Thinking Aloud!

Ater reading

this post I was reminded of the time when I was in a
similar situation. This was just after I had given the
AIEEE exam. Earlier my IIT-Screening exam had gone bad
(I did clear it but with a rank much below my
expectations) and I knew that my performance in Mains
will be even worse. But that was not the reason of my
worry as I thought with AIEEE, at least I will be able
to get in some engineering college, achha ho ya na ho.

But I screwed up in that exam also!! What happened was
that due to some stroke of brilliance CBSE people
decided that we should fill our OMR sheets with pens,
instead of the usual pencils…I dunno the reasoning
behind this but as usual I marked one question
incorrectly and in the end I had finished the paper much
before the time…. so while revising I thought ki kyun
naa is question ko theek kiya jaaye and I thought what
if its a pen mark, atleast I can give it a try….the
result was almost a hole in my sheet. After the exam
jitne zyada logon se discuss kiya utna he darta gaya.
Someone would say a machine is gonna check your paper
and it will reject it. Others will sa na na bus us
column ke questions(one third of the whole) ke marks nai
milenge. In the end I was sure that I am not gonna clear
the exam anyways.

Now I knew I was in trouble, I was sure about IIT-JEE
(that its not meant for me) and the only other exam that
I could give that year was DCE entrance exam and as
there were only 15% seats available for people outside
Delhi in that, so I knew it will be really tough. For
few days I was utterly disappointed, I though everything
was lost now and nothing can be done. I was so much fed
up with cramming that the thought of giving the exam
next year never came in my mind….

After a few days, while going for a lonely walk in
evening, one thought came in my mind that instead of
getting worried over things which I cant control, I
should try to analyze all the options that I had…

First of all I thought about the worse that can
happen…..I wont clear IIT-JEE and DCE exam and will be
disqualified in AIEEE, so either I will have to try next
year(something inside me was crying “nai-nai iske zagah
aur kuchh bhi kar lena”) or I will have to drop the idea
of engineering (before that this thing never came in my
mind that I could do something other than engineering
also). Hmmm I guess it wont be as difficult as I earlier
thought…

And what if I the result of IIT-JEE,Mains is better…ya
maybe I will get a seat in some branch like textile or
paper engineering…..aur haan IITs allow ppl to change
branch after getting in……..sounds good maybe I can
do that…….lekin kahan yaar, exam to achha nai hua
thaa!!

What if, I prepare better for DCE ….. hmmm objective
paper hai (in which I usually scored better than others)
and I still have 3-4 weeks to study……….lekin yaar
usmein to seats hi itni kam hain………but 3-4 weeks
fight marne mein jaata hi kya hai, at least I wont loose
anything!

That did it!! The feeling that even in the
worst-case-scenario I will be able to get through
without much trouble and the realization that whatever I
will do from now onwards will only add up to the things
and there was nothing to loose!

So instead of crying over bad luck etc. etc. I prepared
seriously for the DCE exam (this is the only instance in
my whole life when I really studied seriously) and the
result……..I cleared IIT-JEE (though they were
offering Paper and Pulp Engineering only at my rank!!)
the nice people at CBSE dint disqualify me, I got
thousand-something AIR(35th in Chandigarh), and the best
was DCE (180 AIR!!).. so now from a guy who dint have
any hopes, I was the one facing the problem of choosing
form the various institutes!!

 
posted by Sumit Tada @ 9:49 PM

2 Comments:

 
The_Girl_From_Ipanema said…

good job!! motivating post. and
motivating comment.  just that, i’m even more lazier than
you! 

think i’ll have to wait until the weekend yaar, to do some
“creative” scribbling..

 
8:13 AM, March 29, 2006


   

 
MoonWalker said…

I was so totally hoping for a happy ending!

arre yaar, yeh max sahi baat hai..just think of the worst
case scenario and all will be okay….

I feel more sensible now!

btw,

you have posted this post 3 times:D

check karring uskoh!

