there is life in this college’. He has this amazing knack of of marketing, if there is a person who can sell a fridge to an eskimo, its can only be Akhil.
Needless to say, I was so impressed that I volunteered for the Organising Committee.

I had taken part in quite a few events but organising was something new to me. Akhil Sir was an excellent guide. It seemed that every problem we faced had already been thought of by him. He had the solutions for every emergency that cropped up in the event. An excellent manager, both of material and human resources, he helped me
understand the value of properly channeling the resources for best results.
During the planning phase, Akhil had declared himself dictator. We were supposed to consult him before making any changes to the original plan. This helped us a lot as all of our ideas got the necessary feedback.
Till the last day, Akhil Sir was always there for guiding us.

I believe i owe him a lot. Its a regret that he passed out of the college this year.
Seriously, I could do with a mentor like him.
His friendly nature, that professional approach, time management, resource utilisation,
oratory skills….I could go on about him. Even though we worked together for only 2 weeks, I’ve learned a lot from him.
Akhil Sir, wherever you are, my best wishes shall remain with you always.

PS. Did I mention what a success the event had been? Its been one of the best organised
that I’ve seen. Completely by the students and for the students. Thank you Akhil Sir!