व् से Victory MAGGIE!! Isn’t this the one thing that most of us like? And remember the first time you actually made it yourself and how that day it tasted more delicious than the best of delicacies. Oh! The taste. If someone asks you to define that taste in just a single word, how would you do that? Well I have a word for it "VICTORY". Don't you all agree with that? What if someone asks you the recipe for Victory? What would your answer be? This is a question everyone is seeking an answer to. A question which was answered beautifully by the Terrific Tech Trio of Nirma: RoboCon, Stallions and Console. How did they answer it? They answered it by doing amazing work; when one team after the other emerged victorious on national platforms. They made (the feat of ) victory synonymous with Nirma Nation-Wide in these two years. Hence the cover story of this edition is dedicated to them and their oath for the win. What drove them towards the victory? What did they do to accomplish it? What were the ingredients of their winning recipe? Are some of the questions we asked them so that we all can get a sneak-peak into the process which made them victors from warriors. Interestingly, we also found presence of common ingredients; a pinch of persistence, a sprinkle of patience, with a dash of hard work. The secret ingredient always being Love, for their work. These all ingredients what are they, if not the oath of the Vijay-Putras.
For how exactly did our warriors became victorious, read on to find out! Campus Ink congratulates all the teams, their respected faculty advisors and students for their victory and wishes them luck for all their future endeavours. May the force be with you!
Happy Cooking!!
1. Team Robocon
8
10 12
2. The Emblem Of Ecstacy
3. Can Robots Write Novel?
14
4. Stock Market Investment Made Easy
18 20
5. The Sedition Spark 6. Team Console 3.0
22
7. Finland - The Gentlemen Country 8. Artificial Intelligence
24
28
9. Unloacked Cafe & Escape Room
30 32
10. Face Of Your Conscience
11. Once Upon A Conflictorium
34
12.Book Review
35
13. Take a Twist with Toastmasters 14. Hightech Himanshu
38
15. A tête-à-tête with Vivek Tuteja 16. Baja
43
40
Te a m
Dr. Ratna Rao
Jaikishan Laljani
Faculty Advisor
Founder / Editor-in-Chief
Bhavana Sharma
Kushaj Agrawal
Kishan Patel
Raj Birewar
Editor
Editor
Editor & Writer
Editor
Yatrik Raithatha
Bhoumik Suthar
Kashyap Kathrani
Mohil Patel
Designer-in-Chief
Designer-in-Chief
Graphics Designer
Graphics Designer
Jasprit Dhall
Bhavya Singh
Jay Bhatt
Tanya Smriti
Writer
Writer
Writer
Writer
Anmol Jain
Jyotika Gurnani Ramika Chakaiyar
Writer
Writer
Srishti Jain
Harshvardhan Tiwari
Harsh Pandya
Muskan Por wal
Writer
Writer
Researcher
Researcher
Varun Contractor Researcher
Prakrut Chauhan
Social Media Manager
Writer
Dhruv Solanki
Writer & Researcher
LET’S GO!
TEAM ROBOCON THE PRIDE OF NIRMA
- Jyotika Gurnani 2nd March 2018: Every nirmaite is glued to their TV screens, fingers crossed, in extreme anticipation of what is to come. The thrilling final between MIT(Pune) and NIRMA of the national level Robocon 2018 goes underway. Eventually, the results flash and NIRMA was announced the National level winner of the Robocon 2018 competition. National Robocon 2018: Institute of Technology, Nirma University crowned champions again!! This headline drove each and every Nirmaite into buoyancy and immense gratification. A moment of sheer euphoria and pride for each Nirmaite. To be recognized as the National Champions of one the biggest Robotic competition 8 times is a huge achievement for any University. Every year our TEAM ROBOCON works diligently and zealously to bring this triumph to our University. But have you ever wondered how our team is able to compete with top engineering colleges such as IITs, NITs, and BITs? How many efforts do they put? How much time do they devote? How do they prepare themselves? What do these people do in labs with all electronic and hardware components for days and weeks? Let’s know more about ROBOCON and OUR TEAM and try to figure out these questions!! ROBOCON, the acronym for ROBOtics CONtest, organized by Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and it has 20 member countries including India since 2002. The team’s objective in this competition is to design a robot, which has to complete a specified task within a stipulated period of time.The team whose robot is able to perform the task flawlessly and efficiently in the given time is declared the winner. Every year the contest is conducted by a member country who announces a theme for the competition. Apart from an ABU winner, the team with the highest score within a country is declared as "NATIONAL WINNER" and represents the country for the international rounds. The host of the competition this year was Vietnam and the theme decided for the competition was némcòn (throwing shuttlecock). The contest mainly endeavors and strives to create a platform where technical innovativeness of budding scientist and engineers can be nurtured and given a practical shape.
8 | CAMPUS INK
“SUCCESS IS THE SUM OF SMALL EFFORTS, REPEATED DAY IN AND DAY OUT”. These are not just a couple of words combined together but it's a principle that TEAM ROBOCON firmly believes in. For them, ROBOCON is not just a team but their family, a family of curious minds trying to fuel their curiosity and achieve excellence. At present this family consists of 20 such curious minds from various constituent departments of ITNU. The team is divided into two parts: The Mechanical team and The Electronics team. The Mechanical team is further divided into 2 categories..i.e. design and manufacturing. Similarly, EC is broadly divided into software and hardware. Every year team recruitment process starts after the orientation of freshers. The selection process takes place very systematically in 3 stages. The first stage is the written test. Those who clear the written test are called for personal interviews. The final phase of this process is the probation period. Here the selected students are given certain tasks and are constantly looked after by the present members. The ones who complete the tasks passionately are rewarded with the golden chance to be part of this invincible family. Then comes the assiduous task to prepare for the competition. Every senior member trains their juniors and year by year they get acquainted to train their juniors and this is how ROBOCON has built utilitarian culture. After the announcement of the theme, they start designing their robot and many prototypes are made. Team members start working simultaneously on multiple mechanisms and after many trials, they figure out the most suitable and the most efficient approach to complete the task. As truly said, “THE SMALL DROPLETS WILL FILL A BIG OCEAN” thus working on the similar ideology, team members working in different fields assemble all the parts and make necessary connections to build their robot. Here embarks the onerous journey of testing, practicing and debugging. But every journey has peaks and troughs, there are times when the robot does not work well or the model may collapse. But all this does not dampen the high spirits of the members instead, it instigates them to work even harder for the uphill battle. “THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND WITH MACHINES, THE MORE YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THEM” quoted by senior member and operator of team HARSHVARDHAN SISODIYA shows the passion the team carries. After years of untiring efforts and spending their entire college life with machines, the team no longer considers them as just some electronic stuff. For them, this journey is a pilgrimage and they are the pilgrims of enduring success. College life comes with a lot of confusions and mundane routines. But going down the clichéd line one should always remember that these 4 years are precious and it all depends on us how we invest this time. In nutshell, ROBOCON is a place that provides you with an opportunity to make positive substantive and lasting contributions to your technical knowledge. It is a place which instills in you the value of discipline, hard work, and respect for your work. It develops an insatiable hunger for achieving greater and greater heights. It is place driven by innovation where like-minded students gather to witness the magic of technology embedded with the miracles of innovation. It’s a place to fill that unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.