 
6:32 PM, March 29, 2006

This is the name of a wonderful machine. I guess the
engineer who made it was really an interesting guy. Who
could expect a piece of construction machinery with such
a name? And what does it do?? Well I don’t know the
exact working but few days ago BSNL (I wished it had
been Airtel but alas!) people were laying optical cables
in our sector. Now usually what follows is number of
ditches on the roads. But this time what they were doing
was like this……… they dig two holes of around half
mtr by 1 mtr size, usually in the empty grounds which
are in plenty in City beautiful, around 150-200 mtrs
apart and then this machine digs the trench between
these holes beneath the surface under the roads, houses
or whatever comes in between and puts the cable also
automatically. Bingo.. no broken roads no gardens
destroyed and hundreds of people can get broadband!

Ok, now tell me what’s common between iPod, Delhi Metro,
Macs and the above mentioned machine???

Chalo main batata hoon….

They all give their user something “extra”, something
which can’t be measured tangibly but still it gives them
an edge over their competitor’s product. Take the case
of iPod, why people are so crazy about them? Is it the
small size or large storage capacity or better sound
quality or easy user interface or just the name of
Apple? In my opinion its the combination of all these.
iPod users feel “proud” in using their devices even if
technically its not very far ahead of other similar
devices.

Same is the case with Macs. We the MS-Windows users
daily curse our machines/software and the company that
made them. But Mac guys love their boxes (Ok some do not
but still most do). They also have the similar “proud”
feeling.

And Delhi Metro?? Its easy to see that even if it costs
a bit higher (in many cases it doesn’t) and even if you
have to take a bus/rickshaw/auto to reach the nearest
Metro Station, most people will get the same feeling of
“proud” when they use the metro daily. That was the
reason for the unexpected “rush” which made the whole
metro system to “crash” the very next day of its
inauguration. Many people (including me) still travel by
it just to “see” the metro!!

And its not just the outer feeling and looks but all
these have been commercial successes also. Then what’s
stopping other from doing something similar? Why cant
they try to deliver something “extra” then promised at
the same price. So that the customers/user not only find
them useful but lovable also?? This reminds me of my
UPS. This fella can keep my PC running for 15-20 mins.
Not bad but what irritates me is its beep. At starting
it is like beep……..beep…….beep….. and after
sometimes its like beep.beep.beep.

Now even a 10 year old will understand that the faster
beep means that I should stop working and shut down my
Pc. But wait, just 15-20 seconds after the faster beeps,
it gives up!! Now tell me what’s the use of having two
types of warning signals when the guy using it can’t
even hibernate the PC (which is the fastest way of
shutting down). Either you don’t provide a facility or
if you do, at least make it usable. And it wont even
cost a dime to change the controller of UPS to start the
beeping 1-2 mins before the actual shut down.

 
posted by Sumit Tada @ 4:14 PM

3 Comments:

 
MoonWalker said…

gyani post hoying:D

and yess…thanks fr ur latest commnet on my blog….:)

feeling better now:)

 
8:36 PM, March 25, 2006


   

 
The_Girl_From_Ipanema said…

hey sumit!

thanks for dropping by..yeah, i am still making a slow,
rumbling entry into blogsphere..

hmm..macs are superior for several reasons…it’s not just
pride that mac owners have, it’s a more robust O/S, a more
stylish design, and.. the list goes on!

ladki ki to dekh loongi… haan round the clock monitor set
up karna padega sayeshaz par 

cheers,

tgfi

 
1:11 AM, March 27, 2006


   

 
Sumit Tada said…

MW

Thank you thank you!!

And am happy to hear that my comment may have helped…

TGFI

Welcome to my blog!!

Ya-ya I know Macs are good,but i guess you know that wasnt
the point…point is why MS cant do the same,even though
they are capable of doin this…

Aur haan if you find some way of doin that
(round-the-clock-monitor) do lemme know…..wont tell others
and then we can have all the medals between us 

 
6:39 AM, March 27, 2006

MW has
tagged me(in fact its a return tag as earlier I had
tagged her) I am supposed to write about five things I
will do with my first salary….

