The first fortnight at IISc

Originally posted here on my ancient blog site.

This is one is coming pretty late but given the schedule here I think the delay is self-explained.I definitely dont consider myself knowlegable enough to write confidently about IISc in general;but I think I can atleast tell as to why this place is this best place that I could have been in.

IISc Campus:

Its the most beatiful one I have seen.Its a 550 acres campus and I think if we patch together all the land that recieves direct sunlight even at noon it will come to 2-3 acres.That doesnt mean that its a jungle out here.Everything is so well maintained.And the fact that I have not had too many blood sucking mosquitoes bothering me testifies it.I now know why most ppl here get addicted to IISc.Already I am worried that I will have leave this place in just 2 yrs.Most of us freshers are still confused about some places here.The space has been utilised so well that it adds to the confusions.Its really easy for a visitor to get lost.The one building that I liked the most is the main buidling.Standing in front of that majestic building we go through a whirpool of thoughts.Really inspiring place to be at.No matter how many times I pass that building I still have a good look at it.The Amenities here are cool too.Never have to leave the campus for anything.I have been out for something like 5 times tillnow.The mess is wonderful in every way(ya I mean it,I m not being sarcastic)and is highly subsidised.So I dont need to visit the canteens too.Anyway the canteens are far enough to give a second thought about visiting them.

IISc life:

As anyone can guess,life here is too dedicated to Science and Tech. that very little of anything else goes on here.But again it being a campus having more than 2000 students does have people having diverse hobbies and interests.So although the ratio of ppl of a particular interest would be small,in effect the numbers would still considerable.Forexample on August 15th we had the Freedom Run(a Cross Country of 5KMs)>I surprised to see that more than 200 ppl in all ran and the quality of atleast the top few timings was indeed very good.Again we have a music club that boasts of lots of good singers and instrumentalists ranging from Piano to Saraangi to Flute to Violin to Ghatak to Guitar.Wehave decent hockey team,volleyball team etc.The Gymkhana facilities are excellent but as far as my observation goes it remains largely unutilised.

Personal Experience:

Let me introduce my course first.I am doing an MTech in EDT(Electronics design and technology).My Dept. is CEDT.(Center for EDT).Its mother branch is ECE.But it has been seperated from it since 1997.Its main aim is to prepare Electronics Engineers who will Entrepreneur in future.And to some extent to do pure research too.So it is one of the most practically oriented courses in IISc with around 2/3rds being practical.Thats the main reason I liked the course.

My days here started with glitches as usual as it has been throughout my life when I get into a new place.I was supposed to pick a chit for the hostels and I managed to get one of the worst hostels(not that it isbad.But I get jealous when I look at the newer ones,But considering the fact that we are at our rooms only to sleep it hardly matters).Then the same day the officials here told me that they cant admit me coz I had no proof of course completion or even the final sem marks card.So i had to get them faxed the same day and finally I became the last person to be admitted this year.

The next day began quietly as we had lots of introductory sessions,a briefing about our course and its aims,A tour of the labs in our Dept.Mostof were finding all the explanations flying off the top of our heads and I began to realise that 2 yrs in MTech is not even enough to explore our own dept. properly,let alone the whole IISc.Our department like most here has lots of collaborations with companies and so gives the real feel of the latest technological challenges that the indusrty faces.

On a lighter side I have been playing chess and listening to music like a mad here.Most of my life is in the labs so have transferred my music to a comp in the dept itself.So its FM+ hard disk Music + the Music we face from the assignments.My day starts at 7:30 and ends at 1:30 in the night almost daily including the sundays.(Did I say on a lighter side???).Made quiet a few friends here.Some becos of chess and some becos of music club here.But mainly there are only two ways to be friends here.Either u share the Dept. or the Mess.In my case there are only few that match both criteria.One of my good friends here is a girl(surprised??even I was. There are only 2 in our MTech batch.) She claims to be a cold blooded(even I dint believe but it seems like its true)and is also a stock market freak. Also she is basically a Gujju who doesnt know Gujju(just complimentary to me)Then there is this Pradeep who is fast turning out be the night out partner here in labs. He is generally the last one to get out of the lab.The third one who matches the above mentioned criteria is a localite and has a Honda Dio. So cant really say much about her coz she always speeds away from us cyclists.
So thats it friends. Dont really hope to blog regularly from now on.Infact even to write this small post I took 5 days.So its been a fortnight + 5 daysalready.Here I go on an endless hunt for knowledge.

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