The Lightcone’s Lament

It is again that time of the year in which one is left to do things which he likes and so, here I am, writing composing this blogpost, among other stuff.

Before we move on to a cacophony of the courses which I had last semester, let me describe my various other activites in the institute. For some of those, I could find time, but for some others, I couldn’t. But I ended up doing them anyways.

1. Boltzmann:
This was the first time in my stay here that the numbers started getting consistent. Now we have grown to be a pretty big group(compared to the last two semesters I mean). I learnt a lot of interesting Physics here without worrying about a stupid grade. Grades are like stock markets: You need them, they are important for survival, but you wish you never had them. Now, what I learnt in Boltzmann was how to live rather than how to survive by learning to enjoy whatever I do.
(For those of you who don’t what Boltzmann is, it is a group of students really enthusiastic about Theoretical Physics, with an equally enthusiastic professor at its helm).

2. Astronomy:
It is the International Year of Astronomy, and the Astronomy Club at IIT Madras beautifully acknowledged this fact by holding regular theory sessions every Friday evening and a couple of public observing sessions. We are truly gifted to have the 8″ Celestron GT telescope, kindly provided by the Institute. Visit the Astronomy Club site for more about how IYA was and is being celebrated.

3. Dynamical Systems:
I did a lot of miscellaneous stuff in Dynamical systems, like reading up from books, attending Prof. Balakrishnan’s lectures(the discussions at the end of the lectures were a lot of fun!) and writing Runge-Kutta algorithms to simulate phase flows. It was an exciting moment when my code correctly gave out the Lorenz attractor. I will hopefully blog more about this later, when I find time.

4. Lectures on Special Relativity:
It was a stroke of luck, this one. I was coincidentally free in the slots when Dr. Suresh gave a couple of lectures on Special Relativity to the Physics Minor students. I thoroughly enjoyed the classes and learnt a lot of formalism that one usually doesn’t in introductory texts on Relativity. I would like to thank him very much for giving me that opportunity.

Now, without much further ado, for the phooey-try section which tries to give a just description of my academics: (I was in a very satiric mood yesterday. So, I thought I’ll make a fool of myself by trying some poetry )

Linear Algebra and Numerical Analysis
It went like a breeze,
Before I could even finish my sneeze,
Which came through the wind,
That left the last sem behind.

The course was very abstract,
Which helped me preserve my tact.
He deserves a deep bow,
Who helped the passion to flow.

Networks and Systems
A great deal of mathdom,
We were required to fathom.
The course was a simple one,
But there were few who actually won.

The professor was crystal-clear,
And made the subject very dear,
Those who listened finally glistened,
And those who slept, finally wept.

Engineering Mechanics
We learnt beams and trusses,
With a lot of screams and tussles.
The instructor got angered at our plight
and decided to find peace in flight.

The whole class rocked and rolled,
Until every single soul snored.
The course had little motivation,
Which ultimately forced us into aestivation.

Mathematical Physics
‘Tis was a course I loved to the core,
So much so that I cried “Encore!”.
I learnt a lot of mathematical lore,
Which put me at knowledge’s fore.

‘Tis was a musical,
Worth every golden sickle.
Nay I have anything more about this,
The elixir of Mathematical Physics.

High Vacuum Science
‘Tis was a farce beyond measure,
For those who knew not what to treasure.
Subtle and High it was,
Only the almighty at nigh could pass.

They were three in number,
Warding off the slumber.
We all took ‘em for a joke,
And finally ended up broke.

Fiction
‘Tis was a course on Fiction,
Requiring a lot of diction.
A whole lot of analysis,
Led me to an intellectual crisis.

Inept am I,
at describing things that meet the eye,
So would I be taking a-leave,
Though I have much to grieve.

Principles of Measurement
The classes went off at a huge pace,
Such that everything was a total haze.
Power and Energy it was,
That made up most of the class.

This time, it was more wear and tear,
Rather than wire-and-tire.
We had a lot of fun,
Working with the electron gun.

I think that much of intellectual suffocation is enough for one day. Hopefully, I’ll break the trend of reporting about my courses after every semester by blogging about my intern next. Stay tuned, folks!