INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE – SELF FUNDING YOUR MASTER’S AFTER A PERIOD IN EMPLOYMENT - My blog entry to Warwick Blogs

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have a nice job and you are still in your 20s, very energetic and keen to gain more knowledge with zeal to take your career profile to another new levels. Doing a Master’s could be a good idea if want to excel in your professional career.

Why Master’s?

Doing a Master’s can provide an opportunity to gain the specialization in any subject which is either related to your existing job or which is a subject of your interest you always wanted to study.

Studying for a Master’s can also provide you with better job opportunities in future. With work experience, the probability of getting a better job is very high.

And we all miss college days with their unlimited independence and fun with friends. Taking a Masters could actually take you back to those times.

My Experience

I can tell you with my experience that choosing to give up the job and opt for a Masters is one of the best decisions of my life. I am travelling around the world, making new friends and experiencing a global environment of education at University of Warwick.

I had no plans to do Masters till May, 2015. I was working for one of the best transport companies in India. I was able to save some money in my career of 2.5 years (I could have saved more if I would have planned my Master’s earlier). During my job I got interested by the Tunnel engineering and decided to go for Masters in this field, which began in October, 2015.

Being an international student the cost of studies in UK was very high. I was supposed to pay 21000 Pounds as my tution fee and 4500 as estimated maintenance expenditure. So, I was supposed to plan to fund myself with 25500 Pounds. Considering the currency exchange rates of India and UK (currently Rs 1 = 100 GBP), this was a huge amount and I would say it was one of the toughest decisions of my life. My major funding for studies came from my savings, student loan, scholarship from International Tunneling Association and my parents funded me for the rest. I am always glad that my parents supported me at every step and would like to pay my respects to them.

I really wanted to study Tunneling and I decided to take the risk. First thing I did was to gather all my savings which was around 3000 Pounds. I sold my car for 1500 Pounds. I decided to borrow 7500 Pounds student loan from Bank. By this time I had 12000 Pounds. Since I was half way there, I became more confident that I can arrange the finance.

Since pursuing Masters was a sudden decision all the scholarships were almost allocated. But I needed more money to fund myself. Luckily, I was awarded a scholarship from International Tunneling Association worth 5000 Euros (approx. 3850 Pounds).

I decided to work part- time at university to make up for my maintenance expenses (estimated approx. 4500 Pounds). I am doing part-time job which is working out as planned.

The rest of the amount was funded by my parents. They were always there for me at every step.

Things to look out for …planning and challenges

I would like to advise to plan the studies in advance (at least one year) so that you save enough for your studies.

Also, scholarships can be helpful, especially for international students. The list of various scholarships available for masters can be found at- www.warwick.ac.uk/scholarships

I would also advise you to choose your subject of study very wisely. As you are planning to leave your job, it involves risk and hence it should be a decision either based on your interest and/or having good future prospects. So I would definitely recommend you to do some research on the future prospects you can expect from the course.

And finally, Make sure you have all the fun in college while studying, socialize with people, travel with friends and explore new hobbies. Cheers and Best of Luck…!!!

Via "Youth ki aawaz"........ written by Anshul Tewari-- "What Does The Gang-Rape Of The 6-Year-Old In Bangalore Say About The Society We Live In?"

A 6-year-old special needs child was gang-raped in Bangalore by the gym instructor and a security guard. The school tried to cover up the matter and did not inform the news to the parents of the child. After much hue and cry by the parents, and organizing protests, the principal said this was not a forum to express grievances. “We will provide an e-mail ID.”

In another news, a BSP leader’s son abducted a 22 year old woman and raped her in a moving car. In her police complaint, the woman said she was sitting with a male friend in his car in front of her apartment complex when the four men attacked them. The men drove the woman and her friend around the city in the car. One of the men sexually assaulted her, silencing her friend at knife-point.

How does a society breed such violence?

When I was a teenager, I was never sure about how to address the problem of rapes in India. As I grew older and studied the problem more deeply, I understood that rape is more than just a personal problem. It is a political problem. And more than that, rape is perpetrated through a culture that stems from patriarchy, power and the lack of understanding of what consent means.

