Ferrari Returns...

After the retirement of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari hadn't had any graceful races that gave them a neat podium finish. But, this season of Formula-One has been a great one so far for the Ferrari team. The race at Manama, where Felipe Massa clinched the top spot with Kimi Raikonnen in the second place pushed Ferrari to the second spot with BMW still in the first spot. But, Kimi leads the drivers' Championship table. Lewis Hamilton, the British rookie last year, who threatened to take the drivers' title last season was out of the podium in this race. To sum up, Ferrari is back with a bang and more action is on the go.

The Problem Of Stuffing Too Much...

It is a usual event in engineering colleges in India to conduct repeated tests for students not bothering about their interests. In their first year, students simply do what they are told to for the fear of being punished was always there. Here again the goal of education fails, instead of imparting quality education to the students, it imposes a mere fear of the professors and the assignments are completed not due to interest but due to pressure.

As years roll on, students mature by mind and realise what's going on around them. What the industry needs from them. Is it the ability to merely fill the papers is the need of the corporates?? Or the ability to solve problems with common sense? Definitely the latter. But, what's that our college education providing us with? Loads and loads of subjects, totally of no hint to students as to where these are leading them into. Students get lot of things into their minds and finally fail to figure out what is the ultimate benefit of learning such subjects.

Stuffing too much into a young brain diminishes its ability to think on its own and imparts the habit of total dependency, wherein the mind expects someone to guide in solving any problem. We lose our originality and our productive power is almost gone. Once we dwell into the thought of whats the subject is all about, the semester exams sound an alarming bell and we are doomed to prepare for those "Discuss the foll..." stuff questions, which purely represent the author's view and the exam gives no freedom for us in proving our skill. Professors argue, when students continually complain that the subjects are theory oriented and when the question paper contains a problem, they fail to solve although they said they needed problems in it. The reality is the student is accustomed for theory papers that he must learn only those paragraphs from the book and the same old examples when certain questions are asked. But, when suddenly a problem comes in the paper, he is not prepared for this and the result he succumbs to this unexpectedness!

"Artificial Intelligence" is a subject wherein the student learns how to impart thinking ability into a machine artificially. But the exam tests actually the "author's intelligence", how well he has written the book, because the questions demand the students to reproduce whats given in the text book rather than asking them to think rationally. This is not the aim of education. All this type of learning will vanish from the student's mind once the exams are over. As Einstein has once said "Education is one that remains after he has forgotten all that he has learned". How much you retain is what that determines the success of an educational system. But, its otherwise here.

I usually stand amazed at the way students present their paper during semesters and the happiness they get out of it. The happiness of having decorated the paper thoroughly. Its a utter shame to do this at the engineering level. This occurs because, the student has been over stuffed with the subjects and he is unable to find the one that suits him the best and starts embarking on those semester and scoring in the same, which amounts to nothing to the outsiders. When there is a gap between the teaching period and the exams, when the student is allowed to experiment on his learnings, that is the period when engineering achieves its mission. Till then it is still a "Vision".

Mission 2020...Is it tangible....????

The voice of our dear former president and a great educationist, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam is still echoing in the hearts of every youth in India. The voice that assured that India would be a super power by 2020. The dream of every individual who contributes for the Nation's growth is this!! Everyone is striving currently to make our India the Super Power in another 10 years. Its the dream that is being cherished by all the leaders of India who truly have interest in this Nation's development.

But wait!! Are we on the right road towards achieving that dream?? I fear We aren't. The trouble starts right at the top. The people ruling this country. Every politician who is elected is concerned very much in securing his post and to loot as much as possible during his tenure. The allocated funds for development activities are spend in the Minister's personal development. The usual note that these people sound is "Lack of Fund". But, when all the money is swallowed by these ruthless rulers, from where does one get money to bring a suitable change??

The next major issue is population. India has a commanding lead in this area and is on a flying start to beat China soon. Lots of campaigns, lots of awareness programs on television and radio, but the masss pay no heed for all the announcements and continue increasing the population and thereby inviting more trouble for the nation. The villages, where birth control is considered an offence, are the areas of primary concern where the population growth is exponential. They consider children as their asset and any damage to this ritual is subjected to severe punishment. This prevents even the Government to interfere and bring about any useful measures. The immediate task is to put a check on population growth in rural areas first.

