The Road Less Taken - Perspectives on exemplary Transitions from Physics

Somebody once said, "Always keep yourself in constant touch of inspiration". Whatever heights you climb up to, it is that inspiration which drives you even higher, gives you an ideal to strive towards. Then, sometimes we meet people, who no doubt have been performers (sometime back in their lives) but posses a sense of heightened complacency which drives them towards a negative self-indulgence, slowly moulding them to into this state which stops allowing others a chance of being better than them, thereby degrading their humility, perhaps letting the ignorance creep, which ultimately warps their own potential. Why the most of successful people are not the most known people? Perhaps their work, doesn't count much. Perhaps, they are victim of their own shortened success. 

Well now that I am about to complete these five years under the spell of Physics (Applied Physics sounds appealing, right? Doesn't make any difference though) and about to take a detour towards a less physical world of Management, Economics or so, I thought of writing something for people who might wanna walk on such a scarce path. A short inspiration-stuffed note. Here I will talk about a bunch who have taken up Physics/Engineering Physics/Applied Physics and then have either forayed in Economics, Business or Management. The fact which I essentially see in such type of transitory success lies in the power of Physics itself. I am not being biased at this moment but Physics indeed stimulates your thought process in dealing with more complexities, allowing to build a broader picture. The armchair retrospective approach which generally Physics employs, nurtures wisdom unlike any other branch I have come across. These inferences perhaps should not be stated bluntly like I did above but we do have time and space constraints to deal with. 

Lets begin, 

1. C K Prahlad

Took up Physics at Loyola College, Chennai and subsequently went to IIM-A and Harvard Business School. He lastly taught at Wharton, where he prematurely died. He wrote one of finest modern pieces on Developmental Economics, Fortune at the Bottom of Pyramid (Havent read it? Buy it now, read it now). Its been said that Western Economies used people like him to make investments in the then Third world. We are now richer, happier, gadgety and have malls to hang out at. Thanks to him. 

2. Eliyahu M Goldratt

Well he isn't Indian, He is Israeli. There is hardly any name bigger than E M G(with exceptions of Peter Drucker, Michael Porter) in  the Field of Management. Heard of Theory of Contraints? He developed it.
I personally know atleast 100 Boutique Consulting firms having their complete businesses running on his models. He was based out of Tel Aviv University and wrote few must reads like Critical Chain and The Goal. A Bachelors to PhD in Physics.

 

3. D. Subbarao

Took up Bachelors and Masters in Physics at two IITs and then went to Ohio State Univ for studying Economics. He worked with World Bank and Economic Advisory Council (India) with finally scaling up the Governor ladder at RBI.

He is very well known for his firm decisions at his present portfolio and his indifference towards succumbing to Govt. pressures. I don't think he wrote any book(let me know in case you have seen one :)), though the previous Governor (Bimal Jalan) is a fine writer.

 

4. R Gopalakrishnan

Took up Physics at St. Xaviers and IIT Kharagpur, presently Executive Director at Tata Sons (Possibly the biggest corporate position you can ever dream of in India).

A must watch/read on Leadership, he has written a bestseller management book, The Case of Bonsai Manager. I have met him once at a Social Entrepreneurship event. Very few guys have that ability to spellbound you in as little time as I got there. He is a management academician in practice, teaches at few IIMs and applies his teachings at this big role he has. Cool. \m/ 

 

5. Ankur Warikoo

Ah! He is the outlier(in more than many ways) of the lot. :)

This guy is CEO of Groupon India, (havent heard about the firm? sit a little more on the internet, you will). Took up Physics at Hindu College, Delhi University and went to Michigan for Masters in Physics. Worked there on few Internet Start-ups and returned to pursue MBA from ISB. I am in full envy with this guy in particular. Rest all are rather products of a bit different times. Do go through his blog here,  http://www.ankurwarikoo.com/, Worth following on Quora. :)

Its been said(again), 

"There are two kinds of education, One teaches you how to live, the other teaches how to make a living". 

But, does this make sense? Can Physics really not take care of the second part? Or is Physics so pure that the quote simply denigrates it? Why is that for some, money is everything and for some it isn't anything at all? Can there be a balance? I wonder. I don't have answers now. Though I do have few assumptions and I will definitely test them with the help of time. 

The Path and the Purpose

"We all have a purpose, the purpose is to find out who we really are."

My involvements with Physics and NIT have been a lesson worth sharing, something which generally people do not consider as their cup of tea. Well, its not a cup of tea for me either. Physics isn’t all about learning how the universe works. Its actually miles different from that queerer statement. To give an idea, we have mapped only about 2% of the real mathematical universe (and we thought making it to NASA was the biggest achievement of our lives) plus our understanding of a “Subatomic Model” is still unclear (and we though making it to CERN was the biggest a….)

                        "Physics isn’t a professional entity, it’s a bit religious." -Neeraj Pandey

It ultimately takes the shape of either abstract mathematics or philosophy. It requires a dedication of an at-a-stretch involvement with huge physical sacrifices, something quite similar with religious people.

