An Egyptian Excursion - Day 10 (25th May 2010) and General Impressions

This was our last day in Egypt with plenty of travelling to be done. There’d be no more calls of Salaam Maleikkum, Y’allah, India India, Insha Allah, Shukran, Amitabh Bachchan etc. after today.

We left the resort at 6am and took the flight to Cairo. Business class was empty except for us and some Sheik who looked to be Saudi, decked in the traditional robe and headdress. Just before we took off, 2 armed forces fighter jets did a flyby and then landed. The flight was good enough and the aerial view of sights like the Pyramids was amazing. We had quite some time to waste at the Cairo Airport. The shuttle bus was a pain-in-the-rear, but we soon reached our terminal and checked in and started our tour of the duty-free sections. There was some guy on a Haj trip being very generous, handing out cash to pretty much every airport worker he met. From Cairo, we took the flight to Abu Dhabi. Some Tamil guy who’d been stopped from boarding for having way too much hand baggage and he was charged for it. Bugger must have been trying to ship way too much booze from the looks of it, from the duty free shopping in Cairo. Abu Dhabi as such seems to be a small airport terminal with never enough seating compared to a lot of other international airports that we've seen. Here, there was some Bangla guy at one of the check-in counters trying his darnedest to make the counter staff understand what he was trying to say (he really didn’t know even a modicum of English).

Anyway, we took a walk to the nearby Terminal 3 where the shopping was slightly better and we loaded up on chocolates as usual. This is one of the few international airports I’ve seen where the Indian rupee was usable. The flight to Chennai was boarding soon enough, and as always there was a big rush to get on. It’s terrible why Indians can’t ever learn to respect the queue and keep their voices down too. There were also plenty of people removing their glittering gold bangles and putting them into their bags – don’t quite know why. The flight was pretty bad though with the air-conditioning system having some problem and we finally reached Chennai at 4am local time on the 26th of May.

The queues at the customs check-in counters were horribly mismanaged. People were jumping queues, and some queues were moving at a brisk pace while others were dead slow. Instead of giving preference to people who’d been standing for a while already, they’d just open a new counter when they felt like it and move people coming from the latest flight onto it. Then they’d close a counter and ask the people to go stand at the back of the queue at the new counter again. Just a whole load of bullcrap. One old man standing in front of his pointed out how this was rather unfair and poorly managed and the customs official standing there had the gall to say “We know how to manage, you don’t need to teach us” with no regard to the poor state of things there as well as any respect he should have accorded the man atleast looking at his age. Such is the hubris of some pompous government servants here. I wonder if they’ll ever be cut down to size and whether things will ever change. Probably not. And so it was back to Chennai and traffic.

General Impressions.

1. People here generally start off a conversation with some sort of greeting - Salaam maleikkum, peace be upon you, how are you - before popping any sort of question, even if you’re just asking a stranger for directions.
2. Around May 2010, 8 Indian rupees equalled 1 egyptian pound. Damn rupee is always low no matter where we go. Some people called the Egyptian pound’s sub-unit Piastres.
3. The tout problem here isn’t really significant. Just say 'No thank you, la shukran' a few times and they’ll go about their business without bothering you.
4. The Police are ALWAYS around. Plainclothes policemen carry sidearms. Uniformed ones in white sport Kalashnikovs. However I've read that it isn't safe for single women to backpack alone even with police around.
5. Friday is a holiday here so plan accordingly.
6. The drivers here proudly proclaim that Cairo is the worst place to drive. They obviously haven’t driven in an Indian metro like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkatta.
7. Taxi drivers in Cairo are pretty insistent. They may keep lining up, offering you a ride and turning it down again and again is made slightly difficult because of the language barrier.
8. There are plenty of cats around –far more so than any other pet animal.
9. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has plenty of makeup on and a ton of hair gel for guys. Even little kids seem to sport perfect haircuts and several layers of makeup.
10. Amitabh Bachchan fans are everywhere, very few seem to know Shahrukh Khan or Aishwarya Rai. There was just that 1 guard at the museum in the Coptic Area in Cairo who took a look at us and said “India – Amir Khan I like!” and flashed us a thumbsup.
11. There are no Swensen's outlets here. No big ice cream retail chains I came across. And ice-creams don’t make an appearance at most buffets either. Only smaller shops and big bakeries have ice-cream counters.
12. 10am to 4/5pm each day – that’s the only time attractions are open, so plan accordingly.
13. If you’re a college student, bring your university ID Card. They’re actually supposed to give discounts only for Egyptian students or those with an international student ID (a specific kind of ID) but even I was able to save a lot despite my major being engineering and not history.
14. Quote Amitabh (not Govindha), especially if you see a television set playing a Hindi movie in a shop. Once again everyone likes him, so you’ll get a healthy discount at some smaller shops if you do.
15. If you’re vegetarian, things are going to be a bit difficult. I think they use animal fat while cooking even rice, because the rice does have a slight flavour of the same to it.
16. People here drive on the Right side of the road like they do in the US.
17. At most times throughout the year, it’s very dry, humidity is low and the temperature is high. So take enough moisturiser, sunscreen and protective wear.
18. Remember this - my trip was half a year or more before the Arab Spring revolts that began in Egypt unseating the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Things have changed plenty in that country since then, the military is in charge, and it might not be quite the dream fantasy vacation it seems from these posts. A pity really considering all the magnificent sights Egypt has, not to mention the only surviving one of the true Seven Wonders of the World. 

