It is 22:00. bhOndOO is very hungry and busy. His experiements are not giving good results. He has been trying various alternatives since three days now, but all he has achieved is getting fed up. After missing dinner, he wishes to eat now, but has no enthusiasm to walk. He does not know what to do. At such a notorious time, bhOndOO receives an email from a junior:

hi!!!!!
m ur junior in be :)…… rmmbr??????
hw r u?????? me fin…… jst doin sm tp thse dayz J
hey! cn u temme wch profs in cs tk up prjctees :)……
need 4 reco hehe…… applin 4 ms nxt sem… J
lemme no……
chalo ciao……bye……tc……

At the first sight, he thinks of the mail as a spam and is about to delete it, but then understands that it probably isn’t. He takes two hundred seconds to read and comprehend the mail. At the end of of it, he is not sure whether what he has comprehended is correct. He gets irritated and decides not to reply to the junior.

He makes himself understand that there is no other choice, and starts walking towards T-board. At least after eating, I will feel better. I can then try increasing the number of hash functions and see whether I get better results.

bhOndOO reaches T-board to see it closed. Somebody tells him that it is closed because of sudden strike by the Employee Association of IISc. bhOndOO is frustrated and angry. He curses five of them: Employee Association, T-board, IISc, his advisor and his decision to join for PhD. His current condition can be described in two beautiful and frequently occuring words in the research life: give up.

bhOndOO comes back, unlocks his terminal and sees the mail from the junior. He gets more angry. The junior becomes the bakra (victim) of bhOndOO’s frustration. bhOndOO writes following email to him:

.txet desserpmoc ruoy otni srettel gniniamer eht dda ot stroffe erom emos ekat ,etorw I tahw rehpiced ot sniap hguone nekat evah uoy taht woN .esuoh ruoy ot gnimoc dna maet yekcoh eht ni sdneirf ym rof tuo gnillac dnim ton lliw I ,liam a hcus em ot etirw uoy emit txeN
.setteuqite liame ni esruoc a nioj ot deen a dna ,dlihc a fo taht naht esrow roivaheb a wohs sespille dna skram noitamalcxe fo rebmun eht dna ,’J’ dna ‘eheh’ htiw elggiw yhtlif A .motpmys citanul a si ecalp etairporppani na ta yelims a gniddA .nettirw txet eht fo gninaem eht egnahc ton od yehT .snodda era syelims ,dnoceS
.liam ruoy htiw gnola retpyrced a hcatta osla esaelp ,emit txen ,eergasid uoy fI .denifed llew dna dootsrednu llew era rettal eht ;noisserpmoc atad dna dnah trohs ,snoitaiverbba htiw etirw uoy tahw esufnoc ton od uoy epoh I .noititep a elif esaelp ,hsilgnE ni yrassecennu era slewov taht leef uoy fI .slewov tuohtiw txet daer ot uoy ekil srewop enivid evah dlrow eht ni ydobyreve toN .sliame etirw ot nrael ,tsomerof dna tsriF

/* a more readable version appears in the comment. */

Prof C N R Rao starts his speech with a rocket.

Coffee Board in IISc was forcefully closed down by the Employee Association. Many predict that it will be permanently closed. Reason cited is the increase in the prices of the food items.

IISc Centenary Conference registration is now open.

Thanks to Deepti for sending the images.

This image is added to the story shit! blessings!:

Human-crossing:

Saving box:

And this one is dedicated to all computer users, the instrument would be called, well, a human:

bhOndOO went for the farewell function of the passing out ME and research students. He was a bit excited, because he had managed to get inside information about some games to be played during the function. He knew Shami was coming and wanted to be in her team. What he did not know was that Gullu was also coming for the function.

The faculty members were also invited and five out of twenty three showed their appearance. They were amongst the people to come on time and had to wait for the passing out students to arrive, who reached 20 min late. Some students claimed that they were having revenge on the faculty members who reach late for lectures. bhOndOO saw Lili seated beside Shami. He came to Lili and said, “The madam from the office was looking for you urgently.”. Lili went and bhOndOO grabbed the seat. When Gullu arrived, he had to seat three rows away. bhOndOO was very happy. When Lili came back and asked, bhOndOO made an ignorant face and said, “Oh! She didn’t! Then may be I misheard your name. Sorry for the trouble. Anyway, do get seated, the function is starting now.”.

