Here's everything you need to know about engineering.
Professor Shiburaj P. is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Rizvi College of Engineering, Mumbai. He graduated from Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, in 2008, and completed his Masters from Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Mumbai University, in 2013. He is currently working on an innovative and secure mechanism to 'deliver images with emails'.
We interviewed Prof. Shiburaj on his thoughts about engineering and whether it pays to be an engineer today.
The debate whether IITs do a better job than other engineering colleges remains?
It's the thought process - what goes through the students' mind when joining an IIT or any other engineering college - that should change. The faculty and the syllabus taught in the IITs is no different from any other engineering college. Just because the student is not able to clear the IIT entrance exam and get into any of the IITs doesn't mean the education the student gets in other colleges is different. Belief and trust in the faculty is the only way the student can learn more and the faculty can deliver more to students as well.
But we see IIT students do better than others?
The institute shouldn't be blamed as it is the student's desire to excel in a particular field that's important, not the institute. Students should prepare and dedicate themselves to what they want to achieve. Students not only from IITs but any student anywhere having a desire to achieve will get success.
Why is the current engineering syllabus considered to be old-fashioned?
People keep saying this, but I think differently. If you want to learn how a TV works, you first learn how a B/W TV works, then the rest. It is a step-by-step procedure, where the faculty covers the syllabus right from the core and fundamental basics to the higher and more complex ideas, depending on what the student is required to study. Learning the basics and then learning what the industry demands is the way we teach our students
Suicide in engineering colleges is an issue?
It seems that some students do not get love and moral support required from family and friends. When they are not able to open up to anyone, they hide their feelings. They cannot handle the pressure of engineering studies, and thus, don't see any other alternative than committing suicide. This can be avoided if students share their feelings and open up to someone.
What role does extra-curricular activity play in a student's life?
We conduct a lot of workshops throughout the year in various departments. Short-term training programs and certification courses are in place wherein students understand and gain proficiency in the subjects. In Rizvi College, every even semester, the first two weeks are dedicated to sports activities. We believe that students should continue with what makes them passionate, be it a sport or any other activity, along with engineering studies.
Prof. Shiburaj blogs at http://www.shiburaj.co
For the first few decades post our Independence, Literature seemed to be the most appealing discipline to pursue. Those were the days when great writers like Nirala, Sumitra Nandan Pant, and many others popularised Hindi Literature. Post the 1960s however, the area of interest shifted towards the stream of Humanities. This sudden change in the interest was because many students preferred to take up the Civil services as their preferred choice of career. The syllabus for the Civil Service Exams covered subjects mostly drawn from Humanities. But the level of difficulty was high and only few students could clear it.
Paucity in career options post the Literature and Humanities era set a new trend with students wanting to pursue Science and Math. Though considered difficult, these subjects opened a lot more career opportunities.
A large number of technical institutions were started and most parents eventually began forcing their children to take the Science stream; without caring about the child's interests. Sadly, this remains the case even today. Engineering and Medical are the most popular choices. Children, even without realising what Engineering is all about, take it up as they don't seem to have much of a choice.
This sudden increase in number of students wanting to pursue engineering necessitated the Engineering Entrance Exam. The competitiveness of the Exam made the students to seek extra coaching. Ceaseless deterioration in quality of the Government driven education made the need of extra-collegiate coaching centres inevitable.
This led to the opening of the coaching institutes across the country.
Coaching Centres also opened doors for teachers who wished to introduce innovative ways of teaching over the traditional pedagogy. Since children as young as 11 years old join engineering coaching, the teachers need to constantly improvise their methods to increase these children's aptitude for science and maths.
Some coaching centres serve as schools for students, others just as extra tutorials. Many coaching classes like in Kota and Vijaywada offer residential facilities for the students. However we at The Guidance Classes do not offer residential accommodation. In the vicinity of our classes in Delhi, there are many good and cheap accommodation for students. At our coaching centre like in many others, the number of female aspirants who enrol into engineering is much less, but in recent times the numbers are growing.
After coaching begins, we know that some students will find studying for engineering difficult. There are people who will give up sooner or later as they realise their future is not in engineering. For some the coaching itself seems tough. But this is an issue that parents must also think about. It is good that they are pushing their children to thinking seriously about their careers but it is important also to find out what their child really wants to do, because failure is something that not all children can take in their stride very well.
