2019 Report : Mind Metamorphosis

This year, I loved the speed of my life. Ambition went on a high gear. Life was crazily busy, and I loved every moment of it. Work was intoxicating. Planning and execution of tasks gave me an adrenaline rush. Energy levels were through the roof. Saalaa Duniya Jeetna hain! Asserting myself was fun : one victory lead to another. Opportunities multiplied as they were seized. Chalte chalte raaste aasaan hote gaye. Mental blocks were smashed one by one. (In the hindsight, I wonder why did those blocks even exist!). Every morning, I woke up smiling at the prospect of going to work. Not every day was equally productive. But every month was. Dheere Dheere sab kuchh theek hone laga. 

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January 2019

Settled down in a big 3BHK top floor apartment in the IIT Kharagpur campus. Upgraded my home with new furniture and upholstery. The house offers a 270 degree view of lush greenery. It overlooks the main road from the residential area towards the institute. 

Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Vibration and Acoustics (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) : Y. Verma, N. Datta, R. K. Praharaj, “A semi-analytical vibration analysis of partially wet square cantilever plate with numerical and experimental verification : partially wet modeshapes”.

Travel to IIT Madras, for project presentation to Naval Research Board (NRB), Hydro-Vibro-Acoustics (HVA) panel. Project title : "Mathematical tool development for propeller blade vibration and hydroelastic analysis". Interaction with the Panel Head Prof.  S.K. Bhattacharyya and other panel members.

Visit to National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai. Interaction with Dr. R. Venkatesan.

Restarted working out after 4 months.

Visit to Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam for inputs to the NRB project : interacted with scientists like Dr. V. Ganeshkumar, Dr. G.Ravi Kumar, Dr. M.Padmanabhan, Dr. Nageshwar Rao.

Manuscript accepted for publication in Elsevier Journal Applied Ocean Research (Impact Factor 1.95) : Joseph D Thekinen and N.Datta, "Rayleigh-Ritz method-based analysis of dry coupled horizontal-torsional-warping vibration of rectelliptic open-section containership hulls".

February 2019

Restarted weight-training. Improved sleep quality and energy levels. A gap of 5 months had reduced my muscle strength to half!

Home up-gradation : new furniture, upholstery, decor.

March 2019

PhD Defense Seminar of Research Scholar Mr. Yogesh Verma. External Examiner : Prof. Suhail Ahmad, IIT Delhi, Applied Mechanics. 

New UG Project student Mr. Athrey Ranjith Krishnanunni started working on "Free vibration of wind turbine blade modeled as a tapered twisted cantilever beam with aerofoil cross-section and varying twist angle."

April 2019
Final version of NRB proposal submitted. Met Prof. Dhrubajyoti Sen (Civil Engineering). 

May 2019
Hosted Prof. G. Pohit, Jadavpur University, Department of Mechanical Engineering.

June 2019
Vacation with family. Visit to Jadavpur University, Kolkta; Department of Architecture.
TEQIP-III Sponsored Seminar on "Offshore Wind Turbines and Supporting Structures", Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur, June 2019 : special thanks to old-acquaintance Prof. S. Madhuri for hosting me. 
Vacation on Bengal coastline : 4-day road trip.

NRB proposal approved. 
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Decided never to teach again. End of this facade! 

July 2019
Began working with Prof. Dhrubajyoti Sen, Dept. of Civil Engineering, IIT KGP on "Design and Fabrication of in-campus concentrator augmented horizontal axis wind turbine". 

New B.Tech Project (BTP) students : Mr. Diwakar Swaroop, Mr. Hrushikesh S. Chambhare.

Concept Design approved by a group of Subject Matter Experts : 

• Prof. N. K. Kishore (EE , IIT KGP) : Power systems (generation, transmission, storage, synchronization, insulation)
• Prof. Debaprasad Kastha (EE , IIT KGP) : Wind Energy, Electrical Systems
• Prof. Chetan S. Mistry (AE , IIT KGP) : Blade Aerodynamics
• Prof. Parama Barai (VGSOM , IIT KGP) : Business plan and Market analysis

Took over as the secretary of the residential building (9 units) : employed new caretaker and gardener. The surroundings got  face-lift in a few weeks.

August 2019
Site inspection

Weather data collection  from Prof. S. Jayanarayanan (CORAL, IIT KGP): wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity.
Weather Data Analysis.
Preliminary Design.

Composite material sample fabrication.

Machinery Selection. 

