Memoirs of my tryst with HoD!

It’s the last one week of my intern and I am already done with the much hyped Technical Presentation. With just a fraction of work remaining, I can at last heave a sigh of relief.
I never thought I would do such satisfactory “Analytical” work in Heat Transfer, the course in which I heavily messed up the End-Sems to pull out a C grade from the jaws of an ‘A’. No wonder that’s one Q-paper I preserve till date, for the sheer way it left me clueless and pretty jobless in that 3 hr endsem. Anyways I would diplomatically refrain from going into the details of the project which was psuedly titled “Analytical treatment of Circuit Breakers to study Heat Transfer in its components”… Cuz I very well know you don give a rat’s ass about my project and more so, what I did in it!!

Just about some 10 weeks back I remember I was this f***ed up, internless, hopeless, jobless, aimless, pathetic guy making my rounds to the HoD office every bloody morning in desperate attempts to get myself a decent intern. The GE offer letter was quite a surprise and left me thinking that it was too good for me!!! But going back and just imagining the daily torture I suffered in the hands of the HoD left little doubt in my mind about the same. This guy single handedly made a Hell hole out of my life. The b*****d had me doubting my own capabilities, with my self confidence already down in the drains. Some of his notable face to face Quotes include:

“I will make sure you get (the intern) at the end” with special stress on the END part!!!

“Don’t worry... people above you (CGPA wise) will get, people below you will get… then it will be your chance!!”

“Believe me!! I will get you a summer training!!” where?? In your patented company Guindy Machine Tools!!

“Why staying here (in insti)? Go home, we will intimate you as soon as you get an offer!!” When??? Well you sure must have meant next year dear Sir!!

Damn!! the lone mental picture of the guy still races my blood to boiling temperatures!
But the thing that matters: I got an intern, and a good one at that!!
Don’t they say:

Its only those tough enough to fight through the night (read HoD!!) shall stay to see the light of the dawn!!

Shailesh R Nadar
10:44 pm, Jul 21, 2008.

Mad Mad Bang Bang!!!--The tale of two cities!!

Its been 5 months since I last posted... I almost forgot I even had a blog. Sometimes life, in my case intern renders you so jobless you start writing again.
Life (mine) is as miserable or as happening or as rocking as it always was... the only thing that had changed is the location... It used to be Bombay, then it was Chennai, now its Bangalore.

I have stayed in Chennai for the past three years and here in Bangalore for two months.
Abt the things I like better in Bang.
1) Ultimate cool weather (Being a resident of Mumbai and studying in Chennai) I d never slept under blankets during summer!!
2) Wide footpaths... understandable development was late and hence more planned.
3) Though its not a problem for me in Chennai.. being a tam but ppl in Bang almost everyone understands Hindi(added advantage!)
4) Lot of decent neighbourhood to stay in and city is far better planned with whitefield being a completely indus area. and is blessed with possible expansion in all directions.

The things I miss:
1)Biggest and the Best--- The Campus... the hostel and the times of lying idly on your chair watching sitcoms!!
2) The down to earth bus fares... Used to paying Rs 5 from IIT to Chennai Central i.e. 12-14 kms or roughly 1 hr of travel time. It seems unfair to pay double that for one fourth the distance.
And the small private vans!!! well they suck big time.. they thrust in 40-50 ppl in a small van.. don the traffic police notice it.. Try doin that in Chennai!!!
3) The Beach... a stroll on the Beasant Nagar beach and you forget everything... Even the torture in the hands of the HoD, or even the way you wrote your open book Finite Element Method End sem.
4) Retail prices slysha cheaper than Bang(I aint sure abt this) and way way cheaper than Mumbai (which is unfairly costly) with comparable facilities and a added advantage of a clean Beach.
5) Though it wont seem at the first look... infra is surely better. I have never been thrown of my feet standing in a bus and hit my head on the roof of the bus anywhere else in India except in Bang.. Not even during the times of travelling in the crapiest of the buses in Chennai.
6)I am pretty sure(not fully though) in most of the buses in Chennai its written in English... but ironically and shockingly i hardly find any buses with a speck of english in Bang..
Finally,
Being a tam, I have a psychological attachment towards Chennai and an instinctive attachment towards Bangalore... and well home sweet home "Aamchi Mumbai".

Shailesh R Nadar
4:15 pm, Jul 12, 2008.