College Chronicles : Sector Seven ;)

Now that I'm into the final semester of my Bachelors in Engineering, here's the customary College Chronicles post mentioning highlights of my time at college during the sem gone by.

When the 7th semester began I was juggling the work I had left at IIT Madras and all that was happening at college. The seventh semester being tight as it was didn't quite help matters. Had some friends to help out though:

(OK, so he didn't help out but he joined us on the benches we occupied near the co-op store)

Professional Ethics was one subject which we all took easy. The professor who took it had to leave for Italy on some training program for 10 months. So what he did was hold classes on Saturdays too (which I conveniently missed to continue my internship at IIT). Can't say he had too many fans though, especially with the way he corrected papers. However, this did have a positive effect on the latter part of the sem. He pretty much disappeared after mid-August leaving us with a whole day free.

The other faculty members couldn't leave well alone though, so we inevitably had classes on most days. In the midst of this, a classmate and I were working on a project sanctioned by the IEEE itself (yeah, with funding from them). That took up a lot of my time with welding, metal cutting, frequent trips to electrical and mechanical part shops and some electrical stuff to be done. I guess I was wrong to expect a "free" start to the 4th year. Once my extended internship at IIT was completed, there was the GRE to prepare for with just 2 weeks left on the clock. The kind of English the ETS tests us on is filled with words you'd rarely ever use even if you were a literature major or a lawyer. When that was done with, it was back to concentrating completely on college. Most of us were so engrossed in what was being taught that we didn't notice this dog take a walk through out class.

Now, when I say "concentrating completely" what I mean is enjoying every day to the fullest and preparing for exams on the very night before the test. Some would only study on the morning of the test. While class was on, you'd find most people looking more at their watches than at the professor teaching. When a particular teacher once asked why everyone wanted the class to finish so soon. Reply from our representative Praveen: "Ma'm, Pasikkidhu (hungry)". LOL. Yes, Thalaivar Praveen is a very hungry young man as evinced below.

The next bit of comedy came as a result of a particular report we had to submit each week. Now, this was for one of the lab classes. While some of us did do it sincerely (yes, that includes me), there would always be a few groups rushing to put together a report at the last minute. Code "borrowed" from one report, theory from another, calculations from yet another. A composite report so to speak. :) Why, some reports would only differentiate themselves from others in the kind of font they used.

This year was also the beginning of a new phenomenon during Dr. PK's classes. Some diagrams from Petrochemical Instrumentation are, strictly speaking ;) , just insane to say the least. And not all of us can depend on our quick rough sketches which are quite often far from accurate. So I took the initiative and asked him if he'd let me photograph the board after he'd drawn it. Contrary to popular belief, he was more than willing to oblige. Ever since, it is his wont to put forth a sly "Gaurav, don't want a photo?" every few diagrams :P

One of the staircases was declared off-limits 'officially' this semester.

Beginning at a 019019, frequent trips to college helped me breach the 20,000km mark on the car. Besides the work on the new Metro lines in the city was creating traffic snarls all along the route to college and driving me nuts. And when it rained hard, oh my, the roads would be flooded. At such times, especially when an exam was close by, we'd resign ourselves to eagerly keeping watch for this announcement courtesy of Mr. Ramanan.

