Energy Conservation - The Need of the Hour

My article in "The Hindu"'s Open Page...

Have we brought power cuts on ourselves?

My earlier article in "The Hindu"'s Open Page...

The six myths about Engineering you should know

Intelligent Vs Brilliant

It is not how much intelligent you are that actually matters. It is how you channelize the intelligence that you have that matters and makes you brilliant - akp

There is one Professor who influenced me a lot (and so did he on several others too!). He is intelligent. But thinking deeply, I feel it is not just his intelligence that brought him the laurels - for I think there are several others whom I have come across who are at least as brilliant as he is but not so renowned. I believe it is his brilliance to channelize what he knew into actions that made a difference in one way or the other that singles him out from the rest!

Man Vs Monkey

1990s

Then I was a school kid. And, we lived in university quarters (and still we do live at the same place) - my father being a faculty at a medical college. You can imagine the quarters to be a couple of flats - the typical one you must have seen in some movie where lot of kids have fun playing cricket and breaking the window panes of houses [I can cite one movie atleast - Anjali]. And, as my mother often says, "the best part is that you can find no kid at the playground the moment the glass is broken". Every house had a balcony in the front - adjoining the hall. And, some houses like mine had a balcony at the rear end of the house too - adjoining the kitchen. The balcony - I suppose - is meant to serve as a means to sit out leisurely in the evening to enjoy the breeze or the beautiful view of the moon - something the flat system deprives otherwise - as compared to those who stay in an individual house. However, in our quarters it served several other purposes too. One use of it was that it served as a means of communication - telephone having not made its way into the middle class homes then. Kids and ladies - equally - would be seen talking to their friends from the balcony. Another use of it was to wash the utensils - the kitchen being nearer to it. And, some others even washed their clothes there. Usually, those houses where they washed the clothes/utensils in the balcony would have a tap brought out to the balcony from the kitchen so as to avoid carrying water in a bucket every time.

All was well - with the balconies being a important area of the household - till the time the monkeys found their way to the quarters - in search of food. They would come in large numbers and enter into the house either through the balcony door or through the windows - if they are open. Now, the balconies which once served as the means of chit-chat among the ladies and kids turned to be the way to communicate the arrival of monkeys. Often someone would be shouting out aloud,"Aunty onga veetla korangu" [translates in English as, "Aunty, there is a monkey in your house"]. But as the monkey menace increased, a request was made and all the houses soon had a wire mesh door for the windows [so that the main window would still be open for air to come in but at the same time the monkeys cannot enter the house]. Now, we kids had fun looking at the monkeys sitting outside. And, one such day - as I was watching the monkeys, something caught my eye. A monkey that was sitting at one of the houses was trying to open the tap that had been provided to wash clothes. I was amazed that a monkey had the brains to know that the tap - if opened - would provide a means to quench its thirst. I called my mother and showed it to her. She replied, "Yes. I have seen it opening the tap several times before". As I watched, the monkey successfully opened the tap and started drinking water. I was awe-struck and started to wonder if the monkey had so much intelligence, can it do whatever man could do? I was confused as to what exactly differentiates the monkey from a man - if it could THINK! By that time the monkey had finished drinking water to its need and then it happened... The monkey started moving away - without closing the tap. Immediately, I got the answer to my question. The monkey's thinking was driven by need. It had seen water flowing out when the knob was rotated. It learnt it because it needed water. Once its thirst was quenched, there was no "need" to think. In fact, this cannot be thought of as a process of thinking. It is a natural instinct ("a survival effort" - if I have to quote it the way my father would have referred to it!) that drove it to open the tap. It was just a simple event - but it stayed at some corner of my mind through the 90s and into the 2000s when something prompted it to pop out from the corner where it was lying idle all those years...

