add post summer diaries in harvard and iiith

add table in new lhc post

Gemfile.lock

@@ -1,119 +1,242 @@
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 PLATFORMS
   ruby
@@ -122,4 +245,4 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   github-pages
 
 BUNDLED WITH
-   1.13.0.rc.1
+   2.1.4

_data/categories.yaml

@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@
       title: Guest Comentary
     - name: editorial
       title: Editorial
-- name: tech
-  title: Tech
+    - name: tech
+      title: Tech
+- name: filtercoffee
+  title: Filter Coffee
   subcategories:
 - name: career
   title: Career
@@ -53,3 +55,5 @@
       title: Summer 2018
     - name: summer2019
       title: Summer 2019
+    - name: summer2020
+      title: Summer 2020

_data/categories_name.yaml

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ almostfamous: Almost Famous
 phekingnews: Pheking News
 guestcomentary: Guest Comentary
 tech: Tech
+filtercoffee: Filter Coffee
 career: Career
 sac: SAC
 editorial: Editorial
@@ -19,4 +20,5 @@ summer2016: Summer 2016
 summer2017: Summer 2017
 summer2018: Summer 2018
 summer2019: Summer 2019
+summer2020: Summer 2020
 memoirs: Memoirs

_data/homepage_categories.yaml

@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ new_articles:
 - sac
 - career
 - cultural
+- filtercoffee

_posts/2018-06-06-architecture-at-iit-roorkee.md

@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ If pure, unadulterated architecture is what you are interested in, IITR is perha
 <br>
 In case you have any doubts regarding the course that you wish to get clarified, feel free to call any of the people listed below:
  
-**Komal Maheshwari (2nd year)**: +91 9330949212<br>
 **Divyang Purrkayastha (3rd year)**: +91 9560588732<br>
 **Ramachandra Reddy (4th year)**: +91 9557902784<br>
 **Lanka Adarsh (4th year)**: +91 9410577752<br>

_posts/2020-07-01-filter-coffee-rhea.md

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Filter coffee: Rhea Parekh"
+image: rhea.jpg
+tags: [wona, column]
+excerpt: "From IMG, GSoC, Quantum Computing, Microsoft Redmond - there's only so much we can keep count of, because Rhea Parekh, a name that doesn't need much introduction, has been there; done and dusted all of these."
+category: filtercoffee
+---
+
+*From IMG, GSoC, Quantum Computing, Microsoft Redmond - there's only so much we can keep count of, because Rhea Parekh, a name that doesn't need much introduction, has been there; done and dusted all of these. However, there's more to her apart from securing the highest package offered in the campus this year. For us, she’s still the goofy person, sitting with us enthusiastically in WONA meetings, laughing like a maniac at a silly Pheking news idea. Here’s an excerpt from our chat with our very own self-proclaimed connoisseur of bad jokes.*
+
+**Watch Out! -**  You were a part of 6 Campus Groups in your first year ranging from GG to WO, IMG-PAG to Drams. How did you manage it then? Also were you able to manage your grades along with these commitments?
+
+**Rhea -** After the arduous JEE years, I was driven to participate in as many extra-curricular activities as I could in my freshman year, which is the reason why I was so motivated to be a part of these groups. The thrill of being presented these many opportunities overshadowed how time consuming it would be and I had found a strange comfort in being busy. I was always on my toes, running from one meeting to the other, with multiple tasks on hand everyday. In fact, I ended up losing sleep on a lot of days and dozed off during my lectures, but I’ll attribute that to the normalcy of student life in our campus. I also owe it to the fact that a lot of these groups weren’t aren’t as demanding in the first year as they are later, that I was able manage my time well between these engagements. But by the end of my first year, I did realise how difficult it would be to sustain this, but I’ll always be indebted to every group I was a part of, for shaping my life in its own way.
+My first semester C.G. was 9.4 and I very narrowly missed out on a branch change in my first semester. In a funny contrast, I narrowly missed out on the academic probation in my second semester.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** This big list of achievements that you have, to get here and to have done all this, you must have had to cut down on other fun things. Do you think you missed out on things and if yes do you regret it?
+
+**Rhea -** I did have to cut down on a lot of things, especially in my second and third year. I was constantly working throughout these years, creating a huge imbalance between my work and social life. However, I don’t regret the decisions I took in this period as I was quite satisfied with my work and started to cherish the free time I had. With that, I hold the belief that these sacrifices were crucial in order for me to reach where I am right now and that it’s an important part of any university student’s life. Plus, I did make up for all the things I missed out on, in my final year, and hence looking back I am content with my choices.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** You were one of the first people to take Quantum Computing seriously. You even had a research paper done on it in your third year. What made you interested in it?
+  
+**Rhea -** I was introduced to Quantum Computing in my second year, when I stumbled upon a blog on Shor’s Algorithm - an algorithm to find the prime factors of an integer. The idea was really perplexing to me, which motivated me to further start reading the theory behind it. I was completely intrigued with this field and it’s potential to change the face of technology in the next few years. IBM was offering it’s quantum computer on the cloud for free which sparked my interest, and I used to play around with it initially, trying to implement different algorithms. Quantum Mechanics has been my favourite subject over the years and I found quantum computing to be the perfect blend of this subject with different fields in computer science.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** You have interned with Microsoft apart from cracking GSoC in your sophomore year and ICPC Regionals too. Despite all this, you went ahead to study Quantum Computing and a remote BTP abroad. Why?
+
+**Rhea -**  I started off with attempting competitive programming and learning software engineering, the way a lot of students do when they first join campus. Even though I had developed a strong liking to software development, I was keen to explore and experiment with other fields. A younger and naive pre-JEE version of myself always thought that I’ll pursue research in Physics and I felt like I owed it to her to try my hand in different physics oriented fields. When I came across quantum computing, it realised that it was the perfect fit for me and I really enjoyed working on different problems in this field. With that, since the beginning of my first year, I had romanticized the idea of going on a semester exchange or an intern abroad and just experiencing the culture and life there. I was lucky enough that Roorkee finally started permitting a remote BTP, when I was in my third year, and hence I jumped on this opportunity.
+
+**Watch Out! -**  Describe your stay in Europe for 6 months, like in 4-1 there’s pressure for placements et al, but you were away in Europe and secured the highest package in the campus at Microsoft Redmond. How did you manage it, or rather how did you prepare for placement tests?
+
+Rhea - My stay in Europe was as dreamy as it could have been. I thoroughly enjoyed my work with the team there and it exposed me to a lot of new opportunities, which acted as a launchpad for my research career. With that, it was thrilling to immerse myself in a different culture altogether, meeting people from all across Europe, travelling to and exploring different cities, attending concerts of my favourite artists. This experience made me grow and changed my perspective in a way I would have never imagined. 
+ I didn’t face any pressure for placements as I already had a PPO from Microsoft India as a back-up and my main goal then was to apply to different universities for graduate studies. The turn of events was extremely surprising, as being away from the campus, I wasn’t expecting to get an opportunity to interview for this position at Redmond in the first place, until I found out that a call was scheduled online.  I only had about one-two week’s time to prepare for this interview which I used to brush up on different topics, however, I mostly relied on my past experiences for this the call.
+
+**Watch Out! -** Apart from this Machau Rhea, you were very well known for being the demi-God of bad jokes in IMG and your commercial trips-half selfies are well known too. Tell us something about this side of Rhea.
+
+**Rhea -** I wittingly tried to build this reputation. To benchmark the intensity of my bad jokes, my go-to would be this anti-joke: I’ll say “Ask me if I am a car?”. When they would ask me, I’d reply with a simple “no”. This is probably as cringeworthy now as it was before, but I enjoyed being the cause of it. With that, I always enjoyed partaking in occasional roasts of my friends. I also have this tendency to cause uncomfortable and awkward scenarios just for the thrill of it, and yes, Michael Scott is my ultimate role model.
+
+**Watch Out! -** You've been in so many groups,you must know all the hard work that goes in the functioning of one . So, If you could, given you had the time and the resources, what group would you have wanted to start?
+
+**Rhea -** We did plan on starting a discussion group for Quantum computing with ACM IIT Roorkee. We took a lecture at the beginning of the semester and were supposed to continue these lectures as well as conduct workshops after the mid-semester break. We intended to lay down a foundation for this group, which was then going to be carried forward by our juniors. Sadly, all of these plans were thwarted by the Covid situation. However, seeing an increasing number of people showing interest in this field from our campus, I do hope the campus will see this group in the next few years.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** How has being a part of WatchOut been so far?
+     
+**Rhea -** WatchOut has always been my escape on the campus, a break from my hectic schedule. Every week I’d look forward to those two hours where we’d discuss our thoughts ranging from serious issues to rambles about some conspiracy theory that dogs are forming a secret cult in the campus. To put it in words, the time I spent with this group felt like a blissful scroll on reddit. WatchOut has aided me in overcoming my lifelong fear of speaking my mind in front of a huge group. Finally, I met some of the best people I know (hint: you guys) through this group, and for that I’ll always be thankful. 
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** What is it about Roorkee(campus) that you like the most?
+
+**Rhea -** It’s most definitely the people I met here, which makes Roorkee complete. A senior once told me “Once you graduate, when you come back to the campus after a few years, you don’t feel it's the same because you barely recognise the faces as you walk by”. It’s the people who were always involved in some shenanigans with you, who you hung out with till sunrise, who taught you more things than any professor in the campus, who lent you a shoulder to cry on or who beat you up on your birthday which make this taxing student life on the campus seem joyous and almost exhilarating.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** How do you like the concept of Chaapos?
+
+**Rhea -** Suffice it to say I did not have to spend any money on food in my first year. Being a part of multiple groups had its own perks in a way. To be frank, I have received way more chapos than I have given. This concept is utterly brilliant until you reach your final year and realise you have no one left to coax into giving a chapo. Jokes apart, this is one of the best traditions of Roorkee that’ll stay life long with a person - it a platform for people to avail their bragging rights and share/get some gyaan, a reason to dance your stress away, celebrate achievements or maybe just a deceptive method of flirting with someone.
+
+
+
+>|  Wona or IMG?                          |    IMG                 |
+>| Your chapo toll?                       |    Can’t keep count :P |
+>| Lowest grade point you've ever got?    |    6                   |
+>| Fav eatery in Roorkee?                 |    Rustic, Hands down  |
+>| SB Or KB?                              |    KB                  |

_posts/2020-07-18-igem.md

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Heart To Heart with iGEM Chapter- IIT Roorkee"
+tags: [wona, column]
+category: verbatim
+image: igem1.png
+excerpt: "iGEM is the largest worldwide synthetic-biology based competition, conducted every year at Boston, USA."
+---
+
+
+*iGEM is the largest worldwide synthetic-biology based competition, conducted every year at Boston, USA. iGEM developed out of student projects conducted during MIT's Independent Activities Period, and  has continued to grow with 310 teams (and 5400 members) entering the competition in 2017. 
+With a large number of teams participating in this competition from over 40 countries across the world, and with numerous teams from India like IISER Bhopal and IIT Kanpur participating as well, IIT Roorkee decided to unfold its own iGem chapter this year. Despite the odds faced as a consequence of the unfortunate COVID-19 crisis, the iGEM Roorkee team, with a versatile bunch of highly energetic and enthusiastic minds, aim to achieve some really big laurels this year, and have been pushing hard for the same. 
+Watch Out! decided to interview the members of this team along with the brains behind IITR's iGEM chapter - Sanjeevani Marcha, to get to know more about the kind of challenges they faced, their vision for their journey and to find out more about the competition itself.*
+
+
+**WO**: Could you elaborate on what iGEM is all about? How is it unique from other competitions around the world?
+
+iGEM stands for International Genetically Engineered Machine and it is the largest undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition in the world. In the competition the teams engineer biological machineries like Bacteria, Yeast or Algae and use them to solve a local or global problem. In one full iGEM cycle (8-9 months) we start by identifying the problem, think of Synthetic Biology based solutions, conduct research and experiments and finally conceptualise the product to reach the main stakeholders and the market. iGEM is very popular in most of the Bioengineering schools across the world.
+
+
+**WO**: You mentioned the term ‘synthetic biology’, for the sake of the readers, could you expand on what ‘synthetic biology’ means?
+
+Synthetic biology is simply playing with the DNA and the genetic codes, eventually manipulating it to work according to our needs or deliver required products. For example; instead of using the roses for the production of rose scent, one can actually use a micro-organism, let’s say a yeast, and transfer the gene for the rose scent and make the yeast produce that scent. This will save the overuse of roses and roses won’t have to be cut for obtaining rose scent. Here, designer genetic circuits are made from various biobricks, each having some functionality, which are run in a cellular system that are usually bacteria. Every property that the natural world exhibits like, the scent of the rose, the color of the leaves, or the glowing of a jellyfish, it has a genetic code present in the fragments of its DNA. Through iGEM and other synthetic biology research these fragments are now standardised like the lego blocks. We arrange different Lego boxes to make a synthetic construct which is run inside a bacteria. To put simply, it is the amalgamation of engineering into biology, and hence, it is also known as Engineering Biology 2.0. 
+
+
+**WO**: How and where is the competition held? How are various teams pitted against each other?
+
+There is no such ranking system to judge different teams. There are 3 grand prizes for the best overall projects. Medals (with no limits), special awards and track prizes. After the registration process, the teams start working independently on their idea, build their product and then present their work in a 4 Day event called the Giant Jamboree, held somewhere near October-November at Boston, USA. Earlier it was hosted in MIT (that is where it began), now in the Hynes Convention Centre and after 12 years iGEM is shifting to Paris next year! The teams have presentation sessions and poster sessions there. This international competition witnesses a participation of over 350 teams, from around 40-50 countries. There is a special category for high school students as well. We can’t do an iGEM project just with the people who know biotechnology. We need people who are good with computers, machine learning, effective communication, public relations, social science research, business mindset, designers, videographers, marketing and sponsorship. We conduct engagement workshops and seminars as a part of the project and talk to multiple stakeholders, create animations or maybe even make a comic! Then there are special awards where teams are acknowledged for a specific skill they fared well in. So if we have an amazing design & development team we can win a prize in that category. Or maybe if we couldn’t have sufficient experiments but work rigorously on the social front, we win a prize! 
+
+
+**WO**: IITR will be participating for the first time in this year’s iGEM tournament. Where do you place your chances of winning? What kind of expectations do you have from the competition?
+
+Yes, it’s our first time and full of fresh challenges. iGEM has 12 standard project tracks which are designed according to the problem a team is working on namely, therapeutics, diagnostics, environment, manufacturing, information technology, nutrition etc. The tracks clearly highlight that you can leverage any discipline of science or engineering and pair it with Biological systems. Our project is currently in the therapeutic and environment track and we have our eye on the Gold Medal. We are strategizing our team’s strength and will plan our way accordingly to maximize our chances of success.
+
+
+**WO**: Are the members of iGem Roorkee Chapter, all Biotechnology students? How does one get to become a member of the team? Also, do you plan to expand the team? 
+
+First of all, all members are not Biotechnology students. iGEM is centred around the field of synthetic biology but it is not restricted to it. In fact, anyone can join the team. It simply depends on how you want to apply your knowledge in your respective field and incorporate your skills into the competition.
+Secondly, yes, we are planning to expand the team. Majority of the people we have in our team are involved in research. We need people who can manage our public engagement. We also need volunteers who can handle social media or are really good with content writing. Whenever we design a model, it needs to be mathematically validated with an exhaustive mathematical proof. We do not have the aid of someone with a strong mathematical expertise at our department, so we are looking for people who can help us in this regard. This year the competition has a major focus on dry labs (computational models, software design, product development). We will need impressive team videos and presentations for one of the medal criteria.  So yeah, we are on a lookout for amazing videographers who can conceptualise and make it with us. Also, even if you can contribute to a small component of the project, all our work is documented and attributed to people who help us execute it. I believe that it is IIT Roorkee’s team - and if you have the time and capacity to enhance any part of the project, Roorkee’s chance to shine on the platform increases.
+
+**WO**: How does one go about selecting projects? Did you have a fixed list of projects to choose from?
+
+ No. We need to identify a problem in the community and solve it using biotechnology.  For instance, seeing the rising antimicrobial diseases, we are trying to create a therapy alternative to antibiotics. Starting with an idea is the biggest challenge. There can be two ways to approach it- focus on the research areas of our institute or professors and align along those lines  or observe the immediate problems around us and look for its biological solutions. We start with multiple ideas and eliminate them. We had done considerable work on an idea related to Ganga which was pursued vigorously by 2nd year students - Nitish, Pradum and Kushagra. It was an amazing idea with a high social impact, but further research revealed that it was complex and more expertise intensive, hence we had to drop it. Yeah, it’s heartbreaking. 
+
+
+**WO**: Sanjeevani Marcha, you are the brains behind the setting up of the iGEM Roorkee Chapter. Could you tell us what inspired you to go down this road?
+
+My personal interest and passion for biotechnology encouraged me to embark on this journey of establishing the iGEM community at IIT Roorkee. At Roorkee, in a batch of just 28 students with hardly 2% having any interest in the subject, it is difficult to sustain your interest in research. Also the conventional research projects aren’t as exciting and rather exhausting. At iGEM, I saw 4000+ undergraduates, my age and even high school students, working passionately and creatively with biotechnology. All of them coming together in a grand celebration to change the traditional ways of science and biology impressed me deeply. When I first saw this website, I was utterly surprised to see this amazing community of biologists and engineers! The website is super intuitive and you are bound to be attracted if you have slightest of passion for Biotechnology. As I read more about the competition, I realized that this is a very serious platform, a huge global community, and there are Indian teams participating as well. When I researched further, I found IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IISERs, IISc etc, participating in it and a simple question came to mind- Why not IIT Roorkee yet? Our institute has all the resources and the Biotechnology department is already blooming with innovations. I became firm on bracing all the challenges with only one goal - iGEM IIT Roorkee and a teethy group picture with the traditional iGEM logo at the Hynes Convention Centre - Boston. 
+
+
+**WO**: What kind of challenges did you face while setting up this chapter?
+
+Each and every kind possible! Starting anything new, and that too at IITR, is challenging and you face a ton of resistance. It is difficult to convince people to move out of the ‘set’ patterns, and take an initiative to pursue something different. First, I needed a team of like-minded people who could resonate with the grandeur of iGEM. Trust me, I didn’t get them till the very end. Many people liked the idea, but seeing the amount of uncertainty, difficulties and lack of direction lessened their trust and confidence. But on and off I always had people who were working with me on this. Not all were with me from the beginning, and not all stayed till the end. But I am grateful for everyone’s contribution because they helped in shaping it and most importantly kept me going on this path. Next it was difficult to convince the professors and draw their attention to our work - something that we really wanted to do, because we cannot do it without them. Good quality research and scientific aptitude is not very well developed in undergraduates. Hence Professors, PhDs and Lab managers are very significant components of iGEM Teams. It has been extremely difficult to convince a professor with the idea of iGEM and win their trust by a good idea that we can work on. Another big challenge was the financial aspect of the competition. It has a fancy registration fee plus the experiment costs and the logistics. The bottleneck was to get the money for registration, and going to the Jamboree. So all our efforts were directed in identifying the problem that we wanted to address and develop a solution that can convince our professors and the administration to invest in our team. I am really proud of Siddharth, a first year student who developed the idea from scratch, stood strong with me in this dream and sat together long hours writing the proposals and attending meetings with Professors. We literally went to more than 20 professors, TIDES, our HoD, the Dean, talking about iGEM & explaining our idea. Juggled team management, designing, content, research, networking, development and even online presence, finally making it through the funnel!
+
+
+**WO**: You have recently been officially recognised by our institute. What do you think is the next milestone in your journey?
+
+Currently we are an independent body, but our ultimate aim is to be a part of the STC as a Biotech based technical group. Our idea is to first participate in the competition, prove our caliber and then we can try to streamline the process of integration into STC. This will improve our visibility and allow easy access to a lot of resources. 
+
+
+**WO**: We heard that IITR’s team was groomed by former participants from IISER Bhopal this year. How has this collaborative experience been? How does IITR’s BioTechnology education/research differ from other IITs/IISERs?
+
+Teams are continuously encouraged to collaborate and have conjoined aspects in their projects, some shared work, and even have discussions on improving each other’s project. And the iGEM network is very helpful and so humble! When I reached out to the Indian circuit of iGEM Teams and asked for mentorship to start my own team, what factors to focus on, how to make a timeline and enhance communication, all of them were super helpful. We had discussions with ex-iGEMers and Team Leads and got amazing tips! We spoke to IISER Bhopal and simply asked the student team to mentor us and help us make it through our debut year. They were delighted to support us! The team is super energetic and always available to take our doubts and calls. We are planning to have some collaborative events with them as well. 
+
+
+**WO**: 2020 has been a unique year. Has it impacted iGem in any way?
+
+Due to covid a major change is shifting to a Virtual Giant Jamboree  (crying inside, no boston trip, MIT ke bahar photo, after parties and firangis, ohno). Also the committee has provided the teams with a lot of resources and tools to build our projects. We are given access to Benchling, snap gene, Twist Biosciences products along with numerous webinars, panel discussions, training sessions, virtual coffee hours, global slack channel and fun events to keep all the students connected and at the same time investing in cultivating new ways of working in biology without enzymes and pipettes. We are learning so much and thoroughly enjoying these gloomy uncertain days in isolation.
+
+
+**WO**: How do you see the future of iGEM IIT Roorkee Chapter?
+
+Personally, I wanted to establish this community on the campus that will speak of Biotechnology as “technology” and change the ways biotech undergraduates see their branch. Even if someone doesn’t want to pursue research, he/she can always participate in one iGEM season during their 4 years and it will be one of the most exhilarating journeys. This is one of the main reasons I strongly believe that iGEM can be a great success at IITR. It is truly multidisciplinary and something made for undergraduates who want to have a blast in science and research. Every year, people who come together for a project can decide which skills to focus on and leverage the project on that. We have an amazing set of people at Roorkee and expertise in every possible domain. Indian institutes generally face major challenges in pursuing iGEM because our researchers and professors aren’t very supportive of open-source or collaborative science. Also, they aren’t used to the glamour and energy that comes together on such platforms. If we start utilising our resources effectively, and we are able to showcase our caliber at this stage, I am sure our professors will trust us and fully support the teams.

