The end of it all....!!

We have been listening to a lot of punchy one-liners through out our days in the class rooms. 

This particular one liner was from one of our first year classes in which we learn how to look at different objects in various views and draw their projections.

I guess you remember the typical scene in this class.

First it would be "Draw a pentagon", when we'd say "Pardon me, I didn't hear it.." it would become a hexagon and if someone does give a third run it would land up as a octagon. You must have heard Tamil , English and even Tanglish. But the version that we'd been hearing in these classes was English spoken in Tamil. The British killed many Indians during our struggle for independance, in revenge, some patriots like our 'hero' in this class would kill their language in the most torturous manner.

If you'd remember, the majority of our classes dealt with points, projections, and views. We had to draw a figure in different projections. 

This particular figure had a fateful point called 'q'. So this is how, it goes

"This is be which is be which comes as be the end 'q' "

All for saying, "Now, this is the end point q "!!

Shoes 'N' Shine

We were in First Year. Chemistry Lab, Physics Lab, Machines Lab and Fundamentals of Computing(FOC) Lab.

If you could remember we were supposed to wear leather shoes for all the labs except FOC. We were kinda scared about the rules and wore the leather shoes regularly for quite some time, until the faculty did not mind a few defaulters. 

This one bright especially hot afternoon, we walk straight into the Chemistry lab, and our professor was seated comfortably on his seat.

There was this other loud-mouthed professor who taught the IT department, standing in the entrance of the lab, aimlessly gazing at the feets of the students who passed by him.

Students wearing sandals, slippers, heels, and other kinds of wooden feet did not catch his eye until;  I, with my flashy red slipper walked past him. I think it was the color!!. He stopped me, and lectured, "Don't you know that you have to wear leather shoes to the lab..???" "Where are you going.....to a park..???"

Then I guess, the cells of his brain resonated , 'hey there are others too in the lab without shoes.' 

So he shouted with a thud... "Everybody in the lab without shoes GETOUT" .All my poor friends who thought they escaped came back to the door, staring at my red footwear, and glaring at me....Did I have to make my fashion statement in the lab..?

A huge chunk of the class were standing out, almost 80%, except the few good ones, who follow rules whether rain or storm.

Our professor who was disturbed with our commotion tried to rescue us, but the other professor was determined to have us condemned. So our sir, picks up a paper and says.. "All of you out here, write your names in a paper....I am going to reduce marks in your internals" 

We go into our discussion mode...mumbling our apologies, but he just would'nt listen.There was this particularly hilarious lab assistant, to whom we went and said...."Sir, what do we do now..?"

and he asked us to just write the names, he said.. "He'll toss the paper away even before the period ends.." , "Just do it people..!!"

And then we write this letter, "Sir, we hearby assure you that we will always were shoes to the lab. We apologise for having forgotten this time.." 

All our names went at the bottom.

I guess we all got full marks in Chemistry internals.... 

The Nostalgia Series!!

My days of telling people "I am an engineering student" are almost getting over.I guess I have to face the fact, the expectations from this world is going to be very different from now on.My certificates, educational accolades will mean nothing, as long as they remain on ordinary paper.Everything I studied and worked for, has value only if I can generate cash.

Oooohh!! the goosebumps come up... Life is going to be tough!!!

But that does not mean , I won't have fun and land up with blood pressure and hear attack before I am 40.

As I told you,good memories do a lot of miraculous things to your system. My advice, store good memories. Through photographs, diary entries, greeting cards, blog entries, or a symbolic gift. Or if you are a person like me, cherish the memory often, by thinking about it and you'll find it hard to forget it.

In the forthcoming series, I'll be putting together some of these most memorable moments of my days in college with friends and (uh!! forget it!) the others....!

Let's meet in the paradise of our happy nostalgia.

Most Wanted IT SKILLS

With the present economic meltdown, the companies that came about and lured us by flashing their large compensation figures are now backing off from showing us our work cabins.

It would be quite unfair to blame them.Everything is a consequential setback of a global crisis. The downward economic spiral has triggered a domino effect, hurting all industries in every sector.

Every setback poses both pain and challenge. If we are going to focus on the pain, we would be referred to as the 2009 pass out victims.But if we would rise up and challenge, we'd find opportunities that help us tap unheard potential scale enormous heights.

This time, is especially for us to rise up and sharpen our skills, explore unbeaten paths, and look beyond the sunset:.

In view of this, there are a few specific IT skills that we need to evaluate ourselves in.

• Security/Firewall/Data Privacy
• General Networking/Network Infrastructure
• Operating System
• Hardware
• Non-specific Server Technology
• Soft Skills
• Application-Level
• Specific Programming Languages
• Web-Based Technologies
• RF Mobile/Wireless

If these skills are accumulated in a systematic and efficient manner, we are sure to benefit a lot more from this recession, than we did any other "boom" time.

