A livewire called Prof.KVN

Anybody who came in contact with MIT, during the years a dimunitive professor called KV Narayanan worked there, could not forget him till the end of their lives. Such was the arresting dynamism KVN radiated throughout his career.

We came into contact with him even during our first year, but that was mostly along the fringes. It was only when he came to handle the course Analog Electronics in our third semester that we had first hand knowledge of him.

As an expert in taking notes in the class, I can state with reasonable authority that taking notes in his classes proved my ultimate challenge. He would very frequently slip into narrating an anecdote involving some alumnus in the midst of a lecture on Electronics, and I would be so into the story that I would miss when he went back into the subject and when he says, "Let us move to the next topic", I would be puzzled as to when and whether he completed the previous topic. However he did not trouble us too much in our exams, as they were mostly straight forward.

His efforts as the professor incharge of Placements at MIT are so legendary.

His thoughts were always about the welfare of students. In the beginning of the second year, when we had a very damaging incident at the college, I had seen personally as to how much he tried to take care of the students. He was truly one of the most sincere and most humane professors who ever walked the surface of earth.

It is a matter of utmost personal honour for me that in the year 2000, a Gold Medal for the most outstanding outgoing student was instituted by a 46th batch Instrumentation alumnus in Prof. KVN's name, and I won it in that year. It was doubly satisfactory to me because I was on a company tour after graduation when the award was given during the Alumni Club celebrations, and my father received it on my behalf. That was a very special moment for me.

Prof.KVN remains one of my most favourite teachers.

(Posted on 16-Jan-2005)

Kalavaram in Kabaali's pEttai :-)

That is the name of the first skit I acted in MIT (Kabaali pEttaiyila kalavaram). The event was the inauguration of Athenaeum activities in the second year. Senior Jagan of 47th batch Aero wrote the skit. Apart from him, Arun and Karthikeyan (both from my batch Aero), and myself participated in the skit.

We started the script work two days earlier. That itself was a very funny experience. The plot was about a youngster's love failure, upon which he goes to the local dhaadhaa Kabaali for some general advice about life. I played the hero's friend, making funny comments now and then, in the middle of their conversation. One of my famous comment was as follows: "One needs some personality for girls to fall in love. Look at me, I have been in college only for one year, but I already have three girls behind me!!"

I don't think I need to explain the subsequent outrage and furore such a dialogue created among my batch girls. Nevertheless, it was a very good learning experience for me. Senior Jagan gave several tips on how to act, especially how to act in a funny way, and it stands me in good stead for hosting plays on stage even today at my office. He was a very jovial personality. So was Karthikeyan, who played Kabaali. He had no problems whatsoever about the local chennai thamizh dialect (Ey dubukku, innaandre ippa? vUtla sollikkinu vantiyaa? sOmaaRi innaaththukku ippudi bEjaar paNNikinu kiRe?, etc) he was required to speak in.

Overall, the skit ran for about 20 minutes and each second of it was good fun, both for us and the audience. It was a nice initiation for me into the college skit activities.

(Posted on 11-Dec-2004)

(Sub)Urban Legend

No account of my life at MIT will be complete without the details of my daily suburban train journeys to reach the campus. Typically I used to take the 6:40 am BG train from my home station, Perambur Loco Works to Chennai Central. The train would come from Tiruvallur or Arakkonam or Pattabiram Military Siding. As the Perambur-Central stretch is the closing part of the journey, the train used to be slow. I never enjoyed this part of my daily journey.



After detraining at Chennai Central, we have to cross the Poonamalee High Road using the usually dark subway, and reach Park Station on the opposite side. Here I used to take the 7:25 am MG train to Tambaram. Many of my classmates/ batchmates entraining at subsequent stations would also make sure that they are in time for this train. Thus we would typically arrive at Chromepet Station by 8:10 am, well in time for the first hour at 8:30 am. (Dr. PK used to come for his first hours at 8:15 and start filling up the board with diagrams and equations!! That will be the subject of another entry.)



The Park-Chromepet leg of the journey in the mornings is my most favourite. In fact, among all my regular travels, it occupies the prime spot. The reasons are many.

Firstly, I am a big fan of travelling with a blast of air on the face. The Park station is the third station in the Beach-Tambaram line, and only here the train experiences the first signs of crowd. Hence everyday it would be easy for me to get a spot, either sitting by the window or standing by the door, where I can enjoy my blast of air. I would feel very invigorated as the train goes against strong winds, making my hair fall out of place. It is a feeling you have to experience to understand.

Secondly, this leg of the journey is where many of my classmates entrain. Notably at Nungambakkam, Saidapet, Guindy and Pallavaram. Spending few minutes talking with friends in the speeding train first thing in the morning is a greatly refreshing idea. Ganging up in one compartment and talking about the day yet to begin is fun. Especially on exam days, the presence of a friend near you to say, "Don't worry machaan, I too haven't studied anything." is very consoling. The fun in being a day-scholar lies in such daily interactions. (I know some of my hosteller friends would be up in arms. I just want to recollect one TV show for them. In [V] channel, once there was this college show where students were debating whether hostel life was better or day-scholar life. One hosteller went on and on about how they are totally free and independent and how they totally enjoy their life. He ridiculed day-scholars by asking "What do you guys have?" One day-scholar quietly responded: "Mere paas Maa hai!!" in Deewar style, stunning the other side into silence. Yeah, with me too!)

Thirdly, the journey is a tremendous learning experience. The different kinds of people you encounter in Chennai MG suburban trains and the experiences you have with them is quite mindboggling. The BG trains or buses are too crowded to give any meaningful enlightenment. Even in other cities like MUmbai, the suburban trains are way too crowded. Chennai MG trains in mornings are ideal.

Fourthly, we are not the only students travelling in such trains. Thanks to a plethora of engineering colleges located beyond Tambaram, there used to be a rush of students entering our trains. Although the objects of my interest get into special Ladies compartments reserved for them, they used to provide good dharisanams while the train enters the station. Quite fulfilling!

And finally, during the journey, vendors of many eatables come in masses to serve you. My favourites used to be the butter biscuit (an amazing snack) and fried groundnut. Not to mention many varieties of fruits, especially the guava and mango with chilli powder ;-)

The arrival at Chrompet station and how we detrain is the subject of a separate entry, but I will touch upon it here briefly. We used to jump on the express train track, instead of detraining normally like other passengers on the platform. The purpose of this is to reach the campus gate sooner, or so we claimed. Even after the railway authorities put up a fence to prevent such things, we continued to do it.

One interesting aspect of my journey days was the consruction of a subway under the tracks between St.Thomas Mount and Pazavanthaangal. This was continuing even after I left college. On rainy days, the pit that has been dug would be filled with water and neighbourhood children will be having a great time swimming in there.

