I am now feeling that I am falling into a deep abyss of nothingness. The days are stretching long before me and I have a lot to do. The tut sheets pile up in front of me and I don't have the will to pick them up and solve them. "Someone will do it", that is the thought that comes to my mind.
I sit and stare idly at the ceiling. I need to make an economics presentation but I still don't have a topic.
In short, I have lots to do but nothing is getting done.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The Grind
People ask me as to what we do in metallurgy. And so today I am going to squash all rumours about how less we work. First of all, we daily have classes from 9 to 5. Ya, I know it is too long, but then aren't we the brightest minds in the country. Next, our department firmly believes that practise makes a man perfect. For the past 2 years we have been doing the same practical. We are required to grind samples, polish them with 4 grades of emery paper and then polish it on the wheel. And finally view the microstructure. Simple, you would say and would be wondering what am I making a fuss about. But I will let you into a secret. Barring 2 or 3 illustrious people in my class, none of us can still get all the planes alligned in one direction nor can we remove all scratches. Everytime I polish the sample, instead of becoming more fine and flat, more and more scratches are generated. And if any one of us to is fortunate enough to get a glimpse of the structure, then we break into a victory dance. And I tell you, the achievement is as big as landing on the moon.
This time I managed to get some photographs. This is a photograph of our beloved grinder which has seen various other competent students like us, unable to get a perfect surface.
I also managed to photograph my friend hard at work. This is how we polish a sample on the emery paper.
I will try to give you more insights into the lives of metallurgists from time to time. But right now, I am going to draw those microstructures. And I really hope, that one day I will achieve the perfect surface and see the always elusive microstructure, all by myself.
This time I managed to get some photographs. This is a photograph of our beloved grinder which has seen various other competent students like us, unable to get a perfect surface.
I also managed to photograph my friend hard at work. This is how we polish a sample on the emery paper.
I will try to give you more insights into the lives of metallurgists from time to time. But right now, I am going to draw those microstructures. And I really hope, that one day I will achieve the perfect surface and see the always elusive microstructure, all by myself.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I wish..
Sometimes I really wish I was a boy. I know I should not be thinking such things, but still. I know our life is much easier then theirs. A boy is expected to provide, while a girl is expected to maintain the provisions. If she provides as well, then well and good, but it is not her primary aim in life. I do believe that we have the easier way out.
But even then I sometimes do wish that I was a boy. They have a different kind of freedom which we don't have. We can't go out at night alone, because there may be bad people lurking about. Always go out with some members of the "stronger" sex, we were advised, and as if that helps. The recent cases in Mumbai and Kochi prove otherwise.
I do wish that there will come a time, when girls will have the same freedom as guys, but I don't see it anywhere in the near future. And until then, all I can do is wish to be a guy.
But even then I sometimes do wish that I was a boy. They have a different kind of freedom which we don't have. We can't go out at night alone, because there may be bad people lurking about. Always go out with some members of the "stronger" sex, we were advised, and as if that helps. The recent cases in Mumbai and Kochi prove otherwise.
I do wish that there will come a time, when girls will have the same freedom as guys, but I don't see it anywhere in the near future. And until then, all I can do is wish to be a guy.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden sang this song expressing their fear of the dark and the unknown. We all suffer from some or the other fear...there are some things which scare us out of our wits. These fears may cause ordinary persons to put up their best resistances in order to avoid them.
I suffer from one such fear. The thing that I am afraid to do, is generally enjoyed by all. I have a phobia of writing on the blackboard. Coax me, cajole me, but my hand will not touch a chalk piece. I have no idea where this fear stems from, but it is deeply ingrained in my system.
While in school, I abhorred teachers who asked us to write on the board. Students became monitors, specifically because they could legally write names on the board. When I became the monitor, I never wrote names on the blackboard and so was generally liked by the students. You may say I have proper etiquettes and did not like to show my back to the audience. The very few times I was actually face to face with the monstrous black board, I felt a hundred pair of eyes boring into my back. I could feel the pressure and the tension in the air. It is laudable that I even managed to write an alphabet. So I came up with a thousand and one reasons of not writing including "I suffer from chalk dust allergy" and the less used "My hands will become rough".
You will be wondering why I suddenly thought about enlightening you about my syndrome. It so happened that today in my GD class I suggested a brilliant topic. The prof asked me to write the same on the board and there I developed cold feet. I looked to my side and asked the next person to come to my rescue, which he very unsympathetically refused to do so. The tension was mounting, my classmates were looking at me and waiting for me to get up and complete this "simple" task, but I sat glued to my chair. I again asked my neighbor, and he looked at me blankly without understanding my anguish. The prof then said to him-"write it down, she is short and will not be able to reach that height." I let that rebuke pass, but I would like to tell him that I am as tall as an average Indian woman. The guy got up and wrote and I heaved a sigh of relief. I wonder what I would have done if I had been pressurised even once more-probably I would have left the class(yes, I am paranoid) or may have feigned a cough.
After reading this you may be rolling on the floor with laughter, but it sure is a big thing for me.