9
The emblem of Ecstasy In what could be termed as remarkable, Institute of Technology, Nirma University achieved a landmark when It's Four Programmes viz. Computer Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering and Chemical Engineering got accredited by the National Board of Accreditation in Tier-I format for a period of 3 years, up to June 30, 2021.
10 | CAMPUS INK
I know you're TIRED but come, this is the WAY.
11
Can Robots Write Novel?
- Harshvardhan Tiwari & Jay Bhatt
A hallmark of ciavilization has been the drive to create unique stories that explore the human condition. Now robots are learning to write fiction. Is nothing sacred? No computer has yet written the Great Australian Novel because they have some of the same handicaps that afflict human writers. Writing is hard. Although computers can work unhindered by free will, alcohol or divorce, such advantages are outweighed by a lack of life experience or emotions. There’s a case to be made for technology allowing us to become lazier, correcting our spelling for us and alerting us to stylistic niggles like word repetition, yet at the same time, it’s learning from us. Take the What If Machine. Fondly known as WHIM, it’s the creation of an international group of experts in machine learning, web mining, and the generation of narrative, metaphor and humor, spearheaded by Simon Colton from Goldsmith’s College, University of London. It works by generating scenarios in various creative palettes, in styles ranging from Walt Disney to Franz Kafka. A human must choose the genre and then select a few other details from a list before the machine spits out a gnomic creative prompt. Currently, it’s a little hit and miss. In the Kafkaesque category, for instance, things often seem a little too – well, Kafkaesque. “What if there was a dancer who woke up in [sic] a floor as a cat but could still swim?” WHIM suggests when I try it out. What indeed would you expect it to respond? Computers are quietly elbowing their way into the workplace. They're flying planes, driving cars, selecting job candidates and writing news stories. The Associated Press employs a company called Automated Insights to create short news reports from raw data. More advanced software is working on longer pieces. To be able to write fiction, a machine does not have to think like us but it must "understand" patterns of human experience. While not dis-counting the life of the mind, computers are being fed millions of novels and short stories to "teach" them character, pace and plot. If our thinking and how we express our thoughts in language can be expressed in an equation or by a "middlebrow algorithm", then we can also model the product of that thinking. That means a computer can write novels and poetry. Here is an example:
12 | CAMPUS INK
"Dave Striver loved the university – its ivy-covered clock towers, its ancient and sturdy brick, and its sun-splashed verdant greens and eager youth. The university, contrary to popular opinion, is far from free of the stark unforgiving trials of the business world: academia has its own tests, and some are as merciless as any in the marketplace. A prime example is the dissertation defense: to earn the Ph.D., to become a doctor, one must pass an oral examination on one's dissertation. This was a test Professor Edward Hart enjoyed giving." That opening paragraph was written by a computer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US. It shows that computers are learning to obey syntax. They are learning to learn. Maybe you're thinking that computers aren't alive. Their "writing" is flat and lifeless. There's no surprises, nothing that rises up off the page and goes for your throat or heart. But such criticism may be premature. To date, our ideas about AI have been shaped largely by fiction writers. The very word 'robot' was first introduced in Karel Čapek's 1920 play, Rossum's Universal Robots. Whether or not algorithmic authors are shooting up the bestseller lists by 2020, human writers have an ever more critical role to play in navigating the implications of a brave new world that’s finally catching up with the literary imagination. The answers that computer scientists are coming up with raise ethical, philosophical and legal questions – not to mention security concerns – that we’ve barely begun to fathom. Novelists, at least, have nothing to fear. Or so you might think. In George Orwell’s 1984, the ‘proles’ read books generated by a machine, but a machine is hardly going to able to replace Margaret Atwood. After all, we turn to literature in part to deepen our understanding of the human condition, and its magic derives as much from the writer’s own lived experience – emotional, sensory or otherwise – as from their creativity. Even if a string of zeroes and ones evolves to understand what it means to taste a childhood food in later life, or to feel the first splash of spring sunshine as a long winter loosens its grip, that algorithm won’t truly be able to know such experiences. For all these reasons and more, a robot could never rival a flesh-and-blood novelist. Could it?
13
STOCK MARKET INVESTMENT MADE EASY - Kishan Patel
“The big money is not in the buying or selling, but in the waiting” -Charlie Munger In today’s modern era, with inflation increasing every year, it leads to a reduction in the purchasing power of a person. So money making is a pre-requisite skill that everybody needs to learn in order to equilibrate the financial crunches with minimal savings. The savings of a person has very negligent benefits/returns unless invested in other relatively more profitable schemes. Investing your money is always a better option when we want a source of extra income. A lot of alternatives are available for investing your savings like mutual funds, fixed deposits, assets, equity (value of an asset), etc. and investing in stock market is one such potential option to invest your money. Higher the risk, higher the probability of higher return An individual interested in investing must take into consideration the risk and returns of the project he/she is investing her money in. If you are eyeing for a higher return he should be audacious enough to bear a huge risk. As a sportsperson doesn’t play Olympics without practice; a war is not fought without a war game plan and a politician doesn’t join politics without being equivocational and diplomatic; one needs to be prescient and well versed with the basic foundation of investment cannot temerously start investing in stock market without prior knowledge of the basic terms that are used in the day to day trading activities in the various stock markets in the world. 14 | CAMPUS INK
DEMAT Account & Trading Account This is the first step and a pre-requisite for investing in stock market. DEMAT account is an account that allows the investor to hold their shares in an electronic form (just like virtual money).The investor need not open a new account for stock market investments rather they can link it to their already existing bank accounts. Trading account is an investment account which contains securities, cash or other holdings. They are mostly used for day trading. The investor can open a trading account with the registered stock broker of that stock exchange to carry out investment in stock market.
Market Capitalization Market cap indicates the market value of the company and hence also value of its stock.
Market Cap = Number of stocks*Selling price of one stock Higher the value of the company’s Market cap in the market, higher will be its stock value. If there are many companies having a high marker cap, one must be smart enough to diversify the investment into the portfolio of companies. Do not commit all to one boat Diversifying the investment in a portfolio of companies aids in reducing the investment risk by providing a backup plan in case if the price of one company’s stock dips to a lower market value. One needs to collect the past data of risk and return of the company or portfolio of companies and how their performance in various phases of economy i.e. during recession, normal and boom economy and accordingly make a final decision. 15
Margin Money Margin money is the difference between the total value of securities (financial instrument that has monetary value and can be traded) held in an investor’s account and loan amount from a broker. It is like taking a loan from a broker (an agent who invests your money and invests in stocks on your behalf) to purchase stocks. It acts like additional money which can be used to buy more stocks of companies.
Blue Chip Companies This name is quite interesting which comes from poker in which the blue chip has the highest value. So the companies which are well-known and financially sound (have market capitalization in billions) are Blue chip companies. Eg. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, etc. Conservative Investors i.e. people who invest in low risk companies like amateurs and retired senior citizens should invest in these types of companies because these companies offers stocks which have survived many downturns in the economy and due to their reputation are stable and therefore safe to include in your portfolios.
52 Week High/Low It is the highest and lowest price that a stock has traded at during the previous financial year. It is an important factor which aids in determining a stock’s current value and even in predicting the future price movement of that stock in the market.
