Being A Winner : Overcoming The Pressure

Want to be a winner? What will you do when the pressure starts mounting? When your friends and family start expecting too much from you, I know you've been there. You knew you were inches away from accomplishing your dream... And all your hard work and all the pain you went through, all for nothing.. !

You don't want this to happen to you do you? 

NSS Camp : 2014

Hello Everyone. It's been a long time. I'll be blogging regularly from now on. All my exams are over and I'm finally back home!

By Monster4711 (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Ok, this isn't my home. But after living in a hostel, my home does feel this good.

If you've never lived in a hostel before, trust me, there will come a day when you'll actually be dying to eat the food your mom cooks everyday. You'll actually prefer it over Pizza Hut and CCD. And if you think I'm lying or exaggerating, ask someone who is living in a hostel presently.

Rotational Mechanics : Moment of Inertia

Learning how to calculate Moment of Inertia is the first step to studying Rotational Mechanics. And calculating Moment of Inertia is a bit tricky, you may be considering the wrong dM or performing some logical or calculating error. This post is going to Involve some Basic Integration. That is the only prerequisite.

Enthalpy, Entropy and Free Energy

Once you know how to calculate various Thermodynamic quantities involved in a reaction, the next thing you need to determine is whether the reaction is feasible or not. Will it occur as you imagine it or will nothing happen. How to determine it is what we will be covering in this post.

The basics that you need to know are :

1. Knowledge of First Law of Thermodynamics 
2. How to calculate ΔQ, ΔW and ΔU for various processes.
3. Concept of C_p and C_v

Pulleys

A pulley is a simple mechanical device used either to change the direction of force or gain Mechanical Advantage or both. Questions from this topic, are usually combined with other topics in JEE and to solve such problems a basic knowledge of this topic is essential.


The Basic Concepts that you need to know are:

Your Country Needs You!

My country! In thy day of glory past

A beauteous halo circled round thy brow,

And worshipped as a deity thou wast.

Where is that glory, where that reverence now?

The above lines are from the poem, To India My Native Land, by Derozio. It was a part of our ICSE course. At that time, it was just a poem like many others, that had to be mugged up. Last weekend these very words came back to me. This poem was written in the 19^th century. Times have changed since then, two world wars have been fought, India has attained freedom and the British Empire has gone, Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity has completely changed the Physics that we knew, China has become a global powerhouse, South Africa is free from apartheid and USA has a black President. So much has happened, but our country India has still not recovered its lost glory.

JEE Tips : Physics

Hello Everyone.

This last week I've been real busy and now that the weekend is hear I finally have some free time. College life does get hectic sometimes, projects, assignments, preparing for labs and class tests! Thankfully the weekend comes just in time ;-).

Coming back to this post, Physics I believe is the easiest of the three. Chemistry requires lots of mugging up while Maths requires lots of practise. All Physics requires is knowledge of a few basic concepts and a brain to apply those concepts. Don't believe me? Consider this, the entire chapter of gravity and also the chapters on charges, is based on just one formula ( So much can be deduced from one formula(. That's the beauty of Physics. Appreciate it and you shall be rewarded.

Also keep the following things in mind :

1. You just cannot ignore derivations and mug up all formulas. It might work in school exams and maybe even Mains, but if you want to come anywhere close to IIT, you've got to know how the formulas you use are derived.
2. A basic knowledge of Maths is essential before you start of with Physics. AS one of my teachers beautifully put it:
   

   Physics speaks in the language of Mathematics.

3. Practise a lot. And be prepared to apply concepts. There may not be a ready made formula in some questions. In some cases you will have to go back to the basic concept and just Use Your Brain.
4. The Important Chapters which you can't even think of leaving are Modern Physics, Mechanics, Electrostats, Electromagnetism and Thermodynamics.
5. Sound is sightly tough and it also less important, but do make sure you learn Doppler's Effect ( just one formula).
6. If it is hard for you to understand the derivations in waves, leave it, but do make sure you mug up the formulas.
7. Mechanics is quite tough for a beginner, and it will take lots of time. But don't give up on it. Same with Electro-Magnetism and Elctrostats.
8. Basically what I am saying is, don't leave anything in Physics, unless you really hate it. Questions can be asked easily which involve concepts of more than one chapter. Better be prepared.
9. Don't attempt Irodov unless you are really sure about it. While it will surely boost your confidence, too much expertise in one subject isn't really recommended.
10. Make it a point to solve HC Verma completely. I know everyone has this book but no one really solves it. In my school, if I told someone I'm solving HC Verma, everyone's general reaction was that it's so easy! They think it is easy after solving one or two questions, but solve it to the end and you will know that it isn't the easiest at all.
11. Most Importantly, there are many shortcuts in Physics. If you have a very good teacher, awesome for you. If you don't, make sure you ask the right people about the shortcuts they know.

Note: Physics was my favourite, so maybe I'm being partial when I say don't leave any topic. But then, the speciality of physics is that it's all connected. Suppose you've studied gravity well. Then it won't be any problem for you to solve a question on charges.