September 2019
Composite material sample testing in the Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engg. (Courtesy : Prof. Debalay Chakraborty)
Basic Design of the on-campus wind turbine.

Additional Subject Matter Experts consulted :

• Prof. Mohd. Rabius Sunny (AE/OE&NA, IIT KGP) : Composites
• Prof. Vikranth Racherla (ME , IIT KGP) : Mechanical design (Bearings, Drive Train)

Manuscript accepted for publication in Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Mechanical Engineering : R. K. Praharaj, N.Datta, Y. Verma, M. R. Sunny, "Transverse vibration of thin rectangular orthotropic plates on translational and rotational elastic edge supports: a semi-analytical approach".
Micro-siting of the proposed wind-turbine completed.
Mr. J.S.Rao, Executive Engineer, Civil Works Section, consulted.

Component Design : Concentrator, Nacelle, Blade, Drive Train, Bed plate, Base plate,Tower.

Design Lab for 5th year Dual Degree students : Product Development Projects

• Water turbine generator
• Cow-milking machine
• Biogas plant
• Low-cost jute-based sanitary pad
• Rainwater harvesting system
• Solar powered snake repellent
• Bicycle broom
• Solar-powered grass-cutting machine

October 2019
Blade structural design progress.


Additional Subject Matter Experts consulted : 

• Prof. Prasun Jana (AE, IIT KGP) : Blades Strength
• Prof. Amit Shaw (CE, IIT KGP) : Foundation

Component Design : Main Shaft, Tower, Foundation. Weight Estimates. Wind load estimates. Extreme load estimates. 
Mr. V.K. Srivastava, Chief Engineer, Civil Works Department, gives the go-ahead for the installation.
Learnt to make momos.

November 2019
New student, Mr. Soumya Kanta Rana (Dept. of Electrical Engineering) joins the team.
Abstract submitted to OMAE2020
Additional Subject Matter Experts consulted :

• Prof. A. K. Pradhan (EE, IITKGP) : Relays
• Prof. S. Pramanik (EE, IITKGP) : High Voltage

Component Design : Hub, stay-wires, tail-fin, electrical circuit.
Site inspection : stay-wires, earthing strip, grid-connection.

Prof. S. Bhattacharya, Director (officiating), IIT KGP, gives the go-ahead for the installation.
Bill of material preparation : Budget stands at INR 3,00,000/-
Visit of Sister and Brother-in-law.

December 2019
Abstracts submitted to ICSV27.
Cost estimates and budgeting.
Job-sequencing and Operations Research.

Electrical Works Department Consulted. 
Data-logging work begins.

Bio-gas plant concept design in Prembazar Dairy with new student, Mr. Abhas Sarkar : Consultation with Prof. B.C. Meikap and Prof. D.D. Kar, Department of Chemical Engineering.

Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Vibration and Acoustics (Impact factor 1.9), published by ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) : R.K. Praharaj, N.Datta,  M.R.Sunny, "Dynamic response of fractionally damped viscoelastic plates subjected to a moving point load". Nothing succeeds like success.

Family vacation at Gangani ravines on the banks of Shilavati river, on the occasion of parents' 47th anniversary. 

      

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Year Summary (extracts from the 2019 diary)

Made many offenders apologize and stay out of my way (even senior retired professors who have taught me!). The axe fell on one a****** after another. Started (immediately) calling out people on fargiyappa. Beat the shit out of anyone trying to cause trouble. Bashed all morons one by one. Simply threw out the crap! All trash was purged, like forever! With sturdy solid presence, sharp voice, strong swift gait, a body language radiating positivity and action, and electrifying energy, I vacuumed off all dust particles into oblivion.

Mediocrity fears talent and tries to deny its existence. It tries to attract more mediocrity to feel safe.  

A big problem in the Indian Psyche is a combination of low self-esteem and lack of ambition. There are too many change-resistant status-quo-ers. Even if they are ambitious, they are not ready to work hard, invest time and efforts, and hold patience. Planning and time-management skills suck! There are very few self-starters. Rest are waiting to take orders. They avoid being at the helm, at the driver's seat. Mental laziness is rampant. People are just running on inertia! 

I am not sighing (when I write the above paragraph). I am making my own plans! 

Down with socialism! One can help someone else only after one has helped oneself. To hell with moral science! Everyone has to pull their own weight. Every single person needs to contribute their man-hours and create wealth for running the nation, then pay taxes for building the nation, and then seek to participate in the decision-making process of the nation. 