Initial Public Offering (IPO) It is the amount of investment money that a company raises by offering its stock to the public for the first time. Keep a keen eye for IPOs of blue chip companies. 16 | CAMPUS INK
Technical Analysis It’s the study and use of price and volume (indicate how many shares are bought and sold over a given period of time) charts and other technical indicators which aids in making trading decisions. Some of the different technical indicators are:
- Accumulation/ Distribution Line: Indicates the ratio of buying and selling by comparing the price movement of a period to the volume for that period.
-
Average Directional Index: Is a trend indicator that’s used to measure the strength of the current trend of a stock.
- Aroon: Measures whether a security is trending higher or lower as well as the
magnitude of that trend.
Stock Exchanges and Index The place where the stock brokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as stocks and other financial transactions. Example: National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), etc. Stock indexes are tools used to describe the market. Different stock exchanges use their indexes to describe the finance market. Example: Nifty 50 of the NSE considers top 50 well performing companies to describe the market. Some of the companies in Nifty are Reliance, Axis Bank, Wipro and Tata Motors Sensex of BSE considers 31 financially sound and well performing companies to describe its market.BSE committee meet every quarterto review the companies and further decide for altering the company list in Sensex. Some of the companies in Sensex are Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp and HDFC Bank.
-
In a nutshell, explore online blogs and websites to track the recent market movements and turn your millions to billions. 17
The Sedition Spark : To Ignite or Not To Ignite ?
- Bhavya Singh
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” -S.G. Tallentyre, The Friends of Voltaire
The law of sedition holds a very interesting place in modern Indian history. Part III of our constitution guarantees some fundamental rights to all the citizen of our nation with reasonable restrictions imposed over it.Article 19(1)a that incorporates freedom of speech and expression is reasonably restricted on the grounds specified in article 19(2).This provides us a testimony that no fundamental right is absolute in nature. The conflict between a person’s free speech and the laws and norms curbing it, in the lieu of greater good and larger interest of our society has been a constant topic of debate since the origin of social and democratic structures. We all must acknowledge that no norm or law is static in nature, but is dynamic.They certainly need to be reformed or revoked as per the changing way of societal living. It’s interesting to know that the word sedition was put under one of the reasonable restrictions in article 19 (2) in the draft constitution. During the debates in constitution assembly, citing the bitter experiences of random application of this sedition law to harass the national leaders lead to the omission of the word” sedition “as one of the reasonable restrictions. However, it remained as
criminal offence under IPC section -124(A), which can lead to life imprisonment and fine upon conviction. Sedition is an offence that criminalizes speech that is construed to be disloyal to or threatening to the state. Section 124-(A) of IPC criminalizes all sorts of speech that are incendiary in nature and can lead to public disorder and disaffection towards government. This law also makes a distinction between disapprobation (lawful criticism of the government) and disaffection (expressing disloyalty or enmity which is proscribed).to make it constitutionally valid. To assess the need and importance of this law, we all need to see both the side of a coin and then draw a conclusion over it. The law of sedition was framed during the colonial era under British rule to suppress the voice of all those Indians who were against the decorum of colonial rule but the idea to still have it as law is a testimony that any clear or present danger against the nation that might lead to disintegration of nation, disruption of public order or violent disturbance in nation will surely be lawfully tackled. This law has certainly been under numerous re-examination, re-interpretation in light of article 19 of the constitution to strike a cordial balance 18 | CAMPUS INK
between freedom of expression and imposing reasonable restrictions.These verdicts have made this law more explicit, precise and unambiguous. The imposition of this law requires a very high standard of proof as the offense of sedition is considered as one of the gravest of offense against the state. The landmark judgement of SC in 1962 of Kedarnath vs State of Bihar played very significant role in providing additional safeguards to the citizen of India against the misuse of this law. In this case ,the constitutionality of this law was questioned where SC ruled that mere criticism of the government or comments on the administration, however vigorous, pungent or ill-informed was not sedition and that incitement to violence is the essential ingredient of that offence. There has been a spate of cases where the government has drawn criticism due to ill-informed and over enthusiastic prosecuting agencies who have been allergic to any form government criticism and have ended up wrongly using this law. This creates a great concern as the very inherent feature of democracy that is freedom of speech and fair criticism can be possibly cowed down under such threats. Cases of Human activist Binayak Sen , cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and the very JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar had attracted lots of media and mass attention even led to a renewed call of scrapping this law from a very large section of mass as these cases appeared to be more in the light of disapprobation rather than disaffection. All these people were either convicted or charged under sedition .The Case of Kanhaiya Kumar had garnered huge publicity due to its highly political nature.The judgement in these cases reaffirmed the law laid down during the landmark judgement of Kedarnath case and held that for a prosecution under section 124A, a legal opinion in writing must be obtained from the law officer of the district (it did not specify who this was) followed by a legal opinion in writing within two weeks from the state public prosecutor providing extra procedural safeguard to the convicts. The serious nature of section 124A is seen in the light of the punishment associated with it. Section 124A is a cognizable (arrests can be made without a warrant), non-bailable and non-compoundable offence. Punishment for the offence can extend up to life imprisonment. Because of the seriousness of the offence, courts are often reluctant to grant bail. Sedition law is seen as an anachronism and as a draconian law in many countries including the United Kingdom, and it has been repealed in most Western democracies. This might lead us to the conclusion that laws on sedition and all the other similar laws need constant assessment and our court may zealously limit or curb the restriction to free speech by making all these cases go through reasonable tests to establish the facts against any accused .Such law should only be enforced in case of present and clear danger and no form of trepidation or apprehension of state can justify an expansive curb on our freedom of expression.
19
An insight into
TEAM CON-SOL-E 3.0 Success is no fortuity. It is industriousness, perseverance, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. A fantasy never becomes through voodoo, unless and until dedication and endeavor are committed to it. A live example for the same being TEAM CON-SOL-E 3.0. The energetic 12-member team along with the captain Darpan Trivedi and highly corroborative faculty advisors, Prof. Alpesh Patel and Prof. Harsh Kapadia, has achieved supreme heights in a short span of time. The ally secured the 2nd position and earned the red ribbon in the recently held 4th edition of The Mitsubishi Electric Cup held in MRIIRS along with a prize money of 75000/-. The fantastic display was based on the theme “Digital Industry through Smart Imagination”. The team came up with the idea of Waste Management, which is directly linked to the society’s welfare and prosperity (and hence the winning idea!). This was illustrated with the help of “Smart Dustbins” having sensors to locate as well as detect the fill level of the garbage which is uploaded on the server. The solar powered autonomous vehicle fetches the data from the server and routes for waste collection from the loaded bins. The vehicle also navigates and brings the collected garbage to waste segregation assembly. Composter was also encompassed for wet residues. The concepts of Machine Learning were well taken to account in the formation.
