The Goal : 2Yrs 24x7 Ate, Slept and Achieved @ ANN Lab

It was a dark Saturday evening during the winter of 2002. Almost every Junta in the IIT, Madras are approaching the open air theatre (OAT), they are quite excited and appreciating the fact that recently released Brad Pitt movie reached their campus well before the anticipated delay. The electrical engineering department was literally deserted without a single human being except the two in the artificial neural network (ANN) lab.

Their immediate problem is to discover the entire pixels in the space to connect two imaginary coordinates. Quite a simple problem but few boundary conditions are failing. It dragged their patience beyond their limits and fuel to the fire, 30 more minutes for movie start. This task was not an important one for anyone else in this universe except those two deserted souls at that moment. I would call in one word “Passion”; both the guys are extremely passionate about what they were doing for the past 1 year. They are passionate because they believed; they are going to turn the attention of many and their beloved Dr.Chakra towards them. The algorithm they wrote is lengthy but robust and impressive too. The current issue may be the final task to get the visual feed back of audience. They want to complete it by that night but struck so deep inside the problem to skip their movie. They are aware; only one man can give a solution whom they want to impress their progress when the next week starts.

Out of frustration, Dutta the junior among the both proposed for a cup of coffee and Gary agreed for it. They started walking through the corridor, tossing the prepaid coupon towards the coffee vending machine which doest cost much to scratch their wallet. Do the poorly paid chaps had anything good ever in their wallet is a different story?

A beam of light caught those two night owls' attention leaking from Dr.Chakra’s office through the curtain. Not surprising but the fact Dr.Chakra is working in his office at that odd hour brought some cheers within themselves. Precisely, he was the light source for their 2 years 24x7 research on an algorithm resulted in at least 3 technical publication and an appreciatable revenue for the institute. They forgot the need for coffee and dropped themselves inside his office to get a 4 line fix in 2 minutes for their most challenging problem at that moment. That was also the incident later on to remember as the turning point of Gary’s love towards mathematics and algorithm development.

Those 4 lines of code is an explicit transcription of an illustrious mathematical formula. Dr. Chakra’s command over mathematics was known and proved once again. He has the ability to make his associates to visualize every mathematical equations in terms of geometrical figures or a real world event. Often he takes his associates for a cup of coffee and samosa to the nearby tea stall. Those moments are a great privilege for the young researchers who willing to dedicate days and nights for him. Out of all attributes, his simplicity and focus on the problem made him remembered and admired forever as a great teacher and guide.

Gary-The Cook : Intermediate Level

To my surprise, I started cooking few weeks back. It was plain Pasta initially and it matured to spiced one. One fine day, I purchased a bottle of olive oil and chopped vegetables from Tesco. I don't know at that time, the purchase of olive oil is going to be the major break through for my future food supply. The same night, I cooked instant noodle with deep fried vegetables. I derived this combination from the food I had in "The Royal China" near Canary Wharf in London.

My friend Stuart taught me how to make Pasta. Continuous experiments with different ingredients proved, the best taste can be achieved with hot Indian spices and fried green peas. Adding grated cheese also an option.

My rice making skills were not appreciating because of the bad rice i purchased. It was American Long Grain rice, guys never purchase it, if you are from east. After a painstaking search, I found ,Tilda Basmati and Ponni in the Cowley Pakistani store. Cooking basmati is quite easy, I never felt... I need a rice cooker. Boil the water in the kettle, pour it in the cooking pan and add the rice. 10 Minutes, Sexy rice with stunning odour is ready.

Now, I will call my self "Cook : Intermediate Level", who can make Aloo Gobi, Capsicum curry, Mixed Vegetable curry, Bombay Potato etc. Thanks to the Great cooks who taught me directly or indirectly. To mention few BB, Mom, Kannan, Patro, Srinu etc.

Today's dinner is Quiche, Bread and Butter. Planning to learn Rasam making... my long time dream.