Dr. Abhinash Chandra is the Centre Head at the Guidance Classes, New Delhi.
The concept of friction is very important in variety of of problems involving Newton's Laws of Motion. Whenever a block is placed over the rough surface of another block then it is also important to analyze the condition on external effects under which the upper block starts sliding. Several problems are framed on such condition.
When a body is subjected to external forces and if it is at rest relative to the surface on which it is placed then the friction acting at the contact would be static friction. If external force is increased the magnitude of static friction between bodies will increase and as it approaches limiting value, bodies will start sliding. This concept can be easily applied when the lower block is at rest but when both blocks are in motion, we need to be very careful while solving the equations of Laws of Motion as the analysis is now done relative to lower block. See the below video on how to apply the concept in finding the condition of sliding when a block is moving over another block -
To apply the logic in various situations, see the examples explained in below videos -
Misconception: While solving problem of finding condition of sliding of a block over another the most common mistake students do by simply calculating static friction and equate it with limiting friction in the reference frame of lower block and ignore the motion of lower block. Due to acceleration of lower block the static friction on upper block changes. If you analyze the problem in the reference frame of lower block which is accelerating always consider the Pseudo Force on the upper block relative to lower block.
There can be variety of problems which can be framed on this concept of sliding of a body over another body. See the below advance illustrations to develop a thorough understanding on application of this concept.
Ashish Arora is the Head of Academics at the Allen Career Institute, Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is also the Founder and Chief Mentor at the Physicsgalaxy.com. His passion for physics has inspired many IIT aspirants.
Sometime in school, we study that Energy is the ability to do Work by a body or an agent. When an agent does work by applying a force, it is said that the amount of energy equal to work will be transferred to the body on which work is done. Whenever work is done, transfer of energy takes place.
The body which supplies energy is considered the agent which is doing work and its work is taken positive. And another body on which work is done gains energy and its work is taken negative.
Calculation of Work : By the fundamental method studied in early grades we calculate work by product of force and displacement of point of application of force.
See this video on work and its calculation - https://youtu.be/WEriI0hK0lc
Sometimes applied force varies with position of body then to understand how to calculate work by a variable force see this video - https://youtu.be/5fenCV_tUHw
Always remember that no matter how logical and advance the problem is, we will use always the fundamental way to calculate the work.
Many times students feel for advance problem there are some advance ways for work calculations. In further study we will see some more cases but the fundamental method explained above will always be applicable.
See below examples on work calculations -
Ashish Arora is the Head of Academics at the Allen Career Institute, Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is also the Founder and Chief Mentor at the Physicsgalaxy.com. His passion for physics has inspired many IIT aspirants.
Dr. Manish Tulsiani is the founder-director of ACDA Classes, based in Lucknow. We spoke to him about the trends in engineering coaching visible in UP nowadays.
How did you enter the coaching industry?
I started teaching others during my own PMT (Pre-Medical Test) preparation period, when I started with teaching 5 students for PMT. I started my medical studies, but stayed in touch with the institute that I had started. I continued to teach them as well. After completing my MBBS, I was stuck between the choices of continuing to teach, or to start my own medical practice. I chose to teach.
Why ACDA?
ACDA stands for the Ability to Conquer your Desired Ambitions. We help our students define their goals, and throughout the year, help them bridge the gap between where they are and where their goals are.
Technology has become ubiquitous these days. What importance does it hold for teaching?
Technology cannot be a replacement for the classroom. It can assist, but it cannot substitute a live teacher. There is no interaction between the student and the 'teacher', and there is no motivation for the student to learn, they get easily distracted. They do not learn. Video lectures are boring, and if a student misses something, they cannot ask a question to go back to the point they were stuck at. In such a case, the classroom and its teacher is the best environment for a student to learn with motivation - in India, at least. Technology is fine if it is assisting - you have revision lectures over video or audio, where the student has already learnt a concept, and is now revisiting it to ensure they remember it. Here, using technology is fine.
Your take on Engineering Education outside of the IITs?
Education - not just engineering, but all streams - has become a business. Colleges, coaching institutes, you name it. Nobody is in it for the education. Everyone is here to mint money. That is why you see businessmen and entrepreneurs opening colleges, to park their undeclared incomes, and to earn more out of it. You do not see any educationist opening an institute these days, do you?