My reverse journeys in the evenings used to be much less fun, depending on the type of day we had at college. Also due to the absence of point number four mentioned above ;-) And also because each of the friends would get down at his station and leave. For this, typically I used to take the 5:15 pm train at Chromepet, thus reaching Central in time for the 6:20 pm Pattabiram- or 6:35 Tiruvallur- bound train. There is a juice shop in Central station where I do not miss the grape juice everyday.

As for stations, my vote goes to the Central suburban station which is an interesting construction with a high ceiling. It never used to be stuffy here. Especially the steps area at the entrance opening out to the parking lot provides a gentle breeze antime of the day. Another reason for liking Central is the presence of a good magazine shop with all the latest magazines.

And ofcourse I like my base station, Perambur Loco Works. It has a very peaceful atmosphere.

And third comes Chromepet, for that is where I have spent the most time, waiting for trains with all my friends together. Sometimes, if there is an interesting conversation going on among us, we would skip trains to prolong these conversations.

No time like those times, when life was full of everyday surprises.

(Posted on 10-Dec-2004)

NanmaanguLam Sunai

I have previously recounted my experiences with the 46th batch seniors of Instrumentation department and how I have always admired them. I was a pet to many of them. There is one more incident that I got to enjoy with them and this happened in a place called "NanmaanguLam Sunai".

Sunai, as some of my Tamil friends would be aware is the tamil word for a water body situation amidst hilly areas. Actually, it refers to a spot where water gushes out, but the source of the same is hidden from our eyes by nature. I never expected to see such things in Chennai, but that was the surprise.

It was a cool Sunday after the first year's Intecho (about which I have written few posts ago.) Some of the 46th batch seniors, basking after the successful completion of the event, wanted to take a refreshing break to celebrate, and they decided that this NanmaanguLam sunai would be the best place to do so. At that time, I was planning to leave the college along with my classmate Anbu Smiles, having stayed overnight in the hostel. We were stopped at the gate and invited to join them. They informed us that we have to make a bicycle trek for about an hour to reach this Sunai. The idea caught our imagination, and we all rented bicycles and started our journey. The headcount was as follows: Suresh, KTK, GK, NK, Balaji and SuCha, apart from the two of us.

We reached Tambaram from Chromepet and we took a detour through what looked like a village road, with lush green fields on both sides. I was stunned to see such things in the vicinity of Chennai. We were able to enjoy many village pleasures like sitting under a huge banyan tree and enjoying snacks, drinking padhani by the roadside, etc.

And then we reached the Sunai. It was an inviting pool of water, with a perfect backdrop of hills and trees. We immediately plunged in, given that it was noon. I did not know swimming, but that was Ok, because the water was only waist deep, so knowledge of swimming was not a pre-requisite. Some of us got a sudden attraction for what is called sun-bathing, but I don't think we presented a pretty sight. (I did not, for sure.)

No trip like this is complete without food and drinks. Our seniors had made sure that these will be flowing as much as required. So we had a filling time. More than the food and drinks, what will add excitement and fun to such an event, is the presence of a person who properly appreciates all this. And we had exactly one such person in SuCha. He was there in full flow and his antics provided unmitigated fun.

It was truly a very refreshing day that I enjoyed in my MIT life. And very unforgettable.

(Posted on 19-Dec-2004)

"I will definitely marry only you."

No no. Please. That was not something foolish that I told one of the girls at my college. And please, definitely not in the first year. (Remember, we are trying to remember things in this blog in a chronological order..!!)

That was the name of a Tamil film (dubbed from Telugu) that we went to watch as soon as the exams in the first year got over. "We" refers to our class. Our plans for the outing had been very ambitious. We "planned" to watch Minsaara Kanavu first. On the day of the outing, it dawned upon us that our first trip of this nature merits much more than watching the melodramas of one PrabhuDeva and one ArvindSwamy and one Kajol. So we decided to watch Thalaivar's Arunaachalam. Once we reached the famous udhayam theatre with hopes flying high, we encountered unexpected trouble in the form of a HOUSEFULL board. Since we were too many in number, even the theatre authorities couldn't help us out. Since udhayam is a multiplex, we were made to do with another flick running in another theatre. Which brought us in contact with unnaiyE kalyaaNam paNNikkiREn, starring Nagarjuna and Tabu.

To give proper credit, it was not that bad. ukp was a decently made comedy film, with loads of family senti and some rain songs thrown in, as is the wont of Tollywood. And when you are in the midst of friends, I don't think it matters too much what film one sees.

After the film, we proceeded to a classmate's home, making ourselves comfortable with some snacks and juices and then adjourned. Yeah, it was a pretty good outing that we had for our first time.

Post Script: The next day, some of the boys had a field day. They would go to one of the girls and ask her innocently, "What film did we watch yesterday?" She would reply, "unnaiyE kalyaaNam paNNikkiREn." To which, depending upon the girl, the boy would either smile shyly and say "OK" or widen their eys in horror and say, "no, please, no, anything except such a punishment!!!" If you accidentally entered our college on that day and found the spectacle of some boys being chased angrily by some girls very surprising, this was it.

Post Post Script: What, Me? No, I was a good boy. I didn't do such things. (Those who do not notice the past tense in the answer will be suitably rewarded!!)

(Posted on 03-Jun-2004)

First prize in MIT

Ok, now that title can be a little misleading. It may either mean that I won the first prize in some competition in MIT. Or that I won a prize for the first time in MIT. Fortunately for me, it means both.

The Tamil club of Anna University organised a poetry competition as part of Bhaarathiyaar vizhaa to commemorate the best Tamil poet of the modern era, Subramanya Bhaarathiyaar. Two topics were given, "puthiyathOr ulakam seyvOm" or "vidiyalai NOkki." I recited a poem on the first topic and I won the first prize for the first time in MIT. (And expectedly many more would be won in the remaining days) Dr. A. Mathialagan, our then dean, was the judge. My classmate Shoba who also recited a poem won a consolation prize. But Dr. AM was averse to call it consolation prize as it had a non-positive connotation. So he coined a new term, calling it as the encouragement prize. Nice one, isn't it?

(Psoted on 03-Jun-2004)

Glimpses of World Engineering

Apologies for the Nehruvian sounding title of this post, but what I am going to describe here are the small glimpses of Engineering that we had in the first year. This was through two subjects that we had in that year, Engineering Mechanics (first semester) and Electrical Engineering (second semester).

