Knock Knock : 'Who's there?' : 'It's UNCLE SAM'

For the past 5 minutes, I've been pondering over what to write, then a look at my 'blog title' provided some much-needed inspiration. So a 'blithesome contemplation' of the time leading to and being in the 'melting pot' of the world, the famed 'Land of Dreams', the land of Uncle Sam, the United States of America!

To give a brief description of the reason I am here, well just 'google up'(yeah, that's a valid phrase in the contemporary world!) IITians seeking internship opportunities abroad, and you'll be faced with a plethora of views ranging from 'eye-openers' to 'downright disgusting'. There's all this talk about genuine students getting hampered by lack of opportunities due to the overwhelming amount of candidates following the same path. I wouldn't get into that, just to avoid offending the word 'blithesome'.

Well the most interesting part of the whole experience has actually been the part leading up to here. To begin with, my visa application was put on hold because apparently I was about to do some research that held some ..... 'potential', to put it politically. So, I am given an indefinite waiting time and my passport's retained, but wait!, what's that?, yeah right, I need a passport to write the GRE. Stupid enough not to have learned that till two days prior to the exam, I was left with no options, so I decide to take the ride along with my friends to Kolkata (who doesn't?). On the day of the exam, I make a last-ditch effort (with some invaluable help from a friend) to retrieve my passport for one day, and Voila!, there I am being handed my passport and being wished good luck for my upcoming exam. I know I've been lucky, I know there wasn't a tiny part of all this I found funny when it was happening, but looking back at it, I must admit, it was like 'the comedy of errors' was being played out. So then I gave the GRE, the visa arrived in time (I told you I was lucky!) and the end-sems are over, time for some research! But, Air-India decides to go on strike, so no need to guess which airline carrier I had booked to reach Chicago. And a day before departure (atleast I hoped I could depart), the headlines read 'Osama-bin-Laden vanquished', well couldn't say I wasn't expecting it. To cut a long story short, after a long wait at the airport, and after Air-India had played their share of 'Match the Following' with regards to connecting domestic and international flights, they eventually took me to Chicago on a flight (16 hours) devoid of entertainment units because of 'reasons which were not under their control'. The 'comedy of errors' being played out people, and I bet by this time I could pin the tail of the donkey blindfolded, that's just how my luck was.

Finally here, it felt pleasant to say the least. The research, the group, the travel, the people, it does make up for an enjoyable and enlightening time. Every single day working at Northwestern has been illuminating and gratifying. The weather's been great, the people have been fantastic, the work's pretty good, the food's satisfying(it's been a long time since I could say that), what more to ask for! Chicago surpassed the expectations of it's touristy fame, Evanston (the place I reside) has been fabulous, there have been no 'ironic' or 'things that'll seem funny later' going on (fingers crossed) and the whole experience has been a revelation. Post-grads in the US..... not a bad idea (to anyone having second thoughts). More on the 'touristy' part later if I end up travelling more.

Now that part of my post that I just need to have, the 'sports' column. Don't bother reading it if not interested, but playing a sports journalist is one of the luxuries I can afford in my posts, so here goes. Although being here has forced me to not-watch everything I want to (it's the other end of the world, the timings are a little screwed up). Well Manchester United lost the title of European Champions to one of the greatest teams of all times, well hate them or love them, but you can't deny that fact about Messi and co. Moving on to basketball, honestly I did not expect Dirk 'The German Wunderkind' Nowitzki to score what Lebron James and Dwayne Wade put together could over a span of SIX games. That was a phenomenal display by the big German, and deservedly clinching the first-ever NBA title for Dallas Mavs and the NBA finals MVP. And vroom vroom!, Jenson Button made my Sunday when he clinched the Canadian Grand Prix halfway through the last lap, after having two collisions, a drive-through penalty, 6 pit-stops and being last at a point during the race. Thank you FIA for introducing DRS and Pirelli, for these fantastic tyres that are making these races all the more interesting.

Maybe more to come on this internship, if I ever get as idle as I am today. Till then, signing off.
Adios amigos!

V for Volley!!