20 | CAMPUS INK
Having an insight into the personal arena of the contenders, the healthy spirit of sportsmanship is what makes them a step ahead. No one is made to feel alienated and interactive sessions via volleyball games are encouraged. The journey in the team builds the persona of a person, not only academically but also giving a great insight into the real-world challenges. Nothing can be achieved without passion, so is the case in this squad. The team always encourages students from different branches (including girls) to join in, the only constraint being the 24 hours devotion which has to be plonked. Welcoming in the group and readiness to work go hand in hand. The seniors are super obliging and are accommodating. One of the many qualities which gives them a unique position than the rest being the “0” EGO factor. No travail should be treated less. Every member has a say and can voice their judgement. As a matter of fact, dignity of labor is incorporated. The success mantra trailed by the group being “अगर पूरी शिद्दत से किसी चीज़ को चाहो तो सारी कायनात आपको उससे मिलाने में जुट जाती है I” There is no secret to success. It is the outcome of devising, diligence and understanding. Never stop believing in yourself. Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success. With the quantum of endeavor being so high and the constant reinforced support of Nirmaites, the team has and will definitely continue to clinch pinnacle gong and achieve paramount position.
- Ramika Chakaiyar
21
FINLAND - THE GENTLEMEN COUNTRY Finland is a tiny country in the northernmost corner of Europe having a mere population of five and a half million (comprising just 0.07% of the world’s population). “It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog”-the same can be truly personified to the sovereign. This compact country has managed to jump to the paramount position, leaving behind many of the well-known countries. Be it in beauty, diversity, courtesy, or it’s education system etc.- Finland has it all. Having some of the world heritage sites (The Old Rauma) and the best-known national parks, the country has a calm domain allowing picturesque sites. The ethnic and linguistic diversity append to the well-being. The environ is intensely pure- the air is cleanest, and the risk of calamities being shallow. Finland stands apart from the rest when it comes to governance- it being unrivaled in comparison to any other country. Finnish banks are the soundest in the world. When speaking about equality, the nation is the third most gender equal country in the world. Participation of genders in working life in Finland is the second most equal in the EU. Not to pretermit, the extraordinary submissive identity of the Finns. As per the contemplate, the sovereign is the most contented country in the world. They are supremely satisfied with their life. Low corruption is the ultimate upshot of their demureness! When speaking about their education system, the country is the most literate i.e enjoying a literacy rate of around 99%+ since a decade.
22 | CAMPUS INK
The primary pedagogy in the country is unsurpassable. Inspired by the American philosopher & educational reformer John Dewey, it is based on his pragmatic, child-centered educational thinking. Education is free and equal access is a constitutional right. Children don’t have to start until they are 7, so they spend more of their early years playing and continuing school after 16 is optional, but 90% do. Teaching is a highly regarded profession in Finland and all teachers, except vocational ones, must have a master’s degree. University education is free in Finland and the colleges in the country have quality education and are hence ranked in the academic ranking of world universities including The University of Eastern Finland, University of Helsinki etc. The usage of information and communication technologies to boost competitiveness and well-being in the state is incredible, hence making it the fourth most innovative nation in the world. “Angry Birds, the most famous Finnish product, is a live example to appreciate this very certitude.” All these would have no relevance had the health of the citizens been not apt. But Finland does not take a back step in this aspect too. Finland is among the world’s top 20 countries in life expectancy at birth. Deadly disease (including cancer) have been taking a toll in many well-to-do countries, but this is definitely not the case in Finland- it has the second lowest total mortality from cancer in EU countries. Added to this, Finnish adults are the third least likely to smoke from EU countries. Nothing could strive without a healthy & a strong economy, could it ? Definitely NO! Finland has a highly industrialized, mixed economy. The largest sector of the economy is serviced at 72.7%, followed by manufacturing and refining at 31.4%. India and Finland have enjoyed warm and friendly relations. Finland sees India as a market for its products and a favorable investment destination for its high technology industries. India views Finland as an important member of the EU and a repository of modern technology. Finland, beyond doubts, is one of the most desired places to dwell in. Finland has undoubtedly reached the stage of par excellence and is unquestionably worth enough to be known as “THE GENTLEMAN COUNTRY”!!
“My soul could find no staircase to Heaven, so it brought me to finland.” - Ramika Chakaiyar
23
Why People Think Artificial The thing that estimates your Uber Price! - Jasprit Dhall
Before we even jump into what the topic answers, to clear the air out there, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are not synonymous. All in and out, Machine learning is a part of Artificial intelligence, a way to achieve it. As simply put by Professor and Former Chair of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University, Tom M. Mitchell: “Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience.” Whereas the term “artificial intelligence” is exceptionally wide in scope. According to Andrew Moore, Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, “Artificial intelligence is the science and engineering of making computers behave in ways that, until recently, we thought required human intelligence.” AI also includes a considerable measure of technology advances that we know. Machine learning is only one of them. Back to the topic, why is Artificial Intelligence the talk of the world? According to a highly acclaimed Technology magazine, which was once just a mere new addition to the technological era has now begun to rule the industries in every AI gets the most out of data. hook and nook sector, And, It's growing faster When algorithms are self-learnthan the GDP rates. Well,
ing, the data itself can become intellectual property. The answers are in the data; you just have to apply AI to get them out.
•There have been over 154,000 AI patents filed worldwide since 2010 •The survey from IFI Claims Patent Services shows a strong uptick in the patent category covering AI, machine learning and neural networks. •Between 2013 and 2018, the category grew by 34% annually.
24 | CAMPUS INK
Q evident f above data the importan Why do we fastest g techno advanceme first p
AI achieves incredible For example, your interactions with Alexa, Google Search, and Google Photos are all based on deep learning – and they keep getting more accurate the more we use them.
Intelligence is Important
AI automates repetitive learning and discovery through data. AI performs frequent, high-volume, computerized tasks reliably and without fatigue. For this type of automation, a human inquiry is still essential to set up the system and ask the right questions. AI adds intelligence to existing products. In most cases, AI will not be sold as an individual application. Rather,products you already use will be improved Quite with AI capabilities, much like Siri from the was added as a feature to a new generation of Apple products. its place in
AI
nce list, but, e need the growing ological ent in the place.
AI adapts through progressive learning algorithms to let the data do the programming. AI finds structure and regularities in data so that the algorithm acquires a skill: The algorithm becomes a classifier or a predictor. So, just as the algorithm can teach itself how to play chess, it can teach itself what product to recommend next online. AI analyzes more and deeper data using neural networks that have many hidden layers. You need lots of data to train deep learning models because they learn directly from the data. The more data you can feed them, the more accurate they become.
25
After having successfully questioned the existence of Artificial Intelligence, here are a few examples that we see every day but never knew the behind the scenes of AI: COGITO The behavioral version to improve the intelligence of customer support representatives, currently on the market. The company is a synthesis of machine learning and behavioral science to enhance customer collaboration for phone professionals. Cogito is applicable on millions of voice calls that take place on a daily basis. The AI solution analyzes the human voice and provides real-time guidance to enhance behavior.
