The Ramdev issue

The eviction of Baba Ramdev from the Ramlila maidan is a testimony to the success of the protest hosted by Baba ramdev...It is not only a testimony to a Yoga Guru attaining political significance but also that of a huge awakening by the people of India....First it was Anna Hazare who undertook sathyagraha for the implementation of the Lokphal bill...After assurances from the government, the movement was called off by Anna hazare...However, since the government delayed the implementation of the Lokphal bill, baba ramdev was " forced " to undertake another fast..But this raises an array questions......
Why wasnt Anna hazare evicted when he underwent the hunger strike?How did the concern of a terrorist attack on Baba ramdev arise suddenly when there was none until ramdev siad he was calling off talks with Government?Why did Anna hazare hesitate to join Baba ramdev when the vice- versa dint happen?
Is Baba ramdev using the series of corruption issues against the Congress as a platform for his political career?

It is another huge embarrassment for the Cong govt which is already reeling under the ever arising scams..The UPA-2 has become popular for the amount of corruption it has been proven to have done...CWG , 2G , Kargil ( Aadharsh) ,  ISRO deal, Maran ( Media has termed it as 2G part 2).....There is no doubt that the government is rather lax in dealing with the issue of black money...That might be because many of their ministers are those who have stashed money abroad......

Ramdev on the other hand has gone from success to success..Having had a paralytic attack in his childhood, he cured it by pranayam and has since then achieved milestones in Yoga. His free yoga to everyone in his centres and on youtube are examples of his contribution to Yoga. Apart from his Yoga, Ramdev also talks a lot on patriotism , self respect and confidence in many of his sessions.. He has always been open in his political ambitions. He was once quoted saying "Why should i enter politics when all the ministers are already at my feet??"..Through  his yoga, ramdev has managed to get the supporters of thousands of people.. Sathyagrahas across the country when ramdev was fasting in delhi is proof for that...But seldom do people know that Ramdev is a owner of an island abroad and his assets estimate to roughly 1500 crores.....However, one can always say that ramdev has never claimed to be a sanyasi...His saffron dress alone doesnt lead to him being a sanyasi. And now, with congree treating him as a representative of the people in the issue of anti-corruption, its not long before baba ramdev announces himself offcially in the politics....

Pained in life....my Undergrad research at IITM

"Happiness is like a cat. If you coax it or call it, it will avoid you. It will never come. But if you pay not attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing up against your legs and jumping into your lap." - William J. Bennett....

Well....happiness at least as far as research is concerned is a bitch.....if you coax it,it will avoid u...if you don't pay attention, it will return to bite you harder...As they say" pay back is a bitch"...Having been at the receiving end of it, i can quite confess that its so damn true....After years of working your heart out, you are left with nothing in hand.....

These typical undergraduate research projects are the result of both curiosity and necessity..Many people who enter into IIT are confused as to what to do in their lives and i am no exception..So one needs to set out and explore various researching options before a decision on one's career is made.....The curiosity part of it is to identify one's interests.....( Something i dint do while selecting my undergrad stream)...and the necessity part of it is for getting admissions into top Ivy league universities...Everyone's dream...Just like how a management guy would dream of an IIT + IIM combo......

But what one fails to realize is that the magnitude of research done by a person is not determined by the number of research papers published by the guy but the quality of those papers. And one should always research about the topics in depth and not start a project generally just because the topic is the hot area of research currently...

After spending about a year and a half of slogging, you come to certain conclusions about research...

1. Never expect rewards...once you have achieved your results,it will take you about a year to year and a half to get it published and by the time if anyone  else publishes it --------> :P

2. Almost all research you would be doing in the lab has no direct connection whatsoever with your daily life...

3. In spite of putting the extra efforts, you invariably get paid much lesser than your peers who chose the management line..

4.Seeing all your other friends who had started projects along with you give up, your enthu levels go down drastically and you are left to drag along...

5. After about a year of research, one  might get fed up with the kind of work he is doing leading to increased frustration levels eventually leading to misunderstanding between you and prof...

Sadly the weakest link when it comes to doing part time research in the undergraduate situation are the MS scholars and PhD scholars with whom we work with....These people are usually dumb buggers who don't care about research and come into IIT just for the sake of a degree....However, i don't deny the fact that there are a few people who are really oriented towards research and work with dedication. They are just difficult to spot and our case stands out to be the best example of Murphy's law.......

Once u start working under these MS scholars, u become their slave..doing all sorts of meaningless things and by the time by the time you start to have a feel of research and wear your thinking caps on, the bad time begins....

The MS scholars do not understand the ideas being put forth by us and arises an ego clash...U overcome these scholars and present your idea to the prof and he is impressed...He now asks you to work with the MS scholar to generate results....BANG...The MS scholar ensures that your life is screwed..

You still manage to get results and present it to the prof...the prof is happy and asks you to write a paper to be published. You become so excited that your work has paid off at last..but wait for it..he rejects your attempt at the paper and asks u to work with the MS scholar to generate the paper...Screwed again..The MS scholar comes out with such bizarre responses like " I have personal work for three months...Come after that, i might try looking at it".." or..i am going out of station this week end..come next month.... "..Again u try to overcome the MS scholar and go to the prof repeatedly..He becomes very irritated and throws us out the lab....  Story ends there...

Fault lies on both the sides of faculties and students..

Students must be more patient in general and profs must realize that the time has long gone when someone did research for pure passion and expect no results...At the end of the day, everyone wants to keep their profiles shining and appealing....Substance is important true..But a little bit of glamor is necessary too...

I wasn't trying to put across any advice...its just my sad story....