Pratik Poddar

A book on one of the best teachers I have ever known, Mr. V.K. Bansal (Bansal Classes, Kota) Description of the book: A remarkable tale of the rise of small towns India as the new centres of business and money Will be of great interest to IIT-JEE aspirants and students in general Also narrates the journey of Bansal Classes, the branchild of V.K.Bansal, today a premier tutoring institute for the IIT-JEE A tutor transforms the way students take the IIT-JEE. Most students of science in Indian high schools aspire to join one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Thus competition for admission is fierce and staying one step ahead, the IITs make their Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) more difficult each year. Each year Bansal Classes, the premier tutoring institute for the IIT-JEE, puts more students into the IITs than any other. Bansal Classes is the brainchild of V.K. Bansal who began his career as a tutor teaching a single student on his dining table. He had ju...

13 states and 3 union territories visited this year :) I've been to 72 cities in 9 countries Asia Hong Kong (SAR): Hong Kong Island India: Agra India: Ahmadabad India: Anandpur India: Anandpur Sahib India: Badarinath India: Bhakra India: Chandigarh India: Chennai India: Chidambaram India: Colangute India: Delhi India: Faridkot India: Gangotri India: Goa India: Haridwar India: Hyderabad India: Jaipur India: Joshimath India: Kanchipuram India: Kanniyakumari India: Kedarnath India: Kolkata India: Kot Kapura India: Kota India: Kumbakonam India: Madurai India: Mamallapuram India: Mumbai India: Mussoorie India: Nagercoil India: Nangal Dam India: New Delhi India: Panaji India: Patna India: Patna India: Pondicherry India: Pushkar India: Ranchi India: Renigunta India: Rishikesh India: Rudraprayag India: Srirangam India: Srisailam India: Suchindram India: Thanjavur India: Thiruvananthapuram India: Tirumala India: Tirupati India: Ujjain India: Uttarkashi India: Vishnuprayag India: Yamno...

(Update Dec 20, 2010: Some new ones added. Credits to Prashant Soni) Recently China airports were closed due to heavy fog, later it was discovered that Rajnikant was smoking in India! Rajnikant did his KG from seven different places, today those places are known as IITs! Government of India pays tax to Rajnikant for living in India! Definition of Solar Eclipse: When Rajnikant stares at Sun with anger, sun hides behind the moon. This phenomena is called solar eclipse Think about what would have happened if Rajnikant was born 150 years ago? British would have fought for independence Why do Earthquakes occur? Because at that time Rajnikant's mobile is on vibration mode Why did Rajni buy an acre of land with 4 wells on wach corner? To play carrom.. Before Tom Cruise, Rajani was approached for the movie Mission Impossible, but Rajani refused as he found the title insulting. Rajnikanths next project. Titanic in Tamil. Climax revised. Both survive. Rajnikant swims across...

(From pluggd.in and TOI ) We will have a new symbol for Indian National Rupee today. The Union Cabinet will today decide on the symbol for Indian Rupee, a privilege (unique identity) available only to major currencies like dollar, euro, pound sterling and yen. The proposal, said to be prompted by the growing influence of the Indian economy in the global arena, involves a shortlist of five symbols (finalists above) for the Indian rupee drawn up the finance ministry, reflecting the Indian ethos and culture. 1) The symbol should be applicable to standard keyboard 2) The symbol has to be in the Indian National Language Script or a visual representation 3) The symbol should represent the historical & cultural ethos of the country as widely accepted across the country I think fourth one should be he winner. Both Devnagri and Roman script of Rupya and Rupee are visible in the symbol. The first and the second symbols definitely do not stand a chance. Go India Go!

Aamir, 2008 - Raj Kumar Gupta Black Friday, 2006 - Anurag Kashyap Bombay, 1996 - Mani Ratnam Mithya, 2008 - Rajat Kapoor Mumbai Cutting, 2009 - Various Mumbai Meri Jaan, 2008 - Nishant Kamat Page 3, 2005 - Madhur Bhandarkar Salaam Bombay!, 1988 - Mira Nair Satya, 1998 - Ram Gopal Varma Company, 2002 - Ram Gopal Varma Sarkar, 2005 - Ram Gopal Varma Sarkar Raj, 2008 - Ram Gopal Varma Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 - Danny Boyle Tum Mile, 2009 - Kunal Deshmukh 26th July at Barista, 2008 - Mohan Sharma Chandni Bar, 2001 - Madhur Bhandarkar Watch them and then you will say "I love Bombay" :) Can you suggest more movies? As of June 20, 2010.. I have not seen Mumbai Cutting and Tum Mile (WTF? How could I miss them? :( Both released just before placement season. :() First thing to do when I reach IIT now. Also find a Weird Things to do in Mumbai List here: http://pratikpoddar.blogspot.com/2009/12/weird-things-to-do-in-mumbai.html

