Interior

Cognizance

1

From the Wardens DeskIt gives me immense pleasure to see that the Kameng hostel magazine is nally ready to make waves in the IITG community. My journey with Kameng started way back in January 2006 when the hostel was only taking shape. ose were di cult times for the residents as well as for the administrators; the hostel, with only two blocks, was full of noises and rubbles due to the ongoing constructions. ere was no functional mess and only a small canteen with a handful of items. Yet, it was the spirit of the students which made the community to take a note of Kameng in all the campus activities. ings have continued to grow since then and today Kameng can boast of producing many a residents who have overwhelmed the IITG community with their skills not only in the professional area but, more importantly, also in the eld of art, culture and sports. It is this indomitable spirit which somehow grew among the people who came to stay in this hostel, that made the boarders of Kameng dare to scale new heights. e present initiative of this magazine is the latest feather in its cap in this regard. It has given me enormous pride to be associated with such an institution where the students, in spite of the pressure of their professional responsibilities, invest substantial amount of their time and energy in the exploration of the beauty and the subtleties in other forms of human expressions. I, therefore, sincerely acknowledge the magnanimous e orts being taken by the present HMC and the literary secretary, in particular, to make the magazine see daylight and wish that in coming days many such initiatives would be pioneered by the Kameng boarders.

Kognizant 2011

2

Genesis

Whats Inside3 Blending Horizons Featuree Small Hills...I Never Climbed Only If You Try

I am Kognizant.I am Kameng. For ve years I was silent not because I had no opinion, not because I was shy. I was silent for I let my actions speak the words. Now I realize that actions, though great carriers of message, are very poor records of cognizance. My actions will be forgotten and my name will be lost, unless I put a voice to them a voice that will serve as a memento of my Self, a voice that will preserve my Essence, a voice that will be heard forever. And hence, I choose to speak. I am Kameng. My existence is real, but my manifestation is abstract. I am not a building full of people; I am the people. More appropriately, I am the spirit which keeps the re burning in their wills; I drive them to pursue their beliefs. I am the bond that keeps them united. I am the collective, yet I exist only through the individual. I am Kameng. I recognize the right of each man to his reason. I recognize the right of each man to associate with any other through voluntary consent. I also recognize that a mans right is not violated by any individuals refusal to associate with him. But what I recognize readily is an individuals right to excellence. Within these rights, I operate to bring people closer. My only purpose is to provide individuals an environment they can grow in, with free exchange of ideas, voluntary consent to pursue excellence as a team and enjoy their work, regardless of the results. I am the I in the Team. I am Kameng. I have found my voice in the emotions of these individuals that make me. For my voice to be heard, their emotions have to be expressed. eir individuality has to receive cognition for that is what makes up my credential. To preserve my essence, they have to become essential. I am, therefore, I will. I am Kameng. I have a voice. I am Kognizant.

A Brief History of Saraighat

4

9 Breaking the CocoonTruth From the Prop Room Metamorphosis B-3 Lobby Bakar Club Trek to Garo Hills IITG 115

Chronicle

Reliving Manthan My tryst with Kriti

16

20 Blogspeare

Flirtatious Exams Videshi Intern

22

Editors Designer Front Cover Back Cover Front and Back Cover (inside)

24 Kameng Pirate

Are You Game Welcome Aboard Mateys Me and Anime

Minakhi Prasad Misra Harshit Agrawal Harshit Agrawal K V Ketan Kain Tushar Chabra(Visage Imagin)

Prabhat Kumar

Kognizant 2011

Blending Horizons

3

e Small Hills... I Never ClimbedLong a er the break of dawn, when I am nally my own, I look beyond my balcony towards a mystical colony of small hills hidden in mist. I wish I could climb them someday just to feel what the greens want to convey and to laugh and scream all the way. But my thoughts are shrilled when the alarm says "Oh man you're killed!!" Its half past eight and you aren't out of yor bed!! And then the daily chores begin on which I have ,but to dance and spin. and as the day passes by those thoughts wihin me slowly die. e lecturer's words whizz past me 'coz I want the beautiful girl to admire me!! But the fun gets over rather too soon as the assignments are to be submitted by tomorrow noon I nd myself at the receiving end because this is the task I may not fend. with a heavy heart I start my long ride because the barrier seems far too wide. Slowly more events ash and hide about the ght we had and about the game... we lost so bad. I feel like crying ..when suddenly from the sky appears the mystical colony of small hills which I saw from my balcony

I say "I shall climb them someday!!" Pointing at them with a sway of my hands,as the dying dusk fades them away ...the small hills I never climbed.

-Sumeet Kumar Singh

Only If You Try...Came rolling down a hill quite rough, an eagle's egg which was equally tough. A er the fall, which eggs could not stand, it nally reached the so er land. It then lay on a lonely way, sitting still throughout night and day. One day, It got caught in a hen's sight, which just could not stand its plight. e egg now was not alone, as she had put it with her own. All the eggs cracked one day, dormant lives got set into play. Faster than ever the time ew, along with it the chickens grew. Time,you see, spares no one, little eagle also grew like every one. One day, Little eagle saw an eagle in the sky. He asked everyone-"Why can't we y that high"? One of the chickens said in a high pitched voice, "we are just chickens we have no choice". So the little eagle never gave it a try, thinking that for a chicken,it is too high. He stayed on ground and never got any closer to sun, he lived a chicken's life and died like one. So be strong enough to give it a go, you may be the eagle you never know.

-Nitin Khola

Kognizant 2011

4

Feature

A Brief History of SaraighatFebruary, 1669 Base Camp, Mughal Army Rangamati (in present day Bangladesh)Raja Ram Singh of Amber had only one thing in mind: to live up to his fathers name, Mirza Raja Sawai Jai Singh. Shahenshah Aurangzeb has commissioned him to retake Guwahati into the mighty Mughal Empire. e loss of Guwahati to the Ahoms was something the Emperor had not liked. Ram Singh had vowed to himself that he will not fail the Emperor, not with the army he commands. It has been more than a year since he le Delhi with 4,000 troopers, 1,500 ahadis (elite cavalry) and 500 barqandezes. Accompanying him are two great leaders Rashid Khan, the ex-faujdar of Guwahati and the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur. e Emperor has graciously augmented his forces by an additional 30,000 infantrymen, 21 Rajput chiefs ( akurs) with their contingents, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers and shieldmen and 40 ships. e vassals from Koch Bihar have pooled in with their armies. To man the eet, Portuguese and other European sailors have also been employed. Yes, victory is imminent Raja Ram Singh commanded his forces to move up the Brahmaputra from Dhaka. e Ahoms will fall.

-Minakhi Prasad Misra -R. Karthigeyan

His spies have brought him information about the Mughal advance up the Brahmaputra. e Mughal Army is more than what his troops can handle on open eld. De nitely, he has been fortunate to have Atan Burhagohain Rajmantri Dangaria (Prime Minister of the Ahoms) at his side. Atans military and diplomatic foresight has enabled the Ahoms to put a strong defense around Guwahati. Atans scheme has been working. e initial diplomatic bouts with Ram Singh have given Ahoms enough time to assess the situation and prepare for battle. ey have chosen the area around Saraighat as their eld of operation. It is hilly, on the way to the heart of the Ahom kingdom and without open elds where the Mughal forces would not have su cient mobility. e only way east is via the Brahmaputra River passing through it. e Brahmaputra at Saraighat, at its

April, 1669 Base Camp, Ahom Army Andharubali, GuwahatiLachit Borphukan sat sharpening the blade of his Hengdang, the gold-ha ed sword that was conferr-ed to him during his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Ahom Army. is blade had drawn blood of many Mughal soldiers when he had taken Guwahati back from their hands. He has to draw more.

***

The Ahoms were a Tai-Mongoloid group who migrated to Assam from Yunan province of China. The Tai Ahoms who came into Assam followed their traditional religion and spoke the Tai language. They were a very small group numerically and after the rst generation, the group was a mixture of the Tai and the local population. Over time the Ahom state adopted the Assamese language and kings and other high o cials converted to Hinduism. The Ahoms established the Ahom kingdom (1228-1826) in parts of present-day Assam and ruled it for nearly 600 years.

