Delft - 3 years and counting

This post is going to be a bit narcissistic and self congratulatory. About a year and half ago, I was sure my stay in Delft would be less than 2 years. But like the saying goes "Man proposes god disposes" I am still here counting the years. For me personally it has been a wholesome ride, with bits of all emotions competing with each other to come up with a motley of reactions that i am pretty much proud of. Not that all the decisions i made in the last 3 years have been on the spot, but its sure has been an interesting journey. If NITT made me a man, in delft i have fermented into a better man hopefully. I did spend a forgettable 3 months in Oberhausen, Germany. Through out the journey, i made a few good friends, and sadly lost a few. There have been some great moments in Delft till now. I am just listing a few,

1) It has to be the Leiden half marathon. The beginning of the end of mota Sriram, the process is still going on. But finishing Leiden half marathon was special. A great feeling and something to cherish.

2) Surprising my parents for their 30th anniversary. Went to india after a gap of two long years, without their knowledge, reached home and surprised mom. A great feeling. But will never do again.

3) Seeing Dennis Bergkamp Score!! Dream come true. I saw DB10 score, rather place ball into the net with utter ease - another moment to cherish.

4)   Of course the best of it all - graduating with a masters to be Ir.Sriram Ragav - I love engineering, every aspect of it. It is extrapolation of common sense and I am good at it. And graduating in trying circumstances, is something sure to be proud of.

5) The two week vacation in Canada. A wonderful experience.

6) Getting my first salary. The feeling was wonderful. The thought that I could be financially independent did have a cathartic effect on my mind.

7)  Applied transport phenomena!! - Just a validation that I do know my chemical engineering basics and my GATE score was no fluke.

8)  Making masala dosa.;)

9)   My ice breaker in toastmasters. Never knew, i could actually make people laugh.

10)  India winning the world cup.

Hopefully there would be many more of such memorable moments. There have been a few not so great moments. But they are too close to my heart to share. I do hope that the rest of journey here is also as interesting. .  

Its a cake walk mister!!!

"It is actually the beginning. The beginning of what could turn out to be really gargantuan, if it proceeds in the right envisioned direction. For all the effort, the disappointments, graying hairs, social discouragements, broken relationships, this deal could answer for itself without a word being spoken. Getting the contract to set up the data base management system and revamp the online existence of one of the biggest restaurant chains of the country is by no means an economy changing project, but still a project that could kick start the slagging corporate career of a small company.  Getting the deal was by no means a cake-walk. The biggest bottleneck for this was to make the hard-nosed archaic financial director of the hotel chain to change his outdated beliefs of quality of work being directly proportional to the time spent in the market. Thanks to their budget cuttings and penny pinching, we were one of the few who could actually complete the job within their shoe-string budget." Thinking silently, he kept moving ahead.

The thoughts never eased out as he looked out though the rear view mirror of his hatchback and the anticipation started clouding his judgement. Though the agreement has been verbally reached, nothing concrete has been signed in paper yet. Add to that, the last conversation he had with the manager was rather discouraging. He had literally invested the future of his company in this project and turning back would be accepting the defeat. With an eye on the clock, he sped through the motorway. All the fears of being the lone ranger, the heretic whose blinding belief of individualism and making the mark in providing services in a cut throat business environment seemingly dissolving, and scores of other drivels started testing his patience and loads of doubt started creeping in. Thankfully to distract his thought process, over the top structure of the hotel started at him intimidatingly, mocking his small stature literally and figuratively. He parked the car, in a tight corner to perfection along the marked lines, as if passing this test of precision would give an added leverage in tougher battles facing him. His self assured stance and a impeccable suite brilliantly made up for the conflicting inner demons and radiated an assuring self-confident persona.

He charmed his way to the reception, smiling and making the beautiful lady blush, at the same time carrying a tone of professionalism. He nonchalantly wiped off the sweat that started dripping down his forehead. As he waited for a person to receive him at the reception, he could feel the butterflies swamping in his well worked-out belly. Another young lady approached with a sweet artificial smile and guided him into the offices of the hotel. " Unfortunately, our financial director is not in today. I will take you to his deputy." He could not believe his luck. He wanted her to repeat it once more to be sure of what he was hearing. It was a sweet sound of music to his ears. He wanted to give that lady a tight hug, insipte of the fact  that she had noticed his wedding ring. She led him into a small room that was lit brightly. The desk resembled a small bridge that had been steam rolled by a heard of mad elephants. He knew he had found his scapegoat. "Pleased to meet you. Unfortunately my boss met with an accident and all the responsibility has fallen on me. I would like to conclude this deal as soon as possible. We have an audit coming up soon. This would be the first thing I do as the acting financial director." "You have nothing to worry here as you are dealing with a pro. I have been in this situation several times before. Its a cake walk mister!! " He beamed vibrantly hoping to sign his first substantial deal.     