Are You An Idiot?

Ever had self-doubt? Called yourself all sorts of stupid names, been up late wondering how you could have been so idiotic :P. I know you have done that, some time or the other, and I don't blame you, you are human after all. But seriously are you a normal person? Or are you foolish? What if everyone is whispering behind you, and you're the ignorant fool who keeps going on unaware of the world. If that is the case, you might want to change your habits pretty soon.

I'll decide later whether you are an idiot or not. First tell me why are you reading this article? Surely you don't click on every random Facebook link and read everything. No your time is too precious for that. Then why are you reading this one? Maybe because the title is a little unconventional. Or maybe you are trying to reassure yourself that you are not what you've always worried you might be "An Idiot".

"This is what I would call Advertising"

This is the mantra of today's world. Necessity was the mother of Invention. Today Invention is the Mother of Necessity. Inventions create needs. Everyone's out there for your money, your hard earned money. And let's face it, most people do fall in the traps laid out for them.

Do you know that the topmost Google search results are usually advertisements? If you use Facebook on a laptop you'll see the advertisements in the right column. SMS, phone calls, radio stations, billboards, we are surrounded by ads. There are ads for accessories of upgrades to products that you own which you already don't require.

Why am I saying all this? Flipkart's Big Billion Day Sale. Do you really think they are fools who would sell their products at a loss? Surely there is something wrong somewhere? No seller is stupid enough to sell his products at a loss. The sellers are making huge profits because they are selling a large number of goods. And you my dear customer, you are afraid that you might not get that product so cheap again. So you go ahead and buy it. Buy something you probably had no intentions of buying right now, which you probably don't need right now either. You have been made a Fool.

A penny saved, is a penny gained.

---

I didn't have a topic to write on so I challenged myself. Took a random phrase I came across and wrote whatever came to my mind. No previous thoughts or plans. Just writing what the phrase brought to my mind. Do let me know how I fared. Also, if you have any other interesting or even random phrases do comment them.

Life at IIT : Misconceptions

I travel by train 3-4 times a month and hence get a chance to interact with many people. On all my train trips, I wear my IIT KGP t-shirt ( I do like to show off a bit :P). On account of this I've had many interesting interactions with various people regarding my college. And most of them have no Idea what our life is like. If you too have some conceptions about IITians, read on and find out for yourself if you are right!

1. Is this what you think we are?


NERD
Source : www.freeimages.com

If yes, then you are wrong, in fact you've never been further from the truth. We are not nerds. Like everyone else, we study mostly one or two weeks before the exams. Most of our time is used up for sports, club activities, movies, Facebook and YouTube. And most of us don't even attend all classes. We are pretty cool, possibly cooler ( and more street smart ) than other college students.

2. Not all of us will walk out after 4 years with a package north of 70-80 lakh Rs per annum. The newspapers report only the highest, the average is way lower, less than 10 and that is the package most people will walk out with. It may be an IIT but not everyone is equally intelligent. Someone may be good at academics while someone else may be good at writing or sports.

3. Do you think we are arrogant?

Source : www.freeimages.com

Consider this, we live with some of the brightest people in almost every field. Most of us have swelled up egos before we enter IIT, but after meeting and interacting with so many people who are better than us, we learn to be humble. If you have something good in you, we will be the first to acknowledge and appreciate it. We surely are proud of our college, but that does not mean we are egoistic.

4. The Social life at IIT's isn't boring. We do everything that normal people do, hang out at restaurants, play loud music at night, watch movies and everything else that normal people do. We have played cricket ( gully cricket, in hostel corridors ) at 2 in the night ( it can be called crazy :P) and still reached class the next day.

"We Know How To Have Fun"

5. We don't live in 5-star hotels ( This was a misconception I had ).

Source : Wikimedia Commons

Before joining IIT my expectations from the hostel were something like this. Also, I imagined classrooms with perfect air-conditioning and world-class acoustics.

Well, I guess I expected too much, my hostel is nowhere near Harry Potter's but with time I've got used to it. My English Proffesor had said this :

" You have all come here expecting MIT, but IIT is not MIT. IIT is in the process of becoming like MIT, "

Have you experienced any of this? I would love to hear from you guys. Scroll down and comment.



JEE Tips : Maths

Hello Everyone,

It's Puja time, the time for celebrations and enjoyment. The time to go out with your families and buy new clothes. I would like to wish all my blog readers a pleasant and wonderful month of surprises, fun and excitement.

And for my juniors ( who probably have an exam at the end of the week which has ruined their vacations :-P), now is the time to step on the gas and overtake your competitors. While your friend is busy enjoying himself you've got to overtake him. Your vacations might be a bit boring compared to previous years, but you've got to work hard now or it'll be too late.

A small recommendation to everyone. Spend a bit more time on Maths than Physics or Chemistry. Maths is probably the toughest and it deserves your extra time.

