My list of 10 things to do before passing out of IIT Madras
Somebody commented that my blog articles are like Aamir Khan's movies - they come once in a year! For different reasons though. While the perfectionist Aamir takes a year to get his story right, I take my time to find a right story!
Being in the 5-year Dual Degree program, I always used to think that I have an extra year to do all the things that I ever wanted to do before graduation. Procrastination certainly gave me something to look forward to all the time. But looking forward now, I have just 3 more months and a lot of things to do before I complete my stay at IITM. This article will hopefully serve as a reminder and motivate me to start ticking things off my to-do list slightly faster.
Somebody commented that my blog articles are like Aamir Khan's movies - they come once in a year! For different reasons though. While the perfectionist Aamir takes a year to get his story right, I take my time to find a right story!
Being in the 5-year Dual Degree program, I always used to think that I have an extra year to do all the things that I ever wanted to do before graduation. Procrastination certainly gave me something to look forward to all the time. But looking forward now, I have just 3 more months and a lot of things to do before I complete my stay at IITM. This article will hopefully serve as a reminder and motivate me to start ticking things off my to-do list slightly faster.
- Deliver a popular talk. For me, a talk is popular if it is on a topic interesting enough to pull at least a 100 people to the venue. Ok, I'll be happy with 50 too!
- Write, compose and sing a song myself. This will be a tribute to all those who hold a broader understanding of music - that music is a way of expressing oneself, in whatever way it comes out, and not just making some words follow some sa re ga ma tune. And ya, by the way, I am not a singer!
On a related note, it is somewhat disappointing to see the kind of Bollywood lyrics that is selling these days. Even some of the better lyricists in business are making shady Aahun Aahun sounds, using Ishq Ka Manjan and selling Tinku's Jiya, Sheila Ki Jawaani and Munni Ki Badnaami. God save bollywood lyrics! - Resume stand-up comedy. Greatly inspired by over three seasons of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, I had started doing stand-up comedy myself, even reaching the finals of Saarang 2007 Multilingual Laughter Challenge and winning the Best Individual Performance award at the NCC Annual Training Camp 2006-07 at IIT Madras for a stand-up comedy act. I never really had the opportunity or the enthusiasm to perform again, but I am seriously considering a comeback.
- Write an article on How Not To Be a Bad Teacher. Having attended 187 credits of theory/lab classes at IIT Madras so far, I feel a strong urge to let the current/aspiring teachers know what are some of the things I feel they can do/avoid so as not to be dismissed as a bad teacher straightaway. Keep watching this space for the article; it's coming soon!
- Pull off a complete conversation in Tamil. Many people know that I had picked up reading and writing Tamil pretty early in my IIT life (2nd sem), but I have always struggled with understanding it, and more so, speaking it. I have had several conversations that have lasted for multiple lines, like the following:
Me (to shopkeeper): Idhu evalo?
Shopkeeper: Pathu rupa
Me: Aaru piece vennum. Irukka?
Sk: Ippo illai Saar!
Me: Seri, naan nalaikke same time varuven. Ok aa?
Sk: Seri ok
Me: Nanrri Saar
But I have always wanted to pull off longer conversations with more complete sentences, and I hope I will be able to do that atleast a few times before I graduate. - Get my pics clicked at 5 of the popular "restricted-access" sites in insti. Possible options currently include the top of a Gajendra Circle elephant, the highest water tank, Tifanys roof, Diro's chair and Jhun's scooter. More/better suggestions?
- Cheer India to a World Cup victory. Come February 19, and you'll find me more often in the common room than in my own room or department. With one of the strongest ODI teams ever, familiar subcontinental conditions and most of the squad in good form, if ever India had a chance to win the World Cup, then this is it! And I will play my part in taking India to the title.
- Resume drawing and painting. I used to be good at drawing and painting during my school days, and had won several awards and prizes as well. But the two years of JEE preparations ruined it all. Even after joining IIT, I never found any incentive or motivation to get back to the art. But better late than never; I think I should put my pencils and brushes to action very soon!
- Say a personal thank you to everyone who, during my stay here at IITM, has helped me, stood by me, made me feel special. I know it won't be possible to reach out to everyone personally, but I'll try to maximize my reach (Oh ya, I am solving an optimization problem currently for my Master's Thesis too!)
- Finish my DDP in time. Last but not the least. In my quest for completing the above 9 tasks before passing out, I should not forget that I need to complete this 10th task too to actually pass out.
What do you want to do before bidding do svidaniya to insti?
*The title of this article is a pun on the list of ten things that I want to do before passing out of IIT Madras, and is derived from the Russian phrase do svidaniya, meaning good bye. There also exists a Hindi film of the same name.