Kognizant 2011

Featurenarrowest 1km width, is ideal for a naval defense. e complex system of mud embankments in Guwahati that he has set up should worry the Mughals. When the Mughals nd Guwahati impregnable by land, they would be forced to use their navy, which is their weakest asset. Lachit thought over the whole strategy it was the only way he could turn the numbers game around. e Monsoon will also pitch into the battle later on. Surely, Mughal Army cannot ght in this terrain, not with the forces of nature piled against them. ***

5However, the Mughal Commander could not allow any blemishes on his character. is meant that he needed a digni ed plan of action one that can be declared in public. He ordered the scribe to dra another letter this time to Chakradhwaja Singha, King of Ahoms. It was to be a proposal to the King for an open duel, instead of lowly guerilla raids. If Ram Singh were to be defeated by the Ahom King, Ram Singh would leave the lands of Assam with a promise of never to return. Ram Singh pondered over his move the Ahom King will not agree to this. However, it is certain that the King will feel humiliated. With some chance, the King may actually force Lachit to bring the battle to open grounds; he would not trust a guerilla leader, tainted with the accusation of betrayal. He would nd it more convenient to test the mans patriotism and loyalty in a battle on open elds, where his movement can be tracked by spies. Yes, this move is convenient. ***

July, 1669 SaraighatRam Singh ordered full retreat. He has had enough of this thieves a air. Lachit Borphukan has proved a formidable opponent the one people worship as a hero. With him, the Southern Banks of Brahmaputra is out of Mughals reach. Along the Northern Banks, Atan Burhagohain has been employing his guerilla tactics, the so-called dagga juddha, all summer. e monsoon has not made life any easier. e Mughals have got bogged down in the mud, separated from each other due to owing streams. It is not digni ed for the royal army of the Mughals to indulge in such warfare. Has it all descended to trickery? is game, then, can be played both ways. Ram Singh called out to his scribe. He ordered a letter to be written, addressed to Lachit Borphukan. It stated that Lachit had been paid one lakh to evacuate Guwahati and urged him to do so soon. He ordered that this letter be shot into the Ahom Army Camp. e implications did not escape even the simpleminded scribe it is sure to cause confusion. Betrayal from their hero would strike the Ahom soldiers hard. With no leadership, the Ahoms would be reduced to mere mortals united only in grief. Without Lachits forces, Atans raiding parties will not get the necessary diversion. Victory can be had with one arrow!

August 14, 1669 Battle eld of Alaboi PlainsMorning: Lachit stood before his army, trying to gauge the numerical disadvantage they were at. e Mughal horses looked formidable and menacing before the Ahom ponies. is was a mistake all along. His heart grieved that the King had fallen for Ram Singhs trickery. Now, he had to prove his patriotism at the cost of so many Ahom lives. ere is no doubt this will be a massacre.

Saraighat is a place near Guwahati in Assam, on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra. Sarai was a small village where the old abandoned N.F. Railway station of Amingaon was located. The famous Battle of Saraighat was fought near this place on the river.

Kognizant 2011

6e Ahom archers and infantry were dressed like Brahmins to deter the Rajput soldiers from killing them. It was not much, but Lachit had to bank on the Rajput pride. But the blu was easy to see through. No, this will end in disaster. Tears rolled down his eyes. He uttered, "It is a tragedy that my country is facing this dire catastrophe during my Phukanship. How will my king be saved? How will my people be saved? And how will my posterity be saved?" * A ernoon: e casualties to the Ahom Army have crossed the mark of 10,000. All their tactics have failed. Ram Singh had cried Havoc and let slip his dogs of war. It was the worst sight Lachit had seen in his life. e men slaughtered by swords, impaled by spears, blown to bits by cannon balls. Taking Atans advice, Lachit had dug up trenches as a safe haven, in case they had to make a retreat. He has been trying for the past hour to make that retreat. Only one thing went on in his mind he cannot give up now. e kingdom can still be saved. But today he has to live. e King will understand his move. No king wants to send his soldiers on a suicide mission.

Featurefor a second time. e Mughals wont be able to follow him into those trenches. It will be suicide for them. He trumpeted the sound of retreat and spurred his horse forward. ***

January, 1670 Council of the Lords, Royal Palace Garhgaon (Capital of the Ahom Kingdom)Atan Burhagohain waited for the Lords to reach a conclusion. He had spent the last three hours trying to sway the opinion of the Lords. e Lords had been eager to concede to Ram Singhs diplomatic initiatives. ey wanted no more bloodshed. eir king had just died of grief and the new King had trusted their opinion on how to best continue this row with the Mughals. Ram Singh had o ered a Mughal payment of 300,000 rupees in return for an Ahomi evacuation of Guwahati. It was a generous option that the Rajput King had opened. However, they could not set aside the warnings of Atan Burhagohain. He was best analyst and statesman they had. He had warned them that the Mughal Emperor will not honour Ram Singhs pact. He will press his other vassals to proceed further into the Ahomi kingdom. Who will stop him, if he wants to take the whole of Kamrup? What if he proceeds further to capture Garhgaon? Can they put their trust in an Emperor who had an ambition greater than the whole of Bharat? And was the Council of the Lords so cowardly that it would not avenge the lives of its people? Has the resources of the Kingdom been overdrawn for nothing? Atan looked at their faces: brows burdened with the blood of 10,000 men, the once lustrous eyes dimmed by apprehension and the whole countenance turned into a shadow of defeat. Slowly these faces turned to him. eir decision was unanimous: e Kingdom of Ahom rejects the

The Saraighat area marks the end point of Mughal expansion in the east of the sub-continent in the 17th century as a result of the Battle Of Saraighat. The locals built a bridge of boats during the battle but it did not stand the test of time and the chief mode of commute across the river was boats. Immediately after the Indo-Chinese war, the Saraighat Bridge was constructed across the Brahmaputra in 1963 by the Indian Railways. Saraighat Bridge is the rst railcum-road bridge constructed over the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati.

Kognizant 2011

Feature

7Initially, the Ahoms had enjoyed the upper hand. e terrain was better suited to their style of warfare than that of the Mughals. However, the Mughal were no novices either. ey had adjusted quickly and were gathering momentum. ey had in ltrated deep into the Ahom defenses. e Ahom soldiers had panicked; breaches of command had followed. Boats had started to fall back with total disregard to the Commanders orders. Lachit rose from his sickbed. He could not allow the Ahoms to fall. Not like this, not in panic. He ordered the scribe nearest at hand to send in letters of encouragement announcing his entry into the battle. With another scribe, he sent orders to gather seven war-boats under his command. With the help of Nadai of Kharangi, he got on to a boat. ose beside him pleaded him to stand down, to regard his health. In reply, he shouted back, e King has put all the people in my hands to ght the Mughal. Shall I go back to my wife and children? If you want to ee, ee. e king has given me a task here and I will do it well. Let the Mughals take me away. You report to the king that his general fought well following his orders. He pushed a few soldiers o the boat to drive his point through, once and for all. He had not come to war with desires of retiring when his men needed him most. He had not come here to ee for safety, condemning his people to a life of mindless, worthless servitude. e death of so many Ahoms will not be the fodder for the ego of an ambitious Mughal Emperor. is war will have a di erent ending. * Mughal Admiral Munnawar Singh had not expected the gunshot to his back, when he sat smoking his hookah. He coughed blood and collapsed. His eyes asked one loud question before shutting down forever How did the Ahoms breach the Mother Ship? *

o er made by Raja Ram Singh. ere shall be no retreat. ere shall be no surrender. e Ahom will not fall as long even one Ahomi can carry a sword. e message was sent to the Rajput Raja. Another message was sent for reinforcements. Guwahati was to be guarded with life.

March, 1671 Gatehouse of Itakhuli Fort GuwahatiLachit Borphukan observed the clash of the navies of the Ahom and the Mughals from his sickbed. His illness had come all of a sudden, leaving him too weak to lead an assault. e admiral was also struck by disease. e Nara Raja was leading the Ahom Navy; Laluk Borgohain Phukan rallied the Ahom army.

