TU Delft's April Fool Saga

A week ago when there was event posted online by TU Delft organising a Anti-Gravity experience, few doubted that this was a con that TUD had prepared for us.

Spring was setting in and there were colours all around. The cherry blossoms turning from pink to white and tulips and various other flowers making an appearance everywhere.

Exams were a couple of weeks later and preps were yet to go full throttle. The sun was out more and we all waited hungrily for exams to get over and go around and have fun for as the saying says : Make hay when the sun shines ;)

So when we heard about the anti gravity experience to be held on the 5th of April, we all got excited. Many started signing up for it. Even the sceptics for who wants to be sceptical and miss out on such an opportunity ?

And so we waited eagerly and on 3rd, I get a notification which said that this was a prank set up by the Social Media Team on the occasion of April Fool's Day. However, on 1st, Facebook locked them out of the event page for 2 days and hence the delay :P

So in the end, FB ended up making a fool of TUD :D

Funny part was, I get a call from a friend on 5th asking where the event was since many of the people have showed up and are waiting for the organisers to come and take them for the anti-gravity experience. Apparently, the posts were not getting delivered to all and many still kept joining the event even after the plot was revealed. Had to tell him then that it was a prank and it wasnt true.

But at the end of the day, I had not guessed that TUD would play with us in such a fashion :P

PS: This cartoon was made by a friend of mine Anurag who was part of the Social Media Team .. Still havent made him pay for fooling us. But some day soon. After all, what goes around, comes around ;)

My First Dutch Interview

It has been long .. Very long indeed but so much has been happening and I have so much to tell. Not a day goes by when I dont think how I am going to tell you what I am experiencing. And so here I am after a long long absence. Amidst you. To share once again, what I want to.

As I stand on the verge of completing my first year of my Master's, I start feeling a bit suffocated and nervous. On completion of my 60 ECTS, I had to do an internship in a company or a university (sadly not in my own). My application rejected numerous times for reasons unknows and my efforts to apply for positions turning out to be futile. Finally with the help of my Professor Dr. Arvind, I set up a interview in a company named Innecs located at Ter Aar.

March 27TH: The Interview

The appointment was at 10 AM. I plan my journey and find out that although the place was around 25-30 KM away, it was not we connected and I had to switch between trains, take a bus and walk for half an hour to get there. Now that was a pain. So off I set out at 7 AM from my little abode and ventured off into the cold chilly air. As I travel, I notice such beautiful scenes. Nature in such glory. The morning mist gently floating on the canal waters and on fields absorbing the first rays of sun to give a heavenly glow.

If heavens existed and if heavens had houses, then this is how it would look. This was my thought as I was journeying past a place called Alphen aan den Rijn. Beautiful houses with a beautiful garden. And the start of spring bringing out flowers and colours of all sort along with the blossoming of cherry trees with the petals floating down gently onto the green grass covered with a layer of dew.

I had never seen such beauty and it was a perfect start to my day.

The interview was more of a discussion and my first experience of a Dutch interview. I was very nervous and I am sure I made some blunders while speaking. It is a small start up company and all the people there were really nice and welcoming. They even allowed me the option of working from home since I did not have a car or bike which made travel very tiring. The call is mine to make and I am still pondering on it while searching for other good internship opportunities.

Look out for a series of events that made April one of the most memorable months :)

My Schedule

Well, I havent really talked to you about my day to day life now have I ? :) So let me give you a small sneak peak into what I do with my time here apart from writing these blogs once in a while ;) :P

This quarter I have stuffed my schedule of classes again and yet have lots of free time. It sure is nice when the subjects are so well arranged. Kudos to the person who does it :)

And so I decided to join the sports club and a few activities. I was browsing through the classes available and suddenly my eyes fell on Climbing - Beginners. Ooh .. This flashed the scene from Mission Impossible 2 where Tom Cruise rests his hands in the middle of a steep climb by wedging his legs into a crack. Wont that be fun and join I did along with a friend of mine, Saish. I had no idea it is gonna be so 'not easy' :P

