SJCE Mechanical : I can't get enough

It has been my passion to learn about the mechanisms that we come in close association with in our everyday lives. So, in school physics was my favourite subject. A good score in CET wasn't incentive enough to shift me away from this passion. Inspite of a lot of opposition from all round, I went ahead and chose mechanical engineering in SJCE, a decision that I will never regret.

Our lives as mech eng students wasn't all that great for the first four semesters, I would say. The usual mass bunking, proxy etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was in the 5th semester that I got to know more friends and realised what a fun loving and "koole" class we had. We organised industrial visits in and outside Mysore(but actually ended up doing more than just visit industries). Went on long bike rides. Started studying less, attended 60% of the classes and what not.

The next biggest binding factor was Dues Ex Machina - Incarnation 2005, a technical fest that we, the then 7th sem students took on whole new roles as event organisers and put on a fabulous show. Each and every student did his (I will not say her, coz there are only boys in this batch of 2006) bit to make it a success, so it would be unfair to mention any one or two. But I still feel that Guru, Sukhesh, Niranjan, and a whole lot of other guys were the main stay (please don't curse me for missing out any other names). The fest knit the class into one and gave us a sense of pride in belonging to SJCE Mech 06.

Another important part of the fest, something we wanted to be a crowd-puller, was the sweat-shirt we designed. Anyone read Angels and Demons (a Dan Brown thriller)? It says there that ambigrams can be made by only a selected few people in the world. And as it happened, we were those few. One morning Niranjan came to class [late as usual], sat beside GB and me and said "I want an ambigram on the shirt". I, knowing what an ambigram meant, said that would be very very difficult. GB was dumbstruck. Anyway, we got hold of ourselves and worked at it for precisely 13 min and 13 secs. I worked out a portion of the word and GB the rest. This was just the beginning! GB, the artist, took the sample sheet home to draw it on a white paper and get it the next day. [Well, this pic will show you how good he is at sketching] The modifications he made to the initial sketch was soooooooo amazing, my vocabulary limits me. It looked better than the ones in 'Angels and Demons'. I'm not kidding. See it for yourself!





That's not the end! Coming to the front of the shirt, we guys, Varun C, Varun S, Megh, GB, Niranjan and I, went to Varun's house with the intention of brainstorming for a caption for the sweatshirt. We instead ended up talking nonsense for 2 hours or so (during which Varun and I completed our practical record work). And suddenly in a flash, one of us came with an awesome brain wave - Screw You (something not very polite, but something that gave us food for thought for the final caption). It was later modified as: I screw you; We screw you and finally We screw... But our innovation didn't stop there. "We Screw" was further modified to something really ingeniously presentable and "blatter-worthy material" by the Varuns......
" Life has Infinite degrees of Freedom and n constraints, We Screw those n constraints"
So basically, we mechies, are left with infinite degrees of freedom.


And like I said, we wanted it to be the centre of attraction. It was! For months to come. And not only among us but also with other branches and other colleges! It was also featured in the Times of India.
College after Dues Ex Machina was like the way we wanted it to be. We, the students, were kings. So impressed were the lecturers by the show we put up, that they let us practically dictate the terms. The highest attendance that anyone managed was a 65%. We, anyway, managed to get away scot-free with medical certificate, that we could buy for a measly Rs.25 .
Come the final year, and we were all busy with our placements. Our batch of Mech 2006 made history by getting placed the maximum number of students in mechanical engineering ever. We are a pretty brilliant batch, to say the least. This, I am quoting from the horse's (lectures') mouth. They were overawed by our performance considering the number of classes we attended. Internals had lost their meaning by then! We bunked classes to go on bike rides. Classes; we attended the first one of the day. The rest of the day was for doing stuff like this.

In engineering, I did a few things that I can never forget, other than the blast of time I had in college. I got into the habit of reading novels! Writing blogs! Learnt French! Played basketball nearly everyday for 4 years! Broke my limbs! Made a lot of good friends! Won quizzes and many other events (only a few times)! Managed to get placed in a company I wanted!
It has been a lovely journey with these guys in mechanical engineering. We have made sure we enjoyed ourselves in the three years that we were together, and make it a memory worth cherishing!

Three cheers to SJCE Mech 2006!

Project Aman

Well, aerodynamics! For a final year project in Mechanical Engineering. Possible? Main Hoon Naa?