***

The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy is conferred the Lachit medal named after Lachit Borphukan

Kognizant 2011

8e Amirs fell to the river, one a er the other, wounded by the instruments of war, shocked by defeat and paralysed by the fright of death. How did the Ahoms achieve such a reversal? Raja Ram Singh stared on. He could do nothing more. Seven War-boats had appeared from the shadows of defeat. eir cry was menacing one name lled the wind. Lachit Borphukan. What powers this name had was beyond the comprehension of the Rajput Raja. e name was stronger than any victory trumpet boats from all over the River had led in with these seven boats. ese small boats, not even the equivalent of ants before the mighty Mughal Navy had circled round the Mughal Warships. One by one, the ships were taken down. One memory kept ashing back he had seen lions take down even the strongest of elephants. One man, too sick to even stand without support, has this e ect on the Ahom army? One man has turned the tide around, simply by the pull of his presence? Who is this Lachit Borphukan? How does he command such reverence? Why does he not fall? Ram Singh sounded the retreat. Conquering the Ahom will not be possible with Lachit Borphukan at its head. He wrote to Lachit, acknowledging his defeat, Glory to the king! Glory to the counselors! Glory to the commanders! Glory to the country! One single individual leads all the forces! Even I Ram Singh, being personally on the spot, have not been able to nd any loophole and an opportunity! ***

Feature

Truth-Sudeep ShuklaIt happens more than once in life that we stop and ponder over the nature, basis and the values of our life. One fundamental aspect is essential for such an analysis. It is truth. Truth cannot be con- ned within boundaries. Its de nition is super uous. One can only observe its nature. Is truth absolute? No, it depends from one person to another. Truth is di erent for a corrupt policeman and an honest thief, in the context of their principles. e former considers cheating an lying for self-bene t as his truth, while the latter believes honesty is his truth. He may steal from people, but he would never lie, as in not lying lies his truth. Truths exist, which transcend human endeavour. We cannot do anything about them; like the past. e events, as they actually occurred, are facts, and truth. However, going beyond those facts is a di erent story. One has to move forward with his own truth to lter it through his conscience and label it as truth. It is a fact that Hitler exterminated Jews in myriad numbers. Let us go beyond this fact. Was he right, or wrong in doing so? He was right-is truth for Germans in-stilled with pure hatred for Jews. He was wrong-is truth for Jews who su ered. Some truths do not utter the entire story of which they are a subset. It is o en in the advertisements of toothpastes that they say that seven out of ten dentists prefer the concerned brand. What they do not state is that ve out of the ten dentists surveyed work in the same organization. So where do we arrive? Does our succinct analysis lead to some conclusions? Maybe, maybe not. A person alone isnt su cient to decide what truth is. Yet, there is one thing we arrive at. Truth is what we choose it to be. As beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, truth is what one believes, nothing else.

On 24 November each year Lachit Divas is celebrated statewide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army at the Battle of Saraighat. A war memorial park has also been constructed at Aghyathuri near Saraighat on the northern bank of Brahmaputra.

Kognizant 2011

Breaking the Cocoon

9

From the Prop Roome Brights!!-Nikhil Tilakis is my rst year at IITG and the journey has been simply rocking. Much of this is because I was allotted Kameng hostel, the most happening place on campus! e rst thing that I came to know about Kameng was that we are the defending champions of the GC. Post midsems the Manthan fever gripped the campus. e hostel spirit that was slowly beginning to take shape in every fuccha's heart, increased exponentially. e preparations for Manthan started in all hostels with great enthu.. I was involved in making the props and backdrops for the various events.. It was truly an enthralling experience, to work with talented seniors like Manas bhaiya, Prateek bhaiya etc. We fucchas received great encouragement from Abhijeet bhaiya, Himanshu(patiala) bhaiya, Patel bhaiya, Anat bhaiya and many more. Seniors were also very receptive of our ideas and treated us as their equals. In the prop room a feeling of belonging and brotherhood developed in all of us as we strived hard to complete our tasks before the deadline. Now Manthan is over and life is back to normal. I really miss those endless hours spent in the prop room making backdrops, that 3 am co ee, the jokes, the jhagdas ("mere lappy pe danda marega?!!" :) )(which lasted for like a nanosecond.),the intense discussions, the infy bakar, the masti.... e results of Manthan were of course unexpected and for some time all the Kameng rst yearites were really low and dejected. But kind words from the seniors have helped us to overcome that sorrow .We are now stronger than ever before. ere were some mistakes on our part but let us learn from our mistakes, and rise like a phoenix from the ashes, to clinch the Manthan trophy next year. Also the battle of Manthan might have been lost but the war of GC still can be

-Manish Goel.e ght of Manthan started when the seniors woke up from their sleep full of ideas of how to win Manthan. e ght of rst yearites began just seconds before it. ey woke up from their sleep full of dreams of how to escape from the work in Manthan. Ideas like locking the door, running to CC were on top of the list, but being IITians new ideas were bound to come. What about an injury? I really wish to help but I cant. See, my leg is broken. Nah, thats too risky. So in the end ideas like hiding in seniors room (the ones who themselves dont work) or running to friends on 3rd oor were also preferred. e unlucky ones who did not have

e Flights

What became of all this? Kameng lost Manthan. Many were disappointed; others were just relieved that it was nally over.

access to these luxuries were the ones who had to work, though not willingly. For them going to mess was like ghting with a hundred dragons at a time, and for canteen the count rises to a thousand. And lets not talk about the T.V. room; it was the thing of forgotten days. e second yearites were putting up a great deal of ght too. Regular rounds of CC were organized. Assassins were placed on the gates of mess and canteen, deals were signed with other seniors (remember those who dont work) in which the exchange rates were 5 facchas for one dairy milk.

won.

What became of all this? Kameng lost Manthan. Many were disappointed; others were just relieved that it was nally over. And yet, there were many who claimed that Manthan would never be erased from their memories for some because they had the best fun in years and a few others because they had never done such donkey work before.

Jai Kameng!!!!!

Kognizant 2011

10

Breaking the Cocoon

MetamorphosisResting thoughtlessly under the shades of life, never thinking ahead, Nothing new did come by, it existed but worse than dead. Like the last spark of a zzled out re, A thought jolted it back to life, it now obsessed with a keen desire. Yes, it was those bright, free to y, soaring high, It too wanted to metamorphosise from a caterpillar to a butter y. Diving deep into the world of knowledge, this caterpillar did eat voraciously, Clock ticking away, it desperate to accomplish its journey. It so tiny would o en be lost in the woods of words, Distractions aplenty and an odd threat from the greedy birds. Leaves, worms, insects, o en tricked it; surrendering, it wanted to quit, But it saw the butter y, the endless sky, and greater grew its grit. And as the age old would say No determined has a full grey day, e time did arrive, it quietly perched on the gi ed leaf, And began its new journey driven by self belief. As it weaved, it toiled, hassles hitting hard from all side, But they canst deter him to settle for common silk, for excellence it strived, harder it tried. Patiently constructing its chrysalis, within it it would be poured, By moments of madness, togetherness, wisdom, all things that it so adored. And this caterpillar now in its year of genesis, Soaks in words of advice from those mature, inspired from their developed chrysalis. Ever awe struck by they who are the indirect propeller of the infant, on the verge of detaching from their carefully constructed cremator. And when this tiny caterpillar is blessed by the sight of those greeted by the open sky, Of those transformed by spiritual resurrection, it too wants to become a butter y. e butter y- the vast skies are its playground, enhancing natures pristinity,

Kognizant 2011

Breaking the CocoonNo sting, it just spreads smiles, making the world pretty. But the caterpillar is warned, and it does deeply realize this, Its only a er surviving, ghting the pains has the butter y attained bliss. And thus this caterpillar is all excited to embark upon its journey, Because its the journey that transforms into destination, Just like the butter y from the caterpillar a er spiritual resurrection.

