PESIT Days

 PES is now a university. It was not when I worked there. Affiliated to a university, VTU, it was a typical management department, with zero autonomy. We tried getting autonomy from VTU, but for some reason, did not get it. However, in our mind we functioned as if we were.

Lots of bright students made it easier. Also a faculty team that went beyond their mandate, and got into research, MDP (training), and industry outreach through seminars and the like. I have met some of the bright students since then, online and off, and it's a pleasure to see them doing well. A pic of some from those times that I found online.

Another pic or two from a brochure I found after 15 years.. Prof. Venugopal Naidu is with us in the second.

A second campus was coming up near the Hosur highway, electronic city at the time. It is now a full-fledged campus. We also collaborated with IUP, USA to do an innovative MBA program that found takers in Bangalore. 

Super 30 - Film Review

Disclaimer: As a general principle, I am against coaching classes of all kinds. But these are a way of life (like the internet based media) that you cannot wish away..

There are a few good things about this film. And a couple of questions that I had. First, the good things.

The acting is good. Hrithik Roshan, the kids, Pankaj Tripathi and whoever played the Excellent Coaching boss. The guy who played Hrithik's dad was very good too. Even the female love interest of Hrithik's, though she had little to do after the first twenty minutes.

The film makes a very good point for social justice in education, and the fact that the right kind of education can transform a family's future...logically, though, every university should strive to provide this transformational education, and not just a handful of IITs. Something to think about? Of course, State governments are responsible for the state universities. And promoters, for the private ones, which are yet to match the Central government institutions in quality (in India).

The villainy is over-dramatised, I thought, and the positives take a back-seat during those scenes.

Academicians and academics do get their due through the central character- education is the winner.

A question that I had- why was Hrithik looking unwashed in the second half of the film?

Worth seeing the film. Certainly beats the current alternatives by a few marks. :)

Singapore, Architecture and More

 Waiting for a university shuttle.

 Metro station

 University Food court- Steven Riady Centre

 Ventilation at the food court. Notice the angled glass windows.

Two above 1. Another view of the University..Nice, modern architecture. 2. Marina Bay Hotel, with the boat-shaped top.

Below, a hotel frontage in Little India and large classroom with video-conferencing.

Shut Down Coffee Day

There is a call to shut down a few things, of late. I am joining the bandwagon (what's a bandwagon, by the way?)

Shut down offices, because they make you work, and I don't like to work.

Shut down Coffee Day, because it's serving more froth than coffee. Similarly, shut down McD's in the U.S., because they give you ice in the garb of Coke in those deceptively large "regular" glasses.

Shut down temples and churches, because their bells are too loud.

Shut down cinema halls, because they show stuff that may make people creative and make them question the status quo.

Shut down hospitals, because they kill a few patients now and then.

Shut down Art Galleries, because I don't nderstand what these guys paint..and the sculpture studios, because they make people in these weird shapes..

I am somewhat exhausted, but you can't shut ME down..

New Killing Fields

Killing of enemy soldiers on a battlefield one can understand. But killing of innocent people in a university is something that at least I fail to understand. The gun law is obviously a culprit in the U.S. But is that the only culprit? Is there something dehumanising about our existence, like the nightmarish sci-fi stuff where humans were taken over by machines? Do we really not care about other people's right to live? Can anything be done to reverse the trend? Or are we destined to see a lot more of Virginia Techs and Northern Illinois' happening all around? Some people always felt that the veneer of humanity we wear is pretty thin. Maybe it's started wearing out.