Re: Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!

Prof. Ramaswamy and our batch of Integrated Masters programme started off our journey together at the University of Hyderabad. We have not known any other vice chancellor. For four years that too. We would not have known any too. Not if he had not typed down on the keyboard from the vice chancellor's office, for the last time. 'The Last Post' came from the Vice Chancellor of our university who was the inspiration to me and many others to spread and write good thoughts(I write mostly about Rafael Nadal though). This would be his last article on a blog which like the author, constantly reminded us that the university always rocked!

HCU rocks!!

The words, 'blog' and 'university' together remind me of a post by Prof. Ramaswamy, "Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!." It did not happen as soon as he asked for it. Few bloggers on the list left the university too.I don't know who else on the list is left in the university to unite. But thanks to the world wide web, we all can always stay in the university group. We could still write to make a difference in the university. There are many issues to be addressed. Ones that the student's union cannot and will not think about. The duty of a student. As a group, we, students can question the wrong doings of the administration. But I am not sure if there is any group to check the walk and talk of us, the students!

Prof.Ramaswamy has been a keen supporter of student-run groups like the quizzing club and the Junior Science Club. I know that as a volunteer for JSC. I am quite sure the new vice chancellor does too. Because whichever talk or campus concert series, I go to, I see him, either listening to the songs with closed eyes or taking down notes. But it is upto us to make sure that all the nice student activities run well. VCs and students go and come but the groups must stay.The legacies must be passed on. Year after year, many students pass out of the university. Term after term, VCs go away. But the groups are immortal. What can be more wonderful than this?

Keeping the campus clean is upto us. By clean, I do not mean only dust or garbage. I meant clean from misuse. Clean from overuse and neglect. The workers in our mess complain that half of the students eating there are non university students. I heard that the same reason led to the downfall of Osmania university. We do not want that happening to our university, do we? We shall be united as a university and keep it to ourselves. Showing it off? Yes, we shall and we should but sheltering people is not necessary. That too at the cost of quality food and shelter.


The outgoing VC mentioned that he has so much unfinished work in his mind. I was told one of those works. He wanted to make the campus greener. Every student should adopt one plant in the university all through his/her term and take care of it. We can go ahead and do it. Find a plant, see that it is growing well. Keep an eye on it and let it flourish. Plain walls should be artistically painted, be it graffiti or showing off one's ideology! More than anything else, I feel the best we can do to our wonderful university is to not break beer bottles anywhere and everywhere in the campus. Keep the bottles in your rooms. Stack up your stock and sell them later. It could buy you another beer bottle.

Seriously, HCU rocks! and let us make sure it always does.
Thank you Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy.

Science of Deduction!

Quizzing in its game form probably came into existence towards the end of the Eighteenth century. Quiz literally means "odd person." This is a word, which I think was not derived from Latin or Greek. There are some myths about how the word was invented but I did not hear any of them properly. So, no bother. Thanks to Neil O'Brien and family, Siddharth Basu and also Amitabh Bachchan, quizzing is quite popular in India. But unfortunately it is not that popular in Hyderabad. I hope I will be thankful to Akkineni Nagarjuna for making quizzing popular. A very Happy Birthday!

I have participated in a thousand quizzes and won some ten of them. I love quiz. I term it as, quest of knowledge. Quiz is the "Science of Deduction." In a quiz, the concentration should be more on the deciphering a question rather than on winning the quiz. There will be no fun otherwise. That is the reason why I do not look at general knowledge books or make points from the newspaper. That is the job of the quiz master or those preparing for the civil service examinations. Like the world's only consulting detective puts it, we have to observe everything, deduce things from what we observed and once the impossible is eliminated, whatever is left is the solution. This is how a question is to be deduced. That is fun. That is quiz. Thanks to the oldest quiz club of India, K-circle, it is possible for me to try and deduce answers for few questions on a weekly basis and the Society for QUizzers and Debaters in the University is to be thanked for frequent such quizzes.