*The title of this article is a pun on the list of ten things that I want to do before passing out of IIT Madras, and is derived from the Russian phrase do svidaniya, meaning good bye. There also exists a Hindi film of the same name.
61 comments:
Good luck about the Jhun's scooter pic :)
@ Jag: Thanks! ;) It's not very difficult though; I just need to locate it in the department stands while he's taking a class ;)
misra ji... seems you will be having the busiest time at IITM from now onwards :P
about your ten things to do before you leave the heaven:
1. get fifty freshers and say whatever you want to, they will always listen(atleast for the first time).
2. Add listen myself to the headline :P
3. Would love to see you in a comedian's role.
4. This is never going to work. :)
5. this could be fun.
6. Diro's chair seems a challenging, otherwise even vani has done the elephant thing [no offence :)]
7. Wah misra ji! when India was a weak team, u never bothered to chear them up?
10. I think, you are going to keep it at no. one.
Suggestions:
n yes challenging task would be to call Mani 'takla' on his face. :P
Finally, enjoy to the fullest, life is really going to change after 4 months :)
I see the same sense of nostalgia I have seen in my B-tech friends last year and in myself this year as we leave our beloved insti. Looking back and seing at things we could have done in thee 5 years...
Nice compilation of list.
1)Maybe your popular talk can be your DDP review :)
2)Restricted access can be a room inside sharav! (now that we dont have hostel nite, it will remain restricted access all sem)
3) I would love to see u on Jhun's scooter.
Good luck on everything there.. :)Some of them are ambitious yeah? like jhun's chair and so on.. :D You need a lot of luck for that.. and i would love to see you write in Tamil! ;)
wud be looking fwd fr ur sketching :)
..tho nt fr ur singing :D
Good luck with all of these :-)
@ Robin bhai (aka cleaning_out_my_closet):
1. Interesting short-cut ;)
4. I'll publish my article; it's left to others whether they want to take any positives out of it. :)
7. My heart has always supported India. The difference this time is that even my brains are supporting India for the WC title! :)
And Money (name changed) doesn't understand Hindi, right? Feel free to call him anything in Hindi on his face; he won't mind. ;)
@ Manikanta: This is not nostalgia; this is a to-do list for the future. :)
1. I meant to have 50-100 people attending my talk voluntarily; not sure if even the reviewers sit voluntarily for all the review presentations. ;)
2. Good suggestion. But how? ;)
3. I'll get the pic soon. ;)
@ Kaushik: Thanks! :) Some may be ambitious, but none impossible. :) And btw, I can read and write Tamil pretty decently ever since my 2nd sem; I could have shown you at insti itself! :)
@ Amit: I'll send you my sketchings as well as songs whenever they are done. :)
@ IDR: Thanks a lot! :)
As of 2 days back I've done water tank and gc elephant (although not actually sitting squat on it), but Diro's chair I'd like to see :). And this is an ambitious list! Hope you make it, though.
I like inspiring people :P
@ Nikhil: Can you please put fundaes on how you managed to crack the Water Tank pic? :)
@ Srivani aka cl: I like getting inspired by people! ;) Can you put details on how the GC pic happened, for the benefit of the public? :)
You can read and write in Tamil! sounds great :)
"Nanri" in tamil, oh god! how it wud have been
Looking fwd for ur song :)
Very inspiring Misre... Me too should do some of these b4 leaving...
1) You certainly have addressed a 100s of audience easily. Your seminar talk would definitely have had 50.
2) I thought you already composed and sang a song in your voice. Didn't you ?
3)Just stand up and smile Close-Up ;) .. People will smile back at you :P
9) Call me when you go to take pics in those places. I will click you and you will click me.
And I am going to converse with you only in Tamil hereafter :D
@ Varun: When I know a word in Tamil, why not use it in conversations? ;) Also, I hear people pronouncing it as Nandri, but my book says it is Nanrri. I am trying to avoid colloquial Tamil as much as possible. :)
@ Arun: Thanks :)
1. Na, my seminar talk had only about 25 students. But the classes I took last week in our department perhaps had about 60-70 students. And my recent conference talk probably had more than 100! But all these talks have been technical, I want to deliver a popular non-technical talk, something like "Rajnikanth vs Superman", or a mix of tech-nontech talk, like "Game Theory in IPL Auctions". I hope you're getting my point. ;)
2. Na, that is still in the making; lyrics, composition, vocals are almost done; just need to work out the track music. :)
3. I want to make them laugh! :D
9. I'll try to. ;)
And feel free to talk in Tamil; I would benefit a lot! ;)
nice. another restricted place is the HS DCF. Take a pic of the room with Btechs sitting and checking facebook.
