August 2007-April 2008

Many interesting events had occurred during this period. Or rather I made my life spicier by venturing into unfamiliar territories. We had to complete 6 credits of BTP. My partner was already convinced that he had to repeat it. Sometimes it looked like he would be happy with nothing but an F. Never in my dreams did I  consider that scenario. I have had enough at IIIT. First of all, we had to change the project. I wanted to go for something theoretical so that we need not code. We met prof Kannan and told him that we would like to change our btp. Somehow I could say that he sensed we had not wanted to work much. He explained a few concepts about reversible programming and our new project was named “Applications of Reversible Programming”. Now I was in a dilemma. I wanted to ask the prof more about the idea (50% to make him think we are genuinely interested and 50% because of my willingness to know something about that). Finally  I decided not to put in many questions. The prof`s time is really valuable and even after he clarifies my doubts, I may not be interested to work or he may push me a bit harder.

Came the 1st viva of the semester. I read a few papers and wrote them in my own words (this experience helped me to earn 10k later, more of this at the fag end of the post). I was confident that we would manage that viva. My partner set up the laptop and flipped the slides over. There were only 2 members present in our panel and it was obvious that they would be let us off for this time. I just explained the slides with appropriate examples. It went absolutely fine except for a minor blip when my partner took up the baton and started stumbling and mumbling over words. I was like ” u fool! we will be getting the same grade” This viva gave me the confidence that we would scrape through somehow. I took some interesting courses that semester like PR and NLP. I liked both of them initially but later PR just became a set of derivations and NLP laid too much stress on semantics. So, I had to just study for the exams. We had projects in NLP & PR. In NLP, I teamed up with haas n harsha and PR with Kosuru. NLP went fine as harsha n haas knew about me and they did all  the work. They explained it to me a couple of hourse before and I was to give the presentation. This was easy for me and I did it well. For the endsem, ravikiran took us a tute on the course and somehow I managed to escape an F. I was 4th from bottom after the mids and below average in the endsem. But the project saved me and I got through with a B.

In PR, it was tougher. Kosuru wanted me to work. I chose the easier part and with the help of tarak and sairam did it (they did it for me). The prof kept on shifting the presentation schedule and finally it was at 9.15 pm. I wanted to go for a night show and Kosuru was shocked. I somehow managed to give the presentation before the movie time and left. For the endsem, I spent 3-4 hours in the library and got some gyaan from tarak. I managed a B. I have a couple of open electives left and opted for lp and numerical analysis. Sandeep was there in both these courses and he helped me through proxies, tutes and by sharing assignments. This guy has always helped me in many matters. I had taken many assignments from him. Of course, I occasionally returned favors like doing a STS assignment worth 20% for him when he was enjoying at home. So, I managed through all the courses somehow in the 1st sem. BTP was a big hurdle. The final viva was fast approaching and reports of CVIT and CDE students preparing 100-120 slides for their final viva spread like wildfire. We did no work but to read those papers. We never coded in a reversible language. We just knew their names. But we had to get through. After all, we are humans. We put in a little effort and expect high rewards. We always met our prof before the viva. We met him before the last viva and my partner was asking for some sort of guarantee that we didn`t fail. The prof said that it was very difficult to get failed in BTP which I thought was only possible if we are absent. In the viva, we were  asked a few questions by prof sangal to which I didn`t know the exact answer but somehow managed by linking that with a concept in NLP. I didn`t know what I spoke but I made sure that I did a Gratiano out there. Finally, we were through and I thought we would get atleast a B. Thus ends 4-1. The campus life during this period was dull as everyone was busy preparing for CAT and placements. No one would give me company for carroms or tt or movies. Sandeep did come now and then and Koyya being Koyya was always game to a movie upon sufficient persuasion. The caroms tournament was great. I was a bit out of touch in the singles. The best player at that time, Pramod won. I n Gopal reached semis in doubles and lost to bappi n thummi, the only 2 guys I don`t mind winning over or losing to as long as I am playing with them. I played cricket occasionally. It was fun.

Enter October. All the CAT aspirants were intensely preparing for the exam. I had my share when I found no novels to read in Pramodh`s room. I went through the TIME papers now and then. I solved nearly 10 model papers quite high for me. The day before the exam, I was chatting with tarak till 2 and went half-asleep to the center. I thought I had done okay amd may get 3-4 calls including  a B. I knew that there would be no A call and chances of C are slim. That made me lose interest in gd/pi process. The results came and I got interview calls from BIL. Around 7 ppl from our batch got calls and immediately a mailing list was formed so that we could meet at nights to discuss sample gd topics. I skipped them after going once or twice. A movie or a novel seemed a better proposition for me. I won`t write anything about my interviews as I had already written and it would be more helpful reading the experiences of a person who cracked the process rather than me who did not care for it. All my CAT score could do was to give an year for me, some interesting experiences with IMS as instructor and raise some hopes in me which were justly brought down.