I do believe a lot in team work and not at all in solo work. After all, this is no board exam or a Golf match. Deducing is quite boring if it is done alone (yeah, well, even Sherlock has Watson and I am "Sherlocked", hence I need a Watson too!) Having a team mate should not be to answer well or come first. The purpose of a team is to enjoy the quiz. Enjoy the bond of team mates. I could have answered several of the questions which we answered and did not answer as a team. But that would have been devastating for me. If the "resonance" of team mates match, what I found then is that even guess work is enjoyable. I learnt that team work is not only about individual performance alone. In fact, it is not at all about individual performance. It is all about group cooperation. If one comes up with an answer, others should analyse why it would be right or even wrong. One need not necessarily answer. Hem can be able to justify the answers given by others in the team. Then the team will be one.

It is never about winning. It should not be. It is all about learning and learning is fun when it is done together, by like minded people. Especially during quizzes like the K-Circle's Quizcast, those like me with not so knowledge or in short, unprofessional quizzers like me have to guess answers at times and if the partner is the right one, beautiful answers come out of even guesses!!  

A Non-Stick University

The university has engrossed itself in a trendy flavour of pink for the past three days preparing for a massive event organised in it by the government of the newly formed Telangana. I was promised some fifty varieties of food unique to the state. But all I got is chicken, that too badly cleaned one. But it is not about the okay-ish food or the excellent cultural shows that I got to experience but it is about that pinkishness that the university, its walls and roads had to embrace, through posters and flags! Thanks to one of my very good friend, I realised the relevance of 'where-to-stick-the-posters!'

Its a door, not a notice board!!

After a talk about waste management, my friend, throwing her and another abandoned tea cup in the dustbin, commented on the poor state of the walls in the university. "I don't like posters to be stuck on walls." I asked, what was wrong in conveying message through a poster? A plain wall could be decorated with posters. She was not happy because,
1. Her undergraduate college had a better way to publicise posters. Apparently, they were never stuck on walls and were kept by the windows. Students later used them for rough work
2. The boards meant for sticking posters are not used properly and walls are used improperly.
3. The walls get really dirty

Looking at how every inch of the university walls are now covered with posters, I cannot agree less with her! I think there are other ways, much better ways to communicate with the "wall-media."-- Graffiti I don't think there is anything wrong in graffiti. Famous quotes should be written on walls but properly. Art students must be given a chance to put to use the stacked up colours for beautiful graffiti. They generally pass their time on flyovers. Go ahead. Fill the university walls. But keep it colourful and beautiful.  When our prime minister went to Kyoto as part of his Japan trip, a main point of discussion was Kyoto turning into a 'poster-free city.' Surprisingly but seemingly obvious, he was told that the Japanese values of cleanliness came from Buddhism. The PM then rightly pointed out that Indians might have conveniently forgotten the values of Buddhism.

When Buddhism offered solutions for cleanliness elsewhere in the world, why not in India, its birthplace!! Almost everybody is active on some social networking site. Posters can be posted on the sites and any communication through hard copy can be done with the help of pamphlets. Yet, there is a dire necessity of voluntary service. Service by both those who stick the posters and read them. For those who stick the posters to stick them in the prescribed areas, the notice boards and by those who read to say firmly that they only read those posters put up in the proper notice boards!
Or maybe, as a last resort use plaster to stick posters instead of gum!
As Kyoto pulls down the last two of its posters, let us pull down our first two and strive for a 'poster-free' university.

"Hail" the Storm!

"Yesterday, as we were trying to write a program on Matlab in our lab, we heard stone pelting sounds. We ran outside to see hailstones falling. This is my third hail storm!!", said a student of my university excitedly. Well, I did not miss it too. 'If not now, then when' is the motto and here I am, suffering from cold and severe head ache. Anyway, it was a very nice experience, hail hitting on us and we hitting on others!! And....hostel room being flooded!!