11

-harshit

B-3 Lobby Bakar Club- Murtuza ShergadwalaCall it fate, luck or the conspiracy theory or whatever pleases you, but the con uence of diverse and unique Homo sapiens in this hostel in the B3 building 3rd oor is surely a lifelong memory which will go down with me to my grave. Yes! It is the B3 BAKAR CLUB whose proud member-mewants to throw some light upon us. As the name itself is shouting on top of its lungs, our specialty is ...bakarbaazithe ceaseless chatter which doesnt seem to have any climax. We the members have a wide range of diversity from people who are ghissu's to the people who are least interested in studying and wonder how they cleared JEE...to the people who have lots of college life "stu " to do...to the people who are phodoing in sports...to the people who know how to do crazy stu ...to...well in nity and beyond! One of the most interesting qualities we all share is the principle of unity! Be it talking about some random topic to studying for an examination to kaatoing anybodys case! Over this one year weve become so close to each other that now I seldom miss my family. Be it going to the city or celebrating a festival, everything is done together, as one. I remember when it was a religious day and I was missing my family a lot, thats the time my B3 lobby was there with me in the morning at 7 with the occasional bath to join in the prayers and it made me feel at home. Well talent doesnt require publicity, it gets fame anyways, our bondaaps did spread like wild re so much so that even seniors now address us as B3 bakar club! e random mood swings, anytime, anywhere water ghts and the showers of abuses have become a part of our crazy IIT life! Silence is something which blossoms during the season of exams only! at too with occasional buzz and swears for the subject coming from a room or two. e beginning of the rst semester I remember was so innocent where we all were so curious, confused & excited about living our dream nally. e whole senior-junior interaction was a heart accelerating process and we were so accessible to anyone but with time we realized that this hostel is our abode for the next four years and we knew that we had our place somewhere in everyones mind if not in their hearts. It began with eating in the mess itself. In the rst few days we used to concentrate more on the people around us than the food itself. Now its like we know our table, our place in the mess where I know that at least one B3ite will be there. During the Techniche time, all the infra work and the frustration helped increase our tolerance level to such a great extent that now any unforeseen circumstance is ironically a part of our schedule! Academics wise the punctuality and sincerity of a JEE preparation student was easily seen in all of us,

Kognizant 2011

12

Breaking the Cocoon

where we had to attend lectures and do everything in time so that we could achieve success but now weve dipped our ngers in so many colors that time management is running in our bloods! Manthan time for us was surely the time when we all connected to our hostel in some way or the other. e B3ites were everywhere. Be it dance, drama, painting, fashion show, music or anything else, we had started spreading our wings. Well this

with us and make it a memorable one. e whole point is that weve learnt to respect each other and gracefully agree our shortcomings to live harmoniously and enjoy these precious years of our college life to the epitome! And well the reason why we are so proud about ourselves is that its not just a group of 4 or 5 people from the same lobby, its a group of 30+ guys whove managed to create an impact on the life of every other member! We dont even deny the fact that we dont ght! Our ghts are an eye candy to the audience but the important thing is we learn from each other and have learnt to respect each others feelings in the due course. e GPLs during the birthdays are

Over this one year weve become so close to each other that now I seldom miss my family.

was the time when unknowingly our con dence levels grew, something which had been lacking all the time. is was the time when seniors actually treated us like brothers and a part of the hostel, where as their duty they had to pass on the legacy of Kameng. With all these events happening and seniors realizing the crazy facchas of B3, now, be it any orientation or any introductory meeting of any module of Alcher or Techniche or anything new we were always called and need I say we were also present in the not-so-interesting meetings. For some of us who were in sports and NSO, the interaction with seniors was on a totally di erent level. Some habits on the way were picked up looking at our seniors themselves, like the most trivial example is the IIT lingo! Well I have surely seen changes in us in getting inspired! Now those eyes of a new boarder to the hostel has disappeared and the sparkle of a Kamengite is what you can see in us. e con dence, the attitude, the interaction, our place in everyones heart we are aware of and in the process we have found those buddies who will walk along these awesome four years of college life common to every lobby but the innovation which we are proud of is giving GPL to everyone who gives GPL to the birthday boy (we just need a reason for GPL ) Another innovation is planning awesome surprises for the birthday dude! I remember making a cake out of rasmalai and gulaab jamuns for the bakar club member Vaibhav Jain! I could have used the word friend but this term doesnt completely explain our feelings for each other. Yes! Well this is the extent to which we guys have bonded and are proud of this awesomeness! Well the big picture is that Kameng continues to be the abode of versatility and we are glad to add to this streak. Also with this note we express our gratitude towards our seniors who have taught us so much that without their guidance we would be lost. Hurray!

Kognizant 2011

Breaking the Cocoon

13

Trek to Garo Hills- Sumit Rathore 30th October 2010 Garbhanga Reserve ForestA er long exhausting weeks of preparation for Manthan and a couple of quizzes came a much awaited break. A holiday, far from the dusty lanes, noisy tra c and the hustle lled life, into the green - the forests of Garo hills. An exciting trekking trip, a milestone event for the amazing trekking club of our college was organised by our Krishna Bhaiya. e destination being e Garbhanga Reserved Forest was merely an easy place to reach a er an hour of joyful journey. e trek was supposed to be headed by NESIM AKHTAR, a 65 year old lady, member of IMF New Delhi (Indian Mountaineering Federation), and a great personality in mountaineering and adventure, who will be representing India internationally in the great Mount Everest Climb in 2011. But due to a very unfortunate accident a day before the trek, she couldnt join us. at was a joke for the group leaders, as I was one, and team mates still wonder if it was true. A er the snacks, the enthusiastic trekkers split into 8 groups and were headed by their group leader and NCC Cadets. e trek was agged o with the group of girls leading , may be that was done to keep up the spirit in the counter parts.

e latter part of the trek went o chatting with friends, cherishing the beautiful memories of the trip that were Ctrl+S in our minds.

Group leaders were appointed and were instructed about the cautions and the Green Trek: to pick up garbage including plastic wrappers, poly bags etc on the way, the clause being that the amount of food we get at dinner was to be calculated according to the amount of garbage collected by the group.

Everyone had to move in a single queue, though the enthusiastic ones wanted to overtake but the track was too narrow to allow that. We started with high spirits, with our rucksacks loaded on our back but a bit cautious as we were warned by our trekking leader about the very dangerous black beetle like insect whose bite wont give a second chance. e initial stage of the trek was quite easy for most wherein we crossed several waterfalls and ditches. We were also warned about the tribal people as they could be unpredictive and about the mad elephants that were reported to create a menace nearby. Hoping to have an encounter with the elephants, we continued our trek moving on narrow paths with a ditch on one side, clicking pictures even though we were instructed not to do so as even drinking water during walking could slip you to heaven. We crossed streams with temporary bamboo bridges made by the group leader, climbed rocks and steep slippery slopes, and

Kognizant 2011

14hopped over the ditches which gave us the real feel of the adventure. Every other sight during the trek was picture perfect and I wished if I had an SLR Camera and my best friend along. If I say its fun to break rules, I am true to my words as I really enjoyed walking with my friends clicking pictures and far o from our groups. We stopped at places to catch our breath and have a bit of snacks. In the last part of the trek the paths got even more narrow and the sky dark. e sun sets early in hills, and hence came our ashlights to the rescue. Finally on reaching the base camp, the feeling was so great, full of happiness, relief, joy and what not the moment we saw the candle lit base camp.

Breaking the Cocoongroup consisting of brilliant seniors got lost as they took the road not taken, a er being le behind by their group leader and supposing that they were following the 8th group coming behind which in turn got lost. It was a joyful time for us waiting for them initially as we wanted to be in the green forever, with wonderful friends along. e Guys had an international level kabaddi tournament in the meanwhile, but later everything got boring as we were bounded by the words to not go out of sight. A er 4hrs of tracking the groups, they were found and scolded properly. e latter part of the trek went o chatting with friends, cherishing the beautiful memories of the trip that were Ctrl+S in our minds. Not that I havent been to better trekking camps in my life till now but this trip was di erent, really exciting and joyful as my new friends in this wonderful college made it special..guys thanks a lot for being there! And Hats o to the trekking club, Keep up the good work! Kameng Firsts #1 Kameng lifts Kriti Trophy: Up until last year, it was believed that Kameng has a strong Manthan culture, but it has no frenzy for Kriti. Ajaykumar Kannan & Co. have taken this notion and turned it about its head. After Kamengs not-so-great performance in Manthan, very few people would have cared about the results of Kriti. However, a select group of individuals cared to defy this attitude. The e orts put into making the various robots and other similar contraptions is commendable; and not to forget the ingenious ideas for B-Plan and Rocket Singh. This is only the tip of the iceberg. For more details about Kriti, and an exclusive insight into the mind of the Technical Secretary, Ajaykumar Kannan, pore into his article My Tryst with Kriti on page 18.

