Life Lessons @ OpenGyan

Meeting great teachers have become a rarity. I m not talking about teaching as a profession but "teaching" as a quality - an ability to be a source of inspiration. I do not have words to express my experience in meeting Dr S Jayaraman, Professor, Dean & Head, Department of Electronics and Communiation Engg @ Sona College of Technology.

OpenGyan Team with Prof Dr S Jayaraman and Prof Ayubkhan

One of the reason why i do exist in OpenGyan is because of my father (who is teacher) and when i meet great teachers like Dr. Jayaraman, my longing towards sharing knowledge grows more. An humble human who speaks less and the words that gets uttered from his mouth revives energy and makes me to feel that i m doing something divine.

I felt uncomfortable to say a "thank you note" but decided not to say "thank you" as i felt the only way of paying him back is "living the life of purpose" and steer OpenGyan's initiatives.

Happy to end 2012 with so much positive vibe and looking forward to make 2013 little more meaningful.

I wish you and your family, friends a very happy and prosperous new year.

Photo Post - Workshop @ ACET, Villianur

As a part of OpenGyan, a week back, i happen to spend a day in Achariya College of Engineering and Technology, Villianur, Puducherry and the workshop was on "Data structures and algorithms". This visit is kind of special to me because for a very long time i have been thinking of contributing back to my home town (Villupuram - the place where i did my schooling/grew up). After visiting this place/college, i feel like i m little closer to my home town (and in a while, i should be back to my home town for another workshop and to Pondy for few more workshops). Surely the visit to Pondy/Villianur is nostalgic (the place where i did shopping for diwalis and engineering books @ Higginbothams @ Pondy)

Here are few clicks from the workshop (and more in coming months).

Why OpenGyan?

For quite sometime couple of my friends and I are doing little weekend work in the banner of OpenGyan. Check out this and this to know more about it. One thing that puzzles people why are we doing this without getting anything back (the fact is that, till now, we didn't get even the traveling allowance or cost and in some cases we request for accommodation in guest house if it requires overnight stay). And this requires an honest answer.

When i thought, i got the following answer (this is my personal view. Though i believe the founders/friends agree with this, i m writing this on my own to keep me grounded and work on the purpose/mission)

• Getting back need not always be material 
• having conducted 10+ workshops, i would say i got more in terms of experience and i cannot equate anything with this.
• Give back if you are privileged to lead a quality life
• Again it depends on people. With the compensation i get from my daytime job thro' my company, i can lead a quality life and feel i can spend a little on my passion.
• Giving back leads to getting back
• I strongly believe that this is an investment but not a spending.
• Pay your fees for learning life lessons
• I cannot afford to set up a college to teach to people. I see this spending as my fees towards realizing my dream/passion
• Meeting young minds is honor but not a job.
• One cannot underestimate the power of young/curious mind. If not for all the above reasons, this one by itself justify the spending i do.
• Get an experience of how to run the show with minimal resources
• Just three folks with each having day time job & family, it requires a lot of endurance to run the show with minimal resources (most importantly time).
• At the end, i makes me happy
• At the end, it is so cool and it makes me happy. So, i better do the things that makes me happy.

More gyan on why OpenGyan later.

Have a happy week.

First Net Sec Workshop by OpenGyan

This is going to be the first workshop on Network Security by OpenGyan. This workshop is designed by Rajkumar. We have the following things in the agenda (but we are not focused to cover everything, we will just cover things based on how things are on the particular day).

• Why network security?
• Elements of Security
• Threat types - Unstructured, structured, Internal and External
• Attacks - Reconnaissance, Access & DoS
• Access attack
• Detection & Prevention

+ a lot of case studies and live demos

We will be again in PSG Tech this Saturday for this workshop.

After this, we will have two consecutive workshops on JVM Architecture one in Vellore and another one in Villupuram. We are working on another workshop during September/October. Stay tuned for future workshops.

In order to inculcate the habit of questioning, we are planning to have a column in our website - Curious Questions. This section will feature all the questions [intelligent, curious ones] that are asked by students/participants along with their name/college. We are in the process of giving it a structure. Again, stay tuned for an update on this in coming weeks.

