For the last few days, lots of people have been asking me this question:
"Aren't you going to India this winter?".
And then listening to my response, they just exclaim:
"Man, it's been 1 1/2 years, don't you want to go home??"
I feel, if one doesn't go home once a year or so, does it mean that he/she is alienating his parents? Only those who go home often love their parents or their motherland? There are loads of such questions that go through my mind whenever someone gives such an animated exclamation at my response. If anyone of those people check this clouded blog of mine, they might get an answer for that question.
I've been with my parents for almost 20 years of my life, lived the life of an obedient son asking permission and approval for most of the major decisions in my career, sacrificing some of my pleasures and enjoying some in three years of the most memorable phase of my life in ISI. But you can't expect life to be the same. Come out of your parents' stronghold and live life for yourself - I feel that is the way to get tough. They've worked hard to give us all the luxuries in life, now it is their time to enjoy. Let them live their life and yes, keep in touch with them via the Internet and Telephone, with an occasional video chat with them.
I heard from people and experienced it myself - Everyone who is eager to go home gets pissed off at their parents after a brief period of time and urges to get back to their hostel/own home where they rule!! So then, why give such a vivacious expression on my response?
So here is my response to your question: I just don't feel like going home now. I'll go when I feel like. So now just stop asking me that question.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Finally getting serious with my Research
Finally, I got some time to write here again. Actually, it is not like I was really busy or anything, but was simply whiling away time. After I cleared all my qualifiers, a personal record though it is nothing significant except for the fact that none in the past ten years did so in my department, I was overwhelmed with joy and was getting drunk every weekend over the last few weeks.
Now that I received the official letter saying I am a Level II Graduate Student of the department, I've finally decided on my thesis advisor and am all set to start research.
Let me retrospect the chronological events that lead to me choosing my advisor as Dr. Anindya Roy. In my first semester in UMBC, when Dr. Roy met me for the first time, he told me that he might employ my mathematical background in solving a problem and giving me a thesis problem. I was not extremely serious about that, but then he introduced me to Dr. Prasun Kundu, a Research Associate Professor associated with JCET, a part of UMBC. In the past, Dr. Roy and Dr. Kundu have collaborated and advised a PhD student in his thesis.
So Dr. Roy related that they have another problem, an extension to the problem they previously worked on and asked me if I was interested in doing that. I said I just want to learn more about the problem and would work on it if interested. After a couple of weeks, I met Dr. Kundu and he briefed me the problem. Though I was not completely into it straight away, I liked the topic as it is much related to the real world, the main reason I quit Pure Mathematics; I was never competent enough to see a four-dimensional cylinder!
After working on it for a good eight months, playing with some codes in FORTRAN, I really got no good inclination towards that problem. But after my qualifiers, I read some good papers on the topic and Googled a lot to see what recent research is being done in that area and that was when I decided it is a good problem to work on.
Research Topic
The problem I will be working on is the Spatial and Temporal properties of Rainfall Statistics. Many theories and methods have been proposed on this, but the problem has not been solved in totality. My Precursor worked on the Spatial properties of it. So I'll be working on the time-variation and if feasible, try to get the joint density of both.
Thats it for now people.
Cheers,
Deepak.
Now that I received the official letter saying I am a Level II Graduate Student of the department, I've finally decided on my thesis advisor and am all set to start research.
Let me retrospect the chronological events that lead to me choosing my advisor as Dr. Anindya Roy. In my first semester in UMBC, when Dr. Roy met me for the first time, he told me that he might employ my mathematical background in solving a problem and giving me a thesis problem. I was not extremely serious about that, but then he introduced me to Dr. Prasun Kundu, a Research Associate Professor associated with JCET, a part of UMBC. In the past, Dr. Roy and Dr. Kundu have collaborated and advised a PhD student in his thesis.
So Dr. Roy related that they have another problem, an extension to the problem they previously worked on and asked me if I was interested in doing that. I said I just want to learn more about the problem and would work on it if interested. After a couple of weeks, I met Dr. Kundu and he briefed me the problem. Though I was not completely into it straight away, I liked the topic as it is much related to the real world, the main reason I quit Pure Mathematics; I was never competent enough to see a four-dimensional cylinder!
After working on it for a good eight months, playing with some codes in FORTRAN, I really got no good inclination towards that problem. But after my qualifiers, I read some good papers on the topic and Googled a lot to see what recent research is being done in that area and that was when I decided it is a good problem to work on.