Engineering Mechanics was handled by Professor PMJ (Dr. P. Mannar Jawahar). (He is the one who donned the role of placement officer in the Tamil film FiveStar in the initial scenes.) He was one of the most benevolent professors we ever had at MIT. Even when he was scolding us for something, he would ooze out love and warmth in no small measure. He was the chairperson of a number of sub-committees in the university, and every now and them he would be required to attend them. He would come to our class, and whenever he begins, "I have to go to the main campus to chair a meeting..", a collective whoop of excitement would reach the roof of our class. Most of his classes were Double E-Mech, which means we would have him continuously for two hours. Thus we loved all of those meetings that gave us two hours free most of the weeks. I must mention here that his classes were usually hassle-free to attend. He never used to trouble us too much. His meetings were only all the more reason to like him. Besides, he really didn't teach Engineering Mechanics. He taught us a less advanced version of it, also called by the name, 'Engineering Mechanics for Dummies.' His funda in the class was to teach the same concepts using simple problems. Even in his examinations, all the questions would have the formula required to solve the problem, and all the variables of the formula explained. Now, one variable would be required to be found. We will just have to identify the variables and their respective values from the question, substitute in the formula, and there you go with the solution. Many of his examples used to involve the pulley mechanism, and many of us went on to become experts in drawing pulley mechanisms of different kinds. Some problems would have multiple pulleys attached in the same line of action, and he would decompose them into simpler mechanisms using innovative logic and solve the problems wonderfully. He was great.

The other "engineering" course that we had in the first year was Electrical Engineering, taught by M.S. Raja (MSR as he was called affectionately.) Well past into retirement and continuing as a guest faculty, he was an outstanding teacher by any standards. We were the last batch to have him as the lecturer for Electrical Engineering, and we are really fortunate on that count. He literally used to pick problems from the air, and these problems would have a suspense element attached with them. After teaching a concept such as the Electrical Circuit Theorems, he would give the first two problems to be simple and straightforward. The third problem would involve a small twist that would require us to think a little. One by one, the complexity would increase and reach the crescendo at some point. He would stop the class and leave, without answering the last problem. We would be outraged, but at the same time very impressed. I have always found his classes and atleast half-an-hour after that to be very intellectually stimulating. The next day, he would seek answers for the previous day's problem and truly appreciate anybody who had managed to solve it. Then he would move to the next topic, and it would be business as usual once again. He was phenomenal. After attending his classes, I was tempted to think that we at engineering did indeed grow horns on our heads, to say it colloquially as in a Tamil phrase.

(Posted on 26-May-2004)

Saaral - MIT Students magazine

One of the enthusiastic activities I took part in during the first two years of my college days was being an editor in the editorial team of Saaral - our students magazine. Senior Mugunthraj of 46th batch Instrumentation was instrumental in bringing out the magazine. It was priced at Rs. 2 per copy and was partially funded by Athenaeum.

Initially I was contributing some poems and stories, but I joined the editorial team later. I covered a talk show organised by the Rotaract Club of Anna University, and I was very much appreciated for that. Leading medical practitioners such as Dr. Rudran, psychiatrist and Dr. Mathrubhootham, participated in it and it was a very entertaining session. My report on the talk show also brought me to the attention of our former Dean, Dr. A. Mathiazagan, who always encouraged me to develop my writing skills. I used to interact with him a lot to get poems from him for the magazine, and it was he who introduced me to the great Kahlil Gibran's poems. In one issue, he had translated KG's poems beautifully into Tamil and this led me to explore this territory further and now I am a big fan of KG too.

I also published my first short story in Saaral. It explored the fine distinction between love and infatuation. (Those days, many of my stories were about love and infatuation, as easily understandable!!!) The story contained some dialogues that I considered pretty revolutionary at that age and maturity. Especially the heroine of the story, when the hero came and expressed his love (infatuation) for her, would speak very much like a typical heroine in a K Balachandar film.

We introduced a crossword contest in Tamil in every issue, and I developed the crosswords for a few issues. It was a very interesting experience. Even sitting for proof reading and lay-out work at the printer's house was a very satisfactory experience.

It would not be wrong to say that Saaral allowed to me quench the journalist's thirst that was burning inside me, even when I chose to pursue engineering studies.

(Posted on 04-Apr-2004)

MITAFEST 97

MIT Athenaeum FESTival was our annual cultural extravaganza, spread over 4 days. Although it could not match something like Saarang in grandeur and opulence, it used to be our pride. As they say in Tamil, Ezaikku Eththa eLLurundai.

My association with MITAFEST 97 began with getting sponsorships for events. I undertook many trips with other batchmates to several business and vocational training establishments trying to get them to sponsor some events. I was moderately successful and I was quite pleased about that.

MITAFEST 97 was inaugurated on a Wednsesday afternoon. We had an intra-college cultural competition, just to set the mood and get everybody excited for the next four days. We being the first year students, prepared and participated eagerly in it. Our show consisted of a dance for the song, "antha arabic kadalOram..", another dance for an african style tribal song and finally a poem recital by me. I still remember the mesmeric dance movements by my batchmates Ilangovan, Sarath and Shivasai for the arabic kadalOram song. As we were the first set of plus2 students to enter college, we had an abundance of youthful exuberance which was definitely different from the casual attitudes of our seniors, all of them having completed B.Sc before coming here. It was truly a mind-blowing dance performance. My poem was titled "engkaL MIT" and I sang copious praises of the college in it. Most of it was true of course. It drew wide applause all round.

The next day morning, we got news that we won second prize for the culturals. It was a creditable performance and we were all very elated. We enthusiastically participated in all events and organisational activities there-after. We had inter college variety show on that evening and it was a blast. Loyola and Nandhanam Arts, the usual leaders in these events everywhere did so well. I was wearing an ear-ring for the occasion and was doing all sorts of alambals.

The next day, the notable event was Vaarththai Vilaiyaattu, conducted by our alumnus Ramesh Prabha, who is popular in Sun TV with his Paattukku Paattu programme. The rules of the event are that he will keep asking questions, and we must not be silent for more than 3 seconds while answering, must not use English words, must not repeat a word more than thrice, must speak only in complete sentences, etc. I too participated and lost narrowly by 10 seconds in the first round itself.

Dance Dance was a popular event held on the last day. We had two rounds. In the first round, the teams should dance to the song/music piece they had selected and practised for. In the second round, also called Masala Mix Round, we used to play a mix of old and new songs, including melodies, thus testing their impromptu dancing skills to the maximum. The team from St.Peter's engineering college displayed terrific presence of mind in the second round. For every piece that was played, they waited briefly for their leader to start the dance step and easily caught on with him. In the case of other teams, each member of the team danced differently and it was an eye-sore comedy for the audience. St.Peter's won the event, naturally.

As I had mentioned earlier, it was the first culturals experience for our batch and we went slightly over board in excitement. This is especially true with the case of paper planes, which we merrily shot at many girls, including seniors. At that time, it was much fun, but now I am certainly ashamed of the way we behaved. Let's just put it down to young age and innocent enthusiasm, shall we?

