Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Engineering and God

My friends have already started questioning me whether I have become a sage(or in its process) ? My humble answer is No, I have just started to realise my Creator. Sometimes my parents are also disturbed by the fact that I spend too much of time in religious activities, which in turn may disturb my daily chores and studies! Well this argument seems fair and just to a confused mind.

I have confused my daily chores with my spiritual explorations, sometimes getting too absorbed in scriptures that I end up looking half-foolish with incomplete assignments, records and study-oriented activities.

I have questioned myself and wanted to know whether I was in the right path.Then I met my friend who also had similar difficulties.Thank God! I found one for company. While cherishing this new found similarity, I had my normal life running between college and my house(@ Radha nagar). I used to listen to some classes and dump others -- this is the place where I experienced my free will, at its extremes. Sometimes out of empathy(or sympathy :-)) for the living creature standing before me and trying to squeeze information into my dunter head, I force myself into a listening state(engg.students know how hard it is to stay focussed for more than two mins! - ask them). Sometimes I felt like it was my duty and passion to study.Its not Jai Praveen's instincts(good) or some mystical forces.I sorted it out , its partially because of the motivating words and lectures of wisdom which mocks at our Engineering standards(MIT).Thanks to those wonderful persons.

Now that I have introduced the first word of my topic "Engineering" , let me dive into my favourite word "God". I suddenly had this thought in my Optical Communication class(most part of my good brain works during Prof.Ganesh Madan's class).

I , earlier said that it was my nature to confuse Science with religion. Some end up boasting evolution and its (ultra-extra ordinary)orderly behaviour in the formation of Earth and the living beings.Sadly they simply ignore the concept of soul and even the Second Law of Thermodynamics(read it for yourself from Wiki).

Romans 1: 20 says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and God head,so that they are without excuse."

This was written by Paul to address the non-believers who do not have any idea about God at all.

Ha Haaa! Here I got the point revealed. Looking at things around us, we can easily recognise/acknowledge the existence of God. We are studying for thousands of years,the Omniscient Creator's work , in different branches of studies ranging from Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Chemistry etc., This holds the key to bridge the relationship between Science and Religion.I am happy that my Master gave me the key very soon.

Notice: Subject to update without further notification :-)

Jai Praveen.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

GRE and its consequences

I prayed a lot before taking the GRE second time.Unfortunately I did not prepare as well as I prayed ! God did not answer me.My higher studies dreams were a little shattered when I looked into my GRE score on the computer screen at Prometric.Neither could I swallow nor could I vomit.I decided to turn my face away from God for the next few days, the reason being --he failed to respond to my prayers.

When I was in this depressed state, I easily forgot what all I have prayed and asked him.Just then I realised that he had answered some of my prayers.I had previously prayed for a nice heart to accept will and never ever turn away from him.It so happened in the next two days.

After two days of persistent bad mood - somehow I slipped silently into my normal state.God again created the opportunity to speak to Bro.Regis. He made me understand how God gave me chances to get the REAL flavour of life.We cannot get everything we desire.He has a set of plans carefully drafted to fulfil his purpose through me.No one can change it or deny it.

He asked me to meditate on Proverbs 3:5,6,7

"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart.Never rely on what you think you know.
6 Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will show you the right way. 7 Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you really are "

I remember a song which one of my school teacher(James Sir) taught me while I was in my twelfth standard.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart ,
and lean not unto they own understanding,
Acknowledge him in all his ways,
And he shall direct your path". This song is sung with a very fast pace and it proves how involuntary it should become of us to grab him, as soon as we lose our peace of mind.

He also asked me to read Matthew 6:33 : "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you ."

This instilled in me a sense of divine wisdom and I had a smile(like a child knowing its father) on my face while drafting this blog.

He advised to stop requesting worldly things and pray for the gifts of God!(quite tough to do but lets see what happens in the future).

He advised me not to go behind worldly pleasures.Our eyes must be set and focused on hearing God's word and acting according to his will.