2000s

Throughout the 2000s I stayed away from home - doing my B.E, working in a software firm for a year, doing my M.Tech and currently doing my Ph.D. And, much of these years were spent at hostels - at three different institutes (at three different states) - all government institutes and were supposed to be places were some of the best minds of the country studied. It was at these hostels that I was reminded of the monkeys now and then. At times (in my B.E it was "many times"), there used to be water shortage in the hostels and one would wake up in the morning to find the taps dry. As I have seen - in all the institutes that I stayed - invariably, one would find many people not closing the tap after seeing that there is no water. Especially, if the water had stopped in the night, it would be those few people like me who wake up early - who would have to run around closing the taps. Now, this reminded me of the monkeys - monkeys that did not close the tap once they had their need satisfied. One of the characters that separated it from human community. I wonder if one did not have the common sense to close the tap foreseeing the water that might get wasted once water was available, what difference do they have from those monkeys? It is not just about closing the tap. I get angry seeing people who just care for themselves and not bother about others - those selfish people who do not think beyond themselves. The people who park their vehicle on the way obstructing the path for the others in my hostel basement and in the mess, the people who do not bring shuttles to the badminton court just because the shuttles are costly, people in the lab who would not bother to switch off the lights when they are the last to go out, people in the lab who do not wish to do anything that concerns the lab (and think that "someone" would do it), people who leave the lights on in their room, the list goes endless. It is not just the institute I talk about. You can see selfish acts of humans at every public place you go. I feel that common sense is an important character that alienates us from the animals. When that is lost, man is still just a monkey wearing a dress and moving around in a scooter. And, it is a pity that many times, education takes away the "common sense" man otherwise naturally has [To put it the other way, once educated - a lot of people become more concerned about themselves and themselves alone]. Next time you do something, just for a moment - think if you would like to be a MAN or a MONKEY.

Ph.D Rules...

Over the last two and a half years of doing a Ph.D, I learnt a few things and I wrote the same as tag lines on my Orkut profile. These five Ph.D rules appeared over a period of five days on my Orkut profile - one per day. Considering the viewership it brought about and considering that some of them missed a few of the rules... I thought I can compile them and make it a blog post. Here is the compilation (thanks to my memory... I could remember all those five rules which I wrote!):

1. Do not do things in a way that satisfies others (includes your guide too); Do things in a way that satisfies yourself!

2. Decide not the time-frame within which you would like to finish your PhD; Decide on the learning you would like to have - doing your PhD.

3. Your PhD ends the day you get the confidence to work independently and solve the problems that arise in your field of interest.

4. Do not blame your guide. It does not help. Do things in such a way that you and your guide remain happy.

5. Pursue atleast one non-academic activity that you are passionate about. Know that there is life outside your lab too!

Decisions

Decisions – that is what our daily life is filled with most of the time. It might be as simple as to decide whether to get up once the alarm goes off in the morning or it might be so important a decision like whether one has to join a job or opt for higher studies. Many a time, I have seen people (of course it includes me too!) committing two (too?) biggest mistakes while taking decisions. I have done it myself – at least one of them and atleast once in my life. And, I was about to do it again. There was a thing I had to decide over – something that had been pressing me for around a week or so. It did not let me concentrate on my research. I had almost done one of those two mistakes which people commonly make while taking decisions. But today suddenly, I realized what I was doing and stopped myself from doing the mistake. My mind became clear. And, I thought it was time again for me to sit down and pen my thoughts… And, here you go into my realm of thoughts…

The first mistake people make is that they let others take decisions for them. The second mistake they make is that they take the decisions first and then try to come up with satisfying logic to convince themselves that their decision is correct.

Having told that there are two big mistakes that people generally make, let me state them first. The first mistake people make is that they let others take decisions for them. The second mistake they make is that they take the decisions first and then try to come up with satisfying logic to convince themselves that their decision is correct. Both the mistakes are equally destructive – especially when the decision is crucial for one’s future.

At times, people come to me asking suggestions as to what they have to do. Typically, they would describe a situation and would expect me to decide what they should do under that situation in which they find themselves at that point of time (Most of them are people who had known me as a person who writes a lot of blogs that sound convincingly logical that they think that my decisions would always be right!). I generally would tell my suggestion and then add up saying that it was their life and that it would be wise to take suggestions from anyone including me but that the decision they take must be their own self. One should understand that their issues are best understood only by themselves and that the decisions can be proper only if they decide – as they are the ones who would be knowing the bigger picture of it (When I say bigger picture I mean that there might be different factors that might have to be considered while taking the decision and others might not be aware of all those factors). I remember a long time back my parents when they wanted to shift from the rented house that we were in into the university quarters, they took the decision by writing chits and asking me to pick one of them [I was a small kid then and they thought that God (in my form!!!) let them take the right decision. I still remember being both worried and happy to do that at that time. Worried – because I wanted to shift to the quarters as it was something new for me and I certainly did not want myself being the reason for not shifting should I pick out the chit that said we should not shift. And, happy - because it was me and not my sister who was given the once in a lifetime opportunity to pick out the chit!]. It was several years later that I thought about that incident and wondered how people could let their decisions taken not by logic but by pure chance. I would say that it is one of the biggest mistakes one could do.