Hail Stones 

Actually, one of my friends asked, "Why do these hail storms occur only in summer?" Well, they do not occur only in summer (by the way, it is not summer yet!) but summer heat gives a boost. That is all. Basically, every thunderstorm cumulonimbus cloud brings with it ice pieces, but these melt before they reach us. But the hail storm goes much higher and thick ice stones form and fall. A hot surface would only boost it because air near the surface gets hotter and more wind and the clouds get better push towards the hail forming region. As a matter of fact, hail storms are really dangerous(of course!, the very reason enough to play in hailstorm!) and create a lot of damage to crops. Silver Iodide cannons and missiles are developed to tackle this issue. By the way, these are not part of those generally occurring Mango Showers. These are something else. Actually, there is a depression in the South Pacific!

This on one side. The other thing is that we are awaiting a drought. Yes, I typed it right. A drought only. It might be not so joyous to hear that a storm brings a drought with it. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and some other research institutes, an El Nino is 75% likely to occur this year, bringing along with it, a drought in India, Australia and parts of Africa. It seems in India, it had occurred last in 2009 leaving damages never seen in the last 40 years. Since one of the results of El Nino is rise in surface pressure in Indian Ocean and subsequent spread of warm water from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific carrying the rains with it, we can be sure of a drought in India. For a country which looks towards the skies to grow crops, this is a devastating news. By the way, El Nino is the other word for Baby Jesus since it generally occurs during the time of Christmas!

El Nino

A publication in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, USA gave a very early warning of El Nino this year. For once, let us believe Remote Sensing and not New Year predictions and do all we can to save ourselves from a possible disaster. First let it be started off with better storage of food grains by the Food Corporation of India (heyy...I am not joking, it should be done!!)

Charles Kettering...Life Saver!!

Date: November 13, 2013
Time: 2017 hours
Place: Indiranagar-Kondapur-Miyapur-Linagampally belt, Hyderabad

For the first time in my life, I went out on to a very busy road on gear bike at night! That is not the point. The point is, it was a bloodily-peak traffic time. Yeah, this is routine in Hyderabad but not for me, not on a motorbike! I have been driving gear-less bikes fearlessly on the same roads for many years now and I am quite comfortable in any condition of traffic. But this was very very different!!

The traffic was so severe (or I think I felt it that way!!) that I had no time to even shift gears beyond the first. I could have used the second easily say my friends...I do not know. I had no first hand experience too back then and obviously I had no choice. The bike too had no choice but to keep stopping quite few times!!

Frustrated, it was at this juncture that I told my friend sitting pillion to me, who was as good as I was in driving on such roads, that I would put the picture of the inventor of the SWITCH START!!, whoever it was as my profile picture of my facebook account once I reopen the account after 5 months ( I decided not to open my account from the U.S.Open last year to the Australian Open this year!!)

Gave a kick start to my life with the switch-start!!

Thank You Charles.F.Kettering for inventing the switch start. I know and can tell out of experience what a difference you made to the world!! This is just one of his great inventions! There are many other benefitial things like refrigerants, light weight engines, leaded fuel etc.. I do not care about the other inventions for now and I sincerely thank him for the switch start and hence this picture!
He founded the Delco company and holds close to 200 patents. I hope to become such an inventor cum entrepreneur like him. Of course there is Thomas.Alva.Edison too but he was not my life saver!!  

Amartya Sen's Talk

People do not get a nobel prize just like that. They have something in them which others do not have. They carry some energy with them. Dr.Amartya Sen is one of them. Though I do not agree with all of his ideas, I got enchanted by the way he spoke yesterday in my university. Only Dr.M.S.Swaminathan and Dr.Subramanya Swamy were the other persons who I saw in person could speak like that, mesmerising the audience under any circumstances.

Bharatratna, Sri Amartya Sen was to give a talk on "Are Coffee Houses Important for Education" after receiving the honoris causa from the University of Hyderabad which ofcourse was announced 22 years back!! As he occupied the stage to speak on the subject, he was interrupted by a mob which started shouting slogans against the university and that he should speak on caste and not on coffee!! His reply of course was that he was involved in more agitatations than those people and that they should know how to agitate and not prevent someone from speaking.

