Integrity: Claim only what is rightfully yours

Also published in The Hindu, Education Plus on 22nd October 2012

Academic integrity is probably one of the lesser taught subjects in the technical education curriculum of India. I didn't even know of the word till I started my masters in the US but there we go. I often work in close relation with my university's career advising coordinator and professors enough to understand its consequences, not just for those found guilty of plagiarism but also for those of us who wish to adhere it. Requesting a professor in a big university for a  research position is considered not unlike a wedding proposal. The moment they realize you are Indian, the first concern in their mind is integrity. Its not a stereotype that I would think of as uncalled for, having myself witnessed cases of plagiarism on a weekly basis. Yet, the pool of brilliant students who come to US for higher education and internships is always on the rise and so is my concern.

I have heard from a professor once that an IITian applied for an internship. He usually doesn't even open these kind of mails unless he has a position open and once he did. The student in question said he was interested in turbine engine automation systems and was engrossed by one of the papers in the same topic that the professor has written. Unfortunately for him his crawling code has backfired and the professor to whom this email was sent turned out to be an expert in artificial intelligence, not really related fields. Incidents like these make the professors in the US wary of students from India who are genuine .A lot of really good candidates miss out on opportunities because of others who consider these internships as all expenses paid foreign trips.

These incidents continue once the same student comes to the US to pursue his masters. I was recently involved as an advisory in a resume plagiarism investigation in my university. Some well-minded senior has shared his resume in the hope that others might be helped, but unfortunately his resume was copied word-word by around 50 odd students while applying for the same part-time job within a span of 2 hours. Needless to say no Indian was hired for the position.

Most research students who publish their work on a regular basis are usually aware of the consequences of plagiarism and usually care about academic integrity. They know how difficult it is to bring about new ideas and there by know the value of others' work. But it is plagiarism that arise on these small scale that create the bigger problems. From assignments to exams we are used to or atleast witness instances of academic dishonesty, but if you are aiming for an admit in a reputed international university please practice integrity. Integrity is much like volunteerism, its not an act but a virtue. If found guilty, could lead to serious consequences including deportation and retraction of degree. Most importantly, as men and women of science it is our duty to credit those who deserve.

Inspirations of an Inspired Musician

Music is a relaxation for some who listen to it, when they are stressed. For some others music is an art. They enjoy its beauty in theaters and in record. A select few play their own variety of music, because it keeps them to their roots in a world where individuality lacks. For the select few like Javed Riaz, its all of the above put together with a will to inspire and a talent to match.

I have seen him with the Paradigm Shift since the early part of the last decade and the one thing that's not changed with him is his ability to inspire. We live in a time where the number of youtube hits are the trend setters. In this kolaveri  madness we forget about musicians like Javed, so talented yet so timid.

The delicate string work, the tempting piano arpeggios, the tight bass lines, expressive singers, nicely played violin and flute pieces, well chosen vocal harmony and to top it all fantastic lyric work from Antony Faze make his music a delicious buffet for the ears. With an occasional touch of Jazz and a dash of Indian classical influence blended together with subtle uses of modern recording technology makes his style of music unique yet addictive.

He has definitely inspired many a musicians ever since his Saarang years where we all look at him in awe and wonder if we can ever make such nice music. Music that reaches out to you, irrespective of what you are feeling at that time, irrespective of what your usual tastes are. I guess with his works as an independent musician his range has now improved. I hope he makes it big, just so that the rest of the world could also enjoy the music that has so far been the privilege of a coveted few.

Presenting... Javed Riaz.....

The Stage...

"There was too much noise in front of me, even though I haven't even got on it yet. Even over all the encore, I can still hear my heart beating. A sweat breaks out. They called my name and its time. I take the first step onto it. The first tinge of lights and smoke hit my face along with the blast of over ten-thousand people cheering. A smile broke out on my face and all the butterflies fly away. I knew then, that I am about to be born again and this is where I am supposed to live."

A stage is not just a dais. Its not just an elevated platform where people perform. Well it is just that, if you are one among the audience. For a performer though its more than that. A stage is a miraculous place, where there are no worries, no fear and no one can stop you. Its a place where you lose yourself on your performance while you and the art become one - Inseparable.

