A trip to Denmark

*** Few words about the much hyped and much awaited official trip to Denmark ***

As evening descends, a curtain of silence sweeps the whole city of Sonderborg; the light gray clouds cover the mauve sky. And as the silence prevails at dusk, the entire surrounding goes to sleep. Serene Sonderborg has served as an idyllic world from cloudy weather to colorful buildings. The city has few European quirks including soft heartened courtesy towards strangers. But to my surprise, people are familiar with English (In fact, are good at it)!

Standing on the sea coast, you can feel a slight breeze rustling across your face. You lose yourself in the benevolence of the mighty quiet sea for a moment, when the silence is suddenly broken by seagulls (might be) fighting over a starfish just caught by one of them. The sea looks as smooth as a lake where the coast is dotted with colorful houses, hotels and lined with natural harbors and house boats. The pretty sea offers a panoramic view through the glass windows – a sight you can enjoy even being in the meeting (completely unaware of what is being discussed).

Having dinner at Colosseum (No, not the Colosseum in Italy but, it was a hotel in Sonderborg) was another joyous affair. Laughing at some delicious “technical” jokes amidst enjoying delicacies like Ratatouille was its kind of experience.

I can recapture the overall feeling of happiness ranging from watching children catching fish at sea shore, walking down the empty and deserted streets, having caressed by a cold wind, losing and finding our luggage, stay at DanHostel, a nice presentation, spice less yet scrumptious food, window shopping at Copenhagen airport to meeting researchers from many European universities – which is nothing but a refreshing memory by next day. Farvel Denmark!

On an ending note, though its very early to say anything, but if God has plans, I may ‘hopefully’ visit Aachen (Germany) in December.

The BBQ at Oded’s residence

Back from a wonderful BBQ lunch at my supervisor’s place. Nothing can be the better treat to a soul than this. The place where his house is located is beautiful – on the mountain and the riverside. Felt the warmth of the sun while walking in the cool breeze along the riverside; Experienced the freshness of nature sitting in an open space surrounded by green mountains. The flow of diversified music from different countries added more charm to the visit. Tasted many delicacies from roasted lamb, Indian Gulab-Jamun, dum-aloo and Israel’s (?) halwa to green tea and black coffee. WOW. Isn’t this amazing!

I’m in complete awe with the pleasing, lovely and attractive sight that can mesmerize anybody; let one enjoy the peace radiated through its smile and picturesqueness.

Truly said – “A thing of beauty is a joy forever!”

On an important note – People laughed as well as appreciated, and talked a lot (means – LOT) about India. They seemed to be quite fascinated about Indian culture, Indian traditional music and in love with Indian cuisines.

Intern in France (May-July’09)

Our anxieties about career compel us to explore all the possibilities our education could afford us and Internship is one of them. Internship provides a fantastic opportunity to get one’s feet wet in a career that he/she is interested in learning more about. Confused about what to write (which I want to or I have to), I preferred to go with my instincts. On 27th March, I received an offer from Verimag Research Lab, – a leading research center which provides theoretical and technical means for modeling, developing and formally verifying real time systems. Model Checking and verification being my interest area, it was like a dream come true. Application, confirmation and finally getting a go ahead was one-of-its-kind experience.

I had to leave on 15th May and my visa got ready on 14th. (I was happy to see that we students are not the only ones who won’t do things unless it’s deadline!) I reached Delhi Airport early in the morning. Call it excitement, or fear of Delhi traffic. Journey to Paris flied away in a wink. Happiness of stepping on foreign land was enhanced manifold in train journey when a dutch girl seated beside me started the conversation with a “Bonjour”. I wished the train ran a bit slow!!! Unfortunately, the train I boarded was one of the world’s fastest and I realized the importance of “Indian Rail”!

Next morning, it was wonderful to see myself surrounded by beautiful mountains. What a fantastic start of a new day in a new country with an awesome climate! Meeting my advisor Dr. Oded Maler (a pioneer in my interest area) was nice experience. He made me comfortable with lab routine, access policies etc. None was allowed to be in lab after midnight. In Dr. Maler’s words – “You are supposed to sleep during night”. (Any chance he might be aware of IITians’ schedule???) I discussed about my project assignment and good to know that people were flexible and open to my ideas too. Food (followed by language) was the major problem as even non-veggies found it difficult to survive. So we friends ended up cooking on our own with me as the lead and only chef!

Almost settled, it was time for Euro trip and destination decided was Switzerland. We procured eatables which were supposed to be unaffordable in Swiss. Train journey through green valleys, snow covered mountains, dark tunnels, waterfalls cast a perfect image in our minds. We visited Mount Titlis, Interlaken, Geneva, Zurich. Shockingly, met Indians at every place. And, the climax was when we were traveling to Mount Titlis and an Uncle, in a train moving in opposite direction, shouted: “Beta, kahan se aa rehe ho?”. Kudos to our Population!! Night-outs which we spent roaming around added another feather to Swiss “cap”. We also traveled to Cannes, the city of hotels and Nice, city of “beautiful” beaches. We got chance to watch fabulous fireworks celebrations on Bastille Day. After 2 1⁄2 months with collection of 1500+ pics (Digicam has revolutionized the photography world with thinking “10 mein se 1 to acchi niklegi”), we left for Paris and crowd was mesmerizing in this Fashion City. Louvre, Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Cœur – quite a few places we covered.

Till now, I have portrayed only the lighter side. I worked hard rest of the time. There was a sense of responsibility too to keep up the legacy of IIT brand. I was involved in implementation of a part of one of their project using Matlab/Simulink Who else would be happier than CS guys if they get to code! In true sense, I have realized how actual research is being done. Their passion towards work and research is commendable. People there maintain clear demarcation between personal and professional life. They enjoy every moment – be it at workplace or outside. I thanked Dr. Maler and Alex (my co-guide) after discussing future aspects and research opportunities in my field. Finally, I waved adieu to France on 24th July.

My vote of thanks to Dr. Purandar Bhaduri for his support and encouragement that got me started in the first place. Thanks to my friends Prabhat and Vallabh for playing “first critics” to this piece.
Wish everyone a bright future!