(It reads "Chennai schools and colleges are on leave today thanks to heavy rain")

On the home front, Mum thought it'd be a good idea to change out the old mats and put something more..umm... colorful... there to say the least. I knew there was something fishy going on.

This hectic timetable had me tired and bored. For reasons unknown, my scratch support chief (like tech support, except you scratch him when you have a problem and you feel better) seemed much more tired than me throughout the semester. Yeah, Mr. Cactus:

It's common to hear the expression "Padichu kizhichitten" when referring to the intensity of one's preparation. However "Padichu Chair e odachen" is a new one. Broke it and fell flat on the ground during one of my pre-exam night study sessions. Might have had something to do with the fact that I was falling asleep sitting....

Birthdays were celebrated with pomp and splendor as always in class. And yeah, with cake and plenty of ice-cream too. Observe how one of our daredevil class representatives spits in the face of danger and licks cream off a knife. Mr. Vigneshwaran attempts to recreate the effect albeit in his dream world with his finger.

This time around, we also hit a few big malls and went to the movies to celebrate the majority of us securing employment offers.

Our intra-college festivities took place as always in the form of Sivaranjini 2010 as well as the intra-college technical fest LiveBeat held by our department (hats off to my classmates who worked pretty hard to make this a success). Some posters (concerned with other events happening around  campus) invited us to enhance our electromagnetic properties too, not sure that was quite what they were getting at :P

There was one workshop by National Instruments conducted for our benefit. Only issues were that the class was packed and the microphone didn't work. Didn't help that the guy from NI couldn't really raise his voice either and that we were seated behind our juniors. End result - I slept through some of it despite trying my best (with my fingers even lol) to hold my eyes open. I'd imagine most others were far worse. Props to Topper Harini for capturing this snap.

I mentioned employment a few lines back. This semester we had companies coming to campus to recruit us. What this offers us, apart from a chance to write placement tests, sit for interviews and group discussions, is an opportunity to enjoy a day out with friends without fear of losing attendance. The only placement session I attended ... well the company HR Manager told me that I was "overqualified" for the job with the stuff I had in my resume. LOL. The only thing worthwhile that day was the trip to KFC with my classmates:

(Yes, Santhosh was busy looking at the food tray in Vigneshwaran's hands)

I'd put in a word in my last College Chronicles post, if I'm not mistaken, about a paper of mine that had been selected among the ones to be published in the conference proceedings of an IEEE conference in Shanghai. Well, it was dang in the middle of our end semester exams and that led to a drastic change in the timetable giving us pretty much 9 days worth of holidays inbetween the 3rd and 4th final exam dates. While the guys went back to their native places and the girls revised the remaining subjects' portions 10 times over (no offense meant hehe) during that respite the university afforded our department, I headed to Hong Kong first and then Shanghai where I presented the paper. It was received quite well and I got to see a lot of sights. The university didn't pick up the tab for even a portion of the (considerably large) conference registration fees (or any other expense for that matter) though because I'm not a PhD scholar or professor, and Vigneshwaran, my co-author, couldn't accompany me for lack of time to prepare for the conference and his management exams. So I turned this into a vacation with my parents. Had a wonderful time, really, and I'll be detailing all the sights seen and things we did in Hong Kong and Shanghai (with pictures mind you) in later posts on the blog. Stick around for that, or better yet subscribe for e-mail updates or the RSS feed so you won't miss out on anything. The links are on the left hand side column. You can also get notified of articles if you're in India using Google labs free SMS notifications.

Special thanks to my friend Kaushik and his driver for picking me up on their way to college whenever I hadn't slept enough to drive myself to an end semester exam. Without him, a lot of my last-minute reading wouldn't get done because I'd have to concentrate on driving during that last one hour. Speaking of which, this was my final odometer reading:

21111

And so ends this College Chronicles post. Another 5-6 months and the final part of this tale will be up. The 8th semester has started off just fine, here's hoping it goes well too - especially our final year project. 

Do note that the remaining days of the Egypt trip will be up shortly on the blog, followed of course by a travelogue of the Shanghai-Hong Kong vacation + conference. Don't miss it. :) 

PS: Cheers to you if you got the Transformers reference in the title!