A stage is where I have been most alive. I perform for the people, yet I dont care if they like my performance or not. For all I care about is the performance and how much breath it gives me. The best of the best stage performers like Michael Jackson or the Iron Maiden, they dont just perform now do they? When we watch their performance we are so captivated by their stage presence that we become a part of their performance ourselves. They share not only their emotions, but also their energy and their soul with others.

May be thats why I feel so alive. I am sharing the energy and the soul of so many others, that I live more than just my life. I miss those days. When I was with TwinStarZ or with JDC, I become one with my fellow dancers. We all become just one being. Our souls were connected and so were our minds. In my post dancing stage appearances with G-Clef though I was not one with the band. No, rather I had my self to me. I was closer than I had ever been with myself. I had all the time to do what I wanted to always - to perform. I miss both those experiences. We all live together on stage, with just ourselves. Enjoy so much as though there were no tomorrow. Live as though we are the only survivors on a post-apocalyptic world.

Maybe one day I will get back a similar stage experience. Maybe I will be able to live once more, the way I did. Until then, I can just hope to get my life back whilst rewinding my memories and try to feel out the rush.

Hossanna

Hossanna, what do you do when you meet her? A girl who is truly a breath of fresh air. A girl as colorful as the spring of Arizona. A girl for whom you can cross the skies.

I just realized when I listened to this song that I know this girl. I know her for some time now. How can I know someone for sometime and not realize that I am slowly being blown away by that person. No, its not love. I would have recognized it easily, that hopeless romantic that I am. No, I just let her be. I just let her keep blowing me away. Both with the power of playful words and with the spirit of her glowing smile.

The more I came to know her now, the more I realize she is the one. She is the hossanna the song talks about. I know that the grass is greener when I walk with her. I feel the spring in my feet, when I know I am about to meet her. And still, No. I am not in love with her. I just adore her for the way she sees the world in her own way, for the horizon is her limit and I like that idea. Hossanna, the girl who makes me smile spontaneously.

soundcloud

I have recently started this other blog, where I post all my audio recordings. After coming to the US I have made a small hobby out of recording cover songs and some jamming sessions. Hopfully I will take this up more seriously and do some proper music. Either ways the blog can be found in here -> http://soundcloud.com/ragav-venkatesan

Cheers,

Conversation of the epoch.

Ganesh was wondering what this man was doing here in the middle of nowhere. Never in his life had he seen a man so divine, yet so scary at the same time. The man is barely clothed and the days are getting colder down here in the earth. He already missed the cozy-ness of his air-conditioned apartment in the sky. He hated the land. He was wondering if he should offer him his coat.

Just then the man signaled Ganesh to follow. They walked in silence till they reached a settlement by the banks of the river. Ganesh knew that Saraswati flows through this region, though he had never seen it in here. The revered man sat down by the foot of a tree, Ganesh followed him.

"Wondering why I am living here alone and away from the bustle ?", asked the man. Ganesh answered,"Wondering if I could learn how to muster the cold". Somehow that seemed to be the most intriguing thing about this man. He is unfazed by the hardships of the dying world.

"The reason I called you here Ganesh, is that I wanted to make the greatest scientific achievements of this yuga accessible to the people of the kali yuga. You do realize that they are going to be dull and would need a lot of help to develop into intellectual beings don't you ? We wouldn't want mankind to go the way of the chimps", said the man.

Ganesha said,"My father always says that Sage Vyasa is the wisest of all. If you say so, it is true sir. What I don't understand though is that why can't the people of kalki realize what we have achieved ? They will be, by no means, weaker than us". Vyasa simply replied," Their progress will be overcome by greed and their potential, hampered by corruption".

Ganesh was curious. He had learnt from his father, that Kalki was final the avatar of vishnu. Vishnu, the life. It is the reason for everything artificial in existance. Isn't the deshavatar representative of the evolution of life itself. Significant multi-cellular life started as fish, thus the matsyam, it evolved into amphibians, thus the koormam and so on, it finally lead to Rama and Krishna, the fully evolved scientifically and culturally advanced men. Kalki is the next stage. Kalki is where man performs acts beyond possibility and achieve impossible feats. He always thought that Kalki was the golden era of mankind.