Just uploaded some photographs of my 14 Day Trip to Haridwar, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Mussoorie, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Rishikesh on facebook. Along with doing some good work, visiting some temples, enjoying nature and having some interesting philosophical discussions, I tried to learn some photography as well. Link for the photographs is here I will use this space to cheer for the Uttarakhand Government for the great tourism development in their state. Looks like the economy of the state is driven by tourism, at least in these 4 months. http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/ shows the great work that they are doing. However I still do not understand some things. I am hoping that a localite would read this and answer. 1) Why are "Prayags" (Meeting point of two rivers) not developed as tourist spots? Two rivers, one grey, one green in colour meet at a point and form a beautiful scene. I could capture one of the prayags out of the 5 great prayags forming the Panchprayag. I am sure go...

I wrote a post on purpose of life a few day back. I had some interesting discussion and I am revisiting the post. Some revelations: 1) Life does not have a purpose. Anything created does not have a purpose. Creator has a purpose. So, The creator of life has a purpose. 2) So, the purpose of life is the purpose its creator (God) would have while its creation. Any guesses? 3) As far as I can guess, God would have wanted us to live in such a way that we do not disturb god's world. We help it grow. We help it continue. We help it evolve. We improve the world. 4) So, Purpose of Life would be Help those in need Reproduction Be happy and make others happy Make the world a better place to be in Change the way people live their lives, hopefully in a positive way 5) In Hindu Dharm, there are three types of Rin which must be paid off before one's death: Dev Rin, Pitra Rin and Rishi Rin. Dev Rin is paid off to Devtaa by doing Yagya; Pitra Rin is paid off to Pitar (ancestors) by...

Read about this concept in Ignited Minds by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam but I could not appreciate it until a discussion that I had in a beautiful swiss cottage on a beautiful hill in God's own place Uttarakhand :P Some of the ideas in the post are original. I have absolute faith in the idea and if you do not agree with me, I will love to have a discussion. :) Dr Kalam identified five important areas to transform India. These are: 1) Education and Health Care 2) Agriculture 3) Information and Communication 4) Infrastructure 5) Critical Technology Pramukh Swami Maharaj of Swaminarayan Sanstha at Ahmedabad suggested a sixth dimension: 6) Spirituality I did not appreciate the sixth point that why do we need spiritual development for development of the country.  But indeed, we need spiritual development. Spiritual development would comprise of the basic human quality to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong, God and Satan. Spiritual development would include not ch...

Commencement Lecture by Prof. Satish Rao, University of California, Berkeley. (Congratulations! Letters and Sciences, Computer Science Majors, Class of 2003) Link shared to me by Giridhar Addepalli, Senior Software Engineer, Yahoo! Banglore & IIT Kanpur Alumnus. Enjoy! -- John Henry was a steel-drivin man. John Henry worked on the railroad, he drove steel. This consisted of driving a metal spike into the rock with a hammer. John Henry was the greatest of hammerers, as well as the best of gamblers, the biggest of drinkers, nastiest of ghters, and the best of lovers. He was born to the railroad. When he was a baby, he told his momma that he would die with a hammer in his hand. More importantly, its how he fed him family. He worked on a legendary connector in West Virginia, which is a long tunnel in a mountain connecting two sections of track. It took years and hundreds of men to build. One day, a man brought a steam engine to the tunnel and said it could drive steel better...

This is my last post from IIT as a student. We are graduating from the best engineering institute of the world. We are seen as among the smartest of the country. Since we are graduating now, I hope this post will help you mull over some of the basic questions which I have been thinking about for these 4 years. As an individual, we have our own problems and will have some throughout our lives (supporting family, paying off loans, getting a job, securing your job, fighting recession, divorce, death, market crash, business loss, health, health of near ones, etc). I agree that we have to take care of these problems first. But look at the bigger picture. Think of a person seeing us from an outside world. Did we meet the expectations of the world? Did we do what we expect out of us? By fulfilling expectations, I don't mean earning 100,000$ a year at the age of 22. I mean doing something "meaningful". Doing something that would be useful for the country/world/human race.. Le...

I have thought over this problem for hours and days. I am no big shot. I am no political leader. I understand that I am in no position to bring a big change. So, the answer is that all of us should change to make India a developed country. Fair enough. I reached this conclusion 3 years back. Now what? How can I contribute in my way? Any suggestions? I talked to many smart(er) people. Got some answers. But not complete. I think its still unanswered but most of my doubts are gone by the book "Ignited Minds" by APJ Abdul Kalam. This is not a review of the book. I am in no position to do that. This is just a compilation of the points I thought, points that came up in the discussions I had with a few seniors, discussion I had with my internship professor in Hong Kong, my lab mates during my internship at Paris and also the ideas from Ignited Minds. An attempt to answer the question on " How can people like me (young and educated) contribute to India's development? ...

