With the advent of social networking sites such as facebook, orkut, twitter etc, it’s for sure that we have been able to revive lost friendships, at the same time; they have seen a major transition from being just a part of life to practically, the heart of life. Even the recent cell phone companies advertise for their technically sound models by highlighting such facilities. Nowadays, it’s very common to see that people do not share their home addresses etc, the first time they meet, but rather engage themselves in ensuring the profile names of each other on such networking sites. Rather, an account on such sites has become a status symbol, thanks to us Indians, who account for the second largest internet users in the world only after China. An insight into such sites enlightens you further, where there is hardly any privacy, where people can easily be fooled by fake appearances, rather I have heard of cases where a person on facebook shared all his details with his “online friend” only to find himself abducted one day.

The eateries on the other hand, like McDonalds, Dominos, KFC have proved to be a boon for the well to do. But have we done our bit before letting them occupy an integral position in our daily lives. Whatever, for us, taste is everything and this f**king stomach can make us do anything. Let’s divert ourselves a bit, let’s concentrate on the cell phone part; how ecstatic we become on seeing “sexy” cell phones put on display in a mobile store and start fantasizing to be the owner of one of those, but do we realize how badly this has affected us, how detrimental it has proved to be, in establishing the world a global village on one hand, but ravaging the mentality of the younger generation on the other; by being the best way to help involve oneself in crimes: mms’s, porn, to name a few.

The choice for western music amongst Indians also caught my attention recently, when I felt embarrassed upon being questioned about of the singer of an English song, my friend was listening to, but my question is, why the hell I should know about that singer. If I don’t listen to English songs, does it mean I am not on the road to prosperity and development? I know I am being vulgar in my words, but I’m helpless. Why should I feel ashamed to admit that I listen to Hindi songs and Sonu Nigam is my favorite singer, and not a freaky foreigner .Yet again, I don’t mean to hurt the sentiments of those who enjoy western music, but what I stand for is, let’s not make this thirst for adopting westernization a mandatory requirement to prove one’s abilities or genius.

Another change that has vandalized the Indian society is the increased cases of love affairs……oh my god…this is a sensitive topic I have crept into………still, it’s not meant to offend my Romeos and Juliets who come across this article……by the way, any girl single here..??????  I’m available…..lollzzzz…..anyways, today, almost every second boy/girl has a relationship before he/she is married. It would be great if the past lovers tie the knot, but if it isn’t the case, I have witnessed how it has ruined several lives even after marriage. Attraction is something, as I feel, is unstoppable at this age. But one must try to differentiate between love and infatuation. The increased number of premarital sex cases, live-in relationships etc. all are pointing towards the derailment of our cultural train, which our forefathers have been piloting since ages and when it was our opportunity to take the driving seat, we couldn’t prove ourselves to be eligible enough. I don’t mean to stop this ,neither am I against this institution of love affairs, but my call to everyone is that there is absolutely nothing bad in loving someone, sharing your loveliest feelings with someone whom you feel closest to,  but it could be done in a more dignified manner and not illicitly. I don’t expect that we should stick to what we have been doing in India since ages to protect our culture, but let’s try to merge with the west only up to a reasonable limit and not stoop before their so called “culture” to prove ourselves “servile”.

A lot can be “said”, a lot more can be “written”, but what matters is how things are “done”, how far  we need to go ahead to protect our Indian culture from oblivion’s curse.

Its been a long time since  I last wrote something for you all to ponder over. But this time, I am here with my own story.I shall be sharing  my experiences during the last few months, especially during my 2nd year of Engineering.

My 3rd semester was really eventful for me, as I got my branch changed to Civil, which I really enjoy pursuing.The first few months were quite hectic, as I had to cover the missed portions of the academic curriculum.  But I had immense faith in myself and I kept on with my hard work. I was happy as I could identify myself amongst my branch mates very soon.I had a new room mate as well, who belonged to my own branch. With the blessings of God and the support of my parents and friends, I performed well in the semester exams.Our semester got over on the 26th of November,2009 and I was back home to enjoy my vacations.

I underwent a technical internship during this winter break at MECON LIMITED, Ranchi in their Civil Engg section. It gave me a great opportunity to have a close look at the corporate world , enhancing my interest in the branch. Those 3 weeks were quite hectic, though highly beneficial I suppose.

JANUARY 2010

And then , I had to return back to Manipal for my 4th semester. Leaving home was no more  a challenge, as Manipal is no less than a second home. All philosophy aside, it does feel bad, but maybe, I’ve learnt to acclimatize myself to changes in life by now.

The fourth semester kicked off quite nicely. I involved myself in a project under a faculty member of my branch. A great challenge awaited me  and that was the German Certificate Examination. I had been learning German since last 2 semesters and the time had come to show how much I had imbibed during the “sleepy” two hours of evening German classes, after a hectic Engineering Survey Lab till 5pm, twice a week.