Spread this goodness - http://www.facebook.com/opengyan

OpenGyan is a non-profit initiative that imparts experiential learning at schools on computing/computers.

5K Performance (33 mins 06 secs)

Y'day, i did a little faster 5K. Last month, my 5K running was 36+ minutes. During my y'day run, i completed 5K in 33 mins 6 sec and noticeably shaved off 3 minutes in a month. Another instance where i found that setting goals in life really helps. 

What amazed me was that, i was able to run at 11.25 kmph for almost 0.5 km and another 1km at 10.5kmph continuously (1.5 km). It is going to take a lot of training for building up speed but it is certainly doable without hurting myself.

Here is my latest run.

I m glad that i m clocking so much and getting better every day. Though it is not a goal now, i m thinking of running a 5K under 25 minutes (may be, i can do it within next 6 months and which means that i should run @ 12kmph for 25 minutes)

Running Performance - Improving

What i felt Last Saturday

On 21-July , i did a 20K run/walk. Ran for approximately 13K and walked for 7K without any perceived tiredness/strain. Unlike my first 21K run, i was able to continue with my usual life. There was no cramp or weird pain in the butt. Seems like my legs have become better. Still i feel there is a long way to go to cover 5K less than 30 minutes and 10K in about an hour (1 hour 10 mins). I m still hoping that i should cover 5K distance in less than 30 minutes in couple of months from now.

Today,

Coming my 5K performance. I feel that after a couple of days of rest followed by a longer run helps to improve the performance of 5K. Seems like my body and heart takes up more oxygen. My average speed is increasing every week. 

Here is my latest 5K performance (yesterday's run).

Good to see things improving.

My target is 5K in 29 mins 59 secs. Let me see how it goes from here. Within next 12 runs, i should have been trained to run 5K under 30 mins which should roughly take 3 weeks from now.

Thinking to run 10K under one hour is distant thought. I should first complete 5K, then move to 7K and then 10K (gradual). So, i think, it should take at least three months to run 10K under one hour.

Let us see how it goes

Another important thing when it comes to running is losing weight. I continue to shed my weight, which is good. I have chopped off 16 kilos and i still need to shed around 20 kilos (which should take at least 6 months).

Running is great way to chop off weight. I m glad that i m still consistent & injury free (yep, rests are more important than running).

OpenGyan - An Update

It has been while since i wrote about OpenGyan. We are glad to see that more and more people ask for workshops. We conducted one day workshop on Linux Programming in PSG Tech for Department of Information Technology. We had a great learning experience and hope we improve the way we present/conduct workshops. Here are couple of photos taken during the session.

In near future, we are planning to have one day workshops on network security and JVM architecture (in the month of August). Still things are in discussion/planning phase. Once it is ready, we will be rolling out in our website. So, currently we have the following

• Linux Programming
• Data structure and algorithms
• Network Security
• JVM Architecture

Please checkout our website - http://www.opengyan.com and pass on the information to your alma mater.

See you later

Plan for Next Three Months - Need for Speed

After running 21K last Sunday, i feel like my body is not yet ready to run 21K on a weekly basis. There are no major problems but i could see my body is taking little more time to recover. No knee pain, ankle pain or discomfort. But i don't feel the urge to run which i would be sensing after a break for couple of days. I m concluding that my body is taking more time for its recovery and i hope that it recovers stronger.

So far, my running is successful because i have always tied my running with a specific goal like running for 30 minutes to running a self-paced half-marathon. The next target is "Need for Speed".

In next three months, my goal is to

• run 5K under 30 mins
• and possibly run 10K under 1 hour 10 mins

In order to achieve it i have to increase my speed by 3 kmph for a 5K and 5 kmph for 10K.

Can i achieve it? Only the time can tell.

Next Month:

• Reduce mileage by 10% and increase intensity by 10% every month for next three months before raising the mileage & retaining the intensity. To be in safer zone.
• No 21K for next three months. 
• 15K would be my longest run (once per week) and 10K on other days (3 days per week). My week should be - 10K, 10K, Rest, 15K, Rest, 10K (little more intensity), Rest

OpenGyan - Update

Most of the colleges have reopened and we have received few workshop requests. Glad to see that people are calling us again. We feel that it is easier to expand this way. In July and August, we have finalized on conducting two workshops - Linux Programming Interface in Coimbatore and JVM Architecture in Vellore. I think, we should be doing couple more in August/September. Will keep you posted.