1. All that the Maths Gods ask for is practice. Sincere, dedicated and never-ending practice.
2. The Mains and even Advanced Paper is such that if you are given a whole day to solve it, you probably will be able to clear the exam. The challenge is to do it in three hours and for that you need to look at a problem and realize at one go what kind of problem it is and what direction you have to take in order to solve it successfully.

   

   By : Mridul Kothari

3. Choose a book which has solutions of questions also ( preferably Arihant or TMH). And if you can't solve a particular question look at the first few lines and try the question again.

   

   By : Mridul Kothari

4. In Maths Calculus is the most Important topic. After that all the other topics are almost equally important but Conics, Probability, Matrices and Complex Numbers are possibly harder. Give the most time to Integral Calculus and after that the topics I mentioned above in any order you are comfortable with. ( Don't leave any of the topics I mentioned above).
5. Don't worry about Trigonometry, not many of us can solve Trigo the proper way, most of us rely on putting special values and getting the desired results. If you absolutely hate Trigo, attempt Trigo questions on the exam day only if a special value case works, otherwise leave that question.
6. Always solve questions related to Conics the proper way. Diagrammatic approach won't work because you can't in most cases predict the nature of the diagram. Also trying for special cases also won't work in conics most of the time.
7. In Permutation and Combination some questions can be scaled down. If you are asked to arrange 20 men and 20 women in a particular way, try and apply the same conditions for 3 men and 3 women. In many if the cases you will find similarities in results which you can exploit to your benefit.
8. Focus on understanding theory properly in 3-D Geometry and Vector Algebra, Binomial Theorem, Differential Calculus, Probability and Polynomial Equations. Remember the expansions of sin x, cos x, Ln (1+x) and e^x.
9. Complex Numbers and Matrices may be hard to understand. So don't worry if you can't understand it at one go. Also remember, problems from these topics are different versions of a few standard types. Practice the solved examples.
10. Don't ever get scared. Don't doubt yourself. Work as hard as you can possibly can and don't give up ever.

Keep these points in mind the next time you sit down to study Maths. Regarding point 7, I can't recall an example right now, I'll surely post one when I remember one ( But remember, that point really works), if you have an example comment it. Scroll down and subscribe to my blog to receive further updates on email. For any further doubts, you can comment here or contact me on Facebook.

Happy Durga Puja and All the Best



 

Should there be reservation?

 Suppose you have just passed your class 12 board exams and have appeared for all your entrance exams. You are then waiting for your results, hoping to get the right seat at the right college. And if you get it, you are going to be the happiest person in the world ( In engineering only around 50 IITB CS students and the ones who took a stream of their choice are lucky enough to get this happiness;-)). And all the other students who couldn't get what they wanted, they are going to blame the reservation system. So is the reservation system justified? Or is it there only to secure cast votes? Read on and figure that out yourself.

Presently in India 15% seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes, 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes and 27% for Other Backward Classes. That's a total reservation of 49.5% ( almost half the seats! ). That is a really huge number, any general category student who could not make it, is going to feel bad about it surely ( That's just saying it politely, in reality you are probably swearing at the system in every language you can :-P). If you could not make the cut, you will be seriously wishing you too had a category certificate so that you could be at a prestigious institute. And if you made the cut, it feels bad to see students in your department who have scored less than half of what you have!

The second and probably the biggest disadvantage is reservation is not implemented correctly. You will find at any IIT, many students who have come in through reservation, but are probably from richer families than most general category students. There are students who have had good and privileged upbringing but get in through the reservation system even after scoring much less than you. Would you blame them? I personally wouldn't. The rules are made by the government, as long as their certificates are real, they are playing by the rules, and making the best use of them (Don't we all do that in some way or the other?)

Another major disadvantage, many seats remain vacant each year in the IIT's and NIT's. Come on, at-least in the last round of counselling, the remaining reserved seats should be offered to general students!! Why waste the extra seats? I think the people who run these colleges do have the common sense to do this. But either there is a lot of red taping involved, or these empty seats are being given later to the children of the Institutes faculty ( I don't know if this actually happens, but quite a few newspapers report that it used to happen). Either way, we are wasting precious seats in our colleges by doing this.

Hate the system already? Things are worse. Did you know that almost 50% seats are also reserved in private colleges of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai or Mumbai? What chance do you, a general category student have?

Source : Wikipedia

But then what do the poor people of India have? The people who do not have access to proper education. Isn't the reservation system a blessing for them? A ray of hope for the poor villager that his child can one day study at a prestigious institution. The hope that education will someday alleviate his family's poverty. You can argue on this topic forever but the truth is, there are people in India who need reservation. We all want equality but we can't have equality among unequals.

There are so many coaching classses, which put in special effort to teach SC/ST students (Super 30). The coaching classes obviously do this for their benefit, but isn't this an advantage for the students? I can get the best faculty of a coaching institute if I am in the Reserved Category. Indirectly reservation gives them a chance to get good education.

