Danger D’Avalanche

John: “Did you see George of the Jungle, Markos?”

Carlos: “My name is not Markos, its Carlos.”

John: “Oops sorry. Did you or did you not?”

Carlos: “Yes, and George goes yooohooo…..”

John: “You fucker…………”

[The story ends with an avalanche.]

I welcome the change, but it has been too drastic. No longer can you see the flaking walls and blue-whitewashed corridors. They have been replaced by White Cement. One would wonder how they got all that cement from. Remember the Birla empire is vast. ($ 28 billion)

The Institute facing side of Ram Bhavan

At present people are working in shifts to complete the massive overhaul. Definitely the campus is looking tidier. Workers are working tirelessly to white-wash the whole system.

As a famous ex-Dean commented, this is more like “chuna-lagana“. With mascara, they are trying to hide the real problems. I welcome the change anyway, but next time you are out on a sunny day, make sure you have a pair of goggles with you. White reflects more.

From FD 2 right side

From FD 2 left side

FD 2 corridor - all spic and span

The fees increased by  Rs.1000 for hostel fees this time around and tuition fees by around Rs.10,000. New students currently pay around Rs.55,000. In a way it is bad, but let me reveal the positive effects of this. If the management is really keen into putting all the new dough into use, then it will improve faculty and facilities in and around the campus.

I had chanced upon this book named “Improbable Achievement” in the library, a few days earlier while doing some work for the Placements Division. The Placements Division is thrusting forward the name, history and legend of BITS-Pilani to recruiting companies, and for that they needed some research.

The facts are a bit mouldy, from the 1990s, but still you can see the disparity.

IITs spend around Rs. 80,000 per student per year, IIScs spend around Rs. 1,20,000 per student per year. BITS-Pilani has a spending of around Rs. 9000 per student per year. (The figures are from 1990, remember Globalization hapened in another 2 years, the rupee depreciated only after that.)

Still the difference is too huge, not to take into account. I am not complaining, but the Birlas have been extremely generous in providing thousands of bright students like us with some quality education. But the quality has never incresed over the ages. The courses remain the same.

After the halt of funding from the Ford Foundation and assistance from MIT, Pilani went on a budget crisis and the concerted efforts of the then Chancellor Dr.KK Birla and faculty we were able to bring down costs. Previously 2.5% of the budget came from fees. In 1990, about 35% came from fees, 30% were paid by our generous donors, the Birlas and the rest came from a fund which was accumulated over the ages to provide money for the daily functioning of the institute.

I am no one to advise anybody on how they should run the institute. I am just a student. The management is very powerful in a private institute and I have to watch my words. But I certainly agree that our course structure and equipment training severely lacks purpose and thrust.

As a Mechanical Engineer who has 1 more year left, I can certainly second the fact, that most of us are unsatisfied with what we are being taught. A student in a NIT can beat us in technical prowess quite easily. There is no  substitute for proper training. Faculty and facilities have been used to their maximum.

Everybody who has been to the Workshop knows that 95% of the machines come from the 1950s to 1970s era. This was the time when the Ford Foundation was still interested in investing in Pilani. The funny fact is around 30 to 40% are from West Germany, a country which no longer exists. Most of the spare parts may not available.

I am still not complaining, the Workshop has offered me some of the best opportunities to learn at BITS Pilani. But as a Mechanical student, unlike other universities, I have never gone under a car, nor have I dismantled or seen inside a fridge. Yes, I know how to use AutoCAD and ANSYS. But wait they didn’t teach that properly too, did they? As of now there is no course on teaching software packages to Mechanical Students. Students are by nature mostly lazy. Instead of feeding them unnecessary courses maybe this should be looked into more carefully. I therefore think I can’t put the blame entirely on me for ending up with this CGPA. Nobody is interested in doing anything hands-on. It is all about solving stupid problems in a limited time-frame which will have little consequence in the future. Why would I need to solve anything like that, in a time-frame?

Coming back to the changes the institute has undergone, we have lost the redis. Those little snack shops littered around the campus providing comfort, quality time and public space to deprived souls, they are gone. Evicted without justified reason, the redi-wallahs will now have to live off other means.

How they are going to manage the huge humanitarian crisis caused by the lack of proper food sources is out of my creative imagination. For example, if all students from a single bhavan end up hungry and want to have food, what will they do? If those 250 odd people, all come to Sky/ Institute Canteen / Food King, we all know how much chaos will occur.