Badhrinath has come up with a proposal document of what is (really) OpenGyan and what we intend to do/make difference. It is a document that answers most of the questions in people's mind so that it will be easier for us to reach out to people/institutions. He will post it in Facebook to as notes.

When we conduct workshops, we are planning to meet up with key people and find out a way of working closely with set of institutions who are not commercial (or at very least not seeing OpenGyan to make more money).

We have also added Networking and Network Security to the list of workshop.

The website has undergone few minor upgrades and by now you should be knowing that there is a Facebook page managed by Badhrinath.

Web - http://www.opengyan.com

Facebook page - http://www.opengyan.com/opengyan

Request you to reach out your alma mater and share this initiative.

Way to 21K

The update is that i have completed by self-paced first half-marathon. Before i started to run (again), i never had an idea of running a half-marathon. Surely, Runner's world, Born To Run, Jeff Galloway and K7 made a difference this time.

I planned to run my half-marathon sometime end of June or early July but had to run yesterday because of this video. Watch it. If you need instant motivation to recover your wellness, look no further, watch that video. Awesome, awesome and awesome is the only word that i could get after watching it. The guy barely walked but later ran "Boston Marathon". I don't know him name but i watch it just before every run. It is possible to inspire other by just being consistent and focused on self. Utmost selfishness to be great & consistent is utmost selflessness.

Here is the stat of my dream run (it all took three straight months for a couch potato to enjoy a dream run & it is equally rewarding burning around 15kg of body mass)

• Distance: 21KM
• Duration: 2 hrs 55 mins
• Energy spent: 1954 Kcal
• Hydration: 500 ml of tang and 2 liters of water while running.

Post run, had (and i enjoyed every sip of the juice and every bite of pizza)

• a jughead special in Fruitshop on Greams Road
• half small jugalbandi pizza at pizza corner
• 500ml of Gatorade

While running, had cramps in thighs and butt few times. The cramps went away with stretching and walking for 2 mins.

After the half-marathon, my next target is on pace. Run 5K in less than 30 mins (probably 27 mins, which means that i should run at 12 kmph for 27 mins). It is going to heavily taxing on my legs, bones and lower body. Time to apply brain while running and be more sensitive to body.

During this journey, i can't really measure the amount of inspiration provided my little nephew K7 (is now Anna) who was dancing for this song when he had broken his left arm. I can't stop running when i hear this song (imagine that he is dancing) and i shoot up speed at least by 2kmph. God bless.

On the way (back to 2003) fitness

Seems like long distance running at slightly lower pace and medium distance with slightly higher pace is doing the trick. Glad that i m getting back to 2003 fitness level in running (i used to do a 5K @ 32 mins on a treadmill).

Yesterday, i ran the usual 10K distance and there is a marked improvement in overall pace. The completed the first 5K in 36 minutes. It really excited me and i think i should try to work on my 5K running pace. So, my running goal for next 3 months would be to shave off 6+ minutes and complete 5K under 30 minutes.

Another goal that i would be reaching by end of this month is running my first half-marathon distance. (eagerly looking forward). As far today, my max distance is 19.1K which i did last Sunday.

These days, i seem to love every running days and particularly weekends due to longer run.

Other stuffs:

1. Would be joining Inshape or Maverick Fitness early July
2. Research more on my next Asics running shoe
3. Improve hydration
4. Move running to the morning. I wont be consistent running in the evening due to work and little longer commute to work.
5. Get my lipid profile tested by end of July (all my previous lipid profiles are normal and in safe zone. I feel that i should still reduce bad cholesterol and triglycerides)

With all these, i believe i can reach my 1995 fitness levels in next 3-4 four months and my life's best fitness level in next 6-9 months (you see i was never in underweight/normal weight zone. I was mostly in obese zone and little in overweight zone :-)).

Eagerly looking forward.

Check this video. Excerpts of the book Brain Rules