_posts/2020-07-18-memoir-priyanshi.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Memoir of a Selenophile "
+tags: [wona, column]
+image: priyanshi.JPG
+category: memoirs
+author: "Priyanshi Mishra"
+excerpt: "I’m sad today as this journey is ending. Although, you are the stepping stone of my life and I don’t want to leave you now but, there was a part of me that never wanted to come to you in the first place. I feel warm in your arms now."
+---
+
+	 	 	 	 	 	
+Dear Roorkee,
+
+I’m sad today as this journey is ending. Although, you are the stepping stone of my life and I don’t want to leave you now but, there was a part of me that never wanted to come to you in the first place. I feel warm in your arms now. I never really thought that you could make me feel this way because the start of our friendship was not an endearing one. You welcomed me with high humidity, scorching heat and AN khosla.
+
+But it all began to change as your monsoon beauty washed away all my worries and apprehensions. Our friendship started getting better as I fell in love with the wholesome breakfast, late night strolling, unforgettable excursions by Himalayan Explorers’ Club, IITR lingo, killing boredom at student’s club, the calmness of Ganga, late night fun at cautley, enormous MGCL and much more that I cannot fathom. You gave me all that I needed vis-a-vis cool professors, well-equipped labs, never ending workshops, cerebral seminars, culinary club, fine arts section and most importantly a conducive environment for all my aspirations.
+
+Since we met, you have completely changed for me. Obviously, in a good way. And I would very much like to thank you for:
+
+Giving me a hard time adjusting to hostel life but at the same time, letting me take responsibilities for myself and handling the account all by myself.
+
+Giving a garden facing room at Sarojini bhawan which helped me wake up early in the morning and kept me energized throughout the day to attend all the classes.
+
+Making me realize that nothing can beat home cooked food by serving me a monotonous lunch and dinner all the time.
+
+Helping me evolve through those never-ending challenges that kept coming my way and allowed me to embrace both the calmness of the night as well as the chaos of the morning.
+
+The pocket friendly and really delicious snacks and music concerts at MAC, movies at convocation hall, festival celebrations at Saraswati temple that became one of the best ways to break the monotony and have fun.
+
+Serving free beverages at Shiru café where I got a chance to relax after classes and enjoy great conversations with strangers, colleagues and friends.
+
+All the bhawan days that gave me immense pleasure in wall painting, decorations, and getting a little bit too judgemental over other people’s contribution.
+
+Introducing me to a grand Cult fest like “Thomso” where I got the chance to volunteer and participate in so many events.
+
+Being my best friend, by giving me places to hide when I was sad and places to celebrate when I was happy.
+
+However, I was sad that being a part of the batch of 2020, I’m not going to get a regular farewell or a chance to enjoy the prom night and convocation like other batches. We all are suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic but I’m glad that I got a little bit more time to enjoy with you. It’s not a normal ending though. But, what’s the fun in being normal? I’m going away from you and surely going to miss you a lot.
+
+With love,
+Priyanshi

_posts/2020-07-28-memoir-aritra.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Roorkee Chronicles"
+tags: [wona, column]
+image: aritra.png
+category: memoirs
+author: "Aritra Dutta"
+excerpt: "It was March of 2018. We had butterflies in our stomach and adrenaline continuously rushing through our blood."
+---
+
+It was March of 2018. We had butterflies in our stomach and adrenaline continuously rushing through our blood. It was the day of our JAM counseling result. After bearing all sorts of pain for three years at the undergrad level, finally it was the day of receiving something in return. 
+The screen displayed “IIT-Roorkee”.
+
+The next few moments were beyond description. I was utterly joyed. The preparations began from this day onwards. Next few months went by in no time and I arrived at one of the oldest engineering colleges of Asia, thousands of kilometers away from my home. But honestly speaking, on the day of our admission, when we were allotted our hostel rooms, I was actually disappointed. I was like “Seriously!!! Is this a hostel room or a bigger version of  a cellular jail?? Are they going to treat us like criminals”… 
+There were innumerable thoughts going on in my mind. But I was soon assured. It took almost no time to get used to the college’s hostel environment.
+We were supposed to have our first class nine days after our admission. So the very next day of our admission, when I got out of my bed the next morning, I had nothing to do except watch a few guys playing in the hostel ground. I couldn’t control myself and went to join them. Little did I know that this would become one of the permanent fixtures of my life. 
+Although it was a cambise ball, I got my ring finger injured so badly that later on, the doctor informed me that I have a broken tendon. So technically, the string of my embarrassing moments had already begun; right from the second day of my hostel life. And it was to continue for the next two years. 
+
+
+Next major embarrassment was when I went cycling on the campus roads. I was riding down the slope in front of the library. That day, it was raining heavily. The above circumstances were enough to make me fall flat on my face.. I fell hard. Within the first two months, I had a damaged finger and a broken jaw. Sounds ideal hostel life…Right?!! 
+Well, there were many more such “embarrassments” to come. 
+
+
+But yeah, there were some good moments as well. I went to the very first trek of my life, all thanks to IIT Roorkee’s HEC. It was a 4 days trek to Chandrashila and Deoriatal. After a grueling semester, this was a major stress buster! 
+
+How can one forget the chilling cold winter mornings of Roorkee. And by the virtue of our dearest faculties. They gave us so much attention that we had to attend their classes as early as 7 AM in the month of January. 
+Kudos to their dedication. And to our tolerance. :)
+ 
+With one blink of our eyes, our first year was gone and we were standing on the verge of setting out foot on the accelerator of our career vehicle. Bhawan day, departmental fest, late night hangouts, football on rainy days, even hostel change; all these events added a myriad of colors to my two years of IIT life. 
+The next six months passed well. I was in my last semester, where everyone had mixed feelings, before this pandemic set in. 
+All the endless sleepless nights, parties, divine refreshments, will be missed. Life at IIT Roorkee has been a priceless memory I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.

_posts/2020-07-31-fire.md

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Portrait of a Lady on Fire: The Poet's Choice"
+image: fire.jpeg
+tags: [wona, column]
+author: "Pritika Mishra, Aditya Ramkumar"
+category: editorial 
+---
+
+*SPOILER WARNING*
+
+*The following article contains extensive spoilers for the film ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’. Readers are encouraged to watch the movie before they proceed.* 
+
+Most people love fried bhindi. To some (including Author P), it is the greatest thing on earth, a true delicacy and the most OP vegetable known to humankind. Yet despite repeated testaments to vendakya being the key to infinite intelligence and reassurance that ‘this is just a phase’, Author A dislikes (to say the least) this wretched organism from the depths of their existence. Imagine having your brain sheared off, cutting your fingers off, frying them and then eating them. You don’t need to imagine it, you already have. The only silver lining is that whichever genius decided to name this autotrophic piece of sinew ‘Lady’s finger’ has an imagination equally morbid and has learnt to hide it with subtlety. 
+
+The only relevant difference between Author A and Author P is their separate, individual reality. The finger remains the same, yet it receives such varied reactions. Rarely, if ever, do we investigate the working and interactions of our experiences, our senses and our desires. Céline Sciamma’s 2019 masterpiece Portrait of a Lady on Fire deals with these very concepts. 
+
+Portrait  is a profoundly tender story about self discovery, becoming and the anticipation of coming to terms with being noticed by someone. It spends its time with the characters as they fall in love. Set in the 18th century, this forbidden queer period drama does a lot. We are introduced to Marianne right away, an artist teaching a painting class who notices one of her old (quite possibly secret) works ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’. We are then taken back in time through Marianne’s memory. 
+
+Amidst the sounds of waves crashing, Marianne arrives on a remote island off the coast of Brittany after the Comtesse commissions her to paint a portrait of her daughter, Héloïse. Héloïse is to marry a Milanese nobleman. Before Marianne’s arrival, Héloïse had already spoiled her mother’s plans to have her portrait painted and sent to Milan for the prospective husband’s appraisal because she refused to sit for a male artist. Now, Marianne has the task of painting Héloïse in secret, while spending time with her in the guise of a walking companion.
+
+Sciamma makes very specific use of camera angles and blocking. For most of the film, the viewer is placed in one of three perspectives - following Marianne from right behind her, watching Héloïse from Marianne’s perspective and wider shots of the characters interacting. While entire essays could be written on how the film deals with the concept of ‘The Gaze” from artistic and feminist perspectives, this technique also provides a third perspective, showing us from both the inside and the outside how a relationship develops. 
+
+For the first half of the film, Héloïse just wants to be ‘looked at’, to actually be seen as the person she is, and not just as an imaginary object in a painting. We know nothing about the Milanese nobleman, nor does anyone make any effort to describe him beyond those two words.
+
+![pic1](/images/posts/fire1.jpeg){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+
+To see someone is not as simple as it is made out to be. One could be very mechanical about it and describe only what is externally apparent - a person’s appearance, their clothes, their actions, their words. This is extremely reductive and impersonal. Any human being could describe any other human being in this way if they were in the same room as them, if they had a photo of them or if they walked past them on a busy street. This is what Marianne does initially. We keep looking at Héloïse’s hands, her hair, her eyes. Marianne’s focus is to draw Héloïse as accurately as possible, which means she needs a smile. She only cares about that expression and not the feelings that trigger it.
+
+On a deeper level, as we are drawn to something, we attempt to learn how it works. Musicians learn music theory and appreciate the intricacies and brilliance of the composition and arrangement when they listen to a new song, beyond merely how it sounds to a lay-person. When it comes to people, we study their desires. To know someone is to know how they think and why they behave a certain way, to know what they want and to predict what they will need. Marianne realises that she is attracted to Héloïse and cannot bear to pretend anymore, even to herself. She realises that she has repeated the previous artist’s behavior and destroys her first portrait out of guilt. 
+
+Most people, especially in popular descriptions stop here. But there is a trap - human beings aren’t automatons. We can only guess at the motives of others based on what we see and what they themselves tell us. More importantly, we ourselves do not really know how our minds work. We analyse ourselves based on our own self-image, which is tainted by our biases, experiences and the knowledge that this is our own selves that we are trying to understand. A degree of uncertainty exists. Try taking an online personality test. The result will likely be what you predicted (and is probably not accurate) - the test told you what you think your personality is. 
+
+We don’t actually love other people because we don’t really know other people. We love the idea of them, our own mental automaton that thinks and acts like them. The closer the approximation, the healthier the relationship. We are stuck in our bubbles of momentary infatuation and myopic affection.
+
+The film shows us this mind-numbing, suffocatingly exhilarating, early-stage love in the way we stop looking at specific parts of Héloïse and just stare in her general direction. We watch them play the harpsichord together, catching fleeting glimpses of each other from the corners of their eyes. When Héloïse finally agrees to pose for Marianne, we watch from a neutral perspective how the two fawn over each other, barely able to look each other in the eye, yet extremely concerned about the other. Marianne says ‘look at me’, so she herself can get a good look at Héloïse. The camera cuts to Marianne’s perspective exactly as she looks up. We gasp every time. 
+
+Marianne and Héloïse’s romance has to end. We know this from the very start. Halfway through the movie, the film makes its engagement with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, right when it’s starting to get evident that Marianne and Héloïse have feelings for each other. The dialogue, editing and composition in this scene makes it almost impossible to miss how iconic and relevant the myth is going to be to their story.
+
+Héloïse wonders if maybe it was Eurydice who asked Orpheus to look back - perhaps she played a role in her own end. Marianne thinks differently - “He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s. He chooses the memory of her.” Later, when Marianne and Héloïse are forced to part themselves, neither is without agency - like her imagined version of Eurydice, Héloïse encourages Marianne to look back at her; and like her Orpheus, Marianne chooses not to regret, but to remember.
+
+![pic2](/images/posts/fire2.jpeg){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+
+These authors believe that both versions are true. The time Eurydice spent in the underworld and Orpheus spent alone in the human world has resulted in drastic changes in both of them. They are not who they were before and Eurydice realises this. She knows that their relationship is doomed and hell is a pretty comfortable place anyway. 
+
+In both stories, the artist in the relationship tries saving their love from “death”, figurative in the case of Héloïse and literal in the case of Eurydice. The artist then “looks back”, losing their lover, keeping with them only the memory of theirs. 
+
+The film plays with this idea from the beginning. The first time Marianne meets Héloïse, they go out on a walk with their faces covered. Héloïse makes a run for the cliff with Marianne (and us) fearing that she will jump off and kill herself like her sister, that the film will end before it has even started. But Héloïse stops and uncovers her face. The waves surge and she turns around. 
+
+The film's score is the score of real life. The surging of the waves, the crackle of the fire, the footsteps. Each moment is filled with intention. So when the film actually uses music, the scene's importance is emphasized automatically.
+
+One of the most powerful scenes in the film features a group of local women chanting in front of a bonfire, producing a scene of community that nurtures the crescendo of desire between Marianne and Héloïse. Its status as a central turning-point is powerfully emphasized by its being one of only three scenes with music: in this case, a haunting acapella chorus that seems to emerge organically from the society of women around the fire. With its harmonies stacking ever higher, and with dynamics rising to match, the song in some way mirrors the flames, literal in the way Héloïse was in flames (which then goes on to inspire the titular painting that we see at the beginning of the movie) and figuratively, the flames igniting between the two characters. Héloïse and Marianne stare at each other, even as one catches fire, even as things change. 
+
+![pic3](/images/posts/fire3.jpeg){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+![pic4](/images/posts/fire4.png){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+
+Class divisions also break down as the two form a friendship with the family maid, Sophie, accompanying her to get an abortion from a village medicine woman. Sophie lies on the same bed where the local woman’s infant plays. We see a close up of Sophie’s face, as the infants play with her. We watch as Sophie goes through pain and begins to cry, but the giggling baby next to her makes her smile, comforting her and clinging to her fingers. There is a conscious choice, in this scene, to depict Sophie as neither a demon nor a victim. Later that evening, at Héloïse’s suggestion, the three women re-create and paint Sophie’s abortion, an act that comes across as normal. By choosing to portray  it, they deem it important, a story worth telling.
+
+The film shows us all these different women come together, laugh, cry and support each other based on simple commonalities, proximity and good nature. The film also sends out a clear pro-choice message as it points out to us that we should not let out subjective notions cloud objective truths. Héloïse and Marianne care and support Sophie and do all the things that someone who ‘loved’ Sophie would do as well. 
+ 
+![pic5](/images/posts/fire5.jpeg){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+The final scene of the film takes place long after the affair, Héloïse married and with a child. Marianne sees Héloïse, who is unaware of her presence, sitting alone in an opera house, and watches her former lover closely as the orchestra opens with the ‘Summer’ concerto of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons – the same piece of music that Marianne had played for Héloïse years ago on a harpsichord. Marianne remains fixed unflinchingly on Héloïse as she listens raptly, a wrenching sequence of expressions registering on her face, emotions heightened. Both women still remember those experiences and have feelings for the person they knew.
+ 
+What makes this final shot of Héloïse so masterful is that it is from Marianne’s perspective. This is a movie which explores the power of observation, of appreciation for the subtleties of expression which make you appreciate the object of your desire that much more, telling us what desire and love and friendship could mean for women, when free from society’s patriarchy, even for a short period of time. Portrait is a memory of a love story; sad yet hopeful.
+
+Even though this idea of perception, the idea of it being not one sided is nothing short of terrifying,  at the end of the day, all we think we still want is someone to whom we can say
+‘Look at me.”
+
+
+Attached for your listening, here's a list of songs that we associate with the film.
+
+- La Jeune Fille en Feu - **Para One, Arthur Simonini**
+- The Four Seasons (Summer) - **Antonio Vivaldi**
+- Your Wave Caresses me - **The Last Sighs of the Wind**
+- Saibo - **Sachin - Jigar**
+- In Exile - **The Pineapple Thief**
+- Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice) - **Arcade Fire**
+- Gone - **The Head and the Heart**
+- Forget Not - **Ne Obliviscaris**
+- What About Me - **Snarky Puppy**
+- Like Real People Do - **Hozier**
+- Fade Into You - **Mazzy Star**
+- falkor - **Covet**
+- Visions of Gideon - **Sufjan Stevens**
+- I Want you to Want Me - **Letters to Cleo**
+- All I Need - **Radiohead**
+- It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus) - **Arcade Fire**
+
+[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04n1zPULrTqPPWFQL6Rswn?si=TA7o53oqS-auQu2HDk-p0Q](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04n1zPULrTqPPWFQL6Rswn?si=TA7o53oqS-auQu2HDk-p0Q){: style="text-decoration:underline;color:blue"}
+
+Miscellaneous 
+
+[Céline Sciamma breaks down adapting lyrics from Nietzsche, evoking witches and power of sorority, and the creation of the incredible scene.](https://www.indiewire.com/2020/02/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-song-bonfire-lyrics-chanting-1202211855/){: style="text-decoration:underline;color:blue"}
+
+[What Portrait of a Lady on Fire Tells Us About "the Gaze"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMUC584ppNQ&t=179s){: style="text-decoration:underline;color:blue"}
+
+[Portrait of a Lady on Fire review – mesmerised by the female gaze](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/01/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma){: style="text-decoration:underline;color:blue"}
+
+
+