ANC is in itself a slight reminder. Since the redis are closed after day, messes after 8:30, Pilani folks are used to run to ANC or Food King to have a hunger-filler at night. But thanks to the droves of hungry-zombies, waiting times have increased to 30 minutes etc for certain food ites. The workers are over-worked, there is no proper ventilation nor waste-disposal. ANC looks a 100 times dirtier than any redi-shop.

For a small read on how clean and good-minded the redi-wallahs are, one must glance through Rishabh Kaul’s post, Marketing Stratergies.

The lack of public installations and places has always been the problem with BITS-Pilani. If one needs to sit down and have a small bit some time, there is no place such here. The Birlas definitely may not like the redis, but they also have never had tea from a glass, samosa-chat, or even nimbu pani. How can people who haven’t seen or experienced Pilani feel the impact?

Redis are places where people socialize and reach their comfort zone. If you are in LTC, and had 3 classes in a row, or were in Workshop for 2 straight hours, where will you go have lunch?

Food King, that’s too far away and they donot open in the afternoon.

ANC doesnt open till 7. It is utterly dirty.

Institute canteen? Have you had their Masala Dosa, tea or noodles? Don’t you know how bad it is?

I guess you will just have to drink cold water, which has copious amounts of calcium and magnesium deposits in it to quench your hunger.

Please visit the Facebook Page : Allow Redis Back and show your support. (Courtesy : Ajay Rungta)

By starvation and compulsory attendance the Management has decided to increase the standards. I hope they succeed.

Compulsory Attendance  (70 to 80%)has always been in the talks for a long time. Every batch is scared every semester when they start hearing rumours regarding it. Majority of the population doesn’t want it. It will leave us little time to do other things like waste time on the internet or on DC. Also club/department activities will be severely affected. As Pilani is so far away from civilisation, this will be a very successful deterrent from preventing people from attending cultural festivals or competitions in other places.

Pilani will lose its identity in a few days time.

I welcome change. I seriously do. I sincerely hope all these new changes would have come a bit sooner, it would have made this transition easier for me. I am in love with how Pilani looked before. All dingy, dirty walls, flaking lime, flushes that never work, hot weather, air coolers that do not work, over-priced food items in C’Not, no avenues for recreation, huge disparity in male-female population, CDCs, boring classes, lack lustre environments, Oasis and Apogee which just spell more work-more tension to me.

Incomplete Colours

Bye Bye Pilani

This post has been written not to offend anybody. I am just being a positive critic. I welcome the changes.

I hope the changes don’t change themselves.

Pilani on a rainy day. (Courtesy : Prashant Gupta)

Contrary to most rumours, the Clock Tower has still not been painted white. This photo was taken at 1300 hours on 17th July 2010.

The Clock Tower -- The Heights Unscathed

Latest Information

The administration is seeking alternatives to counter the food crisis. Rumours suggest that new shops will be opened. Also the compulsory attendance thing is again bogus. You can still cut classes.

I do not support Child Labour

Nothing racial about it Haha

Ubuntu has been reining my monstrous machine for quite sometime. IN between thanks to my 2 TB going into sleep mode, I had a DVD martyr. A loss for a good cause.

Just makes me believe in Open Source more and more.

The Obelisk in the centre of Buenos Aires

Around 27th of May last month, the Argentinian God had said he would scamper naked around this monument if the La Albiceleste
manages a victory in the South-African World Cup.

Now there is a man who loves his naked body. A streaker of the highest post. The coach of the Argentinian Football team. Public Nudity is not new to South America. I am not sure how much accepted in Argentina, but neighbouring Brazil has the least reservations as demonstrated in the Rio Carnival.

Word Bird

Brazil lalalala...lalala

Nak de Brazil

But on the 3rd of July in a quarter-finals match Argentina was trashed by Germany (0-4). Brazil was number by their loss to the Oranje (1-2).

The toughest day of my life

People should not promise such things which can lead their fortune sideways. I am pretty sure if there is/was a God, he was a unhappy man when Maradona said he would streak.

Out of frustration and insomnia, God scared to the end of his wits, destroyed Argentina’s chances even before the semi-finals.

I always said God was German.

Flipping with joy God

In that alternate universe, at the end of the World Cup, people would have witnessed this. The advanced civilisation there didn’t care of fat and lipo-suction was considered stupid.

