The week gone by...

Pay it forward

Channel surfing does pay off now and then: this movie starring Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey is one of my all-time favourites and I was happy to watch it again after all these years. "Pay it Forward" is Haley's submission for his social studies homework: think of one thing you can do to make the world a better place. The idea is that each person does three "favours". Each favour has to be something huge, something extremely difficult, even painful for you to do; but it must go a long way in helping another person. In return, you ask that person to do three more such favours, to other people. If things go right, you ought to have a chain reaction of people helping people, and the world will be a much better place.

I'll not go into the details of the plot itself, but I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Haley's acting is brilliant, and I miss the kid's presence on the big screen.

Face your enemy

Aeons ago, my teachers called me a math prodigy. However, from high school onward, I slipped slowly to average and even lower than that. I know for a fact that I had poor math teachers, but I'm sure a good percentage of the blame lies with me. Over the years, I've come to think of mathematics as my enemy, and I've tended to perform poorly in courses that are heavy on math content. Anyway, the time for reparation has come. My research requires that I be a math genius all over again, and all my courses next semester are geared toward restoring my math skills. I haven't a prayer of keeping my 4 point GPA after this, but what needs to be done has to be done.

Playing in the big leagues

I've been assisting my advisor in writing a project proposal this week, and although I was given some rough instructions, guidance and feedback, I essentially had to do the research and write the proposal myself. I had been under the impression my advisor would draw upon his vast experience and rewrite the document, using my research for the "meat". Imagine my surprise when the final draft was 95% the same as what I'd written. My friends asked me why I was surprised, for grad students are the ones who are supposed to do the research and write such proposals, and often the final draft is 100% the same as the one submitted by the student. I shook my head and told them that I couldn't believe that the proposal for a several hundred thousand dollar grant for work in a cutting edge research area had been written by inexperienced li'l me. It's going to take some getting used to, playing in the big leagues with minimal supervision. In a few years' time, the work I do might be instrumental in saving lives around the world. How's that for work pressure?

Of good books and bad books

Being in the bad books (and I mean extremely bad) of important people in my life is no fun. Sometimes it is for standing up to what I believe is the right thing. Sometimes it is inexperience, lack of concentration, or plain human error. Either way, the seriousness of the repercussions, real and possible, staggers me numb. Adult life sucks. I wish the only books I'd have to worry about are the novels I borrow from the public library, but life has other ideas. I know, I'm twenty three and I have to face these things like a man. But why does it have to be so hard?

Cheers,
Prashanth.