WORKING(?!) FOR THE GRAND FINALE

Here goes my 1st attempt with a comic strip(kind of).. this is as a result of my laziness to type(hehe)

Following is the process of preparation for the "GRAND FINALE"
a.k.a "THE FINAL VIVA" of THESIS!







athu enemo therila ena mayamo therila (guna kamal style) submission ku 2 days munadi than work pana mood varuthu.. till then process continues...!

Stage 4 – Single line n concept stage

“Yea she is fine, in her final sem.. she has her concept stage submission no? So she is busy with that”

When you hear your mother talking ‘technical’ terms like “concept” “submission” “thesis” “review”.. you realise how much thesis has influenced your lifestyle and the ones who live with you..
Its that time of the thesis, when architecture students start talking philosophy , explore about human evolution or start to appreciate the elements of nature! Confused? Welcome to the CONCEPT stage..
Its THE word that haunts us since our 1st year of an archi life.. concept concept..! we get so bugged up that sometimes we come with our own proverbs like:
“Concept is not important. Comfort is important” - credits to R.

Deadline this time – Jan 29 (after a successful postponement from 28th . one day matters a lot) :P

The last five days before the submission was very crucial. Because, in that short period of time.. you have to finalise the concept, apply it and finalise the plans and work on the presentation.
For non-archi people who are reading this, the above mentioned process is not as easy as it seems and takes huge amount of scribbling, head banging, discussions, calculations, cups of coffee, days without bath, sleep, food etc ..
It is the finalisation or freezing of the design which takes time, once the design is finalised schematically, presentation consumes lesser time (relatively).

Finalisation of the design requires hours of brain storming! You have to curse, request and plead your brain to come up with something innovative/creative to attract the jury members :D

I remember a quote from the Calvin & Hobbes comic series:
C: Creativity cannot be turned on like faucet! You have to be in the right mood
H: What is the right mood?
C: Last minute panic

The problem is, the right mood doesn’t arrive until the night before submission! :P

After a mind bugging, mentally and physically distressing week.. we managed to submit our sheets. Some complete.
Some incomplete.
Some with awesome presentation work(thanks to juniors).
Some with AWFUL presentation(like me).

We had two days in between the review (weekend) which was meant for doing a study model. But given the level of frustration we had after a dreadful week, we preferred watching a movie than starting a model.. 2 movies back to back .. and we felt relieved :D

So asusual, the last minute story begins and we started with the model on Sunday evening, after a successful nightout and with help from Dad(he helped in cutting mount board) i managed to complete something which almost looked like a model!

I came to bed at 2:00 am and i was not getting sleep. Too many things were running in my mind, above all that was MONDAY! I had my review the next day..
I was awake for a long time and i don’t remember when i slept..

Feb 1 – Review day
The day greeted me with a (un)pleasant surprise. I was lot no. 1 .
Oh shit. Right from that moment, tension ran through me. Friends and my guide wished me all the best. It was a very tense moment ( only bcoz i was 1st )

I pinned up my sheets and saw 5 jury members in front of me sitting coolly. I started off, and for nearly 10mins my presentation was uninterrupted.

Mindvoice: wow i rock. They don’t seem to question me.. thats..
It was interrupted by the jury panel.

“Wait a minute, i don’t get it.. can u plz explain?”
And thus began my official review “kili” (local slang for getting bashed in the review)

They were displeased with whatever i had done! I started defending my design until a point of time, when suddenly one of the jury members said:

“This is not a viable solution.. this is very much UNACCEPTABLE! I guess this must be a half an hours work! “

Yea right. I stopped defending my design and became temporarily deaf and dumb!
There were many laughter, mocking, arguements and i was waiting for the two words:
“OK NEXT”

Finally the bell rang and i started removing my sheets, my guide who felt sympathetic towards me gave me some consolation!
But then, after few reviews, i realised it was the same case with most of the students(the kili i mean) . So i was satisfied :D

Everyone who came out of the jury room, looked exhausted and depressed after hearing continuous suggestions from the jury members.
Irony is that, the following was my fortune for the day(source: FB )

Here is your Today's Taurus Horoscope
Step back and let the experts take over today while you sit and watch -- and learn.

