Justifying Insanity

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Tot Ziens Eindhoven...Hoi Terneuzen

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The Last Column

A couple of weeks ago, I made a grave mistake - I inadvertently acquired enough credits to graduate. Now my presence was no longer acceptable on campus and I had to face the bitter reality of the world outside.

As a result of this tactical blunder, I now find myself in a quaint fishing village located just on the edge of civilization. In Terneuzen (which is Dutch for "Practically Belgium!"), I'm now performing the duties of an intern. This is the first time I'm working at a chemical plant, which is quite exciting and different from campus life. Well, that is if you call working 50m away from gigantic tanks of potentially flammable chemicals exciting. In the first week itself I experienced an emergency alarm, a near-miss chemical spill and a surprise government inspection. I spent the rest of my week drinking coffee, wearing my helmet and hiding under my fireproof desk. So far, so good. If I manage to complete three months onsite, preferably without blowing anything up, I'll call it a success.

This internship also marks the end of my TU/e chapter. I'm not doing a PhD, unlike many of my friends who jumped at the chance to spend four more carefree years on campus. No, instead I've opted to venture out, knowing that if I set my aim high enough and work hard, I could end up working for a huge impersonal corporation run by robots. Just like all the other grown-ups.

So, this will be my last column for the Cursor. I've spent nearly two years in Eindhoven. And in these two years, I've met some amazing people and had some great times. I came to Netherlands pretty much blindfolded. In many ways, it was a leap of faith. But I'm glad I did it. Living on my own, in a foreign land among a diverse group of people was a challenge I enjoyed. Eindhoven and its experiences, on and off campus, have gone a long way in defining who I am today.

Mumbai is where I grew up, but Eindhoven is where I found myself. And that I shall never forget.

Labels: Cursor, Eindhoven, Terneuzen, TU/e

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Ten Things You Would Not Have Learnt If You Didn’t Attend Graduate School

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After spending nearly a year slavin…err... working on my graduation project, I learnt some important lessons and facts. And today I’m going to share this with you. So, I hereby present -

Huzaifa’s Ten Things You Would Not Have Learnt If You Didn’t Attend Graduate School.

The longer the title of a scientific paper, the lesser the relevance it will have to its actual content.
The more time you spend researching papers online, the higher is the probability you will end up surfing videos on YouTube.
The weather improves dramatically as the deadlines approach.
Your presentation should be ten minutes long. That way, the audience has five minutes to ask questions. And the first fifteen minutes can be spent cursing while trying to get the projector to work with the laptop.
Deadlines are great. Sometimes I like to smile and wave at them as they pass me by.
Engineering handbooks are extremely useful…as doorstops.
When your supervisor asks you to make a concise summary of your results, ‘42’ is not the right answer.
Also, “The voice in my head” is not an acceptable cross-reference.
You are also not allowed to sell your project supervisor on Ebay. Don’t try, because you won’t get a good price.
And finally…Murphy’s Law is probably the only undisputed law on the planet.

Labels: Cursor

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Dutch Sushi

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Long before it became hip and cool to be seen paying exorbitant prices to eat raw fish in tiny plates served by kimono clad waiters, the Dutch had already discovered the pleasures of uncooked seafood.

Hollandse nieuwe haring
Originally uploaded by aloxe

Integration
Originally uploaded by Tin Green

De nieuwe haring.
Originally uploaded by zilverbat

Last summer, armed with my trusty Dutch travel guide, I headed to the market to partake in this culinary tradition. I read the extract about Dutch herring as I made my way.

“Hollandse Nieuwe (harring) literally means Dutch New and can only be eaten from late May till mid July.“

So what exactly is this Hollandse Nieuwe? I read on…

“In 1380, Willem Beukelszoon van Biervliet invented the process of cleaning herring by removing the innards, except the pancreas. The pancreas contains a number of natural enzymes used to convert the food into fat, a ripening process regulated by salt. Willem is revered; children learn his name in school! “

Call me weird, but I'm a bit sceptical of cultures where chefs who specialise in raw food are revered. But hey, maybe that's just me.

Even in the crowded market, it was quite easy to spot the herring stall – Just follow the smell of Dutch sushi and look for men and women with mouths agape and face skywards. Because that’s the best way to eat raw seafood – hold the tail between your fingers and lower the whole fish down your throat. Two swallows, a few lip smacks and it's all over.