NEST (GOOGLE) The Nest Learning Thermostat uses behavioral algorithms to save energy based on your behavior and schedule. It employs a very intelligent machine learning process that learns the temperature you like and programs itself in about a week. Moreover, it will automatically turn off to save energy, if nobody is at home. AMAZON ECHO The Nest Learning Thermostat uses behavioral algorithms to save energy based on your behavior and schedule. It employs a very intelligent machine learning process that learns the temperature you like and programs itself in about a week. Moreover, it will automatically turn off to save energy, if nobody is at home. VIDEO GAMES- PUBG, FORTNITE Latest video games allow the player to compete with and against artificial bots that judge every action of the player and plan its moves. 26 | CAMPUS INK
MEDIA STREAMING- NETFLIX It is a widely popular content-on-demand service that uses predictive technology to offer recommendations on the basis of consumers’ reaction, interests, choices, and behavior. The technology examines from a number of records to recommend movies based on your previous liking and reactions. SMARTPHONES- SIRI Siri is one of the most popular personal assistant offered by Apple in iPhone and iPad. She assists us to find information, get directions, send messages, make voice calls, open applications and add events to the calendar.Siri uses machine-learning technology in order to get smarter and capable-to-understand natural language questions and requests. Uber fare estimates The next time you book an Ola/Uber keep in mind that the fare estimates that the app gives you in its totality are based on machine learning technology which estimates the distance, demand, traffic and gives you a prediction of the cost.
CARS, DRONES- TESLA The car has features like self-driving, predictive capabilities, and absolute technological innovation.
27
- Harshvardhan Tiwari
28 | CAMPUS INK
29
FACE OF YOUR
CONSCIENCE If I were to ask you to shake hands with a stranger, but you blindfolded, would you? What would you actually see or rather feel? How the tenderness of the skin coating those nails makes that person soft to you or how firm of a grip made you think of that person as someone strong. Meet YOUR face, the face of conscience. Your possible face of conscience or how it’s supposed to be. Disclaimer: No Advice below just a few things we all notice about how people define themselves. Think of this world as naked, not humans without clothes but just a world with no boundaries or ideals or ethics to follow. This is the exact world you experienced for a split second when you were blindfolded. It’s when you can’t see how something is presented, you judge it the way you have experienced life. This CONFLICT within us of what is right and what is wrong is the conflict of CONSCIENCE. Morals are basically right-wrong questions we all have faced that should be answered by us but are answered by the others, peculiarly someone we look up to or someone we listen to. As homosapiens with a two-sided brain, we are born listeners. But the ability to listen is only complimented with a filtered thinking process. To clear the air out there, ‘judging people isn’t wrong’. Arguably, it is important to be more practical and realistic. It determines the ethics or morals we should set for that person. There definitely does not exist a right or wrong way to be conclusive about someone because we should affirmatively own what we think about someone. This pre defines those boundaries. Boundaries that you set in the either part of your subconscious mind. While in some cases ethics and morals are important, mainly, like those in politics, services, etc what is really being conveyed is that a person should themselves define their right or wrong considering empathy and self-respect in mind. What is right for someone, might be wrong for the other and this should be kept into consideration too while making a decision, obviously. 30 | CAMPUS INK
If empathy isn’t your cup of tea, try being diplomatically observant. You’ll be invisible in a way that will give you a wall to become diplomatic and un-diplomatic in the same case of conscience situation. Being observant not only is an escape room but also lets you mine deeper into where actually the right wrong of your mind exists, definitely making you more instinctive. Train your mind to take power, since every decision requires an approval from your conscience and every conscience formed is a calculatedly felt emotional and mental journey which empasses this moral as yours. People usually tend to escape from this journey but the one, who truly does hop on this way, finds the authentic morals and ethics that should be followed at an individual level. Therefore, individuality, therefore is defining your own morals in the world of pre accepted norms. Your conscience defined in your words, delivered in your words, accepted in your words, truly defines your FACE.
- Jasprit Dhall
31
ON O NC E U P O N A C O NF N FL I C T O RI R IU M Ahmedabad, the UNESCO heritage city that recently celebrated it's 609th birthday has a tremendous aesthetic allure attached to it. The city has effortlessly sewn the withstanding medieval buildings with its modern architectural marvels to create the metropolis it is today. It also has many national and internationally acclaimed places and one such beautifully intriguing museum situated at Gool Lodge amidst the bustling parts of Old Ahmedabad is CONFLICTORIUM. Discovering this place is like opening doors to a different world. As the name suggests it has adopted an artistic approach to explain the word CONFLICT .An idea of third space that exists beyond polarities and conflicts. This place easily is able to justify the fact that although there may be a difference in perspectives of the same idea but both can exist together providing equal justice to both the perspectives. It was started with an initiative to engage all the sections of the society with various conflictive issues and help them acknowledge the necessity of its existence and importance of its avoidance in artistic and creative ways. Situated in a shanty and shady area of old Ahmedabad, this museum is like a breath of fresh air to that area. The two storey building with numerous rooms has a long story to tell where each room speaks for it itself. The museum starts with the room of Conflict Timeline which portrays the histories of conflicts that doesn't include any personal experiences but serves as a perspective provider of the situations of that particular time. Moving on to the room of Theatre of Conscience, various captivating artworks are at display reflecting the power of compassion, cohesion and equal accommodation of every individual that has an importance to growth of the society that we seek. There is an interesting artwork which tries to
32 | CAMPUS INK
symbolize the idea of framing constitution of India being adopted from the harmony and oneness that exists amongst different animals of forest and the same is needed to be replicated in our society too. As B.R.Ambedkar had rightly said "Equality is an imaginary concept but we still need it for proper governance of society”. Rooms like Empathy Alley, Moral Compass and Memory Lab each of it have a strong message for the society to tackle the conflicts of various forms arising in an artistic and emphatic way. These rooms have also tried to pass on the idea of having restatements of morals and values required as per the requirements of present era modernity. A room of Inner Purity signifies the idea of sanitation and environment cleanliness which is as important as having a pure human soul. The rooms of Power of New and Conversation Quadrangle make you realize the importance of space beyond polarities like win and lose, positive and negative but just all about possibility of something new. The Conversation Quadrangle highlights the flow of a consistent dialogue process to avoid conflicts. This place also has gallery of disputes where various artworks and photographs put up by various artists to showcase the blooming talents and the flavours of artistic take on idea of conflicts and disputes. This museum even has a serenading place to offer named touch/be touched that's also referred as therapy space The best part of the museum is a Sorry Tree which signifies the power of apology and forgiveness and what profound effect it has on human beings. It also allows you to write an apology letter and hang it on the tree. The visit to this place has been truly overwhelming and the experience unmatched .There is much more to see than we what we perceive about the very idea of conflict and CONFLICTORIUM is certainly a place for widening the horizons of our perspectives.