What are the reasons for the success of students across UP in joining IITs?
Not just UP, I would say Bihar as well. Students here have a natural interest in studying. These are states where there is high population density, and education of their children is a high priority for parents. Hence, they have no option other than to study hard. Unlike other areas of the country where business and entrepreneurial ideas are given precedence, here your upbringing defines the kind of jobs you must aspire to. The selection of a child in an IIT means upliftment for the family. Hence, you will see students study hard to enter IITs, then study hard during the courses as well, and succeed in life.
Nifa Classes calls itself 'A Factory of Engineers'. Based in Kanpur, it claims to have nearly 2000 students who give engineering entrance exams, with many in the top 50 of the UPSEE every year. We spoke to Saurabh Sahay, HOD-Maths at Nifa.
What colleges are targeted by students who do not get into IITs or NITs?
Well, there is a craze about IITs, especially IIT Kanpur, since it is here in this city. Other than that, students try to look at colleges like Ambedkar Institute (UPTU), PSIT, HBTI, etc. Our students aim at state level colleges mostly.
What kind of students come to Nifa to study?
Those who have passed 10th & entered 11th, as well as those who are joining us simultaneously along with entering the 12th standard.
You can give JEE-Main max 3 times, and JEE-Advanced twice. Hence, we also have repeaters who have taken a gap year after 12th, and have given the JEE in the past and still have attempts in hand. For such students, we teach in rankers/repeaters batches.
Since JEE Mains is a game of speed and accuracy, we have seen that our CBSE students make less effort in trying to excel, as their focus is on NITs rather than on IITs. Only some students aim for IITs, and they make as much effort as is needed.
Kanpur seems to be having quite a few individual coaches who teach specific subjects only. How does it compare with combined classes or integrated learning?
Integrated learning, as an idea, is yet to take off in Kanpur. The idea that the college that prepares students for Board Exams, is the same as the institute preparing them for JEE, is not as well known, as it is in Kota and elsewhere. Some institutes have started integrated programmes here, but they are yet to get numbers. Mostly, students take admission in local colleges, and the coaches request the colleges to be lenient about attendance when coaching is ongoing.
Individual coaches are those experts who have spent 10-15+ years teaching the same topic day in & day out. Students and parents realise that these experts have in-depth knowledge of that particular topic alone, and go to them for learning a specific subject only. The benefit of doing that is, rest assured, the student will learn that subject exceptionally well, but which may be detrimental towards learning other subjects.
Comparatively, combined coaching has benefits that individual coaching doesn't. In combined coaching institutes, a lot of time is saved in traveling from one point to another and all subjects are taught under one roof. The instructors in a combined institute speak with each other, compare notes, and alert the teachers of the particular subjects, if they find a student being weak in another topic while being strong in their own. This may not happen in individual coaching. Combined coaching also has a better selection ratio in the JEE Mains results.
This interview was conducted by @grondmaster
Yashovardhan Jallan, a student of IIT Kharagpur, reminisces about his first interaction with Illu, the IIT-Kharagpur Diwali festival which has students come together to build massive wooden 'chatais', on which they tie lamps - diyas - to showcase their beautiful designs in light.
Deepawali may seem a festival of firecrackers and sweets to some, but we at IIT Kharagpur take the cliché 'The Festival of Lights' very, very seriously.
One fine Saturday afternoon during my first year at RK Hall, I saw a notice on the board, reading 'Illumination Meeting for all First Years at 2 PM' by order of the Hall President (Happa). I wondered what 'Illumination' (Illu) meant. Very soon, I found out about this Grand Festival of IIT Kharagpur. The Happa made himself very clear, "We have to work our asses off and pull off this grand event with all our dedication and hard work", followed by a "Yo RK!"
The buzz and the excitement among us after the meeting was very flagrant. The Happa and his Illu Captains had done their job very well indeed. Now I must remind you: Illu 'Chatais' require massive student participation and countless nights of midnight toil to be prepared. We started in full tempo with everyone giving their best shot at tying up the Diyas.
My first thought was, "What's the big deal in tying up a few diyas?" but very soon, I found to my dismay that the work was incessant. Every night after dinner, we had to gather in the common room, with expressions of chagrin on our face, as the work never seemed to finish. All the tying of diyas, cutting wires, painting the chatai, etc. started seeming very monotonous. Our seniors kept motivating us by sharing experiences of their first years when they did the same tasks. They said, "Just wait until you see it light up..."