_posts/2020-08-07-memoir-an-ordinary-life.md

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "An Ordinary Life"
+tags: [wona, column]
+image: memoir_an_ordinary_life.jpg
+category: memoirs
+author: "Nipun Vashistha"
+excerpt: "This is an account of how I felt during college years, rather than what exactly I did in college."
+---
+
+When I took up this job of writing a memoir, I honestly did not have any clue what I was going to write, and I am still struggling in my head to recollect as I write this. It is not that I do not have any memories of the last five years at Roorkee, or that it was not an eventful place to be. Infact, probably, there are just too many of them that I am not able to pick a few out of them to share with you. If you ask anyone how their college stint was, they might say it was too good, amazing, brilliant, extraordinary or maybe those with contrasting views saying it was competitive, overrated, and/or depressing. If you ask me how it was, it was ordinary. It was a series of ordinary days in the campus with your mates, waking up to find you have already missed the mess lunch timings and a few classes, having a love-hate relationship with mess and canteen food, looking at the same beautiful sunset everyday, getting excited about idea of getting an ice-cream sandwich, having a debate on ideas that would seem nonsensical to some, obsessing over a new Netflix series every month, cracking the same inside joke over and over again, walking in the campus for eternities observing the weird placement of trees in the campus, and ending your day just looking at the flickering stars in the night. It is interesting that as I write, I realise how there are so many things which makes up an ordinary day.
+
+It is not that there were not days which were really eventful, when you go out and meet a lot of people, learn a bunch of new things, feel so full of life. In fact, I used to take part in a good deal of college activities and events, made a lot of friends that way, and it used to be a very exciting and great learning experience as well. You feel like you can do anything, you feel like cycling down the library slope, you feel like going on that trek you always wanted to, you feel like staying up all night for that dream job, you feel like working hard for that next start-up idea, you feel like jamming all night till you lose your breath, you feel like staying up all night with your friends and partying, you feel like finding the love of your life, you feel infinite and euphoric. And there were also days when everything seemed doomed, days when you feel like giving up on everything, days when you tell yourself that tomorrow will be a good day but it does not turn out to be, days when you ghost on all your friends. There are just so many ideas and ideologies moving around in college, that the journey of searching for a meaning might leave you in a place where you just end up feeling lost. In the second half of college, after the post JEE hangover was completely gone and I finally started to look at things as they were, I was so overwhelmed with different schools of thoughts that, first, I was impressed by the very existence of these different ideologies, I was impressed that I get to be around people who aspire to bring a change in the nation, or people who want to be literary geniuses, or people who feel for art as it is their life, or people who want to join the line of changing the world by a technological revolution. But in the end, after I peeked into all of those different paths and possibilities, I only found myself more lost than ever. Then one fine day, a guy who was referred to as ‘danger’ in my first year (trust me, he is one of the sweetest human beings I had the pleasure to know in college shoutout!), we were talking and I found a little life lesson between our conversation that ‘You gotta try, you will only know if you want to do it or not once you give yourself in and give it a try’. I guess that has encouraged me a little over the years to do things and not panic. I guess nobody has any answers for you except yourself. College seems like a pretty difficult place if you find yourself stuck in the loop of doomed days. **But what better time than college to be lost?** 
+
+Now the thing is, these exciting moments and the days in search for something, they were only the peak moments and I feel it is unfair to just remember or describe your college days based on the peak moments and leaving out the ordinary ones, because that would be like painting a beautiful incomplete picture, or making a really catchy song with only beats in it. And perhaps, wouldn’t it be just unfair to not speak about all of those days which were just okay?
+
+As nostalgic and good college days and these memoirs sound like, in reality, it was a fair share of happy, really sad and ordinary days. But I still find myself cherishing that evening sunset outside my room the most. And when I look back, I realise that in some magical way, every single day that I have lived is now a part of me. My choices and dreams are not just impressions of the grand moments of my life but also of my everyday musings.
+
+वक़्त को आते न जाते न गुज़रते देखा, जमा होते हुए देखा मगर उसको मैंने  - गुलज़ार
+

_posts/2020-08-19-memoir-of-sorts.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "A Memoir of Sorts"
+tags: [wona, column]
+image: sorts.jpeg
+category: memoirs
+author: "Rajsuryan Singh"
+excerpt: "Four years ago, around this time, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do in life. I wish I could still say the same thing."
+---
+
+Four years ago, around this time, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do in life. I wish I could still say the same thing. College is supposed to be this transformative phase that you enter as a naïve kid and come out as a fully functioning adult having your life all figured out. The normalisation of this notion makes it much more difficult to accept when the puzzle pieces don’t fall together. Three years into college, as I looked at the puzzle with its pieces farther apart than they’ve ever been, I couldn’t help but wonder what drove me from clarity to chaos.
+
+When I started college, I planned to pursue science, physics to be specific. I found a sense of comfort in objective descriptions of the world, a resolution from an otherwise uncertain reality riddled with grey areas. To put it in less pretentious words, a career in science just seemed really cool (I blame Richard Feynman). Also, the only other discernible skill I had was music - which I never saw as a potential career choice. My plan made total sense. What’s funny about it - or tragic depending on your sense of humour - is that I didn’t act on it at all during the first couple of years at college and spent all my time on music instead. While the details of how it happened have blurred out, I vividly remember the consequences. 
+
+Music has been an amusement for as long as I can remember. However, my relationship with it was fairly underdeveloped before college. Growing up in a small suburban town, the only other musicians I knew were old harmonium and percussion players who’d play at religious gatherings - not something a 13-year-old John Mayer fan could vibe with. All of my exposure to good music came from the internet, and I am utterly grateful for its existence, but it misses out on a very important factor of effective learning—a like-minded peer group. College gave me access to competent musicians who asked similar questions, had a similar understanding and shared a similar relationship with music. I could always find people willing to listen and talk about anything interesting I came across and the other way around. Showing someone an idea I was working on, as they casually dropped by my room, would turn into full-blown songwriting sessions (true story, happened several times!). And the best part is that people bring in influences from diverse sources, musically and otherwise. Conversations that started with music would often branch off to math, philosophy, art, literature or even accounts of tragic - or funny depending on your sense of humour - life experiences. I credit a large part of my development as a musician to such instances - instances that also happen to form most of the reminiscent highlight reel that plays in my head while writing this. However, the more I progressed as a musician, the farther I strayed from my original “plan”. 
+
+I didn’t realise it as it happened, but I gradually lost touch with science. I wasn’t doing too bad academically, but I was sort of faking my way through it. Most of my coursework was not particularly demanding, and a day or two of studying was enough to get a decent grade. A lot of it was learning factual information, the rest was barely an extension of high school chemistry. To be fair, that’s probably a gross oversimplification and perhaps a misrepresentation of the courses, the two-day marathon study sessions are not built for nuance after all, but that’s what I remember. Science was not as exciting as it used to be. It started feeling like a hopeless relationship I had grown out of but was too afraid to walk away from. I started entertaining the idea of dropping it altogether and doing music full-time. But it wasn’t a time to be able to afford rash decisions, so I decided to give myself a semester to figure things out. What followed was several weeks of introspection and existential dread. And binge-watching Bojack Horseman, which might have been a trigger. I started working on the internship applications, scoured through research fields even remotely related to my major, and by the end of the semester, found several areas that piqued my interest and provided me with the much-needed intellectual stimulation. More importantly, I had a couple of realisations about the things I found fulfilling and the reasons thereof (content warning - loads of armchair philosophy ahead!).
+
+I realised that every fulfilling activity for me has the same anatomy - there are long periods of mildly unpleasant monotony followed by little moments of genuine excitement. The excitement almost always comes from an acknowledgement of beauty - whether it’s in an elegant mathematical proof or a soul-stirring guitar solo. It doesn’t have to be as profound, even seemingly insignificant things like a clever calculation trick or a subtle unexpected drum fill have a similar effect. And I believe that your ability to appreciate beauty and hence find joy in something is proportional to your proficiency in it. The more deeply you understand something, the more enjoyable it becomes. This brings me to the puzzle I mentioned earlier. If I were to believe whatever I have written in this paragraph, as invalid as it may be beyond the confines of my mind, it becomes obvious to do whatever you’re the most competent at as your career. At the same time, it becomes impossible to decide between things that you enjoy equally and are equally mediocre at. Whichever way you think about it, there seems to be no satisfactory way to choose what becomes a career and what is relegated to a means to fill spare time. 
+
+Coming back to the real world that doesn’t conform to idealistic personal philosophy, you have to factor in things like financial stability, relevant education, and available opportunities while making career choices. A career in science makes practical sense given the formal education, relevant experience and all,  and it’s significantly easier to do music as a hobby than the other way around. So that’s what I’m doing, for the time being. My plan, while being turned upside down several times throughout college, is still kind of the same. But there's a catch - it still comes with the same caveats. A few years down the line if I significantly improve as a musician, I'm pretty sure that I’m going to have another one of these crises, and the trend will probably continue for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, having gone through it once, I’ll be better equipped to deal with it. Now, to end this as abruptly as college did for me, I'll just say that whatever college entails for you is highly unpredictable, plans fall apart, new ones are formed, and in the process, you go through unforeseen self-discovery (the proof is trivial and is left as an exercise for the reader).
+

