Being a girl

Sometimes I wonder about how r girls being brought up or treated among family and friends. I, being the elder kid of my family have done almost everything one can expect a male child to do starting from going to market, banks, post office, depositing school fees and what not but its not the same with everyone. 

I should say I have been lucky that I was never treated as the 'weaker sex' in my family but was taught not to be dependent on anyone. But I have friends who rarely went out alone. I have friends whose parents won't trust them enough to send them in a school bus b'coz there are boys. Hence they would drop them to school everyday in a car. I have friends who never really enjoyed street food b'coz they were not allowed to step out of the car on the streets. I know people who wouldn't let their wife out of house very often coz she is 'too pretty'.

I have stayed out of house for more than 7 years and have seen enough around me to write it today that there is something majorly wrong with the way we think. If a guy cries, we say "Y r u crying? R u a girl?" Since when did crying or being a girl become an insult or a bad thing. A girl turns 23 and her parents will start looking for a match b'coz she is their "responsibility". Most of the times we let go of thing when a guy teases, stares or comments at us b'coz after all "Boys will be boys". A girl is being raped or punished to "teach her a lesson". I don't feel safe on the streets even during the daytime. I know that a guy is intentionally falling on me in a non-crowded bus and I am being advised to ignore it b'coz "Yahaan ye sab chalta rehta hai" ...

Its just not about me but many similar incidents that I have heard from many of my friends. Some oppose, others don't. But not opposing doesnot justify the wrong that happened. Its time to teach guys from their childhood that girls are not to be objectified but respected and to teach a girl that she doesn't need a guy to protect her or complete her.

How I prepared for GATE

Though it has been more than 2 years for me since I appeared for GATE(2011), I still get many questions from my friends or acquaintances about how I prepared for the exam.  I am probably not the best person to talk about my "success story" because I prepared while working. Hence I could not dedicate much time for thorough preparation.

Due to these reasons, I could not score much and ended up with AIR 1196 in GATE 2011 in CSE branch. However I got interview call from IISc and got admission there. The interview experience is a different story which I discussed in a previous entry. (Link to it is provided at the end of this entry).

My preparation for GATE started with buying second hand Gate Forum study material and enrolling for TarGATE, a test series again by GateForum. However, due to work pressure and deadlines, I could hardly study for GATE on weekdays. Thus, for me, enrolling for test series was one of the best decision that I took for GATE preparation as these weekly/bi-weekly tests gave me a reason to atleast open some books on Saturday (3 hrs test on Sunday morning).

Also, we used to get the answer keys immediately after the test so we could calculate our scores and detailed solution was uploaded online on the day the test results were out. The analysis of results used to be on many parameters including overall performance, subject-wise performance etc. This allowed me to better understand my weak and strong points/subjects.

Also, after the detailed solution was out, I would go through them in detail and would attempt the paper again after a few days to see if my understanding of the topic/subject improved. Hence I would suggest everyone to join some test series, not necessarily TarGate.

Also as I already said, I did not have enough time to go through all the subjects in details so I took a chance by doing selective studying by concentrating more on the subjects which generally have more weightage. The other thing that I realized was accuracy was more important than the number of questions being attempted. Even in the main exam, I attempted only around 46 or 47 questions out of 65 but got 44 of them correct thus securing 99.12 %ile.

So to sum up, I would make the following suggestions:
        1) Enroll for some test series
        2) Distribute your time/effort for each subject as per their weightage
        3) Concentrate on accuracy rather than the no. of attempts.

Link to my POST GATE Experience: http://words-of-the-fallen-angel.blogspot.in/2013/03/my-2011-gatepost-gate-experience.html

Image courtesy: Google

My 2011 GATE/Post-GATE experience

After getting a lots of requests to share my experience post GATE-2011, I thought I should rather pen down all that I remember about the same. The queries have been mostly from the ones interested to know about MS program in IISc Bangalore or about the written/interview experience here.

