Multiple Personalities

There is this magical connotation attached to the word 'personality'.
Everyone is obsessed with it, without exception.

From concerns of a first impression, to job prospects to even social interactions, personality is always at the forefront.
And the only thing that's constant about it is change.

With all the experience that life brings our way, we change; and so does our personality. But somewhere on this transition, we leave behind footprints and memories of what we were earlier.


From when I've arrived at bangalore, its been almost a new start.
Even though I wouldn't say I'm a hard-working-student here at IISc (am I? :-D), my every effort here is in trying to prove just that to my mentor and guide. Back at hostel, though, my sincere room-mate believes I'm a party freak and night-life addict who just comes back to the hostel for the night, late, and goes off in the morning (sometimes even staying all the night out, and almost more regularly recently!). I would've told him that its not really regular parties that keep me up every night, if it werent for this strong urge to play along... I'm still trying to understand the source of this great urge to 'play along' so to say. Probably its fun to just let people make assumptions and see how things go on. And probably it brings the fun back into your life and makes it a little more entertaining.

And again, there's this veteran owner of a chain of restaurants here who thinks I've just entered college. Of course he would, I had figured that while seeking accommodation, rather than explaining people about the concept of summer internship, I'd rather blend into the crowd and become a college-goer looking for a decent dorm. And now its fun to see him advising me about college life whenever theres an opportunity for an interaction between us. Again, wouldnt it spoil the fun if I told him I was 3/4th of my way through college already?

Of course, all of us have differing personalities. We are different to different people, and different at different situations. Some are radically different, while the others are far more subtle. But here's one thought worth deliberating: what if somehow one or more of these personalities came to a clash? Imagine if, say the veteran restaurant owner somehow turns out to be a relative of my faculty guide at college (O.o) Such are the what-ifs which convince one to live a simple and transparent life, void of inconsistencies. But living on the edge somehow seems to be a fascinating exercise for me (of course, only when taken lightly and not on a very serious note). Probably just adds a little spice to the mundane life we have. Or probably I'm just too idle to be thinking up all this (then again, if I wouldnt be so jobless, I wouldnt be writing this post).

I guess its time to try and figure out which of these personalities probably got someone to puncture my cycle tyre today morning...

Bangalore Calling

After a semester (rather eventful one), I find myself in Bangalore this summer, as a research intern at SERC(Supercomputer Education and Research Centre), IISc.

Barely did I come here that it began to rain. A glad respite from the unrelenting heat in goa.

Just got my accommodation fixed up at a pretty decent dorm.
Still waiting for more bitsians to join me. Itll definitely not be lonely with friends and college-mates around. Some will be coming around the end of this month, while others will be coming in july (PS2). Till then, its working time. (The pic on the left is the main building - IISc)


Bangalore is a pretty nice place to be, quite contrary to what one would expect of a growing metropolitan. The photograph on the left is that of a botanical garden close by. I would love to share my experience here at bangalore (or rather bengaluru now), but that will be some other day. Here is a short description by a once-upon-a-time blogger; but IISc has changed a lot since then.

A pretty random post. So ill end it up pretty randomly with a song that echoes through me right now:

Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink.
The years go by as quickly as a wink.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.

(180 version of Enjoy Yourself from The Specials)

Of the era that was and the age that is: electronics

Its funny that I pen down a title like that (above) when what I really intend to do is write about my experience at Pilani during my summer internship.

In one way, May 15 - July 15 brought about a myriad of experiences, each unique in its own right.
Although this fact alone should have accounted for my jubilation when I first received my confirmation mail, the fact that it is one of our reputed research institutes got me excited.
Pilani is about 5 hours from Delhi - by road - and there is no other means of transport to get there. So, after a 5 hour grueling bus journey, I finally arrive at my destination: A land full of camels and the desert wind. The land of the Rajahs, as they say, and the town for education - Pilani. It took me a bit of time to adjust to the extreme climate, not to mention that adjusting with peacocks as your friendly neighbourhood stray animal was a pretty formidable task in itself! An oasis in a desert, It could put many fairylands to shame.

Of course the most striking factor about the place was the pace of its functioning. Time would literally stay still as you would take your own sweet time to adjust and go on.
Hardly a few days of stay, and I was already convinced that I had entered a new world.

And then, I was proved wrong when I entered CEERI - the real new world! A lot more than what it appears on first sight: A modest research institute established under the CSIR. The History attached with the place is compelling: A lot of technical breakthroughs without which the country would probably have had to shelve lumps of money for technology transfer; and of course, live without television! But again it was a new experience, a new way of life and a new world to enter.

A glimpse into the developments that are going on here, and I begin to wonder about the era that was and the age that is: electronics. Since the turn of the century we have had numerous breakthroughs and path breaking findings, even revolutionary progress; yet we seek to answer the same fundamental questions and are groping for the still more fundamental answers.
One begins to question the nature of revolutions themselves, based on the scope that they claim to affect.

"New hopes, new styles, and, most important, a new way of seeing. Revolutions do not come piecemeal. One account on nature replaces another. Old problems are seen in new light. Something takes place that resembles a whole industry retooling for new production. It is rather as if the professional community had been suddenly transported to another planet where familiar objects are seen in a different light and are joined by unfamiliar ones as well." - CHAOS, James Gleick

And this is the situation that people at CEERI try to address and bring about all the time. We may talk about the next big breakthrough, the next big Silicon revolution, even path breaking findings that may allow us to look back and laugh at what we currently regard as the highest achievements we have made.
Yet, in the foreseeable future, I cant help but see a fraction of us smirk at those who laugh, for we still, as always will, remain in an endless pursuit of answering the fundamental questions that stare at us.

A new start

Lights go out, and I cant be saved
Waves that I tried to swim against
have drowned me in this sea of change

Long time to cover up, lots of spaces to fill in but the composition more or less sums it up. Last couple of months have been a helluva lot of first-time-experiences jam packed into one hell of a ride.

Well, lets see, It all started last semester with the Imagine cup national finals. In concurrence with murphy's laws, it happened to be bang in the middle of our compre exams and we had to be given a makeup for it. The going was great, though not amazing, we managed to get our project working despite faulty net connections, Windows config problems, many of those [dangerous bugs that dig their tentacles deep into your app and plan to surface at the perfect time they could cause the maximum possible damage], and of course, pathetic luck. It was pretty amazing, believe me, the we finally did get it working on d D-day! The ordeal went fine, and as luck has it, we managed to come second (well actually, its National first runner-up, to be precise :)).

Experience is the only thing that one can take out of time spent. This summer found me as a project trainee at CEERI, Pilani. A fresh experience - that; besides the rajasthan climate, that is. (The hottest place ive ever been, and probably will ever be: regularly touched 48+ degrees in d aft). But you cant take the credit away from the land of the 'rajahs', an oasis in the desert, swarming with peacocks as your friendly neighbourhood animal. And of course, the camels.
It really does put fairylands to shame, doesnt it?

Well, I did manage to get out of fairytale and back to reality, and gladly! Now I have a fresh semester to face and the entire 3rd year of college beckoning. The single most effect that this summer has had on me is the change of perspective. A fresh new way of looking at things, some say, can mean a world of difference. Change is the only thing constant and the only thing that prevails.

The all-pervasive power of change
will break you free of all your chains
and slowly, but surely, before long,
It will take you where you truly belong