Here we go:

1. This isn’t something that I can “buy”, but I really
wish that my cousin bro gets a decent job before
me…he’s 4 yrs older than me and is the best friend
that I have ever had. We have spend so much time
together and I can live without anything under the sun
if he’s around…..but even after doing B.A. and then
PGDCA, he is virtually jobless(you wont call a job in
private primary school in a small town a real “job”)…
So, if theres anything that I can help him in getting
some good job I will really-really like to do that.

2. Will buy some real nice and big speekers with woofer
and Amp for my sis…dont need the player coz PC hai naa!

3. Will find someone who can teach driving to papa…..I
dont have much hope lekin koi to hoga jo yeh kar sake.

4. Mom doesnt seem to need anything that I can buy…but
haan will get one wireless headset, so that papa can
watch TV without disturbing mom sleeping in the other
room. You see her sleep is such that if someone even
whispers in the other room, she will wake up!

5. Mujhe to kuchhh zyada nai chahiye…bus only one Sony
Ericsson

Walkman mobile phone…at present rates it will take
more than half of my expected one month’s salary, but
koi naa I can wait for 1-2 months more!

6. Last but not the least; Tushar,Shweta and Ruchika
will get at least one nice party. They are my best frnds
(after cousin bhaiya of course) and I dont remember ki
maine kabhi unhe ek toffy bhi di ho! Waise to everybody
expects party when you are slected for the job (which is
1 yr before joining in most cases). But achhi party to
frst salary ke baad hi ho sakti hai, isnt it?

 
posted by Sumit Tada @ 9:42 PM

5 Comments::

 
MoonWalker said…

arre wah!!!!!

ek toffee bhi nahi di??????

:O

:O

foran de karr aao, specially ruchika koh!!!!

(mere naam se milta hua naam hai, isiliye I am being a bit
partial to her  )

apart from that , yess even I can understand ur sentiments
about your bro..I hope he gets a gud job, SSON:)

adios

 
12:06 PM, March 19, 2006


   

 
Sumit Tada said…

Waise pata nai shayad di bhi ho
kabhi, but I dont remember…..

And me too a bit partial to Ruchika 

Lekin kya karen being in differnt colleges, it seems ages ho
gai hain mile 

 
6:34 PM, March 19, 2006


   

 
Tushar said…

Thanks for considering me for the
party..I m obliged.

Waise yes you are very true,you haven’t offered me even a
toffy ever,either at college or your home,but ur mom is
quite generous who always offers me somthing to eat whenevr
i visit ur place.

 
8:23 PM, March 22, 2006


   

  Anonymous said…

hi

is it d same ruchikawhich i also know???

whats she doing now n does she live there only????

anyways ur blogger is too good, too engrossing

well done

aanchal

 
11:47 AM, March 23, 2006


   

 
Sumit Tada said…

Tushar

And u are always on “dite” can u list 4 things that you have
eaten at my home?? Yaar mere ghar ka khana itna bhi kharaab
nai hai ki tu kabhi naa khaye!!! (Leave aside today, coz i
can giv u benefit of doubt as u had come directly from
dentist’s but otherwise also…….itna nai sharmana chahiye
yaar!!

Aanchal

Hey WELCOME to my blog….thanx for the complements!

Aur haan, she’s the SAME girl and I am sure u have never
gone to her place…..even tough its just round the corner!!
I know you were never great frnds,but still……..btw shez
doin engg frm CIET.

 
5:34 PM, March 23, 2006

Nai nai I am not going to reveal any connection between
them…. These are two unrelated topics of my post.

First about electronics engineering…whenever I visit my
relatives, I have to face a strange problem. Everybody asks
me what you are studying…. Now saying electronics
engineering should seem sufficient to most of us but try
telling this to my Nanaji or mausiji or even most of my
cousins… the conversation usually goes like this (”Nanaji”
below stands for nanaji/mausiji/mamaji/cousin etc. etc…):

Nanaji: what are you studying?

Me: Electronics engineering

Nanaji: usme kya padhate hain??

Me: they teach us about how electronic equipments work and
how they are made.…

Nanaji: Electronics cheezein matlab??

Me: jaise ki TV, radio, fridge, mobile etc. etc.

Nanaji: achhaa achhaa..

After thinking for sometime..

Nanaji: arey fir to yeh jo TV( or radio) jo kharab pada hai
usko theek kar dega naa?

