When I look back at S3, the words that occur to me are 'eventful' and 'fast' (I almost typed 'and painless' ...I wonder why). This past sem was the first in mech ...as in actually in the middle of 70+ guys-alone. Umm not in the middle, I sit in the front row actually. You see, the majority of the aforesaid guys being above 5 foot 5 inches tall and me being a mere 5 foot 1 and three quarters inch, any of them sitting in front of me would seriously obstruct vision. And interesting things do turn up on the black board once in a while.
The sem was short even by NITC standards. My subjects were-
1)Solid mechanics(M.L.Joy sir) which turned out a lot better than dynamics. I like the subject and intend to study more whenever the opportunity presents itself(or make time if opportunity doesn't present itself). The classes were good as sir maintained an easy pace initially; but towards the end the pressure of finishing portions started asserting itself. This resulted in a series of 'film shows' as the guys put it. On the whole, I think I did learn something.
2)Materials science and metallurgy(Manu sir) was a surprise. The name had us expecting a dry theory subject and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the classes were some of the most interesting ones we had( at least I thought so). Manu sir was instantly inducted as an unofficial member of the 'Sasi' club( a mech sasi told me). Here is a sample- one day during attendance he calls out Sreenivas Pai and says 'Payye thinnal panayum thinnam.' Sir himself concedes that lecturers sometimes do homework on jokes and takes it the right spirit if we don't laugh. The classes were exceptionally good as he did his homework even if we didn't.
The end-semester paper was a masterpiece ( I am being sincere not sarcastic )- You could write the paper successfully only if you actually knew your stuff. There were no or very few guessable items. There were no ambiguous questions. And it was not difficult provided .... This was another of my favorite subjects and I would like to come back to it some time.
3) Fluid Mechanics(Vijayakumar sir)- whether my bane or mere stumbling block, we will soon be wise. My friends tell me it is an important subject and the teacher is also good. Alas I could find absolutely no interest in it. And to top it all, I found that I was utterly incapable of studying the subject. It must have been a foolish but unconscious shutting down of the brain in the face of something it did not fancy but I was neck deep in boiling water because of it. If I flunk, I bloody well deserve it.
4)Electrical Machines(Preetha ma'm)- the theory was interesting,so was the construction and working but circuit diagrams and characteristic curves were bitter drops in the happy cup. Preetha ma'm is a charming person and an excellent teacher. She could control the class effortlessly(mind you, the mech class) and never lost her temper. I am indebted to her for a timely loan of 'Del Toro' and another huge volume don't remember the name of. Exam wise this was another potential casuality for me. This was because of foolish mistakes in problems in the first 2 sessionals but in the end sem at least, I believe I have done a better job. I wouldn't mind seeing Del Toro again but to the subject I happily bid adieu.
5)Mathematics(Sushama ma'm)- OK subject, good teacher, presentable marks. Could appreciate that statistical methods are powerful tools but didn't like the part which involved studying the formulae by heart. Why couldn't we just have a reference table? And the nice thing is - the teacher agreed that learning the formulae was not, in any way, a worthy test.
6)Machine Drawing(Sudheer sir)- Speed was the only problem. The drawing part and the visualizing part was all right once you got the hang of it. The teacher was good, but particular to the point of being fussy. I believe that I will pass...
Hostel news
LAN
For the first time in the history of the LH in NITC, second year students set up a LAN and I am proud to be the one who organized it. It was also the first time the entire batch united to work for something. Another thing I am proud of is that from getting the wardens permissions to collecting the cash, buying the stuff, wiring, configuring and troubleshooting, the entire process just took us 3 weeks (of which one was taken up by our first sessionals) and we did it all alone. There were some misunderstandings which resulted in clashes with our seniors regarding the server ; but with their co-operation and some invaluable advice at the right time from Sansu chechi, we got our own server and better junior-senior relationships. In short, by second sessionals, it had become difficult to think about life without internet in the hostel. As I couldn't juggle everything together, Midhu is the LAN administrator now and a more enthusuastic person would be difficult to find. The LAN is something to be proud of but I am more proud of the way everyone chipped in to make it a reality. Presently the setup is amateur but next sem, there will be changes, but then we are old hands at it now.
How I became Rep
It was the first meeting called by the wardens in S3 (mainly to tell us NO RAGGING), I had settled down in my seat after quarter of an hour's battle of wits with Sreelekha ma'm(our new co-warden) during which I broke through all her arguments against the setting up of the LAN leaving the only possible reason for rejection to be 'Because we say so' which they couldn't very well say. I was musing about the topologies that could be considered- a complicated sort of tree-with-two-branches or... when out of the blue the question comes and everyone is screaming my name. I am not one for false modesty and all the -"not me... I couldn't possibly...Oh all right..." sort of drama. I nodded and I was the rep. Now I am lovingly called (sigh!) 'Reppayi'.
Rep-hood
The post of year representative in LH NITC is just like any other post students generally hold - no powers except to hold meetings ( that should not be under-estimated) and duties include 'being answerable for the batch' (that should not be under-estimated either). I like meeting people and being rep offers a lot of opportunities for that. You also get friendly with the chechis,RTs and (who would have thought it possible?) wardens. The batch has been very supportive throughout the last sem making my path relatively smooth. I believe that I have not disappointed them. S4 is a new sem with new things waiting to happen...its just pleasant anticipation
LH Farewell
The third years were absolutely fabulous. They surpassed themselves. Thankfully, we got over our kanji image from last year as our programmes this year were genuinely good(the Ad-zap flopped but the rest was fine). Even as we enjoyed the show, we shared the same sinking feeling- if we wanted to do better than this next year ,there was going to be a lot of work...
