HOW I LANDED IN IIT-R

"There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice."

-Simon Sinek

It was the results time, the final outcome of my two year struggle. I always had aimed for studying in the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology. On the day of IIT-JEE, I couldn’t give my best and my performance wasn’t optimum. However, for the rank I scored, I was offered Electronics at IIT-R and Computer Science at IIIT-H. Even though Computer Science was a better course, I couldn’t give up my dream.

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

                                                                                                                                 -Theodore Roosevelt

 At this point of time I had two options, both equally favourable and equally good. The hardest part of all was that, I had to finalize the decision in two days. I kept constantly conflicting with myself and couldn’t reach to any conclusion. This dilemma not just diminished my other interests but also held my attention for a long time. It was the first time I had to take a life-changing decision, all by myself. Being from Hyderabad my parents also weren’t ready to send me this far from home. 

At this judgement point, I decided to go with IIT. It was the biggest risk I had ever taken and needed a lot of courage. I lost a very good branch in a good college but, it gave me immense satisfaction and a sigh of relief. After coming to IIT, I learnt how to live by myself without misusing my freedom. It was the first time I had got to see such a big North Indian circle, and it took time for me to adjust with them. Now I am happy for taking the right decision that gave an unexpected turn to my life.

I never repented on this decision, as I gained a lot more things being a part of IIT.

What makes you CRAZY?

ARE  YOU  SETTLING  IN ANDROMEDA?

Well, that must be a weird question for you. You might be thinking about those star trek episodes with monster space ships and 50th generation weapons.

Are you?

I don't know about others but this is the field of science fiction that inspires me. And yes, you have every right to declare me a crazy lad.

The point is that our Sun God is getting out of fuel, and we can't import it from its nearest neighbor        Mr. Proxima Centauri.

At some point of time in the future, it’s going to get extinguished leaving this ball of dirt, upon which we live, in complete darkness. And I don't want it to be the end of our story.

Ours a society, completely dependent on science and technology where we have immense possibilities of doing miracles with it.

I get inspiration from everything that is a part of our universe, from the small electrons to the gigantic galaxies with billions of mysteries hidden in them.

And technology coupled with science is perhaps the best tool to understand them.

Imagine that you have a Bucati Veyron spaceship, with top speed 0.98 light years per second, parked in the garage of your farm house on moon.

(For your kind information:-      I am not a disciple of Rajnikant!)

These are not mere fantasies. After achievement of globalization, the next mission is to achieve ’universalization’.

And there are brilliant minds around the globe working on this theme , among whom my favorite is   Dr. Stephen Hawking!

This guy has beaten his neurological disorder and all other physical limitations to emerge as one of the greatest minds of the century.

(Sorry! Rajnikant fans.)

Whenever I see a machine working, be it a supercomputer (on Youtube of course!) or a tiny watch, it adds to my craziness and catches my nerve.

I immediately start dreaming about the immense effort that we (creatures of blood and flesh) are putting to improve the quality of our life. And space exploration is definitely going to be another chapter in this history of human endeavor.

POSTED BY:-

SHARANPREET SINGH

ENROL. NO. -14114053

What I learned from a big disappointment - Do NOT Expect!

What I learned from a big disappointment

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed”

                     -         Alexander Pope

Do NOT Expect!

Well, I learnt that the hard way.

Expectations are difficult to live up to. It doesn’t hurt that hard when you expect something from somebody else, but when you are expecting something from yourself and you fail, it stings like hell. Expectations lead to hope and extinguishing hope leads to disappointment, which is hard to handle.

I have been practising the Korean martial art Taekwondo since the last 8 years and I hold a Black Belt. I will not boasting if I say that I AM good. One should know when they are actually good and when they are being overconfident. Ever since the first Taekwondo tournament that I participated in, I have won medals in every single competition, except one. That one tournament taught me the fact that one should never expect anything from anyone, especially from himself, rather just go with the flow.

I had always been good at Taekwondo. I used to train hard during the classes. When tournaments were round the corner, I would train harder even on days when there was no class. It’s just that when you take things for granted, they start falling apart.
It happened in the 24^th National Taekwondo Championship 2010. I had participated in two national championships before that and emerged as the gold-medallist both times. So, I was pretty much at the apogee of my career, and that is precisely when the devil strikes – when you are at your most vulnerable. It seemed that everything kept on coming to me the easy way, that I didn’t need to put that much effort to achieve them. I paid less attention during classes; my concentration started wavering during training. I didn't seem to notice the decline in my performance. 

But expectations don’t care about your attitude towards the task. They just depend on how you have been faring in the past, and I had a pretty good track record. So, everyone was expecting another successful championship, even me. But results don’t care about expectations; they consider the training and abilities. So, eventually, I ended up going down in the semi-finals, with a bruise on the left cheek and an internally bleeding finger. 

It’s not that I hadn’t got hurt before, but this time it hurt worse than ever. It was because of the losing factor, I guessed. I had lost to someone whom I had defeated three out of three times in our previous encounters, and losing to someone against whom you have a perfect record, that too because of poor preparation and overconfidence coupled with not being able to live up to expectations, is just too big a disppointment. 

My parents, teammates, even I was disappointed with myself. More importantly, my coach was disappointed. I could see it on everyone’s faces. I knew it was my own fault. I had sabotaged this tournament. I got the bronze medal as a consolation though, but even that didn’t seem right since there was no 3^rd-4^th place bout; both the losers in the semi-finals got the bronze. 

It was not just the losing part that pinched, but the fact that I had not been able to live up to the expectations. When you go in with full preparation, you have a chance at the top position. But even if you fail, you are still satisfied that at least you gave it your best shot; the other guy was just better than you. But when you go in like this - unprepared, overconfident – you are bound to eventually fail, maybe even to a rookie, and then handle the disappointment.

But I also knew that it was no use regretting what had already happened. I had to show everyone that I had still not lost my mojo; I just needed to train hard.

Again.

And so I did. Yes, it took some time, but I did bounce back. By the next nationals, I was ready. This tournament was important. Not only because it was the biggest tournament after the last disappointing one, but also because it was the 25^th National Taekwondo Championship – Silver Jubilee. Also, there was the silver lining of the treat that our coach had promised for anyone who won gold. I was confident, but still had some doubts as to whether I was ready or not. Eventually, I won the tournament (one of the bouts ended in a KO – I am really proud of that one).

So this way I learned that expectations are not good for anyone. One should not EXPECT anything from anyone; just do what they must without thinking about the end result. This keeps everyone from disappointments.

“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not in this world to live up to mine.”

                     -         Bruce Lee