The classes are held on every Thursday evening. By the end of the classes, my forearms become like that of Popeye's minus the anchor tattoos :P But none the less, a good workout and introduction of new techniques every week keeps it pretty challenging. Not to forget how I almost got stuck in such a position and the instructors were sniggering from below and asking me to not dislocate my shoulders :P It is hillarious when you are stuck in such a situation and your strength is failing (PS: I had footholds) :P The instructors are pretty fun and the new one is too awesome and cool. It sure is fun and you tend to look forward to it :)

However, I might have to miss out on my class because I almost broke my left leg at the knee which is a long story. So hoping I recover soon n continue next week onwards :)

But this week is pretty interesting from my view. I have signed up for the Harmonica workshop on Wednesday and hoping to start a nice little hobby and make sure I irritate the hell out of my neighbours who speak loudly at un-Godly hours in their rooms and keep me from sleeping :D

And Thursday there is a Air Hockey Tournament ;) Hahaha .. Am glad the Sports and Culture centres keep having such interesting activities and workshops in addition to a number of sports. I am hoping to start Fencing classes next quarter and hopefully it works out as planned :)

As for socializing, this Sunday we have the screening of 1st One day international Match between India & Pakistan at the Sports Centre. The atmosphere is gonna be electric and fun :D Of course there are regular concerts and other musical nights arranged by TUD. But there are also movie or Culture nights arranged by the Indian Students Association or other such associations by different countries which open up a nice stage for inter-cultural mingling and awareness.

Looking forward to many more such opportunities and secretly hoping I dont have to say goodbye soon :)

The Festival of Colours - HOLI 2012

PS: That is my hand print ;)

If you were to pass the Sports & Culture center on a Sunday afternoon (i.e. yesterday), your attention would be grabbed by the blaring music to which people were dancing, in the nearby park. But then try to take a closer look. If you are unaware of this festival, the sight might highly surprise you :D After all, people going crazy and throwing colours on each while still dancing to loud music is something you don’t get to see every day. The sight was the celebration of Holi, a Indian festival (Please refer to my previous blog for more details), organized by the Indian Students Association (ISA).

To start with, it was a perfect day. After a gloomy and drizzle filled week, it was a perfect ‘Sun’day. It was not very cold and people could easily strip down to their T’s and not shiver. The prep’s for the stage, the music system, drinks bar and the snacks bar all went on without issues. Once everything was set and a small crowd had gathered around, we brought out the colours :D

Colours being 'applied' is an understatement. Every new comer was greeted slowly and then tried to be put down to the ground n buried in coloured powders :D Now that you are one of them, you do the same to the next victim ;)

Well, of course it scared some people away like a friend of mine who came from Hague to attend the festival but looking at the way colours were being applied, she simply slipped away :D

We definitely had a great time. Almost dropped one of the guys into a canal since he was mischievously trying to put the colour powder onto our teeth :D But then we were in no mood to fish an icicle out of the canal :P

The ISA board had also organized a Indian snack bar with Samosas, Vegetable Bajji’s, Gulab Jamun’s & Mango Lassi. They all tasted fantastic and hit the right spot after such a amazing time :D

I hope that next year if you are in Delft at this point of time, do drop in and celebrate our festivals with us :)

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my friend Lakshmeesh Rao for his fabulous snaps. You can see more at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3589765543080.304765.1241607560&type=3

Holi - A Festival of Colours : A History

 *** Disclaimer: Over time there have been various stories as to how it originated but I will be sticking to a more widely accepted one. If I have not followed the version you are familiar with or have hurt any sentiments, it was unintentional. I seriously hope I do not get chased down and coloured bad for not writing your version ;) No hard feeling right ? ;)


Most of the Indian festivals have a divine and mythological root and Holi is no exception. As always this story is again the triumph of good over evil and Holi is the celebration of this victory. 'Holi' however means 'burning' and its origin is very old. So, I will tell you with 2 stories both of different eras starting with the real one and later on to how it got the colourful front.

