Just One Boundary!

The event of last week was that I flunked CT-6, but passed CT-4. I cannot really say why that happened; I studied both equally well. Perhaps the fact that I did not know ten marks worth of definitions did me in. I know I should be hanging my head in shame, because not remembering definitions is unpardonable. It won't happen again for sure. So now I am staring down a triple-barrel of CTs 5, 6 and 7 for this November. CTs 5 and 7 are slated for a November hit, and now I have to re-attempt CT-6. What I feel more miserable about is the wastage of exam fees that amount to a thousand bucks.

With Ojas' health taking a beating, I was forced to cancel the plan of having my classmates over at my place this Saturday. Some in my class have not yet seen how people live in Bombay! Of course, they are all welcome, at any time of the day, or night. We are all gearing up to host the IIT Bombay Mathematics Olympiad, which is the showpiece event of the department. It did not take place last year, which I think is downright shameful. Here, there does not seem to be much faculty support. But we are determined to make it happen; even if it is the last thing we do.

I have a Twitter page now. I usually tweet from my cell phone. I am just getting used to the concept of micro-blogging. I still have to get fully acquainted with Twitter's functionality; but I do not want to convert it into another form of online social networking, which I despise. I was just reading about how Twitter can be used to gather instant news updates about developments in space science. I'll be trying to come up with my Twitter-comfort zone in the next few weeks.

One more interesting thing to have happened is that Bankim has suggested that we make a movie about our life in IITB or on some other subject. I love movies, so I was thrilled by the idea. Maybe we can show it during the Olympiad.

The last KM meet to discuss everyone's eclipse experiences was fun, with everybody accepting that they felt envious of our Varanasi chase. The videos of others who had visited other places such as Dondaichya near Nandurbar, Patna , Itarasi and others were shown at the meet. Vini, Sirish Sir and I had a ball narrating our experiences and Vini's presentation and Kale Sir's video were the star attractions. The new committee has decided that there will be presentations every week on some topic; and I am going to present one this Wednesday, on 'Remote Sensing'. I am also planning another one on 'Cosmic Rays', but that will be later.

We have also started gearing up for the next chase; where shall we go to watch Annular Solar Eclipse, January 15, 2010? Kanyakumari or Rameswaram? When Sameer Dada asked me this, I just said KK. Why KK and not Rameswaram? Just so that I can boast about having been to the Southern-most tip of the Indian mainland and since it is one of the few places in India which sees sunrise and sunset, both over water. Also, it is a more famous tourist spot. Rameswaram is more of a temple town. There might be a problem of plenty though. Many people might turn up in KK, as it is more easily accessible. Let's see, what we decide, got to do it by mid-September though. My vote is with KK. Updates about the developments in the chase plan will be posted here.

Well, enough rambling for one post. There will be another up soon.
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* Tailpiece *

Sameer Dada sent me a link to a research paper titled 'A Markov Model of the Indus Script' that discusses the possible use of a probabilistic model involving Markov Chains to decipher the Indus Valley Civilisation script. The Indus Valley Civilisation's script has not been deciphered yet. It is not known whether it points to a highly developed language or is just a collection of symbols without linguistic underpinnings. The research was done by, including others, Hrishikesh Joglekar, a KM member.

Search the paper by typing its name in the search box on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences site.
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