So to start with, following is my GATE result:

AIR: 1196
Marks: (will update after checking)
Score : 664
Branch: CSE
Category: General

After GATE, when I checked my score with the answer key published by gate forum, I was standing somewhere around 53-54 but I actually got between 51-52. As per the stats of gate'10 I was expecting my rank to be between 500-600 but when I actually got a rank of 1196, I lost all my hope of getting through that year.

Still, encouraged by a few friends and college seniors, I applied to a few colleges including IITs and IISc. The following are the calls that I got along with the date on which I received the interview call letter:

1) M.Tech from SERC, IISc Bangalore(07/04/11)
2) M.S. from SERC, IISc Bangalore(17/05/11)
3) M.S. from IIT Madras(04/04/11)
4) M.Tech from IIT Madras in second list. (25/06/11)

However as I had already converted my seat in M.S. degree in IISc Bangalore, I didn't go for M.Tech written/interviews in IIT Madras.

My Experience With IISc

M.Tech: My first experience with IISc was for M.Tech in April'2011. Here we had to clear the written test on clearing which we could appear for the interviews on the same or next day. However, the written test was more of mathematical with lots of formula based questions and some basic maths questions from class 11/12. However as I had lost touch with books after GATE results and also due to my job, I could  not fare well in the written and could not clear it.

Hence a piece of advice from my end.. don't lose touch with your books after the results are out. If not this year, it will help you prepare for your next year.

M.S. : It was June and this time I was all determined that I would study properly and prepare for atleast 3-4 subjects but that finally didn't work out as planned due to work on weekdays and me getting a bit lazy on weekends. I finally ended up brushing the concepts of DBMS and computer networks.

On reaching the venue, we were asked to appear for a 30 min written test which comprised of 5 questions, each with part (a) and (b). It covered topics like data structures, algorithms, networks & matrix theory. The best part here was that the questions were more on analytic side rather than formula based questions.

Luckily this time I had cleared the written and was the first one to go for interview in that day's slot. I was asked what subjects I had prepared for. I told them DBMS & comp networks. However I was told that there was no intakes in DBMS lab so had to change my second subject to Data Structures & I had not touched that subject after GATE exam. The interview went on for around 45-50 minutes in which except 2 questions which were from CN, rest everything was asked from DS mainly concentrating on trees and graph theory. The whole interview went on with questions being fired by professors sitting in a panel of 5 and I had to continuously do board work and keep on explaining the stuffs.

The best part about the MS interview was that the questions being asked was more conceptual rather than direct formula based stuffs so if you are familiar with the basics of the subject, it would be easier for you to crack the interview. Also I was not able to question 1-2 questions properly but don't worry much about that. They are more concerned here with the approach you use when analyzing something new rather than at the accuracy of each question.

The next thing is that I was somehow mentally prepared that I have to appear for gate'12 so I was very relaxed during the written and interviews which helped me recall the known stuffs. So would advice you all to keep your calm when appearing for written/interviews for any college.

Hope this helps!!
Feel free to ask further in case u need more help!!

ALL THE BEST!!! :)

Link to my entry "How I prepared for GATE": http://words-of-the-fallen-angel.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-i-prepared-for-gate.html

Note: Please keep in mind that with rank around 500 or more, the chances of getting into core branch is less but chances of getting written/interview call from interdisciplinary branches are there.

My First Experience With Shooting

I have never been much of a shooter and have always been very bad with games that need to aim at stuffs. Shooting with a rifle at a bunch of multicolored balloons, pinned to a dirty white cloth three feet away at crowded Durga Puja fairs in home town has been the extent of my exposure to the trigger and the target (and I was bad even at that).

A few days back when I saw a deal for Nishaan Sports Shooting Academy, Bangalore offering 30 Rounds of Starter Air Rifle Shooting worth Rs 200 @ Rs 90 instead, it caught my interest and attention. After seeing that the online reviews for the place was good, I, along with a friend bought the deal from timesdeal and headed towards our destination on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Through out the 1.5 hrs that we had to spend in the bus to reach BTM Layout, 2nd stage, I kept on cursing the sun, the pollution and the traffic.