I suffer from one such fear. The thing that I am afraid to do, is generally enjoyed by all. I have a phobia of writing on the blackboard. Coax me, cajole me, but my hand will not touch a chalk piece. I have no idea where this fear stems from, but it is deeply ingrained in my system.
While in school, I abhorred teachers who asked us to write on the board. Students became monitors, specifically because they could legally write names on the board. When I became the monitor, I never wrote names on the blackboard and so was generally liked by the students. You may say I have proper etiquettes and did not like to show my back to the audience. The very few times I was actually face to face with the monstrous black board, I felt a hundred pair of eyes boring into my back. I could feel the pressure and the tension in the air. It is laudable that I even managed to write an alphabet. So I came up with a thousand and one reasons of not writing including "I suffer from chalk dust allergy" and the less used "My hands will become rough".
You will be wondering why I suddenly thought about enlightening you about my syndrome. It so happened that today in my GD class I suggested a brilliant topic. The prof asked me to write the same on the board and there I developed cold feet. I looked to my side and asked the next person to come to my rescue, which he very unsympathetically refused to do so. The tension was mounting, my classmates were looking at me and waiting for me to get up and complete this "simple" task, but I sat glued to my chair. I again asked my neighbor, and he looked at me blankly without understanding my anguish. The prof then said to him-"write it down, she is short and will not be able to reach that height." I let that rebuke pass, but I would like to tell him that I am as tall as an average Indian woman. The guy got up and wrote and I heaved a sigh of relief. I wonder what I would have done if I had been pressurised even once more-probably I would have left the class(yes, I am paranoid) or may have feigned a cough.
After reading this you may be rolling on the floor with laughter, but it sure is a big thing for me.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Till Now...
Ok...I have put off writing a post for long but now I am finally filled with an ardent desire to write something. So I will first of all update you on the past month's happenings. I watched more movies and then I came back home. I spent my birthday transversing the length of the country but it was a new experience. I have never spent my birthday outside my home...not even in school nor in college. I received birthday wishes from all my friends and spent more than Rs.100 on roaming on that day, but every rupee was worth it. I found that the age of 22 also brought, signs of maturity and wisdom on my face. I was asked by two people, while travelling, if i was working!
I surfed through a lot of blogs in the holidays. For starters, check out Lemonade's blog. Her designs are brilliant and the girl is obviously very talented. Then, I came across many blogs written by girls and it was a new and refreshing change(I can be forgiven. I study in a boys college and have really forgotten the various talents of the fairer sex). The blogs talked about all things under the sun ranging from mundane daily issues to politics to sex. There were many topics which I have many times thought of writing about, but then have changed my plans, for fears of being branded a feminist.
I spent new year in Roorkee, with some midnight wishing and bakar. College began on the 1st (we were supposed to only register, but still...it is 1st). We are supposed to fill up these 6 forms containing all our relevant information(I don't know what they do with the last year forms) but ultimately it is a tedious process.
Classes started the very next day with the professors, each coming and giving us an introduction of their subject. I have taken "Advanced Foundry" as my departmental elective, and soon found that we have "Foundry" as a core course itself. This has resulted in listening to the same thing about moulds and patterns in consecutive lectures. God save me!
The other day, a prof while explaining something about hardness, told us about the material of shaving blades. Then he went on to state how most of us use it regularly, while(looking at the 3 girls in class) others do not. I could hardly stiffle my laughter and carefully avoided looking at my friend. I just wished to explain him that some also use razors, but then thought otherwise.
Anyway, I plan to update more frequently this year(this is what I write in each post), but still "I need to have a will, to have a way". And I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.:)
And Do Not Drink and Drive
I surfed through a lot of blogs in the holidays. For starters, check out Lemonade's blog. Her designs are brilliant and the girl is obviously very talented. Then, I came across many blogs written by girls and it was a new and refreshing change(I can be forgiven. I study in a boys college and have really forgotten the various talents of the fairer sex). The blogs talked about all things under the sun ranging from mundane daily issues to politics to sex. There were many topics which I have many times thought of writing about, but then have changed my plans, for fears of being branded a feminist.
I spent new year in Roorkee, with some midnight wishing and bakar. College began on the 1st (we were supposed to only register, but still...it is 1st). We are supposed to fill up these 6 forms containing all our relevant information(I don't know what they do with the last year forms) but ultimately it is a tedious process.
Classes started the very next day with the professors, each coming and giving us an introduction of their subject. I have taken "Advanced Foundry" as my departmental elective, and soon found that we have "Foundry" as a core course itself. This has resulted in listening to the same thing about moulds and patterns in consecutive lectures. God save me!
The other day, a prof while explaining something about hardness, told us about the material of shaving blades. Then he went on to state how most of us use it regularly, while(looking at the 3 girls in class) others do not. I could hardly stiffle my laughter and carefully avoided looking at my friend. I just wished to explain him that some also use razors, but then thought otherwise.
Anyway, I plan to update more frequently this year(this is what I write in each post), but still "I need to have a will, to have a way". And I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.:)
And Do Not Drink and Drive
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