Adarniya sabhapati mahodaya, atithi vishesh shikshan mantri shri R D tripati ji, maanyaniya shikshagan aur mere piyaaare sahpatiyo Aaj agar I.C.E aasmaan ki bulaaandiyo ko chhu raahaa hai to uska shreya sirrf ekinsaan ko jaataahai - Shri Veeru Sahastrabuddhe Give him a big hand. He is a great guy really. Peechle buttis saal se inhone nirantar is college mein balatkar pe balatkar kiye. Umeed hai aagey bee karte rahege. Hamein to aashcharya hota hai ki ek insaan apne jeevan kaal mein itni balatkar kaisi kar sakta hai. Inhone kadi tapaasya se apne aapko is kaabil bunaya hai. Waqt ka sahi upyog ghante ka purna istemaal koi inse seeke. Seeke inse seeke. Aaj hum sab chaatra yaha hai, kal desh videsh mein fail jayenge. Waadaa hai aapse jis desh mein honge waha balatkar karenge, I.C.E ka naam roshan karenge. Dika denge sabko jo balatkar Karne ki kshamtaa yaha ke chaatro mein hai wo sansaar ke kisi chaatro mein nahiii. No other chaatra. No other chaatra. Adarniya mantraji! Namashkar a...

First 7 comic strips posted earlier here 8) :)

Clicked some photographs of Qutab Minar on my Delhi Visit (for IndoCrypt 2009) last week. I have tried to click photographs as if they were clicked in olden days (say 1857 :P). I took care of two things: 1) Used "Old Photos" mode in the camera to give that look 2) Took care that there are no people in the photograph. This is difficult on a Monday afternoon when many groups of school children visit Qutab Minar. I think a few of them came out to be good. I would love your constructive feedback. This was my first serious photography attempt, so please bear with me :P Slideshow: http://bit.ly/5Chy81 Picasa Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/pratik.phodu/IndoCrypt2009Delhi1857QutabMinar Thank You!

Dilbert (as usual) Craxx IIT Big Time :) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Thanks to Ajit Burad (CSE IITB alumnus) for the collection :)

India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization) The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus. Chess was invented in India. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India. The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C. The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihade...

Edited version of the list compiled by Zishaan Hayath (IITB 2005 alumnus) Get high on qawwali at Haji Ali Spot a celebrity at Juhu PVR Crane your neck to see the Bombay Stock Exchange building Spot a leopard in IIT Bombay campus. If you can't, then spot a girl Enjoy a play in Prithvi Theatre Enjoy the NCPA in a play or opera Haggle for non-antiques in Chor Bazaar Face the high tide on Worli seaface Bet money on race horses at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Dangle your feet, lean back on your palms and enjoy the sea from the Marine Drive promenade Go for a heritage walk in the Naval Dockyard (first Sunday every month, Indian nationals only) Explore the Sanjay Gandhi national park. A national park in city limits? Oh yeah! Soak in the Victoria Terminus Watch DDLJ at Maratha Mandir Party at Hard Rock Cafe and mourn for a minute the death of mills around Parel Jog on Juhu beach Sit on a tetropod at Nariman Point in midnight till police co...

Personal Favourite.... Jai Hind.. Happy Independence Day... Bilqis: Jinhe naaz hai hind par -RABBI Mera naam Bilqis Yakub Rasool Mujhse hui bas ek hi bhool Ki jab dhhundhhte thhe vo Ram ko To maen khadi thhi, rah mein Pehle ek ne puchha na mujhe kuchh pata thha Dujey ko bhi mera yehi javab thha Fir itno ne puchha ki mera ab saval hai ki Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mera naam Shriman Satyendra Dubey Jo kehna thha vo keh chukey Ab padhey hain rah mein Dil mein liye ek goli Bas itna kasoor ki hamne likha thaa Vo sach jo har kisi ki zuban thaa Par sach yahan ho jatey hain zehreelay Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mujhe kehte hain anna Manjunath Maine dekhi bhatakti ek laash Zamir ki beech sarhak Lakhimpur Kherhi Adarsh phasa jahan naaron mein Aur chor bharey darbaron mein Vahan maut akhlaq ki hai ik khabar baasi Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain Mazha nau aahe Navleen Kumar Unnees june un...

So true...

Still enjoying the Bastille Day Fireworks memory, I present Eiffel Tower with "Made in India" tag :)