Now the most eagerly waited placements season comes. Words like GPA cutoff and CTC were flowing. I never wanted a IT job. After I undeservedly (this word is judgemental) got my 10 credits for BTP, I did not feel as a  CS graduate. But I knew that I am not going to join L and I (if I clear them) and chance of me getting through B was almost nil. So, I had to find a finance job. If I get a job in the placements, that would be a backup. Going through all this, I sat half-heartedly for the placements. The season kicked off with Deshaw. I can hardly understand anything in their PPT(pre placement talk) except the CTC. As expected, I did not get short-listed for any of the companies initially. Microsoft, Amazon and Adobe  came next. It was terrible, getting up in the morning, putting on formals ( at times borrowed) listening to those PPTs and writing exams. Then I had to return to OBH in those formals and make sure that the liquid called sambhar does not spoil my shirt. I never checked my mails for the shortlisted candidates though as I knew I would not get through. One day, Cisco and Onmobile came. To my utter disbelief, I was shortlisted in both of them, only to face the perfect anticlimax. Later, I lost interest as this is only a backup that I am never going to use. Once I realized that, I went home the next day. Pramodh got placed on that day and he woke me up at 8 to tell that. First, I couldn`t get what he is saying but then I understood.

By the time I returned, most of them were placed. I got a mail from Jayadev that as I had not been appearing for the placements, I would be excluded from the process. I  couldn`t read it to the end. After all, it is not The Godfather. My CAT score ensured that the barrage of questions about me dropping from placements was postponed. Anyways people were busy trying to remember their CTC and CGPA, comparing it to others. I had to take a couple of IT electives in my last sem. I left them too late. I was busy pondering over what to do. Then I saw a course PECN under Prof Ramamurthy. I thought we could ask him for a 4 credit project too. I chose to do the project with Vangi as he is not a bad coder. After all, we don`t need to code for the Prof`s projects. All we need to do is get a senior who had already done that and chang the project slightly. First of all, we need to get the prof to agree. So, Vangi and I went to his room. He initially shouted at us and said we wanted to get easy credits. What can we do? We know we deserve that and stood there quietly “jadivanaki jadavani dhunnapothulla”. After some time, he agreed and asked us to choose a project. We chose e-photo album as we already had that code. So, the academic requirements for my degree stand completed. But what have I learnt from this place? How to copy assignments, how to get proxies, how to fake work (I never learnt to copy in exams. Somehow, I find myself against that). If this is what I write, it shows regret for all those things I had done. I just found the system not to my liking. I fiddled with it; I got away with that. Prof Sangal once said that if all students get 100%, he would cancel the cgpa system which means it is not possible. It is all about relativity. How relatively unidiotic you are compared to one who skipped the BTP viva? how much well off you are for not choosing a tough nut as your BTP prof? There is nothing great about acads (I find, as u can see from my post).

About the administration, I had a hell of a time in my 8th sem getting a study certificate from dean. He kept the iimb call letter with him for 3 days as he felt the need to discuss the issue with prof B before signing the study certificate. He gave it to me promptly the day before the deadline. I somehow managed to send it within time. But  it still surprises me that I despite possessing a colorful vocabulary, ran out of expletives before hope. Other than that, I had no problem with the administration. They seemed genetically averse to reforms. Tarak and I vented out frustration at the system in our personal discussions. The main problem was people were old-fashioned, not ready to give up, too judgemental and had dual principles, both the administrators and the rebels (most people call them so). Some of them consider NBH and yuktahar food wholesome. So, one cannot register for a single meal at NBH. If that food was good, the OBH messes were bad. Why not remove them? Why should a student pay the mess fee if he is not interested to eat in the mess? They say that a fee of 500 per month is charged in case of non-payment but that does not happen. Or rather I was lucky. People who fail students for copying assignments don`t mind admitting that they copied in the exams. A couple of tutors who gave Zeros for copying a code did assigments in a group. Still it is an encouraging sign for an optimist that the most senior student of the college thinks change can be attained through FSIS. I had to write about that 10k. Over the last year, I did some freelance works like article writing in which the BTP experience helped a lot.