- Bhavya Singh
“ S OME TIM ES, G OD DO E SN ’ T SE N D Y O U I N TO A B ATTLE TO WIN IT; H E SE N DS Y O U TO E N D I T . ”
33
- Dhruv Solanki
34 | CAMPUS INK
Take a Twist with Toastmasters The Tale of an Impeccable Idea
20th Century in its entirety has gifted mankind with unprecedented ideas & incidents; ideas that left many legacies. The advent of computers & internet stands to be one of them. This novelty has not only transformed and shaped the course of history, but has also helped humans connect with each other. The pace of this transformation has been dramatic and drastic. These advancements have carried us into a future where soft skills have become a determining factor in an individual’s life. One such idea which now in retrospect appears way ahead of its time laid its roots in the mind of a young Ralph Smedley, an American guy, in his late twenties. The year is 1905; young Ralph working as director of education at Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) realises a need for the men in the community to learn how to speak, conduct meetings, plan programs and work on committees, and he wanted to help them. This realisation & identification of the existing gaps gave birth to (paved way for) an idea, an Idea which would later be materialised and known to the world as Toastmasters International. As for Smedley, it wasn't just about ideas rather it was about making ideas happen and this article tries to grasp the breadth of the wave of what came after 1905. The journey started with a simple vision to promote communication and leadership skills in people through clubs and that journey was given the name “Toastmasters”. In the year 1905 in the state of Illinois, the club started informally and more people started showing interest in the activities it conducted but, time was yet to play the conspiracies of his own. As Smedley was offered a position at YMCA California he shifted for work and the nascent club could not survive due to lack of proper leadership. Time was testing, but a final nail in the coffins of hardship was yet to be struck. The club in Illinois did not survive, but the idea in the mind of Smedley survived. It survived unflinchingly through decades. It resurrected in 1924 in California by defeating the “Shakuni” that is time and that idea today is known by the name of Toastmasters International (TI). Wondering what it is. It’s time to tell you what it is all about. Let’s dive in... And the Dive starts on 17th Feb 2019, in Shivalik Plaza, IIM-A road, Ahmadabad its meeting number 59th of Heritage City Toastmasters Club. Wondering why? It’s because probably the best way to understand TI is to know what goes on in a meeting, its various components, roles of people and what it has to offer, it will only be then that an individual will be able to arrive at an appreciable conclusion. Let’s begin! The clock struck 4:00 and thus began a meeting which will last for 2 hours on a Saturday evening. The theme is introduced by Toastmaster of the Day: "Why we love Toastmasters” and the session began. The whole session is run in a very organised & pre-planned professional manner i.e. all the Toastmasters' meetings run
35
on a specific format. The format comprises of certain role plays & tasks by the attendees. Each role player has a specific responsibility to carry. Session #59 started with prepared speeches on topics like, “Embrace Your Profession” reflecting the message of dignity of labour, “1, 2, 3, 4 ... Jump” which if summarised conveys the iconic message "Dar he aage jeet hai" in an articulate manner. The idea behind this segment is to give people a chance to work upon their public speaking and communication skills by speaking on a topic of their choice. The session then moves onto Table Topics which is the impromptu segment and completely voluntarily ... those who participate have to give an extempore on the given topic. In session 59 participants had to pick up a chit in which were mentioned the names of various novels and then had to speak on, “What would have been the novel upon had you chose to write that” the segment always turns out to be humorous. The purpose is to push people to think creatively and spontaneously, to keep them on their toes. Finally, the segment comes wherein the previous activities are reviewed and suggestions are given for improvement and that can be understood by knowing the various role plays. They are: Toastmaster of the day: The Toastmaster runs the show. He picks the theme of the meeting in advance and has several opportunities to speak on it throughout. General Evaluator: The General Evaluator leads the evaluation team, introducing them at the beginning of each meeting and calling on them for reports at the end. She wraps up by giving her general thoughts on the meeting, noting anything remarkable and offering any suggestions to improve future meetings. Table Topic Master: It’s always fun to be the Table Topics Master. When in this role, you get to stand at the lectern and pick people from the audience to give short, impromptu speeches. You’ll usually have a list of questions/topics prepared in advance. Timer: keeps track of how long everyone speaks for and works the light signal so speakers know when to finish. Grammarian – notes interesting and inappropriate uses of grammar. Ah, Counter – keeps track of any filler words (ah, um, you know, etc.) used by the speakers. Speech Evaluators: Each speaker has an evaluator. An evaluator will stand up for 2-3 minutes near the end of the meeting and deliver feedback on the speaker she was assigned to. There are many different styles of evaluation, but the goal is always the same: help the speaker improve. An evaluator will often say what she liked about the speech, and then suggest some areas for improvement. When all is said and done, then comes the time for every single person to give his/her suggestions and reviews for everything be it speakers or any role-player and the suggestions remain anonymous. This makes a
36 | CAMPUS INK
healthy practice for improvement and one gets to be in a crowd who asks for help and who is willing to help in any matter at any point in time. Finally, voting is done for best speech, best table topic and best role player; the winners are given are congratulated and given certificates, the session comes to an end with taking a group photo and everyone departs greeting with a smile! The question still remains, is it all just about a meeting? Or about giving speeches, communication, leadership or public speaking or constructive criticism? No! The toastmaster story is a story about change, a change in accordance with time that how an organisation has transformed its methods with time to contribute something useful & relevant (and that’s a message to take home.) In hindsight isn't Change the basic philosophy of Communication & Leadership, change so as to stay relevant and ahead of the times?! The question is, could just an article make you appreciate everything there is? Probably Not! Perhaps you would if you take a twist with toastmasters today?
- Jaikishan Laljani
37
High Tech Himanshu: THE SANGUINE SARPANCH Teenage! It is in this bracket of age that one gets an ample opportunity to Explore, Enrich & Evolve or in simpler terms the chance to grow and expand. Growth is not limited to oneself, in a broader view; growth can be related to the growth of one’s surroundings, the growth in life around and beyond you. Teenage is arguably the optimal age for growth. 21st century bringing with it the dawn of new technology also brings the only constant thing in life i.e. change. With this idea, when efforts are put in the right directions, everything that happens, happens for good. Every day, every hour there is growth and change in this world, and the only people responsible behind this change majorly are teens! The maximum amount of people behind any change is the teen minds and their ideologies. So isn’t teenage the age responsible to bring a new age? Indeed With this thought, and idea, lies the story behind the holistic growth of a village. Story of the person behind it, the person responsible for its innovation &success. The young man who became the sarpanch and not only that, he aslo became the driving force of his village, driving the village towards the direction of success. Meet Himanshu Patel. Himanshu Patel was born and brought up in a village called Punsari in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. However, once he was done with his schooling, the family shifted to a nearby town for Himanshu to pursue his further education. The village where Himanshu lived was Punsari. One of the biggest villages of our country but, was void of electricity, water system and law & order seemingly were almost out of control. There would be at least one police case every month due to feuds in the village. By the time Himanshu completed his graduation, the situation only worsened. Many families had migrated from the village, the village Panchayat was carrying a loss of Rs 1.2 lakh, and there were 328 families below poverty line living there. But the story gets a twist at this point. Himanshu wanted a change, a change in his situation, a change in their situation, but he was a powerless guy, and nobody was ready to listen to a powerless young guy, merely 22 years of age. And the only way to convince the villagers to at least listen to him was only and only by getting some powerful position and that became his motivation. After finishing his graduation, he contested in the Gram Panchayat elections of Punsari in 2006 and became the youngest Sarpanch of Punsari at the age of 22. But the journey had just begun and the way from here wasn’t easy at all!! Even after being in power he had to deal with a lot of problems. There were 23 different communities in the village and all adamant to change particularly Himanshu’s idea of change. The Panchayat had no funds at all. Rather, it had a debt of Rs 1.2 Lakh, and there were influential people always ready to oppose the new Sarpanch. “I needed a team to work. I couldn’t have done it alone. But the Panchayat had no funds to
38 | CAMPUS INK
recruit even a single member. Hence I made a 60-member team from already appointed Govt. employees in the village like teachers, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and the staff at the health care centre etc. I asked them to progress step-by-step in their own fields.” -Says Himanshu But Himanshu was dedicated it seemed. The first step he took was wining their trust. He tried to understand the priorities of the villagers and what they wanted. In the first three years of his tenure, he took care of all the basic needs of the villagers. Himanshu started applying for schemes under the government and it was 2008, that his village had electricity, street lights, better roads and a decent water distribution system. In the following year of 2009, he installed speakers across the village with the sole purpose of communicating with the villagers. He would also give birthday wishes and condolences on someone’s death from this central announcement system. The next thing in his list was a decent waste management system. ” Our village is so clean that I challenge anyone coming to the village that if anyone finds even a single mosquito in the village, I will award them Rs 1 Lakh” - says Himanshu His works and his words both went in the same direction and everything that felt impossible was happening for real. Not only providing solution to the basic problems, but Himanshu even made his village Wi-Fi enabled, wherein villagers get 30 Mbps of data at just Rs 50.CCTV surveillance is another facility in the village. And the village after 2008 is 100% vaccinated, even resulting in absolutely zero MMR (mother mortality rate) AND IMR (infant mortality rate). A Wi-Fi enabled village with all basic necessities and a fully equipped waste management systems, with almost zero MMR and IMR, in not more than 10 years. Himanshu is truly a symbol of the youth hold, a metaphorical spider-man who justified the iconic phrase of, “ With great responsibility comes great power” and sets a milestone that youth indeed can bring the winds of change, an inspiration to take home with !!
