A journey across time ...rather time zones :-)

Date: 31st July 2010, 10:30 pm IST
Venue: Chennai international Airport

I was waving happily towards my family and friends standing inside a railing with them on the other side. Million waves of emotion swept  pass my heart- the joy of the impending journey was overcome by the sorrow of leaving my dear ones back in India which was intruded by fear and anxiety that resulted from the fact that I am going to land in an unknown world in a day's time. Thanks to the railings that kept me from jumping towards them and raiding back home.

And of course the time came and I waved them for one last time and moved towards the jet air ways counter. The staff seemed so happy to see me come towards her while my parents were filled with sorrow to see me walk away from them.What a conflict of emotions.


Nevertheless I checked in my baggage and completed my immigration check and moved into the waiting hall. Finally I boarded Jet airways 9W226 flight to New York, the city of sky scrapers. The thought of being alone without any attention from my parents struck a blow in my head. But i had to accept the truth, the reality. From there on I was on my own and had to take care of myself. Fortunately there was some one who was accompanying me not only till new york but till Rolla, the city where my university is located. It was none other than Srinivasa Karthik Thandavan Vidhyasekaran (Herein referred to as karthik owing to the unusual length of the name), another mechanical engineering student who got admit in the same university.

My first flight experience was quite a nice one. Karthik and myself didn't get adjacent seats so i had to request a person in his 50's to swap our seats. For no reason i believe the old man felt as if I was asking his eyeballs in exchange of my shoe lace but eventually he gave the seat and we sat side by side looking forward for a good journey. We got seats near the right wing of the plane that gave a spectacular view of the wing and the ground beneath.

The public address system crackled and Captain Rudolph who was supposed to be the chief pilot of the plane welcomed us and requested to fasten our seat belts. The flight made it to the run way when it was 1:30 a.m. and within a swift second the plane thrust forward with enormous power. We were almost inclined 45 deg and I felt a swirl in my stomach and a block in my ears.

Slowly but steadily the flight reached to it horizontal state when we were almost 10,000 ft above sea level. Jet air ways provides good on demand entertainment inside the flight. There were collection of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, music to listen and even live news to watch.

It was a 10 hour flight to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It was 8.00 am local time when we landed in brussels international airport. we were done with the security and baggage clearance at 8.45 a.m and checked in the same flight at 9.30 am for our journey to New york. By the time the flight was re fueled and cleaned. We saw the flight re fueling procedure with child's awe.

Our new pilot, captain Richardson invited us on board and was quite amused to inform us the flight may be delayed for a hour or so due to some technical flaw. Alas the flight took off at 10.30 local time. karthik and myself chatted about what are back ground and what we are going to do after reaching our destination. We also saw some movies on-board. I saw Sherlock Holmes and The oxford murderer. 9 hours later we were there .. the destination much talked about ... and the place people most read about .. we were in NEW YORK.

We cleared customs and immigration within an hour and entered the huge terminals of the airport. The enormity of the airport made us drop our jaw. Even though the airport was vast it's construction was simple and unique. The roof was made of steel trusses all bolted with steel pins. The girders were so craft fully designed and installed. Seeing it only instilled a sense of pride unique to a mechanical engineer.  

We would have stood there for ages admiring the beauty of its inception but time didn't permit us since we had catch a connecting flight to St.Louis Lambert international airport, Missouri. However we were hungry so we stopped by an eatery and grabbed a chicken sandwich roll and coke. It was my first ever purchase in Dollars but unfortunately the sandwich was awful and frozen. We had no other option so munched the sandwich thing and prepared ourselves for our second air travel experience.

The domestic flight service was provided by American airlines(American Eagle). We thought it would be a massive flight like that of the9W226 but much to our amazement rather than a shock it was a small size air craft capable of carrying meager 45 passengers. We were a bit disappointed but nevertheless it was also unique in its own way. We were given the seats in the last row beside the window. It too gave a bird eye view of the land beneath and a clear view of the planes propeller. What else would have i wished for. I was constantly looking at the propeller and wondering how the hell mankind discovered these machines. My wonderment did not last long as we reached St.Louis within 3 hours.

My Visa Experiance ...

Before keying in my life experience here in united states I intend to share some of the moments with you that really put me in a great position to pursue my masters. One such moment is my F-1 VISA interview. My interview was on July 14^th 2010 at Chennai consulate at 0745 hrs.

After security check and initial review I was directed towards a counter. The interview must have lasted less than 2 minutes.

