The Rivista

Preparing for the ACM ICPC

We (Darshit Patel and Raj Negi) have been meaning to do something for the ACM ICPC participants from our college. However, due to our commitments, we haven't been able to do sufficient justice.
Here we are though - with this small guide to preparing for the ACM ICPC.

Parallel Universe

This poem was penned by Hiral Raval.

Notes from the Road

This post was written by Sanchita Rao.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. – St. Augustine

YEAH!!!!! It’s really very important to explore the world and see different cultures and traditions. It mainly helps you to unplug yourself from the push and pulls of technology.

ACM - An Unforgettable Experience

This post was written by Amrita Nair.

What an awesome year it was! A year full of responsibilities, new learning experiences and a welcome change. ACM is the best thing that ever happened to me. A great platform, for which I will always have immense love and respect.

ACM brought about a beautiful change in me and my life. I may sound as if I'm exaggerating, but it's true... A journey from a quiet, reserved and introvert girl to a bold, strong and confident individual. Every moment of this journey was a moment to be cherished.

I still remember those intimidating moments of the interviews and those questions which were bombarded one after the other. It was my first interview ever and a memorable one indeed! After the results were announced, I was simply flabbergasted! It took me days for the feeling to actually sink in, and to believe that “I” was the “Chairman”. Well, that feeling was something I can't express in words.

What’s the truth about ISRO, India’s primary space agency?

This story was written by crypt221b

Ever since I can remember, there weren’t many Indian things I thought highly of. ISRO was a rare exception. Capable of developing and deploying geostationary satellites and cryogenic rocket engines, launching lunar probes which would later go on to confirm presence of water on the moon, and now recently, a spacecraft orbiting Mars. For a country that has one of the biggest slum area, gaining a spot in the top 5 space agencies in the world is a pretty remarkable feat. ISRO made India proud among the world’s intellectual circles.

I always wanted to be a part of ISRO. These scientists and engineers had my utmost respect. You can only imagine how religiously I look up to my Dad who actually worked there! No, he wasn’t a scientist or an engineer. He was a Senior Networks and System Admin, basically in charge of all the computers. But that didn’t alter my regards for him in any way. He was loving, supportive, geeky, and the smartest guy I knew. He was my hero.

Then I turned 18. The charm wore off. I started noticing weird oddities about ISRO. You know how you have these internal flags that can tell when something’s offbeat. You can’t really explain why since these flags are built from your life experiences and act on instinct. Some of these flags were waving bright red for ISRO. No matter how cool my Dad was, you could ignore these oddities only so many times until you realized that something was fishy about the organization. It was enough to make me give up my seat at IIST and go to US for a computer science degree.

When Life Gives you Lemons...

There are times when you have no control over what you are doing and what you should be doing. You get frustrated at small incidents that happen and wonder what the problem with you is. There are times when you feel that you have been left all alone. You get depressed and undermine yourself. What should one do when one fails to please the insatiable world, when everything seems impossible?