“The herrings are silvery outside and pink inside when fresh, but should not be bought if they look grey and oily. Be careful - if it's not fresh, it will taste rancid.“

Rancid? What rancid? As I stood there, in front of an open air cart, looking at the rows of raw fish being sliced and gutted, the word rancid never entered my mind.

And as a helpful motivation, so you don’t chicken out at the last minute, the guide adds - “Do not fear - Hollandse Nieuwe is not technically raw but the result of a particular ripening process.“

Somehow, the words ‘not technically raw’ did not inspire confidence in me. But I mustered up courage to order a plate. As I stood there, surrounded by the lip smacking Dutch, I placed my fingers on the fish tail and turned my face skywards.

Fingers poised, I opened my mouth, closed my eyes and lowered the dangling fish…

Labels: Cursor, Dutch, Food

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Friday, May 09, 2008

Queen's Day

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Last Wednesday was Koninginnedag, also known as Queen's Day, in Netherlands. Not to be confused though. Unlike what the name suggests, this is not when grown men put on dresses and make themselves look pretty. That’s known as Carnival.

No, this was the holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. And the whole country celebrates with one big street party. You can’t miss it unless you were deaf and colour blind. Deaf, because literally every spare corner in the city centre is turned into a makeshift stage with a DJ pumping out the popular Dutch club music which goes like 'boom, boom, boom'. And colour blind, because everyone wears Orange, the national colour. Step into any city centre and all you see is a swarm of undulating orange clothes, with a faint hint that there are people underneath those clothes.

Originally uploaded by PeterPaul020

Unfortunately, I didn't possess any orange clothing and decided to fill this gap in my wardrobe this year. Which should have been quite easy, considering that Queen's day is also the day the entire country turns into one big Flea market. People sell their old belongings (read: trash and junk) in roadside stalls. But the only orange clothing I could find was hats, bright orange wigs and long feathers that would make me look like an exotic stripper.

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Originally uploaded by PharPhoto

I walked around and continued searching. I had nearly given up hope, when I finally saw a man hawking orange shirts. He offered to sell me a shirt for 10 euros. So, I did what any other Dutch person would have done. I started haggling and made him a fair counter-offer of 50 cents.

After some hard negotiating, pretending to walk away, pleading bankruptcy, emptying pockets and looks of pity, I finally got the price down to 4 euros and 75 cents. Oh yeah! For that brief moment, I felt so Dutch. And now I had my orange shirt to look the part as well.

Labels: Cursor, Dutch

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

Train-ing Around

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When I'm travelling in Netherlands, I like to go by train. And I often find myself comparing the experience with that in my home country.

Leaving Eindhoven (again)
Originally uploaded by Reelsco

I still remember the first time I travelled by train in Netherlands. I had just landed at Schipol airport from India. I took my bag, bought a ticket to Eindhoven and walked down to the metro.

Now, picture this. This was my first time in Europe; I was fresh from India, having lived all my life in one of the most crowded cities in the world, walking into a station during peak hour, to find just two people on the entire platform.

It was unnerving to say the least. In my hometown you would normally find hundreds of people using the station at any given time. The running joke is that Indian Railway brings people together – literally, by cramming them all in one train. Travelling in Dutch trains was a luxurious albeit surreal experience for me.

Not anymore though. After two years, I'm getting quite used to this kind of travel. Now, I'm worried as to how I'll adapt myself to travel in Indian trains. It's going to be a 'reverse culture shock' when I return home.

On a side note, there is one thing that bothers me whenever I travel in trains. Every time I travel I end up having to listen to someone else's phone conversation. It's almost a given certainty that the minute you sit, get comfortable and the train starts, you will hear the standard Latino/R&B/Hip Hop ringtone. And the rest of the journey will be spent then listening to one end of the conversation. It doesn't matter how far that person is sitting from you – the sound travels clearly along the compartment. If you understand Dutch, then it might be an interesting conversation to follow. But my level of Dutch is non-existent. So I'm forced to spend the travel time with the noise in the background, contemplating issues like why in god's name does that person have an Elton John ringtone? In public? What kind of bet did he loose?

It's a minor irritant, but it's happened with me every single time I travel. I'm beginning to think that alongwith the ticket, a cell phone is a prerequisite to travel in trains here.