Let's see how it all began. We [Anjan, Megh, Niranjan and I] had, in the beginning, decided to work on a project that one of our seniors had done before. After trying a whole lot of other possibilities Niranjan got a fresh brain wave about a guy in Bangalore, who he then thought was an aeromodeler [I didn't know what that meant when I first spoke to him]. Anyway, I gave him a call, struck a deal and we were off to Bangalore the very next week.

Over the phone I expected Adarsh to be a 25 year-old in jeans. He turned out to be a 30 year old management graduate [he is the Senior Manager in the circulation division of Deccan Herald] decked up in formals. He was a very friendly person to speak with. And he gave us a few options which we could consider.... We were amazed by every one of them. Even you will be:
They were (1)An aircraft made from locally available materials, (2)A model truck that could do 0 to 60 in 3 sec and (3)An ornithopter. We had already decided by then that this would be the guy with whom we would be doing our project. He was the man! We decided on the first option after a long thought.

After a small break for our exams [and holidays in between] we finally got down to work. This was the really interesting part. We made [fabricated] the plane from scratch. Ananth [a 2004 passout from NIE mechanical] helped us with the wing and all the portion that had to do with plastic [he is aSPAD freak]. He has always been very concerned about our project and I'm sure will see to it that we do a good job of our project report. It is because of his continuous pestering that we have finally got started with the project report. Thanks a lot, Ananth, for getting the ball rolling. Now hope we can continue with this initial momentum.

The fuse[lage]! We built that part with the help of another person called Shivkumar. He has great workmanship and is filled to the brim with ideas. A fun person to be with. He worked even as we drank juice! [as in the pic] He spent quite a lot of his [precious] time on our model, something for which we should have expected to compensate him for. But, we were first timers to this and were least expecting him to ask us for a sum of 2 grand. We were taken by surprise at first, but later I understood that it was quite obvious and right. The hilarious part of all this was that he too was charging-for-his-time for the first time and didn't know how much to expect! Anyway, all's well that ends well. The model was completed and done with. We were happy and so was he!

This article, I wrote because I didn't want to forget about the initial stages of the project. It is in a kind of a stall right now. I hope that this is only temporary and also wish that Aman will take to the skies as soon as possible.

I'm sure that this is a great project but we need to keep the momentum going for it to materialise. Instead of waiting for things to happen I feel that we ourselves should take the initiative and go on till the end. We need to get more involved. I'm sure we can pull it off. Anjan, Megh, Niranjan and obviously Aditya...... Come on. Buck up!

I will make sure I write an article to follow this up to tell you about the developments that will take place till the day of the demonstration.

AMAN

Goa

Soon after I was back from this small trip of mine with a few friends to Goa, I searched for communities that had Goa as a theme in Orkut. And one of the post in a well managed community said. "Everyone should visit Goa at least once in a life time". And I was quite lost contemplating how true that statement was. I had been to Goa once when I was 10. Visited all the churches, beaches, forts, etc. But this time when I had gone with my friends from school it was a totally different experience. Man! I'm at a loss of words describing the feeling I have right now! So....let's get into familiar territory. I somehow rush into telling people things. I'm impatient. Ok, let me reveal it to you a little slower.

One [bright sunny]day Karum(baiah) called me up and told me that they were planning a trip to Goa. Two days later I got a call from Amit and his pretty-decent job of convincing me to join them really got me interested in this....... and I took a decission that I would never regret. We then met in CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) to try and finalise plans. Akash, Carl, Krishna and Kashyap (Moza) were the other guys who were to keep me entertained for the next 6-7 days.

SO! All set to go, we boarded a more expensive Volvo and reached Mangalore, from where we took an express to Margoan. Nature took on a totally different look on this small 4 hour journey. This is where the Goan atmosphere hit me! Konkani, bermudas, sea food, good roads ( well.... compared to Kanataka) et al. After much debate we hired an auto to Panjim where we were to stay. The first place we stayed in was a hole, but the next morning we moved into a cleaner and a bigger place. I think the challenging first day helped us appreciate the kind of stuff we could get for 100 Rs. per day per head. The first evening we went on a "so-called" cruise that was more like an hour long boring boat ride! Pathetic! An experience I want to forget! But our miseries on the trip were thankfully short lived. We enjoyed every moment since. The meals, the beaches, the drives, the roads, the chicks, the CARNIVAL [ I was fortunate to be in Goa at the time of the carnival thanks to my mom; she didn't think it wise to send me a few days ago; thanks ma! ] and everything that was around us.