After the initial formal function, including speeches of the faculty talking about hamare jamane mein and come back for PhD, the faculty members left. The classroom was then full of only students. Every passing-out student was called on stage, shared his/her experiences, was ragged by others, and was given a momento before returning to his seat.

While Laxman was getting asked about a girl who had come to his lab for internship last semester, Laxman answered, in a rather fed-up mood: How will I know what she has in mind! I don’t even know her. I mean, I know her, but only physically, and not mentally.
Junta bust out laughing.

Gullu asked Roshan: Give one similarity between you and your advisor.
Roshan said: Both of us take a long time to think on a problem.
bhOndOO, noting that he should also show his question-asking ability, asked: Give one difference between you and your advisor.
Roshan said: After taking a long time to think on a problem, he solves it.

Lili asked Sairam, the best friend of Roshan: What would have happened had you and Roshan been born in the same house?
Sairam answered: Instead of two, only one house would have been spoilt.

Chunni Babu presented a sher:
Khuda kare sab hasinaon ke baap mar jaye,
Bahana ho maatam ka, aur hum unke ghar ho aaye.
To this, bhOndOO added:
Are jaalim, aisa na kah, bada paap hoga,
Tu bhi kabhi kisi hasina ka baap hoga.

After the ragging, came the time for which bhOndOO was waiting. A game was announced. All students were divided in five teams and two participants from each team were called on stage. The two members of a team had to carry a balloon between their backs and without letting it fall, had to prick other teams’s balloons. The organizers arranged for teams such that every student’s team would be his/her unique position in the class modulus five. Shami went into team 2 and bhOndOO in team 3. Well, you guessed it right: Gullu went into team 2.

BenJi, bhOndOO’s partner, managed to prick two balloons. bhOndOO got the opportunity to prick Gullu’s balloon, but he could not do it because Gullu’s partner was Shami. Shami pricked the third balloon. Gullu managed to prick bhOndOO’s balloon and won. He was overjoyed. Shami was smiling looking down and bhOndOO wasn’t sad on losing. He remembered the line from Baazigar and felt happy: Haarkar bhi jeetne wale ko baazigar kehte hai.

There were a series of games played and bhOndOO’s team lost most of them whenever bhOndOO played against Shami’s team. Finally, Shami’s team won. They were called on stage and were distributed chocolates. Shami looked up to the cheering crowd — bhOndOO was smiling.

At the end of the games, Shami came back to her seat. bhOndOO got half of the chocolate.

At the end of six months, when the number of visits to iisc life crossed 5K, I was wondering whether the number would cross 10K at the end of twelve months. But you guys have already crossed that mark and bhOndOO is now roaring towards 20K.

Here is a contest: You predict one date on which iisc life would reach 20,000 visits and the person(s) whose prediction is nearest to the actual date (before or after) it happens will be the winner. The prize is a treat from bhOndOO in T-board of IISc (travel and stay not sponsored).

You can make only one prediction. You cannot change the prediction once made. And, you have to comment in your prediction before number of tics reaches 17,000.

The progress of tics has happened as follows:

• After first month (Oct 24, 2007): 300+.
• After six months (Mar 24, 2008): 5,000+.
• After eight months (May 24, 2008): 10,000-.
• After nine months (Jun 24, 2008): 15,000+.

When will it make 20,000?

