I'm officially an engineer. The story of my convocation

Two and a half years. That's a long time to wait to have a convocation. But hey, the degree itself is supposed to take four years of blood, sweat and toil. (I'd guess it took three hours max for the ppl who'd be reading an article by me ;-)).

For those of you unfortunate enough to have missed the convocation, let me go over some of highlights that may have been of some interest to you, had you not decided that your current occupation to be far more important.

To have really appreciated the 'solemn occassion of convocation' (please note this as it was reiterated again and again by the hostess Ms. Shampa), it is necessary to know a bit of the history of I.C.E. batch 98. Here's a quick review,
We joined in the August of 1998, as 60 odd students, many left and many joined during the course of the first year, and after a trillion exams, a billion vivas, a million classes, thousands of lectures, hundreds of teachers and {220,232} credits later, many of us passed out in 2002 and later. (You can find the names of the lucky ones in the convocation brochure.)

Coming to the day of convocation, We were expected to report by 8:00 and the ceremony was slated to start at 9:00. I figured out that NSIT is only 3:30 hours ahead of GMT, next time you go there, please adjust your time zone. There were only a few of us who could make it: Aditya, Amit, Amol, Anindya, Ankur P, Anubhav, Anup, Arjun, Hitesh, Karan, Komal and Lalit.

But this delay was most welcome as it gave us an opportunity to interact with some old friends, It was really wonderful to see all those faces roaming in the wind tunnel, the expressions and behaviour belying the present, and suggesting that they still didn't have a care in this world. The fountains, the lawns, the ramps, the labs and the sight of our batchmates in the college compound was amazing, very rarely am I at a loss of words, but that was an indescribable feeling.

Caught up with Anindya Sen, who has joined TCS and has thereby increased the average IQ of TCS, Mahendru who still looks the way he used to look with his french beard and Behrani still talks about windows after around 2 years.

Since, I had bought a new camcorder, I decided to can a bit of the college and our block in particular, if I can find a replacement for my 'well-worth-a-museum' K6-2/333 PC, I'd surely post the 15 odd minute video.

Meanwhile, the college authorities were particularly helpful to the students on that day as many who had not yet obtained there no-dues, were cleared on the spot and given the opportunity to get their degree under full pomp and show. All graduands made it a point to wear black graduation robes and yellow ribbons complete with a graduation cap. As much as it looked like a graduation ceremony, the dress made it resemble the first day at Hogwarts.

Expectedly, the auditorium was crammed with students from 2001, 2002 and 2003 batches, some didn't get any seat at all. As mentioned earlier, Ms. Shampa was the Master of ceremony. The function, itself, was designed to be a sight to behold. The auditorium was nicely done up with a huge banner reminding everyone that a convocation was going to take place lest some one forget. The professors and the assistant professors entered the auditorium as vedic hymns were being played from the fourteenth upanishad, they too were dressed in the ceremonial clothes and some of them made quite a spectacle of themslves. Don't remember his name but the DCE principal (white flowing hair 'n all) looked quite a sorcerer himself.

I, myself was quite amused by the motley crew of dignitaries invited by the college authorities. And since, the stuffed pockets of Baij Nath Gupta became too fat to remain hidden, we had a new director. There was Ms. Shiela Dixit, hon'ble chief minister of the state of Delhi, Sajjan Kumar, MP and D.D.Solanki, MLA. Then there was Mr. Regunathan, Delhi Governments chief secretary (or maybe the chief secretary to the chief secretary), who happens to be a distant relative of R.Murali.

In the Directors report, No where did he mention that they were planning to build a swimming pool or a larger gymnasium, a better canteen or a better mess, better labs or better faculty but he did not fail to mention that they were going to increase the student intake fairly soon. He also mentioned that the computer center, which has been 'under-construction' since I was a kid, would be ready by the turn of the next century. This received a standing ovation. Otherwise, the site of the computer center prompted 'you-know-who' to comment that once it comes up, it'll be a world class facility where four hundred could match each other in a quake 3 arena. BTW, The new director is some orator, If his speech hadn't been provided in the brochure, We wouldn't have figured out that it was english and he was talking about NSIT.

