ramblings...

I’ve never seen him walk with such determination. With his destination and acts are always brief and undefined, I was shocked to see him walk in a straight line to some place early at 10:35 today morning. Without further hesitation I stopped him to ask where he was up to ? But he kept walking, then the realisation dawned- “Mandi- morning –just brushed teeth- wats for br......oh..BREAKFAST”.

Yeah thats the first question I am asked these days, speacially by the only person , my yaar, the one and only MANDI (u-know-who).

This must have been the starting lines of the post but it really old. My computer shows that i started writing this post on 30/jan/this year.

The blogging season is back so thought I will complete it.....

A lot of things have happened in these forty five days. It looks really long when looking back but time just flew. We wrote the first sessional of the last semester, then i wrote GATE without preparation, then thr was quizfest, Haorohi followed, then the trip to Pachmarhi..... I would call it the Queen of Satpura. The place is a absolute beauty. The views are breathtaking, the waterfalls are just awesome and food was really delicious. Its a must go for all VNITians and (might go for others).
The things that remain the same with no changes whatsoever, is my life and my Final year project!

Looking for some changes ...... and hoping to get an interesting topic to blog on....

COLLEGE(S)

The recent de-recognization of 44 deemed universities is a very bold and appreciable act by the MHRD. It would have certainly hurt me, really bad, had I been a student of any one of those institutes. 

But I wonder why there is not a NIT in the list?  I read quite a few opinions on this issue and all of them have approached the issue from money and material point of view (infra and funding, in our lingo). Is it enough for the Govt. to regulate fee structures and check if there are adequate facilities in the college? 

I am not asking you to feed the horse, but I am asking if it is enough to let the horse loose and fill the pitcher? After all who will walk the horse to it and check if it eats the stuff given to it?

I strongly feel the government’s attitude towards institutions such as ours is something like this. They create facilities, recruit staff and admit students but they neither check if we learn anything here nor if what they spent on is worth anything.

Its astonishing that not one of those famous columnists talked about the “Quality of Education” in our Deemed Universities. We might think the education here is good but is it really so? Have u ever tried discussing your syllabus with your fellow friend back home in a what we call a “not so good college” ? Try it we find they are, in fact, Better. Their departments have more faculty than what we have. They come on time, teach them and if not inspire them at least let them free to get inspired from elsewhere. But here none of the above happens and we are left with the superior feeling that we are students of a NIT and such high airs. I’ve personally seen this in a lot of friends here and I am not ashamed to say this without compunction that, at times I feel like that too.

What’s pathetic is that we VNITians live in our own world and in Bliss. The laziness that aggregates in our body and mind, day by day, the feeling that anything can be done overnight ......and mainly the absolutely no respect for our teachers (of course, but for a few). It hurt me very much on the valedictory day of IG’10 when the valedictorians danced on stage oblivious of the presence of the Deans and the acting Director!!  I am sure they would not do such a thing in front of their school principal, even today!

It’s not like I am pro Profs and it’s certainly not because they have credentials that demand respect. I think, the main reason is because of the “mutual exclusion principle” that prevails amongst us. What we do does not affect them and what they do doesn’t really bother us. We are so drowned in the cosiness of our hostel beds and the moh maya of internet and DC++ that we forget the purpose with which we set foot in this place.

In our first year we come in with a lot of expectations but to our surprise the place is totally different. By the time you reach fourth year the system swallows you totally that it’s hard to come out of it and you feel, anything you do to change it affects u badly so let’s not do it only.

If you know me u will agree with me, if you don’t you’ll probably call me a loser and the one who blames the system for his in capabilities. Wake up guys!! Lemme tell you, I maybe a victim of the system but Not Really.  I am at least aware of what’s happening and have the courtesy to inform you of the same. It might not be about most of us but it’s about a few friends who are still sleeping or have faced too severe a blow from the system to now stand up and walk. 

Forget our college; there are a few good things happening here and there to keep us going, But I am sure u have heard stories from your friends in other NITs, some successful and some failures. I’ve heard many of the latter.

Finally, these questions were asked in The Hitavada, yes it’s the same paper that we spill sambhar and chutney on, daily at the Breakfast table. On 24^th I was lucky enough to have my attention grabbed to it by transcription of Dr.Abdul Kalam’s speech in Ramdeo baba (and not VNIT extra mural- where we enjoy a free 2hr every Thursday afternoon only to spend 2mins on a notice once a semester), behind which was the opinion titled -“Deemed not to be”; it was a forthright article and ended with some candid questions:

·         Are classes, exams held on time?

·         Are university results declared without delay and irregularity?

·         Are libraries equipped with NEW book, magazines and reference material?