I wondered if it would change anything. As the D-day came closer & closer, seniors started joining us in the project. I vividly remember the Diwali night. The final rush to get the chatais ready, all diyas in their place and all the final practice: it was really maddening. The excitement and nervousness of finally lighting up our chatais was killing us. The final moment of glory had arrived. There was a buzz in the entire campus about which hall will produce the best design.
As soon as the Happa announced, "RK Split!" all rows and columns of tables lined up in front of the chatais were taken down so fast it felt like they disappeared into thin air. That was the first time ever we got to see that picture: the scene we got to see that picture: the scene with our chatais and all the 40,000-odd diyas burning with all their night - it was truly the best thing I had seen in my life.
It was deeper than the ocean, brighter than the sun, more soothing than a sunrise, and more vibrant than a rainbow. It was my first ever picture-perfect moment, a moment which truly spoke a thousand words in its majestic silence. My heart filled with pride that I too had played a role in setting up the grandeur. All countless nights of hard work seemed trivial, all thoughts of misery blissfully forgotten. Our work had paid off and the joy associated with the moment is something I will cherish eternally.
Work-Energy theorem is the fundamental basis of handling problems involving physical situations in several domains of physics where energy transformations take place. Whenever some work is done by a force, it is equal to the decrease in energy of the agent who is doing the work and same amount of energy increases in the body/agent on which work is done.
If work is done on/by a rigid body, it is equal to change in kinetic energy of body if only mechanical energy is involved, as rigid body cannot store potential energy on its own. This is the basis we use for application of Work-Energy Theorem while using it for rigid bodies.
To understand basics of Work-Energy Theorem follow the video - https://youtu.be/uvNZu1yy9Co
Relation in Potential Energy and Force: We know that Potential Energy is a characteristic of Conservative force fields only where no dissipation of energy takes place. Whenever some work is done on or by an external agent in a conservative force field, this work is always equal to change in stored potential energy of the force field. Based on this concept we can deduce the relation in potential energy and force. Please see the video for details - https://youtu.be/QBM0U-6vkzk
To understand the same with applications of the above logic, see the example videos below -
Ashish Arora is the Head of Academics at the Allen Career Institute, Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is also the Founder and Chief Mentor at the Physicsgalaxy.com. His passion for physics has inspired many IIT aspirants.
Results of many of the International Olympiad tests were recently declared and students like always have given a commendable performance.
The Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education based at Mumbai conducts the national level Chemistry Olympiad in 5 stages. This year around 40000-odd students from classes 11 and 12 participated of which 700 students were selected for the 2nd round. From these 700, only 36 students were selected for the orientation camp that was conducted at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai from 26th May to 5th June 2015. After 10 days of lectures followed by theory and practical tests, only four students were selected to represent India for the 47th International Chemistry Olympiad 2015.
Two students, Kshitij Garg and Piyush Kabra, students of the Allen Career Institute, Kota are amongst the four who will go to Azerbaijan's Baku city from 20th to 29th July 2015. This would be a golden opportunity for the youngsters to represent India and compete for the gold medal.
The Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) has also announced the results of the second stage of International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). IMO takes place in 2 levels. Students' right from 1st standard to the 12th can participate in this exam. The first level was held on 26 November 2014 and the second level took place on 7 Feb 2015. The first three international rankers are awarded with cash prize of up to Rs 50,000 and a certificate, while the top 25 students at the state level are awarded with cash prize of up to Rs. 5000 and a certificate. Satvik Golecha of Resonance classes bagged the 9th position at the International Level and 2nd position at the State Level.
International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) which is conducted by Geological Society of India declared their results too in which two students Neel and Kushagra Jain, also of Resonance classes have been selected. The IESO has 4 levels and is conducted in three stages. The first stage was a written exam conducted on the 15th February 2015 where in 21 students were selected from all over India. These students got a chance to attend the second stage camp conducted from 13th to 31st May 2015. Only four students, from this batch were selected who will now undergo a Pre-departure Training (PDT), and then will get a chance to represent India at the International level in Brazil.
'Illu' is short for 'Illumination', a celebration held during Diwali, a competition of light during the festival of light. Students from the various halls at IIT Kharagpur participate in Illu, and compete to win awards for the best designs. So what do they do, really?