_posts/2020-09-07-in-conversation-with-the-wellness-center.md

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "In Conversation with The Wellness Center"
+image: "wellness-center.jpg"
+tags: [wona, column]
+category: verbatim
+excerpt: "Watch Out! spoke to Dr Shikha Jain and Mr Ashfaq Ahmad of the Wellness Center about mental health and the facilities available to the IIT Roorkee populace."
+
+---
+
+**WO:** Could you tell us what it means to be mentally healthy?
+
+**Dr Shikha Jain (SJ):** Being mentally healthy is a dynamic state of internal equilibrium - a harmonious relationship between the mind and the body. According to the World Health Organisation, mental healthiness is a state of well being, in which an individual can realize their capabilities or abilities, and can cope up with  normal stressful situations. She/He can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his/her community or society, so in short, we can say that it is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being.
+
+**If someone thinks that they have a mental health issue, what should be their first approach? How should they deal with it?**
+
+**SJ:** You should visit professionals - only they can decide if you truly have a mental issue, and the severity of it. Then the best kind of treatment for your issue is decided by them.
+
+**Mr Ashfaq Ahmad (AA):** So we need to look into three parameters - our emotions, behaviour and thought processes. For example, one indication is when any lifestyle change disturbs your mental equilibrium or your functionality because of your emotions, thought process and your behaviour. Then, of course, you need to meet a mental health professional or counsellor. A counsellor is a trained person who can identify and assess the level of the problem, and can give the intervention needed.
+
+<br />
+
+**WO:** A lot of myths surround the description of various common mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. What do these illnesses actually look like? What does the treatment look like?
+
+**SJ:** Actually, one needs to understand that mental illness is very different from physical illness. We can see and diagnose physical illnesses - for example if a person has fever, we can measure the temperature with a thermometer; if a person has a cut, one can see the wounds. But when it comes to mental health- one can’t simply gauge the severity of  anxiety or depression by just externally viewing the situation.
+
+So, the first thing to do is, approach the professionals so that they can then decide what kind of treatment is required for that particular situation, after taking into consideration various factors. In the case of depression - an aged person would display different symptoms as compared to a child. A depressed adult may feel sad, may be slow to react, or he may even say he doesn't feel like doing anything. But in the case of a depressed child, it is different. A child may be a bit aggressive while depressed and may also show tangible effects like poor performance in school. So, the symptoms and severity vary from person to person and depend on age as well.
+
+**AA:** One very important thing to address is our society’s wrong perceptions about mental illness. There is a norm of labelling a person “crazy” if they display ‘deviant’ behaviour. So, our main responsibility is to identify the problem in the initial stage itself. Usually, we are not able to do that. Especially in the case of anxiety and depression. If it is identified and solved in the initial stage- it won't render the person too dysfunctional. A mild level of depression or mild level of anxiety is easily treatable with psychotherapy or some kind of medication. But, if because of the social stigma surrounding these issues, one hesitates to meet the mental health professionals, the mild anxiety issue may become extreme. This is when the person becomes dysfunctional, starts having suicidal thoughts or loses the energy to do anything. And so, there is a great need to reduce these myths from the community. Answering the final part of your question regarding the treatment - basically, there are two models we usually follow. One is psychotherapy, where the counsellors interact with and help the person cope with the anxiety or try to alleviate the depressive state. Second is medication, wherein we basically prescribe medicines to try and reduce or cure the symptoms.
+
+**SJ:**  Collaborations in which psychologists, counsellors and psychiatry all work together give really good results. Currently, in IIT Roorkee, we are doing the same thing with the counsellors and consulting psychiatrists.
+
+**So in IIT Roorkee, do we now have both psychologists and psychiatrists in the Wellness Center?**
+
+**SJ:** Yes, the physiatrists are available in the IITR hospital and we counsellors are available in the Wellness Center. Sometimes the counsellors may accompany the student to the psychiatrist at the IITR hospital to make them comfortable.
+
+**AA:** The point was to emphasise on the collaboration we do, that we collaboratively work along with psychiatrists. We are not working independently- and so when we consider doing an intervention, the psychologists discuss the case with the psychiatrists and vice versa. So we are on the same page, and have a proper module for our intervention.
+
+<br />
+
+**WO:** How frequently do the students and members of IIT R visit you? How open and frank are they during these visits (in terms of wanting to discuss their issues)?
+
+**SJ:** *At present we have around 8 to 10 students visiting the Wellness Center daily. They come to not only discuss their mental health issues but also if they have any kind of academic, financial or scholarship related problems, wherein they do not know whom to approach.* We are now planning to establish some more activities in the Wellness Center so that students feel free to come and discuss any problems. These activities that will be organised will be done in hopes of removing the social stigma and spreading awareness.
+
+Now regarding the second part of your question. The level of frankness and familiarity depends on the rapport achieved between us and the student. First of all, we try to establish some rapport with the student and that might take more than one session. Once that is done, the students are more at ease and are more open in discussing their concerns and their feelings. Usually, with psychological problems, childhood history (i.e the growth period during their school days) is also very important. So, gradually they open up about themselves, and how they feel about their family, friends etc. A lot of ‘trust’ barriers need to be passed before the student is able to communicate freely with the counsellor.
+
+**AA:** So earlier, the concept of counselling focussed on just treating mental illnesses. People came to the counselling center with just their mental health concerns. However, now we are also looking at something called ‘positive psychology factors’, where we help the students answer questions like- “How  can I be more attractive in my personality?”, “How can I be more self-confident while working?” or “How can I bolster my warm relationship with everyone?”.
+
+Basically, apart from mental illnesses, we are also taking care of other areas like personality development. The first step was that we changed our counselling center name - now as you know, it's a wellness center. The message being that we take care of the entire well being of the student.
+
+<br />
+
+**WO:** Based on your experiences so far, how would you describe the mental health literacy of IITR when students come to visit you? Are they educated in terms of what they are feeling? Do they know that these illnesses are legitimate?
+
+**SJ:** Well, usually students do a lot of research using the internet before coming to us. So, they are not entirely unaware of their symptoms.
+
+The entire Wellness Center team is working hard to remove the stigma surrounding these issues, and spread literacy about mental health issues. The aim is that students should be able to recognise symptoms of anxiety, stress or depression early on, and should feel free enough to approach us immediately. Then we will be able to take care of their mental health smoothly during the early stages of the illness. And secondly, in my opinion, every student body in IITR should come forward and help us in our mission to stop this spread of social stigma regarding mental health. The members of the wellness team can't achieve this on their own. When all the bodies come together and collaborate, work is done more effectively. For example, Wellness Center has their own web page, Facebook page and we regularly upload mental health-related articles. I feel the team should consist of more students, to work better and effectively. 
+
+
+**AA:** I think we really need to appreciate the activities and work done by Team Wellness because it's a students’ volunteer body. They're working hard to spread mental literacy. *In the last two years alone, Team Wellness has conducted almost 30 programs in IIT Roorkee. It's almost like one program per month, and each was related to mental health. So I can say with some confidence that IIT Roorkee is quite literate about mental illness.*
+
+
+**SJ:** I want to give one example - in 2018, the Dramatics section put up a street-play “Jimmedar Kaun” (Who’s responsible?). In that, they addressed suicide and related concerns.
+
+
+**AA:** I would like to add that this time, Wellness Center conducted and organized the Orientation Program. This was really helpful, since we were able to introduce ourselves to the student community from the very first day, and were able to convey the message that we are there to help them, to facilitate their well being. I think you all must have also received emails regarding the lectures, bhawan visits and various competitions we organize from time to time. Therefore we're now taking an active stance to promote literacy about mental health.
+
+<br/>
+
+**WO:** What are some policies that the institute has adopted regarding mental health issues? For example, what is the institute’s policy when it comes to prescribing medication for mental illnesses?
+
+**SJ:** Mental Health Act 2017* has given us the proper guidelines, and normally we and the psychiatrists follow those. Sometimes we need to take help from the administration - e.g. suppose a person is having self-harm or suicidal tendencies, we may need to inform the parents. Before doing that, we - i.e. the counsellors and psychologists - together assess the situation. After informing the parents, the administration also accommodates the family on campus so that they can stay with their wards to provide emotional, psychological support and also take care of the treatment. I have seen sometimes that students stop taking their medicines or forget to take them. That is not good, this might worsen the student’s situation. We involve the administration when there is a threat to somebody’s life - only in severe cases like severe depression, drug abuse. In those particular cases, we need to inform the parents. That is because we prefer the parents to come to stay with their wards to take care of their emotional and mental health as well as supervise their treatment. So as far as confidentiality is concerned, we maintain confidentiality throughout the whole session, it is only breached in certain rare cases.
+
+<br/>
+
+**WO:** To break the stigma surrounding the treatment of illnesses, could you tell us what life for students after being diagnosed with illnesses like anxiety and depression looks like in terms of how they carry on with their daily life, how often they need help etc.?
+
+**SJ:** Following good lifestyle practices like having a proper balanced diet, doing regular physical exercises and most importantly sleeping for a good 6-8 hours is essential for improving and maintaining mental health. In IITR I have seen that students often don’t follow a proper diet and sometimes believe that just three or four hours of sleep is enough. But now more and more research is being conducted which says that six to eight hours of sleep is necessary for every adult, in order to work efficiently. Another important advice for those who are prescribed medications to combat anxiety or depression - they should not stop or change their medicines without any supervision or guidance.
+
+
+**AA:** We use either psychotherapy and pharmacological management (i.e. medication) to treat the student. In psychotherapy, we have different modules like cognitive behavioural therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, behavioural therapy. These are very, very effective, in reducing or removing altogether the depression, anxiety and mood disorder symptoms. How some psychotherapy modules work is that they help people cope with their daily stress which lightens their mood and brings in positive emotions. So when they get this hope, this positive emotion actually reduces the chances of going back to the same illness. For example, suppose someone failed an exam. This might lead them to have a mixture of constant negative emotions like irritability, disappointment, sadness. But they need to understand that it's okay, they just need to strengthen their strategy to get a better score next time. If one thinks in a positive manner, of course, they will have the energy or positive emotion to make more such steps and eventually get more marks. The first step in the positive direction matters.
+
+
+**SJ:** Yeah, one more thing I need to add is that in anxiety and depression, one should change his own thought processes and perception. For example, if you have a friend who called you, but you don’t pick up right away as you’re busy. If your friend has anxiety, he/she might think that you didn’t pick up the phone on purpose, because you’re trying to avoid the person. This is quickly followed by a negative and harmful rationalisation in the person’s head. So the ones suffering from depression/anxiety ultimately need to change their perception, need to turn their thought processes from being negative to being positive. *A lot of daily situations can be viewed under a negative light or a positive light. It therefore depends upon the person, and therapy and medication strive to inculcate these positive thought processes in the person.*
+
+<br/>
+
+**WO:** Movies like Requiem For A Dream, and TV shows like Bojack Horseman have been successful in portraying mental illnesses/substance abuse problems and bringing mental health to the forefront of social discussions. What is your stance on such movies and shows?
+
+**SJ:** These types of movies and shows are very good. They break the stigma surrounding such taboo topics and spread awareness regarding mental health. For example, movies like Padman have made it easier for people to talk about menstrual health issues. In fact, I feel showing such movies to the student community would do a great deal in breaking the stigma and spreading more awareness too. I firmly believe that if the whole student community comes up and takes even the smallest step to spread awareness it will have a massive positive effect. The concerned student groups can recommend such movies and get them screened. “A Beautiful Mind” is an example.
+
+
+**AA:** These movies and series can be highly impactful. I would recommend “The Aviator” which depicts OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). These movies are highly influential because of the way they depict a person afflicted with an illness, and the struggle they go through before eventually getting better. Movies like “Requiem For a Dream” and “Udta Punjab” show the transition between stages of the lives of the subjects that occur due to substance abuse. Series like “Breaking Bad” and “Bojack Horseman” also depict some very harmful drugs. But movies can be double-edged swords.
+
+<br/>
+
+**WO:** Meme culture and meme pages are ubiquitous and rampant. All of us have been exposed to the same at various points in our life. In light of recent events (like the expose of a private, misogynistic and offensive social media group ‘Boys Locker Room’), how do you think the psyche of students across the country have been affected (men and women)?
+
+**SJ:** In the case of “Boys locker room”, we need to create more awareness among the parents and students at the school level. Also, accountability on digital platforms must be increased.
+
+
+**AA:** This problem is typical in the millennials. Adolescents are in the midst of an identity crisis. They are unable to conceive their place in society. So, they prefer being on social media in order to conceal themselves, and are content with projecting a different identity. It is similar to how children experiment with smoking in order to appear similar to adults. The ability to put out content anonymously is proving to be quite dangerous.
+
+<br/>
+
+**WO:** The Mental Health Wellness Centres at universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have a rigorous and well maintained online presence in terms of the documentation of these illnesses, their treatments, the university policies, session booking mechanisms etc. Are there any plans for doing something similar in IITR?
+
+**SJ:** Currently, an online Google Form can be used to book a session and we are providing online counselling also. During this pandemic, we are providing the online sessions in the form of video, audio or chat; with confidentiality maintained throughout the session.
+
+
+We maintain records as well, but only to be used during sessions as a reference, in case of a change of counsellors. We are available 24X7 (YourDost for normal cases and counsellors for emergencies)
+
+
+We do have a web page and we are currently working on this domain. Our web designers are collaborating with us and completing all the relevant details there. Soon, the information regarding psychiatrists, counsellors and speech therapists will be uploaded there.
+
+[Link](https://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Mental%20Health/Mental%20Healthcare%20Act,%202017.pdf)
+

_posts/2020-09-10-summer-diaries-ishita-kaul.md

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: Google STEP"
+image: "ishita-kaul-1.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Ishita Kaul"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+Like most of the second year students, I was clueless about what I wanted to do in the summers after my second year of college. I talked to a couple of seniors and close friends. They all advised to either go for a research or a corporate intern. Both seemed rather good options. But for a research intern you need to know which specific field you are interested in. But all I knew was that I like computer science. I had explored a number of fields like Computer Vision, Software Development, OS, Competitive programming, etc (I have been doing a lot of exploration since my first year!). And I found all fields rather interesting. So, I finally realised that a company intern would be the most appropriate choice for me.
+
+Then I again talked to a few seniors (I keep bothering them!) and finally got to know about the Google STEP programme. For me Google was one of the dream companies I wanted to be a part of. So, I sincerely started preparing for it. And after 3 rounds of interviews and a few weeks of waiting I finally got a call saying I have received the offer. I was extremely delighted. I could see months of efforts finally paying off.
+It was amazing being a part of Google family via STEP Internship programme. This experience has been very enriching and will go a long way in shaping my future.
+
+
+# What is the STEP Programme?
+
+Google Student Training in Engineering Program, or commonly known as STEP Internship is a programme for 1st and 2nd year undergraduate women who are passionate about technology and computer science. 
+
+# Selection Procedure
+
+The process of application started in the first week of December. In the first round the students were shortlisted based on their resume and transcript.
+I was amongst the few selected candidates. We were told about the programme details in an informative session after being shortlisted. We were also given tips on how to prepare for the upcoming interviews in the session.
+
+Second round was the technical Interview round. I had 3 interviews (number of interviews vary from person to person) each of 45 minutes. Interviews were conducted on Google hangouts and we had to write our code for the problems on Google docs. There are usually 1-2 programming questions per interview (This may vary based on the interviewer). I was asked 1 programming question in each interview. If you are asked less questions compared to your peers it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't stand a chance!
+
+After these interviews your candidature is sent to the hiring committee for review and then within a few weeks you get a call / mail regarding your candidature.
+
+# Preparation Tips
+
+So, this is the most important part & most probably why you are reading it!
+So, let me walk through my journey of preparation. 
+I love to solve riddles and math problems. So, when I started my first semester, I was introduced to competitive programming by my peers. This field absolutely took me by surprise. It was everything I was looking for. Challenging problems and coding contests! So, I became an active participant on a number of coding platforms like codechef, codeforces, atcoder, etc. 
+Apart from that I also kept exploring other areas like computer vision, OS, basics of software development and so much more. Computer Science never stops to amaze me with it's diversity and practical applications being put to use. I did a couple of self-projects, and a few projects under professors at IIT Roorkee.
+Also, at IIT Roorkee we have this amazing culture of campus groups. In my opinion, working under various campus groups can also be a great way to enhance your skills in different fields. But on the other hand, not being part of groups cannot stop you from achieving what you want. Just be curious and explore! (that is what is college meant for right?)
+Coming on to the interviews, I gave a couple of mock interviews with my friends to get better at it. Listening to the problem carefully and being vocal about your thoughts and ideas even when they aren't the most optimised solution to the problem is extremely important. 
+For increasing your problem-solving skills, doing competitive programming on a regular basis can be very helpful.
+But the most important of all is ENJOY THE JOURNEY. 
+
+# Challenges due to COVID-19
+
+My first and foremost worry was if the internship would get cancelled or not. I was really worried about it. But soon we came to know that Google had shifted the internship to the virtual mode. This was a big relief for me. Though I was a bit disappointed that I would not be able to visit the Google office, being a part of Google even during these trying times was an awesome feeling. 
+
+To my surprise I received a laptop and a big screen monitor a day after my internship started. I could never have imagined that I would be getting all this amidst the pandemic. Now, I actually started feeling like I am working in an office at home!(I created a small work-desk for myself at home).
+
+Another change was that most of the projects were open-source and not google's internal project. But the projects were quite varied and exposed us to a variety of new concepts. 
+
+![pic](/images/posts/ishita-kaul-2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+We even got goodies delivered to us at our home like t-shirts, caps and a lot more.
+One of the things that worried me was if I'll be able to interact with other interns and Googlers because of the virtual mode of the internship. But that was also very well-planned by the company. We had regular meet-ups with other interns and had many fun talks and activities that kept us engaged throughout the internship.
+Many online tech-sessions, with Google leaders, were also organised about various fields in computer science and its impact in the near future.
+We even played a lot of online games! It was amazing and far beyond what I had expected from a virtual internship.
+
+# My project
+
+I was part of the GPay team at Google. I worked with 2 other amazing STEP Interns. 
+
+My project was aimed at developing an application which would reduce the waiting time spent in physical queues outside a shop. The project was targeted for a pandemic-like situations.
+
+Every project group was allotted a mentor and a co-mentor. These are the people who guide you throughout your internship. They monitor your progress and also give you frequent feedback about what needs to be improved. They are the people you would most often interact with during your internship. 
+
+Both my mentors were super-awesome and all of us had a lot of fun together!
+
+# Work Culture
+
+Work culture is very amazing at Google. I never felt like an Intern. I always felt like I was an employee. My opinions were heard and valued. There were very constructive discussions regarding what is best for the project. Each person in our team brought different insights to the table. This really increased the depth of my thinking.
+The work hours were very flexible and we got weekends off too. 
+Respecting each other's opinion and valuing great ideas are the core values of Google's culture.
+
+# My Key Takeaways
+
+In the beginning the entire project seemed daunting. But you learn along the way and get better at it. Just having the confidence that "you will figure it out" goes a long way.
+
+I realised that I should never shy away from asking doubts and questions. Everybody was more than willing to help when I was stuck.
+
+Working in a team gives exponentially greater results than working alone. This is something I learnt while working there. People with so many varied ideas and views lead to an amazing product that can be used by millions of users.
+
+Making mistakes is nothing to be ashamed of. It's part of learning and growing. I made many mistakes, but I always made sure never to repeat them.
+
+The entire internship experience was very astounding and satisfying. I was already overwhelmed by the experience when, a few weeks later, I received a call informing me that I have received a PIO (Pre-Internship offer) from Google. This was an icing on the cake. :))