Also consider this, one general student qualifying a major All India Exam = No Big Deal. One student qualifying exam first time from his village = Local Hero. There are such Local Heroes in our batch. And they have opened the gates to higher education not just for their own families but for the entire village. A role model for so many others like him.

So does this mean I support reservation? In its present form, probably not. There are a lot of changes that the present system needs. These could be a few of them :

1. Caste should not be the only criteria.Salary is a better criteria. ( If you have money and still can't get a general seat... You probably don't deserve to be here.)
2. Introduce preparatory classes for the students, especially in English. ( This one's really important. And it would be of great help to the students as well.)
3. There should not be a special section for them in the library. ( Come on, what purpose does this serve? Stop playing divide and rule IIT KGP).
4. Develop plans ( Similar to the 5 year plans) to progressively decrease and ultimately end reservation.
5. Girls from rural areas also need reservation ( They probably need it more than the boys).

The system is at fault and not the SC/ST students. We need to improve the system and provide reservation for deserving candidates. Agree with me? I would like to hear whatever you have to say. Scroll down and comment/

JEE : The decisions I regret

" The only person who has never committed a mistake, is one who has never tried anything at all."

In my previous blog I recollected the correct decisions I made. Today I would like to share the mistakes and the wrong choices I made. I hope others may learn from these and will be smart enough to not make these same mistakes again. Also, don't make fun of me if you feel my mistakes were stupid ;-). ( This list is probably longer than the previous one :-P).

1. I Started Too Late : I didn't even know what JEE is in class 10. Need I say anything more? My dad would always tell me that he had finished the entire syllabus in 11 and throughout class 12 he revised ( This story would seriously scare me :-P) I completed my syllabus a few months before mains.

"Start as early as you can because the competition is increasing at a pretty fast rate. That doesn't mean that if you start late you don't stand any chance, but then you will have to work harder in lesser time. If you have elder siblings or good teachers to guide you there are a few things that you can start early."

2.  I Never Paid Attention at School : Okay, I don't really know if this was good or bad for me. My teachers were always shouting at me for having non-course books on my lap ( I was made to stand outside the class on more than one occasion :-P). While On one hand I missed most of my school lectures and had to do it all again at home, On the other I used that time to solve higher level problems which probably helped me in Advanced.

"At school, if the discussion is about a topic you have not studied before, pay attention to it. If you have already studied it, spend that time in school solving maths."

3. Give Equal Attention To All Subjects : This was my biggest mistake. I absolutely hated chemistry! (And I probably still do). I started studying organic around September in class 12*. I left quite a few topics in physical chemistry completely. And in the end chemistry pulled me down.

"All three subjects are equally important to get a good rank. If you are weak in one subject, start giving that subject more time before its too late. "

4. Have A Schedule : At one time, (I was really crazy about physics) I used to wake up at 2 in the night, study till 4 and go back to sleep. While studying at night is recommended, studying at odd hours used to make me sleepy at school and Prerna. Don't turn yourself into a maniac ( pagal k jaise padhne ki jaroorat nhi hai ).

"Study as much as you can, but do follow a schedule  Don't study 6 hours one day and take the next day off because you are too tired."



These are the main mistakes I remember I made. Apart from these, a few mistakes that I see others making :

1. Suppose you are unable to integrate a function. You can ask your teacher and he will tell you a particular substitution. Once the path is known 99% of the people leave that question and move on. Don't do that, solve each question till the end.

2. Regarding the above point, don't ask someone your doubts till they have been with you for at least 24 hours. Try the question different ways, look up the texts, keep thinking about that question till you have your Eureka moment! And if even after one or two days it remains unsolved, then ask for help.

3. The Board Dilemma : Trust me, the most convenient thing in the world is to blame others for your own losses. Your school doesn't matter that much and neither does the board ( ICSE/CBSE). If you did not crack some exam it is your and your fault alone. Don't run around blaming your situation and your luck.

4. Watching television is not refreshment. It will occupy your mind and you won't be able to study the same way again. Similarly, FIFA or Facebook is not the right break in between studies. Exercise is the best thing to do, or even doing some house work ( or plain old sleeping :-P).

This is pretty much all I can remember right now. You can comment if something else comes to your mind. Don't make these mistakes which I did and you'll be on the right path.

The more you try, the more mistakes you will make and the more successful you will be. So keep trying.

Note: I get this feeling that quite a few of the points I have written here have also been mentioned before in my blogs. If that is really the case, then those points are extra important ! (:-P).



*I don't know how but KK Mishra Sir singled me ( and Priyam ) out for being exceptionally poor at Chemistry but being good at Physics and Maths. He used to call us for a sort of an extra class every Saturday. That really was the turning point in my relationship with Chemistry. Without that extra help, I wouldn't have been anywhere today. Thank You Sir :-)



How I cleared JEE

This is a short story ( I'll try to keep it short :-P ) about me. About the last two years of my life and the most boring topic in the world, studies ( It really is so boring that my roomies won't let me blog about it! ). But then it is also important ( We've all heard this before right! ). So without wasting any more time, I'll start with my story.