Illu started in 1981 and now is part of the tradition and culture at IIT Kharagpur. A competition where students work on and design massive displays of light having the ability to enthral and inspire every viewer. At the same time, these displays are so simple and down to earth that they are created out of the most traditional of lighting equipment: the earthen lamp, or 'diya'.
Each display comprises of these diyas tied to massive bamboo lattices, known as 'chatai', in intricate patterns, which are lit after dark. While this sounds easy, leave it to the students of IIT Kharagpur to bring out the challenges of designing stories and images hundreds of square feet in size. And yet, meet those challenges head on, bulldozing their way through every difficulty that arises.
Students work for weeks after classes tying thousands of diyas to the chatais using wires, designing the structures as they go, and building the whole maze. On the last day, the chatais are made to stand on end, to finish the displays - some of which may rise over 20 feet high.
On the day of the competition, they stand on tables piled upon each other to reach the highest point on the chatai, start filling the diyas with oil, and light the wicks. When the order comes, tables are removed and the complete display is visible for all to see.
Once the display is completely lit, the hard work, toil, efforts, love and dedication that the students have put in these lamps and lattices comes alive. The displays illustrate stories that motivate, they transcend emotion, and bring magnificent patterns to life.
The displays of Illu have inspired their own coffee table book, 'Illuminati: The Engineering Of Illumination', by Devendra Purbiya.
(We covered an IIT Kharagpur student's first experience of Illu last week, which can be found here: http://www.pagalguy.com/articles/my-very-first-tryst-with-illu-34185955)
Akshat Chandanam, a student at IIT Kharagpur, talks about the challenges that Chemistry holds for him.
It was one of the most regretted moments of my so called first year campus life. It all started with the start of the 'chem-sem'. As usual it started with people taking resolutions of studying the whole semester and not keeping everything the last moment, but there I was without regrets, ready to enjoy the remaining year.
Some of my well-wishers warned me about the danger named 'Electrical' which awaited me. On the other hand, for Chemistry they all used to say, "Chemistry toh peace hai, ek din me ho jayega." But we all knew that all this was going to last only for a few days and then we would again start to live our motto "LIFE, PEACE@KGP".
So time passed and mid-semester exams arrived. An interesting thing about KGP is that you don't need to see the calendar to know about exams, it can be observed in the campus, just like changing seasons. And so just like an unwanted visitor, exams arrived. We were not at all ready for the exams but anyhow were preparing ourselves to face them.
After two papers it was the turn for Chemistry, for which I was a bit
relaxed. When I finally decided to start my prep for the test it was already
evening, which meant snacks time. This snacks time was accompanied by a
two-hour baker with some friends.
Around 9 pm I finally decided to study and to my horror I wasn't able to understand anything. For once I thought it must be out of syllabus and thus rechecked the syllabus but it was of no help. After struggling for 4 hours, I was on the 21st slide of about 250 slides; and that was the time I felt hopeless. After another 2 hours I knew something for sure: that I was worthless; and after another hour I finally felt that I was aware of the ultimate truth, and thus changed my resolution for the next time: to study Chemistry in advance.
And here I am in the next semester, again, at the same point, with the same sorrow, and the same truth.
"My residence hall is about 1.5 KM this way," says Manish Goyal, looking west, "and my classes are held about 1 KM from here, that way" pointing southwest. We're standing near the administrative building of IIT Kharagpur, where Manish is a final year student. "Now imagine the amount I'd have to walk daily, twice a day, going back and forth between class and residence" he complains.
If you study in a campus spread across nearly 2,200 acres, with over 55 km of roadways, you will need more than just your own two feet to commute from hostel to classroom. Most students have found the perfect solution for this: the humble bicycle. Eco-friendly, exercise-friendly, and cheap to own and maintain, it has become the student's perfect friend for solving their commuting woes.
Won't two wheelers like motorcycles and scooters be better in some cases, you may ask. The campus hosts nearly 10,000 students, and even if half of them decided to use that, imagine the mayhem that nearly 5,000 two wheelers will wreak on the campus.
"We keep having collisions and accidents with bicycles as well, it is not difficult to imagine what will happen if two wheelers were allowed" explains Manish. "Also, the amount of pollution - both air and sound - the vehicles will bring to Kharagpur will definitely spoil the calm and serene environment that we have here at present."
