I have the privilege and honour of presenting to my beloved readers and followers, my husband G Ramaswamy, who has just authored an academic and technical book on the rudiments of electronics. The book is titled "Basic Electronics" and is a comprehensive textbook for first/second semester BE students coming under the ambit of VTU in Bengaluru. The book is a publication from Sapna Book House, one of the leading book stores in Bengaluru.
The official book launch by Mr.Nitin Shah, MD, Sapna Book House
The author, Mr. G Ramaswamy has more than a decade of experience as a pedagogue in various technological institutions in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and the vast years of involvement and exposure has helped him immensely in writing this text book. Added to that, his stint as a freelance educationist,supporting students for projects has further assisted in his quest for knowledge.
This book is an outcome of his passion for books right from early childhood and the thirst for understanding concepts in depth.
The author with the display at Sapna Book House
It is a all inclusive text book on the five modules as prescribed by the
VTU in strict adherence to the latest Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) methodology of study for the first and second semester students who are pursuing the Bachelor of Engineering degree.
The salient features of the book are:
Crisp and lucid explanation of the basics of the subject
All 5 modules covered in depth
Comprehensive analysis with appropriate circuits and diagrams to support the chapters
Seamless transition from one module to another
Plenty of review questions and University questions answered
Multiple choice questions aiding Graduate Aptitude Test In Engineering (GATE) exam
Ready reckoner for key topics and elements that are useful from exam point of view
Presented below is a thumbnail of the book.
It is indeed gratifying to write the first review and give a concise summary of the book. Hoping that the students would be benefitted by the text and the author accomplishes the task of sharing his knowledge and expertise in this field.
The laws of
the Indian land, inherited from the colonial powers, are there to protect the
citizens, safeguard the nation, settle disputes and provide remedies to the
affected thereby administering justice. Providing a common law system to a diverse
country such as ours, are different tiered courts in a pyramidal form with the
Supreme Court at the apex.
A so called
accused or a person falsely implicated or with stacks of allegations against
him passes through the labyrinths of the complex and slow judicial process that
includes filing of case, legal proceedings and trials, innumerable court
hearings, never ending adjournments, petitioning, providing evidences that are
circumstantial, appeals and counter appeals, among scores of other series of
actions. The length of the trials extends beyond the imagination of the poor
fish before he is eventually let scot free or condemned and damned for life!
The painful attempts to prove one’s innocence takes a lifetime and inflict a
hefty blow on the psyche of the individual. Allegations are fabricated, false
evidences are provided and the defendant is denied to present his or her part
of the story in a fair and meaningful exchange of arguments. The judge,
prosecutor, lawyers are all hand in glove in this quagmire of deceit and fatten
their wallets at the expense of the hexed victim. The poor middle class who
barely get to meet their ends have a further can of worms in the form of exorbitant
legal fees, hefty sums that are given as grants to prove one’s innocence.
In this bleak
context, the individual loses his moorings and his life, which was meant to be
cheerfully spent with his family, is wasted in doing the court room rounds
periodically, only to hear a fresh date for further hearing. It is therefore
natural that any honest Indian citizen is outraged and frustrated at how the
legal order works ridden with flaws, quirks and oddities.
But my father, a
victim of fallacious and baseless charges, keeps his chin up, looks at the
bright side of the scourge that has been haunting him for more than a decade,
blows away the cobwebs by presenting a guest post titled “humour in court”,
which is a ludicrous tale on our judicial system!
Humour
in court
In the face of adversity, it requires a lot of
equanimity to see the humorous side of happenings and to appreciate it
Today (23rd July 2016), in the court
as a defendant in a CBI criminal case, going on for the past 10 years, I
had to wait for my turn for the roll
call for attendance by entering the
special enclosure. Before our case was taken up, two NIA (National Investigation
Agency) cases were scheduled. The first one was postponed to a later date and
the second case was about to meet the same fate. Among the eight under trial
detainees, three were present (let us call them Abdul (with a luxurious beard),
Ahmed (clean shaven except for a moustache) and Basheer (with an unshaven
chin)). Basheer, when the judge was about to mention a fresh date for the
postponed hearing, wanted to make a submission.
He requested the judge’s permission to grow a beard ! The judge was
gracious enough to dictate an order directing the jailer to consider his
request, if it is not against the jail manual! (I was left wondering how another cell mate
can sport a conspicuous beard – he was also carrying a cell phone)
Then our case was taken up and after the roll call, the junior
advocate of the main defendant ( even though their Senior advocate, who was playing
truant for the past 3 or 4 postings, was present and was standing in the
verandah ) sought more time to present their arguments . The judge (who was
nursing a fractured shoulder with his right arm in a sling!) fixed the date as
24th August 2016. The junior advocate wanted some more time and the
judge fixed 3rd September 2016. The Junior advocate accepted that
date and sat down and within couple of minutes was on his feet again and
requested a still later date. When the judge demanded to know the reason, he
blurted out that he is getting married on that date and he had forgotten about
it! The whole court including me burst out in laughter. The other advocates preset commented that the
junior advocate did not mention about his good tidings and the Public
prosecutor said that he has not been invited for the wedding!. The judge then
fixed the date of next hearing as 24th September 2016 saying that it gives him enough time for
the wedding and the honey moon
thereafter. He also said that he is inviting the public prosecutor and
the other advocates on behalf of the junior advocate on the assumption that he
has his authority to do so !!!