The next area, obviously is to bring a sea-change in the educational system. Why is a contry like India, where education is given a top priority does not succeed at the corporate level? The reason is that we concentrate much on imparting education to children but fail to illuminate with the thought as to why they study and what changes that they can bring to our country. This is what the distinction between the education in India and the Foreign Nations. US and countries like France and Germany have got many inventors but we Indians, whom we call ourselves as the Brain-Factory of the World have produced only a few people who changed the way the World sees them. Ofcourse, am not here to blame the whole system of eucation here.. I have a valid explanation for this too. Read on....

Poverty... The unconquerable evil in India is a major hindrance for education in our country. A family where there are no scholars, when a child of theirs becomes the First scholar, the family wants him to capitalise on his learning and earn more for the family, rather plunge into research. In our country, as a general tone, research is set aside for people who have a good financial background. We are not talking of the middle and upper middle class as poor here. Peopl who can't afford food for atleast two times a day are the major concern. Ironically, in our country 75% of the population is under this category!!! Now this is what preventing our human resource to produce high quality research products. Well, India too had people from very poor background like, Dr. Ambedkar, Sir.C.V.Raman, Ramanujan, Dr.Abdula Kalam and a very few. This list of people, of no doubt have made the World to notice India as a emerging super power.

Now, the problem with our country is very clear. The rich gets richer and richer and the poor, poorer and poorer. When and only the wealth of the Nation is equally distributed among the masses, people start working with passion rather for those high salaries!! This one is a bit difficult in the current scenario. But, we as Engineers have a considerable role to uplift or forge our nation into a land of burgeoining technologies. Well, how are we going to do it? As it is well said, "Knowledge gets improved when shared". This also means that we can travel places for getting what we need. We must travel all around the World, learn the techniques that have made the respective nations the fore-runners in their World. The next step is to analyze the current situation here and adopt the policies that one has learnt around the World. Not clear, we must become Business-tycoons or to put it in a simple way "Entrepreneurs". If and only if we take the torch in our hand we can guide people better. By working under an employer for some period of time, we gain certain experience in us and must make the best of it when we become the leaders of a firm.

So, Engineers, the goal is set. The tasks made clear. Only remaining activities are commitment from us and the most important "taking the initiative". Once these two are done, then there must be no looking back. Lets join hands to bring out that New India which our Student-friendly scientist wanted.... India The Super-Power.. Isn't awesome to hear...

Reciprocate One's Love

Many of us have been with various friends during different parts of our lifetime. Everyone of us have an amount of love and affection towards our friends. But, this love is different for different people. It depends upon the respect we have for them and the closeness of their relationship with us. Many of us do the this common mistake. We don't reciprocate other's love adequately. Many friendships have been broken due to this silly act.

Some have this common attitude, of treating everyone as their friends. This is an extremely good attitude that brings people together as a closely knitted group and helps in working together. But, what these people don't realize is that there are people surrounding them who give them the extra care they need when its most needed. It hurts a lot when they don't react accordingly and treat them as "just equal" like others. There is no meaning now in showing extra care. So, for those of you who love to make many friends be cautious that you don't leave those who trust you a lot "heavy hearted".

It takes lots of effort to make a good friend and even more goes in maintaining them. If the effort is not equal among both the parties involved in the relationship, then the relation doesn't mean the same to both the people. One values it dearly and the other sees it as a mere liability. There are other kind of people, who are too possessive. Possessiveness is good to some extent, but see to it that it doesn't ruin the relationship. Be possessive only if the other person likes to be possessed. I wish my friends will take this article seriously and make a good world of faithful comrades.

Live thru the transition....

Well! The time has come for all of us to shift from College to Corporates. What it takes to be successful in getting into a corporate and further staying in it? The requirements are pretty different than those for the semester exams. Thinking out of the box, real time scenarios, experimentation and so on.. These are some of the key tasks one will be doing inside the corporates. Before that, there is something happening between this college life and the life with the companies. Yes, the transition.....
How it sounds:
Some welcome this transition with a broad smile, as it gives them an opportunity to try their hands with some real world problems. For some others, its a sudden act of "independence" which affects them, because they might have done everything under heavy scrutinizing and lack of this puts them under heavy pressure. Whatever may be the case, the transition is sure for all. Well, how to go about this? Primarily, a change of attitude is required. See every problem you study as a real world problem or at least associate them with a real world entity. Imagine some solution that could solve the problem even in the real world.
Learn the other way:
While learning the subjects, learn those subjects that really interests you with some passion which will carry you forward. Select your domain where you want to work, because it gives you two advantages. First, it gives you job satisfaction. Second, it enables you to deliver the best project as you love your job. Consider the practical aspects of the subjects and enquire whats really happening rather than just mugging up!!
Finally:
Successful people are those who grow through this transition and gain as much experience as possible through their projects. Mere theoretical knowledge will do no good. Projects lend you a helping hand when you want to explore things and don't take projects "a take it for granted aspect". Hope u enjoy this transition.. good luck!!!