How true!! Stage 4 was not so good for many! Fingers crossed :(

Stage 3 - STUDY STAGE

Dec 21 2009
Time: 2pm to 4pm

Thats the deadline for the submission of the official first review! But the review is on 23rd dec & 24th dec.

In this study stage we have to submit:
1. Data collection
2. Literature case study
3. Live case study
4. Site study
5. Requirements

Asusual, we work only in the last minute (yep thats us!) . But since we have presentation in A3 sheets, we started 3 days back.

Plz note: This is the latest and our fellow classmates have started atleast 1 week back!

Dec 19 10:17pm
ME: hw much ovr

R: dei... tom im goingto take prints da..... 2 o clock :)
have to finish only 2 sheets

ME: pirichu viduriyae da
"K" student nu prove panra
evlo sheets

R: dei... enna sollita..... ithukku nan hang pannikalam..
nammalam yennaiku mudichirukom... still in 12th sheet....

ME: ada dakalti chuma soniya

R: aama.... nethu ethumey pannalanu sonna naan... inaikulla ellathayum mudichiten nu sonna.... nan sooooooper women ah than irukkanum :D

ME: ada thu


In the beginning stages, seriousness had not gotten into us. But slowly it creeps in..

Time:10:40 pm
R: dei.... mudichiralama?

me: me fin nly 3 sheets

R:oh no...y?

me:1 sheet ku romba time edukuthu

R: romba analyse panra pola ;)
epdiyaachum oru 15 sheets aachum thethiru
illa..... nammala deptla madhikkave maataanga


minimum of 15 sheets was our target. But eppadiyo 30 sheets thethitom ;) After staring at the screen for more than 63 hours, i started to hate PS CS2 screen :(
3 continous night outs.. not possible without friends who are also "virtually" awake near us in GTALK :D

Time: 4:16am DEC 20
me: dont wry we can do it B-)
evalavo panitom itha pana matoma

R: ippudiye ethanai kaalam than yemaatruvar indha naatile!!!! indha naatile!!!!

me: odum varaiyil vetri namaku oduthal niruthathaee

R: odikittey irunda eppudi???? engayaachum ninnu thaana aaganum...

me: yes monday 2 mani ku than namma nikanum

R: oooooohhhhoooo.....

me: ena ohoo.. lets continue our work
apurm namaku ooooooooooooo
:)


Even at 4am in the morning, somebody will be online to give us an energy boost. Ana sila peru irukanga, 21 sheets mudichutenu anavathula aduvanga (none other than "V" )
They will irritate others by putting songs like:

"Kalakuven kalakuven kattam katti kalakuven.. thittam theeti kalakuven.. paru..
hey kalak kalak.. hey kalak kalak.. "

In this point of time i would like to give my special thanks to Mr. Vijay Antony for giving us a wonderful music album of VETTAIKARAN.

patta kathi pala palaka
patti thotti kala kalakka
paranthu varan vettaikaran vaamararin kootukaran
nikkama odu odu odu odu odu odu
odu odu odu odu odu odu odu odu
varan paaru vettaikaran

If one hears this song while working, a new kind of vibration will enter the body and rejuvenate the body cells, providing full energy to keep us awake.

Dec 20
Time : 2:30pm(skipping our afternoon nap)

me: standards ku evlo sheet podanum ma

VP: 5

me: EKSI

VP: enn da.. 2 podu

me: ore definition a iruku
pakavae mokkaiya irukae

VP: chumma podu da! yaru padika pora


After all this outtadi and "sincere hardwork" we took print at 2pm on dec 21st and submitted exactly at 4pm.. Punctuality is very important you see :D

DEC 23 2009 - REVIEW DAY

This time lots were taken by the guides and not by students.

Ivlo kashtapattu sheets potu pona, buggers they dint even take a look at our sheets for five mins. x-( They just skipped through it and started firing us with questions.

