Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The Guide

I can't tell you, how you feel after a longtime problem, for which you spent more than a week, gets solved in a few minutes, comprising of a few adjustments in the code (what is called a logical error, opposed to a compilation error, for which your compiler does a good job). We had a problem.....the distribution was not looking the same what it should look like...the theoretical prediction was appearing inaccessible........we presented this problem in the biweekly meeting....got lot of tips and toes....faced lots of fanatic criticisms......there is something wrong ....was the expert comment.

Yah....we know that but why?.....nobody could answer...they were as clueless as we were.....

And, today finally we decided to sit together...for the first time and discuss....I talked about theory...he talked about practice....and as it goes.....practicality won over theory....I could guess my mistake......just had to add a single line in my code.....we call it a Lorentz Transformation or a boost.....and the world changed ......a boosted frame of reference looked so different for the first time ...... the graph was in front of us...... supporting theoretical expectations ......

This is why you need a guide...and not a supervisor ...... and luckily wherever I went...be it a short term project...a deputation .... my doctoral studies at my institute .... or my collaboration experiment..... I always got a great supervisor ...no, a great guide.... and a true friend

The picture was taken by my supervisor here, just after I showed him the latest results...we both were very happy....and in my case, it was a little extra......from that moment onward, I am hovering over the song Boyfriend by Ayuse Kozue...rolling on ...and on

7 comments:

Shashikant Kore said...

Coding always gives such "aha" moments, provided you are able to crack it before you lose patience.

Anonymous said...

also coding gives you a big "aha" moment when you find that you could use a better algorithm than the one you were using...

Nikhil Joshi said...

shashi:

yah, and particularly when a big problem is created by a tiny logical mistake :DD

aNi pai' kadun kahi navin khabar??

VW :
a better algo. to the same code actually upsets me :( ...it shows my inability to crack it

Suvadeep said...

could not connect this "boyfriend" song with that momentary state of mind of yours! But I can fathom the time when a long time thing gets cracked .. I believe almost all of us doing PhD have similar experiences sometime or the other!

Nikhil Joshi said...

suvadeep:

Don't connect "Boyfriend" with my that momentary mind-style....connect it to the aftermath :D

Yah...on Ph.D. front we are all alike :D ...sun ke achchha laga :DDD

Dr Shanta Laishram said...

nice to hear that!

Aghori said...

good joshi ... buck up !! you can do it ...