Forward with Determination and Hope

The road ahead is filled with promise, and every step I take brings me closer to my goals. My PhD journey has been a remarkable experience—a dynamic path that began in one university and continues in another, enriched with learning, growth, and resilience. Today, my thesis is complete—a significant achievement that once felt like a distant dream. Along the way, I have proudly filed and published 32 patents, each reflecting my dedication and innovative spirit. A related patent has already been published, and I am now moving forward with confidence toward publishing my research article in a Scopus-indexed journal. While this step comes with its own challenges, I see it as an exciting opportunity to further strengthen my academic journey. Every experience has contributed to my growth. I am steadily evolving into a researcher, gaining knowledge and confidence with each milestone. What truly inspires me is my passion for teaching. In the classroom, I find joy, purpose, and the motivation to keep progressing. It reminds me that my journey is not just about achievements, but also about making a meaningful impact. The future looks bright and full of opportunities. I am confident that I will reach my destination, guided by perseverance, passion, and a positive outlook. More importantly, I am becoming someone who embraces growth, celebrates progress, and continues to move forward with determination and hope.

My experience in teaching....

I started teaching in 2012. I became a teacher on 05 September, teachers day! Was it a coincidence? As I deserved to be a teacher, God created this position for me..May not be! I started teaching finance subjects MFM students in Alliance as an assistant professor. Now I teach at Jain College from 2016.

Yes I thoroughly enjoy teaching. If I have to teach for 1 hour, then I prepare for 5 hours. It may sound too much impractical and unnecessary. But I do it. That's how I am.

Teaching nowadays is not a joke. Unless teacher has a passion to teach and the student has a keen interest to learn, it won't be fruitful.

It remained as an unanswered question - How much strict a Professor has to be in the class?

If he is too lenient, then the students may sit on his head!

On the other hand, If he is too strict, then the students would complain about him. Moreover in some exceptional cases, the parents of students complain about the Professor with the Principal.

I recently confiscated a spinning fidget from a student in the class. When I asked him why he was playing with it, he answered that he was playing that to burst his stress! I was without any word for while. I returned it to him later on after getting a promise from him that he won't repeat it.

A few questions I am looking for an answer are:-

1. How to make the class more interesting without deviating from the syllabus?

2. How to make the students learn creatively?

3. What brings innovation in the class room for Students and Professors?
4. What should be the weight-age between theory and practical teaching?

5. How and how much technology should be leveraged in teaching? 

2010 - A Memorable Year

Year 2010 has been a memorable year in my life. My strong desires and dreams have come true.
1. I have been promoted as a Team Manager in Deutsche Bank.
2. I became dad on 25 Sep. My wife gave birth to a baby boy!

It was my strong desire to climb up the ladder in my career. I was not successful in my efforts a couple of times. Yes I was taken aback for sometime. Later on I met a couple of seniors who gave me proper direction which really helped me. I prepared very well and gave my best short in the Internal Job interview which went on for hours. I kept my fingers crossed and was delighed when I got to know the positive result. Failure is the stepping stones to the success. Isn't it? A couple of my friends expressed their happiness and highlghted the fact that my son brought good luck for me!

Now the challenge is in front of me-Managing a team of 10 people! Yes I know that I have to change a lot. My role is not only managing the process but also managing people. Expectations are too high. Though it still is a question..whether I am suitable for Team Management or Individual Contributor role. I am experimenting with the situations. After all, experience is the best teacher :)
Padmaraj, my previous manager promised his help in guiding me in my new role. I am confidant enough that I will succeed. Hope to see a wonderful year 2011!

Wonder kids…..

My nephew, Pranav was playing with my wife’s deactivated Credit card. All of it sudden, he started saying- “Idaralli gas iddu” meaning “There is gas in the card”. Nobody around him understood anything except his sister Sneha. She started laughing loudly. When everyone looked at her, she told pointing her finger at the card:-
“Look at this….there is HP gas symbol here”
Actually, there was a logo in which it was written “HP” which stands for Hindustan Petrolium.
Pranav previously had looked at HP gas cylinder where there was similar symbol on it. He could recall and relate it then.
He is surely a wonder and gifted kid. He is not even 2.5 years of age. Now itself he operates the computer. He can browse through it, Open the folders where the particular game he wants to play, opens the game and plays for quite long till he feels bored. You should look at the smile on his face when he does it.
To top it, he handles any mobile with care. Usually a kid of his age, grabs the mobile phone and throws it away. But Pranav, unlocks it and navigates through and finds the game he likes to play. There are instances like contact info has been deleted and changed wall paper or ring tone. He gives calls randomly and when someone receives his call, he never speaks a single word!!