The "REVIEW COMMITTEE" consisted of:

-Thesis co-ordinator
-Guide
-Visiting faculty(Son of Gun)
-External1
-External2

During the review also, there were some interesting moments

Example:

Me: According to the IS code of 1978 the standards for low income housing are...
Reviewer: Wait.. 1978? they havent revised till now? do they follow such old standards?
(Mindvoice : unaku ithu thevaiya? entha varushathula eluthinanga nu ketangala.. :x)

Me: umm .. sir ..they also follow NBC2005
R1: i see, are they same or different?
Me: (ethuku vambu) Ofcourse its different!

Common sense and timing are two important aspects one need to have during a review.
Else you will be struck!

"why do u have a pink colour format!?"

No one expected such kind of questions really..! Guides play an important role here by supporting their students when they are trapped by the external reviewers. Unfortunately some guides dont!

Thats it..! So end of stage 3.. Lets await the results :)

Stage 2 - Selection of guide

GUIDE is the most important person in our thesis. A guide can either be a catalyst or an inhibitor during the REVIEW/JURY.

Getting a good guide gives a huge psychological boost to the students, and they have a huge relief after discussing with their guides venting out their confusions and fears.

(PS:good guide here means motivating, supporting and friendly and NOT GOOD LOOKING :P)

SELECTION OF GUIDE usually happens after finalization of the topic. And depending on their area of interest & specialization teaching staff from our department will chose their respective topics. And, each guide will have maximum of 3 to 4 students.

BUT, for our batch they said there was a new rule. :O
students should give 3 options for their "guides to be" and will be finalized by the
"THESIS COMMITTEE"

The meek, humble, "ok for anything" , mostly female staff were given preference during this process.
Students felt that by doing so they will relieve the extra pressure from the guide side.

Unfortunately,(or fortunately for few) after the final list of guides were displayed, we realized it was just an eye-wash and the usual process of guide allocation was followed! :(

Athuku apuram ore alambals than!

"hey i have to meet my guide ya"

"my guide told me to come by 10:30 ya"

"its just my 3rd guide meet ya"

sshhabbaaa... ivvaru ovavaru varukum oru "appavi" guide allot saiya pattadhu!!

Click here for stage 3

Stage 1 - selection of topic

The deadline for submitting the synopsis for our 3 options of topics was given long back (a month ago) However being a typical student none of us bothered to think about the topics (except for few regular specimens ofcourse) :P Also we had so many committments like

• semester exams
• new movie releases(peraanmai, adhavan, kanden kadhalai)
• diwali
• sweets to eat
• orkut profiles to update
• facebook quizzes
• farmville
• mafia wars
• SMS, blogging, etc

WOW! Thats a lot of committments isn't it? :-O

So finally 3 days before the deadline you can find the entire class online in gtalk and facebook (actually in search of their own thesis topics) :D

The following status messages in their profiles are usually common:

- "THESIS fever started"

- "THESIS torture"

- "yarathu oru topic iruntha kudungalaen" :-O

The 1st option of topic is what we are most interested in, so usually students decide that first and then spend considerably lesser amount of time for choosing the second topic and little or no time :P for choosing the 3rd option.

The night before the submission date..

TIME: 1:30am

R: hi, ethathu kedachutha?

ME: No, still searching.. feeling sleepy

R: time is only 1:30, we still have time dont worry

ME: yeah.. unaku ethathu kedachutha?

R: No.. same condition

ME: k cont..

R: ok u too..

Yeah.. have u heard of burning the midnight oil? its an age old saying.. but it suits perfectly even today.. probably we should rephrase it as "burning the CPU" or something like that..

TIME: 2:30 am

ME: any progress?

R: yea.. but athuku site details ae ila.. wht 2 do?

ME: proposal irukula? chumma google earth la site eduthukalam.. dont wry..

R: apdi panalama??

ME: athellam pathukulam.. vanthu check panava poranga :P

R: okie done! i will start typing then..

