Back to Blogosphere

I am back to blogosphere after a self imposed sabbatical of a couple of months. Life on the personal front has been busy for the last couple of months. Since the stated goal of this blog is to keep our well wishers aware of the developments in our lives, here goes.

My parents have relocated to Gurgaon (National Capital Region) along with my sister. When you are planning relocation from a city where you have spent more than thirty years, there are a lot of logistics issues which are bound to crop up. These issues are compounded by the enormous size of the establishment which is to be moved. While I was involved in the initial stages, it was my sister who was instrumental in managing the relocation.

Geetha had to refuse a couple of really good job offers in Chennai because of our decision to move together to wherever destiny takes me. The logical course of action was to set up a freelance venture over the Internet which Geetha could pursue in her own time. After some soul searching we decided on Technical writing (User manuals, training modules, feasibility studies…. that sort of thing) and Content writing (for filling up all those web pages which you find on the net). I also help out Geetha and it is something of a family venture. Initially the going was a bit tough, but now Geetha has a set of clients who are convinced about her ability to deliver good content within the specified deadline. So she is happily occupied.

We are nearing the end of my course in Kharagpur and will be relocating sometime in May. As of now, we do no know where we are headed for. Will keep you all posted.

I am writing an interim report for my project and this is what I actually meant

A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED
We are still pissing in the wind.

MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH
It works OK, but looks very hitech.

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE
The darn thing crashed the PC when we ran the program.

IT IS IN THE PROCESS
It is so screwed up that the situation is about hopeless.

ALL NEW
Program not compatible with the previous distributions of LINUX.

Will Keep you updated as to how my seminar turns out.

Changing Seasons...

Changing seasons are taking a toll. The onset of winter has resulted in the entire family falling sick. Geetha and me were down with a viral infection. Now it's the children's turn, they are on antibiotics.Hopefully things should clear up in a couple of days. I had a hairline fracture in the toe of the right foot, that too is under control.Now it is time to propitate the gods and pray for continued good health.On the academic front, another evaluation seminar is scheduled on the first week of December.

So long till the next post

Games.... On the computer

Dilbert once again strikes a chord. PC based games have contributed to the falling grades of many of my acquaintances, though none as yet is lucky enough to own a X Box. "Counterstrike" rules the roost with the "Age of Empires" coming a close second.

My Lab

This is my lab in the Electronics and Communication department in IIT Kharagpur, The place where I spend most of my time. The place has a lot of memories both good and otherwise.Will miss this place after graduation.

Library

The library is the place in this institute which all the students, irrespective of the department they belong to, frequent regularly. It is a massive establishment with books ranging from airport construction to cyber security.The best part is the easy manner by which the titles are referenced. Just by a few clicks of your mouse you can home on to the title of your choice. If you place a demand for a book of your choice which is not in the inventory, invariably it is made available to you.The best part of the library is it's extensive online knowledge repository.You have online access to every conceivable scientific journal.

Will miss this place.

Evaluation Seminar

An evaluation seminar is a scary proposition.Firstly, it's got multiple professors all of whom look terribly irritated.Next,they somehow end up asking that one very question which you had no clue about.Thirdly, my M Tech specialisation basically involves 3 to 4 profs and 12 to 15 students, hence it is a pretty well knit community. You cannot take advantage of anonymity like B Tech students who average about 80 to 90 in my department. To be fair, a lot of time is given to you for producing a genuine piece of work which furthers the boundaries of knowledge in your chosen area, but the problem is that working on your project is not exactly the top priority of an average student, hence we come to that part where I said that an evaluation seminar is a scary proposition.It is that part of the semester when your accumulated sins come to visit you. You feel sorry for every minuite wasted.It is difficult to convince the evaluation panel that it has taken you three weeks to code the Java plug in, the same one which you knocked off over an extended weekend.It is even more difficult when the panel consists of the same proffessors who taught you last year.The evaluation seminar was a close one. It could have gone either way, luckily the gods were kind and the day was saved.No more late night movies during weekdays.So the new resolution is Early to bed and early to rise.

The Dilbert cartoon on top of the post struck a chord as coffee has been an integral part of my life in the week prior to the evaluation seminar.