Relations Vs Education

Prologue..
Relations and Education, I think are the two most important factors which affects most of the people throughout this World. This is because both these can contradict each other under many occasions, and even land you into a dilemma when it comes to decision making. Education ......Well, it all started when man started understanding the Nature. The deeper he learnt about it, the more interested he became and the more he learnt. This, on one hand enabled him to create a better place to live in.
Employee and Employer...
Then came the period when people started a concept of "working". Under this, people work for somebody and get their equivalent amount either as gold or as any other commodity. Then, the World's population increased and there was a competition for earning this so called "job". It was at this time, the concept of "evaluating a person if he is employable" started and then came learning what other people have done already, which is defined as "EDUCATION". With this trend, people started losing their originality since they became more and more of the other person than being themselves.
The Link....
You may wonder, how this affects human relations. Well, I ve the answer. Initially, people done their own business and exchanged their goods for goods that they are insufficient of. But, since "working for others" has aslo started, there arose the competition among the masses, then followed, pride, jealosy, egoism and all the evil that men shouldn't posses. So, man who paid lot of interest to human relations, now diverted towards "winning over others". The "care for all" concept is gone all over now, retorting back to the books. False relations started growing just for the sake of getting things done and the true love perished.
The Panacea...
Is there a solution for this? Well, every problem has a solution, as it should be. Do not confuse education with relationships. Be, who you are when you are with the people around you. When it comes to learning, develop an attitude that what you learn is surely going to serve this society. Because, something that doesn't help this society improve isn't worth learning. From the time immemorial, the aim of education was to make people happy by understanding nature. Tats why, we study weather conditions to fore-warn the people of impending cyclone, have thousands of sensors to indicate forest fires to save trees and wild animals and so on... What I say here may sound too elementary, but this is something everyone has seems to forgotten.
Please Do This....
Finally, everyone of us is going to move into a service oriented industry that caters to the needs of people. Whatever project you do, remember that you are doing it for a same person like you, because its the general public who is going to get benefitted by it. You can see the relationship thread running here. What I say here is, education is meant to keep relations intact rather to alienate people. Don't argue over unimportant aspects of education with peers or even with professional. Speak up only if its worth arguing such that the result is an enhancement in human relations. No big deal, the World is meant to be happy always, tats why we learn..... and this learning must make us happier and happier as we learn something deeper and deeper..think on............

Whats Technology all about??

Technology is a word that has got many abstract meanings in today's world. It sounds different to people from different domains. To a doctor it means something that enhances the way he handles his patients. To a poet its merely an element to sing about. To a teacher its something he has to keep learning on and on, because technology has no bounds on grounds of its development.

But, the unbelievable truth is that Engineers are the first people who get affected or benefitted by a wave called "Technology". Its their life that sees a round about change. First, whats this technology all about. To be precise, it is a tool by which an engineer enhances the life-style of common men or civilians. Its also the same cause for which science and inventions have strived for, all through the centuries.

Technology aims at easing the day to day activities of mankind. There is one important thing that every engineer needs to realise. Whenever he embarks on a new thinking that ultimately leads to a new idea, it must be based upon the central idea of helping the common people. It must aim to solve a major issue among the masses. Edison has once said that "I don't invent things that don't benefit the people ultimately", which literally means, he doesnt invent things that don't sell in the commercialmarket.

The IT majors all over the world do only this kind of job, identifying people problems and defining new solutions. Ofcourse, thinking out of the box, which means out of the ordinary is necessary to solve these problems, but doing so should not complicate the problem solving process itself. So, its high time the engineers realise that its for helping the common people for what they graduate and technology is one powerful tool in their hand. I wish every engineer follows this fine thread and keeps this world closely knitted through the concept of "Engineering".