Our first day, with the cars that we hired, was basically orienting ourselves with the roads we needed the conquer in the days to come. It was Karum and I who usually did most of the navigating. When given a chance Carl made sure that he screwed up ;) (LOL.... no hard feelings). Anway, we did somehow manage to find our way up north to Arambol beach. The heat had really got to us by then. So we stripped down to whatever looked decent enough to sport, [though all this actually is meaningless in Goa with all the nude beaches around], and jumped into to sea for a swim! Anyway, we dressed to our satisfaction at least, if not for the onlookers, who were invariably foreigners.

On the beach in Arambol I ate the biggest pomfret that I have ever seen in my life. Tasted awesome. And the bill! It cost 250 bucks! This is 'coz I had forgotten to see the APS ( as per size) label beside the dish on the menu card. Once bitten twice shy, as they say! Next time I searched for any such mention of APS any where close to whatever I ordered.

Earlier that morning we made a short visit to Fort Aguada. We saw a lot more than the fort there! We actually realized that we had clicked ourselves so often that we were seeing ourselves more on that day than we had done during our whole lives till then!!! We returned to the room pooped and drained. But before that I saw one of the best churches till date. It looks even more amazing by night. The architecture is really awe inspiring.



Ok! That was our event packed first day! We some how managed to wake up at least at 9, thanks to.... Sorry! I was too sleepy to remember. On our second day we drove south to Vasco da Gama ( Vasco ), to see the famed port there. It was quite disappointing that we couldn't go into the port ( which was actually quite obvious ), but we did spend some time gazing at the serene and clear waters that lapped the rocky shore. Later that day we drove to Dona Paula, a place eponymous to the two lovers who committed suicide at that very spot.....ages and ages ago.... Some tales live on! Tourists like us make them popular!
Our next stop was Calangute...Well I have to mention here that Akash, for his keen interest in Calangute [ a word he repeated about 10-20 times a day], was nick-named Akash Calangute during our small burst of freaking out. And boy! Are the beaches in Goa clean or what? There must have been around a thousand or more people around and wasn't a piece of plastic one could see strewn about! Amazing isn't it? [ My last sentence was meant for only Indian readers; to the rest it would be quite meaningless ] The Banana Boat Ride was quite exciting! Credit to Carl, because he had the guts to come deep into the sea inspite of not knowing how to swim. He did try to cling onto me when we toppled into the sea, which resulted in both of us getting hurt pretty bad! That's all in the game!
In the evening we spent some time in the carnival dancing and watching a small display with fire. Let the photograph speak for itself here.

Today was THE DAY: We had to try out a shot of tequila! So, we went to a pretty fancy restaurant and after a few tips from our waiter there [ who was quite helpful ] we knocked down the shots with relative ease ;) It was more of a learning experience than any thing else! We learnt that the movies were wrong in the way they portrayed " Tequila". We then went down to the beach and sat there talking CRAP till around 1 in the morning. The beach is really lovely to watch in the night, when all is calm around and the rhythm of the waves can really sweep you away to ..... well, the place of your imagination.

The next day would be our last! I mean the LAST one in Goa. I have completely forgotten to mention to you our fiscal position. We were choked!.... and I mean choked with no breathing space whatsoever....I for one, had to manage the last day with around 1000 bucks. That would include in the tickets to be bought to get back! Get what I mean? Inspite of all these constraints our last day was undoubtedly the best!

Most readers of this piece of graffiti would be wondering why I haven't spoken about churches till now. That's because we kept the best for the last. We visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the cathedral opposite that. And got myself tattooed just outside. Now, we has to do that once we had come to Goa.... and why not?

We then drove to Anjuna Beach. I've seen about 20 beaches in my life and about another 100 on TV or so, but I have never seen or heard about one like Anjuna. It has latterite instead of sand on it's shore! How amazing is that. The stone is like a maze of miniature asteroidal surfaces that blow your mind away. It sure did blow mine [ that's why I'm writing this article ]. Check out the creation on the rock due to erosion. A face: something like a teddy bear above our heads. The shops around Anjuna were a good chance for us novices to learn how to bargain and we did so with a lot of vigour. It was fun!

