Leave polarization alone!

About the last post, no queries on Polarization please!!!!

Its meant to be a story, not a lesson in science....

Ppl who want to know about polarization, refer to optics texts, not me!!

Polarizing out poor magnets

I ve been out of the blog for sometime, because I have not done anything even remotely funny...

Except asking a guy whether I knew him, and why he was sending me a friend request on Orkut, just a month after spending an hour talking to him...Yes, I totally forgot.. I thought the name rang a bell, but that is all I could recall...

Why I suddenly came online to post a blog?
Not to bemoan my diminishing memory powers, but because something else rang a bell...

I was studying (Ahem.. yes, I do study at certain critical times, such as the week before exams) polarization.

I was reminded of my lab partner in MSc. She was asked, "What is Polarization?", to which she answered, " Polarized waves are those which have no magnetic fields."

HUH!! An electromagnetic wave loses its magnetic field when it is polarized, and manages to be a electromagnetic wave after that???

All her knowledge of physics came from the books she read... and she read inhuman numbers of them... Thinking, logic and analysis almost never entered the picture, just memory...

All books begin with talking about light being an electromagnetic wave, and when they start about polarization, they begin to talk about components of electric field, and what direction the electric field should be in, for various kinds of polarization.

This woman, dint see mentions of magnetic fields, so she thought, no magnetic field in the polarized waves!!!!

In case any of you are thinking that she is right, please realize that we can talk about components of magnetic field in polarized waves and mean exactly the same thing, without banishing the poor electric field into non-existence...

I know, most of my readers are utterly unsympathetic towards physics...

I have a post coming up for you ppl soon!!!

So, hang in there!!

Horizons Apple Picking

Jane Havis, our self-proclaimed "overprotective nosy mother", a sweet but very voluble lady from the International Students Office at RPI, took us on a "Welcome Picnic", near the end of our Student orientation. This Picnic was at a Church nearby, the church members had all gathered to welcome us, and ensure we had a good time. The people from the church gave us a warm welcome, and chatted with us, and made us feel so at home.

Then we had some fun activities to get to know everyone better, and then... yummy food!!!

Taking into account the needs of vegetarians, many of the church members had made veggie food for the picnic. That was probably the only time when we got to see so many veggie options in America. We had great food, and delectable desserts. I love the emphasis on desserts in America... I would love to be a "Dessert-a-rian" like Calvin... :-)

Anyway, after the food and friendly talk, we were led into the main chapel, where a Group called "Horizons" introduced themselves. They work with international students, and introduce them to American Culture. Ahem... Lots of you are wondering what American culture is about, and lots of you have a notion that America has no culture...except parties, and hi-flying consumerism. This is no place for those debates and cynicism.

Anyway, they organize Hikes, Fruit-Picking, Hay-Rides, Thanksgiving Dinners, Skiing trips and so on. The events always have 50% Americans, and 50% assorted international students, which gives the international students chances to interact with Americans in fun and social settings.

I went apple picking with Horizons a few weeks ago... I can see your raised eyebrows at my increasing "Americanisms", so I will rush to explain. Apple orchards here invite people to walk around in the orchards, pick apples off trees, taste them, and have a fun picnic. Economics works out for them, since you can eat only so many apples before feeling sick, and you have to pay for the apples you want to take home. Their assumption is that people will buy some apples to take home, not just eat them off trees.. A very unsafe assumption that, but it seems to work here, no clue how.

Anyway, to get on with my trip...

The day was clear and sunny, but very chilly winds were blowing. They gave us a map of the orchards, detailing the varieties of apple trees... Golden Delicious, Macoun, Macintosh and so on... I obviously had no clue which apple would taste good, or for that matter whether two apples taste any different from each other... Well, time for some apple education..

Golden Delicious was superb-juicy, crispy and huge. You can eat one apple and your dinner is done, atleast mine is, given my huge appetite. Macintosh was small, red, shiny and crispy. These two were the reigning favorites of all "pickers"... When in doubt, Sajjanon ke peeche peeche chalo...

Apple trees are small, and you can pluck them off while standing... One tall gentleman told me: "The highest apples are the sweetest." This gave me a good excuse to jump and reach for the higher branches. They were sweeter probably, but anyway "Mehnat ka phal to meetha hi hota hai ".

One variety of trees had sturdy branches, so I climbed up a tree and began plucking the highest apples. I was showing off my talents inherited from arboreal ancestors, and asking for pics to be taken of me on the tree, but a old lady put my feat to shame.

She must be 60 yrs old, has had a shoulder surgery, and she climbed a higher tree, with many more apples. She works with kindergarden kids, so she knew lots of apple picking poems, which she sang along while picking apples. Her enthusiasm and zest for life was truly infectious.

Soon, we had bags full of apples, which were getting too heavy to carry around. So we wrapped up our trip, paid for the apples and proceeded for the picnic, which was in a family home. The venus was so beautiful... The backyard opened out into woods, and beyond the woods, there was a huge lake. I had befriended an american teenager at the orchard. She and I walked around in the woods, talked about her school and mine, and soaked in the beauty of the place. The backyard had swings too, which I thouroughly enjoyed....