I met the junior advocate later in the veranda
and wished him all the best but cautioned him not to forget marriage anniversaries
in future, as he can no longer afford to.
My school had large open spaces with huge trees
that provided the ideal environs for the adventurous batch of bubbling
enthusiastic students to play and explore but lurking in these lung spaces were
distressing evil phenomenon, happenings and occurrences that blew the daylights
out of the innocent and naive children. Every other day, we were rudely exposed
to men, women and sometimes children hanging from the trees and this spectre
remains as a disfigurement in the minds’ imagery making some of us traumatized.
These gory sights can never be forgotten and had a profound impact on life and
its vagaries and like Gautama in search of enlightenment, we did some soul
searching on these incidents. Having spent the growing up years in the suicide
capital of India, which is Kerala, the daily depressing acts of terminating
lives due to incapacities, addictions, under performances, over expectations,
reprimands and punishments have always aroused our emotional reactions and
responses to situations. Most of us emerged stronger as a result of the
introspections into life while a few were bogged down, affected and depressed
probably because of the glitches in the wiring system of our central processing
unit.
A repercussion of this could be felt like aftershocks
when we lost one of our classmates afflicted by the dreadful depression
syndrome. A proficient dancer who was enriched with external and internal
beauty and intellect, she became a darling to her friends in the school, the
cynosure of the teachers and the apple of the eye of her parents who would dote
on her and spent ample time with her to pursue her soaring dancing career.
We all parted ways after school days, each one of
us badgering our dream careers and passions and my friend sought tutelage under
the great danseuse Smt. Sudharani Raghupati and persisted devotedly and with
dedication in her attempts to strive higher and farther. But somewhere along
this hot pursuit, her life hit a crisis point, her moods wavered, her social
interactions got reduced, her eating was negligible and she went into two extremities
of manic and depressive episodes while her family had no clue as to the
predisposition.
The alienation with lack of collaboration and
connection eventually resulted in the inevitable....she took her own life.
And the sad realities are that these are not one –off
incidents, but the harsh realities of our society, although the decision may be
entirely individualistic, the impact of the environment, culture and societal
is immense. The evolving society has made lives more complex and people who are
adamant and lethargic to change and adapt have found themselves left behind.
The alarming and distressing statistics of the rates of suicide across the
spectrum ranging from a reprimanded child in school to a traumatized college
student aided and abetted by ragging, or a wayward youth struggling from
addiction to alcohol or substance abuse to the overzealous person trying to
achieve what looks seemingly impossible or the happily married wife’s tale
going sour owing to the hypocrisy of the partner to the terminally ill patients
who see no meaning in the word “live”.
A torrent of patronizing advices follow each time
an incident happens, if only he or she had confided, taken expert opinion, been
prescribed anti depressants, or been told how much she or he was loved or
adored. These prescription words hardly have any positivity and are not even
two cents worth, on the contrary it urges the person to despair more that
something dreadful is happening and the wiring gets more complicated. There is
a feeling of guilt of being psychotic and turbulence of the mind takes control of
the body and soul.
When I talk of connections and wiring that are
woefully gone wrong in certain individuals, it also implies that the safety net
is also missing and this net becomes imperative to push or pull you away from
extremities. Therefore, the bonds that form the safety net have to re
introduced in these cases. Distraction from their present state of affairs,
taking them away from the geographical location that has deprived them of
laughter and cohesiveness, seeking things out without their realization apart
from medical help could well be the Bodhi tree!
‘The story of a suicide’
Image source -Indiblogger
written very boldly and
in true absorbent style by the author Sriram Ayer touches the chord of every
individual living in an urbanized pluralistic society that has taken cognizance
of the third gender whether wholeheartedly or with inhibitions is undoubtedly a
matter of one’s own perception and judgement. The trials and tribulations of people
in a society with varying culture, diversities, traditions, beliefs, faiths
have been very beautifully and seamlessly interwoven in the story.
The entire book is fragmented into chapters with
titles that are distinct to the characters and the episode relating to them.
The description of the protagonists in the sensitive, tear jerking story along
with their attitudes, expectations and exposures to technology are relevant and
most appropriate. The narrative is lucid and the readers can correlate to the
characters so very well and personally the central pivotal figure triggering
the chain of events, “SAM” vibes with my Tambrahm image, upbringing and
culture.
Tackling the unpleasant and destructive tendency
such as suicide on gender inadequacies and overt relationships has been sharply
and graphically described highlighting the shortcomings of individuals (the
cross wirings).How they tend to become inadequate and misfits in their domain
and in the society is also intricately brought out here.
The illustrations are remarkable and blend well
with the theme effortlessly.
The only flaws that seemed obvious to the readers
are the superfluous hashtags’ conversation and the distasteful tones in the
communicative language among the youth, though both of the above mentioned are
the order of the day!
On the
whole, this story is remarkable and unputdownable for the sheer alacrity of the
story line and the characters and subtlety of the subject matter.