Research Topic
The problem I will be working on is the Spatial and Temporal properties of Rainfall Statistics. Many theories and methods have been proposed on this, but the problem has not been solved in totality. My Precursor worked on the Spatial properties of it. So I'll be working on the time-variation and if feasible, try to get the joint density of both.
Thats it for now people.
Cheers,
Deepak.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Encounters of the first kind
Now these encounters are of the first kind for any Graduate students, Meetings with advisor.
The only good thing about it is that you get to know loads of new stuff and all recent advances in your research topic, leave alone the money you get as Research Assistantship, but in my case, the bad things count more than the good ones.
To start with, the first is that I am not getting paid(as of now) for my work. I have to earn my living teaching stupid American Under-grads. I call them stupids because of concrete reasons: They are taking Pre-Calculus course, the most basic course in Mathematics, and they don't even know what Real Numbers are! So I had to take the pain of explaining them what they are and yet they seemed to be baffled about the existence of a number called the Square-root of two! I don't complaint much though just because it is so damn easy as I need not prepare for the lectures.
The second of the reasons being the timing. How do you expect a Graduate student, who according to the norm of Graduate life sleeps not before 3 in the night, to wake up at 8 to answer your call( yes my advisor has my mobile number and calls me very often!)!
And then comes the time of meeting. It is at 9:30 in the morning, the time when I am at the pinnacle of laziness and am always half or completely asleep. I have to wake up at 8 and go to the school to attend the meeting.
The third reason, and the most important, results. Advisors are so good..NOT that they demand results in each and every meeting. I totally agree that all they need is results, but then they are never satiated with what you produce. They only want complete results, and when you say that you've done some work, they start lecturing about your indolence. if you want results, why don't you pay me and relieve from my teaching job so that I can work only for you and produce all that you want!
The final reason: resources. They say you can find some papers in some journal and when you go online to get a copy of that journal, you find that your university has not subscribed for that journal! I agree that it is partially the university's fault not allotting proper funds for subscriptions, but if they keep doing so for all the millions of journals in the world, how are they supposed to run the institution? And also, if he wants me to work on some software, he should also be good enough to provide me a copy of that software so that I can work on it in the nights! I can't sit in the office all night long, especially in a place like UMBC(reasons upheld to prevent advertising racism!)
Cheers,
Never mind what I said. Its for the good of your relationship with your advisor.
The only good thing about it is that you get to know loads of new stuff and all recent advances in your research topic, leave alone the money you get as Research Assistantship, but in my case, the bad things count more than the good ones.
To start with, the first is that I am not getting paid(as of now) for my work. I have to earn my living teaching stupid American Under-grads. I call them stupids because of concrete reasons: They are taking Pre-Calculus course, the most basic course in Mathematics, and they don't even know what Real Numbers are! So I had to take the pain of explaining them what they are and yet they seemed to be baffled about the existence of a number called the Square-root of two! I don't complaint much though just because it is so damn easy as I need not prepare for the lectures.
The second of the reasons being the timing. How do you expect a Graduate student, who according to the norm of Graduate life sleeps not before 3 in the night, to wake up at 8 to answer your call( yes my advisor has my mobile number and calls me very often!)!
And then comes the time of meeting. It is at 9:30 in the morning, the time when I am at the pinnacle of laziness and am always half or completely asleep. I have to wake up at 8 and go to the school to attend the meeting.
The third reason, and the most important, results. Advisors are so good..NOT that they demand results in each and every meeting. I totally agree that all they need is results, but then they are never satiated with what you produce. They only want complete results, and when you say that you've done some work, they start lecturing about your indolence. if you want results, why don't you pay me and relieve from my teaching job so that I can work only for you and produce all that you want!
The final reason: resources. They say you can find some papers in some journal and when you go online to get a copy of that journal, you find that your university has not subscribed for that journal! I agree that it is partially the university's fault not allotting proper funds for subscriptions, but if they keep doing so for all the millions of journals in the world, how are they supposed to run the institution? And also, if he wants me to work on some software, he should also be good enough to provide me a copy of that software so that I can work on it in the nights! I can't sit in the office all night long, especially in a place like UMBC(reasons upheld to prevent advertising racism!)
Cheers,
Never mind what I said. Its for the good of your relationship with your advisor.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Life in Indian Statistical Institute - First Semester
As the title of the blog suggests, I am trying to pen my journey from the DARK side of science to the brighter side.(Statisticans call Mathematics the darker side!)