_posts/2020-09-13-filter-coffee-siddharth-thomas.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Filter coffee: Sidharth Thomas"
+image: sidharth.png
+tags: [wona, column]
+excerpt: "Sidharth is a recent graduate from the department of ECE (Batch of ‘20) and has worked extensively in electronics research. After two foreign internships and a smashing BTP, he will now begin a PhD at UCLA, working with THz circuits."
+category: filtercoffee
+---
+
+*Sidharth is a recent graduate from the department of ECE (Batch of ‘20) and has worked extensively in electronics research. After two foreign internships and a smashing BTP, he will now begin a PhD at UCLA, working with THz circuits. Here is an excerpt from our conversation with Sidharth.*
+
+**Watch Out!** - What is the craziest thing you have done on campus?
+
+**Sidharth** -  I have several crazy but fond memories from IITR. During one particular birthday celebration, we painted an old Thomso banner with some questionable graphics and made a friend wear it. 
+
+**Watch Out!** - What do you do in your free time?
+
+**Sidharth** -  I usually don’t get much free time, but when I do, I spend my time reading or watching some random sitcom. I have also started practising the piano recently.  
+
+**Watch Out!** -  You changed your branch from Chemical to ECE in your first year. What were your reasons behind this and was it on your mind since the outset of the 1st semester?
+
+**Sidharth** -  Like any other first-year student, a branch change was on my mind the moment I started at IITR. I did not have any interest in chemical engineering, and strangely, my original plan was to shift to Mechanical. However, towards the end of the first semester, I followed the questionable CSE>ECE>EE trend, with no particular expectations. Eventually, I landed in ECE, and I believe things have worked out pretty well since then.  
+
+**Watch Out!** - For a multitude of reasons, research is not popular among the UG junta, so much so that most people would not even know about their own classmates doing exceptionally well in research. What do you feel are the problems that result from this? What would you suggest as a means to improve this?
+
+**Sidharth** -  Yes, I feel IITR has a poor research culture among undergrads compared to other top IITs. There are multiple reasons behind this, but mainly, I think this is because of our hugely popular coding culture, and students wrongly associating a high GPA as a prerequisite for research. 
+This creates a herd mentality where students rarely explore their departments. Professors also develop trust issues with undergrads and become reluctant to provide them with good projects. Moreover, IITR has very few collaborations with reputed universities. Some institute policies make things difficult for students doing foreign internships or semester exchanges. 
+I feel first-year students should be provided more opportunities to be involved in research, such as a paid on-campus summer internship. Course projects and assignments need to be more open-ended and design-centric. There should be a greater amount of academic flexibility and more international collaborations and tie-ups. At the ECE department, we discussed making the BTP optional so that students interested in research get more attention and resources. That being said, things have been steadily improving in the last two years.
+
+**Watch Out!** - You did two research interns abroad, in Israel and Canada. How was your experience? What do you think are the differences between research abroad and in India in electronics?
+
+**Sidharth** - I had an amazing experience at both places. These internships helped me understand how it is to pursue research as a career and was instrumental in me deciding to join grad school. I met some great researchers and had intriguing discussions with them. Besides this, I feel living independently in a foreign country has helped me gain a broader perspective.           
+I feel there are equally talented people in India and abroad. But there is a vast difference in funding. Funding is critical in cutting edge research. I also noticed a high level of collaboration and interdisciplinary research. For instance, the group that I worked with in Canada had partnerships with a hospital. Most of the research groups had close associations with the industry. This ensures that the projects they work on are relevant. Besides this, people were very professional and treated me as their peer and not as a student. 
+ 
+**Watch Out!** - How did you decide that you wanted to do a PhD? Having worked with different types of circuits, how did you narrow down your area of interest?
+
+**Sidharth** - I think the two internships helped me get a good taste of research. It is, at times, frustrating, requiring long hours of reading and a ton of patience. But the result is worth it. A job in the industry would mean that you work on a part of a random project, but in a PhD, you usually get to decide and design your own project. It is ‘your’ brainchild, and you become the absolute ‘expert’ in your domain. This holds a certain beauty. I am also open to pursuing a career in academia. So, I feel a PhD is the right logical choice for me.     
+As an undergrad, it’s quite tough to find an area that interests you. The only way is to keep an open mind and explore. I tried my hand at ML, computer architecture, and device physics, before switching to circuits. And then, I studied circuits, working on different applications. I was always interested in 5G/6G communication technology and how circuits behave at such high frequencies. This eventually led me to the domain in which I am pursuing my PhD.  
+ 
+**Watch Out**! - You are among the few on campus to work on RFIC and THz circuits. What advice would you give to others who would like to do research in areas where local guidance is scarce?
+
+**Sidharth** - This is a good question and is especially important, considering the current pandemic situation. In the absence of local guidance, you probably will not be able to work on a project directly in your area of interest, but you can work on similar or complementary areas. There are several directions to approach a problem. If one particular direction requires guidance, which is scarce, you can try a different one. All this adds to the experience. You can also try pitching your idea to a professor. He/she might be interested in exploring this area with you, and in fact, this is how I started my research at IITR. Also, look for internships. I would recommend reading as much as you can. Try reading papers, PhD theses, and books, anything you can get your hands on. Participate in online discussion forums. Look for pioneers in the area, what they are doing now, their peers, etc.  
+ 
+**Watch Out!** - Considering that you moved to Roorkee from Kerala, what were the main challenges, if any, while adapting to the culture on campus, including language and communication barriers. Do you think that some groups struggle more in adapting to college life, even though there’s a pan India populace on campus?
+
+**Sidharth** - I struggled a bit during my first year due to some communication barriers. I left two campus groups during my first year since I could not follow their conversations. There were also labs where I got fewer grades since I could not communicate answers in Hindi. I did adapt eventually, but to answer your question, yes, there are groups that struggle in adapting to IITR due to language-related issues.
+ 
+**Watch Out!** - If you had the time and resources, what campus group would you start and why?
+
+**Sidharth** - This is not something that I would be interested in. However, I wish people at IITR would stop joining groups merely out of peer pressure or for a POR, and instead, follow their interest. 
+ 
+**Watch Out!** - As a member of the IEEE Student Branch SIG, what is the best thing about the group? What do you think is the future of the group?
+
+**Sidharth** -  The purpose of the IEEE Special Interest Group is to bring together a group of students who are interested in electronics. We have tried to create a culture where there is no ‘secretary’, ‘associate member’, or even a ‘sir’. Anybody can drop-in, interrupt, or leave a discussion. I like this informal nature of the group. Last year, we helped organize a project demo for the first year ‘Intro to ECE course’. It was a fun experience, and our juniors had some amazing projects on display. 
+ 
+**Watch Out!** - Customary question: What do you think of Watch Out!
+
+**Sidharth** - I think you guys are doing a solid job. I remember reading Watch Out ‘Summer Diaries’ back in 2016.  
+That being said, this interview has been fun and unexpected. Thank you! 

_posts/2020-09-16-summer-diaries-ajitesh-shukla.md

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: NTU Singapore"
+image: "ajitesh-shukla-1.jpg"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Ajitesh Shukla"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+I recently did my 9-week summer internship remotely at NTU Singapore. In this article, I will be summarising how I got there and my experience during the internship. 
+
+# Before applying
+
+My interest in the research field developed during my 2nd-year internship at SPARK, IITR. I worked in the domain of Computational Mechanics for the analysis of inflatable membranes used in space structures. I had a good experience and wanted to explore more in the research field. I had in mind from the start of the internship season that I wanted to do a research internship, and I had a decent research experience to back that up. I also applied for some core R&D profile companies, but had no luck there.
+
+# Making It There
+
+![pic1](/images/posts/ajitesh-shukla-2.jpg){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+I applied for the specific internship programs DAAD, Mitacs, and NTU-India Connect. I also mailed professors working in the domain of my interest in some of the top universities in Europe. I got selected for the NTU-India Connect program and also for Summer Fellowship at EPFL, Switzerland. I’ll give a brief about how I got selected in both the universities.
+
+I started mailing from the start of October and sent personalised emails to about 30-40 professors. I glanced at their recent work and mentioned how it relates to my interests in the mails. I got a few replies pertaining to lack of funding, no openings, etc., but it was good that they were giving time to read my application, and I kept going. A professor from EPFL showed interest and scheduled an interview with me in January. It went great, and he was willing to take me for a summer internship. He couldn’t provide me with funding, so he asked me to apply to one of their internship programs, the EPFL Excellence in Engineering (E3) fellowship, for funding. In the application, I had to submit a Statement of Purpose (SOP), (which I had already prepared before I started mailing), my resume, transcripts, and the choice of Labs where I wished to work. I got through the preliminary screening, after which the professor selected me. I came to know afterwards that many good universities had similar internship programs for international students. Knowing them beforehand could be of great help to the students, so I would advise you to do your research and always look for new opportunities.
+
+In NTU-Connect, we had a similar procedure. Here, we had to first get recommendations from the institute before applying. The application requires three project choices (out of about 25 in Mechanical Engineering), a list of our achievements/projects, two Letters of Recommendation, transcripts, and any additional documents we wish to add. Here, I attached my 2nd-year internship project report, and I suggest other applicants to prepare a project report of your previous work to increase your chances. I was directly selected for the program, though one might expect an interview screening as some of my friends were asked for the same. 
+
+The key for selection that I found in NTU as well as in other programs such as Mitacs, apart from the usual suspects such as academics and research experience, was project selection. You have to select a project that most fits your interests and previous works. If you don’t have any prior experience, you have to present yourself to be extremely enthusiastic about the field of work you chose in your SOP.
+
+# Challenges due to COVID
+
+Among the two programs, I was willing to do the Swiss internship mostly due to the chance to visit Europe, as the projects were almost on the same line. But COVID happened, and the Swiss internship got cancelled while the NTU Programme got postponed indefinitely. I couldn’t do anything about the Swiss internship, but as we were supported by the institute in the NTU-India Connect program, I asked the International Relations Office to help me get it done remotely, and they did so. I am incredibly grateful for them as well as my project supervisor’s support for making it happen in these tough times.
+
+Though my project was both experimental and analytical, we had to drop the experimental portion, and I worked only on the Simulation part.
+
+# Work
+
+My project was in the broad domain of Computational Mechanics and Finite Element Method in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NTU Singapore. The aim was to prepare a robust model for the static and dynamic compression analysis of materials with random geometrical imperfections. In the previous studies, the simulation results were highly inconsistent with the actual experiments due to various defects present in the setup and specimen. My work aimed at modelling those imperfections that could happen in real experiments and bridging the gap between numerical models and actual tests.
+
+Initially, my supervisor didn’t have many expectations from me as we were not in direct contact, and he thought much productive work couldn’t be done in the current situation. But the project progressed well with continuous support and guidance from him. Since I was working from home, the time of work was relaxed. We had regular meetings, and he was very friendly and supportive. I completed the project under the time constraints, and I am still in contact with my supervisor as we are currently working towards a publication of that work.
+
+# Summing Up
+
+Overall, I had a good experience. Though there were setbacks due to COVID and I couldn’t get the chance to travel abroad, the work was unaffected due to it. I was able to work productively as per my comfort and learned a lot that will help me in my career.
+
+For students who wish to apply for research internships, here are some tips:
+- Apart from applying to the specific programs, also mail professors in your domain of interest for summer internship. The selection in programs is dependent on a lot of factors, not in our control, but contacting professors will sooner or later work.
+- Many universities have internship programs for international students that most people are unaware of. Look out for these opportunities and apply to them as well, as they have a better selection rate than DAAD, Mitacs, NTU-Connect, or Charpak.
+- Prepare your Statement of Purpose, Resume, and Cover Letter before starting to apply and give dedicated time to this task. They play a significant role in any application, whether you are applying for an internship or higher studies. 
+

_posts/2020-09-20-summer-diaries-hardik-taneja.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: Reliance Industries"
+image: "hardik-taneja.jpg"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Hardik Taneja"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+Hi! I am Hardik Taneja, a final year student at the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Roorkee. This summer I had an opportunity to intern at Reliance Industries as a GET (Graduate Engineering Trainee). This summer has turned out to be really productive in terms of learning and experience as I had the opportunity to connect with industry leaders.
+
+# The Application Phase
+
+Reliance industries comes to hire interns in the second phase of On-campus internships.
+For the current session, the company came for internships on campus on 17th January, 2020. There was no CG cutoff for applying which is indeed a good news for many applicants.
+
+The first round of the selection process consisted of an aptitude test which also included sections of core mechanical engineering. The later rounds were interview rounds, the first being technical and the next being HR. 
+
+Coming onto the preparation part, one needs to practice questions based on quantitative and verbal aptitude for the written test. There is no particular syllabus for the mechanical section and one could just brush up on the basics of thermodynamics and engineering drawing. For the interview round, what helped me were projects that I undertook at my department and a core internship that I did in my second year. Also, be very clear of your areas of interest and be well prepared. Stay confident and be patient while answering the questions. The basic skill-set that Reliance demands is your ability to work in a team and time management. My interview lasted for about 20 minutes. I was asked questions on my areas of interest, why I wanted to join Reliance and regarding my future goals.
+
+
+# The Work
+
+Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Reliance owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications. 
+
+My domain of work was related to core metallurgy. The project assigned to me was "Study of different metallurgy and its applicability in the refinery". I was expected to study corrosion and various other damage mechanisms involved in the Crude Distillation Unit in the Jamnagar refinery. Due to the COVID crisis, it was a virtual internship. Generally the duration for the project is two months but it was reduced to a month for us i.e from 1st July to 31st July.
+
+The working culture at Reliance was very good and we had full support and assistance from our mentors at all times. The work was demanding as we were expected to work 7-8 hours per day. We had to study reports and research papers, make presentations and discuss our advancements with industry leaders.
+
+My journey at Reliance was full of learning experiences which will be handy in the future. It was a great experience to understand the working of a refinery and the challenges that come with it. For people who are gunning for this internship, my suggestion would be to do at least one project in core metallurgy so as to have something to speak about in the interview.
+
+# Word of Advice
+
+Prepare well beforehand for the test and remember, practice is key. The rest would be to be confident during the interview and prepare a nice introduction for the interview. Don't hesitate to ask if you are unsure of something or some specific term during the interview. Revise your resume thoroughly and give a firm handshake while entering the room.
+

_posts/2020-09-24-summer-diaries-chinmaya-chawla.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: PwC"
+image: "chinmaya-chawla-1.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Chinmaya Chawla"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+
+# Brief Introduction
+
+While everyone was coding and developing their way towards the upcoming internship season, I, on the other hand, was intrigued by the field of management consultancy. Being a part of ShARE IIT R, I had a good idea of how the industry looks, which drove me to try for real-life corporate work experience at the end of my second year. Time and again, I had second thoughts about whether I should just code and secure an internship on campus or really try something that interests me. I didn’t find many seniors who insisted on the latter, so I thought of trying a consulting internship in my second year, and if I don’t feel like doing it anymore, I’ll code and sit for on-campus placements and internships.
+
+Building upon this, I started applying through connections (personal and Linkedin) and tried every other means to get in touch with consultants at the firms I wanted to work with. My target firms were not limited to any category, but Tier 1/ Tier 2 consulting firms don’t usually hire UG sophomores, let alone students from non-target schools, So I started applying for them as well as other boutique firms and Big 4 consult firms. Through a connection, I bagged an interview at PwC India for the management consultancy profile and cracked it. Just to give a background, PwC is one of the four largest professional services firms across the world, collectively known as “The BIG 4“. The experience was a real learning experience majorly in terms of corporate work culture.
+
+# Selection Process 
+
+PwC, like almost every other consulting firm, doesn’t have a structured procedure for hiring for internships as well as jobs. The selection process is generally getting an interview, and based on how that pans out; they have their further rounds with no limit to scope and number of interview rounds. 
+
+In my case, it all started with receiving a mail asking for a time slot to schedule my interview for the internship. I had applied to PwC (Gurgaon Office) through a personal connection two weeks before that, who had forwarded my resume to the HR department. So I had my first round of interviews over a video call. Most parts of the interview were based on my resume and why I wanted to pursue management consultancy. Having mentioned the secondary research analysis I did as part of ShARE, the interviewer asked me to make a 5-page slide on the topic “How would Consulting look like in 2030“ for the next round of interviews. So I had two days to prepare the deck that I submitted and waited for a couple of weeks. After that, I received an email stating I was selected for the next round. The next round kicked off with a couple of guesstimates, which I did well at. After that, the interviewer questioned me on one of my previous projects, and we had an in-depth discussion on it, which felt like we were solving a real-life case problem. I received an offer letter one week later. :)
+
+# Preparation Tips
+
+I think for applying to consultancy firms, you don’t require many tangible skills. Every consulting firm believes its real value is in its people. Since almost no tangible skills are required, obviously, your **resume** becomes an important factor in getting an interview. So keeping in mind no consultancy firm comes to Roorkee, resume screening is very crucial for off campus applications. So how they analyze your resume is through an **ACTL framework**.  
+
+A - Analytics (experiences showing your analytical/problem-solving skills) 
+C - Communication (how good can you communicate in written through resume and verbally later in interviews)
+T - Teamwork (experience in showing your ability to work and coordinate in a team) 
+L- Leadership (experience where you led a team or were at a PoR. E.g. Led the consulting club at campus)
+
+I think I should not go deep in the resume analysis. However, anybody who wants to know more can get in touch with me.
+
+Now for the interview part, they test you on how smart you are, how well you can structure problems, and recommend solutions. Besides the resume-based questions, there are majorly two ways consulting firms do this with slight variations on where you are applying. 
+
+1. **Guesstimates:** Guesstimates are problems where you make smart guesses to estimate numbers related to real-life scenarios. For example, “Calculate the capacity of a second airport at New Delhi” is a guesstimate. What guesstimation requires is building a structure and plugging in assumed (obviously, sane) values. Generally, interviewers are not interested in the final answer, but the approach and assumptions you took. 
+2. **Cases:** Cases are simulations of real-life business problems where you solve a real-life problem using smart thinking. A case problem statement example is “Company XYZ is facing a decline in profits, find the possible reasons and make recommendations.“ Again, what matters is how well your approach to the problem is and how well you use the consulting concept of MECE (Mutually Exclusive Completely Exhaustive).
+
+
+As resources, there are very good books like Case Interviews Cracked, Youtube videos from Victor Cheng. Apart from these, you can start applying structure to your thoughts in real life. For instance, try calculating (without measuring :P) what is the length of a road in the IIT Roorkee campus next time you are roaming around campus.
+
+Overall, you need to sell yourself to the company. Not only do you need to be good at cases, guesstimates, etc. but you also need to be smart and sound smart during the entire course of the interview. 
+
+# My Project and Challenges due to CoVID
+
+Since PwC doesn’t have a structured internship program for lateral hires, it was quite likely that my offer would be revoked. But with laptop delivery not possible due to the RedZone restrictions, they introduced a global software allowing the new hires to work from their personal laptop till delivery was possible. It was amazing to see how invested the firm was in its employees. 
+
+Post the virtual induction of 2 days; I was assigned a people’s manager and a buddy mentor. The buddy was my go-to person in every problem I faced. People’s manager was at a more senior position; however, he too was always all ears to whatever obstacles I was facing. 
+
+I was assigned to a project which was a part of a number of projects with the client, a multilateral development bank, and we were advising them on improving the maritime trade between 7 Southeast-Asian countries under the SASEC (South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation) umbrella. My project focused on improving port logistics across 20 ports in these seven countries. Overall, my internship had **3 phases of work**. 
+
+In the first phase of work, I worked with the team to conduct secondary research, profiled ports, identified pain points, and compared them with international benchmarks.
+
+The second phase was relatively short, consisting of forming the hypothesis theory. This was the most interesting part where the teams brainstormed about what could be the possible reasons for the identified bottlenecks and recommended possible solutions.
+
+The third part consisted of validating the secondary research and our hypothesis through primary interviews with different stakeholders. This part was the most challenging as getting insights from very short calls is quite difficult.
+
+# Work Culture
+
+![pic](/images/posts/chinmaya-chawla-2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+As for the work culture, the people at PwC were very helpful at every step right from onboarding till the LWD. Although the life of a consultant is very hectic, the team still took out time to get on video calls having chats over coffee. I was treated like any other employee in the team. Sometimes, my insights and work went right into the client-ready deck, which felt very nice. Moreover, my team recommended to my people manager for an extension of my internship by one month.
+
+# Way Ahead and Key Learnings
+
+As I mentioned earlier, this internship consolidated my interest in management consulting. This experience not only helped me see corporate life but also insights into how the life of a consultant looks like. In a nutshell, the experience was very enriching for me. 
+I am pleased to share with you all that I have a Pre-Internship Offer (PIO) from PwC India. Thanks for reading. Feel free to contact me in case of any questions or comments.