*** For those who arent interested in the history, kindly scroll down to the INVITATION section ***

Recommended Prerequisites for the story (TUD Style ;)): There are 3 main Gods according to the Hindu belief. Brahma - The Creator, Vishnu - The Preserver & Shiva  - The Destroyer. This story involves the first two namely Brahma and Vishnu. Now that we have fulfilled the prerequisites, lets begin the story :D

Once upon a time, there was a Demon (Asura) King named Hiranyakashyap who wanted to avenge the death of his brother by the hands of Vishnu (Gods and the Demons keep fighting always!!). So he decides to pray to Brahma for a boon which will enable him to defeat Vishnu. After years of penance, Brahma grants him a boon which almost makes him immortal.

He returns and forces his subjects to pray to him and not to the Gods. But to his disappointment, his son, Prahalad,  turns out to be a devoted follower of Vishnu. This enrages him and he decides to kill him but all efforts go fruitless. Finally he asks his sister Holika, who thanks to a boon was immune to fire, to carry the child and burn herself on a pyre. However, she did not know that her boon came with a conditions apply * and was applicable only if she was alone. So she was burnt to death while his son was unscathed from the fire who was saved by his devotion to Vishnu. Later, even the devil King Hiranyakashyap was killed by the hands of Vishnu but that is a different story.  

Holi celebrates the death of Holika symbolically evil. That is why on this day people have bonfires as a symbol of victory of good by the burning of evil.

Now you might wonder then why on this day we play with colours if the real story is celebrated by bonfires. That brings us to the age of another character named Krishna a reincarnation of Vishnu.

Krishna often asked his mother Yashoda as to why Radha (his childhood love) was so fair and he wasnt. To this his mother asked Krishna to apply colour on Radha's face and see how her complexion changes. This slowly became popular and went on to become a village ritual. It increased in popularity as Krishna went on to become a King and his involvement in so many stories to bring justice resulted in a large number of devotees who carried on this tradition of colour.

Since it is celebrated during the time of spring and harvest, it also became a way of celebration for the farmers at the prospect of properity and so burn their first batch of crops as a symbol of offering to Agni  (The God of Fire) and then use the rest for personal and other use.

Story is done and now to the most important part.

*** INVITATION ***

We the students of Indian Student's Association (ISA) will be celebrating Holi this year on the Campus of TU Delft on the 11th of March 2012. So do come join us and let us celebrate together the setting in of Spring with colours, Indian snacks, Drinks (alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic) and not forgetting the all important music with a DJ.

The location is the park opposite the Sports Center from 12:00 to 15:00 hours.

So do save it in your schedules and dont forget to bring your friends too.

For more information and updates, please check:  https://www.facebook.com/events/161769850608765/   

PS: Please wear your finest clothes ;)

The Dutch Education System - The Bad Part + Tips

Well, as they say, everything has its pros n cons. Well, lets jump straight into the awaited part. And mind you, they are just minor inconveniences and not “Bad” bad :)

The Bad Part:

The most important thing I find lacking here is the link between the Professor and the student. The professor arrives, teaches and goes. Maybe you talk and discuss on certain topics in class but that’s how far the relationship goes. He will know your face but not your name. And in some cases, not even your face. It does feel really odd and uncomfortable because from where I come from, we have a bond that in most cases exceeds outside the college too. Here it is too professional in nature. When I pointed this out to my friend, he said it is mainly because lecturing is not the only job of professors here in technical universities. They are involved in various projects sometimes national or even international. They constantly keep in touch with people from the industry and keep updating themselves. This makes lecturing only part time for them thus making things the way they are.

Moving on, the next thing that I feel can be put on the negative side is the software dependence. Having done most calculations and solutions by hand, it really feels like a new world where even for normal reports you end up using softwares. It turns worse when you don’t know those softwares. Here the level of problems and complexity is totally on a different level and this demands the need and use of these softwares. It is in fact good to be exposed to industry level complex cases and use various techniques to solve them and be more familiar with it.