(Posted on 21-Feb-2004)

Association Hour activity

Every week, a couple of afternoons will be free without any laboratory classes. As per the tradition of our department, we used to assemble in our classroom once every week and spend the time preparing ourselves for placement related processes and other general development oriented activities. When the lateral entry students came to join us in the second year, we would use the time to get a detailed introduction from them. Even when some students came from other departments through a rank-based allotment, they introduced themselves during the Association hour.

I very well remember the first Association Hour that we had. Naturally the PR of the final year batch came and introduced many of the placement related processes and procedures to us. Senior NK talked especially about Group Discussion and asked us to develop our skills in that. He held a GD for us. I volunteered for that first GD along with Anbu Smiles, Gomathishankar, Saravana Babu, Rosaline and J. Sreenivas. I think the topic was about Indian cricket and the selection policies used by the Cricket board. We did a pretty decent job in it.

Other typical activities that we used to have in the Association hour included Quiz, Aptitude tests, and some interesting games. I will always remember two games that we played during the first year. One was a story telling game. Four of us were invited to the front and were given a particular emotion such as sorrow, comedy, horror, mystery etc. The girl who conducted the game would start a story and we were supposed to continue the story using only our emotion in turns. The story really took interesting turns that day because one of the participants decided to make that girl a character in the story. She became a nun in the story, went inside an abandoned church and basically went through a lot of sufferings in that story.

Another unforgettable game was Ship Wreck. As you may know, in this game, each participant assumes the role of a celebrity, all travelling in a ship that is about to sink. Each celebrity should now attempt to convince the audience that only he or she is eligible to take the only remaining life boat. Some of the celebrities were TN Seshan, Nakkeeran Gopal and Jayalalithaa. The students who got these celebrities did a creditable job. But Rangarajan had the most difficult job, as he had got actress Rambha as his celebrity. He was dumbstruck for a few seconds. But he quickly recovered and presented one of the most fascinating arguements I have ever heard. He said that his(her) job was only to entertain people, but the others had much more serious and responsible roles to play in the society. So he(she) decided to forego the opportunity to take the boat and will instead sacrifice his (her) life for the greater good of the society. Even though Ranga acted against his brief, his arguement was so convincing and sincere that it was very much appreciated. That was one of the great presence-of-mind reactions I have ever come across.

As out placement time approached, we conducted a lot of GDs and mock interviews during the Association hour. Whether conducting or attending, those were some of the most useful things I did to myself and others during my stay in MIT.

(Posted on 19-Jan-2004)

My first performance on stage - Intecho '97

INTECHO (abridged version of Instrumentation Echo) was the name of the annual technical symposium hosted by our department. The first year's Intecho was held during 24th and 25th of Jan 1997, and it presented the opportunity for my first singing performance on stage. On the first evening, we had a campfire and an orchestra completely by the students ourselves. Dileep from 46th batch was the chief musician and he led a bunch of music-minded volunteers to present a creditable show. I sang two songs. They are:
1. puththiyuLLa manitharellaam veRRi kaaNpathillai (Tamil)
2. Mehbooba mehbooba (Hindi)

The latter song was enjoyed by many students, especially when it gathers momentum in the finishing stages and they were dancing around the fire with much enthusiasm. Thus, I made a very successful debut on the MIT stage, which remained my favourite haunt for all the years to come.

The second day presented another opportunity in the way of an Alumni get together. We hosted another music show for the Alumni who had gathered. This day I sang an adapted version of the song ayiraththil Naan oruvan from the film iruvar. I wrote the lyrics of the song myself and it was full of senti about the college and the enjoyable atmosphere for students available there. The alumni, naturally, went into malarum NinaivugaL mode and appreciated the song very much.

The first year Intecho is also memorable for many other reasons. As first year students, we were given the responsibility of giving invitations of the event to other colleges. This earned us valuable paid leave from classes (attendance being given) while we go to other colleges and have a nice time there, by watching the lovely, beautiful and charming... trees of their campuses. (I knew what you thought, you bad people..!!)

Further, we had chosen the hour-glass as the logo of the event. This had a significance in the sense that the hour-glass is supposed to be one of the earliest measuring instruments ever invented and used by man. We first years were again given the responsibility of making danglers of the hour-glass in different sizes to be hung all around our campus from tree barnches. I especially enjoyed making these. The first year Intecho was a major success and I savour every moment of being a part of it.

(Posted on 16-Jan-2004)

NSS Camp at Pulippaakkam village

As I had mentioned earlier, students in NSS were required to participate in a 10 day service camp at the start of the second year. For us, this camp was organised at Pulippaakkam, a village near Chengalput. We stayed at the outskirts of the village in a farm house. The girls got to stay under roof inside the rooms, while we boys were asked to sleep on the verandhas. The girls were generally noisy on all nights. There was a lake adjoining the farm house where we used to go for bathing. Along with my friend Sathya, I utilised the bathing time to do some singing practise while being immersed in the water neck-deep (saadhagam!!) Our favourite song was pon onRu kandEn, peN angku illai, ennenRu Naan solla vENdumO which the actors Sivaji and Balaji would sing together in a swimming pool in a Tamil film. We used to drive the others crazy by repeatedly singing this particular song daily.

Canal digging was the first work we undertook in the village during our stay. We dug a canal from the water source to the fields for the owner of the farm house. It was truly some back-breaking work and we generally got very tired. But we completed the job in 2 days.

For other purposes, we were divided into five groups, each one to undertake a different job as required. Mess Responsibility used to be the easiest job of all. It involved assisting the cooks while preparation of food and then serving the food to our friends. Being the eternal innovators, our group introduced the concept of "Quality Control" in plate washing process. Students have to wash the plates in which they ate, before returning it to the store. We started to inspect the cleanliness of the plates when they were returned and sent back the unclean plates for re-wash. This concept caught on from the next day onwards. Especially, two girls from another group asked for spotless plates and sent back almost all plates on the first attempt. This led to serious acrimony among groups and revenge measures were planned.

Another interesting activity that we undertook during our stay was the survey that we conducted for EXNORA International, a Voluntary Association. We surveyed the village people regarding their educational status, cattle strength, income levels etc. This was required by EXNORA to plan their activities in the village. It was a very interesting experience to interact with the villagers and getting to know the conditions prevailing in the village. They respected us a lot as "padikkiRa pasangka" who came to help them. They were classic examples of the famous virundhOmbal quality of the Tamil race, offering buttermilk and tea/coffee to us wherever we went.

In the evenings all of us used to take tuitions for the children of the villlage. They were such bright and enthusiastic students. I had a really fascinating time trying to teach them, which made me respect my teachers even more. We organised some games for the children.