I had to strengthen my concepts, though managing things at the last moment is always difficult , as you all know. Amidst assignments, classes and all other engagements, I had to strive hard to devote time to study German, which was actually negligible. but yet again, the faith in me kept prompting to me  “Go ahead, you can do it”.

And then, it was one day before the German exam, the 30th of January, I remember quite well.The auditions of Aria (the Pre- Revels) were going on at KC  i.e, Kamath Circle, the great evening adda of Mitians ( information provided for non- Manipalites only, I know I don’t need to explain Mitians how significant KC is in our lives, especially guys!!!!!!!!)

And by the way, I feel I haven’t mentioned that I have great interest in singing. My friends do appreciate my singing, some of them might kill me if handed over with a revolver, as I sing too frequently in my room, at a pitch sufficient enough to disturb people residing in the opposite wing as well.

And so it was, the auditions were going on and I was standing there at KC ,staring at the people performing, consoling myself that I shouldn’t sing tonight as that would cost me too much time before the German exams. I could not study for German until the last day as I was burdened with drawing assignments , which take almost 2 evenings to complete( for me). My heart was throbbing and simultaneously, I was just pondering over which song could I have sung, had I not been packed to this extent. And suddenly I had a beautiful song in mind  “O mere dil ke chain” and I started singing it to myself in a nearby room there, where the organizers occasionally came. One of them, seeing me singing to myself, asked me whether I was a participant going to perform next, but a weak denial came out of my helpless mouth.

But then a sudden realization overcame my constitution that said ” You should perform, whatever may happen tomorrow” .I quickly called my friend, Kartik, to download the karaoke of the track and there I was at the venue, to sing the song, with my 10 minutes of preparation, amongst my fellow competitors who seemed to have been preparing for the occasion, ever since they were born. And my chance came, I sang my heart out before the crowd which applauded me well.

My friends(not me!!!!) were confident enough that I would definitely make to the pre- final round,but unfortunately, I couldn’t. But I have no hard feelings because I got what I wanted, i.e appreciation from unknown people ,stopping me on the pavement & congratulating me for my brilliant performance that night.

And then I came back to my room, completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. I hardly could study anything.I could see the pity, Kartik, who was also appearing for the German exam,had for me, seeing me head towards the toughest battle of my life unprepared!!!! The next morning, I just revised the basic concepts and my prior knowledge helped me the clear the German exam…Yes people, I can freely admit now that I know German.” Ya, Ich weiSS Deutsch”.

FEBRUARY

The next month, February was really hectic as the IAESTE internships were about to be released. I was busy making my fact sheet and application in the best way I could, even the day before the first sessional.!!!!! Although my sessionals went quite well, I couldn’t get through the first round of offers as all of them had been bagged by the seniors.

I was disappointed for sometime, but then I had a new project in hand.A group of five of us had registered for a National Level Working Model Competition, at Nasik, which was being organized by the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Mumbai. We were making a new design of  lifting bridge using mild steel rods to give it the actual look. The design provided for the simultaneous passage of road and water traffic when the bridge rose to the lifted position by counter weights mechanism.

It was an exciting experience designing the various parts of the bridge along with my friends, staying awake up til 4 am for almost 15 days in a row, discussing various aspects of the bridge. We worked hard for the model, even sacrificing our Holi  for completing the model, in the MIT workshops.

MARCH

I had to go home to meet my elder brother who had come  from Munich after 8 months , though we were meeting after a year.During this period, my friends went to Nasik where they did quite well.Our model was highly appreciated and we were asked to present our idea in the form of a technical paper, which would be published, as said by one of the judges. I shall be working on it in some time from now.

And then, we were all back to Manipal, awaiting the 2nd sessionals, quite sure to screw them this time( as our busy schedule didn’t allow us to study during the last month). It passed by somehow, definitely not up to the mark, but I hope I can make it up in the 3rd one.

I had applied for the second round of IAESTE offers before going home. By God’s grace, my application was selected for my first choice,Malaysia. Yes!! I had been selected for a technical internship to MALAYSIA during July 2010. It was a dream come true for me. Everyone was so happy over this accomplishment of mine.Even I felt very confident and happy. But unfortunately, I had to decline the offer later due to my health reasons. I have to undergo a surgery during my holidays, so I can’t leave India. Why surgery?? is another long story which I might share, sometime in future.

After all this, I wanted to take a break, so i just chilled out for a week or so until two days ago, when I again involved myself in making a Water Rocket. It works on the principle of water pressure and Newton’s Third Law. Launching the rocket at the MIT Quadrangle in front of so many people was a great moment for me. My rocket worked wonderfully and our design was appreciated as well. I felt as if  I was a space scientist for some time.

That’s all people until yesterday. I shall be coming up with some articles in the near future. Hope you enjoyed this one…..and please, do comment. your comments are like rewards, be they good or bad, I shall accept them from the bottom of my heart……..Cu ….Take care.