Being completely exhausted a er the 21km long trek, we laid down on the sheets laid in open, and to our surprise the sky was crystal clear. It was so amazing that we could make out constellations and even spot satellites moving. Our night trek was cancelled due to some poaching activities in the area. Although the forest o cers were given shoot at sight orders, night trek would have been even more fun. We were troubled time and again by the thirsty bloodsucking leeches, few people got bit resulting in few hours of bleeding, but that wasnt a big reason to worry. e sight when I woke up was serene and with friends it gets even more joyful. e night wasnt that chilling as I expected but the morning forced me to pull on my jacket. Everyone got fresh, lled up their stomach, and got ready to trek back. We had the same feeling like we started before, but with even more enthusiasm. e rules known, the path being familiar but still the 7th

Kognizant 2011

Breaking the Cocoon

15

IITG 115-Pratik RajIITG 115...are you ready? a rm voice came from the middle of the crowd. We were indeed ready. Ready with everything we had done for the past 208 hrs.......ready with our thumping hearts.....ready with our BOTS ! It was the nals of the manual robotics event PROMETHEUS X. We were living the moment we had dreamt of, a few weeks back. We.....Anshul , Praneet , Sumit and me, Pratik , were ready to give our nal shot. e journey to the nals was tough indeed. e hours spent in the workshop cutting and drilling holes in a piece of shit metal now gave the results. We had cleared the rst round with much ease. e problem statement was to go through a path of revolving doors and clearing a few ags. e time limit for the event was 6 min but we completed in merely 2 min 56 sec! e second round was a race in an arena consisting of tracks of sand, rocks and water. ough it was a nightmare for us but we managed to complete it with a bit of di culty. Shivam Mishra bhaiya was in full control! He asked us to assemble our bots at the starting point. I had the remote control in my hands and my heart in my mouth.

e journey to the nals was tough indeed. e hours spent in the workshop cutting and drilling holes in a piece of shit metal now gave the results.

1...2...3... go! e event started. In the midst of all the noise our bots raced up the slope of the death valley, connected to each other by a removable mechanism. Everything was going ne until we reached halfway up the slope. Suddenly the le bot stopped. e gearbox of the le bot stopped working! e bot got stuck and in turn made the other one crumble down the slope. I was literally piercing my nger into the button of the remote, expecting a miracle to happen but God was busy. Interestingly, the other team too got stuck in the middle of the slope, so both the teams got a chance to put their bots on top of the slope a er trying for a minute. But that didnt help us in anyway. With one bot dead, I had no other option but to continue with the second one. I made the second bot reach the end of the arena but at last we lost. I thought I was going to cry, but I didnt. I was happy. I was happy because we had reached the nals. I was happy because everyone was appreciating our e orts. I was happy as I made a ROBOT out of a piece of metal and few Ben 10 cars, a thing I had never dreamt of!

Now came the big daddy...the Finals! e round was named Death Valley. Indeed it was a death valley, for it claimed the lives of many bots which tried to conquer it. In the list of 12 teams in the nals, ours was the only one from IIT Guwahati. We, the rst yearites of IITG, were competing against the third and fourth yearites of colleges from all over India.

YES, we replied in chorus. We reported to the person calling. He looked like a guy who would beat the hell out of the team which replied with a NO at that moment!

Kognizant 2011

16

Chronicle

Reliving Manthan-Abhijit Saurav, Cultural Secretary 2010-2011, Kameng Hostel.Manthan, the inter-hostel cultural festival of IIT Guwahati, is considered to be bigger than any other event held in IITG both in terms of enthusiasm and competition. And this Manthan was not an exception. Manthan 2010 was held from 22nd October to 24th October with same zeal and feeling for what Manthan is known. It all began a er the mid semester exams. e proposed dates in the academic calendar for Manthan were from 8th to 10th October but the time period for the preparation was considerably inadequate. So the very rst meeting of all the hostel cultural secretaries was called, to discuss the postponement to better dates. A er a debate of over 5 hours and lots of discussions nally Manthan was postponed to 22nd October. e preparation for Manthan started with the successful event K-Nite, an event meant for search of new talents among the 1st year students. e main task a er this was to hold several meetings to discuss di erent events and their rules and to assign each event to proper seniors who had earlier taken part or had knowledge of those events. ere were a total of 23 events to be held in Manthan 2010 which included events such as dramatics, dance, fashion, ne-arts, photography, quiz, movie-making and many more. Time was less and the task to do was too much. So what was expected was the same enthusiasm that Kamengites showed in Manthan 2009 that helped Kameng to come out victorious. And expectations were not let down and the preparation for Manthan began in full spirit. e script for theatrics was being written and the choreography for the Ghoonghroo (the dance competition) was being worked out. e discussions for the fashion show were going on and the practice for Sur and Symphony (the music competition) was in full ow. Meanwhile the prop work, which is the most hectic and the most signi cant work, started in full rhythm. Parliamentary debate has always been an arguable competition in Manthan and this year there was a great debate which lasted for 3 meetings of 4 to 5 hours each, to discuss whether to hold it in Manthan 2010 or not . At last the vote was in favor of organizing the event and Manthan began with the debatable debate event on 21st October with the rst match against Siang Hostel which Kameng won. us, Manthan for Kameng began on a winning note.

e judge of the event was astonished and commented that the shadow play was performed so well that it seemed that she was watching a TV show.

Manthan o cially started on 22nd October a er almost 2 weeks of night outs and preparations. Halla Bol an event held in Manthan for the rst time was the 1st event on Day One. Kameng did well in the event. e 2nd event for the day was Ghunghroo, the dance competition. Kameng was awesome in the event and the whole MCH was echoing in slogans of JAI KAMENG a er the performance. us, the rst day ended on a satisfying note with good performance by Kameng in both the stage event as well as the other ne-arts event held in SAC that evening. Day Two was very important with big events like eatrics, Shadow play and Symphony (the western music competition) lined up that day. e day started with stage play and ended with shadow play, Kameng doing well in all the events held throughout the day, especially the shadow play which was performed in such a manner that everyone seeing it was spell bound. e judge of the event was astonished and commented that the shadow play was performed so well that it seemed

Kognizant 2011

ChronicleKameng Firsts #2Kameng celebrates UMANG: For one whole week, Kameng blossomed in the celebration of Umang. It was not a celebration of pomp and show. It was a celebration of individual excellence. Each Kamengite went against the others in a friendly competition to win prizes in the several events that spanned an entire week. And the platforms on which the events were held transcended physical boundaries. Besides on- eld games like Pitto and Kabaddi, there was a Bollywood Quiz, a Sudoku challenge, a Multiplayer PC Gaming Tournament (featuring NFS Most Wanted), a Codefest, a Cricket World Cup Super-Selector Tournament and a Facebook Bubble Muddle Contest. It was invigorating to see people battle-it-out with their friendly neighbours in each of these events. And, the best part was that there were no losers: everyone had fun. that she was watching a TV show. However, a er the performance of 2 days Manas and Kapili Hostel seemed to be giving a good competition and all was dependent on Day ree with big events such as Fashion Show and Sur (the Indian music competition) lined up. Day ree began with the event Mazak- the spoof making competition followed by Sur and Fashion show. Meanwhile, the o stage ne-arts events were held in SAC. Kamengs performance in Sur was worthy and satisfying. Finally, it was the time for the last and the most awaited event of Manthan the Fashion Show. ere were three rounds for it each with a di erent theme. Kamengs themes for respective rounds were e Roman civilization, Lights camera action and seasons. Kameng fared well in the 1st and the 3rd round but performance in the 2nd round was mind blowing. e theme for the round was Lights camera Action and when Kamengs model walked the stage dressed as some famous Hollywood characters like the Terminator, Voldemort, the Joker, the scene was breathtaking

17and shocking for other hostel students standing in MCH that evening. In the end, Manthan was over and it was time for results. ere was huge crowd in MCH awaiting results and each hostel hooting and shouting slogans of respective hostels. is was a heart throbbing moment because the results of Manthan was going to come- an event that required several night outs and tiring e orts. At last our General Secretary, Cultural Board was there with the result. He began announcing the results event wise and nally the grand total and the winner of Manthan 2010 was announced. e result was heartbreaking and sad. Kameng nished third overall behind Kapili by just 25 points. It was a great upset and it seemed all e orts went in vain but this is a part of the excitement that Manthan is all about. Although we lost the trophy this time, working for Manthan with the aim of bringing victory to Kameng was awesome and it will remain as one of the cherished moments of IIT life. Manthan brings with it excitement, joy and feeling of oneness. It is the time when the hostel feeling is at the top of the world. is years Manthan was a bitter experience for Kameng but there is always a silver lining in the clouds. Kameng will surely learn from its mistakes committed this year and will certainly perform better in the next Manthan. With this hope I wind up.