Do NOT count on anyone. Do not wait for anyone. If someone had to impress you, they would had done it long ago. Stop waiting indefinitely for good things to happen. Do better things yourself. 

Be brave and take the plunge. Stop playing it safe. Live life more deliberately. Go for the best. Be excellent. Be a firebrand. Sweep like a devastating tsunami. Strike like a lightning. Go for the extreme. Success means money, power, fame, happiness. Be true to your own talent and consolidate it. Excellence rarely faces competition. Arjuna had to worry only about Karna : he could toy with the rest.

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Decided to play my own game of life. The world is a market place : as simple as that. You have to make money : otherwise others will hire you to make their own money. The only money-maker is an idea, and its strategic implementation. Engineering is only a small part in the process.

Goodbye Saraswati, Welcome Lakshmi. 

Fallen in love with life......All over again!

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P.S. An old professor once told me that because I am a female, life will never be a level-playing field. Yup! I created a mountain in the same field. Wanna play now?

Marriage is an artificial construct. Please leave the men alone!

This blog is going to deconstruct the 'holy institution' of marriage. 

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   Fig.1  The solitary male.              Fig.2   Copulation.          Fig.3   Mother and children.

All animals need food and shelter. Their days are spent in hunting/gatheirng food. They return to their homes at night to sleep. (The situation is reversed for noctural animals). This keeps happenning everyday. Then, at the right time, there comes the natural need to procreate. Females in heat begin calling males. Instinct drives a male-female pair to copulation. The biggest event in the life of an animal is the female getting pregnant. She needs security and she needs care : she needs other females around. The whole construct of "family" is based on this single event. Dens and holes are searched for and warmed, burrows and nests are built and fortified. Domestic animals have sheds, barns, stables, and kennels. Humans have a nursery set aside in their homes. Pregnancy and childbirth are the complex natural things taking place : the species is procreating to ensure survival.

Once the off-spring is born, the mother cleans it, nurses it, feeds it, and protects it. She keeps them warm until they develop immunity. She look after them, teaching it skills from walking to self-defense. This is the bond that never gets broken : mother-and-child. It is the only bond in the world which is established and accepted beyond any doubt. This visible bond through the umbilical cord is beyond all economic, social, legal boundaries or limitations. Sadly, all other bonds are fragile and temporary (yes, even the father-child bond). 

The animal family consists of females and children. Sisters, mothers, aunts gather and look after the children together. In the elephant species, even grandmothers are there. In the human society, a pregnant woman spends her final trimester and another 40 days after childbirth at her mother's place. Oftetn there are other women around :sisters, aunts, grandmothers. They are attending to her needs : nutritious food, medicines, massage, exercises (for a normal delivery), sleep, etc. There are many rituals surounding this event : baby-shower/godh-bharaai); mundan (head-shaving), rice-eating ceremony, vidyaarambham (beginning of education), sacred-thread ceremony, etc. (Ref : https://adc.bmj.com/content/89/12/1094). All this is done for the welfare of the mother and the child. It is like planting a new sapling and then tending to it with love and care for a healthy growth and development. Notice carefully : these rituals and ceremonies are performed by females, with the male members of the family fetching the material stuff as required and ordered by the females. All family functions are for the females and by the females, with males as supporting crew. (Exclusive male get-togethers like drinking parties, card/poker games, and match-watching sessions have nothing to do with women or children.). This subtantiates that families are basically female-centric; and in fact, child centric. This is exactly like a flower. The male pars (stamen) form the outer ring, the female part (pistil) forms the inner centre, and the offspring (fruit) is born at the core of the pistil. 

In the animal kingdom, the males leave the group once they are grown-up enough to hunt/gather their own food. Soon they ready to mate. Females are still in the vicity of the group, through hunting/gathering its own food. Soon they come into heat. It's copulaion time. The male seeks the attention of the female to mate. The female responds if interested. The male approaches after female consent. After mating, the male goes off, and the female gets busy with pregnancy and child-bearing, having quite forgotten about the father of the offspring. The mother does not need the father to teach her children anything : she is able to do that herself. The male saunters off, looking for other females to impregnate. Bottomline : A single male is never tied to a single female in "marriage".  In every mating season, the female finds a different male, and the male approaches many new females. Polyandry/ Polygamy is the way! No one is labelled as promiscuous. There is no character assassination. Nature is teaching us the following :

• Animal kingdom is naturally matriarchal. 
• Males need females only for sex. Male children do need their mother, but only till the time when the mother feels they are grown up and throw them out of the house.
• Males are providing sperms, and if required, protection, during the pregnancy. 
• The only fundamental biological relationship that exists is the mother-child one. The rest are all secondary and tertiary derivatives of that.