We organised a medical camp for the village people in collaboration with students of Kilpauk Medical College. On the last day we also organised a Veterinary Camp for the cattle with doctors from Madras Veterinary College. It was great fun trying to interact with cows and bulls and kannu kutties.

In the mid-afternoons, we would have inter group cricket matches. There were many a nail-bitingly close matches that were played out here. But during those days I was not into cricket too much. So I used to walk around and climb small hills trying to admire the nature. I was a poet, you see. But the girls of my batch had no idea of my poetic capabilities at that time, and so teased me that I was trying to pursue B.Tech degree in Botany instead of Engineering. Well, I forgave them for such remarks.

Playing cards were also much sought after during those times, especially after some heavy lunch. We would go into the orchards, spread the blankets and play. Those who have the blessings of Niththiraa Devi would sleep under the trees instead.

The evenings before dinner used to be the outstanding fun-time. Each group was given the responsibility to entertain us on each day. Many interesting games, skits and songs used to be featured in this cultural entertainment. The NSS secretary, a pre-final year student, used to be the target of many of the skits. Group 4, which unfortunately consisted of my singing-mate Sathya, conducted some wierd games. The first was water-drinking contest. One girl who drank nearly 20 glasses of water and won the contest fell sick immediately. (She is still trying to make us forget the incident, which we are determined not to.) Seeing her condition, the lecturer who had accompanied us gave a worried glance at the group 4 students. They continued with their games and announced the next contest - neem leaves eating contest. Now the lecturer was quick to limit the damage. After seeing the fate of the students who bravely volunteered into the contest after eating only two or three leaves, he immediately ordered a ban on such "games and contests."

On the penultimate day, two girls (from my department) sang a song in the evening program that ridiculed the boys, falsely accusing us of doing certain things. We were naturally upset about it. I decided to get back at the girls in general and composed a song in the tune of a popular film song senthamiz Naattu thamizachchiyE about how they were behaving during the camp. Sathya and I decided to sing it the next night. We were even late to the morning paryer as our saadhagam was taking time. However at the last moment, we decided to adopt the forgive-and-forget policy and sang a film song instead. One of our unfinished agendas from the trip was this.

At the end of ten days, we left the place with so many nice and unforgettable memories. Apart from the All-India Tour which we went during the third year, this NSS camp experience will rank among the best moments of my college days at MIT.

(Posted on 23-Dec-2003)

Farewell to 46th batch seniors and Retreat

Farewell parties of MIT, hosted by juniors to the final year seniors used to be very fun-filled and sentimental at the same time. Quite a strange combination.

Normally the Farewell party is organised on a grand scale since it involves students of three years to share the work and costs. In return, the final year students host the Retreat, where the outgoing batch wishes the others to continue the grand traditions of the department and college. We used to go to some exotic places in three buses for both the events.

The Farewell given to 46th batch seniors at Mamalla Resorts on the way to Mamallapuram, in my first year is the best and most unforgettable to me, for several reasons.
1. It was the first time I was participating in such a "farewell."
2. 46th batch seniors are the best.
3. I joined Filbert Pradeep, my classmate, to dance for the remix song Roop Tera Mastana to provide some cultural entertainment. (I guess for many people who attended, this third reason would have made the farewell very forgettable. But I would like to believe that it was a good performance by both of us. Anyway, our dance performance came after the girls had left. So the damage, if any, was minimal.)

The standard ritual in the farewell consists of asking each senior to come to the stage and asking them questions regarding some of the embarrassing moments during their life at MIT. It would be fun to watch each senior squirming and occasionally defending himself/herself with some strange logic, or vehemently denying the "allegations." One may go as far to call it some kind of Reverse Ragging. We would set up an investigating team to go to the final year students and ask them about each other's embarrassments. Here we used to play one against the other, saying that "Senior X has told lot of stuff on you like..." which would infuriate Senior Y, who would then hold fort on the dealings of Senior X to our heart's content. Thus we would collect fascinating material about each of the seniors. An edited version of this would be used to ask questions. (These things used to be fun only until it boomeranged on us during our final year. Well, that's another story for a later day.)

The girls of my class conducted a game for the final year seniors and the winner was crowned as Mr. IT. It was the first time our girls took such an initiative and it was very appreciable.

The entire series of each senior will present a farewell gift to the senior and take a series photograph with him/her. Many seniors got senti while talking to us, especially about their friendship with other final year students. It was a testimony to how great the 46th batch was.

The 46th batch seniors then hosted a Retreat few weeks later at Kishkintha amusement park near Tambaram. We were taken for a ride by them. er.. no no.. I meant they took us on different rides like Rudra Kaveri, etc. The evening of Retreat is most exciting as it typically involves dividing us (juniors) into four groups to compete in various funny rounds. I remember my efforts in one particular round called "Proposing." Here, one person from each group was invited to propose to an imaginary boyfriend or grilfriend. I enacted a mono-act in which after I propose in a poetic way, my imaginary GF would show her slipper to me, whereupon I would comment "I understand what you mean by showing one slipper. Like how one slipper is useless without the other, you are meaning to say that I am useless without you.." thereby winning over her heart, This was very much appreciated by everyone present.

After such fun, we would also have some serious business to finish, which is the investiture ceremony of the office bearers in the next year. The newly elected Student Chairman, Secretary, Tresurer and Joint Secretary of our department association would be called and handed over the duties. More importantly, the new Placement Representatives would be invited and the outgoing PRs would hand over important documents related to placement.

Farewell and Retreat are among the most emotional events during our life in MIT.

(Posted on 22-Dec-2003)

Physics and Chemistry classes in first year

I have previously described the travails of our adventurous journeys to Guindy campus for attending the Physics and Chemistry laboratory sessions. Fortunately, we were spared of those difficulties when it came to theory classes. Professors undertook the journey in the reverse direction to come to our campus to teach us.

Our lecturer for Physics in both semesters of the first year was Dr. Shankar. He was a very enthusiastic teacher. He would explain things over and over again whenever a student asks a doubt, until either of the following two things happens -
1. The student concerned understands the answer to his doubt or
2. He gives up.

Dr. Shankar was full of conviction that Physics was the be-all and end-all of all sciences. Einstein's Relativity Theory was one of my favourite topics that was taught by Dr. Shankar. He used to teach it with so much intensity that lot of his interest and enthusiasm used to rub upon me too. The highlight of this topic is that it used to make much sense while discussing it with him, but once the class ends, I would have trouble explaining it to others. Probably what they say about Relativity Theory that even Einstein didn't understand it completely is after all true..!! The only drawback with Dr. Shankar was that his voice modulation during the class was not very much up to the mark. For many students, it used to be like a quiet lullaby, especially when the "pongal" breakfast was seriously trying to get the better of your consciousness in the first hour on some days.