Interaction with us, students...na actually, he was saying no to autographs!!

But the thing that I liked the most was that he spoke, in that situation. He imparted caste system in India with coffee houses. He promised he would not speak about coffee houses and spoke about how he and his friends used coffee houses during their time to discuss politics, society and science. He kept reminding us, the audience at an interval of every five sentences that he still was not speaking about coffee houses. Wow! What a diplomat. One reason he got his Nobel!!

One story he told was about a Swed who interviewed him after the news of his Nobel achievement came who was surprised that Amartya Sen was given the Nobel prize by those people!! He had fans even before he became a laurette and people(his students included) were betting on him to get the prize!
Finally, I would say I am lucky I could attend talks by giants like Amartya Sen, M.S.Swaminathan, Subramanya Swamy, C.N.R.Rao and Abdul kalam.

In the event of his "Are Coffee Houses important for Education," I would like to ask Dr.Amartya Sen,
"Are Wine Shops important for the Society?"      

To Sachin, with love

Dear Sachin,

I remember that evening in 2010 when I was nervously strolling around, listening to the commentary on the radio about probably my favourite innings of yours in Hyderabad against Australia. I clearly remember that the highest score by teammates after your mammoth 175 was just 63. Similarly, I remember a match against Pakistan in 2004 in which the second highest scorer after your 141 was a mere 36!! This is the problem with you Sachin. When you play well, when you are on song, everybody including the non-striker just wants to watch you do that. To see you hit those unbelievably mesmerising cover drives, leg glances and pull shots.

My parents tell me that when I was a kid, I used to ask if I ate, walked, talked or even dressed up like you!! We grew up like that. Playing only one sport and praying to only one person, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. If our previous generations had the pleasure of watching your Old Trafford, Sydney, Perth and Sharjah performances, we had the privilege of enjoying your 'Nataraja Dance' against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup, your century vs England in Chennai and your extraordinary innings to help India win the Commonwealth Bank series in 2008.

Thank You for being there Sachin. Every good innings of yours must have inspired lakhs of people. There is a M.S.Dhoni, a Virat Kohli and a Bhuvanesh Kumar in them. Why, your presence in the dressing room is enough for young team mates to enter the ground confidently. Your presence in the team is enough for 120 crore people to watch the match. Your presence in 'Cricket Cards' game is enough for a confirmed win!!

I need not talk about the records you set in Cricket. I am sure they will not be broken any time soon. But yes. They maybe broken in the coming years. For you have shown how to bat well. All the way from a bowler dominated era few years back to a batsmen dominated time now-a-days. But, I daresay that one can only try to break your records but cannot even think of setting new ones. They have to remain envious of you!!

Finally, I want to say that you have not just entertained us with your bat but you have taught us a lot. To be humble, to be ethical and successful(I remember you rejecting a huge campaign offer only because it was a liquor ad) You have taught us to bounce back. To reply, not in words but in actions. Your recovery from the tennis elbow injury is a motivating story. Even now, when you are bidding good bye, you are teaching us to end things in elegance.

Wankhede will be worried. Sydney will be sad. Sharjah will shun away all matches. Lord's will be lost for words for not being able to witness your run flow. Thank you by the way for making your retirement step wise. We can now be in a feel that you got injured and are not playing for sometime. Otherwise, we would be shocked, for who will show us those beautiful cover drives, upper cuts, googlies, flippers and that glowing face. "Whadddaplayer you are!!"

Truly,
One of your devotees in the religion of cricket.

P.S: Please do not come back as a commentator. We cannot bear to see you as anybody except SACHIN-The CRICKETER!!

This letter is published in The Hindu on 15 November 2013(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/the-little-master/article5351948.ece). Since this is my first letter that made to the papers and since it is about Sachin, now awarded BHARATRATNA, I am advertising a lot about it!!