Lastly, scheduling appointments. If you need to meet or talk to a professor, you need to mail him and schedule an appointment. While this basically is a good call, it does seem silly to schedule appointments for small queries that you might have. So you either mail him/her your doubts and he gets back to you or you can clear it during the breaks in the next lecture. Of course there are Professors who tell you to drop in anytime and if the door is open, it means you can come in and discuss your doubts.

Surprisingly, I guess this was all I had .. As I mentioned in the beginning, just minor inconveniences :)

Now for the tips :)

For the first part, if there is any professor whose subject interests you and you would like to work with him/her, go meet him/her. Make sure you meet them enough times either to get your concepts cleared or to share your ideas, so that they remember your name. This is level one. You have managed to make a place for your name. Next is all up to you. You can maybe put forward a proposal or tell them what you wish to do and ask for guidance and they will be willing to help you :)

Another major tip is, don’t waste time typing mails. Their time is more valuable than yours. So jump straight into the question or doubt. And no they wont judge you based on your mail. They get hundred’s of mail and they probably will spend only a few seconds to read and reply to your mail.

Thirdly, for people like me who aren’t much familiar with softwares, do contact the last batch students who are currently studying and ask them what softwares they work with so that you can familiarize with that software and be comfortable using them.

Rest, I am sure you will figure it out :) Good luck and have a good Spring :)

The Dutch Education System - The Good Part

My friends back home always ask me how I find the studies in Netherlands and I always tell them it’s different. And then I proceed to tell them how. So today I will tell you some things related to study and how things work around here.

The Good Part:

The first major difference between the studies back home and here is the approach. The studies here are practical in nature and up to date with latest developments. This way, when you graduate and step out into the industry, there is no gap that needs to be filled.

Next up is Blackboard. Blackboard here is much more than the usual blackboard we had back home. Blackboard is the TU Delft student-studies connection software. You enroll for your courses, you download softwares, the lecture slides are uploaded here, to order the readers (textbooks) and much much more. I cannot imagine life without Blackboard now. It has even simplified the interaction between the professor and the students enrolled for the course.

Then the library website Discover where you can see if the book you need is available or not. If it has already been borrowed, you can always reserve it from the comfort of your home and when it is returned, you can go pick it up from the library. Now that is so convenient. Although I wish they had more than a couple of copies of each book, looking at the collection of books in the library, there might be a problem of storing them :D

Facilities: If you need it, you can get it. If you are working on some flight simulation project and would like to use the flight simulator Simona, you can always put forward a proposal and it can be arranged. The way things work here is simply straight and to the rules. It feels comfortable working in such an atmosphere.

Lastly on the good side is the flexibility. It is really something when you can tailor your course according to your needs. You can highly streamline your stream and work towards your thesis in the same stream or you can keep it normal, try everything out and then choose the topic u like to write your thesis on.

And I have to add that there is no race for excellence or cut throat competition here. Everyone does what they love. On a scale from 0-10, 6 is usually the passing grade. Although 10 might be on our mind, but 6 is pretty good in itself. People here value how much you have learnt rather than how much you score. Of course you can argue that if you know it, you can score better but lets leave that for a debate later ;)

Since the atmosphere is so relaxed and its all you and no one else that matters, people tend to join clubs like the Energy club or the Rocket club Dare or the Hydrogen Car or even the Solar car (Nuna) club. They do more with their lives and that helps them get out of the books and apply what they have learnt. Student here are involved in so many different projects in different countries trying to make a difference where it is needed. Rank, marks or competition hardly holds here. And maybe that is the reason why it does not matter if you fail once or twice or if you score less. You can always take the exam again and the better grade is taken.

Sorry for the long post. Guess I ll have to shift the Bad part to the next page :)
PS: Will be sharing some important tips so do check it out ;)