Thursday, June 2, 2016

Summing Up

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...I then peeped into SDM’s room. And I found a burly man sitting with his feet up and staring at the clean blackboard in front of him, unaware of my entry. After a couple of minutes I gently coughed and he came out of his trance and looked at me. He asked if I was the one who was sent by HNB. I said ‘yes’. He offered me a chair. He then asked me what my ‘achievements’ were. (This seemed to be a routine opening gambit those days)...

http://gpsastry.blogspot.in/2009/10/sdm-qualifiers.html


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About 3 decades ago my B-i-L Sri G. Ranga Rao, IAS, was sent on deputation to London for a 9-month refresher course. Upon his return I asked him how it went. And he thought for a moment and said:

"Not good. I rate myself 35% although I emerged with the routine Diploma"

At the eleventh hour of my 'productive life' I often wonder how I would respond to such a question about it honestly. 

I would rate my life slightly better as a '2-star affair'...a D grade in the IIT KGP parlance. Just about escaped from a P grade which is worse than an F grade...on a scale of relative grading in which SDM gets 5 stars...Ex grade.

The reasons are as follows:

1. One of the papers I wrote at IIT KGP that Ediwn Taylor named the 'Flickering Bulb Paradox' got this rating recently:


150. comments=This scenario depicts the famous Flickering bulb paradox by G.P.Sastry.


https://github.com/nathaniel/spacetime/blob/master/scenarios/flickering%20bulb%20paradox.sce#L150


2. A Lecture Notes I wrote with Prof RS Saraswat in 2000 AD is apparently still selling at IIT KGP. Thackers tells me more folks from outside IIT KGP buy it than inside. And he offered me 10 gift copies of the damn thing...after 16 years...maybe they are the unsold ones.

3. The School Library of little Ishani (Class 2) offered to buy my 5 Ishani booklets. The ma'am said that children at their school, Cornerstone, do read books in their library...I told her that Ishani booklets are not for sale but gifts.

4. When my wife died 4 years ago, IIT KGP was very happy that they don't have to pay her my 'family pension'. And was hoping I would also not survive a year at best. I proved them wrong and am going strong at 73 due to my loving son, daughter-in-law, and little Ishani. I want to keep trudging this vegetable life till I am a Hundred, and cheat IIT KGP of its revenues.





...Posted by Ishani

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2 comments:

santanu sengupta said...

you will sir live many more years and continue to enrich us, your grateful students

G P Sastry (gps1943@yahoo.com) said...

May God Bless You & Yours!...Santanu!