Whenever I have been a part of peer discussions about the subject, there have been constant dialogues around how “all men don’t rape” and how “all men do not disrespect women” and saying that men are the problem creates a bigger divide in the solution that can be achieved while talking about gender based violence. Yes! All men do not rape, and all men do not disrespect women, but if you look at the statistics, a massive chunk of rapes all around the world are perpetrated by men on women. The difficult part about understanding this for men is that most of their opinions come from the perspective of a privileged individual for whom rape is not a pressing problem. For a man walking down the road alone at night, getting raped is probably the last of the worries he would have. For a woman in the same situation, rape is the first.

From the moment a child is born till the time he/she/they become adults, there is a clear demarcation that we as a society create – that men and women are different. That men are stronger, and women weaker – physically and psychologically – hence creating the burden to behave in a certain way, on both men and women. We do not lay focus on personal and political freedom, rather, we lay a lot of focus on how to abide by preset notions, and not question the status-quo.

Inequality stems in when young girls and boys are made to believe that they are not the same. It furthers when society demarcates the kind of freedom a man enjoys as opposed to what a woman enjoys. It further builds a sense of fear in women that they are the “weaker” sex.

This sense of ruthless power grows on to become one of the biggest reasons why many men believe that sex is their birthright, and they can use it as a tool to subjugate the “weaker” sex. What furthers this problem is the taboo we attach to sex, and the lack of conversations we have around it. When we refuse to provide adequate sex education to our kids at school, when parents refuse to inform a child that a person’s gender should not be the differentiating factor between people, when we as a society refuse to accept equality from the perspective of our privilege, we ensure that our children grow up in an environment where violence is easily acceptable.

Rape is a form of violence. To make it worse, it is a form of violence that represents the culture we hold close to our hearts. It represents an idea that inequality and differentiation is the way we wish for our society to grow, and that sex is and will always be used to assert dominance.

Coming back to the case of the 6-year-old child in Bangalore – and the thousands of others which happen daily in the remotest and the most urban places in the country – we see an oppressor and an oppressed, we see the lack of respect that has bred in the oppressor, and the shame that we will attach to the oppressed, and how our sympathy will ensure that the taboo remains with her for the rest of her life. It also showcases how respecting one’s personal space, deserving consent and demanding freedom without fear are all ideas which will either take decades to get accepted, or will only worsen as we grow as a society.

The next time when you crack a rape joke, the next time when you force someone to be a manor behave like a woman, the next time you detest someone’s sexuality because this is not how things are meant to be – think about the society you are creating, and think about your privilege. Think about how we have normalized violence, how our Indian culture has forced us into believing that a woman’s place is in the feet of her husband, and how subjugation is always, consciously or unconsciously, our first way to assert power.

This is the society we have created, and this is the nation we are proud of.

An open letter to LG, Delhi

Regarding Conveying an idea to maintain clean River Yamuna

To

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

Block 6 Raj Niwas Marg, 

Civil Lines, New Delhi-110054

Date:- 27.05.2014

Respected Sir,

Subject:- Regarding conveying an idea to maintain clean River Yamuna

Regarding the above mentioned subject, I read in newspaper that you were formed a committee to analyze the air pollution and pollution in River Yamuna.

I, being a concerned citizen, would like to propose an idea to clean River Yamuna.

Since, Yamuna is polluted largely by the wastes discharged by Delhi. It is an idea to treat the rivers water after it leaves Delhi. This would help the cities downstream of Delhi.

Since, many efforts have been made in this direction and have not been able to produce desired results. I would like to propose a model based on Private Partnership to tackle this menace.

THE MODEL

It is proposed that an Entertainment Zone be setup along the River (preferable along Yamuna Expressway, this would help in movement of people on this project, generating more revenues) in outskirts of Delhi. The Entertainment zone should have eco-friendly technology. 

The Entertainment Zone shall have facilities like Camping Zones, Water Parks, A zone having traditional models of our heritage etc. to attract public and tourists at large. All these facilities should be created and maintained by the Private Players.

The government should make revenues from these Private Partners (in terms of taxes or duties) to run the treatment plants. The other taxes shall be evaded if possible. These treatment plants shall be run by Government by the revenues obtained by these facilities.

Since activities like Riverside Camping would be a major attraction in calm weather conditions, the same would not be prefered by public in Summers. So activities shall be made available that would be prefered in hot summer days. 

