Dusting off the cobwebs

Gee, looks like I really have been gone too long. Blogger's gone through some major changes, the web's been changing too, social media takeover and all. There have been changes this end as well, and an update here was long due, for reasons personal and beyond. For the very few readers who've been here expecting somewhat regular postings, my apologies.

A lot's been happening since the last post around here. Much water has flown down the Ohio river, and am sure elsewhere as well. Somewhere during the timeline, yours truly managed to tick off one devil of a task on the list in a Master's degree, and added a bigger devil to the list. The neo-proverbial plunge into garbage piled higher and deeper happened, after much denials that it ever would. The half-sweater theorists were right after all.


Anyway, so that's it. An MS thesis saw the end of the tunnel, and before the feeling could sink in, another much longer tunnel in PhD beckoned with stretched arms. Predictably and despite all warnings, yours truly got suckered in, and continues to, grapple with the vast darkness around, and not in any good way. Much fun as it has been so far, there have been casualties. This blog for one, among many others. The social life, for another. And there have been positives. Let's get on with the lists again, shall we*?

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* It is probably worth mentioning at this point that one of the biggest casualties of getting into graduate studies in engineering is a progressive degeneration of creative writing (or an excuse for it, as the case may be). As I get further and further along the process of academic publications, I learn the emphasis is significantly higher on the level of polish and highbrow in the language than on the substance therein. Exceptions exist, as always, but mighty are those that can wrap the simplest of concepts and notions in the most convoluted verbage. Within my own limitations, I have, consciously and otherwise, succumbed to the prevalent practices too, and chances are high it might reflect in my writings here as well. You may see a higher recurrence of numbered lists, of a compulsive need to justify each word and sentence with references (or hyperlinks, in this space), and so on. Endure me while I try and repair myself. There might just still be hope for me, I'll know soon enough.

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The Good

Allergy to the F-word, the S-word and on rare occasions, to the C-word still persists. I still belong to that diminishing group of old-school believers that cling on to the belief that those that need the aforementioned words to sound cool, aggressive or funny aren't any of those. The words have their place of usage in certain limited circumstances only, and the ones that know where the words belong are, sadly, a disappearing breed.

The love of everything vegetarian remains, from boiled potatoes to the most exotic variants of curries and gravies. Much of the local neighborhood has been explored, with the realization that it is not very difficult finding something edible, and very often delicious, in cuisines from across the world. The old rule that everything, when hot and straight from the oven, is tasty and edible, still persists.


The distance from alcohol and tobacco has been diligently maintained over the years, while the same cannot be said of arguments/ justifications/ rationalizations for/against the habit. Late night discussions outside dusty labs, over road trips and during the occasional blackouts continue as before. A few more contentious subjects have been added to the list. More on those another time.

Interest in all things optical has gone on the rise, a fairly bold statement for a nearly blind visually limited person. The interest has risen more in the context of photography - the art, the science and the nerd discussions. Endless hours have been spent on online fora in discussions and arguments, learning and unlearning,  and honing skills as best as a half-blind pair of eyes permit. That, in part, also explains the long absence from this space. Internet distractions.


There is a new breed of peoples in town. New kids, new perspectives, newer takes on life and fun and such. That sense of wonder and excitement that I had when I first moved to the 'nati starts wearing off with time, and to see a new batch each year that recharges that excitement does help. Did I mention I still love this city?

The Bad

Troubles with grammar and OCDness with certain aspects continue, and in certain other aspects, have worsened. The annoyance when one doesn't force a space after a comma, for instance. It doesn't help that I have been forced, against my sensibilities, to take to LaTeX just when I thought I had gotten a good hang of Microsoft Word**. All the advantages of spell-check, word counts, commenting and reviews, and a WYSIWYG editor went right out of the windows (nerd pun unintended). 

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**It is at this point that the most pious and devout in the academic world would take to arms upholding LaTeX over Word. It is almost blasphemous to think otherwise in these circles, and I have paid the price on more occasions than once for choosing the wrong Gods. We are still talking word processors, for the record.

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Cooking skills has gone downhill since the last post, though on the brighter side, the need for good food has proportionately diminished too. Cheesy potatoes seem blissfully filling, coffee (or something to the effect) from vending machines tastes like water in a desert, and the taste buds very often collapse from sensory overload during the occasional visits to an otherwise regular south Indian buffet zone. On the brighter side, the 20 minute rule persists - if anything takes longer than 20 minutes to cook, it probably isn't worth the effort. It is how Sambhar's and Kozhambu's become Dal Fry's, and how mixed vegetable curries end up being seasoned potatoes. Instant noodles remain the modern world's greatest gift to mankind in general, and to grad students in particular. 

Troubles with animals have gone from bad to worse. If I had trouble with cats and dogs earlier, I have now had encounters with snakes, spiders, and rats as well, and none too pleasant at that. A rat, fattened on all the poison fed to it and half-dead from trap snaps, managed to successfully chase me out of my own home even in its most weakened state. Bedbugs don't seem such a bad species anymore.

Online distractions have risen in numbers over the years, and how! The ratio of amount spent at work to that over stuff ranging from that new photography uploaded on Facebook to live Cricinfo updates to XKCD to .. internet distractions is getting smaller and smaller by the day. But then, no knowledge is ever a waste, is it?

The unchanged

"I am working on my research" remains the one answer to any and all questions you might have regarding my work and life, and will remain so for another few months in the foreseeable future. Dig deeper at your own risk.  

The days continue to peak at nights (no double entendre intended), with productive hours typically past midnight. Much as I prefer not to blame the sun, there is much to be said in favor of the dark side. Also explains why winters are the most productive time in a grad student's life (citation needed).


The hope that someday there would be a newer junta that would finally know me by my real name continues to be just a hope, as nicknames get passed from one grad generation to another.


Cleanliness standards, at home and work, are still debatably at the same high levels as before, much against popular perceptions. As long as any document from the past 2 years can be located in the heap within 10 minutes, I don't see why anyone should worry about stacking, organizing and color-tagging documents and such. I even managed to find my passport in a shoe box along with some old receipts and mail adverts, for what it is worth. I could ramble on and on about why all that hard work is of no use, but I have a strong feeling you already agree with me on this one.


And of course, the issues with brevity, or the lack of it, continue. People have managed to force me into self-imposed shutdowns for over 15 minutes in the past few years, but that's about all they've managed to achieve (waits for applause to die down).  


So there, nothing spectacular, nothing too earth-shattering, but just a quick holler that this place might just see a little more activity ahead than in the recent past. 

Be seeing you.