Check out these google searches:

• Calculations: 5.5 * 2.2444, 20% of 100
• Transformations: 1 pound in kg, 1 USD in INR
• Geographical information: india population, japan area
• Tracking UPS packages: 1Z9999W99999999999
• Stock quotes: goog
• Location maps: 165 University Ave Palo Alto CA
• Flight information (by number): ua 312
• Flight information (by airport): sfo bos
• weather bangalore
• define alleviate
• firefox -browser: Check second result.
• form 16 filetype:pdf
• what is google
• URL containing the word: inurl:bhOndOO, inurl:meghana
• movie: india

bhOndOO is back from the nightmare — the meeting with his advisor. Prof Krishnamurthy has asked him many questions which went unanswered. bhOndOO has been asked to read the paper again and come back. bhOndOO is very disappointed — more than getting a refusal from a girl to whom bhOndOO’s parents asked for marriage.

bhOndOO types: pine -i and sees two new emails: one from Dr Ajay and another from a junior at BTech. bhOndOO gets very happy to read Dr Ajay’s mail, since he receives appreciation for doing a good work with the new CSA website. bhOndOO’s name is also added to the credits page of the website. He opens the other mail and comes to know that the junior has got admission into CSA and wishes to talk to him regarding the PhD programme and the faculty members. bhOndOO is not in a mood to entertain any visitors right now, but replies yes.

In the afternoon, his junior comes to IISc and they both go to T-board.
“What would you have?”, bhOndOO getting courteous.
“Let me see the menu. Okay, one noodles, …”.
bhOndOO starts counting (it is the sign of a courteous person. No, no! Not counting, but rather counting in mind and smiling), eleven….
“one badam milk, …”.
… plus twenty…
“… and … ummm…”.
… one punch?…
“ya… this cake packet. How much does this cost?”.
“Sixteen rupees.”, the shopkeeper replies.
… total forty seven… Juniors are dogs! He must be earning one lakh per month!
After collecting the valuables, the junior realizes and asks, “Aren’t you taking anything?”.
bhOndOO looks at him, feels like slapping his face and running away with the food items, but brings a courteous smile on his face and gives a crisp reply, “I had heavy lunch.”.
bhOndOO puts forth a 50-rupee note towards the shopkeeper, and the junior says, “Shall I pay?”.
bhOndOO looks at him, remembers his disappointment with the advisor, understands that this is the deciding time of his life, and says, “Okay, as you wish.”, putting back his note into the pocket.

The junior is stumped with a googly. He tries to collect all food items into his left hand and goes for his wallet using the right. He manages to drop the noodles and the badam milk can.

A smile appears on bhOndOO’s face. He quickly comes back to (imitates) the sane state and shows concern. The junior lifts the can, cleans it with his hand and feels embarrassed to see people in the queue watching him. He gives a 50-rupee note to the shopkeeper and takes back the change. As they hurriedly leave the counter, they hear the shopkeeper shouting on somebody to clean the floor.

“So what do you want to know?”.
“I just want to know which professors work in Compilers…”.
bhOndOO realizes that his professor is the only one who works in Compilers and is about to suggest, when the junior continues, “Actually, my company, Synopsys, is very keen on sponsoring some project in IISc and they are ready to give a sponsorship of upto 10 lakh…”.
“Rupees or dollars?”, bhOndOO is carefully listening.
“Rupees.”.
“Hmmm. I see.”, bhOndOO’s thoughtful reply. The thought process involves the morning discussion with Prof Krishnamurthy and then the appreciation mail from Dr Ajay.
“There is one Prof Krishnamurthy who works in Compilers. But you know that most of the areas in the field are already saturated. Very less and not very interesting research is going on in Compilers. I would rather suggest you work in some Embedded Systems related area. Not only it is in demand, but will also be of interest to Synopsys.”.
“That is true… but I was wondering…”.
“See, what you want at the end of your PhD is to grow higher in your company or to apply to some other company to get a better job. Correct?”.
“Correct!”, the junior cannot deny this.
“Then what is the point in having a PhD at the end of which you will not receive any value-add?”, such statements are made when bhOndOO wants to, but cannot, be logical.
“Yaa… but…”.
“And moreover, the faculty member who works in Embedded Systems, Dr Ajay, is a very nice prof. He reads and discusses papers with his students. He has a good lab and very good students. Your PhD will be fun. His students typically finish PhD in four years. And moreover, he has worked in Synopsys before.”.
“Is it?”.
“Of course. I strongly suggest you talk to him.”.
The junior is thoughtful for a moment and looks down. bhOndOO is looking at him and having a wicked smile. Then he brings himself back to the courteous mode and says, “If you want, I can arrange for a meeting with him.”.
“Oh! Is that possible?”.
“Of course. Any time during the weekday.”.
“bhOndOO, I think I need to think more on this. I may also have to talk to my manager.”.
“Sure.”, bhOndOO is overjoyed, “You take some time to decide and just let me know by email.”.
“Sure. Thanks a lot, bhOndOO. It is really very useful to have seniors like you.”.
bhOndOO smiles, “You are welcome.”.

