1996-03-31 - Sunday - leaving for Brindavan and then Calicut

Screenshot from this video - కాలం విలువ | Value of Time | Divine Discourse | March 20, 1996 - Yugadi 1996

1996-03-01 - Friday - Returned mic stand to school hostel, mics and amplifier to Naren Sir (after the sendoff yesterday). All teachers - S⁴, GV, records - bent on giving us workload now, overload. Projects, seminars, Awareness term paper, records. Gave seminar (QM - Quantum Mechanics) on the blackboard itself (and did not make any transparencies.) Ran around for OHP info - Naren Sir - 150 W 22V! Mk III E. Writing hardware project report.

WI lost to Kenya(!) yesterday in World Cup cricket! 

1996-03-02 - Saturday - KBR practicals - opened and saw one power supply - tried 723 (IC replacement), blew two. Finally plans to put a 7805 with pot to adjust. QM seminar - none prepared, so continued in lab. Afternoon - Renju Sir said Monday would be the last session... many bugs corrected, still some remain. Ate extra ice-cream with ten others in band room.

1996-03-03 - Sunday - From morning to night, writing - morning hardware project report, evening optics record. Breaks were frequent, too. Ate two pizzas and ice-cream for dinner. Slept in the morning 8:30 to 9:30, in the afternoon 1:20 to 1:30. Hardware project report is over, optics record half-way. 

Tarak Reddy (roommate) returned from jaundice holiday in Brindavan. Today, Ravi Shankar (another roommate) was stung by a bee, yesterday Srikant ... 

1996-03-04 - Monday - Whole day in computer lab, except one hour of QM. Project in nice shape, except for refl graphs which haven't been incorporated. C++ usurped study hours from Mat Phy (Mathematical Physics) seminar. 

WI won over Australia, remaining in World Cup.

1996-03-05 - Tuesday - QM seminars are over. You made my C++ program work quite well. Cold - from Chittaranjan to me. According to coin (flipping a coin to decide what to do) bought chikki for hunger and no kachoris. Much work to do before 9th - assignment, Awareness paper, seminars, record writing.

1996-03-06 - Wednesday - Morning - QM & GWP (Guided Wave Phenomena), so we were free except for Gen. Chibber's Awareness class - last AWR class. Prof couldn't take class for us as he had to take for IInd MSc. C++ printout + small error correction + hand moving. Wrote optics record in the evening & night. 

India beat Zimbabwe, Jadeja was man of the match. 

1996-03-07 - Thursday - After Sathya's seminar, Prof left us! Computer lab ahoy. Bugs refusing to vanish in .exe file. Finally leaving as is where is. Readying for seminar tomorrow - writeup by night, transparencies tomorrow. 

1996-03-08 - Friday - I felt so tired that I slept early without writing (this diary). Prof's seminar, then Sikka Sir and I in Matlab (Non-linear lab) trying to curve-fit my data. Finally result was funny - yielding required 1mm λ for a k ten times the required value. By evening, I realized it was low sampling on a rapidly varying function, but Sir wasn't satisfied. Finally got printout. 

1996-03-09 - Saturday - Forgot KBR's practicals - he gave values to be written in record - I went back on Sai Giridhar's (student - Quack) bicycle, brought records, wrote and submitted. Shifted amp and mics with Srinivas 12:30, speakers & stands with MBA boys (Gullu bhai etc) 3 o'clock. 

Then, didn't watch Indo-Pak quarterfinal at Bangalore ⇒ India won! by 40-odd runs. 287 when we batted first - Jadeja's 44 off 25 balls, Sidhu 93. Though Pak 115/1 in 15 overs, mini-collapse ⇒ 240-odd for 9 at close.  

A³ (parents and sister) called - should get a XI admission form. Tested my program on Raj's notebook - works! like VGA display, very fast. 

1996-03-10 - Sunday - Slept 8 to 11:30 am! But afternoon up & about by 2. Went to school 10-10:30 & 1-1:30 for application forms. But didn't study SSP (Solid State Physics) as it's so depressing ... spent time turning pages after finishing seminar transparencies. Bought 9 OHP sheets to replace Ajay Singh's ones I scratched. Books also came - 'Life is Love ...', 'God Incarnate' & 'Single Stream of Love'. Unnecessary?