Sajjan Kumar and D.D. Solanki deserve a special mention as they looked quite stunning in the red coloured ceremonial robes. Good that both of them never graduated, otherwise they would have spoiled a lot of group photographs. D.D. Solanki reminded Behan ji that since the job with college was over thanks to their hundreds of site-inspections, she should now concentrate on a hospital in the area. His idea would have suited the occassion perfectly, but alas, NSIT is supposed to be an engineering college and not a medical institute. Can't remember what Sajjan Kumar said, if some one is interested in the speeches made by any of the invitees, plz call me, this is needlessly increasing the length of the piece.

The speeches were actually kind of silly (maybe barring, Ms. Sheila Dixit). I mean, they weren't any more silly than speeches by politicians and bureaucrats generally are, but I think there speeches are inherently silly. There were far too many of them who had nothing to do with the occassion and all of them wanted to speak. I found it quite tedious.
One thing I forgot to mention, In their 16 years of academic history, they had never known this joy but Convocation provided it to them. Our dearest friends Aditya Babbar, Arjun Kalra and Hitesh Sharma were exclusively called on the stage (besides the degree call ofcourse)!!!. It made dear old Babbar so happy that he treated a select few to a sumptuous lunch afterwards.

After the mandatory lighting of lamps, opening declaration, speeches etc., the award distribution ceremony finally started, medals were presented to class toppers, batch toppers and best projects. With the good grace of Ankur Jain, yours truly too got an opportunity to go up and receive one for the project. (Thanks Ankur, you were remarkably patient with me.) But as it happens all the time in our college, it did happen again, yes, chaos!!!. Things were being done haphazardly, the hostess probably had a flight to catch, and was taking names as if her life depended on wrapping it up in 15 minutes. Result, A got B's medal, C got D's medal and D got E's medal and so on... Same was the case with degrees, So I was photographed with Anup's degree, Anup was photographed with Gurjit's degree and so on... And the most amusing part is that as soon as one alighted from the stage, there was the administrative staff waiting to get the degree back. Actually, we got our true degrees later from the office, and since there were a lot of ppl, and there were the same old ladies, it goes witout saying that there was plenty of pushing and shoving involved!!!

The degrees were quite sober and were presented in a folder. I wondered if the degree was plain and boring. For 40k you'd think they could at least have printed it on some fancy paper with a watermark or something, but hardly matters now!!!

Those of you who missed it when you could have made it, I can tell you that it was a really bad choice that you made. For others, maybe it can't be helped.

On a personal note, it was a nostalgic and a fulfilling occassion, the only blot being that Amit was unable to take the shots when I was receiving the medal and the camcorder ran out of battery when we were getting our degrees...

Cheers,

Ank P

P.S. I have put this piece together rather hurriedly as I'm hard pressed for time these days (Yes, I too can have work to do!!!), But I have plenty of things fresh in memory exclusively for TG's consumption.

BYE BYE BEIJING and to hell with copyright...

Here's an article that I found to be worth a read in the Monday's edition of TOI, this chap has got a decent point...

Why waste money preparing for Beijing Olympics when we know we are never going to make a dent in the medals tally...

Better focus on the 'core competencies', viz., cricket etc.!!!