Me: err…. Hmmm….. nai actually they don’t teach us how to
repair things but they teach us how to “make” things…

Nanaji: to fir can u make a new radio??

Me: ummm…. Nai……..they teach us only basics like
transistors,diodes,ICs,EM waves etc. etc.

After thinking for some time more…

Nanaji: fir to xyz hi theek hai tumse…. He used to sit in a
repair shop for 2 months and now knows everything about
electronics!

Now it seems from above that they are being rude to me but
actually they really cant understand that whats the “big
deal” in what I am studying……………any engineers who want to
help are welcome!

Next about dogs…….well basically I don’t “like” them very
much and in fact was really “afraid” of dogs in my childhood
days. Now, after gaining much experience and knowledge… I
can mostly hide my “fear” of these fellas but during my
recent trip, I faced three different kinda troubles with
various dogs….

First, why do dogs have to cross the road at the very
inappropriate time? When you are cruising at plus 100kmph
speed suddenly you see a dog crossing the road… and then
right in the middle of road they change their mind….you
leave the brake and voila…. they again change their mind
turning towards the opposite direction to what you expected!
I know nothing much can be done regarding this but I wonder
what measures people in western countries take when they
make roads with legal speed above 200kmph.

Second instance was in my cousin’s home. She had a sweet
little “Bunty” smaller than a cat even though she was
“adult”. Now when I was having lunch bunty was sitting right
next to me constantly looking up at me with a
mujhe-bhi-kuchh-khane-ko-do-na look. Unluckily there wasn’t
anybody else in the room, so to avoid her from jumping into
my thaali, I gave her small pieces of roti and even churma
(a sweet “dish” made by meshing rotis in excess og ghee) at
regular intervals. Finally bunty ended with more than
one-fourth of my food in her chhotu-sa-stomach!

Finally why few dogs try to be more than required “friendly”
to you? I faced this problem with “Tommy” at my chachaji’s
place. He is also a small fella but tries to be too much
friendly. Now, after many years of trying, I can be sober in
front of dogs but only if they are at a “safe-distance”. But
tommy has a habit of first sniffing at your feet and then he
tries to climb up to your feet and if you try to move away,
he will follow you. This makes a really scary combination
for me. It’s still fine when he’s in my front but I can’t
stand the feeling of having a dog very close to me and that
too at my back. The moment he would go sniffing behind me, I
will start running like hell and then my cousin or chachiji
or dadiji will have to intervene to “save” from tommy. I
know he won’t harm me and he’s very nice but I can never
trust dogs especially when they are “behind” me. I dunno
why, but I just can’t! Any help in this regard will also be
welcomed!

 
posted by Sumit Tada @ 7:34 PM

5 Comments:

  Anonymous said…

hi

nice to hear abt ur experiences in ur recent trip (and i
have a feeling its holi trip…’m i right dude??) but i
wanna say something.. rather i have a suggestion for u- y
dont u keep a pet dog at home?? that ‘ll help u much better
n faster removing fear for dogs…

ankita gupta

 
11:56 AM, March 23, 2006


   

 
Sumit Tada said…

Ankita

Ya u r rite its dat trip only and thanx for the suggestion
but no thanx m not gonna try this!! Aur haan I dont have any
“extraordinary” fear…I am sure ki thoda bahut to sabhi
darte hain. waise bhi agar log dogs se darna band kar de,
then i guess many(if not all) ppl will find them useless to
keep at home,isnt it??

 
5:35 PM, March 23, 2006


   

 
Sayesha said…

Hahaha! I know exactly what you
mean about the electronics engineer’s dilemma! I’ve been
thru that too! 

 
7:37 PM, March 24, 2006


   

 
Tushar said…

Yaar Ghar pe dog rakhne ki kya
zaroorat hai

Main aa jaata hun na tere ghar mein rehne.

 
10:51 AM, March 25, 2006


   

 
Kusum Rohra said…

heheh .. even my brother faces
similar questions 

And my mom is so damn against a pet dog, she says she is
tired of handling two (Me and my bro) :0

 
5:34 PM, March 29, 2006