1996-03-11 - Monday - Morning wasted in GVR and KVA seminars on SU(3), afternoon on match WI vs SA. WI won by 20 runs. Did a little GWP before and CMP (Condensed Matter Physics) after, so that after 9:30, the other quarterfinal AUS vs NZ. AUS chasing 287(!) with 6 wickets and 2 overs to spare - Madras batting track. So, all four semi-finalists from Group A, none of last year's semi-finalists lasted through quarterfinals. 

1996-03-12 - Tuesday - Morning - waited in library for S⁴, when he came, showed Prof our C++ projects - he was not satisfied. NS, PS seminars tomorrow - today it was too late ... & Prof didn't answer their questions. 

1996-03-13 - Wednesday - Satya / Srinivas seminar - Prof interrupted many times, seemingly unfairly. Satya hadn't met Prof when he sent for him as yesterday Prof had shouted at him when he pointed out a mistake in Prof's calculations. Did some SSP while India crashed to defeat on a deteriorating pitch at Calcutta to Sri Lanka in semis.

1996-03-14 - Thursday - Prof didn't turn up till 11 o'clock (so I) chatted with Shailesh Sir - about KVR - it's always like that with his paper ... In study hours, finished SSP/Kittel comparing notes. (Prof's daughter is ill, in Super Speciality Hospital.) Afternoon, skipped lunch & read "Managing from the Heart" - 
Hear and understand me
Even if you don't agree, don't make me wrong
Always look for loving intention
R --- my own greatness
Tell me the truth with compassion. (The actual quote is slightly different).

Australians recovered from 10/4 in 8 overs to 207/8, beat WI by 5 runs by bowling them out in last over.

1996-03-15 - Friday - Morning, read 'Computers in Physics' - Jan Feb 1994 issue had printer terminal as I/O port ... Went on Sai Mahesh's bicycle, returned walking as he(?) had taken it back. Afternoon over in sleep and seminars. Finally, study hours, MP (Mathematical Physics) in bhajan room, with Rohit Gaur "Gaurding" the peace. 

1996-03-16 - Saturday - Morning, did 10 pgs in 3 hours in bhajan room (Tinkham). Afternoon, newspaper, evening & study hours read Joshi & Grainer in a confused way.

1996-03-17 - Sunday - Morning (was spent) in library waiting for seminar, blew on computer magazines - 200 MHz Pentiums, 75 MHz Pentiums just $2000 ... Decided to blow full time. Seminars 11 am to 2 pm, then bread and jam from Tarak (roommate), RD, cricket, RD, cricket. Sri Lanka made history - 1st host to win, 1st to chase successfully in final, 1st century in final (Aravinda) since 1979 ... Finally, when the TV was off, it was 11:15! after interviews, awards, etc. Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans, all happy!

1996-03-18 - Monday - Finished continuous groups by full day - 9 to 12, 2-3, 4-5:30, 8-9:30. Bhajan hall - concentration was lacking in the room as people keep talking - in C13, complete peace reigns - directly under the fan ... Rohit Gaur's singing aborted evening there, but continued in room which had quietened. In the morning, at 8 o'clock, walked to Department and kept cleaned transparencies on Prof's table ... Sai Mahesh's inspiration was the whole day - turn a new leaf - showed on notice-board - Yugadi Sandesh of yesteryear.

1996-03-19 - Tuesday - Since only one and a half chapters of Schiff were to be done - "QM text to notes" - wasted day. Slept till 3:40 after lunch etc. Finally, Clebsh-Gordan left for tomorrow - too bouncy - skipping. Prof told Nagaraj etc no M.Tech this year, as GV's becoming VC, no staff. Maybe next year. ... Nagaraj says he'll do PhD. 

1996-03-20 - Wednesday - Morning Gayathri 108 at 6:30, after ablutions, in Bhajan hall. Ate heavy breakfast ~10 slices of bread + 3 puris, Rajma ⇒ lunch skipped, storing Ugadi Mysore pak & banana for tea. Dinner only a chapati and one more left-over Mysore pak ⇒ as walked 7:20 to 7:45 briskly for exercise, hungry by night. Progress - GWP (Guided Wave Phenomena) text to notes from Lee & Cherin, also studies - notes to head (by writing in pad) begun with GWP 1st chapter. Only jarring note in the day was scratching Your watch while taking evening walk in Hostel corridors. 

1996-03-21 - Thursday - GWP did (revision) nearly one notebook of three, then packing (things to take home for the summer holidays) in study hours. Morning - Annam Shankar & Radhaswami Sir's PC - monitor vertical sweep phut - ~ 1 hour. Night - lay awake till 1:05 - couldn't sleep though was comfortable (not hot etc).

