NDTV's super hype titles in the name of NEWS

Just red an article on NDTV's blog which said President Obama extended the rarest of rare gestures by seeing PM Manmohan Singhji off to the portico of his White House. This is such a silly topic and not worthy of being called news. But of course, how can NDTV know what is News and what's not? Anything slightly normal constitutes News now a days. "Man jumps from a great height doing Bunjee Jumping" could be the topic of their next news article. Shame on NDTV (media of today) for not knowing what reporting is. We (Indians) have a lot of brain but sometimes forget to use it. That's what NDTV does for TRP rating. That's why the government needs to pass a strong bill regulating press like in countries like Israel. Why does anybody have to listen to you (NDTV) just because you are based in New Delhi? What gives you the right to put your opinions in the minds of citizens? Isn't your news like forcing your ideas on those who want to read unbiased content? I can hardly think of any news agency (channel or newspaper) nowadays that reports news in a unbiased fashion. It's best to read the source that is on the website of the concerned organization in terms of PM's foreign country visits and for most other reports. For what PM spoke at the UN General Assembly, please read the main source below:
http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/68/IN_en.pdf

Movie Review1: Chak De India- One of Modern Hindi cinema's fine movies

Not every movie you watch has a real story behind it. True life-story based movies are mostly awesome directed. The script of Chak De India is very well-written and it has many elements that most films in the west cannot have (Unity in Diversity structure of Indian culture is portrayed very well in the movie). Multi-faceted aspects of Indian Women's Hockey team were shown in the movie and it is fantabulously acted well by the new budding actresses. Of course, SRK doesn't need any new training to act in performance based movies but the girls too did a wonderful job. It is truly inspiring to watch it again and again. Hope we have more movies with a message attached to their plots. The movie truly must have inspired real-world Indian women's hockey team and I hope it continues to inspire many young girls practicing hockey in their schools.

I've come to realize that when it comes to sports, it's not about being useful to the society. The satisfaction one gets when one pursues one's dreams, which were a result of immense passion for the sport is something incredible and only the sports community can relate to. I am not a sports person but would love to start playing a sport regularly to train the mind to be goal-oriented. Next on my list to watch is Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.   

PhD experiences

Jumping right into technical stuff in the beginning: when you read a paper demonstrating some interesting properties of a certain material, don't assume that all such properties actually exist for that material. If you have that material in your lab, test if you have the same quality of material demonstrated for experiments in the paper OR if you can make such a quality of material in your lab. Then verify if the properties of that material match with those mentioned in the paper. This is a god way to test for ourselves and remember its properties for life.
Similarly, when reading an experimental paper involving fancy equipment and highly sophisticated measurements, don't try to search for those equipments on your university campus. First read the purpose of those measurements using those equipments and understand if such a high capability is required for what you are working on. If not, it's useless to show fancy pictures just because there's another equipment available to you.

When working with someone on a project, before telling the other person what you have in mind, make sure you test your idea in the lab and see if it works at least up to 60%. Then discuss with your partner about it and now you'll have more information before you talk randomly about a broad idea which you 'think' 'may' 'work'. Three dangerous words that cannot be confirmed unless we burn the midnight oil and see for it ourselves.
When some famous scientist from some famous group from some famous university visits your university to deliver a speech/talk, go attend it. You may not understand everything he says about his field but you can get some ideas by listening to experienced people. If possible, talk to them after the talk and ask them any questions that will help you understand the topic better. If it's too basic, don't worry, just ask the talker to suggest a good resource to start learning about the field and how he got interested in it in the first place. Having interest is one thing, having the dedication to pursue it long term is another thing. Many students will be conveniently 'interested' in something but not have perseverance to follow it up and get in depth (but that's what PhD students must do). I'm not saying I'm a perfect student. Since learning is always in progress for someone in academia and since even the brightest minds have failed several times before becoming successful, there's nothing to be ashamed of when you have the will power and are sufficiently motivated. 

My flute class

n idea

If each one of us starts using public transport for going to far off places in a city, instead of using our own vehicles, we may bear some uncomfort but just think the favour you are doing to the environment by reducing pollution. Each time when you want to use your 4 wheeler or 2 wheeler, just think if it is absolutely necessary to use it for the travel. Local trains and buses are cheap and safe to travel in. So please utilise public transport to the maximum extent and reduce pollution.