I would sign off with the final month at IIIT. Days just flew by. I enjoyed music and religion courses. Perhaps, I am the only one to take a reco from music sir to IIMB. Then we had the batch trip. I was not that interested to be an inactive(inevitable) part of it but had to give in. Train journey rocked with the HP incident providing enough fun (catalyst for fun is embarrassment (of others necessarily). I enjoyed the ride to Shimla and the room and food were to my taste. The horse ride back from Kufri was again damn funny (dharish the victim this time). It was funny to hear him scream “Slow” as if the horse can understand. Manali was good. I should thank Ghanta n yk for carrying me to the point where I decided to stop. Koyya provided a lot of fun in the bus. Satti bought something fr a gal who does not matter now(how fast everything changes). Yaso did drive the nuts out of bava with his wild singing. Yaar provided his cam for us and I had to capture the scenic beauty along with yk`s stills. Yaar was good company. Pity that he lost his bag and along with it, sattis sweater. Lucky that he had 5k in the bag. Satti has to keep quiet as he is the lesser loser. Koyya put Sandeep in a bit of doubt with his gay antics. Most of it was fun.

Here ends my official life at IIIT.

P.S. 1. I had done a foolish thing in jan cos of which my taste got lowered among my frends

P.S.2. This time a good event in February had resulted from my anger.

P.S.3. An interesting event in March

P.S.4. I was no longer a teetotaller from feb 14th 2008 (no special reason for the date, just that it is convenient to remember)

P.S.5. It is a pity that someone who cannot express his/her love or disinterest (seemingly out of good manners) want a person who means what he/she speaks. Minority rules!!

P.S.6.  My eyes fall to rest

staying awake is a test

at which I am no longer the best

so the piece ends up in jest

August 2006 – April 2007

This is possibly going to be my longest post. It depends on the things I am going to share. I will try to produce all those facts which do not deal with my feelings and judgements. The academics are to be talked about first. Compilers was an entertaining course if you have no problems with being made fun of. When you laugh at others` situation, it is reasonable that you expect it yourself. There were about 180 ppl in the class. So my turn came once or twice as I was not that popular with Julu like chinni,jc,komal, rax and many more. The prof tried to motivate us by all the weird reasons- like if we study well, we can get huge dowry and a beautiful wife. Oooh! it is surprising to hear that from him. I could not believe he has such a low opinion on us (AFAIK  he does not have daughters.. so no reason why he should think so). I don`t remember anything about the course except the 1st class in which the prof prescribed a lengthy set of books going by some animal names like dragon book (good that I read Eragon, I can remember this), tiger book and whale book I guess.  Networks was another course. Many slides were dumped on us. The course was easy to get through. I liked POPL as it was taught by Kannan sir. There were no adequate number of classes. I took cryptography because I thought it would be easy. The course was interesting but I lost ground after a few classes. Sandy helped me to complete the project.

Social Enterpreneurship was clearly the most terrible hssm I had taken. The prof had a low pitched voice. It required exceptional auditory nerves to make something out of his lecture. In 3-1, I took my 1st open elective, Biology. I was pretty surprised that I stood 1st in the midsems ahead of MS in Bio guys. I enjoyed the course very much thugh there is little role of the prof in that. During 3-2, I had S/W engg course which was damn funny. On the 1st day, the professor told “Some XYZ company met with a problem. They consulted an efficient person. It was not solved. They needed a specialist. They called ME”. I enjoyed the role play in this course. Our group stood among the 40 odd groups. I would never forget this course for what I did the day before the endsem. Sreenu vytla`s Dhee mov was released after a long delay. I like him very much and saw the movie in the morning. I liked the movie and when koyya got my feedback, he wanted to watch the movie. So, I had to watch the night show. After the show ended, we just flipped through some pages and were done with our prep.

DC and STS were the two other courses in 3-2. I liked both these courses. STS was taught by raghuramaraju and I had done 4 different copies of the assignment “Science/religion”, 4 sheets each. We had our BTP project this sem. I had to find a partner first. As I am someone who tries to bring up his partner to a high level by making him work (I hate to boast, but I wonder if the specialist has rubbed off on me), I loked for someone who would carry me through. Pramodh took the burden on his lean shoulders. Thing 1 done. Should find a BTP guide. We had no other option than Kannan sir because he is our favorite prof. We asked him. He said there were many people under him and he cannot take us two. Our hearts dropped. We somehow convinced him. He asked us gently why we wnat to do the project under him and our plans for the future. Both of us told MBA frankly. We said we wanted to switch our fields (It seems we have gone back on our words. Pramodh is in CapIQ and I dropped the MBA option for now.) Kannan asked us to come up with some interesting work. We had no idea how something related to computers was(is)  interesting for us(me). The prof came up with a questionnaire. We though that was easy and agreed to it. We hurriedly did something for the 1st viva with the help of sairam and orkut-found helper(friend, after he helped). The viva was damn tough and we realized that its not the questionnaire, but the ability of the system to correct a person and identify where his mistake might have been is the essence. This seemed a lot tougher and Pramodh was mentally prepared for an F. I had more pressing matters to think about. One thing is for sure, we wanted to change our BTP and got it done.