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the champion’, but there was no singular champion here.
A team that came of age, a team that rose above all expectations, a team that blew to shreds all predictions, a team that broke the medal barrier, the volley team IITG!!
Well I am talking about the 46th Inter IIT Sports Meet held at IIT Delhi, that saw the IIT Guwahati team bag a bronze medal for the very first time , a feat that was expected to be achieved earlier or for that matter later down the line, but by no means this year. With the likes of the Godfather Vicky, the ever-vibrant Sagwal and the charismatic Nished passing out, and the deadly Yogi, Poonia and Narahari opting out, all those concerned had all but ruled out the chances of the team doing anything considerable this year. But with a new coach and a mix of fresh and old (but inexperienced) faces, the team rose above the expectations.
A brief description of the team-
Nakul–The outstanding leader with the determination and will that would faze even the strongest, the setter that made the game tick.
Durga-The one who turned it around, the secy who did the trick, the counter spiker who packs a punch.
Nani- The powerhouse that propelled the team to new heights.
Sheru-The points bank, played the game to the ‘T’, aggression mixed with the skilful touches.
Chinu-The middle blocker, back with a bang!
Uttam- The confused soul that proved that he puts all that food to good use.
Vikas- The one to take it all forward, with valuable experience from this tourney.
Akshay-The libero who took it all (although head-down), but finally stood with his head held high.
Me-A strapped ankle took me out of action, but that never dampened the spirits, victory’s still sweet.
Lalu-Missed an outing due to a comedy of errors, but an integral team-mate.
Rahul-The next setter, now with the burden of expectations.
The Coach – Really knew how to eke out the best from this inexperienced lot.
The Mentor-Sagwal, once the backbone of Volley-IITG, showed he can be as effective from the bench as he was on the court.
With wins against Bombay and Kanpur, IITG has finally announced it’s arrival on the big stage.
Apart from Volleyball, the cricket team won a much deserved Gold, with well-worked victories against the best of teams and splendid performances by individuals.
The basketball team put up a display of such immense will power that it was hard to digest if it really was IITG playing out there. Seems like the dark days of IITG sports are over.
It has been a special ride with this team, and all these moments will be cherished. This is the first Inter IIT meet that was made memorable purely on the basis of the game put up on display by the team. There have been better sets of individuals, infact pure geniuses to be precise, and there will be more in the future, but it is this team that will be remembered for what it has brought to volley@IITG.
Congratulations to the team and to IITG for putting up such a spirited effort.
Till the next time, goodbye!

What's the word - Ah! ........ Hectic!!!

Well, hi, hello, blah blah blah...
A hell lot of time has passed since i last entered any verse in this blog of mine.
I was kinda warned about this, that I'd be lucky to keep my blog updated for a week once i get started. I kept going for two weeks, so proved those people wrong i guess!

Anyways, there's another reason for not being at my literary worst for such a long time. The title might hint at the direction i'm going to proceed to. This semester, till date, has just been too much. I mean classes, volleyball (the only part of the hectic schedule i actually like), labs and LAB REPORTS sum up all that has kept me busy.

The more the labs, the better the education, it's all so nice to say and listen to. Believe me, that's stupid. There's nothing better than kicking back with a soda on a race weekend or a super football weekend. And as if the labs weren't enough, the sheer volume of classes (some of which are utterly unbearable to sit through had it not been for the silly conversations we get into during such lectures) are an icing on the cake. There actually is a simple solution to this, DON'T ATTEND. But me, being the dork i am, gallantly brave all this shit coming my way.

In fact, it took a sore throat, an oozing nose and a mild fever to finally bide me some time and attend to my blog posts. Sports and FRIENDS are the only highlights of this semester (and also the previous and the one before that and .....). I have watched FRIENDS like a gazillion times and am still watching it. Man those Chandler and Joey crack me up! And also, this is a race weekend, with a ManU match scheduled later in the weekend. And with the first round of quizzes over, a relaxing few days after a long time.

With every passing semester, i am getting stronger signs from somewhere saying - please let your child become a sports person. Man is it cool or what!!! (I know it can be demanding, but doing something you love for a living... well...). Look at all the footballers, the tennis stars, the cricketers.. and don't even get me started on the F1 drivers. All this is probably a culmination of a hectic schedule and what is rapidly becoming anything but food (yes, i am talking about the mess food).

Ah well, i am sick, so got a lot of time to go into this imaginationland of mine. So i'll get back to it, and let the important stuff like interns, midsems, studies take a back seat as always.
Adios!

Code for fun!!

Hello all!
Prudence is a virtue that is to be had, not acquired.
Jokes apart (yes, that's meant as a joke!), I am real bad at philosophy.
Writing or thinking stuff that is even remotely close to philosophy is, well, putting it philosophically, not my 'cup of tea'. So no matter how hard I try, serious stuff making an appearance in my posts is a distant possibility.