 I find myself in a narrow corridor painted a fluorescent green, shocking enough to do serious damage to your existence, even before you think of guns and ammo. One of the corridor walls displays framed posters with motivational text – “Perfection is Our Goal” and “Knock the ‘T’ off the Can’t”. I can see the corridor end a few feet away and possibly leading into some sort of a lobby or a hall, but I hear no voices. I wait for a few seconds to see if I would hear gun shots, but the only sound that reaches my ears is that of the ever-angry Bangalore traffic bustling on the road below.

On reaching inside, I see a girl shooting at her target with an imported rifle and an instructor standing aside. Just nearby is the counter where we showed him the coupons we bought online and pay him Rs 180(for the two of us). Knowing my history with aims and targets, I am yet not sure if this is really good idea for me but finally I also decide to take a chance just for fun.

After I complete some formalities of entering my name in a register and pay attention to the instructor as he explains what I was getting myself into. He tells me that the range is designed for 10 meters Air Rifles and Air Pistol and as a first-timer I would be shooting with the Rifle. The Pistol is harder to master and it will be some time before I will be comfortable with it. He then appears from the booth carrying a small box and sheets of paper with targets printed on them. He explains that I have thirty shots and opens the box to reveal thirty tiny pellets stored inside.

The targets are square in shape, made of thick paper around six inches each side with concentric circles neatly printed on them. Hitting the outermost circle gets you a single point which increases as you go towards the center with the two innermost circles fetching you ten points. Circles 7-10 are painted black and the instructor indicates that is where I will end up shooting all the time, if I practice regularly for a couple of weeks. 

The instructor illustrates the rather simple procedure of loading the pellet into the rifle and taking aim and I proceed to replicate it. I can see that I will not be wearing those cool headphone looking things or the transparent glasses which I have noticed shooters wearing, but there isn't time to fret over that as I am handed the rifle and asked to take my first shot. He then explains that to take aim I must first align the tiny marker at the head of the rifle to the target, then align that marker to a D shaped viewing panel right above the trigger. After the target is locked in view, he tells me to forget about it and focus only on the trigger and the press it in one smooth motion without any jerk or change in pressure.

We take position, the rifle butt pushing against the top right corner of my chest, my feet parallel to the target. I follow instructions and take aim and a deep breath, then hold it for a while trying to make the rifle stable and fix my eyes at the target. And then I let my finger go. It would have been a beautiful moment had everything gone as per plan. Instead, by the time I press the trigger, I can feel my hands and the rifle shaking like Shakira bringing on the World Cup and instead of a neat swoosh, the imaginary sound triggered by my moving finger is more like ‘thuk thataak’.

My first pellet lands somewhere outside the largest circle instead the center of the paper which I am actually targeting. Then the second pellet lands somewhere in circle 7 and the 3rd one hits the wall. The same thing keeps repeating for some 2-3 more shots. The instructor can see I am getting nowhere and so once in a while takes the rifle from my hands, again gives me instructions to properly stand and aim, tells me to correct my line of sight and keeps offering words of encouragement.

Then around the 8th or 9th time, I finally get a hit i.e. in the black circle so I get somewhat happy and encouraged to continue. By that time, my friend who came along somehow got the physics of the stuff wrong so hardly 2-3 of his pellets hit the paper n rest went to the wall. Somehow seeing myself better than him at making my shots on the paper atleast also was a source of encouragement for me(Sorry dude!).

After wasting around 9-10 of his shots, he finally figured out the right way to aim and shoot and ended up hitting the paper some 15 times out of which around 4 times he breached the black circles. However I have never been good at these stuffs but somehow I end up with around 20 out of 30 pellets piercing through the page out of which 4 times I breached the black circle and one was at the border separating the black circles from the white ones.

Finally after shooting for around 30-40 minutes, we were sweaty and tired. So we thank the instructor for the nice experience and walk out with our target sheets. Thought I would love to try it again but knowing my history with these stuffs, I have to think about it again!! ;)

The Joy Of Eating : Eat Street aka VV Puram

Undoubtedly a big time foodie, I was starving yesterday night and wanted to have some good food during the weekends (mess food on Saturday nights are really bad). So I thought of exploring some nearby food joints when a friend suggested about the less known 'eat street' (more popularly known as VV puram) in Bangalore.

