Us the A-the land of minority americans

It’s been a while since I put together my naansense views in this space. The reason probably is partly due to the transformation of Mr. Sundar to Dr. Sundar. I like to self-hype you c! :D 

Well this is my first blog from the US. Junta....no confusion. The previous blog was supposed to come after this. Anyways, cut the frog.

I hated to come here and work, but my country wants me to come here and then I'll be given a red-carpet welcome back home. I remember directors of some of the elite institutes making blunt statements: "We will not be entertaining faculty position application from an applicant who has a PhD from an Indian university". Well this is the situation and people blame people for going abroad.
Anyways bite the bun! Lets get back to more important things, like mokka talk! :P

Some things I noticed after coming here
1. Even dogs wait for the signal to turn red so that they can cross the road. Probably if people do J-walking they'll be fined and if a dog does that, may be it'll be given a free ticket to meet its beloved person.
2. Clothes and drainage covers are "made in India".
3. You cannot dry clothes outside your home because it will destroy the "azhagu" of the building! Naansense! No wonder the laundry guyz make more money than me!
4. C2H5OH is literally the solution to anything! math, physics, life, problems...you name it :D
5. Serials are actual serials and not advertisements!
6. No creativity in commercials…. cha I liked India far better though I hated their timing...right in the middle of an awesome movie. Say rakthakanneer or mayabazaar or valpuli, merging of vaalu and puli :P
7. Less Americans :(

There is some limit even for the mokka master. Its the time to coffee!
-the jumper

Dare the Dream

There is something that keeps bothering me once in while - when I wake up in the nights, when I endlessly stare at my monitor, or when I take a lonely walk - wondering if what I wanted to do is an impractical realization of a distant reality! 

The world doesn't care about the nearly one hundred attempts that ended up like stuff in Davy Jones Locker. I stopped caring about such things; but never did I stop trying! Taking time off the already tiresome research schedule to learn something so basic that a tenth grade student would say "its a piece of cake!" However, the interest kept me going.

I would be lying to myself if I said this couldn’t be one of my rare accomplishments. The truth, however, is the other way around - I got lucky this time! 

I remember the quote one of my friends wrote on his ghot pad: “when hard work is your weapon, victory becomes your slave”. Well, I suppose that is true. That is what places Batman among the Supermans, Dravid among the Tendulkars, humans among gods! 

For three years, my mind maintained a good balance between my interests in the two fields. And I am proud of it! Sometimes it is advantageous to be ambitious, take risks, and shoot for the stars. And, sometimes it is better to plan a strategy, take it slow, and play safe. I chose the later, which I believe is the right choice, given the circumstances. 

I do not know when, but for sure, I know now that, I am closer than ever, to pursuing that, which is, no more an impractical realization of a distant reality - from a passionate structural engineering to an enthusiastic computational biologist. 

Life is all about appreciating the small things that bring a smile on your face!

Sundar