I had a heavenly peace descending upon me after hearing his message via phone.Each time he speaks with me, I can feel the unseen creator speaking through him.It is as though like a wind which cannot be seen but can be felt.I feel in my spirit that I am in the right path with Jesus as my light in my dark days of trouble as well as my a Good shepherd by my side in my merry days.

Professor Ganesh Madan said..

As usual he entered the class with all his slides and motivating thoughts.He was disheartened by the lack of interest in the subject - one could easily guess it from his face.I will write those things that came from his mouth in first person, "If you can write that you do not require this course with a majority of students signing it, the course can be easily removed from your curriculum.It will do more good than you expect.I will be relieved and will have a lesser burden.But also remember, when you do the same for all the subjects you dislike, you will have nothing left and tangible to differentiate between your course and IT. I do not know for what reason you all took ECE.If it was by chance or some parental pressure, you can always reconsider your decision as you are all final years.I will give you all attendance and those who are interested alone can come to my class.Rest will be permitted to write the final exam, irrespective of their attendance. Government spends 5 lakhs to each and every student who graduates out of the college.Had you used your opportunity wisely , some other hard working student who has a real passion for Electronics(even with lesser cut-off ) would have benefited out of it.Please don't advise your juniors(in 12th) and relatives to take up ECE, just because it is considered a hot stream ! People will have to suffer, and ultimately deviate during the years.There is also no sincere effort from the student side to understand a complex subject.It takes some pain to understand the stuff behind the real picture." He finally had a meeting with the HCL guys and left the class.He promised to show us some animation and we are not sure whether we will get that opportunity.

Two people in our department openly and frankly to students expressing their deepest regrets to the present situation of the Electronics Students : Prof.Ganesh Madan and Prof.Kannan. They are extremely talented and MIT must make the most use of them.Sadly, the opposite thing happens! I will share Prof.Kannan's innovative talks to motivate us later in this blog.


Jai Praveen.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Black-out and its impact on my life!

While many troubled souls speak about the power cuts and the practical difficulties associated with it, I would love to write my thoughts about it with a different perspective – the good things which the scheduled power cuts have brought with it ; especially for those at homes during the black-outs .

Reader Attention: Don’t mistake me for a grisly character of misanthropist with an aura of cynicism – I may sound so easily, with the following simple & humble () reasonings.

During power cuts, we are mostly detached from the advancements of human technology , which has made our survival dependent on some energy resource. When a black-out occurs,we are carried away to a dark age , void of light and unwanted noise(caused by machines and 24*7 TV running in our house) – forget emergency lights for my Blog’s sake :) .

We are forced as well as given an opportunity to sit back and enjoy the nature and praise the Intelligent Creator(Jesus Christ, in my case) behind it. Since the power-cuts are scheduled for a day, we not only prepare our daily chores in advance, but also our mind mentally even in the case of whiling away our time.Physically speaking, we sweat a lot and that helps to maintain the proportion of toxic substances in our body. I think we now have enough reasons to say a “Big thanks” to our EB department who have STARTED WORKING with a great vision to make us strong both physically(use our eyes during the darkness) as well as mentally.

Looking at the dark side, the power-cuts are really a pain in the ass for small industries and students. Alas , to the poor planning and blaming of one authority over another.

I spend time reading books(non-academics, of course!) and staring at stars lying flat on our house terrace.I have not done it in years although I would die to do them! ‘EB’ has finally re-kindled the child in me.Wow ! what a feeling it is to take some time in my busy work schedule(includes watching movies, chit-chatting, sleeping ; courtesy:youth, college student) to sit(lie) down and stare at everything, other than computer screens, table cluttered with gadgets and what not!

Other things which I do includes playing FIFA in my new HP laptop gifted by Jesus through my Chithhapa -- giving freely , some drops of my blood to every little mosquito(only fellows with happy faces during the black-outs) buzzing around me .(Karuna parambarai!!).

I look forward gladly for a future, where I can sit idly without any disturbances and temptations to distract my mind and thoughts,still drafting my success story in some corner of the Earth devoid of current and light. Will it happen or is it another page in my book of fantasy? I have more to talk about living and fantasy(my idea of living as projected by my imagination).I will put them later when I fall in proper resonance with my mind again.

Jai Praveen.