Well, I am fed up of writing this stuff in my SOP, I got into ISI after a two-phase exam, followed by an interview by an elite panel of professors. But then, let me start with the interview day.
Interview Day:
I was sitting in the SMU lounge, and there I met this weird person. He was looking wild, he said he got a rank of 2200 in IIT-JEE, a rank which no person would leave. I guess you got who the person is. Yes, it is none other than Kamlesh Kumar Singh. He started talking a lot(in brief) about his life, his village, how he swam 35 KM to reach a railway station to attend the interview, and I am still baffled about the percentage of truth in those statements, but I believed all of them back then.
Kamlesh was the first to be interviewed that day. And the person who led the way to the interview room was none other than Dr. Jishnu Gupta Biswas, and believe it or not, I mistook him for a Graduate Student! How stupid of me not recognizing the person who failed me in his course later. I'd better leave the details of the interview as it is no great and it was just simple, plain and nervous. But some corner of my heart felt back then that I got selected.
First day in ISI:
It was not really memorable compared to the remnant of the stay. Had some conversation with all the others, as usual, slept in the orientation lecture, and in all the introductory lectures by Dr. Kodiyalam, Dr. Bagchi, Dr. Jishnu, Dr. Athreya et al. The ragging session was one of the most interesting ones. That is when we got to talk to the seniors. The first one I spoke to is Anilatmaja. The conversation with Anil made me feel comfortable that these guys are not at all good at ragging. Hehehe, just kidding. I meant that they make it fun!
Thus started life in ISI, the journey I can never forget!
It is possible to recollect all the experiences and incidents, but then penning them down will hurt some of my friends, so shall write some of them.
First month:
Nothing much done. Made good friends with all the batchmates. Had some problems with some of them initially because, you know, everyone was new to hostel life and people were coming up with nicknames and stuff like that. My surname, Ayyala, made some of them call me Ayyayya(if I remember correctly) and back then, I was used to think somewhat on these lines:
My surname represents my ancestors and I hate all those who mock it!
But now when I rethink those moments, I feel how foolish I was. I started avoiding those who called me Ayyayya, but those good men understood my feelings and stopped calling me so! Thanks guys.
Second Month:
Our batch was getting along well, with occasional remarkable comments from Dipramit Majumdar:
Aprameyo-da jab khelne aaye, us din ball l**da ho gaya!.
He meant to say, bahut locha ho gaya!. Well this list of gossips with Dipro can be posted all together as a new topic, but lets keep it aside.
Third Month: Exams time! Everyone studied hard. I thought my exams went well, but when the grades came, I was shocked! I was on the verge of failing(to keep up my stipend). Computers and Physics were at the receiving end of fault, keeping aside my naps in all the classes. Had lots of fun screwing up Pranav's sleep with the help of Mathew-da.
Fourth Month:
This is some time I can never forget. The batch was partitioned into two: The Masti group, who christened themselves the G4 later, and the rest of us. Had many altercations and in the end, nothing serious happened except for a few mid-night baths from a water-mug placed on top of the door. Played lots of Age of Empires. And I can never forget the betrayal by Dipro and Chitro on the night before Computer Science exam(details omitted).
But it was all for our good. I passed the semester and kept my stipend intact and made friends with as much diversity as there is in India.
To be continued....
Well, I am fed up of writing this stuff in my SOP, I got into ISI after a two-phase exam, followed by an interview by an elite panel of professors. But then, let me start with the interview day.
Interview Day:
I was sitting in the SMU lounge, and there I met this weird person. He was looking wild, he said he got a rank of 2200 in IIT-JEE, a rank which no person would leave. I guess you got who the person is. Yes, it is none other than Kamlesh Kumar Singh. He started talking a lot(in brief) about his life, his village, how he swam 35 KM to reach a railway station to attend the interview, and I am still baffled about the percentage of truth in those statements, but I believed all of them back then.
Kamlesh was the first to be interviewed that day. And the person who led the way to the interview room was none other than Dr. Jishnu Gupta Biswas, and believe it or not, I mistook him for a Graduate Student! How stupid of me not recognizing the person who failed me in his course later. I'd better leave the details of the interview as it is no great and it was just simple, plain and nervous. But some corner of my heart felt back then that I got selected.