Juniors
They are as usual a mixed bunch many paavams, other not so paavams. One thing has to be said- they have the survival instinct of mayflies. I don't wan't to elaborate. Not that particular topic anyway.
That's about it. Good sem. Good times. Results in 3 days...
Can't wait to be back.
Till we meet again,Adios Amigos!
The sem was short even by NITC standards. My subjects were-
1)Solid mechanics(M.L.Joy sir) which turned out a lot better than dynamics. I like the subject and intend to study more whenever the opportunity presents itself(or make time if opportunity doesn't present itself). The classes were good as sir maintained an easy pace initially; but towards the end the pressure of finishing portions started asserting itself. This resulted in a series of 'film shows' as the guys put it. On the whole, I think I did learn something.
2)Materials science and metallurgy(Manu sir) was a surprise. The name had us expecting a dry theory subject and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the classes were some of the most interesting ones we had( at least I thought so). Manu sir was instantly inducted as an unofficial member of the 'Sasi' club( a mech sasi told me). Here is a sample- one day during attendance he calls out Sreenivas Pai and says 'Payye thinnal panayum thinnam.' Sir himself concedes that lecturers sometimes do homework on jokes and takes it the right spirit if we don't laugh. The classes were exceptionally good as he did his homework even if we didn't.
The end-semester paper was a masterpiece ( I am being sincere not sarcastic )- You could write the paper successfully only if you actually knew your stuff. There were no or very few guessable items. There were no ambiguous questions. And it was not difficult provided .... This was another of my favorite subjects and I would like to come back to it some time.
3) Fluid Mechanics(Vijayakumar sir)- whether my bane or mere stumbling block, we will soon be wise. My friends tell me it is an important subject and the teacher is also good. Alas I could find absolutely no interest in it. And to top it all, I found that I was utterly incapable of studying the subject. It must have been a foolish but unconscious shutting down of the brain in the face of something it did not fancy but I was neck deep in boiling water because of it. If I flunk, I bloody well deserve it.
4)Electrical Machines(Preetha ma'm)- the theory was interesting,so was the construction and working but circuit diagrams and characteristic curves were bitter drops in the happy cup. Preetha ma'm is a charming person and an excellent teacher. She could control the class effortlessly(mind you, the mech class) and never lost her temper. I am indebted to her for a timely loan of 'Del Toro' and another huge volume don't remember the name of. Exam wise this was another potential casuality for me. This was because of foolish mistakes in problems in the first 2 sessionals but in the end sem at least, I believe I have done a better job. I wouldn't mind seeing Del Toro again but to the subject I happily bid adieu.
5)Mathematics(Sushama ma'm)- OK subject, good teacher, presentable marks. Could appreciate that statistical methods are powerful tools but didn't like the part which involved studying the formulae by heart. Why couldn't we just have a reference table? And the nice thing is - the teacher agreed that learning the formulae was not, in any way, a worthy test.
6)Machine Drawing(Sudheer sir)- Speed was the only problem. The drawing part and the visualizing part was all right once you got the hang of it. The teacher was good, but particular to the point of being fussy. I believe that I will pass...
Hostel news
LAN
For the first time in the history of the LH in NITC, second year students set up a LAN and I am proud to be the one who organized it. It was also the first time the entire batch united to work for something. Another thing I am proud of is that from getting the wardens permissions to collecting the cash, buying the stuff, wiring, configuring and troubleshooting, the entire process just took us 3 weeks (of which one was taken up by our first sessionals) and we did it all alone. There were some misunderstandings which resulted in clashes with our seniors regarding the server ; but with their co-operation and some invaluable advice at the right time from Sansu chechi, we got our own server and better junior-senior relationships. In short, by second sessionals, it had become difficult to think about life without internet in the hostel. As I couldn't juggle everything together, Midhu is the LAN administrator now and a more enthusuastic person would be difficult to find. The LAN is something to be proud of but I am more proud of the way everyone chipped in to make it a reality. Presently the setup is amateur but next sem, there will be changes, but then we are old hands at it now.
How I became Rep
It was the first meeting called by the wardens in S3 (mainly to tell us NO RAGGING), I had settled down in my seat after quarter of an hour's battle of wits with Sreelekha ma'm(our new co-warden) during which I broke through all her arguments against the setting up of the LAN leaving the only possible reason for rejection to be 'Because we say so' which they couldn't very well say. I was musing about the topologies that could be considered- a complicated sort of tree-with-two-branches or... when out of the blue the question comes and everyone is screaming my name. I am not one for false modesty and all the -"not me... I couldn't possibly...Oh all right..." sort of drama. I nodded and I was the rep. Now I am lovingly called (sigh!) 'Reppayi'.
Rep-hood
The post of year representative in LH NITC is just like any other post students generally hold - no powers except to hold meetings ( that should not be under-estimated) and duties include 'being answerable for the batch' (that should not be under-estimated either). I like meeting people and being rep offers a lot of opportunities for that. You also get friendly with the chechis,RTs and (who would have thought it possible?) wardens. The batch has been very supportive throughout the last sem making my path relatively smooth. I believe that I have not disappointed them. S4 is a new sem with new things waiting to happen...its just pleasant anticipation
LH Farewell
The third years were absolutely fabulous. They surpassed themselves. Thankfully, we got over our kanji image from last year as our programmes this year were genuinely good(the Ad-zap flopped but the rest was fine). Even as we enjoyed the show, we shared the same sinking feeling- if we wanted to do better than this next year ,there was going to be a lot of work...
Juniors
They are as usual a mixed bunch many paavams, other not so paavams. One thing has to be said- they have the survival instinct of mayflies. I don't wan't to elaborate. Not that particular topic anyway.
That's about it. Good sem. Good times. Results in 3 days...
Can't wait to be back.
Till we meet again,Adios Amigos!
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