Our lecturer for Chemistry in the first semester was Dr. Nanjundan. He used to dictate extensive "notes" during his classes. The entire curriculum in the first semester covered Water Treatment and Analysis and it was a big pain. The second semester was a little more interesting. We were taught by Dr. Shanthi. (Generally, in both Physics and Chemistry, the second semester was more interesting because it covered new topics. "New" in the sense that we had not learnt those topics in the higher secondary course in school.) Once during the second semester, I had to go for some competition and I requested Dr. Shanthi before the beginning of the class to leave me a little early. She cut short her class after 30 minutes and let everyone free. I was overwhelmed by the amount of gratitude my fellow students showed me after that incident.

Physics and Chemistry classes were taught only in the first year. Some topics we learnt in Physics used to come in handy later during Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Flow measurement, Adaptive Control Theory, Fuzzy Logic, etc. I was a natural in Physics, earning top grades in both semesters. I performed creditably in Chemistry too in both semesters. I may say that both the subjects laid a good foundation for the courses coming up later.

(Posted on 29-Oct-2003)

Mathematics classes by Sapana madam

If any of you thought that entering a premier institution like MIT was in itself the result of punniyams done in previous jenmams, then you are sadly mistaken. The result of - in IIT/IIM lingo - "hazzaaar punniyams in hazzaaar previous jenmams", was in being taught Methematics by somebody like our Sapana madam. We at Instrumentation had the privilege of being taught by her for two semesters.

Before the arrival of Sapana madam, Mathematics used to be like just another subject. First, we were taught by Dr. C. Srihari Nagore or 'CSN'. Her style of teaching consisted of rattling out words at the speed of 300 words per minute, stopping occasionally to catch her breath. People who had only heard about the speed of the Japanese Bullet train, but were unwilling to believe that it was a real concept, changed their beliefs immediately after attending her first class.

She made way for Dr. Ponnammal Natarajan or 'PN'. If you had read Harry Potter, you can easily visualise Professor McGonagall to be our PN. Once during the first year MitaFest, we got so excited in being a part of a college festival for the first time and we misbehaved a little by shooting paper planes at girls, and she gave us such a telling off the next day that I have nearly forgotten how to fold paper any more.

Then Sapana madam happened. She was like an angel who came down to earth with the sole mission of inculcating a scientific approach to learning mathematics into all our minds. (And she looked like an angel, too..) Being a product of IIT Madras, (M.Sc.) she tried to increase our intellect to those lofted levels. Her approach to mathematics instruction was completely different. She would write down the problem on the board and wait for one of us to suggest the next step in the way to the solution. Tirelessly she would discuss each of the steps suggested by several students and finally make us understand what the right approach must be. Today, all this appears very nice and sensible and logical, but at that time, many of the students were not happy with this kind of teaching, being used to taking down the solution and mugging it up and reproducing the same during the exams. Mostly, Anbu Smiles and Sujeet Shetty would be talking in the class (me too sometimes) offering step after step of solution. Others would be watching with emotions ranging from awe (how are these guys able to talk properly in front of such a beautiful lady??) to anger (Hello..! Excuse me..!! Have we all become invisible suddenly?? We also belong to this class..!!) to desperation (Machaan, what is the minimum marks required for passing this course? I heard it is a 4 credit course.. Doomed, I think.!!) to frustration (!@#$% ^%#@# ^&$@@!#)

The third semester mathematics course was one of the best courses I have ever attended. We started with Laplace transforms which was quite okay, but afterwards the course went off-tangent with Z-transforms, Fourier transforms and all that. However, I can completely vouch for the phenomenal efforts our Sapana madam took to make us proficient in the thories of those subjects. It was an absolute treat to be sitting in her class trying to follow her reason of thought on why the Region of Convergence for a particular Z-transform would always tend to zero. She was a brilliant mathematician, but may be her approach to teaching didn't gel with the students' expectations properly. Personally, I was more than happy with her approach.

During the second semester I also achieved the distinction of scoring centum in the end-semester exam and Sapana madam was delighted and used to remember this fact about me. In the third semester when I was not performing properly, she castigated me for not putting my best efforts into scoring good marks. During the end-semester exam, she tip-toed to many of her favourite students and said "All the best" which I found to be a very touching and moving gesture.

We heard that she is married and settled in Canada now. We wish her all happiness in life.

On behalf of Anbu Smiles and myself and others, I take this blog to record our sincerest thanks and appreciation to Sapana madam for her kindness, for her illuminating presence in our Mathematics classes, for her mere presence in our campus when we were not attending Mathematics classes, for wearing sarees to classes on rare occasions, and for being as cute and lovely as she only can be. Thanks ma'am..!!

(Posted on 21-Oct-2003)

Evening Snacks at the Mess

MIT stands firmly by the moral edict that A long day's toil must be well-rewarded. (In some cases, even if the long day's toil was just sleeping inside the hostel room or copying readings from the next group in the laboratory.) In MIT, the reward was snacks provided in the mess every evening along with coffee and tea. Even though we have to pay for the snacks, (coffee/tea was free) it was a very useful service that the mess provided to us at nominal rates. In the initial days, it was a coupon based system. We had to buy coupon books from the mess office and buy the snacks against coupons. Later they changed it into a system where we give our name or number to the mess incharge and pick up the snacks while we were charged at the end of the month in the mess bill. Then in the last year they went back to coupons.

The confusion was only in the process. The snacks usually used to be of high quality. This was courtesy M/s Joy Bakery, in Radha Nagar main road, a favourite haunt of many students. Many of the treats that come under the "suddenly decided" or "forced" category used to happen here. Snacks in the mess used to be different on different days. We had Samoosa, Cream cake, Puffs, Coconut Bun, and few others which I do not remember because the named ones were my favourites. In the first year when our batch lived in the Junior Hostel, we used to have the snacks at the NV-mess, while in the other three years, we used to have it from the V-mess.

Like many south indians I share a fanatic attraction to coffee. The coffee provided in the mess was of decent quality and I normally used to have two or three rounds without any shame. Picking up the tumbler full of coffee, I used to linger outside near the xerox shop with my classmates. We used to reflect upon the day's events and ensure that we have all details regarding homework, assignments, etc. to be completed for the next day. The previous line applies only to the first two years. Later, we would sit in the bunds and just discuss anything unconnected to studies and academics.

Some days, we would be held up at the laboratory doing a particularly time-consuming experiment and we would not be able to come in time for the snacks. When we arrive late at the mess, all that we would have was some leftover crumbs and some coffee from the bottom of the cans. In those situations I used to go to a "bajji" shop outside the campus in Radha Nagar. Onion Bajji and Chilly Bajji were my favourites. After a satisfied fill at this shop we would have some fresh juice on the way back.