Vyasa suddenly interrupted this chain of thought. He said,"I know exactly what you are thinking my son. Everyone, including your father think that Kalki is going to be the golden age of mankind. Alas, how very wrong they are. Kalki is rather the dark age of human era. Man will kill  fellow man for entertainment. Wars will be launched for the propagation of religion. Harmony will exist only in music, and that barely. Of course he will do great things, but we are not doing the same things. For they are great, yet terrible."

Ganesh said," The earth barely sustains the wars in this time sir, what with all the radioactive and sub atomic weapons around. Won't that mean the end for the planet, if man could potentially become more lethal ?". He was wondering how much powerful man can get.

Vyasa replied," At the cost of being heavy-headed son, they are never going to be as powerful as we are now. The farthest that their machines will ever travel to is just beyond the reach of the sun. Their space stations will be hopelessly pathetic compared to our space cities. Their cities will be made of huts when you compare it with the fine architecture of Pataliputra and Dwaraka. Their vimanas are mere insects.They won't realize how weak and dumb they are compared to the dwapara man. It is their superiority complex. They will think that they are the greatest the planet has ever seen. Each generation will gloat to the previous that they are the epitome of science and technology. All the while not realizing that we lived the real golden age. Some of our temples and rituals will not be considered as schools of science and art, but rather as mere superstition and will be ridiculed. Why in fact the Vedas, Upanishads, Dhivya Prabhandham and Sangam literature that are going to be penned down by the wise people of this era will be considered myth and not as scientific proceedings of this era. Man will be so naive and careless with his ancestral heritage that he will go back to being nomads and start all over again, only because he disregards our knowledge."

Ganesh listened intently to all this. He still had one nagging question unanswered. He was wondering if he dared ask this to Vyasa. He figured he should give it a shot. He asked," So what will happen to us." Vyasa simply replied,"Dwapara yuga is about to end, you know that".

Ganesh can now see the full scene unfold. The end of dwapara yuga is already here. Kurukshetra just happened and witnessed the change in man. The greatest war that had even been and will ever be fought. A war with such intensity and power, that the Nuclear wars of the future will just be mockery. Mankind is coming to an end. He asked Vyasa," How long ?"

Vyasa pondered over question. "I give it a maximum of 4000 years. The rest of kalki will just be the dying lifeless planet.",he replied. Shock went over Ganesh. 4000 years is a very small time. It can hardly be considered a yuga. The man of kalki must be so reckless if he is going to destroy himself completely within such a short time. He was secretly glad that he is not going to live the kalki world in earth. He will be safe in Kailash, with his family.

"Now lets get down to business Ganesh. We have a lot of work to do. Writing the story of Kirshna is not a simple undertaking, considering we should write in a form that is easily understood by the naive men of Kalki.", said Vyasa. Ganesh knew ofcourse that it is hopeless to write this epic, he just wondered whether there will be any man in the kali yuga, who would knew what the men of dwapara yuga achieved. He prayed the apocalypse that is going to transition dwapara yuga into the kali yuga be quick and Krishna's demise would be fast. He took his pen, and got ready to be the scribe, for the greatest story ever recited.

The blocked Profile

It all started with Friendster. Social Networking took its turn in India when Orkut became popular. Everyone was in Orkut. Guys who never even spoke with girls in their entire lives, gone on to get that psychological affliction removed owing to the ease that Orkut provided in socializing. I am different though. I started talking to her first via SMS. Text Messaging was another popular thing, but a thing for only the bold hearted men to attempt, atleast in the year 2006.

I met her in my freshman year of college. Went through the usual introductions, but never really found her attractive or anything. There were a lot of girls and a teenager's eyes does pan around though will not get fixated to one piece in particular. I got to know her in more detail though there wasn't really any big or sparkling conversation between us.

I reckon it was January when we entered and won that electronics competition together. One can't help but get closer to someone if you are stuck with them working together in a team for two days straight. There it was, our first unofficial date. We were getting closer and closer to each other. There was a week when I am sure there were more than 700 texts each way ( We had a 100 texts per day limit then ). Then started the occasional call, the odd date a month. Things were going  just awesome.