ME: okie im goin to sleep will get up by 6 and start typing

R: Gudnite.. bye

Choosing a project with a live proposal is important. For Eg, if u are choosing an UNDERWATER MUSEUM, there may be proposals in places like mumbai or chennai and we'll have to choose that particular site.

But under extreme conditions :D , you can allocate your own site.. (company secret, thanks to Google)

Its the day. 10am - submission 9 nov 09

If you think you are happy after choosing your 3 options, well wait till you meet everyone from class.. you are in for a surprise! ;)

After reaching college you will realise someone else has chosen your topic as well :( thats a miserable feeling, that too when your first option is the first option of someone else too.. :(

namma than ethaiyum thangum ithayam achae.. so enathan nadakum nadakattumae nu .. we wait with hope n faith..

THE TRADITIONAL PROCEDURE OF TAKING LOTS...

After taking the lots, u will hear atleast one of your friends (or yourself) screaming

"aiyaiyoooooooo.. nan than firstuuuuuuuu" :D :D

In many cases its an honour to be No.1.. but here its a curse.. ;)

The person allotted lot num one goes for the jury first..

THE JURY PANEL

Its a deadly room .. closed on all sides artificially lighted & airconditioned.

In the centre, there is a huge long table.. occupied by the jury members (6 in number) in a semi-circular shape.

In the centre of the semi circle is a small chair and student sits there very cautiously like a child who is about to get its first injection :D

Outside the crit room, all students wait anxiously for the 1st student to come out to know the "mood" of the jury members.

K: enaku site area vae theriyathae? ena solluvanga bayama iruku..

V: pichu puduven.. ava ava site ae ilama iruka.. unaku area ilanu feel panriya..

K: seri cool cool..

The first person comes out after finishing the jury.

Sweet box la irunthu oru sweet a velia edutha udanae.. suthi "E" moicha epdi irukum? Same way the person who has come out is surrounded by all others in a fraction of a second.

"hey ena sonanga?"

"site details kekurangala?"

"1st option mattum pathangala ila ellamae va? "

"synopsis fulla read pani pathangala?"

"yaru read panra?"

"pona udanae ena sonanga?"

Befor the student could even breathe a sigh of relief , she is targetted by an array of questions (jury panel ae better pola iruku)

Condition of the student before entring the jury

R: bayama iruku.. ok solliruvangala?

ME: Dont worry kandippa ok solluvanga.. un topic super topic ( enemo nan than review panra madri)

R: en kai a paru jillunu aiduchu..

ME: en heart kuda fast a adikuthu..

But i have to mention something here, friend are the only ones who will truly understand ur situation in this stage :) without them u will be lost in such a situation, im sure of it!

YOU CAN ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED IN THE JURY

I compare our jury process with the famous show in vijay tv "AIRTEL SUPER SINGER". Your topic can either be "spot-selected", "wait-listed" or "rejected" :D

after the review is over, few will be very happy to get the topic that they wanted.. some will be ok with whatever they get, for some all the 3 options will be rejected and called for a re-review, for some extra details would be asked, u can find fighting, crying, laughter, tension, all kinds of mixed emotions before and after the jury (intha gaplayum sila peru kadala poduvanga)

FINALLY AFTER ALL THIS EMOTIONAL DRAMA.. a topic is allotted to each student..

- End of stage 1...

Click here for stage 2

THE THESIS PROCESS

Im goin to live with 'this' for another 6 months.. so i decided to record the final days of my college and through my blog.. :)

So its THESIS time.. for those of you who are unaware of this term and quite confused about what im talking about.. dont worry.. perusa onnum ila.. its our final year project ;) (for architecture students)

Its 'THE' thing in an architecture student's five yr of college life.. let me first brief on the various stages of the thesis proces:
1. Selection of topic
2. Allocation of guide
3. Study stage
4. Single line - presenting schematic designs
5. double line - almost freezing your schematic designs
6. final presentation stage
7. external viva voce

each of the above stages will have a review by experienced panel of jury members and our work shall be evaluated by them.. in my following blogs i shall update my personal experience in each of these stages ;)Click here for stage 1
ty for readin..