I didn't know what JEE was before class 11. I began preparations in class 11 ( before that I was pretty casual about it all ). I joined Prerna Classes because all my friends were joining ( I hadn't even heard about Vikas Tank!! ). After that, it was two years of hard work, studying like mad, going to sleep tired everyday and trying to balance studies and television and Fifa all at the same time.

Did I do everything right? Surely I didn't b
ut a few of my right decisions were :

1. Joining Prerna Classes : In Jamshedpur Prerna has the best faculty in A0 batch so that is the place to be in if you want to clear JEE ( You can clear from other coaching institutes also but, you'll have to work harder). I didn't go to any other tutions ( my friends were going to many places but I didn't want too much load), just school and Prerna. I had wonderful teachers at school too ( but still I would study other books at school ;-)).
2. Studying Regularly : This is really the most important thing. I wasn't the type of person who would study before the exams and after the exams do other stuff. My studying patterns were independent of the exam schedules.
3. Setting small goals : ( This point is a bit long because I think it's important). I have been asked at least a thousand times how many hours should you study to clear JEE. In my opinion, if you have this approach you are on the wrong track. After school got over I drew a schedule according to which I would study 10 hours everyday! Guess what, from January to May, there were only two days when I could actually do it! No one should ever set a target to study 'x' hours everyday. What will happen is, you might end up sitting at your table for 'x' hours, but you won't be studying for all that time ( double loss:- 1. you haven't studied much, 2. you think you have studied). My strategy was to set small goals for myself everyday, and to not go to sleep till I achieved my goal. Try this, it really works.
4. Exam practice (credits : My dad ) : For at least one month before JEE Advanced, I used to study for 6 hours everyday at the exact same time as the JEE Exams.  Your body is not a machine, but if you follow the same pattern everyday, the body will be at its peak during those 6 hours that matter.
5. Enjoy what you do (:-P) : If you don't enjoy something you'll never be good at it. But then again, as an engineer you'll hardly ever get what you like, so get used to loving what you are doing. I personally liked the feeling of satisfaction I got when I could solve a pretty tough question. Don't hate studies, you can't truly love studies but try and be in a 'complicated relationship' with studies.
6. Practise : I believe this is the most important ingredient. Practise so much that just by looking at the question you know which direction to proceed. Practise so much that you cover each and every type of problem. I used to practice by writing and solving lots and lots of questions. I made my own notes, just reading used to make me fall asleep so I used to write down everything. Also I was weak in integration, I've actually solved the solved examples of Arihant twice ( with a few weeks gap ofcourse :-P).

These are the positive things that helped me, and will surely help anyone else who applies them to achieve their goals. Also for the people confused about which books to study, these are the books I covered :

1. New Pattern Physics and Maths, Arihant (Complete single choice questions of all chapters, multiple correct of only a few chapters).
2. HC Verma ( Almost completely, there are so many questions that it would get boring sometimes).
3. Maths , Arihant all theory books ( Almost all solved examples in the chapter, not the hard ones at the end).
4. Organic Chemistry, Ranjeet Shahi ( Almost completely, I left the last few chapters because it really got boring).
5. Physical Chemistry, Prerna Classes course book (:-P)
6. Inorganic Chemistry, theory from NCERT ( Questions from past papers of coaching, etc.)

Anyways it doesn't matter which book you choose. Whichever book you have, make sure you complete it thoroughly. There are many other good books available like the ones from TMH, DC Pandey, O.P. Tandon and so on. Entirely upto you where you want to study from.

"Success depends only and only on your hard work."  

I normally try to post on Wednesday and Sunday each week, but I could not post anything new due to midsem exams. 

Picture By Ambuj Saxena (Own work) [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

10 Things You Learn In Your First Month of College

College life isn't the dream I hoped it would be, but nevertheless I have to spend the next four years at least at college. These are the things I have realized in my first one and a half months at KGP.

1. Saving Water : There is absolutely no need to bathe everyday. Bathe once in two or three days. This way you save water and you save time (and there will be less clothes for you to wash). In a way many of us are environmentalists dedicated to conserving water. If you ever feel you are smelling, deodorants are there for you.
   
2. Clothes : Track pants and shorts are a blessing. I know a guy who doesn't ever wear jeans. He wears shorts in the hostel and for classes, he just puts on track pants over the shorts. Again this is a nice way to save time ( In college it seems as if we are always running to reach class on time. Time-saving tricks are always useful).
3. Food : If you eat mess food everyday you are going to fall ill. I don't know if that has actually happened to someone, but that is how everyone will feel about mess food. It doesn't matter if you are at a private college or a 'sarkari' college. And don't ever be fooled by the mess menu. Even our menu looks good on paper. I wish it looked equally good on my plate.