Considering the second mistake, I would as usual try to elaborate with an incident. When I came to know of pre-marital sex affairs happening at the institutes I studied (both at the institute where I did my M.Tech and where I currently do my Ph.D, I understand that this is not so common but does exist), I thought I should write about my views on it in my blogspot. But, when I started to think of my views on it, I understood something. My views were largely biased as it had already been driven into my mind that it was wrong to have sex before marriage. And, as everyone would agree – in India – even talking about or using the word ‘sex’ is considered to be a taboo. Having been brought up under such an environment, I could not help fixing my view (that it is wrong to have pre-marital sexual affairs) first and then coming up with some logic to prove my view to be correct. So, I never wrote that post and probably would never write about it in future too (I feel that some things that are driven into one’s mind in childhood can never be changed). Most of the readers of my blog believe that my views on various issues are highly logical and true. It is because when I write about my views, I start with a clear mindset. I do not fix my conclusions first. I rather try to think about the issue through logical reasoning. The conclusion is the result of the logical discussion I have within myself on the issue. This holds good even when one takes decisions in their life. Decisions would be correct only when they are arrived at through logical reasoning. Trying to attach some reasoning to a blindly taken decision makes no sense.

“Mind” knows only logic. Further it can take inputs from the “heart” and can reason out if what the “heart” says is sensible. The “mind” does not have emotions. On the other hand, “heart” knows no common sense logic. It is largely driven by emotions.

Whenever humans are in the process of decision making, there usually are two things within them that actively participate. To differentiate the two, let me call them “the mind” and “the heart”. “Mind” knows only logic. Further it can take inputs from the “heart” and can reason out if what the “heart” says is sensible. The “mind” does not have emotions. On the other hand, “heart” knows no common sense logic. It is largely driven by emotions. Love, affection, hatred, jealousy and the like – these are what it knows.

To make myself clear, I have to give you a few examples. One fine Sunday morning, I had throat infection at its beginning stages. I took some ayurvedic medicine which usually cures it better than the antibiotic that the doctor prescribes (If you would like to try it out, just mail me. It really works well!). When it was lunch time I remembered that they give ice-cream in my mess on Sunday afternoons. Now, I had to take a decision on whether to eat the ice-cream or not. And, I obviously liked ice-creams very much. I thought for a moment. My “mind” advised me not to eat. My “heart” knew I loved it. It asked me not to worry but to eat as I was already taking the medicine. I let my “heart” take the decision. And, in the next two days, the throat infection worsened and in addition I got fever too (Of course, I could not eat ice-cream for the next two weeks). To give you another example, once I was down with some illness. And, it did not seem to be getting cured that easily. My mother was too worried. And, at that time some one told that a piece of cloth given to her probably months earlier had to be tied at the temple of a particular God and should not be kept at home. They suggested that it probably was the cause for my continued illness. Now, my mother let her “heart” take the decision. She wanted the cloth to be immediately tied at the temple. Unfortunately, the cloth was not found. My mother was getting worried and my father was getting angrier. Finally the cloth was somehow found and it was tied at the temple. In a few days, I began to recover from the illness and my mother believed that it had something to do with the cloth also. So, decisions based on “heart” might not just be wrong. But they might also be foolish. By now, you should certainly have understood what I mean by “mind” and “heart”.

“Those decisions taken by “heart” will many a time be wrong. Those decisions taken by the “mind” would always be right but not the best for the situation. Those decisions taken by the “mind” with inputs from the “heart” is what would always be the best.”

Immediately, if you jump to the conclusion that one should always let the “mind” take the decision, it is not really correct. To understand that, let us consider that a neighbour gives three pieces of a sweet to a mother whose kid likes the sweet so much. If the mother lets her “mind” make a decision, she would give one each to her husband and kid and would have the third one for herself. As I told earlier, the “mind” knows only logic and nothing else. But, if she were to let her “heart” decide, she would be giving one sweet to her husband and would give the rest two to her kid. Obviously, now we have a problem as to when to let the “mind” take the decision and when to let the “heart” take the decision. The solution is simple. Though the “mind” can think of just logic, it can analyze what the “heart” says and can come to a conclusion on whether what the heart says is sensible. It would be acceptable to the “mind” to give two pieces of the sweet to the kid. To put it in three simple statements, I would say: “Those decisions taken by “heart” will many a time be wrong . Those decisions taken by the “mind” would always be right but not the best for the situation. Those decisions taken by the “mind” with inputs from the “heart” is what would always be the best.”

Decisions make up life. Decide yourself how you would take decisions the next time you find yourselves at crossroads in your life.