A research students life and my take on it !

I may not be the right person to write a post about research, but will express my views based on a years experience in my research elective. Albert Einstein once said about research "If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be research", which sums up to say, if we have solution its not research there can be improvements not solutions, solutions are depressing for scientists as they leave no room for improvement. There are two facets to a research in a students life, the professors angle, the research student's so called research mind.
The first one is the most complex angle, it is as hard to understand professors as is to understand women, when you think your nearly done with the job, and meet him with your head high, he politely lets you know he needs a totally new implementation or this is not what i expected kinds off, great !!, so what next ? start slogging again. In a professors terms 'we' means 'you' and 'soon' means now. PhD Comics is a wacky cartoon strip site worth visiting.
Having said all &%$$#@? about the prof, we should be thankful to them, cause the so called 'research mind of the research elective student' never pushes harder unless external prodding, a great momentum of laziness can only be overcome the 'professors polite words'. Well this holds for me at least my best research interest is always not my research elective topic somehow, guess this hold for most research students.
Research is something which can be your best dream or worst nightmare, there are frustrations about last moment implementations, total confusion about the research topic itself, burdening presentations and meetings especially when you realize all your thoughts get invalidated because of a new found fact, hours before the meeting.
Despite these facts, research is very rewarding especially if you are the inquisitive kinds, getting humbled by the sheer amount of information existing is a awakening experience, there is a thrill, a conquest to solve something unsolved, or be the little creator in your own world. It is purely intellectually satisfying and simulating.
BadCareer is a wonderful article to read about becoming a good grad student, and make sure you don't forget to read PhD Comics, after all life is all comical for a research student as long as his results are not approved :)

My Dream Girl

I have been asked numerous times about the kind of girl i would like to get wedded to, and now that i have just a couple of years left before i get married i have also made some introspection, this is what i felt. After some reading and gyan for experienced people, i have become wiser i think :)

• Should behave like a girl, be shy, talk a lot, bore me with her PJ's and behave like a child at times.I just want to listen and drown in her eyes.
• Be simple and open hearted. Cherish small things like enjoying a cup of tea at roadside teashop, a walk in the rain, sharing an ice cream, playing a game of carrom etc.
• Very importantly, be able to distinguish between fad and reality and be responsible in life, i am specific on this because many a times some girls feel, watching movies, dining out or weekend trips is what life is all about, i would suggest them them to think of life as not just a bed of roses but also bed of roses and thorns. Sometimes little things can make or break a relationship. Be mature.

Finally as anyone would point out, what about looks ? I feel as long as she is beautiful to me any looks would do :) Now that i have written them down, people still curious to know what i feel can read this post :)

My dreams

Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch in his last lecture mentioned, how important was writing downs goals or your dreams in managing your time and life successfully. Taking the advise of this wise man, i decided to write my what plans i have for the next one year from now.

• Plan 1: Have a successful stint at SUN for my internship.
• Plan 2: Buy a Royal Enfield Thunderbird bike, this has been my dream since a long time. Every time i see a Royal Enfield, i get enticed and start day dreaming about it.
• Plan 3: Learning any musical instrument, and i am somehow instintively attracted to mrudangam. I keep my fingers tapping on my table assuming i know to play one :)
• Plan 4: Learn some form of martial arts, and lately i have taken craze to the Israeli martial art KravMaga. Looking out for someone to teach me KravMaga.
• Plan 5: Develop a new hobby of wildlife photography, not because i am fond of photography but rather very fond of wildlife. To be frank my all time favorite job is to be a wildlife forest ranger.
• Plan 6: The final one, get better at managing time and stop brooding over the past.

I do not know if the six plans are doable but i definitely want to take a shot at it at least fulfill two than not planning and doing away with none.

Recalling the past

It's almost the end of my Masters course, at least officially classes have ended and I have just my internship left. While writing this post i recall what i had written the day i joined IIIT-Bangalore,to exactly state " July 29th, today is my first day at IIIT-Bangalore. Its so silent here, everyone's indoors slogging or at Labs", today on December 24th,2009, its silent again but only me and a few unlucky research elective students are slogging at the lab :), hopeful of making some inroads in the field of research. This day reminds of my early days at IIIT-B, just out of company, confused about what path to take next and so on. The confusion still remains but about new things in life, but yes i personally feel, i have become a much wiser and an adaptable man.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay at IIIT-B , at least most of the time i could say except for the time when deadlines of projects came closer or dinner time at the canteen. There have been lot of 'firsts' here some of them being first night out or night outs for project completion, working out in the gym at 1am in the morning, first international conference paper and so on. There have been really tough and rough times for me, on a personal front life has been roller coaster ride and i have seen emotions flow to such an extent which i never felt or faced all my life. Did i make any new friends, well to be true to the term good friends may be one, adding one to my minuscule list of true friends. On the professional front, it was great learning and lots of interaction, IIIT-B gave me umpteen number of opportunities to interact with leading academic personalities and industry professionals,which i had never imagined was possible some years back. Yes my 2 year stint with TCS definitely helped me manage myself confidently and build new contacts and engage people successfully.
In fact the 2 years here i could consider as one my best days in life, i have laughed, cried, hated, sighed and rejoiced moments and each one of them is memorable. I wish i had kept a personal diary when i joined the college, things are just memories and most of them may fade away someday. This post was quite intentional to help me reminisce me those nostalgic days at IIIT-B. Another 6 months of the course remains, but as internship and hardly any hostel life / academic, a new life filled with action awaits me at the company. Its time to pull up my sleeves and plunge back into the corporate world, adios academia !! unless and otherwise if my distant dream of doing a PhD comes true.