   

   This is called a Sandwich

4. Staying Up : This is something everyone learns ( even those who have a habit of waking up early :-P). You will be playing music, watching movies or playing games late into the night when it's not exam time. And even if you want to sleep, your friends won't let you. Honey Singh is the chief culprit ( It's easy to connect your laptop to a loud external speaker).
5. Pranks : This is the fun part of life ( as long as someone doesn't play a prank on you :-P). In the last month, ive seen so many pranks, locking people in their rooms, locking roomies out of the room when they've gone to bathe, prank calls ( beware, don't ever be intimated by a call or an email, it might just be your roomie :-P) and ..... (this list could go on forever, so i'm ending it here). Here's one example of a revenge :

   

   Revenge

6. Proffesors : I don't know if everyone has this problem or is it just me but, i really find classes very boring. The proffesors here are highly qualified ( I've gone through the CV of each of my proffesors, and I must say, they are also exceptionally talented in their respective fields), but somehow we just don't feel it when they are teaching us.
7. Seniors : You will have to respect your seniors if you want peace ( don't give too much respect and become a favourite, that way you will be ragged even more. It's all about maintaing the right balance). And also remember one year senior in college and one year senior in school are two diferent things. In college there is a huge gap between first and second years, I never felt my seniors in school were so far ahead of me).
8. Roomies : Your roomies are your best friends and your worst enemies. This is the truth of life. They will take care of you when you are sick, and when you are ok, they'll be busy plotting pranks against you. They may leak out your secrets or if you've really angered them, take pictures of you sleeping with your pillow. But they will be the ones you'll spend a lot of time with. And if you get good roomies, you are really lucky.
   
9. Complains : For the people who've moved out of their homes for the first time, it's time you learn this reality. No one is going to do their work till you remind them hundreds of times and submit the correct applications and lodge complains and speak out ( repetitive use of 'and' is intended). One of the drains behind our hostel was blocked, we complained and the drain was cleared, but the rubbish was dumped on the road. So now we have to complain again. The sweeper will finish his job in 5 minutes if you don't remind him to clean the corners. It's hard to get used to this system.
10. Lastly and most importantly, you will miss your family. In school you may have dreamed of running away to a far away college and enjoying yourself, but in college, all you want to do is go home as soon as you can. At home you'll get good food and a clean bed and your family will treat you differently. In college, you are going to miss your family a lot. It is always an advantage to be in a college close to your hometown.

This is what college life has been about (for me). Do comment what your college life was like. Thank You.

By Photo taken by de:Benutzer:Alex Anlicker using a Nikon Coolpix 950. (Own work Source: [1]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Saugato Banerjee (Scanned image. Personally taken after permission.) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Why can't you Succeed?

Ever had to deal with failure? Ever been left wondering what you did wrong ? Why could all the other guys go through when you couldn't ? Are you weak, or was it just the situation?

And in case you are wondering, I assure you that you are not the only one who has been through this feeling. Everyone has been through it numerous times. The most successful person you can think of has probably gone through it many more times than you have. What was the difference between him and you? What did he do to emerge victorious?

This Saturday, I was in Jamshedpur, and a random thought came into my head. I was wishing for something and i was saying to myself I would do anything if only this could come true somehow (Deja vu?).

" Bas ek baar wo dila do, uske baad jo bologe wo kar k doonga"

I'm sure everyone has had this feeling at some point, where they wish for something and they would give everything if only the wish would come true.

Well, have you ever really given it everything?

 This is how a winner will plan : I am going to give my everything so that I will win.

And if your thought process is : I would give anything if only i could play like Roger Federer...
This is where you will end up: 

A lady once said to a famous musician : " I would give my life to play music as you do."
His reply : " I did give my life for it."

To be successful, you really have to put in all your effort with absolutely no guarantee of getting the result you want. There is a risk factor involved, all your efforts might go in vain, but if you don't put in the effort then you'll never know what you could have achieved.
Don't be scared to take the next step. Believe in yourself and take a leap of faith. You may fail, but you won't have to live with the regret that you never even tried. Anything is possible, you've just got to give it your all. Everyone has the potential to be great. But not everyone has the courage to do so. Do you have the courage?


Everyone is free to comment their experiences and views. ( For the shy people, you can comment anonymously )
My next post will be on Sunday. Email me if you have any suggestions. (mak1910@outlook.com)

Image Credits:
By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands (Depressed  Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Boss Tweed from New York (Roger Federer wins the US Open 2008) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Ben Newton from Australia (24) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Hostel Life : My Early Experiences

Hello Everyone. Thank You for sending in positive reviews. Feels really nice to get good reviews when I'm starting out. Luckily i didn't get any negative reviews, but i welcome criticism too and I'll surely try to improve.


Before I start with the main topic, another brief introduction about me. I'm a shy person ( introvert might be more suitable ), I don't talk much, don't have too many friends and most of the time, I'm immersed in my own thoughts. I'm the kind of person who'd b shy to even say hi to someone if i meet them at the market ( so don't be offended by it :-P ). And also, I haven't lived in a hostel before, this is the first time I'm living away from my mom and dad and I'm really missing them.