I can recall something which had happened when I was in a hostel in Bangalore.
On an evening, Buela, aged around three, came to my room. She is a daughter of the hostel supervisor.
She noticed that there is a small cut on my leg when she came close to me searching for the ball with which she was playing. She was restless; she went out of the room saying that she would bring something for me.
After two minutes of wait, she came back with a small box. I took it in my hand and opened its cap. It contained turmeric powder. She then told me to stretch my leg in such a way that the cut is seen properly. As if a doctor treating a patient, she applied the powder carefully on my leg. She thinks that it is the best medicine.
I was just amazed for a while.

Cap was missing and I was struggling....

No sleep...horrible journey....

I wanted to sleep well in the bus. I stretched my legs, Sat comfortably, wore a jacket to feel warm. The "Iravatha" bus was at its full speed. I fell asleep quickly.

Thanks to the horrible road condition, I woke up from sleep, wanted to quench my thirst. I sipped water from the bottle I carried. Then, I was trying to close its cap. The cap fell down under the seat. It rolled on like a ball. No idea where it stopped at last. It was dark. Everyone was sleeping. The person besides me was snoring!

I searched for it where ever I could with the light from my mobile phone, but ended up with more frustration.

The bottle with almost full water in it was in my hand without the cap. It was an AC bus without windows. So I could not even throw the bottle out. Possibility of dropping it under the seat was also ruled out as there was luggage kept by the passengers. I wouldn't have done so even if there was no luggage as it would be disturbance for many passengers. I didn’t want to be cursed!

Another option which came to my mind was to drink the water in it completely and making the bottle empty. But that will give scope for other problems I thought.
If I had done so, I would have to ask the driver to stop the bus frequently!!
I decided to talk to the bus conductor. He was sitting near the door almost in world of sleep. I told him about the problem with carefully held bottle in my hand. But he heard something else and uttered a few words about the drops near Puttur. No use talking to him I felt and returned to my seat.

I even tried talking to the driver. He was inside a closed area. I knocked the door to get his attention. But he never bothered to respond.

Catching hold of my open water bottle through out my journey was a challenge!

My room mate's dream!

It happened in the year 2001 when I was in a hostel.

I was sleeping in my room. At midnight, I woke up to "tuck tuck" sound. I took the flashlight and switched it on. It was an amazing scene! My room mate was on the table, beating it continuously. Though it was dark, It was partially visible for me as the lights were switched on in the adjacent rooms. He continued it for a few minutes. Then he slowly moved on to his bed and slept off. I was not only astonished but also scared for a while. I had the difficulty to fall asleep thinking about it. I may have taken more than 30 minutes, changing my positions in the bed.

The next day morning when we woke up, I asked him, what did you do last night?" He took sometime to remember and said, "I was a truck driver in my dream. The truck had some mechanical problems. So I stepped forward to repair it. I was hitting one of the parts with a hammer".

Before he completed his story, I could not help laughing. He too joined me and the laughter was so loud that other hostel mates just came out of their rooms and peeped into our room asking us-"what happened??"

It is said that the dream is the outcome of strong feelings. But in reality, many of the dreams which we get are meaningless and they are NOT linked to our life.
Whereas, Day dreaming is full of meaning and they are outcomes of real and strong desires and the secret behind good number of achievers.

My plans of enjoying my annual leave went for a toss :(

It was after seven days of relaxation with parents at home. My dog bit me to wash away my holiday plans!

It was in the morning. Raju was hungry and waiting for my mother to provide food.
On that day as I was home doing nothing much. Amma handed over a plate with Dosa and a glass full of milk. I cut the Dosa into pieces, went ahead to Raju and placed it near him. He immediately started gulping it. In between, I went near Raju and about to pour milk to the plate.

Yes, the time has come for me to forgo my enjoyment!

The angry Raju in fraction of a second attacked me. Gubbkk……My right thumb got injured by his sharp teeth. I screamed loudly. It started bleeding. I could see only two things for a moment - Spilled milk on the floor and sprinkled blood on my hand.

Though I was sure that the dog was not sick, I took anti rabies vaccine to be on the safer side. My dad told me over the phone today that dog is healthy even after 15 days!

However, My plans of enjoying my annual leave to the fullest went for a toss :(