All the Best!!

Why our information age is primitive?

Almost everyone I meet or talk to or read about has been hit in some way by the crisis cocktail that the world is facing . We've been through an age of population explosion but now the impact of the information explosion is burying the effect of the former.

We have built large number crunching machines, huge information hungry satellites,precision technologies to retrieve and dig the information and illustrate mind blowing predictions and forecasts.

But the unfortunate reality was that none of them have helped to disaster proof our homes, our career, our money and our lives.Face the fact!! we are still primitive.

We cannot help ourselves, the helplessness of our 'leaders' today is the evidence.Of course things will become better, not because of somebody's 'strategy' or changed policies or a peace talk or some great guy's interference.

Fortunately or unfortunately we have been given the power to control our actions, and not their consequences.That's why the wise old proverb says, "Prevention is better than cure."Things will change slowly, we need to be patient and take collective measures to protect ourselves, the greatest thing we can do to help is to stop the condition from worsening.

Then, we need to move forward with a repentant heart for buying facts at the cost of wisdom.

Habit Engineering College

I am an engineer, only with paper value at the moment.

I don't blame our educational system, I don't blame our inefficient faculty who become teachers by chance rather than by choice, I don't blame the 'Dr' chancellors and correspondents and their "hard-earned" "M.A Phds", I don't blame the fact that none of our engineering colleges are run by educationalists, I don't blame the fact that our exams are a further mockery of our system.

I hate the blame game. So I take it on myself. Ouch!! but then my ego hurts. So I'll tell you how our funny engineering college education can help us in some way.

My college education failed badly to prepare my brains, but it did do a great job in habit formation.

They say, Good habits take a long time to form. I invested 4 years of my life for this.

1)I can never be late.

2)I can never think about giving an excuse for not completing an assignment.

3)I will not take leave unless and until my head falls off.

4)I can patiently listen and take notes even in the most boring lecture.

5)I will never take my mobile phone to a class or a meeting.

6)NO matter, how absolutely baseless a rule maybe, I can adapt myself to it.

7)Nothing is taken for granted.I will prepare for even the most mundane things.

8)I won't over-socialize, there are strict boundaries circuited in my system.

9)I don't extend lunch times for chit-chats.

10)I am no extravagant shopper for clothes or accessories. I hardly spend a minute before the mirror.

11)Even when I am not watched at, I obey rules. Even if not asked, I follow protocol.

12)I know to have fun no matter what.

Guys, if you think college will make you an engineer, then you are wrong, it can only get you a degree. A "good" college like mine can help you form habits along with getting you a degree. Do we spend lakhs of money just for learning habits?? Hey!! that's the state of the day and I don't intend neither do I believe I can change the system through a blog post.

Though our educational system is at serious fault.Blaming them is not going to make life any better.Many are unhappy, because they are searching for the wrong things in college.

• Don't take your dreams to your college. Only take your note books. Use your time in college to observe people, organization, work politics, and train yourself to follow rules.

• Learn the fundas, you'll never get so much time again.

• Make friends.There are wonderful people out there.It is hard to get genuine friendship after this phase.

• Work the work that's given to you, learn for exams, do the assignments. It sounds kinda boring but these exercises help you to keep your brain from rusting.

If you plan to use your "professional education" to build your career, then your career would be shallow and with stunted growth.With time you'd become stressed out,dissatisfied,obese, and start attending yoga and art of living classes.

Consider these years as warming up exercises, your real engineering education begins after you receive your degree.Here you are the chancellor, principal, professor, instructor and the student. Your performance is assessed by the market.

Your dreams will be your closest friend and good memories will bring a smile.

In the journey from paper to professional!!!
Callie

What about WHAT.....!!!!

Ok!! I know that you did not give a thing about my welcome note... You want to hear real stuff.. So let me cut the crap and tell you what I really want to talk about.

The only things that you wont find here are the stuff I write in my diary, everything else goes here. Ideas, opinions, expressions, thoughts, people and experiences.The topics would range from Technology,travel,careers, education,friends,entertainment, programming, environment, society, government and books.

Welcome to my World!!! Enjoy your stay....!!!

First Note

Hi!!

I guess anything must begin with a good welcome note. Well, though I don't believe in rules much, I do think that writing a welcome could warm me up.

I owe a lot to the internet, because it has given me the audacity to doze off during lectures in the classroom. It has helped me express myself in a way, that is so really me without any frills and without the need to meet any criteria.

The purpose of this little space, is to fill in just about everything that I perceive.

I pursued a degree in Computer Engineering so that I can fund my passion. I am on my way to completing this degree.

When I am not doing something that would help me pursue my passion, you'd find me doing something that would help me earn my bread.

I intend to look at a lot of things through this eye; all our worlds are the same, but the huge difference comes because we look at the same stuff quite differently indeed.

If you drop in you'll see how I see the same things you see!!!