·         Do the authorities take pain to understand the present requirements of their students?

·         Is the teaching faculty updating itself with new knowledge of modern times or still referring and teaching from old books and notes?

·         And the final one :

Have universities lost the touch of turning a youth into a responsible citizen of the country?

I don’t know if our authorities have answers to these questions. Such callousness can go on and lead even up to cancellation of your convocation- one of the most joyous days in a youth’s life. The feeling of completeness... 

I dint miss much fun and masti in my college days but...I will certainly miss an important page in my book of memories. I don’t know what it speaks about but I am sure I will know when I search for it.

Winter Rains...Bundles of joy splashing on ur face .

Hmm well..i thought i should write this before some genius points out the fact that i have not been writing anything in my blog but copying stuff from the WEB!! Forgive my indianness ppl. The fact is after getting used to the final year routine in the college, its kinda difficult to make time for new hobbies u know .
Like all VNITians i have also dreamt of the pleasures my final semester during every single sacrifice i’ve made in the last seven semesters. Now i don’t want to leave any stone unturned, i mean i don’t want to leave anything in DC++ unseen. Since my department also contributes significantly to my lazinesss, i decided that its certainly not wise to spend time on "late pleasurable knowledge activities" which includes new GATE preparation and attending classes.
Its such a luvlyy weathaar, i couldn’t resist bunking the 11 o clock lecture, listening to music and writing this. I’ve never loved pehela nasha so much and the melody number is reverberating in the stillness of the world outside. The still trees, foggy skies and the moist ground..... an alien might mistake the weather for a normal winter morning but no human eye would miss this winter rain!!
I spent the last fifteen minutes staring emptily at the bushes, empty road and rain drops outside my balcony..... its such a beautiful sight and my English is insufficient to describe it. The pleasure of listening to Hindi songs especially the late 90s numbers on such a day cannot compensate for anything.
Now u look @ these pics and lemme enjoy the reality in them...envy me!



love u forever...Rain.

P.S. for people who think, srini-bunking classes ?!?--- for ur kind information, forget lectures i even bunked a practical out of sheer laziness..

Speed Reading

Radically Increasing Your Reading Speed

Speed Reading can help you to read and understand written information much more quickly. This makes it an essential skill in any environment where you have to master large volumes of information quickly, as is the norm in fast-moving professional environments. What's more, it's a key technique to learn if you suffer from "information overload", because it helps you to become much more discriminating about the information that you consume.

The Key Insight

The most important trick about speed reading is to know what information you want from a document before you start reading it. If you only want an outline of the issue that the document discusses, then you can skim the document quickly and extract only the essential facts. If you need to understand the real detail of the document, then you need to read it slowly enough to gain the full understanding you need.

You will get the greatest time savings from speed reading by learning to skim excessively detailed documents, although the techniques you'll learn will help you improve the speed of all the reading you do.

Technical Issues

Even when you know how to ignore irrelevant detail, there are other technical improvements you can make to your reading style which will increase your reading speed.

Most people learn to read the way young children read – either letter-by-letter, or word-by-word. As an adult, this is probably not the way you read now: Just think about how your eye muscles are moving as you read this. You will probably find that you are fixing your eyes on one block of words, then moving your eyes to the next block of words, and so on. You are reading blocks of words at a time, not individual words one-by-one. You may also notice that you do not always go from one block to the next: sometimes you may move back to a previous block if you are unsure about something.

A skilled reader will read many words in each block. He or she will only dwell on each block for an instant, and will then move on. Only rarely will the reader's eyes skip back to a previous block of words. This reduces the amount of work that the reader's eyes have to do. It also increases the volume of information that can be assimilated in a given period of time.

A poor reader will become bogged down, spending a lot of time reading small blocks of words. He or she will skip back often, losing the flow and structure of the text, and confusing his or her overall understanding of the subject. This irregular eye movement makes reading tiring. Poor readers tend to dislike reading, and they may find it harder to concentrate, and understand written information.

How to Use Tool

Speed reading aims to improve reading skills by:

*Increasing the number of words read in each block.

*Reducing the length of time spent reading each block.

*And reducing the number of times your eyes skip back to a previous sentence.

These are explained below:

* Increasing the number of words in each block:

This needs a conscious effort. Try to expand the number of words that you read at a time: With practice, you'll find you read faster. You may also find that you can increase the number of words in each block by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you will read!

* Reducing fixation time:

The minimum length of time needed to read each block is probably only a quarter of a second. By pushing yourself to reduce the time you take, you will get better at picking up information quickly. Again, this is a matter of practice and confidence.

* Reducing skip-back:

To reduce the number of times that your eyes skip back to a previous sentence, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, or a pen or pencil. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, smoothing the flow of your reading. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer.