ME: Good morning Sir!
VO: Good morning... so how’s your day?
ME: Perfect Sir.
VO: pass your documents (I passed it)
VO: So why Missouri University of Science and Technology? (Started working on his computer)
ME: I said about the university, department, and labs available... (I used a word
"prestigious university" to describe the university)
VO: MST is not a prestigious university!!! (With a Sarcastic tone)
ME: sir....prestige depends on each individual's perspective ... according to me MST is one of the finest institutions offering best program in mechanical engineering ...
(Gave a broad smile)
VO: ok (Smiles)... so ...what’s your academic percentage?

ME: 87.1% … sir
VO: Backlogs?
ME: None...sir
VO: How'll u pay your fees?
ME: My father is sponsoring me. Besides I have a bank loan worth $20,000.
VO: I see that u have personal funds worth $10,000 (looking at i-20). Can u explain it?
ME: I inherited a part of my grandfather's property.... which was sold to
raise funds for my education. (While I was answering him… he took a circular from his right side)
VO: (After writing something) Ok... Ur Visa is approved and you'll get it in
a week’s time.
ME: Thank you sir.
VO: I have some additional information for you. (Passing me my documents and the circular). USIEF is going to conduct a pre departure orientation program on July 31^st.
ME: Thank you sir. But I already attended the 1st pre-departure orientation program held on July 9^th.
VO: Good to u. (smiles from ear to ear)
ME: Thank you sir … and have a nice day.

The walk i made from the counter to the main exit ... will be my most
memorable walk ever made ... head high ... smiling around at people with pride. When
i came out of the embassy and looked back at the building ...wah... what a
feel... i believe every one who might have undergone their visa interview and obtained a visa must have experienced it ..

The questions were pretty straight and with some preparation i was able to go through it easily. Through this experience i learned one thing, It is always important to open your conversation with good morning and fill it with truth and "thank you”. It'll really help a lot in our life.

The Transformation ...

6 months ago...

I was in my final semester of of my under graduation. There were many choices to chose from with respect to my career. I got a job in a well reputed automobile company that offered a lucrative Rs.30,000 pm gross salary and at the same time i had also obtained admissions from couple of universities in the United states to pursue my Masters in Mechanical Engineering.

Sometimes it's better u have only one path to follow because having far too many choices would make us end up pursuing none. I was about to fall into one such situation. I had a decision to make, a path to choose from many. The irony is you just can't predict your path.You cant exactly judge where your choice may lead you to... You simply can't determine the future .... and i think that makes Life interesting and at the same time dreadful ...

Eventually i had to make a decision ...and with the support of my family i took a bold decision to travel abroad to pursue my Master degree in Mechanical Engineering at Missouri University of science and technology, Rolla, Missouri.

I thought it would be a better idea to post my experiences of my journey towards transformation in this blog so that it'll make a good read and at the same time prevent me from forgetting my past ...

AXIS OF DEVELOPMENT....

I was wondering what to post here since i had nothing to comment on.....until this morning....

This post is not meant to criticize other fields of engineering .... it is just meant to highlight the uniqueness of mechanical discipline.

a friend of mine repented for choosing mechanical engineering as his career option. He was comparing IT jobs with mechanical jobs. He was overflowing with complaints about the mechanical field, about the salary it promises to provide, about the working conditions and it went on and on till i could no longer take it up.....

i dedicate this post to that poor fellow out there....

to learn about things that move the world is very fascinating. Engineering serves this purpose of carrying the world forward. When it comes to engineering the immediate word that flashes in our mind is mechanical engineering.


if u ask me what's mechanical engineering ???

i would say it is an art and science of creation.... Art; it needs skill and will. science; because it too has some systematic procedures.creation; we create right from simple tools, which helps u to open crown of a bottle to the most indigenous, complex machines that keep the world rotating...

Even though many engineering disciplines have evolved through years.... still it's graduates are called engineers..... ENGINE-ERS..... meaning a engine driver. This ultimately and inarguably means a mechanical professional. This shows that mechanical engineering is the forerunner and one of the oldest field.

old here does not mean that it's a tradition and it should be followed,it means that though many breath taking technologies have been developed it is the mechanical phenomenon that stand as fundamental concrete base for that technology.

IT sectors are seeing a down slide.... and the market is melting down.... but still a safety pin manufacturing company is carrying on with it's production schedule without stopping it's operation. this is because we serve the fundamental needs of the people.

even though computers can boast of high end technologies.... it needs a rack and pinion mechanism to operate it's CD drive .... that's the power of mechanical engineering.

From needles 2 bridges
From bolts 2 machines
From bearings 2 bicycles
From steering 2 engines
From bikes 2 air crafts
From cd 2 computers v r required
Casting dreamz,
welding ideas,
forging effortz,
shaping the world,

we are the GEARS of progress bcoz v r

THE MEN !

THE MACHINE !!

THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERS !!!

so my friend...

whatever be the technological development that has taken and will take place .... mechanical engineering, as phenomenon will remain as the AXIS of that development. Enjoy the work you are doing.... what ever you do .... do it with commitment.....

live joyfully.

celebrate life.

MITSAKE... sorry mistake !!

Right from a child in his cradle to big shots in their powerful throne.... right from a student in his exams to a scholar in his speeches. Knowingly or unknowingly, fortunately or unfortunately they do it. The magnitudes may vary, the situation in which it was made may vary, but then they all are grouped under a single term, single word, MISTAKES.

No one wants to do a mistake rather no one likes to do one but still all of them do it.

while thinking about it only these things surfaced.


wrong actions can be segregated into two, mistakes done unknowingly and those done deliberately under cover (i.e) a crime, these are done without the knowledge of others. This is a common man's perspective, but the unrealized fact is that there is one soul watching over the crime that is being committed.....GOD. That's an expected reply.... but the answer is NO..... it is the soul that made you do right things at right time.... it's YOUR SOUL that watches you constantly. Therefore when you do a mistake(crime) don't boast of yourself that it went unnoticed THERE IS ALWAYS A SOUL WATCHING YOU...... FROM YOUR BIRTH TILL YOUR DEATH.

ok....let's consider all beings in this beautiful sphere are righteous and value driven people.... then mistakes, in it's form are done unknowingly.....

Even though there may be many technical and non-technical issues that lead to mistakes no one knows that what they are actually doing is a mistake, unless it's aftermath is experienced. Therefore according to an individual initially no mistakes occur [very funny !!!].

Another undeniable fact is that one small mistake will lead to a bigger one which in turn gives birth to another and this goes on .... until what? until we realize what we have done so far is wrong.

When do we realize that what we are doing are wrong things ?.... only when we see the situation from a third persons perspective because our mind has a bad habit of thinking it's the best among it's counterparts.

After finding the mistake it is important to accept and realize the mistake, more over we need to take the responsibility for the ruins, but again in reality no one wants to do so, each one wants to shift there burden to some one's shoulder; after all they don't realize it's not the burden in the shoulder that hurts but the guilty consciousness in the heart that pains.

If anyone pin points our mistake it is better to take the criticism in a constructive way after all advices are the one whose stock is always more than the demand and of course a good one really deserves our attention.

i read some where ..... Success raises from good judgement but good judgement comes from bad judgements (mistakes). this does not mean that making mistakes will see you through success,
it is all about rectifying the mistake and preventing it's recurrence that matters.

The most interesting part of it is how fast we recover from the devastation. the faster we deduce the mistake and respond to it more is the chance of recovery.

Mistakes provide us with challenges to overcome. often these challenges really shape one's character.

Never feel ashamed of making mistakes after all trying something is far better than watching it happen. Only a surfer knows about the wrath of the sea, for a spectator it's just another extreme sport.

Mistakes here does not mean only your mistake, learning from your mistake is hard work, while learning from others mistake is smart work. Try to use others nightmares to avoid yours.


so whats the conclusion?.... Hmm..... Thomas Alva Edison did it proudly for 17000** times, Mahmud ghazni did it untiringly for 16 times then why should we feel embarrassed in doing a MISTAKE..... but keep in mind ALWAYS MAKE NEW MISTAKES.

**-fact to ponder upon: When asked about his 17000 failures before inventing a electric bulb Thomas Alva Edison replied "I HAVE DONE 17001 INVENTIONS, 1 WAY OF PRODUCING A BULB AND 17000 WAYS NOT PRODUCING IT." That's the spirit i want to convey through this post. live life to it's fullest.

CHEERS

yogee

Satisfaction redefined....

Three months before.....

That was a camp held in our college for the sake of training students to get employed. In short it was an employability training camp. Not many of the students use to attend it as we have to stay for 10 full days in the college hostel...... and of course the tasteless food adds on to the burden.

Morning sessions include aptitude training, communication classes ...while guest lectures were in store for the evening. As usual my peer group felt it's better to attend the camp rather than facing the barking and bites of higher officials.

Previous night of 24th November we assembled in the college campus. when it comes to my mates they exactly know how to enjoy these type of gatherings. We met our other electronics and computer science counterparts, talked, ate, gossiped, wander around the campus till it was mid night.


When we returned to our room i saw a boy, thin, dark,... neatly combed hair even at the mid night.No doubt he was just match stick personified. He was dressed in his T-shirt and tracks... if i am correct. But the more peculiar thing about him was that he was studying some kind of
text book perhaps a book of objective type questions. i couldn't imagine a boy, who while his friends were enjoying themselves was reading a book that too a text book. But my body demanded some rest so i threw him of my mind and went inside the room.

it was Day one, Faculties stuck to there schedule... aptitude classes went on for 2 hours. it was fortunate my friends were in my batch in spite of shuffling students and separating them into batches.