Bye Bye, Beijing
Why India Should Opt Out of Olympics
By Vinay Kamat

After saying yes to Olympics all these years, let us learn to say no. Our record speaks for itself. We participate, we don’t compete. That neatly sums up our life at Olympics. Such a performance is baffling, worrying. But it is also instructive. Even as the herd — rest of the world, that is — prepares for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it is time to ask ourselves whether we should follow them, too. After all, Olympics have changed a lot. If you think that the spirit of fun drives the Games, you are mistaken. The muscle of competitiveness now motors every event. And why shouldn’t it? Physical readiness, mental toughness, and ruthless ambition have changed sport into a global contest. Swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe do not compete; they train to calculate their chances. The big story four years hence will be an East-West slugfest: Chinese planning versus US precision.
For all its rhythm and beauty, sport is also jagged and ugly. Although magic and despair are the soulmates of sport, there is hardly any place for losers. Nothing sums up this feeling better than gymnast Paul Hamm’s emotive gasp after winning the gold: “I dug down deep and I fought for everything.” Boston Globe equated the endeavour with romance: “The romantic arena can be loaded with awkward stumbles and miscalculations that might keep a person single if he or she were to dwell on the negatives of bad dates instead of the possibilities of love.”
But it was also the fear of failure that drove Hamm at Athens. It was the rare ability to cut the Gordian knot of human tolerance — and win. And when Hamm did that, he proved that Olympics are not about athletic competence alone.

To race is to win. If it can’t win, why should India race? Let’s look at our Olympic pickings since 1900, when India first participated in the Games. Our achievement at the end of the Athens Olympics stands at eight gold, two silver, and five bronze. And, within a few months, a quarter of a century would have elapsed since we last bagged a gold. So, do we really need to be in the race? Or, do we need to thoroughly start preparing for one?
If Olympics have become tough, competitive, almost corporate-like in execution, why can’t India think laterally? Our athletes are not world-class; our training infrastructure sucks; and our sport vision is myopic. The upshot: After a series of false starts, it is time to pull out of something that yields no returns — time to sit out the Olympics. There is nothing wrong with that. Corporates do that all the time when businesses go bad. They even do that when business is plateauing. Why should sport be different? A “no” would give India an opportunity to rethink, “dig down deep” and prepare for conquest. It can always go back to the arena after a few years, but as a team that is sure of itself.

Today, there’s nothing more boring or disheartening than India at the Olympics. Post-Olympics, we debate India’s latest flop show. Pre-Olympics, we discuss the sum of all failures. We measure our prowess on the Olympic scale. We lament our failure. But we come up with one gold-medal solution. Sometimes, a silver is enough to satisfy our downscaling expectations. Why don’t we lay siege to all our fears?

After all, Olympics are not the ultimate benchmarks for human achievement. Take tennis and football, where Wimbledon and FIFA’s World Cup have become the meccas of sport. So, why fret over Olympics when sport is fragmenting itself and creating its own niches of excellence? In fact, Olympics are far removed from the world of computers where higher, faster, stronger also means brainier. Online Olympiads are distant dreams still, though broadband gaming communities are ballooning by the day.

This is not to say that India should now forget sport and, instead, create more IITs and IIMs, the nurseries of entrepreneurial and managerial talent. It is only to point out that India can perform if it sticks to its proven strengths. Why not focus relentlessly on cricket, chess, and, say, hockey? Is anybody even asking: After Sachin, who? Or, are we awaiting another miracle at Shivaji Park? Despite India’s wins, Indian cricket is a success story crafted by individuals. Unlike the Aussies, these ain’t products churned out regularly by super-infrastructure and top-notch local contests. These are stories of individual excellence that await sequels. But sequels can only be crafted by vision and strategy. I

t is a similar story in hockey. All our Olympic golds have come from this sport, but Indian hockey is in total disarray. It lacks everything, from discipline to finish. And if you are talking about team spirit, the flesh is still weak. The key to hockey lies in creating the building blocks. It lies in looking beyond Olympics by thinking anew. It starts with reviving the cradles of skill like Coorg (hockey) and Shivaji Park (cricket).

Let us not kill ourselves over the Olympics. Let us retreat to tone our sinews. Let us rebuild our competencies. Let us refocus to sharpen our vision. Let us starve ourselves of glory. Only then can we think and triumph like Sun Tzu’s “hungry man”. And start from scratch, by inspiring ourselves.

I finally have a blog!!!

So many ppl have suggested this to me, My blog is finally up...