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Showing posts from September, 2012

Put the Glass down

A Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students “How much do you think this glass weighs?” ’50 gms!’….. ’100 gms!’ …..’125 gms’ …the students answered. “I really don’t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?” ‘Nothing’ …..the students said. ‘Ok, what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?’ the professor asked. ‘Your arm would begin to ache’ said one of the student. “You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?” “Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!” ….. Ventured another student & all the students laughed “Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” Asked the professor. ‘No’…. Was the answer. “Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?” The student

IIT Post Grad: When the going gets tough! Do you really care??? :D

I heard this in a movie and it really hit me... So those of you who feel like you are in the dumps in Grad school or as we in India call it Post Grad studies (MTech), do read... You feel like you've lost your passion for research, but maybe you've forgotten how to be passionate about anything! Graduate school is as much about finding truth in research as it is about finding truth in yourself. How come a person doesn't get stressed? It's easy in research to get tunneled vision, to feel isolated, like your the only person with your problem. Your not alone. But whenever I get stressed I simply ask myself this question: "Do I really care? Would I rather be doing anything else? You're not a machine. You have to embrace the things your passionate about. Every great idea, every great moment of eureka came when it was least expected. Apple, Google, Facebook, Newton and gravity, Einsteins theory of relativity... These things all happened when they weren't doi