Labels: Cursor, Travelling

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Friday, April 04, 2008

The BEST week in Paris

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I spent the second week of March taking part in a course organized by the Local BEST Group in Supelec Paris. Around fifty students from various engineering colleges across Europe gathered in Paris to spend around ten days attending lectures, workshops, company visits and various other activities.

For me, as the only non-European, it was a great experience in terms of the cross sectional cultural view that I got to witness. I learnt so many interesting tidbits about the different European countries and their people.

The French do eat the long baguettes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well atleast the students we stayed with did. And French students love to sing during parties while getting drunk. And their songs sound really cool in French. As long as you don't know what they mean. Then it just becomes embarrassing. You can spot Italians by a mile with the way they talk with their hands. And they are probably the only ones in the city wearing sunglasses on the cloudy, overcast Parisian days. The Romanians hate it when you pester them to sing 'Numa Numa'. However after persistent badgering, they eventually give in and sing the song with you. They don't like it, but they have simply accepted the fact that they have to live with this song as a symbol of their identity. And they don't like that at all. Another important thing I learnt - never come between a Hungarian and their paprika. Also, after having been asked a million times already, they don’t find the joke "Are you Hungary?" funny anymore. I, on the other hand, found it hilarious every time.

Seriously though, these kinds of events are really great because you get to meet a lot of different people from diverse backgrounds and it broadens your understanding about the world and its people. Especially if you are a foreign student, I would highly recommend taking part in such courses. It gives you a good taste of student life in this part of the world. And you can find out for yourself if all those stereotypes one reads about are true or not.

Bonus: Here's a video of me learning Italian sign language :-)

Labels: Cursor

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Friday, March 28, 2008

IcTheek

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The IcTheek is one of those important, yet underappreciated places on the campus. Sure, the Vertigo has its atrium, the Helix has its glass facade and the Pavillion has the labyrinth passages. But the IcTheek, in all its simplicity, is the cultural melting pot of the campus.

It was one of the first places I visited on campus. Since then I've spent many caffeine fuelled spells in this place, solving problems, writing reports, or simply bouncing ideas around my head.

And if you spend enough time there, you start observing the people around you. Slowly and surely you can identify certain types based on their behaviour. You see the Erasmus exchange students with their webcams and mic, chatting with their boyfriends / girlfriends back home. You see the Asian students, engrossed in their assignments, deftly manoeuvring their mouse in a manner that only years of playing Warcraft could perfect. You see a bunch of students quietly reading their lecture notes and you know they are Dutch, because they pack up and leave the minute the clock strikes thirty minutes past five.

And then there are the regulars. Like a famous club, the IcTheek also has its own tribe, its cult following. We are the regulars and we come from all over the world. We are the people who one fine day innocently stepped in just to check our email, and then never left. Super fast internet and the coffee machine had us hooked. You see us at all hours, day after day, occupying our favourite seats. That strange green thing at the back pretending to be an art sculpture is our mascot and contains our secret stash of Red Bull.

The IcTheek is where all our actual work gets done – torrents that need to be downloaded, YouTube videos that need to be watched, and messenger buddies that need to be chatted with. Sometimes to take a break, we write our reports and solve assignments as well. On rare occasions, we even step out into the outside world.

So, join me and my fellow brethren of the IcTheek club (you know who you are) in acknowledging our favourite place on campus, our home away from home. Long live the IcTheek !

Labels: Career, TU/e

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Bedrijvendag And Me

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It was the Bedrijvendag (Career Fair) last Tuesday. Another year and another career fair comes and goes. I guess at some point in time, I'll have to accept the fact that my life as a student will come to an end. Even though I am still in denial, I did go the fair to take a look at possible future employers. Also, I was in desperate need of new pens.

Image from: TU/e Cursor

There are three main types of students you see at these career fairs. The first come there in extreme seriousness and dressed to kill. Armed with their CV, a smoking three piece suit and well rehearsed opening lines, they accost any HR person willing to listen about their extraordinary qualities. They seem pretty disappointed at the end of it though, when instead of being offered the six figure contract, they are told to apply online via the website.