While entering the department, bhOndOO saw Megha and Paresh coming on a bike. He waited for them near the entrance.
“Good Morning.”, bhOndOO in an enthusiastic mood.
“Good Morning.”, said Megha. Paresh smiled.
“You guys stay outside campus?”, bhOndOO was inquisitive.
“Yes, at Sanjay Nagar.”.
“You did not get accommodation in the married apartments in campus?”.
Megha and Paresh looked at each other, smiled, and Megha continued, “We have applied for it, but there is a long queue.”.
“And how do you quantify long?”.
“Well, okay. When we applied, our number was 72 in the list. Last semester it was 83. Now it is 73.”.
“What? How come? And what is the priority criteria?”.
“The first priority criteria is seniority in the institute. Thus, if some seniors get married and they apply, they will get a better rank even when they get married afterwards. The second criteria is marriage date. And the third one is the application date. There are also some criteria depending upon whether you took a break between postgraduation and PhD.”.
“Oh! But then when will you get the accommodation?”.
“When we applied, we were told two years. But looking at the rank in the list, it does not seem possible to receive the accommodation till we graduate.”.
“But both of you are students, then shouldn’t you get priority?”.
“bhOndOO, unfortunately, you are not the hostel officer. Otherwise, our waiting list number would have been halved.”. They laugh. “The hostel office people told us in a typical rude manner we see in a government office that there is no such rule.”.
“But then, how come Anjana is staying in campus? She joined with you, right?”.
“Well, she has a baby. The exception rules are never disclosed. But it is rumoured that if you have a kid or are pregnant, you get priority.”.
“I see.”.
“In fact, we applied together. Her original number was 71 and ours was 72. She has got the accommodation, but her name is still present in the list. And strangely, her number now is 75 whereas ours is 73!”.
“And how is that?”.
“As if we have any clue!”.
“Laxman, the PhD student, got recently married, right? And he did ME here? He must be higher in the list?”.
“The Hostel Office did some lotcha with his application. He joined in 2004, but he was put into 2005 list and his number was 24.”.
“Oh! Then?”.
“Then, via his advisor, he tried to pursue the matter with the authorities and now his number is 2.”.
“Oh! So he will get it.”.
“That is also not certain. His number is 2, but the Hostel Office does not have any free keys, i.e., none of the married apartments are yet vacated. So he may have to wait for more than a semester also!”.
“But I heard there is some limit on the number of years you can stay in married quarters, right?”.
“Three years. But there are PhD students we have met who have expressed their apologies for overstaying in their apartments.”.
“But isn’t this three year rule strict?”.
“Well, we will tell you, if we get a chance to stay there.”, and they all laughed again.
Paresh continued, “When we applied, the waiting list contained 72 student names. In 18 months, the list contains 97 names. If this is the rate, it is clear that we have more married students than married apartments. Of course, institute providing married apartment facility is really a bonus for married students, but I think these are not getting managed properly. If the rule of three years is made stricter and some of the hidden rules of exception are removed, the institute may be able to do better justice with all the married couples. Similar to the waiting list which gets updated sufficiently frequently, if the list of students currently staying in the married quarters is also listed along with their staying period, the matter would look clearer.”.
“Hmmm. Anyway, lets rush for the MSR Summer School, we may get late.”.

Check out: MSc/PhD shortlisted candidates for CSA for 2008.

And the department will see third R. Arun.

First R. Arun: PhD.	Second R. Arun: ME.	Third R. Arun: MSc.