Streak of Maradona

God does exist ask Diego himself. He himself is one.

There are some visual proofs that The Superior God supported this Demi Diego God.

Ab tera kya hoga Messi?

Sad Messi, sorry not the World Cup one

“In all my 50 years this is the toughest moment I’ve ever had to go through,So many good players, good people and good professionals. It’s like being punched by [Muhammad] Ali. I don’t have any energy left.“

Some happy people.

Take a bath, Shaq.

Me loves the Google idea.

Innovation at Googleplex

It reminds me of that Arabian commentator (not sure if he is not Spanish) who goes berserk every time the ball is netted.

Incidentally waka could mean

1)

War boats of the Maoris of New Zealand

2)  A brand of Japanese poetry

I apologize for the Japanese, they will eat their children as well.

I love Dutch meat.

3) a new replacement for the HTTP Protocol ( OHT)

4)

World Adult Kickball Association, looks hotter than football ;D

5) a bunch of other not-so-important things.

6) The Swahili for ‘be lighted‘

The BITSian slang for ‘taking light‘ or ‘light ra‘ has been traced to the unpronounceable mystical language of Swahili.

Waka Off.

Silent. Dusty. Morose.

The empty rooms brings in mind pictures of ghosts and haunted mansions. Curs roam wild, finding passion and war. Lokis trickle to the majestic mueseum, in stark contrast to the multitudes that used to throng during livelier days.

My love has left the town. Work squeezes me, and drips out all time one has been bestowen. One is tired.

The water is ever so hot. The body needs a circulation of artificially cooled rejenuvated ground water to replace the boiling blood. The food in the organised canteen tastes the same. The smiles have dwindled.

One finds happiness in amateurish jokes, and bandwidth.

One hopes to be rejoined with friends and loved ones.

One hopes to go home.

Naah, I am here till I strike some gold.

I will get to the questions directly, and want to keep this post strictly business. The quiz was won by Arya Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur, followed by BITS-Pilani as runners-up.

PRELIMS

20 questions

1) “Used by Men, Enjoyed by Women” — Axe Deoderant

2) Which magazine, had Marilyn Monroe as it’s cover page and was printed without a date, as the creator was unsure whether there will be another issue? — Playboy

3) Identify

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

4) Which company had bought Viva and Maltova from Jagatjit Industries in 2000 for a sum of Rs 86.25 crore?

GSK (Glaxo-SmithKline)

5) Identify the brand whose mascot is given below

Kellogg’s or Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. The mascot is Tony the Tiger.

6) Which important institution was established in New Delhi by the Colombo Plan?

AIIMS

7) Which company owns Ajanta and Samay brands and is incidently the world’s largest clock manufacturer?

Orpat

Which world leader in Electronics was started by Thomas Alva Edison in 1890?

GE or General Electric

9) Who sang his/her only commercial jingle for Glycodin?

Lata Mangeshkar

10) Identify the author.

Richard Branson

11) Identify the brand logo.

Dabur

12) Identify the brand

Sony VAIO or Sony VAIO X’

13) Whose brand tag-line is “Sense and Simplicity“?

Philips

14) Identify the company of these people.

Google (Larry Page, Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin)

15) Which brand has “57 varieties“?

Heinz

16) Which car brand is this?

Chevrolet Beat

17) NDTV Goodtimes is a JV between 2 companies, one is NDTV, which one is the other?

Kingfisher (Good Times)

18) Which company is currently ranked No.1 tire manufacturer in the global tire market, followed by Michelin second, Goodyear third, and Continental fourth as of January 2009?

Bridgestone

19) Which British PM who was responsible for bringin in a lot of economic reforms once worked with J. Lyons and Co. to help develop methods for preserving ice-cream?

Margaret Thatcher

20) A sound clip of Chance pe Dance played. Identify the production company.

Yashraj Films

Arya University topped the prelims.

One wild card round took place, as there weren’t as many teams in Jaipur like the other cities.

WILD CARD ROUNDS

1) What is the tag-line for Youtube?

Broadcast yourself

2) Air Jordan, was the first Nike shoe not to feature what?

The Swoosh, the Nike logo

3) What is the Lifeline Express undertaken by Tata?

It is a hospital on rails, for the Bihar Chattisgarh belt.

4) Which TV channel advertises itself as India’s Glamour and Lifestyle channel, and connect it to a major media group in India of not necessarily the same medium?