Then you have the obsessive compulsive information hunters. Easy to spot since they are lugging with them huge amounts of printed matter assiduously collected from each stall – contact information, company newsletter, annual reports from 1985, personal diary of the company CEO, used tea cup of the HR manager for DNA testing etc. Anything they can get their hands on that might reveal that crucial piece of information that will propel them to a sky high career path. Often overheard shrieking: "You have only 30 pages of information to offer me? I need more. MORE!! "

And then there is the third kind. This group has arrived with the sole purpose of picking up as many freebies as possible. From candy to pens to water bottles, paper clips, mugs, posters, and even those cute HR girls (if they stand still long enough). Anything they can get their hands on is fair game. If you look around carefully, you can see them gathering in the shadows, exchanging vital tips, like which company has better pens and whose mints taste sweeter.

Well, it was better than spending lunchtime in the canteen. At least now I've enough pens to last another year.

Labels: Career, Cursor

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Carnival Craze

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Carnival Maastricht 2007
Originally uploaded by butch499100

Maastricht Carnival
Originally uploaded by Peter30

Carnival Maastricht 2007
Originally uploaded by butch499100

The Carnaval came and went last week, and unless you spent it locked in your room, you couldn’t have missed it. The city and the centre was teeming with hundreds of people in crazy costumes and colours. Living in Eindhoven it’s impossible not to get caught up in the carnival spirit. And if you would ask around what the big deal was, they would look at you like you are an ignorant foreigner, or worse, someone from ‘above the river’.

I went to see the parade in Eindhoven. What struck me the most was the amount of effort people put into celebrating this festival. Organising the parade, building floats and designing unique costumes to make the occasion special. I like the enthusiasm with which events are celebrated in this country. You have to be really motivated to put on a bright green skirt in near freezing temperatures. Or be really drunk. But I like to think it’s the former.

I used to think that the carnival was just an excuse for people to drink themselves silly. But now I’ve come to realise it’s a lot more than that. It’s a cultural symbol and source of pride for the people who celebrate it. It serves as a communal marker that people can identify themselves with and in doing so, acts as a social adhesive to bring people together. That is in essence, what it means to celebrate the Carnival.

And the best part about costumed festivals – everyone looks as crazy as the next one. So atleast for those couple of days everyone is equal, irrespective of race, colour or creed. And it’s in moments like these, when people wear bright fluorescent costumes and come together to celebrate that you realise who we human beings really are - drunk, bad dancers with terrible dress sense.

Labels: Carnival, Cursor

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Ik Ben Spreek-ing Prima

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Overheard in the IcTheek:

“Hi dude, hoe gaat het with you?”

“Huh, what did you say?”

“I asked how are you in Dutch. I have my Dutch exam tomorrow, so I’m practicing.”

“Oh, I see…so, how’s it going, is it easy to learn?”

“It is an easy-lijk taal. I found it tough initially, but then I discovered some tricks and with those, it became real easy to talk Dutch”

“Yeah, like what tricks?”

“Well for instance, unlike English where ‘the’ can be used for everything, in Dutch its either ‘de’ or ‘het’ depending on the noun. But there’s no rule saying when to use what. So, I just use ‘de’ most of the time and every now and then throw a ‘het’ in to mix it up a bit and break the monotony. I try to keep a ratio of 5 de’s to 1 het.

“Well, for a foreigner, I guess it’s okay if you…”

“Yeah and then I also discovered the multipurpose ‘Ja’. ‘Ja’ can mean yes and also yes but, maybe, I hope so, we shall see, yes but only if, no, really? , you’ve got to be kidding, etc. It all depends on the tone of the ‘Ja’ and the length of your ‘aaaa’. So if someone asks you a question in Dutch, there is an 80% chance that simply ‘Ja’ will be a sufficient answer.”

“And then run before he asks you to elaborate…”

“Natural-lijk. Also, learn certain Dutch words like ‘met’, ‘het’ and ‘ik’. Infact, forget the rest, just start all your sentences with ‘ik’.”

“I’m not sure that’s the correct way to…”

“And the most important trick - to indicate things done in the past simply prefix 'ge' with the action. For eg: Ik have my work gefinished. It's simple, isn’t it?”

“Umm, that doesn’t sound right…”

“Hey, ik ben spreek-ing prima, trust me.”

“Well, if you say so. Veel succes met jouw examen.”

“Thank you wel.”

Labels: Cursor, Dutch

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