College Chronicles - Semester Six

What can I say about Semester Six? Well, it began like any other one, where we thought "Oh goody this sem's gonna be more free than the one that just went." Right before the university decided it'd be better if we wasted another day at college each week rather than waste our Saturdays at home. All we could do was fume. Above you'll find the obligatory "This was my odometer reading on Day 1" picture.

A signboard pointed us in the direction of our department (yes it's always been there but I'd never photographed it).

Barely a few days had passed since reopening before the incessant 'Placement preparations' began. The effect it had on us was profound with people scrambling left right and center to get their resumes (it's pronounced Ray-soo-may oh Plebeians) ready, what with our seniors butchering the same with comments all over.

Mock interviews saw some of us, including yours truly, spend an eternity being asked questions that would determine who won the prize money of a million dollars :P whereas others were pushed off quick by the ones who had the power of mock! (you won't get this one unless you visit a very specific website).  Mr. Vigneswaran and me took off on a short sojourn to Coimbatore where we won a paper presentation contest at CIT (Yes, we did present our own paper, not something stolen off the net). Unfortunately, most of our professors were none too keen on giving us attendance even if we missed classes for such an event.

Back at college, our Faculty adviser and class representatives had been hard at work arranging an Industrial visit to Nokia's Special Economic Zone at Sriperumbudur. The sprawling SEZ had Nokia's own factory for Volume phones (ones that sold en masse) alongside several others like Foxconn (yeah, the suicide company), Jabil and Laird that supply Nokia's OEM components. During the pre-floor visit presentation, one of our company of 60 had the bright idea to spout out loud "No one wants" in response to "Who here wants to work for Nokia?". The ex-Navy man HR Manager wasn't taking any crap and he promptly threatened to stop the visit right then and there lest the "coward [sic] had the guts to own up". After some cajoling from our FA, the trip proceeded with all of us attired like we were going into a biological hot-zone.

On the way back another genius threw a bottle out the window of the bus. Said bottle hit a car's windscreen square center and the driver found the Vice Chancellor's number and reported the class. This later resulted in a Industrial visit ban for the remainder of the semester. Not like we really had the time anyway.

The image on the left spells out MITAFEST, that's our college festival. Apparently it looks the same when read from top or bottom. MITAFEST festivities were in full swing. Didn't quite bother helping out with writing the web page stuff this time around because the previous MITAFEST they conveniently forgot yours truly when it came to certificates.

The show got on the road. Literally.

This here would be our college bus. The one whose driver was condemned to drive us around for our industrial visits. I do NOT envy him his job. :D












My friends got me a cake and loads of other stuff and celebrated my birthday in a grand way. My thanks to them. The photo below shows the cake - after it had been savagely ripped into (no, not by me).

While the rest of the world is in pursuit of cleaner, safer, bio-degradable containers, our Rubber and Plastics Department seems confused!

Meanwhile, the "I shall study and never to the fruit thereof" crowd had their first taste of the joy that movies can bring:

The next photo is Chief Guest Pest Viggy during the prize-giving ceremony for... ohwaitaminute.. that's Anupama's birthday. :)

My odometer reading as the end semester exams approached.

Soon enough all the placement classes had been replaced by the oh-so-familiar feeling of "The exams are upon us, our doom is coming". Last minute preparation really gets the adrenaline flowing. And Mr. Cactus gave me company helping to make the late night study a less solitary affair.














 I, however, ended up stretched across the couch with my book on my head in a pose similar to this guy here:

Towards the conclusion of the exams, I received a notice saying I'd been chosen under Dr. David Koilpillai, Professor, EE Department, IIT Madras for IIT's Summer Fellowship Program. Something that I'd been eagerly awaiting. As is evident from the rest of my blog, the Zombie (that's how I looked after 2 weeks of late nights thanks to the tests) took off on a trip to Egypt. Another part of the holidays I'd awaited with ardor.

Check out the navigation links on the left side of the page or throw me a comment if you want a look at photos from that journey.

Found this on the door of the Professor's room when I went over a bit too early. I expected him to come glare at me, but Dr. David is seriously awesome! You'd never think he was the professor and you the student the way he's so friendly with you despite his repertoire of knowledge and vast experience in the area communication.

Discovered this piece of heaven above in Egypt, and brought back quite a few on the way home.