Since the campus has declared plans to go green by 2020,
they have disallowed students from having personal motor vehicles like scooters
on campus. Unless a student shows a pressing need to have a motor vehicle on
campus, they are expected to use bicycles only. Even the staff and faculty are
encouraged to use bicycles rather than vehicles to shuttle. If you are a
student, then unless you have some pull, or are surreptitious enough to hide
one, you will not be able to have a two wheeler on campus.
No wonder I saw more bicycles in Kharagpur than I have ever seen in my life.
"Whack!"
"Hey... why are you hitting at my back, hit lower you @#$@%!"
"WHACK!"
"It's not hurting at all, hit harder!"
"WHACK!!!"
"Ow! Owowow! That's better!"
"Whack!" "Whack!" "Whack!"
As I was walking on the main road of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, I saw this interesting - and perhaps disturbing - scene where a student is getting whacked with a belt on his bottoms by others, probably his friends.
I walk ahead a bit, another similar scene is visible: one boy, four others surrounding him, one holding a belt, whacking him just like the previous scene. When the perpetrator is done, one of the others takes over and starts whacking.
I'm a bit worried by now. Is there some mass ragging campaign going on, or are they some students vigilantes who've created kangaroo courts to punish wrongdoers? If that were the case, why did the first student ask for more properly aimed whacks? What exactly is going on?
Kushagra Bharadwaj, a final year student, and his classmate Abhishek try to pacify me. "Relax, it's ok. That boy's just getting some GPL. Everyone knows it's going on" says Kushagra. Abhishek continues, "It's a tradition. The boys know they deserve to be whacked. They should be proud of it."
Er... proud of getting whacked? "Yes. They have just been placed. Our placements are going on, these boys have been placed in some company or another, and now that the news are out, all their friends - especially those who haven't been placed yet - are getting jealous and want to exact some 'punishment' on them" explains Abhishek.
"It's an ISM tradition. Most of them know that this would happen. They must be wearing extra layers to take the sting off. Whenever a student gets placed, his friends must whack him - otherwise his happiness will not be tolerated by others who haven't been placed" states Kush.
Traditions and culture endure beyond times where they were defined for some reason or another. ISM students have taken a path where they have made it a fun thing to do, a story and a tradition that binds them to their alma mater. Whether it was born out of jealousy or enmity doesn't matter, today it is a matter of pride for them - a proof of point that they have been placed, and will not need to worry about a job upon graduating from college.
Traditions like these play an important role in institutes where students are with their batchmates and classmates 24/7. From IIM Ahmedabad's students getting nicknames by their dormmates, the reasons for which are not revealed to anyone else, to JNU's Holi celebrations including Chaat Sammelan & Tamatar-Keechad, college students have come up with traditions that bind them together to stand against the whole wide world. They may not be secret, but the fact that they have undergone those traditions themselves as compared to the rest of the world is enough to make these students stay friends forever.
Do you know of any such traditions yourself? Does your institute have any such tradition too? Discuss them in the comments below.
Written by Aditi Sharma of IIT Kharagpur
Whenever there's some special occasion coming up, we love to spoil ourselves by splurging money on new clothes, accessories and the like. Eventually, we get bored of our new clothes and want to buy newer ones. We just never seem to be satisfied with what we have, we are always expecting more. When we were in school we were literally obsessed with clearing the JEE. Once through, the IIT tag became so yesterday. The next big thing is getting admission in a top Bschool. Once we're through Bschool, we wish to be flooded with exciting job offers. After all, what's the point of all our prior accomplishments if they can't land us the job we're vying for? And this just goes on and on and on...
Our yearnings and desires just seem to have no end. Right from our tender years we're being trained to strive for success. We have started turning to the cost-benefit analysis of every sphere of our life, be it our profession, passion, or even our personal relationships. It seems we're subconsciously programmed to by the all-pervasive society to be like this.
Consumerism is now deeply entrenched in today's youth. Mention
the word 'lifestyle' and people associate it with expensive accessories, dining
in fine restaurants, or going to exotic locations for holidays. Their health -
be it physical, mental or spiritual - has become a secondary issue. They want
quick appreciation for their capabilities and qualifications. This constant
struggle provokes them to rise up the ladder of prestige and power in a short
span of time, which in turn leads to insurmountable stress, not to mention the
health problems that follow.
