Whispering Shadow

Look at the life of an average MU engineering student. The year is basically divided into 2 parts, when you have preparatory leaves (PL) and when you don’t have preparatory leaves. The former is the most boring and for some, the most daunting prospect anyone could face while the latter is always the ‘most-eagerly-looked-forward-to’ part of the academic year. Having just completed one more PL, I realize that at the end of four years of my engineering studies I would have spent effectively only a year studying. The 12 months are formed by adding up roughly one and a half months of PL for each semester. I had this SMS forward which read, “4 years, 40 subjects, 400 practicals, 4000 lectures, 40000 submissions and roughly 400000 rupees, that’s what engineering is all about.” I couldn’t have agreed with it more! Yesterday, at the post-exam chill-out session, my friends and I were discussing exactly that. Seven semesters into engineering and we really haven’t progressed much beyond our junior...

I happened to catch up with “I am Legend” today. There are many movies which have captured the doom’s day scenario, but this one particularly got me thinking. Imagine being the only survivor in a city like New York, where the only companion you have is you dog. Imagine having lived like this for almost three years. And when you think things can’t get worse, imagine, living in the perpetual fear of mutated zombies. The movie highlights the catastrophe playing with the human genome can bring. In the wake of finding a cure for cancer, a virus is created which in the movie, goes on to bring the human race on the brink of extinction. The mutations of the virus cause the subjects under test to develop initial symptoms like those of rabies which with time create a full-fledged disorder in the host’s physiology to create cannibalistic tendencies. Again, it is likely that the movie brings to life a far-fetched thought, but it is definitely a possibility, no matter how small its chances are. The...

I am generally not interested in what our dear politicians do, but the desperate campaigns both the chief parties, that is, the BJP and the Congress have had these elections have caught the attention of a lot of people across the country including me. On one hand, is the saffron politics of Mr. Modi. He has achieved iconic status in the state. Sometimes, you wonder whether he has become bigger than the party itself. Moditvas- the new term coined by the media for his remarks while addressing rallies- have taken the state by storm. When his campaign started, I was initially glad that he has kept his speeches free from the communal tones. But I guess the joy was short-lived because the true colour of the person resurfaced in his sermon in Godhra. Isn’t it disgraceful that you have the Chief Minister defending extra-judicial killings in front of 10000 people? Moreover, his whole defence was on the basis of him wiping out terrorists of the state. His use of the phrase ‘desh-drohi’ was such ...

I wrote a similar one before the vivas and I am writing one now, the motive being the same - To vent my frustration. I have this paper called Filter Theory and Applications (FTA) the day after. Don't gauge the level of sophistication of the subject by the big names used. Or hold on, may be the subject is highly conceptual in reality. However, the way the university papers are set, any one without an engineering background can make it through if he can mechanically absorb a lot of formulae and algorithms and put in some practice in perfecting these. The worst part is that the amount of portion incorporated is so vast that you don't get a chance to work on the finer details and learn everything superficially. Part of the blame lies on us because we don't start early, but we are proud to take consolation in the fact that the student needn't be perfect if the system itself is faulty. I think I should stop cribbing now. I am taking a break and will not spoil it discussing Mu...