Kognizant 2011

18

Chronicle

My Tryst with Kriti-Ajaykumar Kannan Technical Secretary 2010-2011, Kameng HostelKriti 2011 (1st to 3rd April), the third edition of IIT Guwahatis interhostel techno-management festival, was a one of a kind experience! It was promised that it would be bigger and better than ever before And like Pizza Hut ey delivered! e feeling of a tech fest settled in three weeks prior to the event, o cially initiated by a night out which was called upon by an Atmega16 microcontroller. Two people, one computer, one development board and a programming kit Once you start, you dont know where the time ies! Soon a er, the event list came out along with a few surprises, some nice and others, not so much. And with, the workload shot up tenfold. Two weeks before Kriti now and all the initial meetings had been held. By Sunday, some of the events were initiated but there were many others which had absolutely no participants at all! A major cause for worry on my part was that no one was even interested in several events. At this point, the Micromouse team had begun their initial preparation but was waiting to order the parts and then would have to wait for the parts to arrive. Meanwhile, parts from old bots and personal bots were dismantled and used in an attempt to make a working one. e initial plan was to use analog sensors which we believed we had. Unfortunately, those sensors turned out to be obstacle sensors and we were in deeeep trouble! Discussions for the other events had started but the work had not. ere were some big events like B-Plan, Case Study, Exhibition and Robo Wars which had a lack of interest initially. e Astronomy module on the other hand had generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst the second year students from the physics department along with a few rst years and a couple of third year students. Work in the astronomy events went on quite smoothly and independently! By the end of the week, work on Robo Wars, B-Plan and Case Study had started, thanks to some very hard working people who came up with some ingenious ideas! Who would have thought of using a hand drill as a chopping and li ing mechanism! Making huge pro ts while providing greater pro t margins to local farmers on chili isnt anything but genius! And implementing a ood- ll algorithm isnt your run-of-the-mill C code! e weekend had arrived One week le And Rocket Singh was about to start! 2 guys in the city for 2 days with 2 thousand rupees on hand. Do whatever you want to increase your money without breaking the law. And heres what they did; sold CDs lled with free tutorials and programs. e customers paid for the cost of the CD and the cost for the service of burning and compiling the collection. Net pro t: Rs. 1205! During the same weekend, lots of motivational speeches had to take place and slowly, the work started speeding up! One glider was tested and was found to have some weight balancing issues. Practices for the two quizzes had started. Case study had hit a wall due to lack of people with basic information on Formula 1. e script for Nukkad Natak was being written and various ideas were put forth for the Green Ad. Sunday a ernoon, the Transformers problem statement for the rst round had come out. e members of the initially planned team for the event were all busy with other events so the need to nd an entirely new team came up. e only problem was that there wasnt anyone else who had yet expressed interest in the event! is called upon several of us to go on more motivational rounds around the hostel, trying to nd people interested in several of the events, those which had little or no participants as of that moment. By the end of these

Kognizant 2011

Chroniclerounds, we had found people for Transformers and Exhibition. ey were asked to do an initial readup and dra a basic design. As the week proceeded, the tension started building up. In addition to Kriti, Kameng celebrated its Hostel Day that Monday before Kriti. Wednesday saw the India vs. Pakistan semi- nals in which Tendulkars stunning 85 took us to the nals! e rate of work done was increasing but we were still lagging behind quite a bit on several events. e glider was beginning to worry me as the third glider that was made also had some weight balancing issues. e Case study was still at the same brick wall and wasnt pushing through. By this time, we ran into more problems with the Micromouse. e Robo Wars bot still wasnt made and plans kept on changing every other day. Work on Transformers hadnt yet started and was still in the design phase. ough I tried not to show it, internally, I was in a state of constant panic. By Wednesday, all the events had some participants.Soon, instead of sitting with any one event for even an hour, I kept moving back and forth around the hostel to monitor each and every event. Constantly checking up on each event was no easy task in a hostel of 500 students with ve blocks, each with four oors. Soon, it was Friday evening and the events took o with a fabulous evening of drama and metal crashing on metal (Robo Wars of course)! e bot they had nally made looked like a cold-blooded killing machine! e second day started o with me searching for participants for Scavenger Hunt at the last minute! e second day also had the Case Study (Which was nally nished), the Corporate Debate, the Micromouse competition and the Biz-Tech Quiz. e second day was also the day Dhoni led India to victory in a stunning world cup nals against Sri Lanka! e third and nal day, we presented our B-Plan and our Astro Designs. We spent the morning ying gliders and the a ernoon transforming a clamp and li bot into a climbing bot and clocking a best climb time of 22 seconds!!! Exhibition took place in the a ernoon. And the General Quiz in the evening was the last event of Kriti 2011. e only thing le was the prize distribution

19Kameng Firsts #3Kameng goes WiFi: With the original motive of providing internet access in the common room areas, Kameng procured a WiFi Modem. It worked well for the rst few days, but faced some technical issues later on. Now, it has become a life-saver for people having trouble with their LAN ports. If the LAN in a particular wing goes down, the Kameng WiFi Modem comes to the rescue.

e best part of Kriti 2011 wasnt li ing the trophy at the end of the whole shebang or the pride that came with it... No It was working with so many di erent people, all of whom excelled at di erent elds and seeing how everything came together. It was really enthralling to see the kind of zeal with which the participants worked! It was wonderful watching how people become more motivated the more they worked on something and the more di cult it got. e ingenuity that I witnessed e transformation that I saw in people Its something that has really inspired me and showed me that there is so much talent in this world and in this country and its something that I will never forget!

Kognizant 2011

20

Blogspeare

Flirtatious exams !- Siddharth Mukherjee (siddharthstu .wordpress.com)Shit ! and there I go again, distracted from studying further and hence writing this crap over here. With an attention span rarely going beyond thirty minutes, I crave to study and always end up adding few lines over this wonderful platform. Besides this, there are other informative sources to check out when I am already staring at my browser and so within seconds several tabs gets opened with such rapidity that it exceeds the ulterior power of my cpu. Amazed by my power of shortcuts, the processor relentlessly bows down and a er brief strenuous moments, the laptop screen ickers and then ashes in bright fanciful colors; Lo and behold, the last drop of concentration is dissolved in a bucket full of pass time activities. I should have used the more formal recreational time instead of pass time but that would have been too harsh on its formal de nition since mine transcends the de ned time limit. Does it mean that I am irting with my exams ? Shyly I say , Nooo . I giggle, Maybe an itsy bitsy, I cover my face in hell lot of shame. I am a good boy. My mum says so, my dad occasionally corroborates, my sis disagrees but atleast I try. So shouldnt it be inherent to not indulge in such irtatious activity or is my laptop so humanly adaptive that it successfully seduces me ? Either that or the music that inadvertently plays in the background disturbs me thoroughly. But then, when I hit the exit button, I ponder, Why so serious ? Why shouldnt be there no music ? Let the rock n roll begin. I go into a wild trance. Should it mean that I dont love exams ? Grimly I say, NO . My course book glares at me, I stare back with blood shot eyes, NO . Eyes moisten up and I say, Maybe a little. I engulf my face under my handkerchief and blow my nose hard. Once upon a time, I loved studying. Okay, Okay I hear you Mom and I de nitely hear you Sir. I confess that I loved reading but not always the usual school stu but anything informal (newspaper, novels, stu like that). So why should it be so di cult now to nish one (ONE ! ) book like I used to nish bulky Harry Potter novels in

Why so serious ? Why shouldnt be there no music ? Let the rock n roll begin. I go into a wild trance.

one night and understand it, even feel the action portrayed in 600 such odd pages. Are the course books so devoid of action that it no longer entices me. I try very hard to nd adventure in those frail pages but all I end up with is this, e dimension of the Null space added to the dimension of Range space gives you the dimension of Vector space, so where the hell is the space and what is the subspace crap. However hard I try, I cannot correlate it to Star Trek !! Is it possible that I only want a one night stand with my exams ? Suppressing my excitement, I say, NO . Twitching starts, goosebumps become evident, leg shakes violently, No No . Smile broadens to a full blown vampire glow. I say so ly, yes. Pages of my book utter rapidly in agitation causing me to loudly repeat, YES ! YES !. One or few pages gets creased while apping. I burst out laughing hysterically, Yesss !. e book closes with a thud. I wrap my blanket and go o to sleep.

