Fifth

Monday night. I arrive at Economics Lab after the CCD shuts shop for the day to - 

1. Escape the suffocating heat
2. Study for the quiz I have following morning

I casually go through my Facebook feed and notice an article named 'That Hashtag Was My Colleague' shared by one of my favorite comic writer. It was a long article about the barbaric gang-rape of a young photo-journalist at Shakti Mills compound. And I had to stop in between. Not because of the length. But because I was angry. And partially disturbed. By the incident and also by the insensitivity of the system. I completed the article and was appalled by the attitude and comments of the defense lawyers and the then-accused assholes. And there are hundreds of similar cases in India every year. Thousands unreported. And I cannot stop wondering how the very fabric of the society that idolizes women in the form of knowledge, wealth, power and prosperity has been ruptured.

Moving on with the rest of week, I finally managed to finish off a book in a long time. Bangalore had decreased my efficiency from reading 50 pages a day to 50 pages a week. This has happened in the past but it generally took a week or two to get back to my original clearing rate. Though my laziness can be attributed as a prominent reason for the delay this time around, horrible climatic conditions at Kanpur along with 8 am classes every single day do find honorable mentions. For both of them lead to a highly skewed sleep pattern and turned me into a zombie for the rest of the day. Eventually, I held my ground and converged back to my natural tendency of preferring knowledge to course grades. 

This week, I also made a giant leap forward in understanding human emotions through several experiences. I have always considered myself an emotional retard, especially when it comes to expressing them except for anger (people who  know me well won't disagree.) And to a certain extent, I also considered that quality as a competitive advantage. But it seems the human genetic make-up is catching up with me. Whether or nor it will make me a better individual makes up for an interesting thought experiment!

Fourth

Another year. Another Independence Day. And another annual bustle along with my wing-mates. It has been a wing ritual to celebrate I-Day with partially pompous and borderline bizarre activities (not necessarily out of patriotic feelings) right from our first year. It started with an Independence Day parade across the hall in our first year at the stroke of midnight, followed by wing-screening of 'Border' (which has achieved a cult status in our wing) in the second and third year. This time around, courtesy new speakers in the wing, deshbhakiti geet were in flavor. Special playlists were created and a little while after midnight, Lata Mangeshkar, Md Rafi and A.R. Rehman enchanted through the corridor of E-Top, Hall 9. Most of us struggled to attend the flag-hoisting ceremony the following morning, but thanks to our conditioning did savor the breakfast. And for the first time in four weeks, I missed Hall 3 mess. 

The day did not end there. Responding to Balaji Viswanathan's call for a Grand Quora meetup on 15th August, Journalism Society of IIT Kanpur had organized Kanpur meet in the evening. Over 15 folks turned up and engaged in a stimulating conversation for more than 3 hours. Topics ranged from patriotism, IITK culture, the problem of plagiarism to introduction of new (planned) IITs. Everyone seemed happy with the meet and open to meeting regularly every fortnight or so. I genuinely hope this sustain momentum as it provides a much-needed discussion platform in the campus.

Third

To Jahnvi, Nupur, Bhagyam, Tejal, Ruchita, Kinjal & Mitika,

Happy Rakshabandhan! I really miss you all, especially on this festive day. (And yes, also the sweets that come along with rakhi :P)

Jahnvi Joshi I totally guessed 'mere bhaiya' was your touch!

So, moving on to the big news of the week. I was formally offered a PPO (pre-placement offer) from Capital One this week. Yes, I plan to gladly accept the offer and that has already impacted my bank balance. I was looted in broad daylight at CCD by my department folks, at Hall 9 canteen the following evening for a 'starter' treat by my wingies and, a proper wing treat (after almost a year) at VJs yesterday. A aquatics team treat would happen soon and voice for a starter treat has already gained momentum.

Another thing that is gaining momentum is the every second person commenting "Abbey kutte ab tere liye do sem ulti-chill ho gaye" and "Ab kya karega padh kar" whenever I talk about academics. Yes, getting a PPO does bring in relief from hours into resume-preparation and HR interview preparations. Also yes, I understand these comments are made in a light vein. Just that for me, a PPO does not matter in how I go about my everyday life. And this is because right from my first year, I have been living independent of a goal to land up a decent enough job. Marks and grades never really bothered me. I got involved in initiatives/activities when they fancied my interest and exited when I no longer enjoyed what I was doing. Same goes with my selection of OEs. I always avoided the 'chill-prof' trend followed by a vast majority of my colleagues and never shied away from intense courses. Somehow, I am bounded by the philosophy of popular Bhagvad Geeta verse, 'You just put in your efforts, results will take care of themselves.' My association with the institute aquatics team can be seen as an example. I have never been part of inter-IIT contingent and it would be plain foolish of me to fancy my chances in my final year. But, I just go there with all my sincerity and get the laps done. And this is because fundamentally,

1. I absolutely love swimming
2. I share an excellent  rapport with my teammates

I think I went a bit overboard with my 'approach-to-life' fundas there. So, moving on. I think I explored/developed a new hobby of mine in photography. It all happened in an uncharacteristic Stochastic Processes tutorial (uncharacteristic for the prof was also at wit's end while solving assignment problems.)  I was plainly sitting in the class when a ray of light struck me. I turned and saw a nice arrangement caused by the relative positions of the sun and a window. What followed was completely unnatural of me. I started clicking pictures capturing the moment with different angles and camera-modes. I was partially surprised by my act and would look forward to more moments to actually know whether that was a one time thing or a new hobby indeed.

That moment - 

Wrapping up the post here. See you next week with the Independence Day special!

Second

So this week marked the start of academics and it has been remarkably dull this time around. Except for a class in Macro II (more on that later), all others were drag. Ridiculously pathetic  climatic conditions along with unfavorable class timings (they start at 8 am everyday) only aggravate my frustration on the academic front.

The week also marked the advent of a new fad in my wing - decking up rooms. And I count myself among the pioneers of the movement. I and my room-mates had attempted a similar thing in our freshie year room but the posters faded to oblivion for next two years. Until I pulled them out again this year while making my room habitable. So did another wingie of mine. And now everyone's in process of ordering/printing posters. I have moved a step further and also inculcated a 2.1 stereo system into my room decor. Needless to say, the extra colors and beats are definitely welcome. 

Study-table under the watchful eyes of Einstein

Sleeping in the shadow of legends

Coming back to the Macro II lecture I was talking about earlier. So it happened to be the sole interesting lecture of the week. It began on a very unconventional note. We were shown three sets of art-works from three different eras. We inferred key points common across all the works of first set and their subsequent transition over the other two sets. And it was not very difficult then to draw parallels between the the three artistic eras and economic schools of thought. The class did partially light up an interest in art. Maybe I would even consider taking up an art course next semester. After all, I have no freakin' idea about art and related fields and still I did reasonably well in analyzing those paintings.  

That's all for this week. Catch up again next Sunday!