My Top Authors

I love reading. Coming to stories, I love the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and some other such fantastic stories but in the present century writings, I am an avid reader of novels, most of them fiction. I have read many good books and here are few comments about my best ten authors.

10. Charles Dickens

Author of my first novel, "Great Expectations." That is all. I still remember from this book that one should not put the knife but fork in mouth while eating. Apart from that I haven't been much into his novels. But I love his "Christmas Carol" too. 

9. Arthur Hailey

I read his book called "Flight into Danger" when I was bedridden due to Jaundice. A small but really beautiful book. Then I ended up reading two more books, "Detective" and "Strong Medicine" of the same author which were intriguing in their own way!

8. Allistair Maclean

I read his "Night without End" while travelling in a crowded train on a hot May morning. Believe me or not, I was shivering. The book is based on incidents that take place in Greenland. His style of writing is not something out of ordinary but he just makes us look through the hero's eyes and doesn't bring out of the scenes.

7. Alfred Hitchcock

I do not remember how many times I read his "Three Investigators- Secret of the Silver Spider" book at once. Such was the brilliance of the book. The "simple but dangerous" adventures of the juvenile detectives were just amazing.

6. Jeffrey Archer

Not a KANE more, not an ABEL less is necessary to describe about this author. But my favourite part of his writings is that he knows where to be humorous, sarcastic and serious. His books are almost always smooth flowing and cool to read.

5. Sidney Sheldon

The protagonist is always the scapegoat...we feel sorry for him..sorry it is mostly 'her' right!! But this man is too deep. Everything is too intense. From executing violence to expressing love, he does a lot of research I guess. Sometimes the suspense in his novels is so out of imagination.

4. Dan Brown

The scientist, professor, doctor, federal agent what not. He seriously does his research. More than the novel, the information about various things ranging from Monalisa painting to fluorescent bacteria to Dante Alighieri, I learned more history and science than I did in some of my classes!!

3. Amish Tripathi

He is the "Indian Rick Riordan." Like Dan Brown, he does his research. Excellent research. The way he mixed fiction with Indian Mythology, History and Geography is just mind blowing. He answered many questions about the system in India. I would suggest people to read his "Shiva Trilogy". Just brilliant it is!!

2. J.K Rowling

Yes. The waiting is over. She is on the list. She should be on top. No doubt about that. Forget her other books. The Harry Potter series is worth a thousand other novels. What's not in that new world? Humour?Adventures? Values? I have to give atleast seven pages to write about those seven brilliant books!! One of the best books I have read. This series is for everyone. All must read this series. That's it. No more discussions!!

1. Suryadevara Ramamohana Rao

I put at the first place the man who wrote about what I wanted to become. How to succeed with simple common sense. What it is to be an entrepreneur. Stories about people who have come to the best position from the worst possible position. I am so inspired by his book, "Trinetrudu" that I started eating less salt after reading his book. This is probably the best fiction book I have ever read!!

These are the top ten. There are many other good writers who I encountered. each with a style of their own. A super style that too!!  

A Storm's Coming!!!

Hi everyone,

yesss
I have entered.... and for the first time that too!

I will post about various things ranging from Cricket to Cleopatra, from Physics to Philadelphia, from Quantum Mechanics to Qutub Minar, from Religion to Rowling, from Battle of Panipat to Boundary conflicts, from crumbling Economy to clint Eastwood, from Ecological balance to Engineering science, from dashing Indian Companies to melting Icecaps,and from the universe of Music to Milkyway Galaxy...... woah a long list!!!!
In an appreciable sense, I blog about "anything and everything".... anyway that's what blogging's meant for isn't it?

If my posts are knowingly/unknowingly directed towards anybody/anything in particular...it is meant to be!!

Any comments, corrections, debates are happily encouraged and hopefully I will frequently and periodically keep updating my blog.

Overall, I guarantee you total entertainment and true information!!   :) :)