A progeny's cry

That simple voice,
A person to rejoice,
For each step I take,
Even if it is a mistake.

The hope that the tiny boy,
who was your bundle of joy,
Has become your vision,
without any revision.

The rude shock,
when this progeny failed to dock,
in the haven of your choice,
will sure mute your voice.

It is not a lack of love,
nor an eruption of arrogance,
But is the personal dove,
Driven by my ambition.

Completely in your debt,
Born out of the strength,
rubbed of onto me by your breath,
And not just my sweat.

With the security of being your pride,
I mold my own ride,
Keeping you in my heart's abode,
With everything you bestowed.

Ring the bell Initiative - Fighting against the child marriage in Bihar.

“By 2020, 142 million innocent young girls worldwide will be separated from their friends and family, deprived of an education and put in harm’s way because of child marriage.” -Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General.

Source : freethoughtblogs.com

Recently I came across an earnest effort of the indiblogger and Breakthrough coming together to increase awareness among the youth about the violence against women. In a country like India, where inspite of progress and economic freedom , the patriarchal approach to almost everything in the society is still very apparent. Growing up like me in a small town , there is a tendency to look down upon the women in your life, simply because of our social practice. One cannot point fingers at a single person/group for this mentality. On the other hand, this mentality has been changing quite dramatically in the urban area. That is a welcome relief and a move ahead in the right direction. Sadly, even today we have this weird practice of lower official age of marriage for women (The logic that women get early mental maturity is as archaic and non-scientific as any other social superstition that is prevailant.). We have a long and tortuous road ahead in achieving the utopic gender equality.


One startling fact that I came across in the recent past was, about 70 % of the marriages in Bihar, involve girls below the age of 18. This fact is a real eye opener. Its high time we retrospect, make a cautious effort to change the way society looks at these problems. Bihar is a state attired with natural beauty and resources. Still it is of India's least developed states. I have not made enough research to substantiate my claims, but I solely claim this on the fact that if I get an opportunity to move to Patna professionally, I would most probably pass off that opportunity. More on the central problem thats addressed here, a simple google search about child marriage directed me to this article. Simply put, the article points out there very minimal progress has been seen in the last 20 years as far as child marriages are concerned, ably backed by substantial statistical data. This is a scary trend. Ironically  during times when the economic and social progress have exponentially improved, peoples' awareness to the vice of child marriage in bihar has been grossly neglected.

Education, though may not be the ultimate solution for such a deep rooted vice in the society, it is most  definitely the very basic step in the right direction. Importance of education cannot be stated enough. There is no better way to liberate people, particularly women than a proper education. Education is a life long process. You keep learning new things every second. The schooling and college education helps us to streamline ourselves to keep the learning process going till we perish. As a novice, a raw diamond we enter school. Its one of the most beautiful and essential part of the development of ones' personality. Education is much more than the technical prowess that we attain. It helps us change the outlook towards life. It helps us understand our strengths and not to rood over our weaknesses. 

Eradicating the child marriage is no simple task. Like diamond formation, it requires two things. Time and pressure. Let us spend enough time and exert more than enough pressure, to ensure that future generations can enjoy a society that provides equal opportunity to everyone.

P.S This is a post written to spread the word about Ring The Bell initiative from indiblogger. For every 50 entries received about Ring the bell intiative, One lakh INR will be donated towards training self-help groups, community-based organizations and youth in the state of Bihar.

One full Year

A personal post one again. One year back, (though not exactly ) on 7th of June 2012, I defended my master thesis. This was clearly a very big moment for me. Overcoming the professional and personal demons, this was quite unforgettable. Not that it is something extraordinary, but it is my personal wonder. The bitter sour moment, where a sense of satisfaction had a cathartic effect on the mental and physical pains endured over the course of three previous months, can be and will be truely appreciated only by me.

Ofcourse such a sweet moment had important inputs from quite a lot of people. A big thank you to all those people. This is not a long post. But a few words, straight from my heart to remember that very day, that very moment, that simple applause from the audience, and the most important inference that I dont have the patience to cut it out in the academia.

And sadly, I dont even have a single photo to remember that day, but those moments are etched in my heart for ever.

Have an awesome day/night/month/ year!! 