Done with the acads. I am not sure if some readers will follow the thread from here. The campus life this year had many spheres. Initially, I played a lot of caroms until the competitions. I was into the quarters in singles. I lost to Satish, who played in awesome form. We played a lot with gals those days. It was astonishing how the talent varies. I suppose they do not put in much practice and use words more than hands to put the coins in the pockets. I, on the contrary, used hands more than required, putting them in matters that would have been better without me. I also used little words. They would have helped me a lot. Hmm! What could I do! This is an age of computers and people tend to communicate through enticing status messages and yahoo chats. These were the times when I don’t know whom to be angry with. May be, it had to do with lack of sleep. I stayed more often in friends` rooms, waking them up for CAT classes and hearing foreign languages. These were the days I stopped my eyes from closing at night (I had closed too many things by then). sudokufun.com helped me a lot. Once I climbed to the top of the leaderboard, I looked for new avenues. Orkut and Facebook came to my rescue. By the time the year ended, I was spent.

P.S 1.Enjoying the job

P.S 2. Mumbai is damn humid!

P.S.3. Macheda rocks!

August 2005- April 2006, a recap

There were a few things I missed out on in my previous post. I bunked 3 DS classes to read Harry Potter. Koyya and I saw Sada mee sevalo and Chakram for matinee and evening show on the same day. Nothing to tell about those.  I explored many restaurants like vindu,rb,anupama, gemini.siddiques and 4 seasons. After 3-4 months, there was no wonder that I planned the treats. I should also thank naagaas and sandy for undertaking an adventure for me.

In the second year, I missed the chance of interacting with our juniors due to typhoid. I joined a fortnight later. Julu had a good session with my father on how the telugu guys are getting spoiled by watching movies all the day and playing games. BLN has allotted me a corner room NBH-13 on account of my bad health. That remained my room for the next 3 years. I enjoyed staying there as it was close to the sports room. Also, NBH is a bit cleaner. Koyya,bappi,sudheer,niru n cvc stayed in NBH. Most of the time, I was in Koyya`s room which was an achievement. People rarely ventured near his room as he had his clothes washed once in a month I guess and the room cleaned once in 6 months or so. I am thankful to Sudheer. When Koyya played age, I was in sudheers room watching movies. It was there I watched LOTR. I have been chatting for most of the day. I even used to play antakshari online on gtalk. It was funny.

Occasionally, I went to gheb to spend time with Sandeep or OBH to chitchat with pramodh. I spent a lot of time in the library, reading novels. Coming to the courses, 2-1 was OKish with OS assignments the biggest test to get through. AI was the easiest course, being open book. I never prepared more than an hour for it. I took human desires for hssm. It was the best course I had at IIIT. Raghuramaraju was awesome. Thankfully, most of the class was not attentive and so the course was like a 1v1 talk with the professor. 2-2 was the most taxing sem. We had DBMS which is equivalent to 2 tough courses.  The attendance was a problem too. I managed with a few proxies. The examination system required a conservative approach which did not suit me. I should thank Sandeep and Pramodh for working on our project. Most of my batchmates took graphics; I being the ideal s/w student opted for telugu literature. It was a good course. Ramabrahmam was highly regarded in telugu literary circles. He was good most of the times. The final shock in DBMS came when we were told we would be having a lab test for 15% weightage. The best part of it was I skipped the test. I have had enough with the course.

This is one of my lonely years at IIIT. Koyya played age most of the time. Sandeep cut down on movies. Pramodh took courses like robotics. So, I  had only myself to give me company. I still went out almost every day, watching every damned mov that had released. 7/g is one terrific movie. I saw it 5 times. Orkut gave me enough oportunities to kill time. I went to the sports room when I felt bored and found someone to give me company in caroms. If there were none, I practiced alone for some time and left for the library. I was more than happy to go home when the summer vacations arrived.

P.S. 1. omegle.com is good to kill time

P.S. 2.Getting bored of buffet

P.S 3. Japanese are more beauty conscious

P.S 4. It was during that time I came to know Kannan sir whose courses I enjoyed.