The Fellowship at IIT Madras is indeed an experience that can vary widely according to the professor you're chosen to intern under. For me, it's been a wonderful time, actually doing meaningful research and contributing in a small way under someone as erudite yet down-to earth as Dr. David.

Below you'll find photos of some of the places I worked in - IIT's Central Electronic Centre, the DSP Lab in the EE Building, and the Intel Wireless Lab to name a few - and some bits and pieces of circuits I worked on.

So yeah, I didn't have much in the way of a vacation. Though this is one place where I've thoroughly enjoyed working the whole day. And having a Cafe Coffee Day within the campus made it all the more worthwhile :) .


A week or so before college reopens for the 6th sem, I find a notification from the IEEE saying that a paper I had submitted for an international conference has been accepted. Didn't quite sleep the whole day after seeing the mail, I was that agog! Only in my dreams had I imagined that any paper of mine would be published on IEEE Xplore and in an international IEEE and IET conference's proceedings. Indeed, there's someone up there in the wide blue yonder looking out for me.

Of course, modifying the paper to make it IEEE Xplore Compatible and running it through the IEEE's PDF-Express.com still remains, not to mention the insanely high registration fee (since this is an event for PhDs, researchers and post grad students, not quite for undergrads). I thank my lucky stars even as I write this little post. There is a bigger hurdle though, the conference dates are smack in the middle of my end semester exam in November. If my university is unaccommodating, it'll be a damn shame if I give a "No Show" in Shanghai, China come November.

So it is with a great deal of apprehension that I end my blog entry, as the class sets forth on a new adventure - the seventh semester.

Chocolate Crazy in Chennai!

Made it to the new branch of a little (but very pricey, upmarket) chocolate dessert cafe called Sandy's last weekend. Wrote a review about it on burrp.com. Here it is:

"
First off, finding this place is not difficult if you know where to look. Just opposite Taj Coromandel there's a road going in. Follow the road and you'll find Sandy's on the left side opposite "Timber".

Small place, would probably seat around 10 people. But well kept and neat. The main course items (of course, not important) are written on a board and you can order them.

We had Bassa Fish with Pistachio, Carribean Chicken with Salad and Waffle Cake Toast. All 3 tasted very good, though the last one was a bit lacking when it came to quantity.

Moved on to the real deal, the actual main course. Was unable to order the "Ultimate Sin" , cos they didn't have it today. Gave the "Pick me up" dish a try. You may or may not like it depending on your taste for alcohol. But it was alright. Sampled the "Everything But" and "Funky Monkey". Both concoctions of chocolate that will satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth ten times over, and give you a heart attack with all the whipped cream on it. It is pretty much the next taste of heaven I'm having after my time visiting every Swensen's parlour I could find in Thailand. Both came with a shot of chocolate sauce and a choco-chip cookie.



I sincerely ask that you give "Everything But" a shot. Whipped cream, dark truffle, fresh chocolate cake, vanilla bean icecream.... my god the list of stuff in it is endless.

Overall the food's really good. Quantity might be a bit on the lower side for certain items under the "Feel Good Potions" part of the menu considering the price, but the high pricing is expected considering the locality.


I actually went to Sandy's since I heard about this branch opening on Burrp. Will definitely return another day.

The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars on 5 is because they should have one staff member always in the dining area. We felt there was no one to take orders the minute we wanted to order sometimes. And no one was there to hold the door open or say thank you when we got up to leave.




I've uploaded a picture of the seating and "Everything But". Do take a look and stare in awe at this marvellous mug of chocolate goodness.

As for parking, I suppose you could put 2 cars inside the building's parking area comfortably.

"

You can read the review at it's source here - Burrp Chennai

Madras Bashai a.k.a Local Tamil

For too long have I endured the pure form of Tamil that pervades all local news channels here in TamilNadu. Sanga Tamil has its own beauty but over the long years, the language, as spoken in the state capital of Tamilnadu - Chennai, has taken on a distinct flavour.

Madras Tamil borrows liberally (and horrendously modifies) words from other languages - English, Hindi, Malayalam etc.



Below you'll find a decent little example that illustrates the difference between Tamil as such and Madras Bashai.

English	Tamil	Madras bashai
Go fast!	Viraivāga Sel!	feeda-ā pō!
Go straight!	Nerāga Sel! (Adverb Verb)	Staita po! (Adverb Verb) (also Steittaa po!)