It is requested to kindly give this idea a minute thought and it might work out to be boon to Tourism, recreation and cleaning of Yamuna. I believe that with added knowledge and skills available with our technocrats to this idea, it might be successful. It is put up before you for kind attention and further action.

Thanking You

Yours Sincearly

Sandeep Singh Nirmal

AVO, 1st Floor, A wing,

Metro Bhawan, Fire Brigade Lane,

Barakhamba Road, New Delhi- 110003

A NEW REVOLUTION ON ROAD AND ITS FUTURE CHALLENGES: E-RIKSHAW

Recent introduction of e- rikshaws in public transportation system of Delhi has been a revolution in field of eco-friendly means of transport. The successful operation of this vehicle promises a bright future in field of urban transport, with many more electric vehicles on road.

E-rikshaws have been in news all over the media for its reduced air and noise pollution. Apart from it the greater margins of profit for rikshaw operators has been a major driving factor for adoption of this means of transport. A e-rikshaw can carry 7-8 passengers compared to 2-3 passengers in traditional manually pulled rikshaws.

Since any system is not perfectly efficient and has its own drawbacks, e-rikshaws also have many problems associated with them. Problems of registration of these vehicles, no need of driving licence to drivers, issues related to insurance and handling the cases of accidents are already under consideration of authorities. But apart from it there is one more problem which need immediate attention and has far more bad consequences.

As the number of e- rikshaws are increasing day by day, means many more rikshaws on road in coming future, means increased number of batteries to drive their motors. And 10 year down the line the disposal of these large number batteries that are being used today, would become a huge challenge. Batteries contain heavy metals and chemical compounds that if not disposed of in right manner, is a hazard to environment and human beings. The results could be devastating like pollution in underground water, land degradation, many skin problems, and rise in cancer cases etc.

As of now we are less that under-prepared to face this devil. Our waste collection,

segregation, transportation, disposal and recycling systems are largely inefficient at each level.

Moreover direct physical involvement of persons without adequate safety equipments with wastes and garbage in waste disposal system would affect the marginalised people of our society first and then would slowly spread to the society.

It has been evident in history that we have been a step behind in acting against any problem. May be this time we could put our thoughts together and form a scheme/programme to attack this menace with a preventive stroke and stop this problem before it spread these poisons substances in our environment.

Belated Happy Republic Day 2014

It is well known to mankind that "when a system shifts from one stable state to another it has to jump threshold."

Indian society today could be easily compared to this law of Chemistry. Let it be Social, Political or Economic scenario,a lot of turbulence is visible. Society is aspiring to achieve more equity, politics is aspiring toward more inclusiveness, dialogues and discussions and Economy is fighting for more inclusive growth.

The aspirations of positive thoughts building up in society are facing a strong opposition from existing negative elements. The turbulence could easily be seen in recent incidents of Jan Lokpal Bill of Delhi, pathetic events in Parliament Sessions, mass protests against crime against women and racism.

Though the positive energy is high and increasing day by day, but it need to be channelized to achieve a goal. Recent incidents show impatience in people with wrong intentions and also people if India have proved that they are not fools to accept anything absurd what Govt will decide. But will raise their voices against the oppression.

This is the right time for all of us to rise and decide what side we want to be and contribute our bit to raise a new society.

Achieving an equilibrium is a myth, since dynamism is universal law. Even if we achieve one stable state we will still be in a situation to aspire for another. This is not a negative statement as we are looking for GOOD changes and we always will want more of them. But for now, I hope we have the energy to surpass this threshold to achieve a new stable equilibrium which would definitely add something positive to change our lives.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2012

Its good to see a new revolution emerging in India. People form differnt backgrounds and diverse personalities, may it be educational elite like Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal or yoga guru Ramdev or retired Army men or an illetrate, all seem to accept that we need to create a better future tommorow.

I can see some agitation about Ramdev and few others who are into the anti-curruption for there pe...

rsonal reasons. I doubt the intellectual levels of those who thinks like this. I welcome each and every suport towards the movement, because my country needs it. Let it be some personal benifits that drags people into the movement but it helps my country, that satifies me.

Gandhiji once said " There should be no differece between our words and actions". It is shameful that our busy youth is not able to express there feeling againt the evil, as effectively it can. The participation in movement is lower than it could have been. We all feel the same way against curruption but we need to get involved against it.