In the month-ends, when our coupon books looked leaner, we would catch someone who has many coupons and attach ourselves to them. Embarrassed to say no, he would be forced to buy us some snacks.

The snacks time was one of the essential activities on all days, not only for me, but for everybody. It provided a ready time slot for exchanging news and happenings across years and departments. Needless to add, this was also good time for carrying out some "sight-seeing" activity. ;-))

(Posted on 20-Oct-2003)

T-Number system

A simple five digit number takes me places, all over the world. We call it the T-Number. I think it means "Technocrat Number." But meanings are irrelevant here. T-Numbers are all about feelings.

T-Numbers are the singular identities of MITians. I have seen many rich traditions in many campuses around the globe. But I am yet to see something more powerful then the T-Number system we had at MIT. My T-Number is 49425. 49 represents the batch number, 4 represents the Instrumentation department and 25 is my roll number.

The T-Number binds a student irrevocably to the "series" i.e. students with same roll numbers across batches. Hence my series would be X425. I am entitled to many special benefits from the seniors of my series, in the same way how I have to provide special benefits to the juniors of my series. I have received many books, question papers and equipments from my series which I have dutifully passed on. Even today after I have graduated, when I go to the Alumni get-togethers, when I mention my T-Number, I find some juniors of my series clapping hands and expressing their happiness. They come up to me and enquire my well-being. That is a special attachment and bonding unique to each series.

A funny thing happened to me in our first year. We were alloted our T-Numbers and were asked to meet our respective T-seniors. I was informed that my T-senior in second year had a particular nickname. I thought knowing the nickname would make it easier to find him. One day in the Library, one senior called me to enquire whether I had met my T-senior. I said no and asked him whether he can help me in finding the senior whose nickname was "so and so." To my bad luck, it turned out that he was my T-senior and he was not at all happy that the first and foremost thing I knew about him was his atrocious nickname. However, he said, "MIT vaazkkaiyila ithellaam sakajamappaa..!!" and forgave me.

More funny moments continued when we became the seniors for the first time in our second year. A great phenomenon that happened when we got our first T-juniors was the "T-series adoption." Essentially this meant that students who were stuck with "boy" juniors would adopt a series with a "girl" junior. This would leave both their boy junior and the original senior of the girl junior stranded. I have given many hints in previous posts as to who were the primary culprits in this adoption racket.

As our series grew, some changes came into the lives of students who were blessed with girl juniors in their series. They suddenly took extra efforts in taking proper notes during classes (to be passed on later), learning good English vocabulary (to answer questions in the autograph book properly), etc.

I myself tried to impress a girl junior (who was from the girls school of the group of schools in which I studied) using some ridiculous logic. Needless to say, the attempt backfired miserably and badly, and I am still living through nightmares of teasings by my friends whenever that subject comes up.

The ultimate fun happened during the final year when he had the responsibility of allocating the T-numbers to the first year students. Many students proposed unique methods to allot the T-Numbers. I need not mention that each method benefited the proposer in many ways. However, I believe that we at the IEA did a neat and proper job of it and acted in a fair manner.

After graduation I have seen many seniors talk with pride about their T-number and T-series. I'm sure even the Honorable President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, an ilustrious alumnus of our college, would have many happy memories about his T-series. What better evidence do you need??

(Posted on 17-Sep-2003)

Campus Cleaning Activity

A favourite theme of all the deans we had at the college was the "campus cleaning activity." Every two months, we used to have this activity. (Well, actually there used to be much chit-chat and less "activity" in it.) As this provided valuable attendance towards NSS (National Service Scheme) and NSO (National Sports Organisation) requirements, all first year students were required to attend this activity compulsorily. It would be always held on a typical Saturday morning. By typical Saturday, I mean hot, humid, sunny, sweaty Saturday, as is customary in Chennai.

The students get divided into two groups, namely the Department cleaning group and the Common Areas cleaning group. As the names suggest, the former group is posted to clean the respective department classrooms and labs while the latter group is commandeered to clean the common utility areas such as the Library, Rajam Hall, Computer Centre, etc. We at the Instrumentation department had a lot of department pride (thanks to constant "Mighty IT Zindabad"s from the seniors) and many of us would stick to the Department cleaning group only.

Unlike other departments, we had two buildings that constitute our department on either side of the road. Hence a further sub-division of resources would take place. We would be supplied with buckets and waste clothes to wash up the place. Cleaning the classrooms is the easiest job. It involves wiping the black board clean with water soaked cloth, removing the "ottadai" in the ceiling corners, and rearranging the desks. Some artistically inclined students would then take up the responsibility of writing the class name and strength, etc in beautiful art lettering. For the final year classroom we have to write the placement score as well. Typically J. Srinivas or Sudhakar used to do these jobs as they were the skilled labour in that area, while we were the unskilled labour.

Cleaning the laboratories is a more tricky job. We have to dust the individual instruments properly and take special care while doing this. (The special care is required because if we mishandle the instrument, sometimes it may start working properly and then we would have to do the experiments properly.. See, we are a bunch of students with great foresight and forethought...!!) The Servicing laboratory used to be like a dungeon and cleaning it will present the greatest challenge.

A much more challenging job awaits those selected for cleaning the surroundings of the department. This involves cutting down unnecessary bushy growth in the neigbourhood and believe me, two months is enough time for too much unnecessary bushy growth to happen. Our department probably is a very fertile land for such unnecessary growth. (The final remark refers only to unnecessary growth in the plant kingdom and not among the students..!!)

Sometimes a mass cleaning activity cutting across department barriers used to happen. One such instance was when we all joined hands to clean up the dense forest area behind the canteen and the heritage buildings where the NSS office functioned. This was supposed to be the site for the Golden Jubilee Building. Our effort that day with lot of sickles and spades ensured that a proper road to the building could be laid.

Apart from these, we also had some cleaning initiatives undertaken by our department where all students of all years of our department would participate. Although we would doubtless be tired at the end of the day's work, the campus cleaning activity ensured that we all had some kind of ownership on the campus and the department. It helped build some attachment towards the college and the department. It was a unique experience in many ways.

(Posted on 20-Aug-2003)

Instrument Society of America

Instrument Society of America is the world-wide association for Instrumentation Engineers. Nowadays, it has been renamed as International Society for Measurement & Control. But in our days, it was called ISA, and we had to become compulsory student members of this association in the first year by paying Rs.750. We got a very glossy certificate proclaiming that we were student members of this prestigious association and a one-year subscription for a technical magazine called InTech. This magazine used to have many product features and reports on modern trends in the industry. But in the first year, none of that would make any sense to us and so it was just a space occupier in one of our cupboards. It was not entirely useless, I must admit. It came in very handy when I went for collage competitions later.