- Srishti Jain
39
Campus Ink recently got an opportunity to interact with Vivek Tuteja. A 2004 batch IIM-Ahmedabad pass out, he is a serial entrepreneur known best for being the founder and CEO of Endeavor Careers Pvt. Ltd... He talks about the importance of competition, and that DNA doesn’t differentiate what one can achieve Q1.) Studying from one of the best colleges of Asia, you could have worked for big MnCs or been a professor in a college. What drove you to venture into entrepreneurship, in academics, and what sets endeavor apart?
DNA DOESN’T DIFFERENTIATE WHAT ONE CAN ACHIEVE. – A tête-à-tête with Vivek Tuteja
A: I always thought that you have a life and you should make it count, so entrepreneurship was a natural choice and after completing my MBA, I got into entrepreneurship. I also got placed in Times now, and worked there for a year in between through various activities got an understanding of the schooling system, existing gaps in it, individual growth and the confidence level of students and through Endeavour we wanted to contribute towards filling that gap and change the perception by cultivating a culture which works towards changing the aspiration, ambition and attitude of the young generation. Q2.) It often happens that success makes an individual complacent; exploring that aspect what is the motivating factor that keeps you going and doesn’t make you complacent?
- Jaikishan Laljani, Tanya Smriti & Jay Bhatt.
A: I don’t see success can make you complacent rather it is comfort that makes you complacent. In present times often the ambitions people have, start diminishing in 5- 6 years as comfort and not success was their primary drive. You have to be very clear and have to reset your graph continuously in the long run so that you don’t become comfortable.
Q3.) What was the idea behind venturing also into the food industry? Are there any similarities between academic and the food industry?
Q6.)What advice would you give to someone who wants to start-up and venture into entrepreneurship?
A: The idea is to envelope the youth with quality food, set-up healthy practice in the youth of the country to have at-least 3 meals in a day. Starting from restaurant business we have now evolved into a catering company, specializing to colleges. In many cases when you have aspirations and ambitions, you skip meals. The body allows it but in high pressure roles the discipline in the food habit goes for a toss. A clear similarity is quality and consistency will always be appreciated in both.
A: Entrepreneurship and Start-up are different things. One has to be clear about what he wants to do start-up or become an entrepreneur. When you say start-up you very clearly mean that you do not want to grow it up. You are only interested in starting it up and not really in where would it go. Entrepreneurship is committing to something. When you commit yourself to something you have to have vision and appetite to take it through the entire storm till it is stable, and successful. My advice for entrepreneurs will be, “understand all the macro models and the industry properly; understand the sustainability and the growth size before you enter”. It is very important to look not just at taking off but also look at the sustainability and scalability, and if that size is not that impressive or not worth it I think you should not pursue it. Don’t be in a hurry, get the right idea. What happens is people jump into entrepreneurship but they don’t have the right idea; so they are working on an outdated idea, on something extremely creative or maybe just copying something different and not even understanding the elements of it. The decision, idea and plan everything should be in sync, otherwise you would start struggling and things will get complicated.
Q4.) Today, competition exists in all spaces and fields; what according to you competition is and how is it significant in an individual’s life? A: It is very important to have good competitors as it keeps you on your toes. It helps and motivates you to improve and grow along the way. Complacency won’t be there plus professionally you know you are doing well when you get competition and learn many things just by looking at your competition. Q5.) What are some traits you have seen that successful students have which help them achieve their goals or things they should do to improve? A: Successful students are someone who have focus, fire in the belly and passion to do something, self-motivation. Your starting point is immaterial whether you come in a BMW or on a cycle it really doesn’t matter, what is important is your desire to achieve. Your whole value system is nothing but a brainwashing of people around you, that’s why books are important. When you read you are adding another element that will put you on a different set of brainwashing. Once the self-motivation is in place and so long you understand what you are fighting for, achieving your goals becomes easy. DNA doesn’t differentiate what one can achieve.
Q7.)Much is said and written about today’s education system a lot being negative; what according to you could be an ideal education system, how innovation can come into play and what policies could the government adopt to further improve it? 8 | CAMPUS INK A: The problem with the education system and the job market is multi-fold. Schooling has to be more practical. More things have to be done to create a thought process. The student has to learn to appreciate various things in the walks of life. A lot is changing too, specifically from the 41
parent’s point of view; today they are more appreciative when their kids are dancing, which was not the case 20 years back. Education has to be more practical, more decision making and more appreciative of various skills. Today a driver is earning more than an MBA but he doesn’t have the dignity of labour. Focus has to be on the skill and at least the appreciation of the skill. Graduation has to be more industry oriented and connected with the corporate. If colleges and corporates work together, half the problem will be solved. There should be another spectrum of colleges which should just focus on all the variety of potential; personal growth opportunities, skill opportunities, which a kid has option to pursue, which may or may not be career oriented. In post graduation there has to be more investment in infrastructure by the government. The need of the hour is to first create variety, add more specialized courses. The government needs to spend more for research too so that it can become affordable. You cannot have just one FMS in the country. Q8.) What advice would you give to an undergrad student so that s/he can adopt a wise approach to utilize the four years to grow personally and select a career choice for future? A: Everybody has a different starting platform. If a student is coming from a vernacular background his first step should be to work on his English. For the rest of the audience the 1st assumption is that they have chosen the field of their choice; in this case it makes more sense for them should be to develop love and affection for their field, learn as much as they can because that will be helpful in some way or other. Simultaneously increase the exposure level. Go back to books, reading business, magazines, and work in clubs and attend international conferences; Exposure should be the key from wide variety. Go to internships, start exploring and understanding various career choices. By 3rd year they should have clarity of where they want to go whether it’s technical, an MBA, or going
42 | CAMPUS INK
abroad. Civil services are also a good option but the objective behind pursuing it has to be very clear. If anybody is getting into it just to secure a job I think that’s a wrong idea. Continuous development and updating through various professional courses shall be the key for a good career. Q9.) Today a student is exposed to a wide variety of things; what can s/he do to balance the life in and out of college? A: I think a student should have a lot of fun at least in the 1st and 2nd year. Along with this he should also participate in extra-curricular activities, network, learn, and work on your personal space, hobbies, and sports. You should not take pressure in first two years. By 2 years you should be in a position to take the 2nd step decision i.e. choosing a career option. Whatever you choose you need to answer the question, “Why are you doing this? In third year get into leadership roles. Get more clarity on career, YouTube can be very resourceful in this. Dedicate 4th year on getting your college and preparations right. I don’t think the education system doesn’t allow time for personal growth. You get a vacation period of 3-4 months and still if someone says he doesn’t get time, it’s just an excuse. First two years you should just organise yourself to expose sync and learn everything around you. The next two years organise yourself. Learn on your own, expose yourself, be self aware. Q10.)What are some of the learning from your time at IIM-Ahmedabad which you still carry with yourself today and are helpful to you? A: Lots! One thing specifically I gained out of IIM-A was to respect people based on their merits and not just on their face value. Valuing people with substance has helped me a lot. Creating & managing teams, working on strategy and not being short-sighted. Learning to develop long term approach plus capability and ability to do continuous research come in the list.
