Trip to South

Travelling to all corners of israel and learning the culture and tradition and so the vivid history of the nation, is an essential part of our program. As civil engineers we are not only expected to know how to make a building stand, but also how did those massive and gigantice buildings stood thousands of years ago in barren lands and the emotions attached with them.

The international school administration, just after our mechina finals, took us to a trip to South of Israel. The trip covered, Ein Avdat (national park), Dead Sea ( lowest point on earth, and a sea you cann't drown into), Desert Research Institute (Ben gurion University) and the heart of negev desert where we slept into tribal tents.

The entire trip was just not an opportunity to relax our minds before entering semesters, but also t0 be aware of the interesting blend of history geography and architecture in this ancient nation. Seeing the path where bible says jesus walked some day, the valley where he gave instructions to his disciples is a breath taking realization.

The trip was essential in one more aspect, as it further gelled and bonded the group together, now we are more casual and informal towards each other. Stupid jokes at each other dont hurt anybody now. Its growing up like an international family!!

watch out some pics

My first day

I travel far, I am born to

miles I flew to reach a land

of green, brown and blue

"Israel" said the map, ...where i don't know.

Within all haze, i saw a drop

pristine, chase...innocent flying past me.

I touched her, did I? No...i cann't

she was as pure as the sabbath next day.

Eyes, never seen before as calm as Kiryat

piercing my soul, her gaze made me sweat.

Mediterranean shall shy from her eyes

with the depth and the shine under the morning sun.

Spring had no courage nor the passion

to smile before her, like Negev before Galilee

Her curly locks made the clouds jealous

thundering down with a burst of wrath.

I see her long, bite her lips, petals i call

cheeks getting pink with smile, dreamy eyes!

do i think of her, or she makes me think

a mystery as she is herself.

I still see her ...with my eyes under the sun

in my dreams under the stars

but am still far, miles away

and wait for the day when her heart will sway...

Akshay Vajpayee

(PS: this poem is completely work of fiction)

Study Time

My study table has started becoming from messy to intolerable. Books lying at crazy angles, notes flying away and all crazy questions dancing around. So finally the study time has arrived, indeed a time to celebrate. I have been waiting for this time for so long, may be from the day i landed in Israel. From 1st december we will be hitting on the first semester (ps: if carrie and ariel make us lucky in mechina exam then only!!) and so will be hopefully starting a journey of quest, inquisitiveness and excellence. Till now i have missed a lot of classes, may be because i want to have a possibly 100% attendance in my true university life, so just getting ready for it. A major problem till now has been lack of a proper book, but then it was mechina, i know things in semester are gonna be grand :) . I don't know how technion students are expected to study and yield, but i know for sure what is my own expectation.

Now lets talk what my plans are for the semester. First and foremost, get as much expertise and opportunities as possible. After all the one and the only motive am so far from homeland is to be a perfect engineer after 4 years. Secondly, I do not know how it will be received in Technion, but i hope if i can prove my self in academics and innovativeness, i want to work on some advance projects if possible. My Indian professor friend has really ignited my mind in this regard. Lets see, he told me Technion is really a great place if you want to work hard from your undergraduation itself. There are 100 more wishes and expectations, but one needs to work for them and not just talk. So here i leave to my messy study table to hit back again on the poor calculus book. Will be back soon :-)

Fun with Professor-IIT Hyderabad

Ashok bhaiyya making some poori for our delicious feast

Me sitting in the nano electronics building, its a heaven seriousely!

Me and ashok bhaiyya in my apartment

Last night was a really amazing night. At evening Ashok Pandey (Phd Indian institute of science, post doc, Joining as professor this summer at IIT hyderabad) called me up and we just randomly planned an indian dinner at his apartment. I cooked some aaloo matar and matar mushroom and he made chhole and poori and pulao. We went to his apartment to cherish such an amazing dinner. Afterwards we just strolled around the campus talking about everything ranging from beautiful girls of technion :-) to publishing research papers during undergraduate studies. Some of his tips rather most of them are sooo amazing that i am gonna try following them as soon as our semester starts. It was really such fun time...i hope it rains and he will make some pakaudi for me :-)

Fun life at technion

Life has been very great till now. Just loving every moment of it. Since we are in Mechina (pre university education) right now for the next 3-4 months, am utilizing this period to enjoy israel and to prepare myself for the real battle. I have been missing a lot of classes, to study computer science and java these days. This must be driving few of my classmates crazy, coz they are like soooo sincere attending each of them. But you know na, how we study in india for iit jee. I think i have studies all of the things they are teaching right now atleast 10 times before. Learning java and cpp here has been fun. i wake up in the morning (pretty late) have my breakfast, pack some food and start my voyage to the central library and study there. I meet reuven (on of our student tutor) there at times and we talk about lots of stuffs. So do i meet Mat (aerospace eng, masters). It grows up like a family. Then we go for the lunch together towards restro at the rabin building and then we meet a few more people there as well.