And good luck with the other tasks. Will particularly look forward to the list of things to avoid for a teacher. :-)
@ Aashish: HS DCF is a public place, right? ;)
That article on How Not To Be a Bad Teacher is already under preparation; should be up soon! :)
Diro chair impossible da..........
Rakesh,i think you have very interesting challenges confronting you in the upcoming three months. Please dont miss to give your suggestions to your juniors as much as possible. I am awaiting for Jhun's scooter pic. Also try Bhaskar's scooter too. :-). Good Luck Misre.
When I saw u infront of ESB and ran away to attend juhunjhun's class...was it ur attempt to get a pic???:D
misra,
1. you already gave many technical talks i guess :) ... so idea of a non-technical talk is a good and looking forward to that...
2. I would help you ( i think many ll do) in cheering for "Men in Blue".
3. You told me about some wireless group in department, where is that in "to-do" list?
4.DDP ,u presented that in many places already,once more before reviewers, and done...its ur first preference i guess any way.
5. photos will be the challenging ones in the list i guess.. so all the best. u know insti better than me, so no suggestions for extra places.
6. Tamil:only wish we have in common. ( mine is MTP :D)
All the BEST Misra...
@ Goutham: Why da? It'll take some effort, but it's possible! ;)
@ Neelakandan: Blog articles are the easiest way to broadcast details, and I'm doing that already. And the pics will come soon! ;)
@ Sunaina: Na, I was there for something else that time. But *that* exactly is the slot I'm targeting at for clicking this pic, as Jhun will be busy with your class that time. ;)
all the best misraji!!! nice list....
@ Mahesh: Thanks for your best wishes! :)
3. Oh ya, we have to put fight and establish a Wireless group in the department; let's discuss the plan in detail sometime. :)
4. What I presented at all those places was not my work but a summary of the existing work on my DDP topic; I need to do some work of my own too! ;)
100 people in the audience is easily achievable. I think we need to book SAC if you deliver a talk :)
Overall a really nice and achievable 10 wishes :)
Good luck! :)
i guess every dual degree has such a list in my mind. He waits for his final semesters to come so that he can get free time to live his dreams.
But ya, finally most end up watching movies and series only :P ;)
nevertheless, all the best. hop u do successfully complete ur dasvidaniya wish list :)
1. Y not combine with 3 to get a stand up comedy meeting... am sure >50'll turn up.. I know I'll be there :D
5. Am talking to you in Tamil next time we meet!
6. Why not a prof's chair from elec department too?
10. TNR da... u'll finish it anyway. No need to put it on a list. :)
Looking forward to those photos, songs and article...
@ Vasuki: SAC was half empty even when people like Shashi Tharoor talked! :P
Anyway, thanks for your wishes! :)
@ Pratik: I put up this list precisely to ensure that I know what all I need to do in the coming months. Thanks for your wishes! :)
@ Shankar: That actually is a very good idea - to convert popular talk to popular (stand-up comedy) performance! Thanks a lot! :)
And finishing DDP is not an easy task; I am still hovering around the starting line with just 3 more months remaining!
All the best Rakesh Bhai.
Looking forward to that article on "How not to be a bad teacher".
And yeah will be there with u in common room cheering for India ... :)
Misra, nice one da! :) Hope it works.. Ill help you out with the restricted sections stuff.. :P
@ Ankit: Thanks! And looking forward to cheering India together with you! :)
@ Vignesh aka Chappli: Thanks, and I'll be looking forward to your help. ;)
It is very nice, SFTH.
Poured out your Heart - You have really set me going to do some of the things even I alwys wanted in do in coll.
UKW there is definitely more than 10
I just don't know If I can do them all.
I just understood who Jhun is !!!!
I wish you all the very best in your last few important endeavors.
Restricted sections of insti.... umm... How abt stealing some papers from ur proff's room ??;)
Belive me ..It wd be an unimaginable fun !!!
@ Lakshman: Thanks a lot! And all the best to you too! :)
@ Rahul: All my courses are done; there's nothing else in the prof's room that's worth stealing! ;)
I always wanted to take pics from terraces of the insti. If not all, atleast from most of them.
nice list misraji. really liked the title.
actually my friends and myself wanted to get a pic atop GC elephant after Saarang, went there around midnight and got cold feet at the last moment.