Something that really saddens me is that everyone in the world is talking; we are holding assemblies, high profile summits, attending which spends most of the tenure of any leader, anything and everything that could project “the ministry is working”. I hope you, my readers are wise enough to decide how far these so called “problem analyzing summits” are able to sort out the abominable problems we are dealing with or are yet to face, thanks to the technological advancements and the movie 2012 that did make me yell out “Would it be this tragic???”. In case you are a conscious citizen, I hope you are one; you would be aware of the recently concluded “Copenhagen Summit” which stressed on the climatic problems prevailing in the world, the main reason being the global warming, as the scientists suggest, which may eventually lead to a disaster. It sounds ironically ridiculous to see United States keen to pressurize India to stick to what it seems to agree to, at the summit. Under these circumstances, when India needs to reduce carbon emissions which means reduction of industrialization, we can think of a reduction in the already developed Indian sector namely the so called “high profile lot” but, how can the rural India, which covers almost 70% of the country’s area, be able to fight against this, when millions of people still depend on the daily wages that they get after a full days’ work, near the furnace, in a steel factory, to cite an example. A reduction in industrialization means less number of industries which leads to lesser employment and more poverty. The capitalists who have legacies of such money making ventures won’t even feel a pinch if they have to close down everything and confine themselves to their comfortable, well air- conditioned homes which they have innately possessed. But what about the poor section, where will it go? It is simply, the situation of the rich becoming richer and the poor, poorer.

In India, we claim that we are the strongest democracy of the world (I don’t understand how).Do any of our leaders do anything they can to hold this honor, they have falsely adorned (in my opinion).Miss Mayawati spends lakhs, maybe crores, to set her own statue all through the state of Uttar Pradesh and on the other hand complains endlessly of no funding from the Centre. Just imagine, had she spent that amount on the development of her own state, she would never have come up with the worthless idea of dividing U.P into two, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand. At the same time, hunger strikes (Ref: Telengana Issue) have become a child’s way to get his/her wishes fulfilled. I am really pissed off with the state of affairs in the country, the political instabilities, the poverty, the aristocracy coupled with the  “don’t care” attitude of the rich, the brain drain, the gruesome mentality of the leaders, competition and last but not the least, the fear of 21^st December, 2012.Actually speaking, it’s we, the people and our freaked out mentality, that aid to this anarchy. We ourselves don’t know where we are heading towards. Being a student, I myself feel we have no time to think or appreciate the existence of so many things around us. Everyone is busy in his/her own affairs without knowing as to what would be the result. The cause of this could be credited to the sense of competition that we have been nurtured with, since childhood. The race to power, success and fame has overpowered our sense of reasoning and decisiveness. We seem to have forgotten the moral values which used to be showered on us during the “Moral Science” classes of our primary schools. The reason being, we studied even this particular subject just for the heck of fetching marks. Basically, there exists a problem with our very educational system of India, in which we are burdened with loads of knowledge without taking into consideration, whether the knowledge is being taken in its real sense or just being gulped in. I really enjoyed the movie “3 Idiots” in this regard, though many other excerpts of the movie were quite unnatural (in my opinion).In fact, the system of exams needs to be reconsidered in the Technical education Sector. At this stage, when we need to widen our technical skills, we are busy arranging notes, cramming and mugging up stuff before exams, thanks to Om Xerox(Mitians know better).Can’t we have a system of education in which stress is laid upon application rather than mere learning which seems to be worthless in the long run? Today, when the world is so competitive, we need to forage for ways to give ourselves an edge over others. Hey guys, let’s become “capable”, success is bound to follow (courtesy: Mr.Wangdu).

You would be wondering that, till now, I’ve kept on beating around the bush and haven’t disclosed my true intentions as to why am I writing this. I hereby proclaim that the Indian in me is vexed and perplexed with whatever is going on in the country and the world. I don’t have anyone nearby, whom I could share my feelings with, it was then I thought reaching out to you people and sharing my ideas would be a better idea than just keep introspecting and repeating to myself “What the hell is happening”. I know not many of you can do anything after reading this, as I hope most of you do belong to the student community as I do, still, even if I am able to stir a single heart, I am successful.



Weather conditions are forecast to be acceptable for the shuttle’s return home to Florida.

Discovery’s crew will go to sleep at 9:13 p.m. Following wake up on Saturday, they will begin deorbit preparations at 8:33 a.m. Discovery will fire its engines at 12:33 p.m. to begin the descent to Florida. A second opportunity is available if needed for Discovery to land at Kennedy on Saturday, beginning with a deorbit burn engine firing at 2:08 p.m. leading to a 3:14 p.m. touchdown.

Kindly visit the website www.tw.ieee-manipal.org for more information.

At the same time we are having the UTSAV 2009, the festival of Manipal University going on.so overall, its an aura of celebration,masti and enjoyment.So do be a part of it and lets make merry!!!!!!

This is to wish u all a very happy n colourful holi!! Let Holi pull you out of all your worries and help you lead a wonderful life.Play safe and enjoy……Jai ho!!!!

Blaise Pascal(1623-1662)