The people who've never lived in a hostel before, don't be too excited, at least in the first few months you are really gonna miss your family. You may want to go away from them right now, but you'll realise later how important your family is.

"You realise something's value only after it's gone."

You will have to wash and dry and even fold your clothes! ( Laundry cannot always be trusted). You will have to wake up on time yourself, (koi aake pyar se nhi uthane wala :-P). You will have to clean the mess you create, make your bed, remember to carry your towel to the bathroom ( My friend forgot his towel :-P His roomie finally gave him the towel, after making him shout in the bathroom that he loves XYZ (some girl) ) and above all adjust to the mess food !!

And once you get used to these, you'll slowly but surely start enjoying your hostel life. You will make new friends ( and hopefully good ones ). You will be beaten up at 12 in the night on your birthday, and if you are lucky your friends might even give you a gift :-P. You will be eating Maggi and drinking coffee at crazy hours, playing loud music in your room ( till the warden gets to know about it ), making fun of each other to no end (which leads to fights sometimes), playing pranks on each other ( I have been locked in the room quite a few times. For some people its worse, their roomies lock them out of the room when they go to bathe. Imagine roaming around in a towel while its getting late for class ). Your parents won't be there to shout at you for watching too many movies. You and only you, will be in control of your life (isn't that what you always wanted? ).

By Saikat Sarkar (Personally taken by author) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

And when something goes wrong, your friends will support you. And that's when you will realize that you miss your family, that you would do anything just to go back to your mom. No matter how good your friends are, you will miss your parents, and your brothers and sisters. You will want to go back home and just switch on the ac and sleep with absolutely no worries. And thus your life will be, switching like AC ( Alternating Current ) between fun and happiness on one end and hardships at the other end.

Everyone is going to do some or the other crazy stuff ( even the nerds... according to our definition, studying for long periods of time is crazy stuff too :-P). Everyone will have a story to tell. Life as you know it will change. Your friends will be the biggest part of your life ( you are living with them 24 hours a day, cant get any bigger than that ). And you will have the freedom to do what you want. Just remember :

"With great freedom, comes greater responsibility"

Edited and Adapted from the spiderman movie.

Fresher's Robosoccer

Is this the first thing that came to your mind when you read the heading?

If yes, you'll probably be disappointed. This was our robot ( actually, it is better described as a truck or a battering ram) :

The Robosoccer event is organised by the Technology Robotix Society. It was the second fresher's event i participated in and our team stood second in a competition of almost 64 teams. ( Yes you heard it right, that ugly thing up there stood second !!).

The matches were held over the weekend and our bot had to be ready by Friday evening to get us registered. We started work on the bot on Thursday night after dinner, less than 24 hours before the deadline. Making the bot was the easy part, we just had to attach motors and tires to the frame. Making the circuit for the controller was the headache.

It was the first time we were soldering, and while we understood the circuit and how it was supposed to work, soldering things in place wasn't easy. And the circuit refused to work properly, even after countless adjustments and alterations. Finally we gave up on it the next evening, after working on it in turns for more than 10 hours!! This is the mess we created in 10 hours :


Deadlines however are meant to be extended, and we had time till Saturday evening 6:00 P.M. We made a new complete circuit, with all new stuff (extra expenditure), in less than half the time we spent on the old one. Everything was ready by noon on Saturday, when one of the four relays decided to stop working. We were in a complete mess now, without that relay, our bot could move forward, but not back, and turn left but not right. Somehow we managed to get the controller right with help from some friends ( Kshitij, Sandeep and Amlendu .. Thank You guys. We really appreciate your help. Couldn't have won without you).

Finally, match time. Our strategy was to hit and smash and push the opponents out of our way. Here's a sample in which we almost pushed the other bot out of the arena. ( This was a semifinal match ).

Unluckily we couldn't win the final, our opponent was as strong as us, so pushing would often lead to a stalemate. Anyway, we are happy to have come second. It was a fun (and seriously tiring) experience, we learned lots of stuff, hands-on experience. And it's nice when after all your hard work you win something.
Thanks to my teammates Sumeet ( He did all the controlling and the designing of the bot) and Aditya ( he worked on the wiring and the circuit, and also was present at the matches, and also controlled the bot a bit).

Actual robo-soccer picture by everyone's idle from berlin, germany (DSCF4250s  Uploaded by Mewtu) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

A Day of Our Life : What is it like to live at Kharagpur

Wondering what life is like at IIT Kharagpur ? Is it worth living in a boring village? The IIT's at Mumbai, Delhi, Madras and even Hyderabad may have much better surroundings but don't discriminate against KGPians. Our campus is our world and we have access to everything within the campus itself (except good food, particularly if you are a vegetarian :-P).
(Edit: Found a canteen yesterday that serves very tasty veg biryani. Also, Maggi is always available)

A typical day in our lives is something like this:

Every morning the hardest thing for us is to wake up on time. Normally we try to wake up at 8:00 for a class of 8:30. On many days however, we can reach class on time even if we wake up at 8:15 (Not an exaggeration). You can call it wonderful time management or our extreme laziness!!