Faculty... if i'm correct was Mr.Manish kumar, an IIT alumni who taught about some fundamentals of mathematics.... each time he came up with a question, there was a murmur of the answer from the row behind... mind u it was only a murmur, it was not loud enough for manish to hear. I pretended as if not noticing it.... and the class went on.

Each time a question was posted same murmur would raise, tell the answer, and fade away in the air. i couldn't resist myself from looking back at the person who did so. It was not a surprise to me .... it was the same lean figure, neatly combed hair, now it was oil tinted. i'm always attracted towards these type of brilliant people. so i just waved my hand and said my name and obviously expected a reply. "Mahesh kumar, ECE department".... that's all was the reply that came from him. i couldn't continue the conversation because that broad face of his hung down towards his note book.... some people are really strange.

things went on, sessions passed, days passed, but that peculiar man, mahesh was always peculiar in fact strange .... very strange.

Then came that day, it was the communication class. students were asked to talk about themselves. all had their turn... so did i ... and so did mahesh.... he was in no state to talk to the gathering.... he was disturbed, something bothered him too much. the faculty in charge of the session took over .... and asked him to speak the next day.

Next day was no different one, same faculty.... same mahesh.... same stumbling... same fear in his mind.... and i tell u.... i couldn't find what was wrong with him.....

Things went on.... as usual.... now comes what i would call a turning point. The scene was set up in an undesirable location.... the rest room. when i entered, i found the same lean mahesh looking himself at the mirror. i don't know what to react ..... and if we don't know anything i suggest silence is the best solution.

But this time it was mahesh who invoked a conversation. He said he wants some help from me for his language development. before my mind could analyze what he exactly wants from me my mouth replied him to come to my room in the night. I myself is not a pro speaker but i felt something that urged me to help him out. Anyway, i thought there was another 6 hours for that rendezvous.

But i say that there was no 6 hours in my life that passed so fast. before i could realize what happened in the morning, he was there, in front of me in that cold night, sitting in my room, waiting for me to reply.

"ok.... let me encourage him first." this was my notion. He speaks well in his mother tongue but not a word in english. i tried everything possible.... even wrote a small paragraph about him and asked him to speak by reading it.... seeing me struggling with the guy, my friends naga, sai, ajith joined hands with me and did all in their efforts to make him "TALK ABOUT HIMSELF"

Mahesh, born to a farmer of vizhupuram district, Tamil Nadu was a school topper in the government school both in his 10th and 12th classes. His school though trained him academically never threw light on his soft skills. and now this lad is suffering to speak what is known as a simple english to the urban mass.

He came up with plenty of complaints about him. he said he had stage fear, he worried if girls present in the batch would criticize him. he feared the faculty would scold him...... perhaps he imagined more than that ever existed.

My friends did everything make him feel confident. We even made a small panel and asked him to speak in front of them. when he was able to speak a little about himself it was already two in the morning.We felt he can manage the next days communication session. Before going to bed he asked me to sit in front of him tomorrow in the classroom, so that he would gain some confidence. without hesitation i agreed.

For anyone it was an ordinary communication class but for me and my friends it was like an armageddon, an experiment. we waited for his turn to come. i sat in front of him. waiting for him to start. he was hesitating... for once i thought the toil till 2 a.m was not influencing him. but then came the faint voice of his... slowly but steadily he talked..... you won't believe me... he talked in english... although not the perfect one.... but the one good enough from a rookie. the faculty was all in praise of him for his enduring efforts. i would tell he was a little amazed about this guy. but for us it was not a surprise, after all the hard work it was a gift that mahesh gave us.

that day was not mine, as i did a pretty ordinary presentation but that day really belonged to mahesh. he was on cloud nine. all girls were shaking hands with him, praising him. poor fellow too embarrassed to take their hands even.

my friends and myself stood in a corner just watching the guy getting his appreciation from the small group of boys and girls. His eyes were searching someone... and when he found us, he walked towards us like a king who won a war, like god of heavens, like a child who is overwhelmed with joy. He literally hugged each one of us. An unexplainable emotion was seen his eye.

we friends shared a feeling, a feeling that would have no bounds. it was not joy but pure Satisfaction......satisfaction REDEFINED.

YET ANOTHER VENTURE....

To a person who tries his hands on everything he comes across, this blog is yet another venture... hi i'm muthu kumaran aka YOGEESHWARAN, doing my engineering in mechanical discipline in a reputed college in chennai. This day marks two things, one i've started blogging and another is that Mr. Barack hussein obama has retaken his presedential oath... sounds childish!!! i know. hope i manage to post regularly .... rest in the next.