It was a really nice spring evening one January when I went ahead and messed it all up. I said I loved her. Surprisingly, she said she loved me too. It lasted for a day, the second day we broke up and she blocked me in orkut. She had changed her mobile number also. I reckon she got a little too panicky. Things went on cold war for la couple of years, we teamed up again for the senior year comprehensive project.

Then it was the turn of facebook, a fine person centered social network, invention of a certain red-green colorblind.. She added me in FB and till date I consider the following two years the best years of my life. We started going out again, we were so close to each other that we are practically a couple living together. College ended  we became more close then ever, thanks to facebook mobile. It was her turn this time, she started the question of us again, and we were again in love, we both knew it. I had to come to Arizona for my Grad School and she was working in Bengaluru. I wonder what we would have been doing if not for facebook.

Alas, our relationships are never stable. Out of the blue, she had blocked my facebook profile, she changed her mobile number yet again, changed her physical address and moved elsewhere. I could never talk to her again till date. Perhaps one day we will speak again, get to know each other again, date again, just perhaps perhaps perhaps.. ( lol like all couples we watch sitcoms together and coupling was one of our favorites :D )

The pleasures of relationships that we see these days courtesy social networks are huge. That being said, they are also equally hurting and torturing when you break up with the love of your life, for when they block you, you can still feel their presence amongst your mutual friends, but they always elude you. It is hurt !

India, been a developing country for quite some time now isn't it ?

I have been asking around a lot of people, entrepreneurs, teachers, CEO's, students and people of wisdom the same question, When is India going to be called a Developed country ? - I got a startling result. More than 75.54% ( it was a real calculation folks ) of people said, "NEVER".

It was a sunny morning, and the men of the town go to the site, the site of what would remain the tallest man made building for the oncoming 4000 years - the pyramid of Giza. Egypt was a mighty empire, one of the most developed civilizations of the world and they were showing off their prowess in civil engineering by building the gigantic monument. Little did they know that far across the globe, there are other such civilizations in India building temples and jumping leaps in literature. What were the Europeans doing then, probably trying to join two words together and form a language.

It's true that when the vedas were written, in most other races of the world there wasn't even a recognizable language, that when the Nalanda University was thriving, most of Europe was still making farming settlements. The Vimana Sastra, the earliest account of a flying machine, possibly the earliest published piece of work on aviation technology, is to this day a wonder to scientists. Some of the philosophy mentioned in the vedas are still not understood and there is a huge research going on, in neolithic and pre-neolithic Indian culture because many believe that scientists those who are working on stuff ranging from image processing to electricity to particle physics to astronomy are just rediscovering things that the Indians and Egyptians already knew. I can keep on providing evidence as to how mighty the two empires of India and Egypt were. What more, both the civilizations had a flourishing trade between them. Also, don't forget the Chera Chola and the Pandiyas of the Dravidian civilizations.

So what happened to the super-power that was once the "empire". Well, obviously Europe grew at the same time India fell, which was possibly due to either climatic changes or due to a failure of trade between India and Egypt and Mesopotamia. But what we do know happened was that Europe gained power both in land and in technology and they started colonizing the entire world. We all know how we fought for our freedom and how we achieved it. But did we really achieve it ?

True, America got it's independence in 1776 as compared to India in 1947, but Singapore got it's independence in 1965. How is it that they are far more developed country than India is ?

We all know how much the education in India sucks. Irrespective of what we think, what we are told by our parents, it is a fact that apart from some schools like the IIT's there aren't many schools that provide quality education. I am from Anna University, and I am telling the educatin there is simply poor. There is no other word for it. When I started doing my Graduate education here in ASU, I realize how much I should have learnt in my undergrad and how good the others are. It was a pain for me to realize, and that's when I started seeing the big picture.

Ok so the two universities that I have been under and I know, Anna University and Arizona State University, what is the difference, lets start there. Jerusalem College of Engineering has access only to IEEE, and that too the subscription ended in 1998. ASU has access to over 15000 research databases. If only students have interest in studying will they be able to develop technology for the country and only then will students develop.