               There are two ways you can serve the world. One, by continuously walking up the path of “Research” hoping, someday you’ll have your own Eureka moment. Second, stay simple! Take your tools and get into the world, meaning, consider the fact that the world can as well be made a better place with the present state of available technologies and resources. Use them and make a difference. The latter is a sense of realization not merely a thought, which came to my mind only after venturing into the former. I find the world pretty simple. It has very simple needs, very simple problems and requires very simple solutions. All our scientific ordeals (however small in reality they are) take us one step closer to those simple issues.

With this in mind, I hope, I will take the path more taken.

The Intricacy of technical sabotage

For me, getting into an NIT (National Institute of Technology) was always not less than a dream. However, not very late though I realized that it wasn’t all about ‘technology’ which spells here. Seniors, all of them like a herd getting their well sought after technical brains dumped in solving mere Cat Sample Papers for not days but months. Irony isn’t it?
They, it seems have forgotten all their 14 years of efforts to be a good engineer/scientist. As if engineering is just a degree before IIMs just like BA, B. Com. The Govt of India spends millions in subsidising these technical Mecca (NITs) only to make sure that the money the students saves by paying less fee goes to n no. of coaching institutes who teach basic maths, english, how to sit and how to sleep etc. Irony isn’t it?
Sometimes I just don’t find any usage of a B-school, simply nothing. The monetary hype these schools have generated will make India completely insufficient in technical brainpower, which actually is the mainstay of any economy for that matter. The World Wars were only possible because of the technical might of various nations, and now its the scientific technology only which is powering and sustaining the world nothing else, simply nothing.
I hereby warn each and every student who aims to be a good scientist/engineer to stick to his goal of being the same and create a sense of patriotism which brings about the much needed scientific revolution in this great nation INDIA.

Internship : The IIT B Experience

Learning never stops, and especially when you work in environment like the NANO-FABRICATION LAB at the electrical department, here at IIT-B. The lab is partly funded by US Based Applied Materials and the Govt of India and is one of India’s finest research facilities in the field of Thin Film coating, VLSI fabrication, and Solar PhotoVoltaics. The team of young research scholars, the great and experienced professors works in tandem with visiting scientists from various centres like, BARC,TIFR, PRL etc. The very first sight was not more than a dream come true, from the modern biometric access to dedicated lab culture.
My professor, Dr. B M Arora, who has headed the Dept. of Condensed Matter Physics at TIFR, a true gentleman, is making noteworthy contributions in processing innovative lab manufacturing and guiding various JRFs, PhD, and Post Doc Students along with the summer interns.
I met Karthik who was working as a JRF after his undergraduate studies (from Anna University) under Proff Arora in the field of Coatings and also Conductivity measurements of metal-semiconductor junctions. He arranged a guided tour of the lab for me and explained and tested my concepts. On that note, I realized that working here would mean to be really demanding both in terms of the concepts and hard-work.
You are totally surrounded by people of great intellect, who don’t bother to eat or drink till they are satisfied by the experiment results. Within two days I went so busy that even I relied on only Maggie and NesTea, which was available alongside the Deptt for hours..
Very soon clarifications will come out, as to what exactly will be my area to work on and the project title and with this note I’ll be back again, with more to speak of the work and the temperament.

The Parallel World!

The fact thatAliens are alienated in this world is actualy, wrong.Offcourse one the most unanswered mystery of the world requires astronomical amounts of convinving attempts!

Let me try to put before you all an alternative viewpoint at the world of aliens.

Peolple from around the world and from our India too lay claim to have spotted UFOs, unusual pugmarks,mysterious artifacts and etchings in and around the past.So what does that mean?Are they lying, just adding more to this seemingly fictional creation....?

No, offcourse Not!

I agree that nearly 50% of the news, articles,footage,vedios or photos shown on telivsion or elsewhere is nothing but mere computer generated fantasy.Now, not keeping you @ bay with what I think about Aliens, Lets start...

"Due to the inevitable bursting of the sun(during its last stage), the Earth will be burned to flames.Gradualy after millions year later under influence from some other energy sources the life on Earth will start once again, from the scratch.Subsequently another Human Race will evolve,but with an exception.

This time this evolved race will gain control over time ie. they'll be successfull in building a 'Time -Machine'.I don't deny that its not a joke to buid a Time Machine, but I restate my point that this race will be altoghether,far more advanced than Our present mindsets.

While they'll perform excavations Earth,they'll find reamins of the human-race.Fascinated by the devolopments of our time, they'll plan a visit back in time to visit our race, therby, accidently leaving thier belongings on to us."

To be precise, these Aliens are nothing but the future humans who know how to travel time, thier biggest asset!

I have not gone the Hard core Mathematical or Technical way to prove this assumption, but rather given an alternative viewpoint with a potential to put an end to this mystery!

I wish the Fantasy continues.......