SG OwnBlog

Introduction It is the land of enlightenment, the land of higher education, of spirituality. It is the land of immense wealth, great architecture, the birthplace of several faiths, the land where research on astronomy, literature, math, general sciences and philosophy flourished. The land is not Greece. It is not ancient Rome, Egypt, Sumer, Mesopotamia, or even the Central Americas. The land rests today between two states in the Indian Union - between Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; the Indian state of Bihar. This is a referenced article. For list of references, please check this link . Nalanda University - What remains of it, that is Bihar has since earned a terrible reputation. No amount of whitewashing will remove that stain. It is now known as the dacoits’ paradise, the land of hooligans, bad roads, caste and religious strife, rampant crimes against women and almost all the social evils that one can probably think of. However, Bihar was nothing like this. Or at least it ...

The Indian formal education system has barely seen any fundamental reforms. Ever since Independence, the only changes that we have seen are the mid-day meal schemes and the Right to Education Act. The method of imparting education has remained pretty much the same (in many if not most countries) for decades. There are classrooms, with teachers for subjects. Students attend classes, take notes, study at home or in school itself, appear for exams, pass and graduate to the next class. This process continues to the twelfth standard till the end of school. This is basically the same thing that our fathers did as students. As did their fathers and probably our future generation will also do the same thing. But the flaws of this system are apparent. The students are given a one size fits all system in the length and breadth of the country (and perhaps even the world). This defies common logic. Localized customization is not only a luxury but should be considered a necessity. Student...

So yeah, this year pretty much flew away. I barely noticed the time the past twelve months. It was really engaging. Even though I can remember that I did not make the best use of the time I had available to me. I need to do some good time management. Anyway, there are a few plans that I have been thinking about. YouTube sounds promising and rather interesting. My voice sounds pretty good online for some reason. And this is not just me speaking but a number of my viewers as well. Apparently it has got a certain bass to it that sounds good on speakers and headphones. That's good I guess. I started a new channel - The Light Indian Gamer where I play these casual games - nothing fancy, just the regular stuff that anybody can play on pretty much any computer. I don't have a dedicated graphics solution. So that makes me limited to a few choices - but that is perfectly okay in this category. Graphics intensive games are in any case out of my league. They are not 'casual' e...

Challenging times are back. And this time I have got a few options. Not sure that this is a good thing or not. I am honestly in a fix and at times fewer options may be better. Not that I am actually complaining much. This was something that I predicted back in the day as well. In fact I worked to have these options open for myself. But now that they are here, I am hoping that I figure out what I want. One option is simple - go for the placements, sit for all the tests. Hopefully I will get through one of the interviews. Then I get a decent job and that's about it. The other option is to look for higher studies. There are opportunities that are there. I have offers from Japan and some really chances in Israel. I can also sit for the tests like GRE and qualify for admission into some of the top US or European Universities. However, I am not entirely sure that I want that. I do like the feeling of being a research scholar abroad, but at the same time, I feel bad to think about...

Wednesday is a day of freedom for us. There is only one real class and that too is rather light. After that we have a seminar on a few days in the late afternoon. This time we had an associate professor of the prestigious Lund University by the name of Jagtosh Santap. I will be writing live, while attending the seminar itself. Method of presenting is very traditional. Very much of a monologue though well researched. He takes great pains to go into substantial detail but fails to make it clear why it is important for him to speak in front of us. That I believe is the primary goal of a speaker. One needs to sell his point of view. He shows us what he does, but not why he does it. Very soon the audience is busy dozing off and wishing the seminar to be over as soon as possible. This is very expected if the speaker does not engage the audience or simply refuses to feel the pulse of the people he is speaking to. I also notice the colors used in the slides are also like the speech itself. Bla...

This was a difficult decision. Coming back to Mumbai was easy. But getting back to an academic schedule was and is tough. The adjusting is not done yet and I face problems regularly. But that is kinda obvious and I remain rather undaunted by this. As time progresses, I am sure I will fit right in. Unfortunately the rains are not doing me any good. The excess incessant rainfall dampens my spirit. Whenever I look at the sky, I find no trace of the Sun. During the day of course. Anyway, this situation will last till my mid semesters, after things are going to improve rapidly. There will be Durga Puja, my mother may come and so on. So yeah, things will look up from here.

I left for Calicut or Kozikhode as it is now called last week. My brother was accompanied by my parents. They were to come to Bangalore first. From here I was to join them in a bus ride to Calicut. Problem was that I did not know where Shanthi Nagar bus stand was. Google Maps came to my rescue. I plotted down the stops in Bangalore for the bus. View From Yeshwanthpura Railway Bus Depot to Kengeri TTMC Bus Depot via Shantinagar Bus Depot and Mysore Road KSRTC Bus Depot in a larger map Shanthi Nagar Bus Depot was our first choice. The other two - Mysore Road and Kengari were failsafe points of boarding - in case we miss the first one. After almost a 9 hour journey we reached Calicut. The city itself is clean and quiet. Funded generously from the remittances from Gulf States, these port cities of Kerala has always had a great time. On route I traveled, I could see the effects as well. I did not see even a single temple in the morning! Not a single temple at all. I saw mosques of ...

This weekend is going to be fun. I mean I hope it is. My brother is going to get admitted to some NIT in the South. So Bangalore is going to be a stop for my family. My mom plans to get a flat rented here for her permanently, say like for four years. So I am to look for a new 2BHK for my family. I am looking forward to it. Mainly because the budget is high enough to get a fully furnished apartment. In fact that is what I wish to get. One of my friends is also here. He has got a room close to where I live. I need to make sure the new place is not far from where he stays now. A word is a word. Another friend said he may drop by for some drinks or something. In any case it is going to be fun. On the other hand, I may go all the way to Calicut while my brother's admission is done. In that case I will drop office on Monday. Due to the hectic schedule that is about to come, my secret project work is going to take a hit. So I am trying to make up for it now. Wish me luck. I will need...

I am not a very soft person. When it comes to Islamists and Pakistan, I turn harder(with good reason). But this girl just stands out of all of it. I will write little in this post. Words won't do enough justice to a child like her. We know what happened to her. So I won't go elaborate and repeat what the entire world knows. I just wish to convey a message - I love you. Simple. Go conquer the world. Best Wishes. Thanks, Sarthak Just another Sanatani