Though not in mood to travel much(due to the traffic) but finally I agreed(I am happy I did) when my other friends who had already been to this place assured me I wouldn't be disappointed about going to this place, and they were right. After traveling for 45 mins approx, asking directions from people & using the gps(yet took a wrong turn), five of us were at VV Puram, which is one of the oldest areas in Bangalore and also house to the “world famous in Bangalore” Eat Street :)

As soon as we got down, the smell of food made me even more hungry and we started with sweets. First we had the "world's best" gulab jamuns (as described by my friends). Our next stop was a shop serving idlis and dosas, and the shops being crowded it took a while for our orders to come. First came an onion dosa which hardly lasted for a minute or two, followed by masala dosa and a plate of idli. Each dish there was tasting so heavenly, I was eating as if I hadn't eaten for months together. :P

Being the gluttons that we are, my friends and I decided to get only one or two plates of various items and share it. That way we could savor ALL(almost) the items on Eat Street :P. Eating the dosas full of ghee made us thirsty and we got 2 glasses of masala coke from the next stall. Our next stop was a stall selling hot 'honey jalebi', the yummiest jalebis I have EVER had. Though I am not much fond of sweets, but surely these yummy things left my sweet tooth craving for more...

Puran Poli

After that, we went to another stall and had some 'puran poli'(for the first time) and got some other varieties of dosa(don't remember the names) which were equally good. For those who don't know, puran poli is kind of a roti stuffed with jaggery and boiled chickpeas. The stuffing is called the 'puran' and the outer covering is called the 'poli'.

By this time I was getting almost full and was sad about actually missing so many dishes out there. We decided to skip the chat stall as we had yummy chats the previous day near our college(arnd 1 - 1.5kms away). Thirsty again, I thought of getting something to drink again but ended up buying some 'masala' pineapple, one of my favorite fruits. The masala being very 'chatpata' happened to change the taste of the fruit a bit but in a good way...

Gulkand Icecream

Now that we were almost full, we had to have some good dessert to end it all in a good way and to our delight we discovered – Gulkand with ice cream and fruits. Served at an exclusive shop swarming with lots of people, we first got one plate after which we went for one more. Gulkand is preserved rose petals, also used in 'meetha pan', very healthy, and in combination with ice cream and cut up fruits it tasted amazing.

Now that we were full, we started walking back when the gulab jamun and 'honey' jalebi stalls attracted us again and we ended up getting one more plate of both, packed few jalebis for one of our friends, got a cup of rabdi and ended our food journey for the day.

Literally the food was upto my throat when we started back to college. However, my mission to taste all the items was yet not accomplished due to limited appetite. So, I will be back very soon to accomplish the mission.

PS : I was too busy eating this time so could not click any pictures. Snaps here is from google.

Welcoming freshers in IISc...

A very true statement... Time flies by fast... I still can't believe its already an year since I came here... since I became a part of IISc, Bangalore. Seems as if just a few days back, I had come to Bangalore with three bags and an offer letter... a bit scared on how I am gonna survive here (had already heard that everyone here is very studious)...

Still unable to believe that I had already made it to IISc, I was almost reaching Yeswantpur station with random thoughts crossing my mind like “oh! This place is not at all meant for me”, “what if they kick me out after seeing my performance” and all when I received a call from IISc Student's Council volunteer saying that they were waiting for us at the station. I was happy and finally prepared myself to try and survive there for as long as possible (and I am almost half way through).

Hardly a journey of 5-7 minutes and I was already in the campus, green all around with buildings there... seemed as if the buildings have been constructed in midst of a jungle(was good to see so much of greenery after being in city for long). And then we started with fulfilling formalities of hostel and mess allocation, buying sim card,mattress, pillows etc. Admission procedure, bank account opening etc. was at the main building next day. Also, as I had come alone(yeah, I don't need my mom dad to keep accompanying me everywhere... I'm not a kid anymore :D ), I had to setup the whole room by myself... :/ :(

What a happening, exciting & tiring day it was...

