Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore

The Abode of Brains

On the 25th day of July, 2014, I reached the Indian Institute of Science, as a BS (Basic Science) student, under their Under Graduate program. I joined the course through the KVPY channel.

Course Description

The BS course offered by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a four year course, that aims towards introducing the students to an interdisciplinary approach towards science research. The four year course is completed in eight semesters, among which, in the first three semesters are used to build a fundamental foundation of the subjects Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics and Physics. Exposure to Humanities course is made, to make the education complete. In the fourth, fifth and sixth semesters, the students select a Major subject and a Minor to pursue. The seventh and eighth semesters are dedicated towards a project work. More details about the course can be found in the link.

Before I Could Call Myself a Student

On 25th, I came to IISc without a confirmation of admission. I had to wait in the UG office with an extremely tensed heart and held breathe, from 9.00 am to 12.00 am, to finally learn that I was selected for admission to the program. After finishing the payment and other formalities, I was allotted a hostel room to myself. I was both surprised and happy to learn that students get a room for their own usage and they do not have to share it with a room mate. It made me consider a possibility of having attached toilets, but as it appears, my hopes were extremely high. Nonetheless, in spite of the fact that the toilets are for common usage, they are extremely clean and well maintained (and they virtually don't stink at all!). Our mess facilities started from the 1st of August. Until then, we had to satisfy our palatial needs from the three restaurants operating in the campus, namely, Kabini, Nesara and Prakruthi. From 1st August, we could feed ourselves in the mess. The food, thankfully, is quite satisfactory.

Pictorial Tour

Entrance through a vista (without the windows, of course!)

The philosopher's walk

The main building

And he stands, gazing

The undergraduate area

The undergraduate area

The main lecture hall

The abode of the supercomputer, the WiFi epicentre!

The library

The hostel...

...and my corner in it

The toilets (for those who didn't believe me, when I said that they are surprisingly clean)

The hostel office

The mess

The in-campus feeding areas

Kabini

Prakruthi

Nesara (almost qualifies as a restaurant)

My bicycle (life in here is unimaginable, without it!)

An artificial bee hive, found in campus

And the bees in one of its frames! (Important declaration: The girl in the background in not a bee)

Dropping the swag

Overall, the IISc is one of the most beautiful educational institutions in India. Not only is it picturesque, it is a wonder from many perspectives. The people in here, are even more interesting than the institute. I am happy to be a part of it.

Reverence, 2014

An Annual Day I Ended Up attending

The Event

On the 26th of April, 2014, Delhi Public School, Ruby Park organised its annual day in the science city auditorium. The chief guest was the renowned Dadasaheb Phalke Award winning bengali film legend, Soumitra Chattopadhyay. It happens to be the second annual day of my school(s) that I that ever went to. And being there proved to be very productive!

An iPad from the Blue

I should call myself lucky for having chosen Delhi Public School, Ruby Park as my high school. The last year, I took a test, called the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), which is an exam conducted by the Indian Institute of Science, to encourage Indian students to join a career in research. Fortunately, I qualified the test, which makes me eligible for a scholarship, from the around August, 2014, if I choose to join a course in basic science (the term 'basic science' is properly explained in the link to the official site of KVPY). I was pretty happy to have been eligible for the scholarship and for a scope to embark a career path that I aspired to join.

Anyhow, I had barely expected a recognition from my school, for managing my way through the test! Yesterday, on the occasion of our school's annual day, I received a 'special prize' from my school, along with 4 of my friends, and what might that special prize be, other then an iPad Air! Now, this was barely expected. I mean, how much can you expect from a prize that your school is giving you for qualifying a little known examination? So, it was literally surprising and it was really difficult to control expressing it on stage, while receiving the prize!

My iPad Air.

And the box that it came in.

Other Prizes in the Bag

The iPad is not where it ends. I received three more wonderful books in the pack.

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku.

An Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins.

The Race of My Life by Milkha Singh.

And last, but not the least, the certificate from school.

So, that sums it up. I am pretty much happy with the encouragement and support I received from my school and I feel really lucky for having been a student of it.

VIJYOSHI Camp, 2013

National Science Camp

Preliminary Information

Students from all over India, who have qualified KVPY in class 11, qualified KVPY in class 12 and are studying basic science, INSPIRE Fellows etc. are invited to attend the VIJYOSHI Camp. The camp is organized by the KVPY office of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc). I'm quoting what the authority has to say about the camp, below:

“Science & Technology are twin drivers of economic growth and development in any country. India is emerging as a major hub of global knowledge. Its strength lies in harnessing the power of a large S&T talent pool. The comparative advantage of India in terms of this vast pool of talent supply, demography and inherited knowledge systems needs to be converted thoughtfully into competitive advantage.

Similar to Lindau Meet with Noble Laureates for students from across the globe every year, a Program is formulated in India for selected bright undergraduate students of Science. Bringing these students and World Science Leaders together in a relaxed and informal atmosphere for intimate discussions on frontiers of science could help the students to take up science as a career. The program will also provide opportunity for personal contact between the students and the leaders of Science.”

For further queries, one may visit the official website of the VIJYOSHI Camp.