First day in ISI:
It was not really memorable compared to the remnant of the stay. Had some conversation with all the others, as usual, slept in the orientation lecture, and in all the introductory lectures by Dr. Kodiyalam, Dr. Bagchi, Dr. Jishnu, Dr. Athreya et al. The ragging session was one of the most interesting ones. That is when we got to talk to the seniors. The first one I spoke to is Anilatmaja. The conversation with Anil made me feel comfortable that these guys are not at all good at ragging. Hehehe, just kidding. I meant that they make it fun!
Thus started life in ISI, the journey I can never forget!
It is possible to recollect all the experiences and incidents, but then penning them down will hurt some of my friends, so shall write some of them.
First month:
Nothing much done. Made good friends with all the batchmates. Had some problems with some of them initially because, you know, everyone was new to hostel life and people were coming up with nicknames and stuff like that. My surname, Ayyala, made some of them call me Ayyayya(if I remember correctly) and back then, I was used to think somewhat on these lines:
My surname represents my ancestors and I hate all those who mock it!
But now when I rethink those moments, I feel how foolish I was. I started avoiding those who called me Ayyayya, but those good men understood my feelings and stopped calling me so! Thanks guys.
Second Month:
Our batch was getting along well, with occasional remarkable comments from Dipramit Majumdar:
Aprameyo-da jab khelne aaye, us din ball l**da ho gaya!.
He meant to say, bahut locha ho gaya!. Well this list of gossips with Dipro can be posted all together as a new topic, but lets keep it aside.
Third Month: Exams time! Everyone studied hard. I thought my exams went well, but when the grades came, I was shocked! I was on the verge of failing(to keep up my stipend). Computers and Physics were at the receiving end of fault, keeping aside my naps in all the classes. Had lots of fun screwing up Pranav's sleep with the help of Mathew-da.
Fourth Month:
This is some time I can never forget. The batch was partitioned into two: The Masti group, who christened themselves the G4 later, and the rest of us. Had many altercations and in the end, nothing serious happened except for a few mid-night baths from a water-mug placed on top of the door. Played lots of Age of Empires. And I can never forget the betrayal by Dipro and Chitro on the night before Computer Science exam(details omitted).
But it was all for our good. I passed the semester and kept my stipend intact and made friends with as much diversity as there is in India.
To be continued....
Thursday, June 5, 2008
First Blogging Experience
I am not pretty sure how people feel writing their first blog nor can I experience their feeling. But I am quite sure no one has felt like me while writing the first blog. This is supposedly a public blog, for people to learn more about me. I've tried Orkut, Facebook, Flickr, etc. and even now I keep getting loads of invitations to join many other such online communities to make more and more friends.
But now I am slowly realizing that these sites allow you to be in touch with your friends but there is no space to write out your mind.(One major reason for this being Gmail, which gives unlimited space for its users. Never mind, its a bad one.....NOT.}
But now that I've started, let the ideas flow out of my mind and let me write out something that happens in my life and which I want to tell to all the people who are interested in me, in the positive and straight sense.
First let me start with a picture of mine. I really love being captured by the lens, but after the picture has been taken, I never want to see that because I always look like bad in them. But I never care how I look and keep taking pictures of myself using my mobile camera(Yes I got one in my Nokia N75. Its worth $100 Goddammit!) and have a look at it and then delete them the very next instant.
Wait Wait Wait. I just said I want to upload a picture. Then why did I write all this stuff? Because this is a BLOG. Just kidding. Here comes my picture.
Thats it guys for the first post. I shall keep writing more and more stuff once I feel more comfortable with blogging.
Kanpai!(which means cheers in Japanese)
But now I am slowly realizing that these sites allow you to be in touch with your friends but there is no space to write out your mind.(One major reason for this being Gmail, which gives unlimited space for its users. Never mind, its a bad one.....NOT.}
But now that I've started, let the ideas flow out of my mind and let me write out something that happens in my life and which I want to tell to all the people who are interested in me, in the positive and straight sense.
First let me start with a picture of mine. I really love being captured by the lens, but after the picture has been taken, I never want to see that because I always look like bad in them. But I never care how I look and keep taking pictures of myself using my mobile camera(Yes I got one in my Nokia N75. Its worth $100 Goddammit!) and have a look at it and then delete them the very next instant.
Wait Wait Wait. I just said I want to upload a picture. Then why did I write all this stuff? Because this is a BLOG. Just kidding. Here comes my picture.
Thats it guys for the first post. I shall keep writing more and more stuff once I feel more comfortable with blogging.
Kanpai!(which means cheers in Japanese)
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