Kognizant 2011

Blogspeare

21

Videshi intern !!- Siddharth Mukherjee (siddharthstu .wordpress.com)So, awhile ago when I asked Dad, Did you go for a foreign intern ?, he promptly said, Are you thinking to ?. And then followed some very enlightening talk. Since its the season of merciless apping , aunting versatility in cover letters and resumes, its also the time when dreams y wild and go beyond the borders of our beloved country. A Videshi intern is and will always be a matter of great pride if not painfully costly ! For some, Videsh is a better opportunity; some see it as their newly upli ed status, some humbly stay quiet and a fraction remain amazed at their success. Few think it as an adventurous journey into the beautiful temperates, while others ght for a place at the A-rated campuses across the globe. A celebrated few dwindle on their dilemma to choose among their various glittering options. And for the rest, Videsh still remains a distant land. e strategy is somewhat similar to an adaptive spamming. Adaptive in the sense that a er several disappointing rejections from one particular university or region, you adapt yourself in a way that nothing could be more shameful and distasteful than to ood anothers inbox; knowing fully well that your precious quali cation isnt worth a dime yet hopeful enough that we demand for a funded research. Who says a reply doesnt li your morale, but a straight NO without any further salutation could severely hamper any meaningful progress that one had achieved so far. NO, reminds me of my kindergarten days, when Dipti Maam used to deny my innocent pleas to toilet; some very unfortunate ones drenched their pants at her instinctively loud thunder. Yes, a word that never occurs in their recurring replies of dejection. Some universities (almost all !) boast of a decorated, well furnished labs with expensive equipments, which we always lust for, but when it comes to an opportunity, there exist a non-existent fund for international students. But such is their hypocrisy that when I faint heartedly con rm to all expense paid intern, they stop talking. May be, their favorite word amongst all. May be next semester, next year, I almost fear that one day, in one of the mails I would be greeted with May be next decade. Flight tickets arent cheap, you fool. Fantasies, we all twine ahead of reality. Some bold, some nonsensical. Such is the case that the geography of foreign lands get imprinted in our mind more clearly than the vanishing J&K. We excel in remembering their historical monuments but fail to tend to ours. We are quite adept at picking up their good habits abroad but forget to bring back them home when we blindly litter our Indian roads. Indians, some say that we are a product of a culturally rich evolved generation. Stop this multiplication !! Let us be the by-product. Of course, I answered Dads previous question. Where ? Anywhere Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Dad chuckled. Seriously Dad, I said(sternly), maybe US, Europe, Australia. Why ?, Dad asked. Earlier I had hundred di erent reasons why I would prefer a foreign internship; Dream, status, adventure, learning, all wondrously stacked, but when he asked, I could only blurt out the most obvious point, Money. He laughed harder and then we both ate our dinner in silence.

Kognizant 2011

22

-

-

IIT Guwahati Kameng | | | | B3 lobby | | | - | | | - - | | - | | | | | | - | | eco -friendly | | | | | | | | | | | , | | -" , |"

| | ....... ....... .... .... .....| - - - | | - | | ' |' | ' ', | | | | ' . .....' .... .... ...| ...... ....| ,....' .... ...... | ' ' | - | | | | |

Kognizant 2011

23

, , | , , , | , . , | , | , | . , |

- , | | | , , | | | , , | | , | | | , | | | , - | - , , , | ? - , - | , |

-

Kognizant 2011

24

Kameng Pirates

ARE YOU GAME?-N R SreeramWhen Ralph Baer, in 1949 was given the assignment of building a new television set, he knew he could make more than just that. He had an idea for a game, that would be more interactive and have the human mind and body more involved than just sitting back and watching moving pictures on a screen. But it would take 18 more years for him to bring his great idea to life and what an idea it was! ough, by 1966, he had contemporaries like Willy Higinbotham, who designed an interactive tennis game played on an oscilloscope, and Steve Russell, who programmed a rudimentary space game called Spacewars! on a DEC PDP-1 mainframe computer, he pioneered the idea of using the cathode ray monitor as the interface for a new genre of games, which we now call Video Games. Little did they know that what they had invented was going to one day take the world by storm and spawn an industry almost as big as the Movie industry itself! It has grown into a rite of passage for many, a career for few and even a form of rehabilitation. With a best-among-the-latest collection of video games in DC++ that almost challenges us to play, we have no dearth for its craze at our insti. What with all-nighters pulled by people just in the name of stopping terrorists from planting a bomb or in trying to destroy the Chinese dynasty and its allies or in trying to kill Doom Bringer or Butcher, this culture is responsible for some extremely memorable moments and even some low CPIs. Apart from being addictive on their own, they become all the more so with the whole experience taken on the LAN, where you battle it out with fellow humans rather than a far inferior AI. And with the adrenalin pumping (I know what you're thinking But its a video game! Adrenaline? All I have to say is, play and you shall perceive!), quizzes and exams seem no bar to engage in this fantastic world lled with endless possi-bilities! I know that statement seems somewhat hard to swallow, but when you've done a substantial amount of gaming (yes it o cially a verb now!) you'll begin to see my point. And even among this crowd we have people with di erent preferences. ere are those groups who scorn this culture and create a hullaballoo crying about what a waste of time it is and blah blah blah...And another who grab every opportunity they have to catch a quick game of AOE or WoW which sometimes end in brawls and blame-games with ample profanity (Try saying, Hey! Its just a game! to these guys!). But whether it is hunting down a group of Russian terrorists hiding on the other side of a cli , or silently creeping behind a prison guard to slit his throat, or hitting the NOS to overtake an opponent just before the nish line, or painting a black-and-white world red with the blood of Nazis or playing to the tunes of the Joker, the thrill and rush we get out of gaming is undeniable and one that is absolutely worth indulging. And love it or hate it, this culture is here to stay!

Kognizant 2011

Kameng Pirates

25

Welcome Aboard Mateys!-Harshit and Arkasection and analyse in great depths, enough to give experienced critics a complex, the recent tales and blabbering of their hearties. Staying up-to- date is de nitely more essential than knowing the syllabus of the next days quiz, let alone studying it. Some nd it perhaps the only medium to express things they would never be able to say in the open or to people they want to say it to.this is in reference to the ever so delicately thought of status updates [some people really take the question what be troublin ye very seriously..]. Some of the more privileged and lucky (???) ones have other purposes (the less said the better) while some just want to post their gigantic Plumet 2 scores or their mouse clicks/ minute (blah!).For some, their day doesnt end until they see 3-4 fresh faces online and the girls de nitely dont disappoint. Whats more, you can send a friend request to your friends friends good looking friend and the chances of acceptance are still pretty high. It sure is a fantasy world for some-Im convinced she visits my pro le o en. We have never had a real conversation but I read her bulletins all the time. I know she is always aware of my updated status and I am positive thats why she never comments. I myself have about 500 friends. I have only had real conversations with about 50 of them, the rest are people I have spoken to once or twice in my life. Of course I have many other music and movie stars, in addition to her. ey are really good at keeping in touch with me through bulletins. It also always seems to o er new tech bytes to the code savvy geeks and the creative ones scanning new designs and applications. e IIT pirates have an all new, lavishly rich and rewarding excuse for staying online 24*7... remember the jackpot of the IIT-Kgp guylanding up with a 70 lpa package just because he spent most of his time on .

You probably think there are three vital things for Homo sapiens to survive on Earth air, water and food. Well, think again, for Homo sapiens of the 21st century there is one more need a Facebook account. A ve year old kid or a person in the remotest of villages might not know what face means or book means but mention Facebook or Phesbook (as they might call it) and you are sure to get a positive nod in response. Its (humbling and) insulting to call it just a social networking site, its much more than that. Its an encyclopaedia of all those things which are considered the most important bits of wisdom and knowledge in todays world. Information about your friends, ranging from the colour of his poop today to what he thinks about the U.S attacks on Libya, gives you all the masala, cooked and tasty. Facebook has virtualized the way we livenowadays if you get angry with your friend, you dont ght with him physically or verbally, you poke him. Much said and done about the general aura of facebook, lets now customize this speci cally for the IIT pirates. As soon as we log on to the net, the next immediate step is to set sail on our accounts. e two, well, are as inseparable as boredom from lectures. e reasons for this prominent and wide spread tradition amongst the IIT pirates are varied and plenty. Some just set sail to scan through the News Ahoy!

