Being an Engineering Graduate In India: The Ways Of Survival

It is now a common knowledge that a degree in Engineering will assure you of a good future. While you may require umpteen hours of special training to get into a well reputed technical university such as IIT, NIT, IIIT or a few others, getting an Engineering degree isn’t that tough though. Plenty of colleges out there are almost ready to award you a degree in Engineering without you requiring a lot of basic-cum-in depth knowledge of fundamental concepts. So, to take in students that are really capable to survive in the demanding sector of Engineering, the CBSE conducts a test for your knowledge in PCM – JEE, that is conducted in two stages as Main and Advanced. The marks in your Main exam will be used for your admission in the NIT’s , IIIT’s and a few other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions. Candidates who acquire a certain level of marks in the Main examination will be admitted to write the Advanced examination, which will be used for the admission in the IIT’s in the country. Every year, the number of students who wish to write the JEE Main Examination rises by a definitive percentage. A very much visible evidence of this trend is the opening of academies that claim to coach students for the JEE exams. These academies try to lump out a huge amount from the parents for their fancy courses.

So, do you think that people who end up with a Engineering degree either from institutes like the prestigious IIT’s lead a great life than people who graduate from the regular universities? The answer is NO. Of course, there are some people who get placed in big MNC’s by studying in some prestigious universities and the fates of a few of them are good to say. But, this population constitutes just about 15% of the Engineering graduates. The remaining? I won’t say that their lives are in the rots, as that would be misleading.

Various disciplines of Engineering are there to be chosen from. Some of the names are far from mediocre Engineering names. However, the engineering disciplines that the students show the most interest are,

·         Electrical Engineering (EEE, when combined with Electronics Engg.)

·         Electronics Engineering (ECE, when combined with Communication Engg.)

·         Computer Engineering

·         Communication Engineering

·         Information Technology

·         Civil Engineering

·         Mechanical Engineering

         

Except the Civil and Mechanical graduates, the graduates in any of the other disciplines would probably end up having their job at an IT firm. The Indian IT industry is very much appealing to the youth as it promises a starting salary package that no other work sector offers. Most of them however, get sacked as soon as they reach a point in experience where they are termed “Inefficient to Update” or reach a salary range that the IT firms cannot offer to a person, but should.  So to stay in the stream of the IT sector, one has to update himself very frequently on par with the freshers in that company. That is not that easy when you reach a certain age limit. So will the fates of the Engineering graduates end miserably in a very short period of their career?

The answer is…. again NO.

There are a lot of options to choose that would pay the graduates a promising and satisfying salary. One of them would be to do a Masters’ degree. Of course, as in any sector a Masters’ degree will get you a better place in an organisation, thus your level of corporacy in the company increases, most probably guaranteeing you a permanent place. The other option would be to join a Government firm, thereby assuring you sustainable future. Agencies like DRDO, BARC, ISRO, BHEL, and many others   don’t ever fire you for some silly reasons or in some cases no reason.

So as to end, a degree in any section does always have its worth and Engineering is not any exception. The path lies in the way you treat your Engineering degree after graduation by not just lounging in a private MNC for years, but finding a better way of life in many of the vacancies in several organisations that promise you a good future.

THE TIME I HAD A JAMMED FINGER

                    It all started when I was playing cricket sometime ago. Let me illustrate you the kind of situation it was. We were fielding in the first innings. And, one more thing to be disclosed here was that, the day before I went to play, I had already stuck my finger in the gap between the car door, when I slammed it, and got my middle finger of the right injured. It was just a little bruise at the cuticle. But it was no big stuff. I knew that I would be alright in a day even when my finger wanted to get the "experience". So, as we were fielding in the match first, I rushed to the position of the wicket keeper as it was my favourite. We would be playing with the rubber balls, but for some reason they chose to play with a hard cover ball. I took a position that was too close to keep that make of a ball. The delivery was an averagely fast one. It was not that I had not seen a ball of that speed, infact I had faced a hundred of them till I started playing. My thoughts being these, life had other plans (that's what it does always, right?). The batsmen left the ball unhit and it travelled straight to me and just tapped my little finger of my right hand. That was gentle for the moment, but from the next second, the knuckle of my pinkie(that's where the impact would be) swelled up a bit and there was some degree of pain too. 

                   Okay, so, you know the cause of my injury, now let me tell you something that would be helpful to you for the first time in this article.When you experience something of this sort, first of all, don't strain the area of injury. Don't press it, don't even try to massage the knuckle joint. Just keep the finger at rest atleast for two days, but that depends on the intensity of pain, so decide yourself. Ice it occasionally. Use some counter pain type of medications such as balms, sprays, etc.. Normally, you won't need a doctor for it. But, if the injury is so severe as a fracture, please heed doctor's consultancy. Place your hand on a flat surface and don't prefer it to be hanging down, as it may increase the swell.