I hit upon the wikipedia article on Madras Tamil a few days back.

It has a detailed explanation of several terms I'm used to hearing from auto-drivers, my college mates and my friends from school. Quite hilarious, give it a read if you understand Tamil.
Look out below for a few gems from said page:

"

Gaandu

to irritate a person

Usage gaanda kelappathe. Gaand refers to butttocks in Hindi. See Also: Kaduppu

Sister - Often used to address figures where attempt was unsuccessful

Cutting - Small Peg

Kattai

Referring to a hot female.

Tamil,Kattai (literally log of wood) - the sturdier higher quality wood can easily be distinguished by their distinctive curvy grain pattern.

Mama or Mamey

refers to either a policeman or pimp depending on the context.

Tamil mama = uncle. Not to be confused with maams.

Bucketu

refers to the female who engages in 'kadalai'(flirting/random talk with opposite sex)

refers to the bucket used by vendors to sell the ground nuts in beaches to couples.

Saami padam

Also known as Matter padam, refers to a risque movie

To escape detection, the first few minutes of these movies usually depict devotional scenes.

Otha - F**K - used as an adjective, and most times as punctuation.

Tube light

Person absent minded or not that shrewd. Refers to one who is not picking up things easily, or someone, who takes a bit of time to understand (like a tube light that flickers for a few seconds before lighting up).

English Tube light .

"

There's also a very funny section on usage which explains common lines from Madras Bashai (most of them used in a fit of rage or anger). Examples follow:
"
Naina! Vootle solltiya? Saavugraaki! By calling the other person naina and asking him whether he has taken leave of his loved ones, the speaker indicates that his interlocutor is driving in a very unsafe manner. The speaker uses saavugraaki to emphasise the point, thus asserting his superior driving skills in the situation.

Figura paathu frienda cut panradhu Used to refer to a friend who chooses his girlfriend as a higher priority than his friend (platonic friend).

Laadu labbaku dhas or Laadu langotta , Used to refer some who thinks that they are always right.here Laadu refers to 'Lord'.

Yaru theaterla yaru padam ootra...keenjidum screenu....bemani! It is used to indicate that other person is trying to show off at a place he does not belong to.
"

Follow the link to satisfy your fill of Madras Bashai -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Tamil

Whoever wrote the page was an absolute genius. Hats off to you sir! Great job done there, though I'm sure it'll irk connoisseurs of classical Tamil no end.

Ramanan, my friend :)

Growing up, I went to school like everyone else. Whenever it rained, I was always hoping for a holiday. Sometimes there would be a test coming next week for which I could study in the event of a holiday, sometimes I'd just want to sit in my room, look out the window at my long driveway and enjoy the rain. I love rain!



So it was that every rainy season, I was glued to the local news channels for my fill of the weather report. The news that a depression or cyclone had formed in the Bay of Bengal would thrill me no end. This news of course was (and still is) delivered by a great man, Dr. Ramanan.

S.R. Ramanan (first from left in the below photo), director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre. He would tell how the day went, weather-wise, and finish it off with the news I was waiting for - "In light of the weather, a holiday has been declared tomorrow for all schools and colleges in Chennai".

Sometimes the last line would never come, but that was the Pièce de résistance. The final dish of the meal that we would savour the most, that would make or break the entire show, the part that we would sorely miss if absent.

Predicting weather is serious business no doubt, but as youngsters the part of it that had us hooked was obviously the possibility of a holiday.

His appearance on Sun News or Kalaignar TV's News brought new hope each time it rained cats and dogs, every time the wind blew hard, every time the sky darkened. He was and is a hero to a number of my school and college mates, saving them when there is almost no hope to be had - granting them that one day of reprieve. But for all this, he's an unsung saviour, one that works in the background, whose efforts we scarcely appreciate. This man single-handedly saved my entire class at college from disaster in an Electronic Circuits end semester exam :D . Most days when it got really cloudy and poured, we'd just say "Inikki Ramanan solradhu paakkalaam da" (We'll see what Ramanan says today). That's the extent of appreciation he got from our part.



He's the hero we needed, but not the one we deserved. So I salute this not-so-average scientist, for he commands my respect, for I've listened to his words far more than I've listened to my own parents ;) . I look forward to more miracles, more rain and more holidays thanks to him. He's the superman we never see. I know him well, but I'm sad to say that he does not know me .