You will be able to increase your reading speed a certain amount on your own by applying these speed reading techniques.

What you don't get out of self-study is the use of specialist reading machines and the confidence gained from successful speed-reading – this is where a good one-day course can revolutionize your reading skills.

Key points:

By speed reading you can read information more quickly. You may also get a better understanding of it, as you will hold more of it in short term memory.

To improve the speed of your reading, read more words in each block and reduce the length of time spent reading each block. Use a pointer to smooth the way your eyes move and reduce skip-back.

source: http://www.mindtools.com/speedrd.html

also chk out : 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmQiOEC8UnM&feature=related


and the other four videos following it. 

What do we do to control Global Warming?!?

Friends... if u have read about it fine .... but others please take a few mins to look at this and  please follow it. Lets do our part to save the planet....afterall who wants to die in 2012?? 

I am proud that i am trying to follow most of it..... how about u??

Global Warming is a dramatically urgent and serious problem. We don't need to wait for governments to find a solution for this problem: each individual can bring an important help adopting a more responsible lifestyle: starting from little, everyday things. It's the only reasonable way to save our planet, before it is too late.
Here is a list of 50 simple things that everyone can do in order to fight against and reduce the Global Warming phenomenon: some of these ideas are at no cost, some other require a little effort or investment but can help you save a lot of money, in the middle-long term!

for very busy ppl .... chk atleast the *** marked ones..

1. **Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
   
2. Install a programmable thermostat
   
3. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
   Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
   
4. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
   
5. **Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
   
6. *****Do not leave appliances on standby
   
7. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
   
8. ***Move your fridge and freezer
   
9. ***Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly
   
10. Don't let heat escape from your house over a long period
    
11. Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazing
    
12. Get a home energy audit
    
13. ****Cover your pots while cooking
    
14. ***Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full
    
15. ***Take a shower instead of a bath
    
16. ***Use less hot water
    
17. ****Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
    
18. Insulate and weatherize your home
    
19. ****Be sure you’re recycling at home
    
20. Recycle your organic waste
    
21. ****Buy intelligently
    
22. ***Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
    
23. ********Reuse your shopping bag
    
24. ****Reduce waste
    
25. ****Plant a tree
    
26. Switch to green power
    
27. ***Buy locally grown and produced foods
    
28. ****Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
    
29. Seek out and support local farmers markets
    
30. **Buy organic foods as much as possible
    
31. ***********Eat less meat
    
32. ****Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
    
33. Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
    
34. Don't leave an empty roof rack on your car
    
35. Keep your car tuned up
    
36. ***Drive carefully and do not waste fuel
    
37. Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
    
38. When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
    
39. Try car sharing
    
40. Try telecommuting from home
    
41. Fly less
    
42. Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions
    
43. Join the virtual march
    
44. Encourage the switch to renewable energy
    
45. Protect and conserve forest worldwide
    
46. Consider the impact of your investments
    
47. Make your city cool
    
48. Tell Congress to act
    
49. Make sure your voice is heard!
    
50. Share this list!
    Spread this list worldwide and help people doing their part: the more people you will manage to enlighten, the greater YOUR help to save the planet will be (but please take action on first person too)! 

these are only headlines ..... chk the source:http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips.html

SAVE EARTH!!!! 

 

whoa! whoa!... Its just a new year !

Welcome 2010! Hi gentlemen and LADIES!!

Yeah we are no more kids and you no more a boy/girl! face the fact!

Though i  have always wondered why people celebrate their getting old, i have never been a great fan of celebrations. This new year i saw people celebrating for a variety of reasons..most celebrating the end of a bad last year and a few anticipating the beginning of a hopefully good one.

Mine was as usual and resulted as yet another paradigm of bad planning. I was in a great mood to celebrate on the new years eve but my determination to watch Aamir Khan's new movie "3 Idiots" overpowered other desires. The movie was great but for the climax. The movie was something that i didn't expect...
Thats a different story, coming back to my bad planning part i thought i could hav had fun of a lifetime if i had gone to NBH that nite.  I still regret not being able to dance my ass off that day.

Nevertheless it has been a very slow but a steady start to the new year and let's see what it has in store for me(& you too..)?!?

Ah the best part of new years.. the fake promises i.e resolutions. Thanks a lot ... most of u didn't ask me about this but for others who want to ask abt it now ... i have taken one two resolutions this time. the first one is ...... sry i would rather talk about my second one first and it is not to reveal the first one! that save a lot of words...

its not that i am very busy but i am too lazy.... so hoping to write more this year...

wish u a very    very happy, prosperous and healthy new year!!

P.S : for my fellow dormant bloggers- tell us what u did on the new years eve..