Suddenly the alarm rings and I notice ... Whoa... Its 27th July 2012, exactly an year from the day when I officially became an IIScian... Feels as if yesterday I was a fresher and today I am on the other side welcoming the new students... Arrangements have been made for buses to keep shuttling between college and railway station with students, their parents and a few volunteers starting from around 6:30 am till around 9:00 pm.

With volunteer badges, Student's council T-shirts(free for volunteers... yippee!!), IISc placards, IISc banner and a help desk just near the exit gate, we have made sure that spotting us was not at all difficult even when the station was crowded. Seems that due to the large number of students expected(500+), we actually might have to make multiple trips for students coming in a single train.

Though I could not take many snaps(see, I am so busy working here) but managed to get a few nice ones when waiting for the students to arrive(kudos to Indian railways, most train were late). Anyways, I can listen to the train arrival being announced so better I get ready with the placards...

Thought of the day : “In IISc for a few years... but an IIScian for lifetime”

The Joy Of Giving : IISc Notebook Drive

Today when volunteering for "help the needy" initiative by IISc, I was reminded of the wonderful experience I had as a volunteer for the "Notebook Drive". 

NBD or the NoteBook drive is one of the great students initiative at IISc like many other social & environmental initiatives that include help the needy, tree plantation etc. The objective of NBD is providing notebooks, stationery etc., to poor students who otherwise have to drop out of their schools simply because in course of filling their stomachs, they fall short of money to buy notebooks. NBD, started in 2002 by a group of students in IISc. Every year during May-June volunteers collect money from the students and faculty to support government schools in and around Bangalore. The support is not in money but in useful items such as notebooks, pens, utilities for drawing etc, given to the government school students.
 

This year too, it started with donation stalls outside all the three mess during the dinner hours. Beside busy schedule of everyone here, it was nice to see people taking out some time for the society and the amount of donation was generous. With the donation of around 6-7 lakh INR started the planning on what copies and stationaries should be brought in what quantities.

More than 25000 different copies and stationaries including pencils, eraser, sharpener, scale, pencil boxes etc were all kept in the staff quarter.

Though the distribution was scheduled for almost a week covering 26 different schools in and around Bangalore, I could volunteer only for a day and the experience was wonderful. Almost 10 hours on road and in schools, the experience was worth the time. That day we covered 7 schools and gave notebooks & stationaries to more than 700 students ranging from class 1 till 10. Starting with a very small school which was run in a single room, had just 15 students, class 1 to 5 & 1 teacher, we ended with a govt school which had more than 150 students, classes 1 till 10 and was divided into two campus, primary school & high school.

The journey that day started at 8 am from the college with 4 people on 2 bikes, one person sitting beside the driver's seat & two people sitting at the back of the tempo along with all the stuffs which included notebooks, stationaries & sports item for each school. Every school, however big or small, welcomed us with a big smile. The happiness and smile on the face of the kids on receiving the stuffs was worth thousand words, especially when some sports items including cricket bats, balls, frisbee etc was given for the school. Though not many, but I managed to capture a few smiles.

Each of these schools got lunch from Iskon under the 'Akshaya Patra' program and when at the third school, it was already 12:30pm. Thus when offered for lunch, we could not resist the offer and had lunch with everyone. With tasty sambhar, rice & curd, we were content with our stomach & at our hearts (seems the sambhar given there was better that what we get in mess).

By the time we all came back to college, it was around 5:45 in the evening and after being on road for 10 hours on a sunny day, we were all dead tired. But at end of the day, it all seemed worth.

That day I realized the true meaning of "the joy of giving". I realized that day happiest people are not those getting more but those giving more, that like love, joy also increases on giving. 

 

A beautiful and inspiring quote that sums up the essence of the NBD, is by Henry Drummond "There is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving" and the second "True religion ...is giving and finding one's happiness by bringing happiness into the lives of others."