                 Don't panic and run to a doctor if you feel you don't have a fracture, it will most probably go off in a week or a maximum of two.

KAATRU VELIYIDAI Movie Review - Has Mani Ratnam lost his Midas Touch?

If Mani's recent movie had been released a twenty years ago, I bet people would have loved it. When Mani came back to the big screen after a few years of gap with KADAL, critics praised him for maintaining his film-making charm, though negatively noting the climax part. His next venture, OK KANMANI was very well received by the audience, especially by the younger ones. Many thought that Mani had regained his long lost form, and were expecting many more super-hits that he had been giving in the past. But, Mani says "NO", which is very evident from the way he has made this movie. Film buffs like me would have expected something good, if not, at least big, given the buzz the movie was creating weeks before its release.

The movie moves in the period of Kargil war. Karthi, with his looks may look stunning at first, but, in those scenes involving subtle yet, strong expressions he clearly fails. Many times, he adorns heavy lipstick make up, that makes him lose his manly charm. And now, Aditi, who did come into limelight with her debut six years ago alongside Ranbir Kapoor in ROCKSTAR (Hindi), steals the show with her looks. She acts good, infact, in some places, great. But, she falls flat when it comes to strong acting scenes, the ones in which she is required to play cool, but show the emotion involved in the script. Ravi Varman has managed to show Kashmir as best as he could. The one thing that you would actually love a lot in this movie is the cinematography.

A. R. Rahman is lovely and soothing as he always is. Songs and the BGMs are major plus points for this film. Frankly speaking, the technical department has done its job quite well. This film looks like some scrapped script that was written twenty years ago. Nothing really great to be said about it. But, there are a lot of failures and Mani has to take responsibility for them. All the actors seemed to have done their part - doing perfectly what the Director insisted.

But, THE DIRECTOR himself is stuck in the 90s. Mani, you got to update yourselves.

NOKIA 3310 all set to be relaunched! Look at the person who uses the phone for about 17 years!

Nokia recently announced its plans of bringing its old glory Nokia 3310 device back in the market. Fans of Nokia have been gushing over this ever since the announcement. While we wait for the device to come back in the market again, there’s a man in Britainwho has been loyally using the Nokia 3310 for 17 years now. According to the report published by the Metro, the 49-year-oldBritain resident Dave Mitchell purchased the Nokia 3310 back in 2000. The report goes on to quote Dave, who thinks that the phone is made of kryptonite (a fictional mineral which is believed to deprive Superman of his powers), “Whenever something happens to my Nokia, I just have to click it back together again.”One of the main troubles with the modern-day smartphones is the battery-lagging issue. We tend to find our smartphones plugged in the charger most of the times. However, Dave doesn’t face this issue at all, thanks to Nokia 3310 which according to him, needs charging every couple of weeks. Nokia 3310. When his friends joke about him not keeping up with technology, he defends Nokia 3310 saying that he will never part with his 17-year-old sturdy device. “I was given a newer phone with internet access by my son a few years ago but I just didn’t want it. My needs are very basic and the phone has a calculator and games like Snake 2 if I’m bored,” he said. “For me a phone is for making and receiving calls and texts,” he added.He claims that his mobile phone is the oldest in Britain. He has the device during the decade of his service in the army wherein he has gone on tours of Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan and Germany.We will be knowing about the features of the relaunching phone when the Mobile World Congress unfolds on 27 February in Barcelona.

HINDI DOWN SOUTH: CHANGING TRENDS

            People from the northern part of the country have been long complaining about the illiteracy of the people down south in the National language.  The southern states of Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka have seen by tradition as the states where people seem too dumb for Hindi. When I got down to analyse the exact scenario down south, things got pretty clear.

Karnataka, with Bengaluru as its capital, a leading IT hub in the country, is becoming home to a lot of engineers who come there as a part of their job, as a result of which, we have a lot of Hindi and the northern influence in it. From English radio stations to full time Bollywood stations, Bengaluru has transcended a lot from once a dusty roadcap to a very busy beeptimer. In most part of the city, we can have a lot of auto-rickshaw  wallahs querying , “Kahaan jaanaa hai?”(Where do you want to go?). And, so now, Bengaluru is turning almost a destination that resembles North cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, etc.. And hence, we have this place as a favourite spot for Northies who would love to seek a job and settle down south. 