Zoom, an undertaking by the Times of India Group

5) Who endorses Samsonite?

Richard Branson

6) The Hollerith Corporation became what in the future?

IBM

7) What isthe trading symbol of Agilent Technologies?

A

This airline’s call sign is Speedbert. It’s predecessor was “Imperial Airways“. It has served several countries around the globe. Name the Airline.

British Airways

9) Which great iconic character was created by Bobby Kooka?

Air India Maharaja

LET’S TOSS

1) Packaged Holiday or Holiday packages was an idea started by this individual in 1851 between Leicestershire and Loughborough?

Thomas Cook

2) Why is the Rupee used as a currency in S.E. Asia?

Rupee derives from Rupiah which in Sanskrit means ‘wrought silver’. People in ancient India used to trade in pieces of silver long before.

3) A 2009 product was called the N95 mask, why was it called the N95 mask?

N95 mask was used in the swine flu affected regions of the world. 95nm was the filtering capacity of the mask.

4) When Marcus Junior visited the Black Sea Coast, he found the potential of transporting huge amount of something. He then built 8 ships for doing that. what are we talking about here?

The Royal Dutch Shell Company

5) In UK, its called the Asda, in Japan it is called Seiyu and in India the Best Price. What?

Walmart

6) Launched in June 1,19980 by David Walker and Lois Hart, the couple, it calls itself the “World’s most trusted name in their business“?

CNN

STUMP VISION

Answers

1) Giorgio Armani

2) First Motel

3) First Camera which doesn’t need a flash (Pic may not be same as shown in the round)

4) Henry Nestle

5) Starbucks

6) Infosys (Yes only the company’s name was asked, and the pic shown had ‘sys’ in full display)

TATA WORLD

1) “Please help yourselves” is the tag-line of which organisation?

Tata Ginger

2) Enigma is a line of optical frame solutions from which company?

Tata Eye Plus

3) What is “Tata Nagar“?

Armoured Carrier, Wheeled, Indian Pattern (ACV-IP), known also as Indian Pattern Carrier or under other similar names, was an armoured car produced in India during WW 2. Those produced by Tata Locomotives were called “Tatanagars” after the location of the works.

4) Complete the list. N Chandrashekaran, ……………………, F.C.Kohli

S Ramadorai

THIRD UMPIRE

1)

Ans: PepsiCo

CSE (Centre for Science and Environment) was in loggerheads with Pepsi over the pesticides incident.

Ranbir Kapoor and Aamir Khan are the brand ambassadors for Pepsi.

Caleb Bradhem founded the company.

2)

An ad about a a lady crying, but not in the frame, at night, etc

Ans: Iodex

3)

an ad about HMT

Ans: HMT

4)

also a pic of a very old bottle

Ans: Old Spice

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

1) Who is a xylophobic person?

One who is afraid of wood, and is therefore afraid of sitting on his desk.

2) What is Bill Gates Tax?

Bill Gates Tax is the tax one pays everytime one logs onto a Windows-enabled computer or any device, because what one paid to Microsoft.

3) Which product has been though to be have been designed wrongly for ages for the Asian market, for whom the smaller size is better?

Condoms

SLOG OVERS

Images or clues were given one after the other.

1)

(a) (b)   (c)  

Ans: Nicholas Piramal

(a) and (b) are products from Piramal, and (c) is Ajay Piramal

(2)

(a) A logo of a book opened up and light flooding out of it. It had a tag-line “Spread the light of Knowledge“.

(b)

(c) a packet of a washing powder, not able to remember what it read

Ans: Nirma

Nirma University, Karsanbhai Patel, the founder of Nirma Group

(3)

(a) “Powering Growth Responsibly“

(b)

(c) Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company

Ans: NTPC Limited

(a) is NTPC’s motto, (b) is R. S Sharma, Chairman and MD of NTPC Limited and (c) is their subsidary company.

I will add a few photos of the participants, to complete the post.

Courtesy: Numerous Blogs I sourced info from, GreyCaps and my friends

Overall Opinion

The questions were typical Pickbrain kind. Straight-forward and trivia based. But the quality of the questions were in doubt, when some people got really easy questions compared to others. And by the way they used Professional Buzzers, so we couldn’t complain.

The old guard failed on 5th. The future holds hope.

Let me end by saying

“It doesn’t matter what you say, just put your hands together….”

PLEASE COMMENT