In search of myself...

Thursday dawned and the unseasonal overnight downpour had not affected my excitement. It was a pleasurable drive to IIT on my motorbike. I was anticipating all kinds of things that might happen at SHAR. Throughout the ride, I dreamt of fabulous rockets that I would see and some technical snag that defeated all professional expertise available there and was set right by me! Excuse me for this, but day dreaming is my favorite pastime. The bus turned right on that busy Chennai-Kolkata highway. A turn I knew, would take me to a place in India that only a lucky few would get to visit. A board said that the entrance to SHAR was seventeen kilometers from there. It did not take me much time to note that once we had left the highway, we were on a road that was flanked by tranquil marshes of the Pulicat lake on either side. As far as one's eyesight could go perpendicular to the road, there was nothing but marshland. The sky was pregnant with water vapor and could deliver anytime. An odorless...

During my trip to the Sriharikota Range(SHAR) earlier this month, I felt proud for one reason and humble and insignificant for many more. Yes, India's only satellite launch station, to me, is home to engineering marvels. I am proud because my nation is now self-sufficient with regards to space technology, thanks to people like Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan etc., the pioneers in this field. I feel humbled and insignificant because my education (undergrad earlier and postgrad now), has contributed little on such scales. A sea of difference separates people like me who, until recently, took pride in making designs on computers and showing them in different colors and perspectives, deriving approximate empirical relationships between invisible parameters typing away pages and pages of code after making a million assumptions, and those who put things into practice. Engineering is what I call the latter. Maybe I am getting a little sentimental about the entire trip, but I don't find...

That cricket today has become extremely competitive is not unknown. To match its credibility, umpiring too, has grown to elite standards. Substantial technical assistance is offered to umpires on the field. The introduction of a third umpire into the game has provided welcome relief to both players and a lot of umpires who have borne the brunt of erroneous decisions. Further advancements (e.g. hawk eye) that have taken place and technological credibility in the game could now support appeals for any mode of dismissal. But still, the licence for a majority of the decisions, lies with the two officials on the playing field. This decision to confine the powers of the camera-aided umpire seems to have added spice to the game. One surprising decision could turn entire matches around. Whether this is good or bad is secondary. It has brought in a small thriller element to what would have been an otherwise boring game.

The dismal performance of the Indian Cricket team in the World Cup earlier this year has brought shock to many. Chappell was dismissed on grounds of proven incapacity and Sunny Gavaskar had his own way of putting things against Chappell, for he remarked, "Batting has floundered under Chappell". Now, when Chappell took over as coach, the team saw quite a number of victories that were attributed by the same "experts" to Chappell's Australian aggression. That was a period when the duo of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell was deemed invincible. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was supposed to be the find of the period. After the world cup, where are all these people? All their reputation has gone underground. Now, why has this happened? Problems in managing players are bound to occur. But taking those problems onto the playing arena only shows incompetence on the part of the team. Still, winning and losing should be taken in the stride and it should be understood that it is not e...

The R.K. Narayan novels kept me company yet again. It was past noon when the train reached Vizag. I did not want to repeat the mistake of booking my meals in the train. The previous journey had taught me a lesson the hard way. I detrained and saw what best I could get to eat on that platform. Again, I had dosas. Then, a glass of cold pineapple juice to supplement this. Not surprisingly, when the train reached Vijayawada at night, I went in search of food and again got dosas to eat. After this, I had a cup of coffee and went back to sleep. My hatred towards dosas had grown manifold in this short trip to Bengal and I cursed myself for it. I was longing to reach Chennai and eat something better. The train reached the station at 4:15a.m on Sunday. My dad was waiting there and I relished the stench, characteristic of Madras Central – Home Sweet Home. It was the most satisfying drive back home in our car and I felt a new surge of energy unleashed into my circulatory system. I came h...

Bidding farewell to Shekhar was tough. I was amazed at how well we had got on with each other in such short notice. After a few final words and some promises to keep in touch (which I have not stuck to), I boarded the Howrah Mail at 11 p.m. I slept very well and woke up only at eight the next morning. I only had a second class ticket this time and I should admit that the experience was rewarding in more ways than one. This time, I was able to see things outside more clearly. There was a Bengali family traveling in the same compartment and I was amused at the matriarchal society they had in miniature. Their son bore the brunt of the lady’s attack. What the lady said, had to be done without second thought, by the son. Even her husband was not spared. The dominance was of such magnitude that the husband and the kid had to visit the toilet or drink water, only at the lady’s will. I swear I am not exaggerating. Any gesture of disagreement and the lady would take her role as chief counselo...

The counseling was scheduled at nine in the morning. We did not want to risk our moods by taking breakfast and directly went to the counseling hall after a cup of tea. Those of us who did not have the demand draft were asked to book their seats when their turn came and then get the draft – a welcome suggestion much to the relief of many. Seats had also been filled on the previous day by the candidates who enjoyed reservations and by an elite few, who had very high marks in the qualifying examination. Shekhar and I were basically interested in Engineering Design, though our scores were not deserving of the course. He was not ready to compromise and said that he would walk out of the hall if there was no seat in Design. But I was a little more flexible in the sense that I had more options in mind. When I went into the hall, I saw seats in Metallurgy, Materials Science, Physics, Ocean Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Cryogenics, Reliability, etc. – all of these are good branches of st...