According to a new Lancet study, India has the highest suicide rate in the world, with the maximum number of youngsters on the brink. Suicide cases amongst the young, wealthy, and the educated are the highest. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Instead of taking charge of our lives, we have become vulnerable and slaves to our own dreams and desires. Someone rightly said, 'The world is full of educated derelicts.' The singular purpose of motivating us to put our nose to the grindstone is that we can lead a life of fulfilment. We're senselessly throttling down the abyss of our aspirations and desires - an abyss with no end. How about taking a breather before you start doing that? It's high time we take a pause, stop setting unrealistic goals for ourselves, and start appreciating what we have.
Aren't we the happiest in college, with just a few hundreds in our pockets and an irreverent tune on our lips? Life is much more than the car one drives or the money one earns. Live a little bit for today, and a little bit for tomorrow. Just slow down a bit, take some time out for yourself, go out for an ice cream... live each moment as it comes. It's these small moments of happiness that add meaning to your life. One day, your life will flash in front of your eyes: Make sure it's worth watching.
PaGaLGuY is kick-starting a new series on people who have made it big in their respective professions - those who have come up by sheer grit. Here is the next one in the series with an article by Saurabh Agarwal who is the Managing Director at INDIARESULTS.com
There was a time when students' would flock their Colleges and Universities to find their results. A friend of mine sparked the idea about offering an alternative access to students for checking their results, that too without having to waste their time and energy waiting in queues. That's how the idea of INDIARESULTS was born. We started in 2000, around the same time that the internet was making inroads across India. Ever since, the effect of this idea has been huge and there has been no looking back.
It was not an easy task to get colleges and universities share their results with us. But we learnt and have become better at obtaining it. Though times have changed, and almost every result is available online today, we still get a lot of traffic to our site. Reason being we have excellent server capacity which a lot of other sites don't. Government run sites especially cannot take the excessive load during result releases. This happens to be an important reason why most state boards and universities publish their results on our site. Ultimately students prefer to check their results from our site rather than their own college or university given link.
Credit for this also goes to the INDIARESULTS marketing team which does an excellent job of getting us this material. I firmly believe that people are more important than processes, which has helped me retain employees who have been with the company since inception. Their experiences add insight to the company, and my new hires from the younger generations bring knowledge about technology to the table. This blend of insight and knowledge creates an energy that makes my company successful.
I firmly believe that Youth and Education are the two focal points from where development starts. It is difficult to find good candidates with a sound background in technology. It may also be true that tech-savvy people may find Rajasthan and Jaipur to be slow-paced compared to the metros that they are used to, but this too is changing. The simplicity of our idea and years of hard work have brought my company to a level where we are synonymous with 'Results'. My aim is to connect India with internet where our services will be quick, unfailing, and user friendly. We are constantly working to offer the best resources to our consumers.
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India's largest engineering coaching hub, seems to be running out of space for coaching institutes. This may be a reason why Allen Career Institute has opened a new campus at Kunhari, 15 km away from Kota city centre.
The present cluster of coaching institutes is centred in the Vihar, Talwandi & Jawahar areas in the heart of Kota city. While land is still available in these areas, the large spaces required by these institutes to expand may not be available - the new construction craze in the vicinity focuses on creating housing and rental accommodations for students rather than new institutes.
Kunhari, on the other hand, has acres of empty space, fresh facilities and amenities. It is also more airy and less congested than Kota. No wonder then that Allen Career Institute has already started orientation programmes at their Kunhari campus. According to Allen Career Institute's director Naveen Maheshwari, the student numbers are expected to rise from the current 500 to nearly 20,000 in the years to come.
When this correspondent visited Kunhari, they found that students had already started making their way there. Some were seen searching for accommodation and making deals, others were buying essential commodities. Abhigyan Shukla from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh told PaGaLGuY that he was hunting for a place to stay as his coaching programme was about to start soon.
Being within Kota, Kunhari is not that culturally different from the present coaching hub itself. Geographically though, it is considered to be on the outskirts of Kota. While the Allen campus may be the first to be built here, it is expected that others will follow soon, as Kunhari may just have the fresh air required to reduce the pressures on the overcrowded and fatigued coaching industry in Kota city.