Kognizant 2011

26Well, apart from these important uses, also has lots to o er if you are looking for avenues to publicize an event. Learn a lesson or two from the Techniche/ Alcher people. Creating events on pages, sharing links, to using badges on your d.p. (if you are not ready to sacri ce your entire d.p for the cause), every square cm of the display page has been scrutinized for visibility options. While most people do draw conclusions about personalities and thought processes of others from their online activities, there are some who earn a living out of this. Fb is a blessing to these psychologists who now suddenly have an in nitely large database to work on.

Kameng Piratessuddenly have an in nitely large database to work on. is contributes to the customer research of various companies who run smart applications to extract information almost for free. Pros and cons aside, Facebook has de nitely virtualised our lives and transformed the way people network. It is one addiction that has encapsulated one and all and is only growing every click. As i abandon ship, i sincerely apologise for such an uninteresting description of such an interesting, integral ingredient of your life.however- To err is human, to arr is pirate, so just arr this piece of crap and move on.

Me and Anime- Minakhi Prasad MisraI will never give up. Believe it. When Naruto Uzumaki, lead character in the Anime series Naruto, utters these words with a really inspiring music playing in the background, something similar to a current of con dence runs down my spine, my eyes light up, the hair on the back of my neck stand up in excitement and my heart beats against my chest in full vigour. And this feeling of con dence lingers within me even a er the half hour episode gets over. Such is the in uence anime has on me. Whenever I feel down and out, I seek shelter, direction even, from these ctitious characters with pointed noses and spiked hair. What power they hold over me I cannot express, mostly because I, myself, have not been able to understand it fully. May be you can help me out. Let me guide you through a journey down my memory lane so that you can tell me when and how I fell in love with cartoons and anime. If my memory serves me right, the rst animated series I ever saw was an anime. Here, I must properly di erentiate between anime and other forms of animation. Anime is the name given to a special class of animated series developed in Japan. ey are usually inspired from a Manga (comic book) series or from some book, though some anime exist which have no such roots in literature. So, the very rst animated series I ever saw was an anime. Most people do not realise that the cartoon series Jungle Book which used to be aired on Doordarshan in Hindi was actually dubbed f from the Japanese anime Shonen Mowgli. I didnt w know either, when I was a kid. All that mattered to m me then, was the beautifully simple opening song jungle jungle baat chali hai and the episode that f followed. I remember watching the episodes, getting lost in getting lost in them and never coming out. A er the half ho out. A er the half hour show,

Super Saiyan Goku !!!

Kognizant 2011

Kameng Pirates

27Disney characters, all of them would take me into their world. e e ect wasnt as captivating as the Jungle Books, but was pretty close. I can say I never pictured myself as Mickey or Donald or Goofy, though I occasionally turned into Scrooge McDuck (the miserly millionaire duck) from Duck Tales, and Kit (the orphan young bear, who was navigator to the pilot Baloo) from Talespin. Around the same time came many Disney series like the Goof Troop, Aladdin, Rescue Rangers, etc. but none would leave me mysti ed. I must mention, it was a time in my life when I was unaware of the Cartoon Network. My parents had meticulously kept the cartoon channel out of the bandwidth of the cable antenna. Not until I was ten years old till I got the rst glimpse of this sea of cartoons. Ten years old, I unearthed the forbidden knowledge of tuning the frequencies of various channels to the cable antenna of the television. I had heard of the famed Cartoon Network from my friends and was determined to tune the channel in. With great di culty was I able to nd the particular frequency, but the joy was inexpressible. For days I kept the channel a secret from my parents; my elder brother knew, of course. I would only switch onto this channel when my parents were out to work at the University. Right before they came back, I would carefully change to the Discovery Channel. Now that I think of it, I feel that they knew about all this, but they chose to play along. In any case, now, my exposure to the world of cartoons had increased many folds. From the two hours per day it had increased to over six hours. I was now acting like the Sky Commanders, the Centurions and the Swat Kats. My brother and I particularly loved the Ninja Robots, an anime. e following year Cartoon Network aired one of my all-time favourite anime, Dragonball Z. is anime was like none other I had come across. Now, I became Goku (the Saiyan from planet Vegeta who was brought up on earth to be Earths saviour), meditating as he used to, running around and shooting imaginary power waves from my palms. I even tried to do push-ups; it was an utter failure owing to the disproportionate size of my hands compared to the belly. Even today, I face the same problem. But lets not stray from our path. For over ve years, I was a Saiyan, though for some time in between, I assumed the role of lead characters from Cardcaptor Sakura, Beyblade, Yu Gi Oh, Detective School Q, Inu Yasha, Pokemon etc. By the time I was sixteen, I had been many people, had possessed many supernatural

Monkey D. Lu y !!!

I would run about acting as Mowgli (the child lost in the jungle and brought up by a pack of wolves) and treating my house as the jungle. I remember having tried many a time to carve out a boomerang from cardboard, so that I may hunt like Mowgli did. Obviously, none of my boomerangs were e ective; they would not stay up in air for more than three seconds. But I did not lose hope; I knew that would go against the teachings of Baloo (the bear) and Baghira (the Black Panther). I particularly enjoyed Shere Khans (the wounded Tiger) entry music; it was simply captivating. And who can forget how Nana Patekars voice made Shere Khan look so familiarly villainous! In the evenings, I would again get glued to Sony Entertainment Channels Disney Hour. Right from Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy to the various other

Kognizant 2011

28

Kameng Pirates

powers, saved a million lives a million times over, but I had not lost the enthusiasm. I was still as receptive to anime as I was when just ten years old. At this point, Naruto came to my life. Naruto Uzumaki has been my alter ego for the past three years. Today, even at the age of nineteen, I act just like a child, trying to be like Naruto. For the rst time, I fell so deeply in love with an anime that I do not know if I would, ever, rank any other anime higher than Naruto. Yet this time round, I was not just fascinated by the concept of Chakra and Jutsus but also how beautifully they depicted human values of friendship and comradeship. ey so e ortlessly brought out the most complex of emotions and made me aware of the many wrongs that I have committed in the past, ranging from mistrust to hurting my best friends. Best of all, it continuously emphasises on the ideal: never quit, never give up, no matter what. I remember a line from Kakashi Hatake (Narutos teacher and himself one of the highest ranking ninjas) which goes like this, ose who do not follow rules are scum, but those who forget about their friends are worse than scum. is line is so close to my heart, today, that it is easily one of the ideals

I cherish and follow. As Naruto continues to be aired every ursday in Japan, I sit down and download it from one of the various sites which indulge in video piracy. e same goes for many other anime series like Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, Death Note, etc. us, my tryst with anime has continued for more than een years now and I think it will continue for ten more years. As the years progress, the quality of anime increases in two di erent elds: one, in the level of sophistication of the animation and two, in the simplicity with which they bring out all that is good.

And this feeling of con dence lingers within me even a er the half hour episode gets over. Such is the in uence anime has on me.ese characteristics make anime one of the most desirable media of instilling in children the values that will guide them through their lives. With the charm of television series like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Arabian Nights fading, children are continuously attracted to this new medium of entertainment, which sugar-coats ideals with the supernatural attractions of power waves and super-strength. For my part, I am a little apprehensive, though. As the anime market grows, many new series spring up which are far inferior in quality compared to Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist and for that matter Jungle Book. Such non-productive shows dilute the overall richness that the true anime strive to maintain. ey act as nothing more than invisible handcu s on the minds of the growing children. Instead of opening new dimensions of imagination and creativity, these tend to close down the existing ones. Under such conditions, I can only hope that channels like Cartoon Network, Pogo, Animax choose responsibly which shows to air.

Naruto !!!

Kameng Firsts #4 And of course, Kameng gets Kognizant: Hopefully, this will be the herald of a new literary order in Kameng.

Kognizant 2011