Then for our final stop of the trip. The Vagator fort! The one that is shown in Dil Chahta Hai. After a lot of searching and bit of a gamble on my part we did manage to reach it; the very place that most of us had come to Goa to see. This place was heaven! Words fail me. Again, I will let the pictures tell you the story.

Conquering Heights

Messengers of God


Music: Life

After capturing a few memories to remind us of the fun we had, we tried out a few Rang De Basanti stunts [ well, in a safer manner ]. The dinner we had on the last day was the best ever! We casually walked into a restaurant, small in appearance from the outside, only to get in and see the grandeur inside. I somehow felt that those guys [ the restaurant management ] had pity on us [ or something of that sort; pardon me if I'm wrong ] and gave us 4 pegs of whiskey on the house! The food was out of this world. And to top it all up there was a guy who was doing face paintings. Knowing that opportunities don't knock on the door twice, I was first up to try this out. Tell me how it turned out.


Like all journeys, the return is rather difficult and the most boring part. And this one was no different. The fact that we were short of cash didn't help make matters better either. This was our exciting ordeal which, I'm sure, will be impregnated in our memories for a long time to come. Thanks to my friends with whom I had a blast and who gave me pleasant memories to treasure.





They were Krishna, [I]Aditya, Carl, Akash, Amit, Karum and Moza.

A TIME TO RECOUP

After a gruelling two weeks of exams, and after having the satisfaction of having completed yet another step in the long flight of stairs to becoming an engineer, I took a break from studies and normal life into the relatively slow paced life of a coffee estate in Chickmagalur. I made two trips this time around to my uncle's; once alone and the second time with Anuj and Rhea ( My bro and sis )

Reaching this town that is quite separated from the rest of the modern world takes a long drive of about 250 kms. I say long because the road in parts is quite pathetic, allowing us to do an average of about 20kmph. On the brighter side the portions of the road that have been mettled are really amazingly designed. ( I did 150 kmph too...My new record)

After getting there, it's like being in a total new world all together. The world of pollution and hustle-bustle was chucked out and a peaceful and scerene atmosphere came upon me. ( This happens every time! ) The biggest challenge in the beginning was making Rhea feel at home. It was a completely new environment for her and we needed to help her there. She was quite apprenhensive in the beginning but she got used to the other dogs.

Oh! I should have told you in the beginning that my uncle is such a lover of animals that he has a small zoo in the estate. That would include 2 horses, 6 dogs, 2 pups, 6 geese, 20 ducks, 25 rabbits, love birds, parrots, and..... Have I said enough? Well, that should give you a rough idea! And his interest in animals doesn't stop there! He saw that all his nephews learnt horse riding!!! So, I too know how to ride a horse...... even gallop.

I saw there, the amount of work that actually goes into the running of an estate. Most people see only the glamour on the outside, but little do they know the constant vigilance required for its proper functioning. Labour management is one major aspect that one has to learn, to be able to control the large employed force. Languages: the more the better. My uncle would invariably get up earlier than his nephews, [Anu and I] for the roll call in the morning at 7:30, stay awake and as busy as a bee till the end of the day. Still not satisfied with his performance, he might even get up in the night and take random walks in the estate to check for any suspicious activity. I'm not joking! At more than 50 he is more active and has more stamina than me. [a shame]
* In the pic he's inspecting the irrigation going on.......

A lesson to be learned and a habit to be treasured: HARDWORK is the shortcut to success.

And ya! We also went fishing! In the huge tanks the estates usually have for irrigation, we went fishing. Not my cup-o-tea though! I have never caught even one fish till now. Anuj always manages to catch the biggest of them all. Life's not fair!And my new found interest in photography did have a lot of scope in the vast and beautiful surrounding and the magnificent views that can be seen from many estates in Chickmagalur. That kept occupied for quite some time and also allowed me to capture some shots that are worth treasuring. All this, thanks to another uncle of mine who did buy me an awesome camera: with 12x optical zoom and 5 Megs, that give it almost limitless capability.



Let me leave you with some pictures that I think you might enjoy.....




Anuj and Rhea....Rather Rhea and Anu











How's my model?