You see, Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional. :-)

The tree climbing lady was also walking in the woods, collecting leaves, for some activities in the school. She educated me on American Flora, and also showed us how to whistle with an empty acorn... She whistled quite well, the american could whistle tunes, even without the acorn shell.... and my trials were a damp squib, as usual...

All in all, it was a fun day, and I look forward to more such events....

Manianic Goof Up

This post is in apology to a certain individual, who is unlikely to read the blog, but it's here, anyway...

This is a Classic Manianism Goof up...

Once upon a time, we were new to Troy, still navigating around RPI with the Map, calling up prospective landlords who spoke in inscrutable accents, and din't start telephonic conversations with hello.

After a long search, we zeroed in on a nice apartment, which was wonderful in all ways but one.. it was a 3 bedroom, while we were just 2 of us. By that time, everyone else had found homes and roomies... So, our all hopes were on latecomers.

Just then, a mail came.... "I am an MBA student, looking for accomodation. Arriving soon."

Too bad that I cant tell you the name, but the name was quite ambiguous, though you might all disagree.
"
I applied the name to sentences in hindi, and figured out the usage was always "meri ......" and not "mera ....."

Even I realized that this test wasn't foolproof, given my questionable hindi proficiency.

But, we did need a roomie...

So I wrote back :
" Me and my friend here, are looking for a female roomie. I am sorry for not able to understand your gender from your name. Do reply if u are interested(and a female)."

And.... it turned out my guess, my hindi and my luck were all rotten...

For HE replied:

"I apologize for being a male."

And no prizes for guessing, I am too embarassed to face him, so I run away whenever I see him anywhere in Campus. He is an MBA student, so I have about 1.5 years of running and hiding to do...

Good luck to me, and good running shoes too...

RPI in Fall

Fall colors are wonderful at RPI.

This is the ivy covered back-wall of the library.. ain't it pretty??

Now ofcourse, winter is setting in, and Fall is falling...

:-)

Life is so beautiful, I love living...

:-)


Photo Credits: Vasu [His pics are so beautiful, that they are going around the entire community's albums]

Analogies

This is about a professor I TA for. He is Swiss, and teaches in a very interesting way. He jumps about the class, and explains everything with lots of actions, but that won't probably be effective in words, you have to see it...

His analogies are out of the world too. And I being the TA, can actually take notes on anything I want.. So here, I present his brilliant masterpieces almost verbatim.

Topic: Stress, Strain and Elastic Limit

Prof: "I am sitting on this table and the leg of the table is getting pushed down."(He swings his legs wildly, sitting on the table)"Now, if I eat a lot and weigh twice as much what happens?? "(This while making actions of stuffing food in his mouth with both hands)

A student says: " The table leg gets squishes more".

Prof: "Yes, this squishing is called Strain. "

"Now if I eat too much, and get too fat, I won't remain in the elastic limit. If I am still eating a lot, a lot of chips and cheese and icecream, and become an elephant, the table wobbles, and the leg breaks and the elephant is scared and runs around the room."( And he actually ran around the room with scared expressions!!!!) " This is called fracture, not of the elephant's leg because of the running, but of the leg of table."

:-)

Topic: Ferroelectric Domains and Curie Temperature

Prof: " We are all holding hands and looking at the sun, since it is a bright sunny day. As it gets warmer, we get restless, and our palms get sweaty. So we let go off hands and start moving about, talking to our friends in the chains. "

"This is exactly what domains in iron do, when they are heated up, they loose their orientation."

Topic: Bending of light, Refraction

"Suppose you want to shoot the sun, you pick up a rifle, and aim at it through the closed classroom window. Since the light bends due to refraction in the window glass, your aim would be off. But the sun is so big, that you might hit it anyway, so the sun is a fantastic shooting target."

This guy's awesome, if you get so entertained in a Physics class, you are unlikely to ever forget the concept.

Am I homesick yet?

I have been here for 3 months. I like it here, the place, the school, the new life, new ppl, everything...

I have largely been happy, not really missed home or family. I guess I have still not accepted it in my mind that I have come away for ever, my heart still escapes the fact, and pretends as if this is just a holiday away from home, and I can return any time I choose.

What happened today?

Home-made sweets arrived from the aunt in Texas, and a card from my parents, for my birthday. Just the opposite of usual. Mother used to make sweets for me, buy me a new dress, and even get me flowers... but never a card... card was something ppl far away sent....

Now my mom's sent me a card, and written it exactly the way I used to write cards for her, complete with the "open with a smile" and smiley on the flap. I saw it, and my mom's feeble attempt at drawing a smiley, and tears filled in my eyes. I could not do as instructed...

I held the card in my hands, and silent tears kept falling. have never felt so alone in life, as I did when I held that card in my hand...

I just can't picture my mom looking for a card in Archies. I can't, since I have always bought all cards for everyone at home.

I used to buy cards, give them to everyone on their birthdays, have them admire it for sometime, and then leave it on a table, which I quietly picked up and preserved.These small mementos on birthdays were my introduction to our austere South Indian household, where payasam was the only celebration for birthday. Now, my family is BUYING cards, and sending them to me. And they are doing it, because they feel I value cards a lot... but today I wish, I was with them, instead of recieving cards in the mailer....nothing can occupy the void created by absence of dear ones... not phone calls, not emails, not cards...

Life is great, but not so easy sometimes...