Coming to the point, my internship at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, took a turn (whether it's for the good or bad, well, time will tell) last week when I actually got exposed to the task in front of me.
Calculating the force equation for a single beam laser trap using a numerical (coding = 'not my cup of tea') method or physical method (using the nanopositioner to achieve constant veocity - probably 'not my cup of tea') is what lies in front of me.
To state it simply, the task is to calculate how strongly can laser hold silica particles. Almost all of the hard part (that's the torture of taking nanometre scale readings for large data) has been done by the PHd's working on it. I , as if given a dare, have taken up the task of trying my hand on attempting to make the, apparently simple but yet tough, MATLAB code for the numerical method. I know it's a lost cause, but still I have been trying my hand at coding and reading stuff about MATLAB for the past 4 days. Anyone with reasonable amount of coding knowledge is welcome to come and help me but with the condition of receiving nothing in return, an offer that no one can resist!
And here it is!!!!!!!!
Wondering what the crazy guy's upto? Well to cut it short, I wanted to see the Football World Cup and was not able to. After a few days (that involved me going bezerk and forcing my uncle and aunt to make some significant changes), now, finally, the TATA SKY people have arrived. They have come just as I am scripting this piece of shit!
Now atleast I'll get to watch the big guns lose (not that I want to). Glad I did not miss any English match (England - USA is the only match I've seen till date in this World Cup). No comments or predictions regarding that now.
In midst of these controversies enveloping the Vuvuzelas and the Robert Green's, the grand finale between the Celtics and Lakers is upon us. Always feels good to see competition go down to the wire!
Speaking of competition, looks like Mclaren and Red Bull are up for some extremely competitive months and so are Hamilton, Button and Webber.

It's time I go and start pondering (worthlessly) over the future World Cup matches and other worthless stuff saving the coding for tomorrow.
So it all boils down to 'Live and let live!'Oh gosh! I am bad at this....
Just live..
Enjoy!!

The Phenomenon of VACATIONING!!

Hello People!!

Vacations do manage to bring out the devilishly idle self from the core of your soul. No matter what activities or ‘internships’ you enroll yourself for, lying around is the only prominent thing you are seen doing all day!

To explain the quotes around ‘internship’, I am doing something like an internship at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. For the past two weeks, I have been trying to dig up info about the phenomenon of Optical Trapping, which, I’ll be creating live, in the Quantum Optics Lab, ‘hopefully’. No need explaining those quotes, I suppose!

But the enigma, that is the Football World Cup 2010, is enveloping every other feeling inside me as of now. The build up, the drama surrounding it, the sheer unpredictability, the avid craziness all make up for a perfect recipe for fun and thrill! Though I believe that Spain stands the best chance, with a midfield that’ll feature in any World XI team, I still support England. And I am apprehensive about Steven Gerrard’s chances, because being the English Captain apparently lands you out of the World Cup (Terry and now Rio). Jokes apart, hope Rooney and Co. fire in tones of goals and we all get to see some enthralling football.

Sporting events are the perfect time buyers during vacations. They come in plenty and this time has been no different. Although the Indian Cricket team is giving the Indian people nice topics for vehement dinner talks, the other sport’s are standing up to the challenge ( probably because India hardly features in any of them!!) The Bulls finally got tamed at Turkey (yes, I am talking about F1) and probably the Nicole Scherzinger effect worked for Hamilton . But the biggest disappointment has been Roger Federer, after a year of unprecedented success, his tryst with French Open glory is back to where it was! And speaking of tryst with glory, the Lakers and Celtics are having their trysts with glory for the NBA title, some amazing stuff going around. Just can’t imagine what life’d be without ESPN or Star Sports. Hey! Guess what, the freaking moronic cable operator at my residence in Ahmedabad is making the nightmare come true. Yes, you got it right, no ESPN or Star Sports! If this remains till the 11^th, then he’s done for! Will miss watching the Nadal – Soderling battle, but no Federer, so am already devoid of joy!

With the JEE results out, I am again back to the phase where I am to convince some selected students and their unrelenting parents (who somehow managed to know that I belong to the place they so dread sending their child to) about how Guwahati is a safe place to be and IITG is almost in the same league as other top IIT’s. Well, faced the same problems myself, so I do feel for them…

The icing on the cake is that I got an SPI (Semester Performance Index), just a fancy word for grades, of 9.5 this semester. Either the Profs. have shown tremendous amount of sympathy towards me or, God forbid, my friend is playing a crude joke with me and I never got these grades…. But if it’s the latter case, never mind, I’ll bask in the glory till I return back to IITG.