The walls of fame are decorated with some prominent personalities, whom we also credit with inventions that have made our life simple. Stalwarts like Alexander Graham Bell, C.V Raman, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs are just a few to name. If there is one common thread that connects all these great people, it is their profession of 'progressive' engineering. If their lives and the way they went about their occupation has taught us anything, it is that, engineering field is not merely a profession, but also an arena of opportunities to change the way we live
Yet, many raise the question- Why Engineering? This is due to the misconceptions that this profession does not offer enough money, job security and stability.
But hey read on, and you will not question why engineering is the field for you.
To begin with, monetary gain always pre-occupies one's approach while selecting a profession. And engineering is perhaps the most credible profession and provides a handsome paycheck. One can reap rich benefits in the literal sense. The world has witnessed how Steve Jobs made a fortune working hard in his field of computer engineering by creating software and technology thus influencing the modern world of digital design.
Success In engineering is limitless. From being a just a fresher one can make it to the top of the ladder at lightning speed, provided one has the commitment and drive towards doing one's job with perfection. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who hails from a fisherman's family, began his career from the bottom of the ladder as an aerospace engineer and went on to become one of India's finest scientist.
In a world of unpredictable and fluctuating inflation and recession, what every employee craves for his stability. In reality there surely will be ups and downs but an engineering professional can be assured of job stability, mainly because the world will always need engineers. Homes to be built, cars to be made, bridges to be repaired and maintained so on and so forth... To the extent that even the 'latest' technology becomes obsolete by the day.
Engineering also offers privileges and luxuries that other professions offer. In fact, in a society that regards dignity and respect associated with the job, engineering most emphatically conforms to these norms
Lastly, the occupation is filled with thrills and excitement. Every day in an engineer's life involves challenges and inventions of the smallest things. It is a field that is involved in making the human existence simpler.
These things put together make engineering an awesome field of work.
Finally, it leaves one simple question to be answered: Do you have what it takes to be an engineer?
In every sense, engineering is a promising profession for a triumphant future!
JEE Advanced 2015 results out tomorrow.
JEE Advanced Results are expected to be announced on June 18, 2015 at 10.00am. Candidates can check their results right here on PaGaLGuY.
The marks for the answers for the JEE Advanced were released on June 13 and are available on the official website. The Optical Response Sheet (ORS) and scanned images, cut-off marks and rank list for preparatory courses have also been published.
Hyderabad is slowly being seen as the next big city after Kota for engineering prep. The city proved its mettle by bagging five of the top 10 All India Ranks in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advanced, 2015. It also made a mark by securing more than 85 % of selections within the IIT-Madras zone. There are 5 states under the IIT Madras zone: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
Sri Chaitanya and Narayana, the two largest groups of educational institutes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states, claim to have swept most of the total 4500 selections in the IIT- M zone. M. Uma Shankar, National IIT Coordinator for Sri Chaitanya-Narayana said, "Sri Chaitanya-Narayana has bagged 25 of the top 28 AIR ranks in JEE Advanced, 2015 within IIT Madras zone. 3679 selections from the total 4500 in this zone belongs to us." He also added, "K. Nagendar Reddy, who secured the AIR 4th rank, is also the 1st ranker in the OBC category." The other top rankers of Sri Chaitanya-Narayana are: K. Aahwan Reddy (AIR-6), M. Sai Sandeep (AIR-8), K. Vishnuvardhan Reddy (AIR 9), and M. Sandeep Kumar (AIR 10).
Meanwhile FIITJEE, another noted coaching institute that focuses on JEE preparation claims to have got 267 ranks of the total selections. "We got two students in the top 100 AIR of JEE (Advanced) 2015. In top 6000 selections, 108 belong to FIITJEE, Hyderabad," said D. Anandaraman, Mentor and Director of FIIT-JEE, Hyderabad. "The two students from FIITJEE in the top AIR 100 are B. Akhil (AIR-61) and Karthikeyan Sharma (AIR-100)," added Anandaraman.
Observing the pattern of IIT JEE Advanced, 2015 examination, Mr. Uma Shankar of Sri Chaitnaya-Narayana said, "This year students found the Mathematics paper to be tough mainly because of the heavy negative marking. Students who were not sure about the subject left the questions in the paper unanswered," He also added that students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana tend to have command over math due to the strong base taught in their school education, whereas students' from other states were found to be good in Physics. Hence, the students from the AP and Telangana states were able to score well in maths.