On 65th INdependence day of our country I appele to fellow citizens to participate in the movement. I dont need you in Ramlila Ground, not in jails, not on roads but I want a fire in you, any contributions in form of facebook, discussions, art, drama is a step towerd brighter future.

I HOPE OUR YOUTH WILL GIVE A BETTER FUTURE WE DREAM OF.

GET INVOLVED. TODAY IS THE TIME.

JAI HIND. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.

As They Say- "Things Change with Time"

Now when I see freshers in the Hostel Lawns, Wind-T, Reading Room, places I rarely visit now a days but used to when I was fresher 4 year back, reminds me my 1st year. At that time I could have never imagined the world for me will change so much that I would chuckle thinking about my past.

Before unfolding the pages of my life in IIT, I thank my seniors, friends and juniors for making my life worth a live in campus and how can i forget professors who tried a lot to ruin it and succeeded to some limits. I had few seniors close to my heart who always inspired me to look forward in life and gave me funddas not only to survive in IIT but to live the life with fun and success. I should say my friends were best part of my life, now when I am about to pass out in few months, can say with my experience only friends are what you make here who will always be there with you in rest of your life. I generally dont believe in God, but if he exists I would like to thank him for the people I met here and the way they affected my life. Also I should thank him for sending me in NILGIRI HOSTEL otherwise this life was never possible.

I should admit when I came here I was hell of a human. As usual my first friend circle was the people who had rooms in my wing, I would not be able to forget B-Short wing in my whole life for the times i spend there not even in my 1st year but in my 3rd too, but I think its early for that discussion. So right from the first day I was irritating and that's why, i think, in those days I was the topic of fun when we sat around in a group with my friends. Those jokes made upon me, I used to frustrate over them but now I cant understand why but when I remember them now they seem funny to me. Though had very good friends in my wing but I never understood the meaning of friends in whole year. That's why I call it a wastage of 365 days and a quarter.

As of now I haven't done anything substantial in whole year, not my acads, nor my skill improved, but I understood one thing that i had to work hard in my field of interest, MINI BAJA, as you would know further and have to learn to make friends and relations. This brings my 2nd year which I praises most for excelling in my life. I first needed to change my friend circle as I was uncomfortable wit all the fun made of me. I shifted with new friends and tried to interact with them as maturely as I could. This changed my image in hostel as all was fine with my attitude despite of some minor mistakes. With all this building in my attitude I was much involved in MINI BAJA which I mentioned once before. This event, manufacturing of a all-terrain vehicle with my team and representing insti team in Indore, changed my life drastically. I think only because of this I could develop my leadership and management qualities.

EErrr...!!! I made a mistake by not introducing Samrat sir in the beginning, I know he would kill me for this, I met him at the end of 1st year through Gaurav sir, another senior I respect a lot, during the elections. He has supported me always. During my second year he was the one to inspire me along with Talli sir ( Uday sir) to whatever I am today. He helped me to go throug all the difficulties faced by me in BAHA and in hostel. The year went so monotonous working all time in insti with all the stuff I mentioned. Samrat sir had a dream to make me House Secy, and so did I. He helped me to be Maintenance Secy of Nilgiri Hostel by the end of this year, and so my journey began, I now realize that was just a start.

With my new responsibility as Maintenance Secy and Braking coordinator in BAJA I had forgot my academics, which I now realize that I should have paid some attention to it. By the way the hostel thing was going fine, I had regained my old friends and further I learned to expand my relationships which helped me to have a large number of people knowing me in hostel. With my all efforts I worked for the hostel and brought trophies. Warden, I should mention, was very happy for me all the time, I never came to know why but I really liked it. The efforts of 3rd year again resulted in me becoming House Secy at the end, with the efforts of Bhasin sir and Samrat sir off-course. Getting this post now doesn't matter me a lot but the thing that matters is the relations I thought I had made proved me false. About relations whatever I learned till today was fake, it was good I realized it that day and now I can say that I have understood the relationship properly and I can claim that from now on I am reacting mature in life.

In these four years of my life I have made many friends, some for academics purposes, some for political purposes and few I dont know how they came close and I love them the most. I would never forget my Hostel, my wing, my seniors and my friends.