_posts/2020-09-29-summer-diaries-deep-behal.md

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: Bombay Shirt Company"
+image: "deep-behal.jpg"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Deep Behal"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+This summer, I worked at Bombay Shirt Company as an intern in their product team. Launched in 2012, Bombay Shirt Company is the first online custom shirt brand in India. Since their inception, they have operated primarily offline with 12 stores in India, one in New York, and one in Dubai. But recently they decided to ramp up their online presence, automate their supply chain, and use technology to transform the offline experience in their stores completely.
+
+# Getting there
+
+I want to preface this by talking a little about Product Management as a career option straight out of college. One has to  understand that Product Management is currently a niche in the Indian startup ecosystem. There are three primary reasons for this (nonexhaustive obviously)
+
+1. 	Only recently this title has been adopted industry-wide until a few years back there didn’t exist a designated Product team in many firms. Traditionally the work of a PM was handled by different teams and wasn’t very organized. Due to this the individuals who became the early Indian product managers were ones who had worked in domains like tech, business, design, marketing, etc
+
+2. 	Given that having a Product team requires the evolution of a firm’s structure and working and firms don’t necessarily evolve in the same way or with the same pace, the role of a Product Manager highly varies from firm to firm
+
+3. 	In countries like the US, firms recognized the advantage of hiring fresh graduates in Associate Product Manager programs some years back, and as a result, firms like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla have very coveted APM programs. Only very recently have Indian startups started to adopt such programs
+
+Thus it’s essential to recognize that opportunities for Product Management are very limited straight out of college and as a result, however “cool” Product Management sounds, students considering this as a career option should be extremely careful and mentally prepared for having many panic attacks at the thought of having a very bleak future (or maybe that’s just me lol)
+
+It’s my firm belief that the primary purpose of an internship is to find out what you ‘don’t’ want to do in life. So, after having a great experience at my second-year internship with the product team of Zee5, I was fairly sure that Product management was something I wanted to do in the near future
+
+(note: you have to keep in mind that the things you’ll want in life are always going to be malleable and will change based on your immediate circumstances, so it’s always better to plan for the ‘near future’ so that you can deal with unexpected changes in life)
+
+# Getting there (really this time)
+
+Landing internships in product management is not a straightforward job and there is no sure shot way to get an internship. But the way that seems to be efficient for most people is using LinkedIn. I started preparing a list of firms in mid-January while keeping many parameters in mind. Some of these were:
+1. **The sector of the firm.** I was particularly fascinated by B2C (Business to Customer) firms that were primarily driven to provide services to average customers. This includes E-commerce firms like Amazon, Fintech firms like Paytm, Concierge service firms like Urban Company, etc
+
+2. **The products** they have,especially important as being excited about a product is essential in being able to give your best and learn the most
+
+3. **The Product team.** Making meaningful connections is extremely important not just for future networking but for being able to seek mentorship. Hence, it’s important to try to gauge at who can act as great mentors in Product teams of firms that you are applying in
+
+4. History of hiring interns or freshers for full-time jobs, to be able to calibrate your expectations
+
+After having finalized my list, I started connecting with people at the highest product positions in both the HR and Product teams of these firms. After this, it was all about striking conversations and perseverance. By the first week of March, I had interviews set up with many excellent start-ups, and things were looking really nice for a change.
+
+But that’s when the Covid-19 situation in India was starting to become a crisis. Suddenly I was back home and all my interviews were canceled. I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t try to do anything else in hopes for things getting better for at least a month (was just living in denial)
+
+But once things got fairly certain that remote internships are the best things we can hope for I started seeking out firms to see if they were hiring. Unsurprisingly most had frozen hiring for at least a quarter. Luckily when I spoke to my manager during my Zee5 internship, he told me all about how he had quit Zee5 and was now the Chief Product Officer at BSC. After a lengthy discussion, he offered a remote internship at BSC with their product team (Remember when I spoke about the importance of making meaningful connections?)
+
+# Work at BSC
+
+The business side of BSC was pretty dead. Due to the lockdown restrictions in Maharashtra, their entire supply chain was forced to come at a halt. Seeing these conditions, the folks at BSC decided to ramp up the entirety of their development. This involved redoing their entire website, finetuning their measurement algorithms, digitizing manual aspects of their payment’s infrastructure and expanding their online infrastructure to account for migrating from just selling shirts to different custom apparel and accessories.
+
+I worked on two projects in my three months of working with them.
+
+1. 	I drove the entire revamp of the ‘Store Stylist Journey’ on the ERP system. For some context, each BSC store has a few stylists who would assist individuals who would come to their stores to customize shirts to suit their needs. Stylists used iPads to show customers various customization options. But this journey was extremely disjointed and very different from the website journey. My responsibility was to do a complete overhaul of this journey to make it more seamless by replacing physical measurement by their proprietary measurement algorithm, integrating payments, and changing the UI/UX of this process to closely resemble that of the website to increase customer confidence, allowing for better online migration. I was solely responsible for conceptualizing the user flow and wireframes after conducting stakeholder interviews, and I led a team of UI/UX designers and developers to build solutions
+
+2. 	I also led the integration of a new mPOS payment provider for the 12 offline stores across India and the integration of a new Payment Gateway. They gave better opportunities for seamless integration, better reporting, and automating the refund process, saving 30+ manhours per refund
+Remote work was quite challenging and not as enriching as I’d hoped, as the most critical aspect of product management is being able to communicate with various stakeholders not only within but also outside the firm. But what did make the experience better was the fact that the team at BSC was accommodating and approachable
+
+# Key pieces of gyaan
+
+1. 	Networking and making connections is a skill that comes super in handy
+
+2. 	Nothing is more valuable than the ability to grind and persevere
+
+3. 	As cliched as it sounds your career should be at an intersection between what makes you happy and what makes you money. So use your internships wisely. Try to find that intersection, I guess? But know that it’s fine if you aren’t able to find it very soon. All this social media crap about “summer sorted” and “machau” may give you the perception that others have successfully found their intersection but trust me everyone is just winging it. Take your time

_posts/2020-10-07-summer-diaries-texas-instruments.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: Texas Instruments"
+image: "mayank-mehta-3.jpg"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Mayank Mehta"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+I am pursuing my bachelors in Electronics and Communication Engineering. I developed a keen interest in the courses being taught in the department. Also, there was a laboratory course where we were introduced to the tool (Cadence Virtuoso) that gives practical insight into the working of semiconductor devices and circuits. During that time, I already knew that Texas Instruments is one of the best companies working with semiconductor devices. So, I started aiming to intern there.
+
+I was already in touch with the seniors who secured their internships at Texas Instruments last year. I enquired about the main topics that I should focus on and started preparing for that.
+Most of the topics are usually covered in the departmental courses, so I knew my first plan of action. 
+
+
+# SELECTION PROCESS
+
+Texas Instruments visits our campus every year in the beginning, so I applied via TPO. The application process was as follows:
+
+1. TPO shares the job profile, stipend, and other details to the students on the Placement Portal.
+2. Students can apply with their resume on the Portal itself.
+3. The company then conducts a test. The test was of one and a half hours and comprised of 3 sections - Analog, Digital, and Aptitude. The duration for each section was limited, and there was negative marking for wrong questions also. Attempting maximum questions with highest accuracy would be the key to perform well.
+4. Then the shortlist was announced by the TPO and soon, the interview was scheduled.
+5. There were three rounds in the interview process, one for the Digital domain, the second for the Analog domain, and the third was an HR round. The important thing is that you should be confident and interactive with the Interviewer. They are not here to judge your skills and knowledge only, they would also focus on your attitude and your approach to the problems.
+6. After the interview was over, the interviewer talked with the selected candidates and asked them about their preference in case they were selected for both Analog and Digital domains. The result was soon uploaded by the TPO as well.
+
+The eligibility criteria were that the student is pursuing either Electronics or Electrical Engineering as their majors and should have a CGPA higher than 7.
+
+
+# GETTING THERE
+
+For preparation, I would suggest that you have a good knowledge of the ECE department’s courses. Digital Logic Circuits, CMOS Circuits, Op-Amps, Sequential Circuits, MOS Device Characteristics, RC Circuits, and Analog MOS Circuits are the main topics to focus on.
+The books you can refer to for these topics are Digital Design - by M. Morris Mano and Fundamentals of Microelectronics - by Behzad Razavi.
+
+Apart from this, if you have any hands-on experience of the tools or have done any project related to the field, it is considered a plus point.
+
+Texas Instruments in one of the leading companies in the world working with semiconductors and electronics. The headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas and its office in India is situated in Bangalore.
+
+![pic](/images/posts/mayank-mehta-2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+A picture of the Campus which I wanted to visit but couldn’t because of the Pandemic.
+
+
+# WORK
+
+My project was to design a failsafe GPIO (General Purpose Input Output) working at 1.8V and verify it across the PVT (Process Voltage Temperature) variations. It started with a literature study of the concepts and working of different blocks and familiarisation with the tools, specifications, and requirements for the design.
+
+In a CMOS circuit design, the main parameters are performance, area, and power. My goal was to achieve a significant decrease in any of these parameters.
+
+The work culture at Texas Instruments is very supportive. Everyone is easily approachable and helpful to the interns. Due to COVID, the internship was remote and therefore, many great experiences were missed by us. But the HR team worked very hard to make sure that we get the best that is possible. They organized virtual meeting sessions with leaders across the globe. They even organized sessions with some NCGs (New College Graduates) who joined TI this year only, and they shared their Internship experience with us and how they converted it into a successful PPO.
+
+The work hours were flexible due to the Work From Home scenario. But the emphasis was laid on the deadlines. The nature of work is relaxed, but it demands that you take maximum interest in what you are doing and give your best.
+
+Before starting the internship, the company allots a mentor to each of the interns who not only supervises your work but also helps you get acquainted with the work culture and guides you along the path. But at the same time, he/she expects you to be proactive with your thoughts and take the lead.
+
+![pic](/images/posts/mayank-mehta-1.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+A picture was taken with the team on the Webex Platform as it was Virtual this whole time.
+
+I learned a lot of technical stuff and the details that we should focus on when working on a real industrial project that will serve millions of customers. One should expect to learn a lot of theoretical and practical knowledge on how to design a circuit from scratch and the technicalities that we have to take care of while developing and testing it.

_posts/2020-10-15-interns.md

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Summer Sorted (?) 2020-21"
+tags: [wona]
+category: Careers
+image: intern.jpg
+excerpt: "Roorkee is a nice place to be."
+
+---
+
+Roorkee is a nice place to be.
+
+It has its ups and downs, much like any other place on this planet, but is overall a warm (figuratively speaking), amicable place to spend your college years. After 2-4 years of the rigorous monotony that is JEE, Roorkee comes with an opportunity to embrace your idiosyncrasies and explore your own individuality. There is no longer a uniform curriculum, no precise metric for progress, and no clear goals other than the ones you define for yourself.
+
+Amidst this new found freedom and the plethora of possibilities that come with it, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters to oneself, and what path one wants their journey to take once the dreamy undergrad life comes to an end. Internships are important not only for the compulsory credits but also because they provide students with irreplaceable real world experience, essential networking and above all a chance to better understand their interests & inclinations and reconsider their successive career steps accordingly.
+
+In 2020,  the Covid tremors have affected a number of firms and policy changes around the world. In the following analysis, Watch Out! aims to highlight how this shift has affected internship opportunities for the batch of 2022, with some educated guesses about how some of these changes may or may not carry over into the upcoming placement season or subsequent internship drives.
+
+<h2>Talking Numbers</h2>
+
+The on-campus internship season starts around mid-august and is reserved exclusively for pre-final year students. This analysis considers data upto 8th October 2020. Companies continue to visit campus until around mid-february, but drawing from previous years’ data, a major chunk of the total hirings would have been wrapped up until this point. Thus this data can be extrapolated for fairly accurate insights into the overall internship scenario for the current academic session. Regardless, any projections made hereafter are little more than educated speculations made by Watch Out! based on data from previous years and should not be considered as concrete claims 
+
+**Number of recruiters: 91**
+Compared to a total of 134 from 2019-20. But with 4 months remaining for more recruiters to show up, this number may very well catch up.
+
+**Hirings: 278**
+Based on channelI notices from 2019-20 (which cover most, though not all companies coming to campus), the period from August 1st to 22nd October accounted for approximately **70%** of the total seats offered. Assuming similar trends, the total hirings for this session are projected to reach anywhere from 350-400 by the end of the session, as compared to 421 from 2019-20
+
+**Pre Internship Offers: 7**, compared to 5 in 2019-20
+
+<h2>Crunching Numbers</h2>
+
+Contrary to initial speculations on what effects a global pandemic might have on employment opportunities around the world[1], as well as survey statistics indicating a diminishing scope for prospective interns [[2]], the on-campus internships in IITR seem to be more or less unperturbed.
+
+A closer look however, reveals a peculiar shift in hiring trends.
+
+Out of the **68** (The remaining 23 have yet to come out with results) firms that have hired at Roorkee so far, only **49** (If different positions from the same company are to be considered separate) are recurring visitors from last year. But these **49** entities account for **222 of the 278** offers so far. Comparing only these to their previous visits, the number of hires has gone down from a total of 235 to 222. A lot of them have cut back on the number of interns hired, with some hiring upto 50% less interns than last time. Adobe also made a notable decrease in the number of direct offers to students excelling in academics, moving down from 16 to only 2 this year.
+
+<iframe class="highcharts-iframe" src="https://app.everviz.com/embed/DGFHZVinL/" title="Chart: Recurring recruiters" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 500px"></iframe>
+Note: Profiles for some companies have been clubbed together for the sake of visualization
+
+So why does the big picture look undisturbed?
+
+The reason for the relatively insignificant decrease (13) in the total number of offers amongst the recurring firms can actually be attributed to a handful of tech giants upping their intake by upto 100%
+
+Revisiting companies opening up with more positions/profiles than before, leading to more diversity in profile distribution among the interns.
+
+A number of new small-mid level firms decided to come to Roorkee (Zomato, Disney Hotstar, Codenation, Citrix to name a few).
+
+While not much can be concluded from point 1, the latter two may very well contribute to positive trends in placements as well. Whether by God’s grace or due efforts by the Administration and TPO, IIT Roorkee seems to be doing just fine in this regard.
+
+Similar trends have been observed in sister IITs as well[[3]][[4]]
+
+<h2>Logistics</h2>
+
+To the chagrin of all R-esidents, the ‘on-campus’ internship season wasn’t really conducted on campus, as all of us are confined to our homes with no weekend outings or late night snack breaks to ease the deathless pain. As such, all tests and interviews were conducted virtually which called for robust infrastructure for evaluations, instantaneous updates and super secure proctoring solutions ;). For the most part, IIT Roorkee delivered well
+
+However, this being a first for both IITR and the companies conducting their tests, some issues were bound to arise. 
+
+For one, the privilege gap within the student populace widens as those without access to a stable internet connection were placed at a significant disadvantage, both during the internship season and in the context of the semester as a whole.
+
+Secondly, a number of students reported technical issues during tests, such as the websites freezing, or compilers failing altogether. The public slack workspace did help, but these hiccups still led to a lot of unnecessary delays.
+
+The usual problems with the lack of diversity in profiles, continue to persist. With the establishment of Design Studio, Finance Club, DSG and VLG, it’s clear that the student community is striving to expand into a number of different fields, but this enthusiasm is yet to be reflected in the profile distribution amongst recruiters. 
+
+<iframe class="highcharts-iframe" src="https://app.everviz.com/embed/LlmjXBy0l/" title="Chart: Profiles" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 500px"></iframe>
+
+Some change was however observed this year. While software and IT continue to dominate, a decent number of finance positions were seen. We also saw design offers on day 1 with a monthly stipend of 200k (Sprinklr Product design and Visual design)
+
+<h2>The Free World</h2>
+
+Most branches in IITR have a compulsory 2-3 credit course in their final year, which requires students to have completed an internship in their pre-final year. Yet, the on-campus hires for previous years constitute less than half of the total batch strength.
+
+“But what of the remaining pilgrims”, you ask?
+The answer is, there’s a free world beyond the boundaries of our beloved campus. A free world full of opportunities for off-campus applicants, research internships and more. These off-the-book hires are what might get overlooked when people talk about the internship season, as these opportunities have been hit much worse than the stats on channelI would have you believe.
+
+Although the number of companies hiring remote interns has gone up by about 24% during the pandemic[[5]] (with some like Facebook going completely virtual with their summer internship program), a number of firms still choose to go with either in-office interns or a mix of the two. This spells trouble for anyone with aspirations for a machax summer abroad.
+
+<h2>Not so free anymore</h2>
+With increased travel restrictions around the world, which may not be fully lifted even as infection rates begin to subside, a number of companies have either outright refused to hire international interns, or stated that citizens will be given preference. This means a severe disadvantage for anyone applying to foreign positions.
+ 
+<h2>Perils of Research</h2>
+Fortunately, major research programs for undergrads, such as DAAD, WISE, MITACS GRI, continue to function normally. But the situation is highly volatile for those in contact with advisors through individual mailing. This is based on anecdotal data and shall therefore be taken with a pinch of salt but a number of professors who don’t wish to hire remote interns have started to ignore or reject applications from international students under the current situation. A significant number of students from the batch of 2021 also had their offers revoked for similar reasons.
+
+<h2>MAGA</h2>
+In the case of the U.S specifically, the problems run a lot deeper than a bunch of corporates deciding to hire traditional interns. A series of proposed changes to H1B visa regulations have recently been approved, making work visas much more restrictive[[6]]. H1B visa can only be used for staff in specialty occupations. Until now, foreigners with a bachelor’s degree were eligible for specialty occupations. However, now, they must specialize in their exact field. For instance, an electrical engineering major cannot fill a software engineering position. The open-for-all tech culture of IIT Roorkee is likely to take a major hit from this decision, as a significant chunk of opportunities is now permanently closed for students with non-core interests. The new regulations may be even more troublesome when it comes to niche engineering fields like Artificial intelligence or Cybersecurity[[7]] as not many universities offer dedicated courses in these disciplines and the positions are usually filled by professionals from loosely related fields.
+
+The combined effects of these three factors, highlight an underlying issue with the idea of relying solely on the campus internship statistics to decide if the season was a success. Even if the numbers somehow manage to catch up with last year, it won’t be enough to make up for the drop in off-campus opportunities. With so many great options being lost to Covid, compromises are inevitable.
+
+All that being said, Roorkee is undoubtedly doing well against all odds. We hope that internship season 2020-21 will serve as essential experience to be leveraged for a smoother placement experience for everyone. Things aren’t perfect and the ideal internship/placement season is still a ways to go but we believe we’re on the right path. Until then, best of luck to everyone that’s chasing the high of having your peers post on your timeline, the ultimate expression of approval there is. 
+**#SummerSorted**
+
+
+<h2>References</h2>
+
+[1]: https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/covid-19-internships-get-cancelled-or-go-virtual-because-of-pandemic/story-ZFGb78WvQl8Pfj5LBYMm4I.html
+**1.** [https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/covid-19-internships-get-cancelled-or-go-virtual-because-of-pandemic/story-ZFGb78WvQl8Pfj5LBYMm4I.html](https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/covid-19-internships-get-cancelled-or-go-virtual-because-of-pandemic/story-ZFGb78WvQl8Pfj5LBYMm4I.html){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[2]: https://www.glassdoor.com/research/internship-hiring-coronavirus/
+**2.** [https://www.glassdoor.com/research/internship-hiring-coronavirus/](https://www.glassdoor.com/research/internship-hiring-coronavirus/){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[3]: https://www.business-standard.com/article/jobs/iit-delhi-ends-phase-1-of-virtual-internship-hiring-with-over-300-offers-120092901442_1.html
+**3.** [https://www.business-standard.com/article/jobs/iit-delhi-ends-phase-1-of-virtual-internship-hiring-with-over-300-offers-120092901442_1.html](https://www.business-standard.com/article/jobs/iit-delhi-ends-phase-1-of-virtual-internship-hiring-with-over-300-offers-120092901442_1.html){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[4]: https://www.business-standard.com/article/education/152-students-from-iit-madras-get-internship-offers-from-20-companies-120090700553_1.html
+**4.** [https://www.business-standard.com/article/education/152-students-from-iit-madras-get-internship-offers-from-20-companies-120090700553_1.html](https://www.business-standard.com/article/education/152-students-from-iit-madras-get-internship-offers-from-20-companies-120090700553_1.html){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[5]: https://blog.internshala.com/2020/06/intern-hiring-trends-covid-19-2/
+**5.** [https://blog.internshala.com/2020/06/intern-hiring-trends-covid-19-2/](https://blog.internshala.com/2020/06/intern-hiring-trends-covid-19-2/){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[6]: https://qz.com/india/1914128/how-donald-trumps-new-h-1b-visa-tweaks-will-hurt-immigrants/
+**6.** [https://qz.com/india/1914128/how-donald-trumps-new-h-1b-visa-tweaks-will-hurt-immigrants/](https://qz.com/india/1914128/how-donald-trumps-new-h-1b-visa-tweaks-will-hurt-immigrants/){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+[7]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-announces-overhaul-of-h-1b-visa-program-11602017434
+**7.** [https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-announces-overhaul-of-h-1b-visa-program-11602017434](https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-announces-overhaul-of-h-1b-visa-program-11602017434){: style="text-decoration:underline; color:blue"}
+
+*Picture Credits: Kritagya Nayyar*