The master piece

The deadline was fast approaching. He was sure that he will not complete the generator in time. The annual national science exhibition is the most prestigious competition for a high school student to take part in. To be considered for the competition the first step is get through an initial filtering from the division of  schools. A good academic record had made his selection in the school a cakewalk. But at a divisional level he was a complete nobody who had a level playing field and that overwhelmed him. What he wanted to do for the competition was pretty simple but effective stuff. He was trying to construct a generator that would convert the muscular energy into electric energy. For building such a device he was using the lever mechanism from a discarded sewing machine and connected it to a huge assortment of magnets that he had collected from different household appliances   He had a conducting wire wound across an insulated box housing the magnets. The sewing machine was supposed give a continuous rotating motion of the magnet,  producing an electric current across the conducting coil. The concept looked simple enough. But the execution was not as simple as it seemed, simply because of the convoluted connections required between the magnets and the sewing machine.

As the deadline approached, he became more restless. The idea of failing was too much to even think of. He had the  simple yet profound fear of not making the mark amongst his peers. His obsession made him lose his focus in almost all walks of his life. "If its bothering you so much, I will ask my mechanic to have a look at that" said his father in an encouraging tone. The idea brought out an instant relief to the boy. His relief turned into instant happiness and satisfaction when he saw his father's mechanic work in person. The latter was sure a master at work. He effortlessly connected the set of magnets to a wooden shaft, drilled a hole across the wooden frame housing the conducting wires,  connecting its end to a pedal through a crank-shoe and the reciprocating motion to the crank-shoe being provided by the drive wheel crank of the sewing machine. Finally the conductors were connected to a set of LEDs that read 'Eureka'.

With gleaming pride he was showcasing his generator, to all the people visiting his booth that read - "Converting muscular energy to electric energy." His gadget was very well received. As the judges arrived, he could not control his emotions, and was without any effort trivialising the works of Colgate ad models. He was not concerned about the results of the competitions that was to be announced. His main motive of impressing his peers and other visitors. He was still basking in that glory.

"And the winner of the competition is Ramesh of 9 C", announced the lady on the mike. He was rather taken aback and surprised. He ran to the stage to collect his prize. The presenter gave a warm hand shake and asked him to wait. " Engineering is a very noble and unique profession. One has to find solutions for everyday problems, where the options available are very limited. Today, in Ramesh, I see a person who could extend his logical thinking to creatively solve real life problems. If he can in a similar way apply his mind to solve real life problems in future, I am sure our society has found one of the best engineers around. Congrats ramesh!!" These words were piercing his conscience like anything. Now the very same action bought him no satisfaction but rather killed off his peace of mind. And today, 15 years later when he saw his name in the MIT TR35 list, he knew deep in his heart that he still is repaying the debts he incurred on that very eventful day.

Adult Franchise

"Indian constitution establishes political equality amongst her citizens through the concept of universal adult franchise. All adults of 18 years or above have been given the right to vote and select their representatives to run the country." Mrs.Sharadha, a social science teacher was explaining one of the most important rights to a class of middle school students. She was a students' favorite mainly because of the passion, she brings  on to the class. Her clear eloquence combined with a rare ability to simplify the toughest of concepts made her unique among persnickety disgruntled teachers. And this particular subject is one of her personal favorites. She took immense pride in introducing the students to one of the most important social responsibilities. She was Ramesh's favorite teacher too. Not only in the school, but also outside as she was from the same housing society. But unlike most of the days, he was rather lost in his thoughts and absolutely got nothing of what she was saying.

"Ramesh! What do you think of adult franchise?" she asked him out of the blue.  Having been lost in his own world, Ramesh was taken aback, when his teacher actually pointed at him. On the other hand, being pointed out by his favorite teacher was surely a matter of pride. But there was one small, but crucial problem. He had no clue what "universal adult franchise" meant. Hearing the word franchise, his thoughts went immediately to the IPL. IPL-1 was about to start in another few days. "Is it got to do something with the new IPL?", the quick thinker in him blurted out immediately. The entire class for the next couple of minutes had a laughing fit. "Thankfully you don't have to vote for the next few years at least  Now stop daydreaming and come to the first bench", she instructed with a cold authority that frightened him.

That particular incident had an overwhelming impact on him, that even after 5 years he could feel the humiliation. Not only it questioned his attention in the class, but also he became the laughing stock of the entire class. And today he could prove his teacher wrong. Today he could visit her and show the black dot in his left index finger and remind her that he is socially responsible. Though very childish, it was very important for him. He had spent the last 3 months running between multiple government offices bunking college, taking care of every thing from a proper application to making sure that his name is enrolled in the official voters list. He also spent time in reading about the candidates and making a good cautious choice on who he should vote for and be ready for any question she could throw at him when they meet.

It was 7;03 AM in the morning and he was set.  He could well be the first person to vote that day in the locality. This is an incentive to boast to her when they meet. With great pride he entered the polling booth. "Good morning Ramesh! Good to see you here!" A smiling Mrs.sharadha  was coming out of the polling both. A humbled Ramesh did not know what to say. He simply waved at her keeping quite.

Actions do speak louder than words.