But the main advantage of being a member of ISA came when some technical talks and seminars were organised in Chennai city by the South Indian chapter. Professor S.Renganathan was an influential member of the Indian chapter, so it was customary to source some audience from the student community of MIT Instrumentation department. These meetings were typically conducted in a star hotel and entry was free for members like us. If only you can tolerate the talk for about 2 hours or so, then it will be a field day for the food enthusiasts like me during the lunch or dinner buffet. Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, the speaker will also give an interesting speech.

I attended two such meetings and there are no regrets about the same. I still remember the first one organised at Hotel Residency in T.Nagar. I think about 20 of us attended the meeting. We were extended a warm welcome and were given a complimentary pack containing pen, notpad, some brochures, etc. Who'll say no to that? Then we had a talk by a senior member of the ISA chapter. It was not so bad as we had feared. He was able to finish it without anybody dozing off. He even said a few jokes in the beginning.

After serious food for thought, we adjourned to enjoy the food for stomach. Bingo, it was terrific food for stomach. We launched a no-holds barred attack on the buffet table and enjoyed every bit of it. The highlight of the dinner that day was "carrot halwa". It was not just carrot halwa. It was a cup full of heavenly ecstasy. I am still enchanted by the way it would melt in my mouth. It was among the tastiest food I had ever eaten, and this includes all the three-syllable named Thai delicacies (eg. Tom Yum Kung) I have eaten since then.

After my description of the buffet and halwa, many more students turned up at the next meeting. The professional members of ISA were excited to see so much interest from the student community in learning new things. Little did they know. Ultimately we gave them a lot of halwa. er.. I mean, we ate a lot of halwa.

(Posted on 14-Aug-2003)

Engineering Drawing

Do the terms isometric projection, orthographic first angle or third angle projection, section plan, detail plan, etc ring a bell inside you..?? Chances are that you have undergone a course called "Engineering Drawing," much as we did in our second semester. Now, one reason that I chose Computer Science instead of Biology in higher secondary was due to my exceptional drawing skills. A frog that I drew in Class X once looked like a cross between a chameleon and rat, much to the chagrin of my Biology teacher. So, when drawing came back to haunt me in the guise of ED, I was naturally very apprehensive.

The first fact that one learns in the ED class is the variety of pencils that are available in the market. The English alphabets H and B are joined with numbers in several combinations to give an astounding number of types of pencils that remind you of bus routes in Chennai. (2H, 2B, 2HB, 4B, etc..) We were specifically instructed to carry a lot of these varieties that are useful to draw different kinds of lines. The most powerful weapon in the hands of an ED student is the famous T-square. I use the word weapon because it can be used in many attacking and defensive postures during fights. Most of us struck an agreement with students of other mech-stream departments to borrow the T-square from them as we had this course only for one semester.

The venue of drawing classes was the Hangar. On rainy days, it would be too dark in there. However, it would be a pleasant experience to carry the T-square on our shoulders all the way inside the Hangar much like Bhim carrying his "Gatha" in Mahabharatha. The process of setting up the chart sheet on the table/ board with clips and pins is laborious. Then we have to draw outline boxes and divide the drawing area into as many parts as required. Typically two or three projections of the same object need to be drawn. My erasers and pencil sharpeners had a very active life during those days. Some ME students were our tutors and guides in the whole process. Some of them were really helpful during the troubled times.

A small consolation in the course was that we had a combined class with Electronics department, which meant that the class used to be more colourful, if you know what I mean. Anbu Smiles was the expert in ED from our class, as far as my knowledge goes. He used to be very helpful to students. Only that his understanding of the term "students" was limited to girls from Electronics department. Just kidding. Of course, he helped a lot of us.

Some homework used to be given but invariably many of us would land up at the hostel on the last day to complete it. Sometimes we also utilised the services of mech-stream boys to finish the work using convincing arguements such as "this will be good practise for you", "dei &@#$!, do it for me, OK??", "machaan, I'll take you to canteen for this.." etc.

Today, if I have gained the confidence to look at many architectural blueprints and say arbit stuff like, "Oh, this elevation view does not bring out the subtle nuances in the beauty of this building" or "I need the isometric projection before I can give my final answer to your question whether this building will survive two earthquakes," it is mainly because of the time I have spent in Engineering Drawing classes..!! Long live ED..!!

(Posted on 13-Aug-2003)

Physics and Chemistry Labs

I had already mentioned that we were the first plus2 batch to join the college. (Previously, the course used to be a post graduate B.Tech program for B.Sc students.) This meant that some of the facilities like Physics and Chemistry laboratories were not available at the institute. Instead of setting up new labs at our campus, the university had decided that we can use the labs in College of Engineering, Guindy (main campus.) So, one afternoon every week, we used to travel to the main campus in our institute bus. When I say bus, some of you may think of the Volvo Air Bus that takes you comfortably from one city to another in long rides. Gotcha..!! What I refer to is a cuboidal metallic structure, fitted with only the most essential items such as tyres and seats, as provided by statutary mandatory requirements of the Indian constitution for such a thing to be called a bus. OK, in order to avoid anymore confusion, I will henceforth call it as "travel enabling entity" instead of bus.

So we will begin our journey in this travel enabling entity. Now, if one had done enough good deeds to accumulate some "punniyam" in the preceding week, the bus will escape the Chromepet Railway signal. Otherwise, after a loooong halt there, we will enter the GST Road and proceed towards Guindy in full throttle. We will arrive at the CEG campus, unmindful of the looks of CEG students as if we were some lesser beings.

Now, the class was divided into two groups. We would alternately go to the Physics and Chemistry labs each week. I somehow always enjoyed the Chemistry lab sessions more. We did one titration in the first class which brought back all the memories of higher secondary chemistry practicals. After that we moved to more sophisticated and scientific experiments in advanced topics such as photo-chemistry, electro-chemistry, acidity/alkalinity, etc. The Physics lab experiments were similar to what we had done in higher secondary. We still had to wrestle with the physical balance. Especially the milligram weights would cause much problems for me in terms of handling. Zero correction of Vernier Calipers is another interesting activity for me. Here too we had some advanced instruments like spectro-photo meter, etc. Overall, both labs used to be much fun and less problems, for most of us, I may say.

As a day scholar, I would be glad that I did not need to travel back to college by our afore-mentioned travel enabling entity. Instead, we day scholars would first go to the CEG canteen for two reasons, one of them being the good food available there. And we would never be disappointed on the other reason too. ;-) ;-)

After having a satisfying fill, we would walk to the IIT/ Gandhi Mandapam bus stop to catch a bus to home.

When we were in the third year, the Physics and Chemistry labs were set up in our institute. I reckon our juniors missed out on the special enjoyment that we had in making the weekly trips to CEG. It was COOL..!!

(Posted on 12-Aug-2003)