Ok what do I want to say from all this ? I have been writing this blog for days now, trying to complete it in a proper way, not knowing how to convey my ideas delicately. I think I don't care much anymore. So here we go,

Indians are the modern idea of slaves. Earlier the slaves are people who are people of physical energy, because labour is what was required. Slaves were "outsourced" and made to work. The modern concept of slavery is Outsourcing. There are thousands of IT companies in India. What do they do ? They are a portal through which Indian minds are sold for corporates who makes us work on small areas of projects in small groups, so that we won't know what is fully going on. On a larger picture Indians are the modern version of slaves and brainwashing is the modern version of slavery. India is a fallen empire. An empire which will not grow back unless their people understand, that they are SLAVES.

contact me at ragav_venkatesan@yahoo.com if you want to challenge this view.

cheers :)

Unnale Unnale

Damn ! It's boring when I am sitting in the college net lab waiting for my turn to present my project in a review which no one cares about. Moreover the internet here really sucks too.

I know I have mentioned this movie in so many places previously, but now I realize that everytime I watch that movie, I find a different meaning to it all together. Each character was defined perfectly and portrayed effectively by all the actors. Each character has a well-thought out back story and there are no loop holes one could find.

The RR baffles me. The entire movie consists of RR composed using just the three chords, C Minor, Bb Major and G# Major. Chinmayi has done an awesome job as voice for Tanishka. Her voice literally is the one bringing the character alive.

Yes, guys and girls do contradict a lot. The Ying Yang symbol in the movie title shows clearly, the fact that both, though both the male and female contradict each other, they both land up intertwined. A fact that is common in any successful relationship.

Sada in that movie, portrayes this arrogant girl character. A relationship with that kind of a girl is a nightmare. She says she loves you, but you won't be able to find love anywhere. The start of such relationships will be fantastic, but as times moves on, she starts to dominate you. No matter what she says, she doesn't trust you, and she will make you feel that you are always inappropriate and insignificant. It's not just Sada, so is the the other girl, Paloma, Raju Sundaram's girlfriend. She will want to have total control over you and then you will change your character to adapt to hers. You will do everything she asks of you and yet she won't be willing to compromise one single thing for you. You will come to a situation where you will find that you can't remember any reason why you both are together. She will not let you be happy when you are with her and she will emotionally torture you even after you break up with her. She will just want to hurt you and make your life hell for being with her. Why the hell does she get jealous if Vinay is going out with Tanishka ? She broke up with him right ?

This is where things get interesting. Tanishka proposes and still Vinay, the gentleman sleeps in the car downstairs. Sada, the one who doesn't trust anyone comes and checks. Such a cheap act. And stil Vinay goes and talks to her as a man. Says how much she hurt him. Atleast then she should have apologized shouldn't she ? She knows her fault by then and still it's her ego and her arrogance that prevents her from doing that. Now whatever she is going to say Vinay is not going to take her back is he ? How will he do that, knowing the kind of evil Sada is and the fact that if he accepts her again there is all possibilities that he might have to endure all of that again.

Tanishka is the awesome character here. She knows about Vinay and Sada, She is in love with Vinay and yet she doesn't get in their way and break them up deliberately. She does nothing between them and she comes out clean as a whistle. She then approaches Vinay the right way and proposes that would make any guy want to accept her. I mean, who doesn't want her ? She is funny, warm natured, lovable, caring and she trusts. She doesn't want Vinay to change his character for her. She is not arrogant and makes you feel that love. She is way too sweet with Vinay knowing that she is already in love with Sada, she doesn't take it outo n any of them as well.

The movie gives me all the emotions, everytime I watch it. Well thought out, perfectly analyzed movie. Every character is welll thought out and there is a lot of backstory bringing the character's alive. The songs are awesome too. Must watch, and one among my personal favorites.

This has been my wallpaper for the past month. Ever since M.J. said he is going to perform on stage again on his comeback tour, to start at london in july. The tour in which he promised he will do everything the fans wanted. It's a real pity that with 50 sold out concerts in pipeline , that the gods be so cruel as to take him now.