_posts/2020-10-20-filter-coffee-nipun-gupta.md

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Filter coffee: Nipun Gupta"
+image: nipun.jpg
+tags: [wona, column]
+excerpt: "Nipun gupta (batch of 2020), a.k.a fsociety can safely be considered to be amongst the best student hackers in India. He first discovered his love for understanding and breaking down systems shortly after coming to Roorkee.."
+category: filtercoffee
+---
+
+*Nipun gupta (batch of 2020), a.k.a fsociety can safely be considered to be amongst the best student hackers in India. He first discovered his love for understanding and breaking down systems shortly after coming to Roorkee. Fast forward countless national and international CTF (cybersecurity competitions) wins as part of team InfoSecIITR and a smashing research intern, he’s now working as a cybersecurity researcher at Payatu. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation with the elusive haxxor.*
+
+**Watch Out! -**  In an environment where programming, and by extension tech, is almost synonymous to competitive programming and software development, cybersecurity seems to be the road less taken. What was it that nudged you towards a career in this surprisingly niche field?
+
+**Nipun -** When I first started playing CTFs ( specifically https://backdoor.sdslabs.co), I never thought of cybersecurity as a career,  but rather as a hobby which later turned into a profession. During my initial 1-1.5 years, I was playing CTFs just because they were fun and I was learning a lot about hacking and how computers work in general. Around this time ( my 2nd - 3rd year in college ), we were playing lots of CTFs, both online and on-site, that's when I realized that there are a lot of opportunities, and I got involved with a few of these.
+
+**Watch Out! -** Setting aside the leet haxor ‘fsociety’ for a minute, what is it that Nipun Gupta gets up to in his free time? Any crazy exploits (pun intended) you would like to share from your college life?
+
+**Nipun -** In my free time, I usually read blogs or waste my time on twitter, youtube or netflix. When I am not on the internet, I usually play snooker or travel with my friends.
+One crazy “exploit” that I would like to share is how I “pwned” the swimming pool with my friends. This happened when we were in our first year and one of my friends came up with the idea of jumping over the fence of the swimming pool at night for a quick swimming session. At around 8 pm we went to count the number of guards around that area and to find out the possible entry point. After figuring that out, we came back at 12:30 and jumped over the fence. At that moment, one of us went ahead to look if there were any more guards nearby, but it took him a few minutes and we thought that he ran away. As we were already scared, we started running from there too. One of my friend was already swimming by that time, and as soon as he found out, he jumped over the fence with just one hand (his other hand was fractured at that time) and ran to grab his cycle which was in front of the main building stairs. He was so scared that he forgot to wear his clothes, and was half-naked in front of the main building stairs. This is probably the funniest and craziest thing we have ever done in college. I dare you too try that something (without the naked running of course)
+
+**Watch Out! -** You came to Roorkee in 2016, the same year that InfosecIITR was founded and have been an integral part of it ever since. How did it help you in your endeavours and what is your most memorable experience with the group?
+  
+**Nipun -** Just a correction here, I joined InfoSecIITR in 2017. Without any doubt, InfoSecIITR played a huge role in helping me get an internship and a job in cybersecurity. As I told earlier, we used to play a lot of CTFs during that time and most of the skills I have are because of those weekend CTF sessions when we used to play them overnight. I certainly learned a huge amount of things from my other teammates ( mostly when I used to act as a rubber ducky to help them solve the challenge they were stuck at). 
+It is hard selecting just one memorable experience with the group because we traveled a lot for on-site CTFs and every trip was somehow memorable. But one that tops the list was CSAW-2018. It was my first on-site CTF and we (Paras, Faizal, Aditya, and me ) went there with very little hope that we would be in the top 3 ranks, but to our surprise, we stood 1st in the Indian region. There was also a moment during that CTF when we were 1st in the world on the leaderboard when Paras and Faizal solved two challenges. We were so excited that we ran to the CTF arena to click some pictures of InfoSecIITR being top on the leaderboard in the world. The whole CTF was a really good experience. 
+In addition to this experience, we had some really fun time in Gujarat , Bangalore, Goa , InterIIT and many other places.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** You interned in cybersecurity at SEFCOM Labs at Arizona State University. How was your experience?
+
+**Nipun -**  I had a really amazing experience working at SEFCOM. To be honest, before that internship, my experience in security mostly revolved around CTFs and exploitation, but during that period of 2-2.5 months I learned a ton about real world security and vulnerability research, which further helped me gain a larger understanding of the current state of security research. The professors and my team there was amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed my work. Apart from the professional experience, my personal experience was amazing too as I engaged myself in travelling to a few amazing cities, going on hikes, experiencing their culture and food etc.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -**  What are the differences in opportunities present for a student to pursue cybersecurity as a career in India and abroad? Being from a non circuital branch with a less than mind-blowing CGPA, did it affect your options in any way?
+
+**Nipun -** Currently the opportunities in security are increasing at a very fast pace. The job opportunities are increasing with not many people to fill that gap, that's why we can see a sudden increase in CTFs in India organized by DSCI or a few companies to hire people in security. When I applied for the job and the internship, my branch and CGPA were not considered during the interview round, so I think it didn't affect my options in any way. But if I would have considered for masters or Phd, then these things would have mattered. 
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** According to you, how is the environment at IIT Roorkee for a student interested in cybersecurity with respect to the opportunities available? Are there any specific changes, administrational or otherwise, that you would like to see take place in the future?
+
+**Nipun -** I can confidently say that IIT Roorkee has the best security culture among all the IITs and NITs. I sincerely thank the seniors who started the group. But in terms of opportunities I think we can do a bit better. There are a lot of opportunities for security but when it comes to looking for a job or internship students here are mostly on their own. Last year we organized a CTF during InterIIT Tech meet, which was a really good initiative. After that Tech-meet a few other IITs started their own security group. I would really appreciate it if the placement team could reach out to the few places that are hiring people in cyber security, that would really give some students a sigh of relief.
+
+**Watch Out! -** As opposed to typical coding contests, a CTF can last anywhere from 12-48 hours at a stretch and requires consistent effort from the entire team; throughout the duration to come out on top. What keeps you going through the sleepless nights and painful glaring contests with your computer screen?
+
+**Nipun -** I can surely say that it is not easy OR healthy to stare at your computer screen for 12-48 hours. But when we used to play as a team, I had some equally dedicated hackers along my side ready to stay up for the whole night just to reverse-engineer a shitty Virtual Machine written in assembly or to read a file from a computer system just using compiler flags ( shaddy :P ) just to get some Internet Points, that's what kept me going through those nights. Those points were a dopamine hit for us. 
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** Now that you have graduated, what is the one thing that you’re going to miss the most about Roorkee? Having lost almost a complete semester to a certain global pandemic, is there anything you wish you could’ve done before graduation but didn’t get a chance to?
+
+     
+**Nipun -** There are a lot of things that I am going to miss about this place but the one thing that I will miss the most is the campus life. Apart from that I will miss the friends that I made here, the internet, my room, college fests, easy trips to rishikesh, InfoSecIITR meetings, etc.
+As a part of our group we always discussed that the group InfoSecIITR had a curse which disallowed us from travelling abroad for any CTF finals, even after we qualified in the first round. In our third year it was mostly because the CTF organizers were not able to sponsor our travel and stay. But in our final year we finally qualified to 3 events abroad ( Singapore, Vietnam and Russia ) and the organizers were sponsoring travel and stay, but due to this pandemic everything was cancelled. We all were really looking forward to these trips, but were unlucky. I hope InfoSecIITR makes some international presence sometime soon. 
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** Can you share some details about your present work, future goals and so on?
+
+
+**Nipun -** I am currently working at Payatu, as a Security Researcher. My area of interest is exploitation, so my current research is inclined towards browser exploits and VM escapes. We are currently trying to find bugs in related open source applications by fuzzing various components of these applications. I don't have any solid future plans for myself right now, but I want to increase my knowledge and experience in fuzzing and exploitation. For those of you having trouble understanding, I am trying to hack some apps.
+
+
+**Watch Out! -** Customary question: What do you think of Watch Out!
+
+**Nipun -** I have been following a few categories - tech, summer diaries and memoirs. I personally love reading memoirs, but other articles are equally amazing as well. I think you guys are doing an amazing job and I hope to see the same in the future. 

_posts/2020-10-20-newlhc.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "The Innaugration of the New LHC, HVAC and STP"
+tags: [wona, column]
+category: bigstory
+image: newlhc.png
+author: "Shruti Gour, Jigyasa Kumari, Spandan Gera"
+excerpt: "The New Lecture Hall Complex (LHC), a sewage treatment plant (STP) and a chiller plant (HVAC) were inaugurated on the 13th of October, 2020 in an online event."
+---
+
+The New Lecture Hall Complex (LHC), a sewage treatment plant (STP) and a chiller plant (HVAC) were inaugurated on the 13th of October, 2020 in an online event. The event witnessed the presence of the Union Minister for Education, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Mr Sanjoy Dhotre, Minister of State for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology as the guests of honor. 
+
+The Dean of Infrastructure, Prof Umesh Sharma, described upgrades in the infrastructure that would bring them on par with global standards. 
+
+# New Lecture Hall Complex (LHC)
+
+The new LHC has been benchmarked in terms of design and utilities it shall be providing. The main attraction of the complex is its sustainable design with the use of daylight and natural ventilation with the building orientation planned to complement it.
+
+The construction of the LHC started in 2016 and cost about INR 80.25 cores. With a built-up area of 13,254 sq. m, the building has the capacity to accommodate up to 4480 individuals. The capacities of individual room classes are given below. 
+
+![pic1](/images/posts/lhc-table.png){: style="width:40%;height:auto;"}
+
+All classrooms are centrally air-conditioned and are equipped with state of the art amenities like audio and video conferencing, digital podium, laser projector, motorised projector screen and digital writing board.
+
+# Centralised Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning plant (HVAC)
+
+This plant has been built to cater to the air conditioning requirements of three buildings - Lecture Hall Complexes-l and ll, and the Convocation Hall. It uses Chilled Water Cooling technology and the project cost is estimated at around INR 14.35 crores. (Source: The Pioneer)
+
+The main highlight of this project is the ‘control through remote’ mode via the Building Management System. The system has been designed considering capacity optimization and energy efficiency.
+
+# Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)
+
+With a capacity of 3 million litres a day the STP is located in Solani Kunj near the C-class Club in the IIT Roorkee campus. The plant has a built-up area of 1,800 sq. m, and its estimated construction cost is INR 27.73 crores. The STP is based on a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) for the treatment of wastewater. It is equipped with a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA ). It uses a fill-and-draw cyclical protocol including aeration and non-aeration sequencing. The system provides high-quality effluent for safe discharge or non portables reuse witty minimum space and power requirements. The unique feature of IIT Roorkee STP is the additional odour control and advanced tertiary treatment facility due to its settling in the residential area. 
+ 
+The Minister for Education expressed his immense pride in IIT Roorkee's progress as an institute. He appealed to the Institute to produce viable methods to reduce human-animal conflicts that have become common in surrounding areas and the Himalayas and to contribute to scientific-social responsibility.
+
+The Director, Prof Chaturvedi pointed towards ongoing infrastructure projects at IIT Roorkee - the HSS and Math buildings, a faculty housing project (expected to be completed within 9 months) and a new hostel for students. Additionally, a renovated Chemistry department, the Western Academic Block and another student hostel are currently in the design stage. The office of the Associate Dean of Infrastructure Projects has been created to speed up the progress of infrastructure development. 
+
+The Institute is continuing its trend of upgradation and development of campus infrastructure. We hope to make the best of these developments, once we return to the campus.
+
+Image Credits: Sanjeevani Marcha
+
+
+