Besides Bengaluru, coming to the focus of the other states, Andhra and Telengana has a lot of population for Muslims, and thus housing a large number of Urdu versals. Needless to say, Urdu is a lot like Hindi and people know how to manage with Muslims. So, AP and Telengana score a partiality for comforting Northies to make a living. Although day to day life in AP and Telengana will be much of a hassle, the worse is yet to come.

Malayalis from Kerala have a great stake in their language and are hence too obstructive to Hindi influencing their rich culture. The same applies to Tamilnadu, where people are always up to new things, but always see Hindi as an enemy that would destroy their leftoff culture. Tamils and Malayalis have the same outlook and approach towards North Indians – fair complexioned, uncaringly hard working, ruthless , etc.. So, if a Northie comes to Chennai or Coimbatore or Trivandrum or Trichy, with or without an aim to settle, it won’t be well possible without learning the local language. From petty shops to supermarkets (you are lucky if you find one speaking Hindi) to banks to offices, things pretty much happen in Tamil. Though official works always come along English, those “unofficial” office works will ever be in Tamil, from chit-chatting to bizz hangouts.. Some may think that this trend is coming to an end. Behold, it is NOT!

The next generation seems to be too curious to learn the northern language, which is an encouraging news, but the numbers turn out to be a worry. Only a partial percentage of the students seem to learn Hindi by heart, others, just for the sake of a degree or for peer pressure driven thing, so called ego. Just a small percentage, say 5% to 6% learn Hindi and even then, only 1% to 2% of them completely of a standard to speak with utmost fluency. People are all aware that Hindi is extremely helpful, sake of a better future up North, but they don’t step in to learn the language.

UH, COLD TIMES AHEAD… 

THE 800 CURE FOR CHICKEN POX

Got pox? Panic's not gonna work even if you are full headed into it. Whatever situation you get bad, sit down, relax, think and plan out the future.Pox has been treated and is being treated in various methods in various beliefs, but I think it's good t stick down to the mainstream medicine which we are gonna see in depth in this article.
Zoster Varicellus is the virus responsible for causing pox. Although pox is common in children or people of smaller age, it affects older folks too, if they are not immunised the way they want to be. Certain theories, even in Allopathy have suggested the single-occurrence of the virus do fail because, even I, the writer of this article have got chicken pox about 3 times in my entire life.
A lot of medicines are available in the market for treating pox, most of them have the powerscript "800". So this is it. You get it? Any medicine intended to treat Chickenpox must have the powerscript of 800 or its multiples(though some doctors prescribe 400, they aren't available locally and people rely on breakages of 800 to get 400s.
So the medicine: ZOVIRAX 800 for full grown adults or teens over 14 with a weight of over 40 kg. ZOVIRAX 400 for children below 13 with a bodyweight of below 40 kg.
Regular intake of the tablets four times a day, once in 6 hours is reccomended, either before or after meals.
Isolate the patients.
Try hanging or placing neem leaves around the patients, as it acts like an antibiotic.
As small pox has been eradicated in almost full of the globe, we don't mention the medication associated with it, coz' it has some really complex works running behind. So, if you get small pox by chance, rush to the hospital as soon as possible.
This virus, takes a time of 15 days to affect the patient, from the time it enters the host's body. 14 or 15 days and the patients falls sick. Another 10 to 15 days, patient gets cured. By this time around, another person in the home, who is ill-vaccinated or has a lower immunity gets affected. So, if possible, if someone in your home gets pox, it is advisable for the other members of the family to be vaccinated against the virus.
Don't use water to wash the face or body of the patients, as water would do nothing but just worsen the situation.
And mostly, DO NOT SCRATCH. I know it'd be a lot tempting to be itchy and it'd be really nice if you put your hands around and have some scratches. But, beware, this will lead you to a more worse situation.
So that's it, I suppose, even if you don't treat chicken pox with medicines, it's gonna fly away within a few days, but for a somewhat speedy recovery, I think we can use this phrase, tablets will definitely help. Please put your questions down below, if you have any, and let's see again. Ta-Ta....

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

FIFA officials disappoint!

The world's most followed game is what we call as football. Of course we know that there will be a lot of action and sometimes even violence happens in the field. But, never we have seen such a case where the top 7 FIFA officials were arrested for a bloody reason - "CORRUPTION". In a game, which billions and billions follow, there shouldn't be any place left for this kind works. This makes us think that we, having watched almost every game that our favourites play, believing them, we would have been deceived at least once. On the other hand, I am glad that these dark things came out of FIFA and it would be restored pure (as I think!). Hope to see the good old game again in all its glory...