I start working on the Optical Tweezers setup tomorrow (fingers crossed), so more info about it in my later posts. I’ll go back to vacationing (well, that’s warming the couch and watching TV or How I Met Your Mother on my Laptop). Till my next, probably a more informative, post, it’s goodbye from my side.

Adios!!

Of sleep and mango pulp!!

There was a time when the house used to be filled with fruits from the orchard, the food supplies used to stream in like flood waters and life used to be peaceful and enjoyable. Those were the good 'ol days!!!
Well, what do you know, I actually am reliving the good 'ol days!!!
Back from college after what seems like eternity, it feels fulfilling to say the least.
Sleeping unbothered for unfathomable hours (although that is an option for many even at my college), consuming enough food in a day that can last a week at the hostel and being lazy to the core are some of the things I have been doing for the past few days, i.e after my glorious homecoming!
I have been eating mangoes since the time I returned and the cold and delicious pulp has made me loose count of the significant number of them that I have consumed!
The only repelling factor is the scorching heat that is getting under my skin, but then who needs to go out of the house, it's the laziest time of the year...
It's just a matter of time before I have to get down to the summer intern work that I have decided to do, as most others in my college have, without any sense of dedication and out of sheer impact from the peers (although my pal Avneet has made me eat my words - securing an internship at University of Texas purely on the basis of his excessive interest in Cosmology! Great going dude!)
Looking forward to it, hehe!
Parents, old friends, relatives and laziness, it's all making it's way back into my life, and the shift from the hectic yet boring life at the campus is good.
Maybe it's just change that has got me so worked up, but this is a hell lot better!!
The only thing missing are my dear college pals, but never mind, still got two years of pure college fun left with those guys.
So I'll save it for later, as of now, it's mangoes and sleep all the way!!

The vacation's going to be great, as the world dances to the tunes of 'waving flag' and welcomes the biggest sporting extravaganza on the planet, the football world cup.
This weekend too is special, with luck standing between ManU and EPL glory and the European Leg of F1 beginning and ofcourse, our very own Men in Blue battling it out for supremacy in the T20 arena(that might not be so interesting in the very near future!).
Good Times are finally here.
Hope I can cherish what might turn out to be the last vacation (in the real sense of the word) of my college life!
Will be back with more enjoyable memories and cherishable moments and probably something serious (it's been time) as the vacation holds a lot in store for me!
Till then, enjoy!
Adios!

The bright light at the end of the tunnel!

Aloha!

Long time, no posts, reason:Doomsday!(read: endsems)

But the exultation inside me, or probably most people here, is boundless as of now!

The semester has passed on, half my time here at IITG is over.

Seems like only yesterday that I was getting acquainted with new guys and going from one orientation to another at IITG (and luckily, the people I acquainted with turned out to a gem of a group!!).

No matter how much we seem to despise this place or crib about it, we'll all be missing it like hell once we leave it.

But, at present, the only thing coming to mind is HOME!

A very usual but surprising thing I have noticed is, the end of the exams, the light at the end of the tunnel, is a very overrated scenario, which, once reached, usually fails to stand up to the expectations.

It's merely a transition from 4 hours sleep a day to 12 hours sleep a day!

But, for the first time, the penultimate day of exams stood up to it's expectations.

Hung out for hours with batchmates doing - nothing!

Around 4 hours at a bar (where sober old me was stuck with a mocktail) and a few more at CCD over a cup of coffee, all we did was warm the seats.

But that time felt great!

Having nothing to do is really the best thing to do!

Then had a movie watching spree throughout the night to sum up the idlest day of the semester (even more then the feared weekends).

It's time now for home and the thought of it is enough to make me smile inspite of no one being around!

Many things going on - India starting it's T20 World Cup campaign today, the European Leg of F1 almost here, Liverpool set to redeem ManU, Vishwanathan Anand leading in the World Championship and me going home (don't want to go into the bad stuff going around).

Seems the good times have started.

I am not sure if it's the exam hangover speaking or is it me, but this semester was the best till date! (and believe me when I say that because I am probably the only dork who was foolish and stupid enough, even from my point of view, to have a 100% attendance in all the classes this semester.)

This post has no substance, it's merely out of the unbound joy that the end of the Doomsday and anticipation of going home has brought about.

So it's time to go home and get some life!

Till I wait for my flight back home (sadly that's two days from now), I'll get back to watching movies and actively trying to remain idle!!

Ciao!