In classes many of us sleep, unless the professor is particularly good at teaching (the professors are extremely knowledgeable, but not all of them are excellent at teaching). At-least in the first year, you have to study most of the topics on your own ( or with friends :-P) , but then you are an IITian so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. Lab classes are taken much more seriously (and most of us will reach labs on time), because attendance is much more important at labs.

In the lunch break, unless you really love 'pathal' (i don't think anyone does) there is no real urgency to have lunch. After that classes again, and sleeping during classes again. Sleeping in a class is a very real thing here. Ive never slept in a class throughout my school life (except once, but that was only for 5 minutes after which the teacher woke me up ) but at KGP I've slept quite a few times. Sleeping is better i guess than chatting on Facebook (that's how i justify sleeping).

Life for us begins after classes end at 5:30. The biggest advantage that an IIT gives us is : " We can pursue our interests in whichever field we like ". You can go and play whichever sport you want, you can play musical instruments, sing, dance, attend lectures, swim, debate, code.....(this list is never ending). We have students who are good at each and every extra-curricular activity you can imagine. This is the best part of our college. You have to live here and see for yourself to believe it.

Going to sleep before 12 doesn't happen often. You can watch movies all night if you want. We have access to unlimited, but heavily restricted ( for which we have workarounds) internet access. Watching movies throughout the night with your friends = Lots of Fun. Some people play football in the hallways late into the night, others listen to music, play table tennis, hang out at their friend's room and study together. Forgot to mention, the night isn't only meant to enjoy, it is also the time to study, complete assignments, write reports for labs, go through lectures and drink coffee every once in a while (with friends obviously no fun alone :-P).

It obviously isn't all fun and games. We have to cope with lots of pressure too, but in the end IIT Kharagpur is one of the only colleges in the country where you can enjoy without having to step out of the campus. Being in Kharagpur has its advantages too ( I don't need to mention the disadvantages, they should be pretty obvious ).

IIT Main building image : By Ambuj Saxena (Own work) [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Dropping a Year : No Problem

Anyone having these regrets?

• I should have studied a little more, I wasted too much time on the net.
• If only I had better opportunities like that other guy..
• If only I didn't have to go to school every day like the people in Kota :-P
• Everyone kept shouting at me so I couldn't study.
• I should have been an SC\ST :-P

For all the people living with these issues, who have taken admission in colleges who's names they had never heard of, or who are studying at home after somehow convincing their family that they'll give their best this time, remember, One entrance exam can never decide how intelligent, or in some cases, how foolish you are.

"Believe in your image of yourself and you'll be a winner, believe in someone else's image of you and you'll be doomed for life."

My own quote :-P

The biggest disadvantage/advantage of life is, it only flows one way, you can't go back. So it's better to look ahead. Make the best of whatever you have and above all, never listen to what others tell you. They don't know you or the sacrifices you made. No one understands you like you do. Give yourself a second chance and don't be too harsh on yourself.

If you have already taken admission at some college, but are not satisfied, factor two important things before you decide to answer exams again.

Case 1: If you are studying Electrical at a college like BIT Mesra, and next year you get Ocean Engineering at IIT KGP, stay at Mesra. Don't waste a year just to study an unheard of branch at a better college.

Case 2: If your college is so unpopular that even you did not know of its existence in class 12, answer the exams again and take whatever you get at a better place.

People often sacrifice the stream for a better college (read : for the iit tag) and realise too late that they have no interest in their chosen branch. Don't end up like this after dropping a year :

Source : Quora

If you've finally decided you'll give the exams again and are wondering where to start, try and follow these points.

1. If you have one full year, don't leave any topic. Don't repeat the mistakes you made last time.
2. If you have less time, start with the topics you never really could understand.
3. Keep studying organic chemistry once every few days (It demands constant and repetitive effort ).
4. For Maths, Physics and Physical Chemistry practice mostly questions (you already know some of the theory, questions will help you revise).
5. Try and solve at least single option questions from Arihant's New Pattern (Physics , Chemistry and Maths). These books are sufficient.
6. And from which topic should you start? Varies from person to person, 6 months before the exam, study what you are weak at. 2 months before the exam, concentrate on your strengths.
7. Imp: Don't waste too much time on trigo, many a times you can eliminate and guess the answer.
8. Be thorough in calculus (specially integration and differentiation { #double emphasis}).
9. In chemistry, practice physical and organic as regularly as you can and ignore inorganic as long as you can.
10. For physics, just practise questions from the book i mentioned earlier, you'll be revising the theory too by analysing the solutions at the back (That's what I did).
11. Practise is the only key to success.
12. There is no such thing as an important topic. All topics are important, question can be set from any topic. You just have to do your best.

All the Best. Keep yourself motivated.

(Note: A few points are repeated in different words. That has been done on purpose to lay special emphasis on those points.)