I am a fan of the king of pop ever since i was in kinder garten . I dance like him , I dress like him , there were times in which every thing that i did will have something resembling him . Every show that I did used to be successful because every show I did then will have something to do with M.J. For some one like me , he is an inspiration , a real motivation , like the north star always guiding us along . With no teacher to learn but the will to dance , there are so many of us who proudly call ourselves MJ impersonators , and performed in a style which we ourselves christined as MJ impersonation . Everytime we go on stage wearing the MJ costumes on , we would feel alive , alive like we have never felt before , even when we are sick or tired , we would get energy from somewhere when we put on the glove and the hat .

There has never been a time when i haven't recieved laudation when i am on stage and doing the moonwalk or the breaks . Such were the popularity of his moves that everyone feels proud if they are able to do them .

The day he passed away is clearly the day the arts of music and dance died. We can never see the moonwalk on stage again . We can never see Billie jean being performed live. The world is left with a void that no one else can ever replace . He has done so many things in the industry that whatever anyone else tries , it will just be an attempt to recreate what MJ has already done before . A real balck day for the planet . Today as he passes away , we MJ impersonators feel like a part of us died with him , yet a part of him will remain with us forever .

With 13 grammy's , 8 on one award ceremony , 750 million copies of his music sold , holding records in the guiness book of world records still , being the first ever black performer to hit the MTV screens , being the most popular man in the world's history , being the perfect ambassador of charity , he is a loss to the human race , a God when he lived , a legend as he passes away ,we are the legacy he left behind. His name will resonate in the history books for ever and ever to come . May his soul rest in peace .

Wake up call in any case

It has been a month and some days since I last made a post , so here goes . I couldn't post these days because I was caught up with my exams . Of course there were a couple of really easy ones , but I am really worried about my digital signal processing exam . I had a severe headache and I didn't do it any justice whatsoever .

So moving out of my abysmal performance in the examinations , I am thinking about certain things that happened at the start of my holidays . I am still bewildered how a small bunch of terrorists got the better of the puissant Indian security and intelligence systems . All credit to the N.S.G. for the awesome job they did . Just wondering , how with all these measures in place could the dastard bevy do what they did ?

And these vile insolent power greedy politicians, ridiculing the ones in power . The day when Nehru said "I may be late to the assembly today , because the traffic is heavy" , he didn't have those commandos with him for his protection . And u see all these so called 'leaders' have all the protection they need which leaves a void in the security when needed . I got an sms forward that cleanly stated what privileges a member of parliament enjoys . Counting by the fact , 37.45% of the total tax money collected is spent on the M.P's alone . Imagine the other levels in the hierarchy . Who says India is a financially poor country ? The money is not helping develop the economy . Just imagine the use to which the money can be put to .

I can't light a candle and obliviate all those images I saw in television . My father just left Mumbai some time prior to those attacks . I am angry . I see only resentment and pain , not any victory . There is no reason to celebrate over the success , no reason to plant the tricolor outside the Taj . Just ten insane maniacs had the potential to consternate an empire of over a billion for 60 hours . Shouldn't we fight back ? If the government can't save us , let the army rule . I am fed up with the subtle speeches of the politicians , they fail to soothe my anger . And yet there are the others who see this as an opportunity to gain power . What are they going to do when they get power ? Give the same speeches . Despicable! Look at the country frankly now . It is unsafe , corruption breeding everywhere . Indians need leaders , who are matured enough to think that with power comes responsibility not just money .

For all that happened the champions league has been canceled . At least the english ( just noticing , the word "english" is not in the chrome auto correct dictionary ! ) cricketers are not poltroons . They are ready to return for a test series . And all this has to happen when the cricket in India is at a really good spirit . Man ! what an awesome show ! Defeating the champion Australians at Australia and at home back-to-back , now that is preponderance. I just wish that the champions league , the commonwealth games and the world cup are not relocated . It would be awesome if it were not relocated .

Hopefully it won't rain during the english play here at Chepauk . Chennai , the most knowledgeable crowd in the world , where cricket is a religion followed in almost all the doors , the recent past have always been wet . The dry city on almost all the other days would be devoid of rain . Luck has run out of the city that celebrates the most number of cricket academies in the world . Apart from a pass in my D.S.P. the other thing that I am praying god is that at least this time the situation won't be overcast .

Before i sign off for this blog , a silent prayer to all those who laid their lives in the tragedy . Praying god that such a thing will never show its ugly face again , any where in the world .