_posts/2020-10-31-prof-john.md

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "In Conversation With Professor John Schwarz"
+image: profjohn.jpeg
+tags: [wona]
+category: verbatim
+excerpt: "John H. Schwarz is the Harold Brown Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy"
+---
+
+*John H. Schwarz is the Harold Brown Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy. Dr. Schwarz majored in mathematics at Harvard (BA, 1962) and then went to UC Berkeley for graduate work in theoretical physics. He is regarded as one of the founders of string theory. His work with Prof. Michael Green led to the so-called “first superstring revolution”. He has received various awards throughout his career. He received the Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in 1989. He shared the Fundamental Physics Prize with Michael Green "for opening new perspectives on quantum gravity and the unification of forces." in 2013.
+On 17th October 2020, Prof. Schwarz was invited by the Institute Lecture Series Committee,IITR to deliver a webinar lecture as part of the “The Mysteries of Universe” lecture series . The topic of the lecture was “The birth and Development of Superstring Theory”. Watch Out! had the chance to inquire into his thoughts about theoretical physics and find out more about his journey through his years of research.*
+
+
+**Watch Out!**: What inspired you to pursue theoretical physics? At what age did you know that this was what you wanted to do?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: As an undergraduate I majored in math. However, during my junior year I decided to apply for graduate school in physics. I felt that describing the real world was a more exciting challenge that would utilize my math skills.
+
+**Watch Out!**: Being one of the pioneers of string theory, what were your feelings every time you had a breakthrough, for example, superstring theory?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: Two examples particularly stand out in my memory. When Scherk and I realized in 1974 that string theories are quantum gravity theories that could also describe the other forces, I was very excited. At that point I was convinced (correctly, as it turned out) that I knew what I would be working on for the rest of my career. My collaboration with Michael Green culminated in a breakthrough in 1984 (the anomaly cancellation result) that was also very exciting.
+
+**Watch Out!**: Both your parents are PhDs in different fields. Do you feel having parents from a scientific background gave you an edge as a researcher?  
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: My parents were very supportive, though they did not try to push me in any particular direction. Being raised in a family in which science was appreciated was certainly a big factor in making me the person I became. I feel very fortunate.
+
+**Watch Out!**: In one of your interviews, you said, “discovery of supersymmetry would be more profound than life on Mars” why did you say this?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: Perhaps that was a silly thing to say. However, I do believe that the discovery of supersymmetry would have a revolutionary impact on particle physics – both theory and experiment.
+
+**Watch Out!**: Is the string theory our only hope at present to lead to a unified theory?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: I am unaware of any promising alternatives, though there are people trying.
+
+**Watch Out!**: What drives the scientific pursuit on a personal level for scientists? Is it curiosity and intellectual challenge, or does it include the urge to be remembered?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: I think it is almost always the former and that is the way it should be.
+
+**Watch Out!**: If you weren’t a theoretical physicist, what do you think you would be doing?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: Probably mathematics.
+
+**Watch Out!**: Science will surely outlast humankind, but what do you think would be the next ‘holy grail’ of science once we reach the ‘theory of everything’? And do you see it happening anytime soon?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: Even if superstring theory is the correct fundamental theory, we are very far from a complete understanding of our physical Universe. Some features are a matter of chance and others have deep explanations. It is not always clear which is which. In addition to accounting for particle physics, we also want to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe. This will require the guidance of our experimental and observational friends. I have no idea whether a complete understanding will ever be achieved. I don’t know what would come after that. Exobiology?
+
+**Watch Out!**: You mentioned in your talk that after the development of QCD (Quantum Chromodynamics), a community of several hundred practitioners was reduced to a handful, which of course, included you. What made you stick with it in those times?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: Scherk and I felt that such a beautiful mathematical structure must be good for something.  Once we thought in those terms, it was not hard to realize that it is a quantum theory of gravity.  This happened within a year of the widespread acceptance of QCD. It took a decade to  convince a significant part of the community that this was a promising direction to explore. The  support of Gell-Mann helped to bolster my self-confidence during that period.
+
+**Watch Out!**: In one of your talks in 2007, you stated that you did not consider gravity to be significant enough to incorporate in string theory till the mid-1970s. What made you propose the usage of string theory as the quantum theory of gravity?
+
+**Prof. John Schwarz**: As I discussed, string theory was originally developed to describe the strong nuclear force. In those days gravity was not studied by particle physicists, so it was not really on our minds. We knew that it is incredibly weak, and completely negligible, at nuclear and atomic scales. So the shift in viewpoint did not come easily. The discovery of QCD actually helped to motivate the search for another use of string theory.
+

_posts/2020-11-03-green-living-in-the-campus-community.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Green Living in the campus community: Eco Group IIT Roorkee"
+tags: [wona, column]
+category: bigstory
+image: ecogroup.jpg
+author: "Soma Gorai, Deepal Tiwari"
+excerpt: "Eco Group, IIT Roorkee is a group of enthusiastic trendsetters working together to integrate sustainability in IIT R and inculcate Green Living in the campus community. The group functions under the aegis of the Institute Green Committee"
+---
+
+**Eco Group, IIT Roorkee** is a group of enthusiastic trendsetters working together to integrate sustainability in IIT R and inculcate Green Living in the campus community. The group functions under the aegis of the Institute Green Committee. Their vision is to bring sustainability to the campus by *brainstorming new ideas which reduce the carbon footprint of the campus by reducing the unnecessary usage and reusing and recycling resources wherever feasible.*
+
+Watch Out! spoke to the members of the ECO Group:
+
+*“The idea for the group came up during the lecture class of environmental engineering when the professor was informing us about how nature is being devastated by our reckless actions. We together observed that the very place where we live required some changes. The first rudimentary problem we observed was lack of Integrated Solid Waste management on our campus. Segregation of waste at source was lacking on the campus. We developed a model to segregate, transport and treat the waste generated and proposed to install separate bins for inorganic and organic waste inside hostels. The proposal was accepted by the Institute Green Committee whose chairman is the institute Director. Currently, the bins have been installed at Rajendra Bhawan, and have been planned to be installed in other locations in the campus as well. The Organic waste collected will be used to make compost with the help of Rotary dump composter in the institute, while the inorganic waste will be sent for recycling. The second basic problem which we discovered was no management for Electronic waste. At present, separate bins have been installed all around the campus especially for Electronic waste by an electronic waste recycling company.”*
+
+The ECO Group also conducted an enlightening series on Sustainability for the IITR junta, which was received with great appreciation. The series saw three prominent figures in the field of sustainability and waste management share their experiences and knowledge.
+
+The first talk was delivered by **Ms Saloni Goel**, an alumna of IIT Delhi and the  London School of Economics. She led the sanitation work during Kumbh 2019, delivering an open defecation free, garbage-free, and odour-free mela. She won a Guinness World Record for undertaking massive sanitation. She is currently engaged as a Climate Change Specialist with the NITI Aayog.  The event was also graced by Professor Barzley of London School of Economics, who helped Ms Goel document her work for the Kumbh. 
+About sustainable solutions, she said *“Developing a technical solution is the first step in solving a problem. You’ve to go ahead and connect to the ecosystem so the solution is accepted and implemented.”*
+Ms Goel emphasised on the importance of **source segregation of waste.** In a poll conducted during the talk, most people agreed with the concept. However, *the majority of those who were polled weren't aware of the different bins for different wastes.*
+
+*“Waste management is still an unorganised sector - the ragpickers, kabadiwalas should be taught about safe and healthy waste management practices. Their health should be a priority. Proper waste management systems also generate jobs, in addition to being eco friendly. Though gradually, the government is working towards integrating proper waste management in the smart city models.”*
+
+The second speaker was **Mr Prabodha Acharya**, Chief Sustainability Officer of Jindal Steel Works, and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. He gave us a glimpse of the definition of sustainability for the corporate sector. He emphasised their vision of Economic, Social and Corporate governance, their ideology of meeting everyone’s needs and not compromising on the future requirements. *“Corporate sectors should focus on reducing their consumption of harmful plastics and improving their product’s sustainability,”* he said. 
+
+When asked about the idea of zero waste, he mentioned how it is technically not feasible to always recycle or possible to avoid by-products and treating them as feeders for other products is the most sustainable way to go.
+
+On how sustainability affects business, he said *“Sustainability boosts business growth - sustainability optimises the resources. Industries can produce more with less resources through a sustainable thought process.”*
+
+For the third event, **Mr Ashish Sachdeva** of Green Dream Foundation gave a presentation on Waste Management in India. He has given talks in Global Conference of Waste Management & Recycling (Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi), Global CSR Summit 2019 (Sarawak, Malaysia), and had also visited IIT Roorkee for iFest(2012) previously. He provided us with a lot of insights on the prevailing waste management issues in the country and the statistics of India as compared to other countries. Mr Sachdeva also discussed innovations using plastic in building roads, and the new EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) policy which will strengthen waste management policies making companies responsible for the recycling of plastic they produce. He also warned against feeding mixed waste into waste-to-energy plants, as they lead to the formation of toxic by-products which cause pollution.

_posts/2020-11-05-summer-diaries-harvard-university-and-iiit-delhi.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: " Summer Diaries: Harvard University and IIIT Delhi"
+image: "keerat.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Keerat"
+category: summer2020
+excerpt: ''
+---
+
+This Summer(and a little beyond that), I participated (remotely) in the capacity of a research intern in two research groups, at Harvard University and IIIT-Delhi. At Harvard, I was working at the Lichtman Lab, with Dr Jeff Lichtman while at IIITD, my work was in collaboration with Dr Tavpritesh Sethi and Prof Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, in their joint initiative for COVID-focussed research, CoronaActionIndia. 
+
+# Why these? 
+
+Being from a PCMB background in senior school, I was keen to identify a stream wherein I could work on Biological Systems using Mathematical and Computational tools. Having Civil Engineering as my major, I wasn’t too confident about the switch initially, but with a little push from some wonderful seniors on campus, I started exploring and working on projects by the end of the first year. There is a lot you can work on in Computational Biology, and the myriad of options was slightly confusing, to begin with. 
+During my search, I came across a workshop on ‘Machine Intelligence and Brain Research’  held at IIT Madras earlier this year(they have a centre called CCBR specifically dedicated to Computational Brain Research), where I got to interact with professors working in labs around the world. Being the youngest and amongst the only few undergraduate attendees of the workshop, there was a lot I came back with after spending 10 days at IITM. I then decided to proceed with Computational Neuroscience as my first stop. The choice to do a second internship was impromptu, and was mainly because I wished to take part in research using AI in public healthcare- what better chance than to work against an ongoing pandemic?
+
+# Getting there (well, not IRL)
+
+ Application for both these internships was done through mailing. 
+I started shortlisting professors working in Computational Neuroscience in January and began mailing (I had been mailing professors since the end of October previous year but with much less clarity on my field of interest). Knowing a few seniors who had already interned in related projects, I got in touch with them to enquire about the labs they had visited. By the beginning of February, I had been offered an internship at the Lichtman Lab. I was a little short on time wrt planning for funding, getting my visa, accommodation in the US, etc and then Coronavirus decided to make it all simpler by leaving me with a remote intern instead :3
+I mailed TavLab@IIITD in June, and the response time was much lesser-I started working(remotely) within 2-3 days of my application. 
+
+# Work at Harvard 
+
+![pic1](/images/posts/keerat-2.png){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+My project was to predict synaptic connections in the mouse cerebellum using a Deep Learning pipeline, with appreciable accuracy. This falls under Developmental Connectomics research, where the motive is to reconstruct how the brain is wired and use the connectivity map (called a Connectome) so obtained to study how the organism develops over time. The entire project involves the 3D segmentation of all different parts of the brain. My focus, however, was only on the synapses- the points where two neurons meet, crucial to establishing neural connectivity. 
+The beginning was a little slow, with various challenges to a remote intern presenting themselves one after the other. Once I had access to the remote server and got used to the Lab’s workflow, however, the project gained pace. 
+We had regular lab meetings, where one particular group in the lab presented their progress each week. There were weekly meetings within our group, headed by the post-doc researcher whom I was working with, where we presented our weekly progress and planned the work for the upcoming week. We also had the chance to attend talks by other neuroscientists. Despite the difference in time zone, communication was smooth and prompt. 
+
+![pic2](/images/posts/keerat-3.png){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+(Seminar by Prof Jeff at the Centre for Brain Science, Harvard University) 
+
+# Work at IIITD
+
+![pic1](/images/posts/keerat-4.png){: style="width:90%;height:auto;"}
+
+I worked on two projects during the course of my internship at IIITD. In the beginning, I joined an ongoing project on Agent-Based Modelling and its usage to simulate the spread of the Coronavirus. The idea was to see how the virus would spread in the Indian states, after modelling their socio-economic conditions and then project the number of expected cases for the upcoming months, which could further be used by the governmental bodies for making action plans. Post conclusion of this work, I co-led the development of a reinforcement learning framework that optimises the distribution of vaccines (a scarce resource)  amongst different parts of the population based on their characteristics. This was an attempt to deal with questions like ‘Who should get access to the COVID vaccines first?’ anticipating the need for a fair and efficient distribution mechanism upon their arrival in the market soon. The papers for both these projects are currently under review. 
+Work here was much more fast-paced than at Harvard, owing to the field under study more than anything else. We had very frequent meetings, sometimes multiple in a day and the excitement to see if their work was making any difference kept everyone motivated and on their toes. 
+
+# Key Takeaways 
+
+The sharp contrast between the nature of work done during both my internships gave me a lot of insight into what I want to focus on next. Work at Lichtman Lab was at a microscale, often true for research in Computational Biology where you try to make sense of processes in your body by going at the cellular level. Seeing members of the lab present their work every week, I realised the nature of this research requires a lot of patience and diligent effort spanning over a considerable amount of time before patterns are observed and conclusions are drawn. If you enjoy being a part of something much bigger and derive pleasure out of the process of building your way towards knowledge, then this is for you. 
+On the other hand, research at TavLab was more holistic- I was a part of the entire pipeline, which was less dependent on physical experiments, and more on ideation. Quick visibility of results, and the feeling that what we’re working on might potentially be used for public welfare, often instilled a rush of excitement and kept me going. 
+These comments are obviously based on my perception and limited exposure during the course of the internships, but I feel they’re the most important takeaway, possibly over any other piece of knowledge I gained throughout. 
+
+# A Few Pointers  
+
+I think it’s a much better idea to walk into an internship with some expectations of what you want to walk away with once it’s done- it could be a skill or simply more clarity on your field of interest. That being said, there are a few things I feel one could pay attention to during their search for a suitable internship:
+
+1. Do not indulge in cold mailing for the sake of getting a response; targeted and personalised emails are much likelier to payback - It’s also a good idea to reach out to any alumni (from any IIT, in fact) who may be working in the concerned lab, ask them about the research and lab environment, and cc them in your mail to the professor. That serves as an excellent backup system in case the professor does not read your mail or forgets about it.
+
+2. Talk to people- your seniors, professionals you may know who’re working in your field of interest or anyone who you feel can give you an informed opinion. Do solid research before you apply anywhere, and get your initial emails proofread by your seniors. Your email is one of the first things you’re going to be judged by as a candidate, so it’s important to ensure you do a good job. 
+
+3. Twitter is a great place to follow relevant research and get updates about openings, and one that many don’t use. 
+
+4. One advantage of everything going remote is the increase in access to many international events. There are a lot of open-to-all workshops and meetups being organised regularly which serve as good opportunities for learning as well as networking. 
+
+Being confined to our homes and no longer having the privilege of knocking upon our seniors’ doors for some much needed free gyaan, lack of guidance can often make things a little scary. I hope this account helps, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions :) 
+
+
+
+

about/index.html

@@ -7,14 +7,50 @@ layout: layout
 </div>
 
 <div class="category-posts container about">
-<div>Watch Out! is the official campus media body of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee run by students under the aegis of the Dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC), IIT Roorkee. 24 years after its conception, Watch Out! has grown to offer news and commentary from around the campus on its website in conjunction with a semesterly print issue.</div>
+<div>Watch Out! is the official student media body of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee run entirely by students under the aegis of the Dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC), IIT Roorkee. 26 years after its conception, Watch Out! has grown to offer news, commentary, opinions and editorials from around the campus on its website and social media platforms in conjunction with a semesterly print issue.</div>
 
 <h2>History</h2>
 
-<div>Founded in 1993, we trace our roots back to an attractive looking poster pinned to Govind Bhawan’s notice board. Started off by two entrepreneurial third-year students of the erstwhile University of Roorkee, our first issue was the handiwork of a humble team consisting of seven people and was printed under the kind patronage of Govind Bhawan’s Warden.</div>
-
+<div>The brainchild of two enterprising third-years Anurag Gupta & Harjeet Khanduja, Watch Out! was born from the desire to provide IIT R (then the University of Roorkee) its own student publication with news, interviews and entertainment. The name is courtesy of the (then) Chief Warden of Govind Bhawan and our first patron, Prof C. P. Agarwal. 
+With the pioneering efforts of the first editorial board and their colleagues at the Institute Computer Center, the first issue hit the shelves of the Govind Bhawan mess in 1994. What started as a fun little project managed to become the official student body of the campus in a few years. Watch Out! has remained the voice of IIT R ever since, and has evolved and expanded from a 7-member team to its present self.</div>
+    
 <h2>Contact us</h2>
 
-<div>To get involved, email us at <a href="mailto:watchout.iitr@gmail.com">watchout.iitr@gmail.com</a> or talk to any of our members.</div>
+<div>To get involved, email us at <a href="mailto:watchout@iitr.ac.in">watchout@iitr.ac.in</a> or talk to any of our members.</div>
+
+<h2>The Team</h2>
+
+<div>
+<b>Co-Presidents</b>
+<br>
+Atharva Shukla &nbsp;&nbsp; Mohit Sharma
+<br><br>
+
+<b>Executive Editors</b>
+<br>
+Aditya Ramkumar &nbsp;&nbsp; Agastya Varahala &nbsp;&nbsp; Manish Prasad
+<br><br>
+
+<b>Chief News Coordinator</b>
+<br>
+Divyam Goel
+<br><br>
+
+<b>Chief Web Coordinator</b>
+<br>
+Jayati Shrivastava
+<br><br>
+
+<b>Chief of Design</b>
+<br>
+Prakhar Kothari &nbsp;&nbsp; Shivam Maan
+<br><br>
+
+<b>Chief Multimedia Coordinator</b>
+<br>
+Mohammad Zaryab
+<br><br>
+
+</div>
 
 </div>

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