@ Shanmukh: I already have pics standing atop ESB/HSB/Hostel terraces. :)
@ Suvinay: Never worry; we'll get a chance to do it very soon (may be when we come back for convocation; we won't be students then any more to be subjected to any disciplinary action ;) )
LOL with taking pic sitting on Jhun's scooter... :) ;) ... if you can do that in front of him he will recruit you into any of his start ups.. :P :P .. as a peon or some low level (he will force you to join ;) :P)..
and try drawing the typical environment of iitm..u know..profs paining students in a classroom..students eating at tiffanys..waiting for bus or rather asking for a lift to those who have kept their cycles in good condition till the last year.. :P..the environment of gurunath and taramani ;) etc. etc.
I hope u wud be successful in most of those. looking forward for ur poem and sketches. N if u wud ever be in mumbai and want to give a talk, count on me.
@ Uttam bhaina: LOL @ Jhun comment! :D
Ya, awesome idea! I'll definitely try sketching one of the typical IITM scenes! :)
@ Niranjan: Thanks, I hope the same too! :)
And yes, I'll get in touch with you if ever I am in Mumbai! :)
Rakesh, "Piece" is not a tamil word :D
Hey Misre
It is pronounced nandri, although written with no 'd' sounds. The 'R' is thick over here.
Good luck with your bucket list. The water-tank, elephant will be made celebrities by your auspicious presence in their midst in the midst of a photograph.
@ Anoosh: Even the regular Tams keep using the odd English words in their conversations, so I can be excused! ;)
@ Sathish: Thanks for pointing out; I'll take care next time. :) Let me first get those photographs; we'll analyze the aftermath later! ;)
Your lecture on OFDM during DKP's absence can be counted as a popular talk. There were easily more than 50 people and many were happy with the talk. We are looking forward to many more such talks from you. :)
And good luck with getting a pic on Diro's chair. It's quite challenging. ;)
@ Bharath: Nice to hear! If that's the case, then I'll look forward to Dkp's absence too! ;)
And thanks for your good luck; let's see if it can happen! :)
Nice list! I would really like to know how profs would react to your "How not to be a bad teacher"...
Nice list any progress?? !! Ha ha delay any longer and you wont be able to do anything other than getting the no dues signatures! :) ALl d best
@ SV: That article will be up very soon! Let's wait and see what the reactions would be! :)
@ Harish: Ya, making progress on a 3-4 points already; will hopefully be able to attend to all 10 before my time here runs out! :)
stud wonly rakeshee :) publish 10 imp things want to do in ur life too..
And like Amir Khan's movies, your blog is a big hit as well :)
All the best on your list!!!
Get more photos with celebrities ? Make the most of time still left :D
@ Akhil: Nice one! :D Thanks! :) Special thanks to all those who actually spend their time to read my articles! :)
@ Karthik aka ksk_blog: Well, that is a continuous process which has been happening and will keep happening! ;)
1.i agree wd one of ur frns about callin 50 freshers...ur task wud become mch easy 2 accomplish ;)
2.CAN'T IMAGINE U SINGIN...HOW AWFUL WUD IT BE 4 D LISTENER :P
3.u can be a gud comedian so no surprise in watchin u in dat form
4.please post it 2 few of our dept. profs!!!!
5.wanna marry a tambi gal or wat ;) ???
6.NEVA KNEW U WRE SO DARIN :P
7.neutral...no comments
8.eager 2 c ur MF Hussain art
9.sam as 7
10.how come this is ur last priority!!!
4. You must do this! And better circulate it on smail for betterment of juniors... :P
and yeah...teasing Mani would be a tough and challenging job!
You can try that... :)
best luck for rest of the things!
@ Amruta:
2. Well, I said I am not a singer, but I don't sing that badly too! ;)
4. Sure; I'll post the article here in sometime, you can share the link with your profs. :)
5. Tamil is not something that can be used only with girls. There can be other uses too! ;)
7. Get interested about cricket! :)
10. Ah, these points are not arranged in any particular order of priority!
@ Kishor: Yes, I will do that and post it here on this blog. Feel free to pass it on to your juniors/professors. :)
Thanks for your wishes! :)
Its very nice dat u have so many things to do b4 leaving iitm...u still prove ur uniqueness and i feel u have a very strong jest for life...keep going bro..gudluck...:)
@ Rutwik baabu: Not too sure about uniqueness, but completely agree on the jest part. :) Thanks! :)
You are making passing out from college sound as an end of life man.. (Of course it is to a great extent.. ) .
The to-do things related to college are awesome...(I did go to the 'restricted-access' insti roof though...). Lets see how much courage you have .
And hey.. nothing related to ur cricketing?expected one on that
Get going man and pull off all the to-dos .
And btw... its already half the sem. Ticked off any ?
@Nagesh: Cricket is there. See #7. :D
And ya, I have already ticked off about 5 of them; working on the rest. :-)
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