That brings us to the conclusion that monogamy is artificial.

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Humans are trapped between Nature and artificiality. There are many things that are natural (instinctive); and many which are artificial (derived from agriculture-based patriarchy). Let us discuss them in two groups.

A) Natural/Instinctive/Practical behavior of humans.

• Courtship (Natural Selection). Males chase females. They compete among each other for the best female. Princes fight for the most beautiful Princess. (Hence, women try to outdo each other in beauty and sex appeal). It is the sperm which runs to the ovum, not vice-versa. Men chase women and want them as trophies. The more beautiful the bride, the more is the man praised. It leads to proverbs like "Only the brave deserve the fair". The primary and only incentive for the male, to chase the female, is sex. They can go to any length for that. 
• Arranged marriage for reproduction. Women get married, men don't! Weird as it may sound, this is the subconscious reality. Marriage is of the women, for the women, by the women. The focus of a marriage ceremony is the woman. The people surrounding her in various sub-ceremonies are also mostly women. She is bathed (Dodhi mongol in Bengali Wedding), disinfected (Haldi ceremony), and decorated (Mehndi Ceremony). She is draped in the most beautiful and expensive bridal wear. Sindoor is put on her to signify she is married : not that the husband  is married. Same goes for the Mangalsutra. The whole process is reproduction is revolving around the uterus. The sperm and the ovum both reach the uterus for procreation. That's why all the above rituals are being done to the the uterus-owner. 
• Sex. Men need sex. Period. In the right age bracket, they are, by default, ready for it. It is the consent of the female that matters. Without the female's consent, it is a crime called rape, punishable by law. Similarly, in the right age bracket, women are, by default, ready for a stable relationship to procreate and ensure the child's future. It is the consent of the male that matters. Therefore, it is he who has to propose marriage for the relationship to prosper. Men who are forcefully married avoid the relationship through extra work, TV, gadgets, sports, addictions (drinking and smoking), extra-marital affairs, renouncing worldly life (vairagya). 
• Reproduction. After marriage (esp. arranged marriage), the woman is supposed to get pregnant ASAP. If she is not pregnant in the first year, gynacs are consulted. Reproduction is the only aim of an arranged marriage in India. Period. (Do not wrestle with this fact. If you are not interested, simply avoid marriage). Once the woman is pregnant, the Godh-Bharai (baby shower) happens. This can happen even if the father is not in town : once the sperm donation is over, the father is unnecessary. It is really unfair to trap men in the family circle, which is not his natural domain. 
• Child-bearing and upbringing. Once the child is born, the mother is busy nursing and looking after the child. She is occupied 24/7, spending sleepless nights, having hormonal changes, sufferring post-partum depression, etc. She needs her mother/ MIL/ sister/ sister-in-law/ aunt/ etc. to help her in the process. She is almost oblivious of the whereabouts of the husband. Men are again forgotten. This is normal. The father does not get involved unless directed/supervised by the mother. The mother teaches the child to eat, dress, use the toilet, bathe, clean, speak, behave, care, understand, think, shoulder responsibilities, the list goes on.... Formal education begins and intensifies, with primarily the mother monitoring it. Mothers supervise homeworks, support projects, monitor exam-preps, attend parent-teacher meetings, etc. by default. The process takes 12-16 years. The father is rarely seen making any proactive effort. Their involvement is superficial, in-the-moment, fleeting. Fathers often lack basic data of the child's health, diet, education, hobbies. Sometimes he is unable to say in which class his ward is!
• Men leaving the family (Vairagya). The male mental wiring feels useless in the mother-child-centred family construct. The male deserts the family and goes alone (Fig.1), but women don't. If the man goes away, the home/family is still running as long as 'the lady of the house' is present. If the lady goes away, the family collapses. The males get a maid/ cook/ caretaker. Across the world, 80%-90% of single-parent households are led by women. It again underlines that a family is basically the mother and her children, exactly like animals.

B) Artificial constructs violating Nature. 
Woman needs a man as a provider, (only) when she is pregnant or nursing. Otherwise she can hunt/graze by herself. The human society extended this equation irrespective of pregnancy, and therefore, men got pushed up to the pedestal as 'providers', 24/7/365. Women started looking up to men to provide them everything from basics, solve all problems, handle all crises. From the male perspective, this is extremely unfair.