Coming back to fun, this week i travelled around my campus to have a real glimpse of it. Indeed its amazingly beautiful.





I keep on roaming around the campus watching the greenery and thinking.....whats next!

Why did I choose Technion

Taub Computer Center (Technion)

As in my previous post, i talked about the options available to me regarding undergraduate studies and my final decision to choose TECHNION- Israel institute of technology. In this post i will take you further deep into my reason to choose this university.

Technion, it was established in 1912, functioning since 1924, so it was and is definitely an established name in academic sector. Albert Einstein, the founder chairman of the first international society mean the university has an imprint of that great figure. And when israel itself says that Technion is one of our most important research universities and the whole world acknowledges israel being the world leader in research & development and Technological expertise....it clearly indicates the class of this university.

The universities of Singapore (NTU and NUS), they are no way less than technion in fame and name, but then i felt, would i be able to get the equal attention and opportunities in NTU and NUS as i can expect in Technion??? The answer was blurred. Lots of Indians get selected in NTU and NUS and they do join it. I have known from their experiences that life is good, but but but.......at times there is a sort of discrimination against them. Chinese students who outnumber every group their always get the inclination of the professors and the academia. But very few of the indians have actually walked the path of Technion, and those who have ...were actually professors and Phd scholars from IISc bangalore, Chicago university, MIT and Stanfords and all big names. I contacted a guy Sourav Chakraborty, IIT JEE qualified, Phd from Chicago university and doing Post doctoral research in theoretical computer science at Technion. And the simple reply i got from him was...this place is amazing. Respect for Indians and their hardworking nature is praise worthy.

Now till now Technion was leading, but then came the question of Safety. How safe is Israel.

Again i started a good amount of research in that regard and the info i got was amazing. Israel is actually way way way safer than lots of other countries which are called "so safe". All the news we here on television is actually exaggerated to nuisance extent. Its just one or two incidents on the border of Israel that do happen, but why would anybody go to the border?? why....

For example, you call India safe right! Now Kashmir is not safe so how can india be safe? there are bombings in delhi, mumbai, ahmadabad so how can India be safe. Its same for Israel. Rather better. There are no civil crimes at all. I mean you cannt be robbed, you cannt be abused you cannt be pickpocketed. Its like one big family here. Every person is in Army so you can expect an entire society along you...always ready to protect you.

So lemme answer some very quick questions which you might feel confused about here:

1. Is israel and Technion safe

* They are i think actually safer than any part in this world. No civil crimes at all. No wars...all peace. Safety of this place is incredible. i can promise you on that.

2. How good is reputation of Technion

* one of the best. Its called MIT of Israel..and actually the standard is almost equal to real MIT.

3. Chances of getting jobs in India after this

* pretty good. lots of israeli companies work in india. so you might actually have a dollar salary to spend in indian cheap market. that is the best thing which can happen to you.

4. Chances of getting job in arabic countries.

* Not sure...but i think rare. Any ways if you get europe and america and israel, why would you love to work in afghanistan and iran?

5. Is israel cheap?

* Definitely not. its pretty expensive comparing it to India.

See you later....

My tryst with Technion- Israel Institute Of Technology

There comes a time in your life when you have to decide whether you should do the way it appears right, or the way it is right. Most of the people in this world end up their life what is the difference between the two ideologies.............others make a mark in this world!

I will skip the story a bit. Unlike most Indian students my priority was not to get settled in a nice cosy university, but to reach a platform where science and technology actually define a lifestyle........the way of thinking, breathing and imagination!

Now, the pursuit began for the best of the best. I started looking into the list of top 100 universities on this planet. Thanks to my more devotion to science projects instead of giving SAT, i couldn't apply in american schools. Finally i stopped by rank 30, and chose 3 universities to apply.
1. Technion -israel institute of technology (Haifa, Israel)
2. Nanyang Technological University (singapore)
3. National University of Singapore (singapore)

Each of them were diverse in their educational planning and achievements. Singapore universities because they have a very good reputation in India and may be rest of world too, and i can be assured of a good job back in India after it. Technion because its in Israel, the world leader in science and technology. And most importantly, if a university which has driven isreal from a dry barren land to the ultra modern infrastructure with the might of its graduates....it has to be incredible!!

The results came at last...and luckily and due to some of my merit as well i got Reply calls from all the 3 universities (reply call is when your application is accepted and the university asks whether you want to accept the university offer finally.)

This was a big decision making time..and i chose TECHNION ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. And most importantly am very glad about my decision right now and will always be.
Now I am a Technion Student, starting my first semester at Technion Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering in this november at the Rabin building.........and am proud of it.

Now the question comes why did i chose Technion....................wait till the next post for that