Victorious BAJA R
ecently, Campus Ink was very generously welcomed by Team stallion to have a short tour of their world, where we got the opportunity to Interview one of the most intriguing members of the Team i.e. Sachin Pareek (the captain) and Dheeraj Ahuja. As everyone is aware that team Stallions had one more successful year at SAE BAJA INDIA- 2019 and we curious Inksmen were ready with our questions to get our insights.
Q. How much difference did joining SAE made in your engineering life?
Dheeraj: As we are always told, engineering is not something taught in class rooms there is a drastic change between the theoretical lectures and practical implementation. So , I am very proud to say that, I know what is engineering in it's true sense .Plus it was very beneficial to us during Company placement as our projects were usually quite ingenious . The bond between juniors and seniors , the conversations , the competition pressure , the late night work shifts and the winning pride ,which we were able to bring to our college These are Some experiences which can't be expressed in words , you simply need to be part of it.
Q. Tell us about your journey from first year? What drives you against all odds?
Captain: I started my journey as the member of go-kart, where a 4 wheeler car picks up the speed and touches the ground. This was the place where lots of learning and problem solving skills along with some great interaction with my seniors happened. The second year was my debut in E BAJA at the hills of NATRAX track. We were armed and ready to build and face the problems. I still remember that when we reached the event with our ATV and till the endurance test the car didn't start but Just before the endurance line , we all could see the left tyre of the ATV rotating with speed and touching the hearts of all the members. And all our hard work finally paid off as we stood 3rd in the event. Again next year, we bagged the 3rd prize but this time we had improved aesthetics and MK2 was ready, giving us 20 hrs of testing. But I am very proud to say that the last year of my engineering degree will always be the most memorable moment of my life. As this was the first time where we won the 1st prize for endurance and thus, came overall 1st in India.
Q. The event in Indore might have been nerve wrecking, right? Can you share some of your experiences?
Captain: Participating in BAJA 2019 at Indore was a unique experience for me. As the competition progresses the tension builds up. Every event leads up to the final race and the moment when we had the winning trophy with us, that feeling is unmatched. Participating in BAJA not only gives you a hands on experience at how a racing team works but also builds up your character as a person preparing you for the industry that we're going to be a part of later in our career. Dheeraj:: There were various ups and downs for all of us as team . As, E-BAJA car worked perfectly fine in comparison to M-BAJA during the day of competition. But nothing could de motivate us. In fact we are very confident that our car no 44 will definitely work wonders and soon both E- BAJA & M- BAJA will bring a trophy and pride for us next year.
43
Q. It would be difficult to manage such a large team. What binds you all together as a team despite those failures, pressure and hurdles? What are your strengths? Dheeraj - Just two words, understanding and empathy for each other as a team. The sense of respect which each one of us has for the team and for the team members is remarkable. One of the first attributes taught to us when we enter the team are gratitude to accept the fault and understanding for your fellow teammates irrespective of the age.
Q. When we talk about BAJA, whether it's E-BAJA (Electrically powered vehicles) or M-BAJA (engine powered) consist mostly people from EC, Mechanical, IC and EE. What about other departments? Dheeraj:: Well , Chemical engineer have a major role to play in M BAJA as there is a need to design catalytic converter, that convert the vehicle pollutants into innocuous by-product. There are a prizes called GO GREEN, specially designed for this purpose which we were able to come 2nd in 2017 and all it's credit goes to the chemical engineers in our team at that time. And IT , CS engineers are always in need in team ARROW as it is fully autonomous , has Image sensing and there is requirement for server establishment.
Q. Talking about achievements, what was the role played by the faculty advisor? Dheeraj: One of the incidents that I can never forget was the moment when our car no. 44 brake was not working at the competition and we all were very disappointed. At that moment the support and trust shown by the faculty advisor, always kept us motivated. The sudden ice-cream parties or the sudden small trips always kept the spry alive in us. In fact, in all these years not even once did we all have to fear about shortage of money. He always used to tell us to work to our best and not worry about anything else, as rest will be handled by him.
Q Of course, each and every team member has an essential role to play .But what role is played by the team captain in the race to endeavour? Dheeraj: Captain is like the director, which we have in movies. He makes sure that everyone works with their full competence. Understanding the basic need of the team; teaching the juniors, so that we can get the best of their knowledge ; keeping a balance between people of different streams and years; handling pressure ; maintaining the schedule , procurements and all kind of tough decisions are handled by the captain with utmost sincerity .
Q. There is a benchmark set and we are sure that team BAJA will make Nirma more proud in future , so, is there any message for the Aspiring BAJA members . Dheeraj: Field work is something which every engineer needs to face at some point or another. BAJA gives you an experience of it, whether that's team work or handling pressure; these learnings are always vital.
44 | CAMPUS INK
VQ. Is it true that Technical group like BAJA is only open for those with some beforehand core technical background? Dheeraj: No, Not at all. For instance, consider all the three captains who are Umar and Sachin and me, E-BAJA and M-BAJA and Arrow respectively; All three of us didn't have any knowledge beforehand we just had this urge to learn something new. So, it's a myth prevailing around that only those people with technical background can be a part of the team. Whereas the reality is anyone with strong desire to learn and reciprocate are always welcome.
Q. Talking about myth, there is another myth prevailing around that these kind of technical clubs are very hectic resulting in no time for leisure or for enjoying the college life. Is it true in any way? Dheeraj:: Of course, there is this fear among people which prevent them from entering technical group. But in reality even we have our own kind of memories. It's natural that no one can work continuously for 10 hours and obviously we understand the human body limitation. The memories and achievements made by us might be different but enduring.
Q. Coming to the end, what do you see as the future of E-BAJA and M-BAJA? Dheeraj: As of now all the competitions where we took part where national level competitions but our final aim would be a winning trophy at an international event. In fact, from this year we have participated in a new competition called 'Formula' and are very optimistic about it.
- Anmol Jain
45
EXPLORE. ENRICH. EVOLVE.