Prof. TSKV Iyer - a tribute

Prof. TSKV Iyer, former Deputy Director of BITS, Pilani, passed away in Pune on 18th evening at the age of 96.

Prof. Iyer was a very respected man. He was the last word in Circuit Theory and his book was considered the Bible. (I recently referred to the online version of his book to help my daughter!) Senior students would advise, "Attend Iyer if you want to make an A grade". He would take his classes in one of those big classrooms which would be overflowing. Almost all the students in the batch would be crammed in! He would go about his job unconcerned. The flow was admirable, as was his grasp over the subject. One felt he could actually "look" into those circuits he drew. And he would take his students for a walk into those lanes and bylanes of resistors, capacitors and inductors and explain every detail as a tour guide does. His class was a different experience. Important points were emphasised time and again in short sentences. "A capacitor is an open circuit for DC and a short circuit for AC in the steady state", still rings in my mind. KCL and KVL are two other terms one cannot forget. He repeated them so often that I remember them to this day, without ever having used them in the last 30 years or so ! Nor his, "Current cannot accumulate at a node". Not once would he lose his temper or take a student to task for asking a silly question.
He was affectionately referred to by the students as TSKVSK Iyer after his long initials. Almost all instructors in BITS were given a nickname. He was not exempted. But he was revered for his knowledge, expertise  and very down to earth attitude. There were lesser men who put on airs and threw tantrums in class. But not TSKV Iyer. He was serenity and dignity personified.
He would address the freshers and their parents during the orientation. The year I joined, a parent queried if birdwatching was allowed on the campus (there were many birds on the campus, including peacocks which would approach very close). "Birdwatching is allowed", Iyer said, then paused, looked at the audience and continued, "as long as you don't watch the wrong kind of birds!" The auditorium burst into laughter. He had his humorous side too.

I remember only a fraction of what happened in that one semester; time takes its toll on the memory.
May his soul rest in peace.

Celebrities - a news factory

It is the silly season. And it has been triggered by the novel corona virus. How is it that a virus is responsible for it?
The lockdown announced by the government has forced us all indoors and made us stay indoors, with external movement limited to essentials only. Working from home is not any less stressful or easier than going to the office. And one has to manage all the the "homely" interruptions from time to time. I do not find any free time. I was working harder than ever I thought, what with the maid absent and my having to back up for her! Everyone would have lots of work at home. Or so I thought.

How wrong I was! Celebrities seem to be very unemployed. I guess it might be true as most of their work is done outdoors. All the indoor work is managed by their staff. So, with all the time on their hands, our celebraties have taken it upon themselves to educate us. On everything under the sun. There is no aspect of life that is left out. They are the new Vedas.
One actress showed us how to wash vessels. My wife and my maid wash vessels everyday. I do it quite often now that the maid does not come. I never thought much about it. But watching the actress' video I realised how a mundane task becomes glorified in the hands of a celebrity. And there is so much science behind the act ! I would not learn so much if my science teacher taught me. The visual is accompanied by a commentary lest one does not understand. The actress will ensure the online training is successful!
Another tried baking. Yet another demonstrated sweeping with a broom. I was impressed. How often does one get to learn to sweep from a star? And then there are the workouts. India is dying to know how our stars are keeping fit when gyms are locked. So we have the full benefit of a workout regime on the roof. Ya, Indians can have their breakfast now; the stars are maintaining their washboard abs.
Then one must not forget the "goals" the celebrities set for us Indians. These are goals we Indians are expected to aim for. One gets to see photos of well known faces enjoying the sun, the beach, the pool, you name it. So you get various goals - vacation goals, beachwear goals, pool goals, PDA goals. The list is endless. There is no time or space left for your own goals! Just follow the celebrities.
And one must not forget those "throwback pics". These are old photos of our stars with someone or all by themselves. These throwback pics can be decades old or less. They are supposed to make us nostalgic. And long for more. After all, how can India live without the news of its stars? Whether we have our dinner or not, we must feast on what is happening to the stars.
Add to this the sun-kissed photos, photos without makeup, bonding photos.... The list is endless.
So what does one make of all this? My take is that these celebs need to be in the news. Perhaps their market value depends on how popular they are, how many followers they have on Twitter, Facebook etc. So they have this compulsion to  keep their visibility high, at all costs. So what do you do when you have nothing to do? Well, anything that you can take a photo or video of and post for the world to see. And make news.
As Nirupa Roy would so often say in her movies, "Paapi pet ka sawaal hai". Translated literally it means, "It is a question of the sinful stomach". Or in other words, "I have to do all this to fill my stomach!"

Book of poems published on Amazon

https://www.amazon.in/Verses-India-Jaikumar-S-ebook/dp/B0841B3N2M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=verses+from+india&qid=1586046733&sprefix=verses&sr=8-1

I have published a collection of my poems in English on Amazon. Please visit the site mentioned above for details.