The Journey Begins

I headed towards Bangalore on the 6th of December, from the Kolkata airport, on a Spice Jet flight, scheduled to hit the runway at 7.15 am. Fortunately, there were few of my friends in the same flight, destined towards the same location.

Me and my friend Ananjan Bhattacharyya in the flight.

When the flight neared Bangalore, the undulating landscape of the south was found peeking through the clouds.

Post Arrival Events and Lodging

We (my friends were with me) went straight to the J. N. Tata Auditorium, IISc, Bangalore, to get ourselves registered and the get our rooms for the stay.

Me with my friend Upamanyu Bag (to the left) and Pratyay Sarkar (to the right) near the registration area.

All of us (fortunately) got our room (I did not add the 's' behind 'room' because we ended up in the same room, rather suite) in a complex, known as the Platinum City, which was located pretty close to the Yeshwantpur Railway Station.

Ananjan Bhattacharya, Navneet Agarwal and Pratyay Sarkar outside the building we were in.

We were somewhat astounded by the arrangement made by the authority, since our past experience had trained us not to expect much from the Indian Government (well, the whole camp and the scholarships we will eventually receive, if we join a basic science course, are totally funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India). The suit, the beds, even the toilets were awesome.

Navneet (my roommate) attempting (without much of a success) to read Thermodynamics on his bed. That attempt was never repeated in the rest of the stay.

The students in our room. (From the left) Pratyay Sarkar, Navneet Agarwal, Prabaha Gangopadhyay (that would be me), Akash Adhikary, Upamanyu Bag, Ananjan Bhattacharyya, Rohan Das.

Inside the Auditorium

The auditorium is where the lectures were delivered. Listening to them, interpreting and clearing our confusions in the topics discussed was the real purpose of our visit to the camp.

Outside the auditorium.

Dr. Anil Kumar, the ex-convener of KVPY, addressing the students.

Mathematician (specializing in geometry of surfaces) Prof. Frank Morgan at the podium (to the left).

We discovered that Prof. Morgan, in addition to being a mathematical genius, is also a dancer. The link directs to a video (a rather funny one) of Prof. Morgan dancing (most probably with his mom).

With Prof. Morgan. The guy to the extreme left is Arghyadeep Paul.

 Prof. Satyajit Mayor delivering his lecture on the structure of the cell membrane.

We, the audience.

Outside the KVPY office.

The group photo.

And, if you are wondering where I am (though it is highly likely that you don't give a damn).

The Talks of Nada (Indo-Western Fusion Band)

On the second eve, the authority had organized a cultural program. It constituted Amith A. Nadig (Flute), Vidwan Mysore M. Nagaraj (Violin), Vidwan K. U. Jayacandra Rao (Mridangam) Vidwan Giridhar Udapa (Ghatam) and Vidwan B. S. Arun Kumar (Drums and Percussion).

I would have added a video, but the size is too big, and the audio quality is not very appreciable.

Food (Something that Holds us Together)

The food served was quite good in taste and quality and most importantly, was served in a huge quantity. The days we spent in the camp, helped us discover the ogre that rests within us. We literally devoured food. Gulped all we can through the thin oesophagus of ours.

The morning coffee.

Lunch. The guy to the left is Ritam Dutt.

At the dinner ground, near IISc Gymkhana.

At the last night of our stay at Bangalore, the day the camp ended, we went to the restaurant in the ground floor of the building we were in. We did not consider the food given to us at the last night of the camp to be 'edible' and we were more than happy to buy ourselves some food.

Waiting for the food.

Caught in the act of devouring.

My dish, before finishing off the remnants.

The Fun We Had

Cricket at midnight (with an umbrella and a sponge-ball).

Shout for "Out".

Quite the bowler, eh?

The ensemble cricket players.

Creativity with a lemon.

The rapper.

The photo-bomber (look at his eyes!).

Sleeping beast (no, not beauty).

Clear streaks of craziness.

Way Back Home

I returned to Kolkata on a train. Some of my friends took different modes of transport, like flights and buses. So, we got separated in our return journey. But, we made new friends too.

Pratyay with Spandan Das (quite a photogenic guy) at the Yeshwantpur waiting room.

Engaged in a game of cards (Bridge, to be more precise).

Bhubaneshwar station (well, the station is not much visible in the picture).

Resting at night.

Last Words

To sum it up, the camp was a wonderful experience. We met lot of good students from across the country, shared our views about different aspects, discovered new interests, new perspectives. Many of the students I met may end up being my classmates in college. The huge campus of the Indian Institute of Science holds wonderful professors, who are knowledgeable and helpful. The volunteers, who were primarily IISc PhD students, were also very helpful and talking with them cleared a lot of confusions about our future prospects and about life in research.

The people who delivered the lectures are renowned world-class scientists  and being under the same roof with them, listening to their lectures were quite the experience. Their calming nature, humour, and lack of pride was overwhelming. We even got scope of personally interacting with the professors, over tea, and at a special dinner thrown in the second day of the camp.

We also had a lot of fun, which is evident from the pictures posted. Overall, it was a camp worth going.