1996-03-22 - Friday - Almost no work done - morning met KVR with monitor of PC (Annam) + classmates - he told us to study ... that's all! Copied his notes (Clebsh-Gordan) & covered Bhajan room windows for coolness. No more work after Schiff verifying Clebsh-Gordan. Mooned about. Satya Schiff doubts & Srinivas (after midsem CMP portions). (CMP is probably Computational Methods in Physics).

1996-03-23 - Saturday - QM prelims done, evening lazed. Major questions left for tomorrow, starting with 6 am to 9 am Schiff from Sathya P. Study hours MP! (Mathematical Physics) as I need only less than 60 for O grade in QM, but more for MP and MP is not yet touched. Song of Nature - excellent soothing instrumental. Only problem is cost.

1996-03-24 - Sunday - QM - got tired of it by night, so did some important questions sketchily. Work expands to fill time available - a law of Murphy - and exceeds it, too. Bought safety pins to refurbish undus.

1996-03-25 - Monday - QM long paper ⇒ section B done quite sketchily. OBO? Or OAO? or OCF? Up to You. (This refers to the grading in our University, O is Outstanding, followed by A, B, C etc. with F being Fail. Since I got O grade in the mid-semester exams, the final grade would be the combination of the mid-semester grade and the end-semester grade. It would have been possible for me to get a B grade in end-semesters and still get an O grade overall, OBO etc.) Mat Phy started late, as slept till 3. So, finished only one and a half book out of five.

1996-03-26 - Tuesday - Rollicking progress in MP (Mathematical Physics) - finished all but SU(n) symmetry by night! Your grace abundant - able to do even 1-2 hours without rest breaks compared to three-quarters of an hour for QM. (Talcum) Powder of "sample size" not available in stores - so, Ponds Dreamflower talc set me back Rs. 30... Annam Shankar & co's monitor still with KVR.

1996-03-27 - Wednesday - Mat Phy OK as easy, short questions - left 3-6 marks, otherwise fine. All depends on correction now - i.e. Your work starts now! Analogy of 4 innings - first innings poor slow start, lost wickets rapidly, needing 40 in last 15 balls... 2nd innings some attractive shots, batsmen gain confidence ... KVR returned monitor after cleaning, with some life, but vertical 3 images. Sync gone. Later, Sridharan Sir touched it, working! Hot day - library searching for motor starter book etc, read about human-technology error mishaps, troubleshooting. Noodles, Puri, Sweet ⇒ feast, very thirsty. No studies at all!

1996-03-28 - Thursday - Scrambled to make up for lost time - but ~ 6 questions left for tomorrow ⇒ must get up early - Nagaraju - 3 o'clock - poor thing, he only has "Energy resources", needn't get up. Announcement at 10 pm - GV is new VC, tomorrow meeting at 7:15, all staff and students, then exam. Mics ...

1996-03-29 - Friday - Felt very uneasy - nausea - in the morning. But You helped - vibhuti - so could finish work by 4:30 am & sleep till 5:30 am, Suprabhatam. Felt better after bath, KVR had arranged mics, Mr. Prasad, KH and GV spoke, so read, esp Lee parts. But paper was fully (based on) Cherin. So, "Bhal" as Satya and A4 say. But umpire (You) may declare a no-ball when the middle-stump cartwheels ... Afternoon slept, evening packed and lazed, night good mood, writing GV answers & compactified formulae also - tomorrow, full day, must work hard, then OK, else KO ... no choice in questions, one Kittel problem also.

1996-03-30 - Saturday - Could study whole day with Your help, in study room B21. Toss (a coin toss to decide course of action) said don't go to college, don't go to C floor. So ... perfect place - not hot like C floor, on chair with desk for optimum performance. Did "expected questions" - he should ask them! Had light lunch and tea with 5 pieces of toast left-over from morning - no heaviness. Good dinner as Rajma ... S⁴ speech - he'll be here, can phone up, about the drain. 

1996-03-31 - Sunday - GV's paper was easy but for the threatened problem. Bus came only at 12:15, left at 12:45 pm, reached Brindavan at 4:15 & You hadn't come out! Sai Ramesh Hall Discourse, padanamaskar on Trayee lawns, same bus to Alembic & then to Majestic. Drank badam milk & juice, 9 o'clock Karnataka express (bus) raced to reach (Calicut) before 5 am though there were 4-5 stops.

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