Gerry Mama's ( My Unlce) pet: Aliah
My Pet : Rhea





The Horses: Coldplay and Majestic Boy








It's easy to comment about others, but I can't do that for myself.

The Majesty of the Western Ghats

Rubbing it in.....

In the recent past with Sani Mirza putting on a superb show in tennis and Narain Karthikeyan in Formula 1 and Anju George on the track, our beloved cricket team performing like minnows, the sport has suffered a serious setback. The row between the skipper Saurav Ganguly and the newly appointed coach, Australian Greg Chappelle has taken out whatever respect the people have had for the game.
The underperforming Indian team has had its problem with Sachin Tendulkar out of the action, Rahul Dravid being out of form, Virendar Shewag not firing like the way it used to last season. The last time the Men in Blue won a final was, I don't know how long ago. ( U can check the ancient history texts for that).
True, Saurav has been India's most successful test and one day captain, but the aggression that he possessed the day he took charge of the team is not visible any more. In fact the same goes for Sachin also, he has become a more circumspect batsman with age. And I feel this is not doing him nor the team any good.
We can't rest on past laurels. Greg Chappelle, has made it very clear by stressing on this by not allowing Ganguly to take his place in the team for granted, and questioning his fitness. The deciplinarian that Greg is, I am of the opinion that, he'll clear most of the mess in the team and not succumb to the pressure put on him by the public and corruption.
Lets hope they rise from the ashes like a Phoenix, it's OUR team after all. Team India.

Sania Mirza

India's new tennis sensation Sania Mirza has been winning hearts all over India and the world. Her 'attitude' has been something she's is proud about. This what has helped her scale the heights that she has. Her recent outing in the US Open has confirmed that she can deliver even on the biggest stage. In her first year and a half out she has jumped from a WTA ranking of 450 to 47 [pre USopen], this speaks a great deal about her talent and determination to be one among the top ranked stars.

Her nose ring was the talk of the town but, her match against another beauty, the Russia born American, Maria Sharapova, was the first time I had seen her play. The first aspect of her game I noticed was her forehand, and the power she manages to pack in it (like in pic above) . Her racket speed is simply 'off the charts'. She also plays very risky shot and manages to pull them off very well. The angle and power combined make her a difficult opponent when she's rallying. But her Achilles Heel is her service. This is one aspect of her game she needs to improve if she is to pose any challenge to the top players like Serena who have mind bogglingly powerful serves.

One of the reasons she has been so successful inspite of her below par services, has been her perseverance and attitude [She loves 'to wear T-shirts that say a lot of things'. She appeared for the post match conference with a "I am Cute" T-shirt] She goes out there every match unperturbed by the magnitude or experience of her opponents. She played the Sharapova match like she would have played any other. In fact few of friends even tell me that she put up a better on that day than she has done before.

With her power, and attitude, if Sania works on her service I definitely believe that she can beat any player. Hey junta, we have more than just a few mediocre cricketers to support. So lets do it wholeheartedly! Three Cheers to Sania Mirza!

Katrina ....(Anything but the starlet we Indians know a lot about)

Katrina has become the talk of the town off late. Modeling, acting and having great vitalstatics has helped. Katrina Kaif has taken the Indians by storm and left them tongue tied with her beauty.

On the other side of the globe Katrina has wreaked havoc flooding New Orleans and neighboring areas and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. It has left 2.5 million people without power. The destruction and forced-closure of oil rigs has resulted in the prices soaring up to 70$ a barrel. Refugees have been put up in stadia, and all kinds of possible places.

According to the engineers of New Orleans, 'the city's flood walls were in excellent shape before the Storm, but weren't designed to withstand a storm of Katrina's magnitude'. So in reality few practical measures were taken to avert a possible damage by storms.

Considering damage and loss of property, the number of people who have lost thier lives has been a very small number. Kudos to the planning and design committee of New Orleans and America. The evacuation procedure was so effective that the number of lives lost was drastically reduced. In the USA each and every life is valued very high and that's the reason for the tremendous and awesome safety measures employed. A similar situation in India would have resulted in an immediate toll of many ten thousands and many more during the period of the long and unplanned rescue operations.

India, a country which is going to become a very strong monetary power by the mid twenty first century, needs to invest more money in such safety measures, in case of a disaster like the Tsunami last year, or the cyclone the hit Orissa in 1999. Let's give our citizens a safe place to live in.