• Romance. The concept of "romantic relationship", which is the ultimate yearning for females, is a performance for a male. It is the females who demand commitment, and the males get labeled as 'commitment-phobic'. Solution : Ladies, please make peace with the fact that once sex is over, the male will get going. He will go back to his solitude and freedom. The female needs to let him go; and not cling to him or emotionally blackmail him to stay back. The male wants to have his guard up after sex. He is not interested in entertaining you anymore. Women often feel lonely after sex (demanding romance), whereas men may feel insecure/ vulnerable (needing restoration of a powerful image). 
• Relationship. Check your friends' social media profiles, especially of those who are "in a relationship". The females are far more like to display their togetherness than the males : announcing their relationship status, uploading pics of the couple together, etc. It is not that men are living in denial of the relationship : their mental wiring does not allow them to understand the concept of relationship. Without understanding this, the girlfriends keep complaining that the guy is not putting any effort in running the relationship! But please understand :  Males do not know that there is something called a "relationship" exists. Women complain that husbands forget their birthdays and anniversaries. For men, these are not important. 
• Marriage (Men as providers). Though the female animal needs the male counterpart only for the sperm and some protection during pregnancy, he has been extrapolated to a 24/7/365 provider in the human society. He is pressurized with financial expectations. He is supposed to have a financial stability to support the wife and the children. In the vows of Indian wedding rituals, the groom 'promises' to take care of the 'roti-kapda-makaan' of the wife forever! A jobless man cannot enter the marriage market whereas a jobless woman can. Financial superiority of the man has tilted the power balance in his favor, leading to unnatural distortions in the man-woman relationship : the man developing repulsion towards the wife's money, getting jealous of her professional success, taunting his male friend whose wife earns more, considering the wife's job as a 'hobby', labeling the wife's salary as her 'pocket money', sometimes even pretending to be oblivious of the wife's financial ability!
• The father as a guardian of the child. We see mothers looking after the children's upbringing  (parvarish) and being held responsible for it. Anything wrong with the child and the society says, "Mummy ne kuchh sikhaya nahin?". No one says "Papa ne kuchh sikhaya nahin?" Ancient India considers mothers as the Param Guru or the Ultimate teacher. But the civil society considers the father to be the "guardian" of the child. But actually, that is only on paper! The onus of bringing up the child is on the mother. Period. (Women should be educated for bringing up better future citizens for the nation.) Why does the law give the children's custody to the mother, not the father, upon their divorce? I rest my case. 
• Monogamy. Men are more likely to have an extra-marital affair than women : the wife is busy looking after children and the husband feels jobless and finds the wife boring. The faithful husband will be the one who married for reasons other than sex, i.e., strong respect and admiration, desire for companionship, amplification of solitude with the partner, emotional fulfillment, etc.

Fallouts due to artificiality

• Patriarchy. Patriarchy is a capitalistic precipitate. Men are forced to become heads of families (and no one knows about the 'forcing' part). They are dumped with family responsibilities without consent. The son is expected to look after the parents as well as the wife and the children. He does not have the option of not earning. Masculinity gets defined by achievement and the ability to earn money. Distorting this further, surviving on wife's money is considered as lack of masculinity! Earning less money than the wife is considered a shame! 
• State regulations. A married man is legally recognized by the father's name only (check his voter ID card). A married woman needs both by her father's and her husband's names for legal recognition. Apart from marriage being unnatural to men, marriage itself is very insulting for a woman. It dehumanizes her to a transferable chattel. 
• Divorce. But, men usually don't initiate divorces. A divorce is the end a strange thing that the woman calls a 'relationship' and the man is not able to comprehend (except as a financial liability). The male thinks he is single and the female thinks she is married. Once unhappy, she withdraws from the relationship; which for the male, never existed! He was blissfully single. He was solitary with his independence and considers the female as only a small (even optional) subset of his life. He gets maids to cook and clean, prostitutes to sleep with. Once the reproductive age is over, men start valuing women as companions and start getting closer to their wives. In old age, they miss their dead wives and become depressed. Then they seek company of their contemporaries.

Marriage is an artificial construct. Many women say that they were waiting to be proposed for marriage, and were dying to say 'yes'. After waiting long enough, they had to trick their boyfriends to get to propose to them. What is marriage? It is only to bind the man to secure the woman (her pregnancy needs). But this starts extending to lifelong financial needs, and that is unfair to the man. Let us respect Nature. Let us respect that males and females have different instinctive needs and motivations, across all species. Ladies, please leave the men alone.