And, I'm Out....

In keeping with my newly-gained status as a Master, a few observations are due here:

• Commencement ceremonies are great. Every person should attend at least one in his life, if only to soak in the general air of celebration. (And oh yes, the atmosphere, slightly cloudy and not at all boiling like last few days, was ideal for a nice ceremony on the ground)


• Contrary to my belief, Graduation gowns are very comfortable and easy to wear. Of course, you would look foolish trying to "use" the hood.


• Tassels are a pain. A small gust of wind, and you have to search where the tassels have gone flying. Keeping an eye on a small child is easier, believe me. (At least, my niece is better behaved than the tassels I have on my cap.)


• The caps have one of the most non-aerodynamic shapes, which makes the wearer very weary of them flying off at the smallest breath of air. Which brings me to my next point...


• The only use of the tassels I could come up with (apart from denoting the level and field of study) is to get hold of, in order to prevent your cap from flying off.

And since the reason for this blog ceases to exist now, see you on Adlergedanke from now on...

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Tasting...

Spring break over, and two projects due in a month. Enjoyed two days of srping break (out of 10), and now back to school and classes.

There, that's my whole status here.

Learnt about a new taste yesterday, called Umami (not Unagi). Wonder how come I haven't experienced it yet? Oh well, it seems not all people can taste the taste.


And for all people who think 75 min lecture is long, stay away from this.

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Days to go before I sleep

Or at least, I rest without anything due next day.

Just finished two exams, one on Monday, the other half an hour ago. Hope I haven’t changed the neural anatomy or human physiology so much to make human life on earth impossible (or create a parallel universe like Vishvamitra did).

But the week is not over yet. Got a project to submit on Friday, two papers to read by tomorrow. And to top it all, a 10 min presentation on next Monday on a topic which I have yet to decide.

Oh yes, have to read some papers by next Tuesday.

So, back to work now. Or before that, a good rest for next 4 hours.

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The Disease and The Treatement

In Marathi, we have a saying which translates roughly into “Treatment being worse than the disease”. Well, here goes…

In physiology class (I am taking more and more medical classes), discussion was about the effects of drinking excessive water. The professor told about what are the effects of drinking excessive water are (didn’t know you could die drinking water). Then she asks what treatment should be given to the person. After one or two logical answers, a student calls from the back of the class, “Give him cholera.”

I mean, cholera removes water from your body, but then, as the prof summarized succinctly, “You are evil.”

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It's difficult...

I never thought I would end up saying this (and my friends would agree), but has anybody given a thought how difficult it is to go to a class at 8.30 in the morning?

I mean, when the external temperature is -3 (Celsius, not Fahrenheit), do the people who prepare the schedules know how impossible it is to just get out of the (warm) bed, let alone walk to school? Is this torture or what?



On a totally separate note, I was saved today. We had to present different parts of a (mini) project, and after looking at the presentation, I came to know that I had totally misunderstood (and mis-programmed) one of the parts. I am now thanking the God that I got a different topic to present.

And, being last to present is a big help. The only thing left for me to do was point out the difference (only 1) in the values used in algorithm, and show the graphs. As I said, “Everything else is same as told before” :)

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Panic sets in

One homework due on Monday. Have to read some 30 odd pages for the class too. Yet to start anything for homework.

One exam on Wednesday. Need to read some 60 odd pages on pathology. Good point: it is multiple choice, single answer (unless it is all of the above). Bad point: Pathology, do I need to add anything more? (And that I am very BAD in remembering stuff like that).

So much to do, so little time… I guess I can’t afford a time-turner on the galleons I get as part time assistant (even if I can find somebody to buy it from).

In lieu of that, does anybody know the current rates of Auto Answer Quills or Remembralls or Detachable Cribbing Cuffs? Does anybody know for how many knuts I can get powdered dragon claw? A pint of Brain Elexir? Anything????

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Yes, I was right...

...when I decided not to be a doctor (of the medical kind).

Now, you will be asking why this sudden bout of patting-myself-on-the-back? The reason was revealed to me in my class last week. In the neurobiology class, we had a lecture about the neural imaging techniques. More of medical stuff than engineering stuff than I care, but all in all it was good lecture. Actual images of tumors, their diagnosis etc. was helpful in understanding the neural anatomy.

And, at the end of lecture, the professor suddenly brings out a case to test our understanding. Till then, he had confined the images to MRI, CT scans etc, but at the last minute, he shows the actual photo of the patient. The case was: a 9 year old girl, running around with knitting needle stumbled and the needle pierced her just above the right eye and went about 2 inches inside. Luckily it missed the eyeball and vital blood vessels. But the picture was enough to show me that I did a service to mankind when I decided to stay away from medical profession.

The professor (he was the doctor on the case) had readied an OR for the girl, and one more for treating the trauma to the father when the mother got there (the girl was with the father when the accident happened). If I had been the doctor on the case, I had have to send for 2 more doctors, one to treat the girl, the other to revive me from shock.




On a happier note, we have to use a software called Sylvius, which is kind of brain atlas on the computer. And it has a ipod version which I have downloaded too. Looks like my ipod is going to be as useful as my laptop in my studies.

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