House hunting

After 3+ yrs in the same house, we had to look for another apartment (they are going to bring the apt down)!!
After 3 weeks of looking hard for a place,we shortlisted one in Normanton Park and went to view the apt..a nice place with all condo facilities. From the year i came to SG, I have been trying to find a place in Normanton and was glad i found one this time.Reasons being:(1) Nearer to NUS and Science Park!! (2) Condo Facilities

But though the place looked nice,the kitchen was so small that at a time only one person can stand there and they have also kept the washing machine there.So it was very cramped!!
And moreover, the agent asked for 2 yr lease; we werenot happy with it.

So,we decided to view another apartment; this time it was in Park West. I never knew there was a Condo by this name near Clementi Interchange. So,i went to view the apartment half heartedly. But when i reached the place, it was so serene and the ambience was so nice that i liked it at first sight. We were waiting for the agent to come and had fun taking pictures in the play area!! When he took as to the apartment, i was so flabbergasted. The place was exotic. The apartment had nice wood works done in almost all the rooms. The living room and the kitchen were so royale. And the rent was comparatively cheap. So,we made up our mind that we are getting this house and asked the agent to bring the papers to sign. After we came back from viewing, i made all the plans as to how to organize my things, blah blah blah!! then came a call fromour agent with a very sad news: the apartment got a better quote for sale and the owner has decided to sell it!!I was so heartbroken that i kept telling my hubby every 10 mins how much i have planned.

Now,what must be done has to be done: so back to House hunting. We then found few apartments which matched our budget and nearer to our workplace. And one was in Normanton park. Yesterday we went to view the apartment with the thought of the Park West Condo!! Well,this apartment doesnt score as much as the previous one. There are some major renovation works required; The kitchen needing the most. Hopefully after the revamping,the house ll look half as good as the Park West apartment!!

PhD thesis

PhD arambhichadhae theriyala..3 varusam odi poiduchu..eppa dhan PQE kudutha maadhiri erukku..but adhukula 1.5 yrs agiduchu..innum 1 yr dhan erukku thesis submission kku..
Last week my prof has asked me to start writing my thesis..and that is when it hit my head. I have no bio-related results till now!!
I am currently looking for drugs (that i have successfully separated) to do bio assay (and that too with ER,AR and progestronic cell lines) onnumae puriya maatengudhu!!

puthaandu vazhthukal

wishing everyone a very happy tamil new year!!

endha vikruthi aandu anaivarukkum amaidhiyanaa,aarokiyamaana matrum vetrigaramaana aandaga amaya ennadhu vaazhthukkal!!

pudhu reactions--july 2009

இன்னொரு புது முயற்சி

இது இன்னிக்கு தான் நடந்தது. எங்க வாத்தியார்க்கு எங்க இருந்து இப்பிடி ஐடியா மழை கொட்டுதோ தெரியலை.

(a) beta-sitosterol, (b) beta-stigmastanol

i could separate them using my CSPs but the problem is Sigma says that the compounds are 99% pure!!

well,that is were the problem is...if it is 99% pure,how can i separate two isomers..so,my prof suggested may be that is not the second isomer!!

:(

PQE என்ற பலப்பரீட்ச்சை!!

kitta thatta 2 vaaraam veetula ellarayum beedhi kilamba vacha ennakku,andha naalum nerungi vandhuchu..April 21,2009 vidiyum podhae,aandavaa endha poludhu romba nalla poludhaa erukanum,yaarum ennai,aenn edhukku nnu kelvikal kaekamaa parthukonnu oru pirarthanaiya saamikitta vachuttu practice session arambichaen.

aethanai murai practice panninaalum andha speech speedai mattum kuraika mudiyala..(genes illa,pinna eppidi maarum,enga appa paesi kaetavangalukku andha unmai puriyum..hehehe.)

eppidiyo oru 2 thadavai practice pannittu kilambitaen. 2:30 PM kku presentation,12:30 manikku venue kku vandhutaen..vandhu ellam sariya erukaannu oru checkinga pottu..marupadiyum rouse vida arambichutaen.

2:30 kku sharp ella examinersum vandhutangaa..umm,arambi unn presentationai appidinnu dhan sonnanga..kada kadannu oppichuttae vandhaenaa..appa nnu parthu ennoda thesis examination committee chairman illa oru kelviya kaettu ennaya stop pannitaar (avarukku namma nilama theriyala pola,stop panna arambikuradhu kastam nguradhu) avar kaeta kelvikku edho thatthu pithu ularittu,avarai partha manushan deep sleep la erukaar..well,adhu sleepa illa thinkingaa nnu avar dhan sollanum.

adhukku apparam naan presentation mudikkura varaikum yaarum kelvi kaekalai..(andha alavukku ellarum deep thinking la erundhu erukanga purinjukonga pa!!)

presentation mudinjadho illayo..aalalukku kelvi kaekuranga..umm,innimae dhan da nammakku aapae nnu ninachu kittu,oru smile oda avangalai face panna thayar agitaen..

Avanga ellarum kaeta kelvigal...ennoda PhD vazhkaila pinnadi thaevai padum appidingura oru napaasai la kurichu vachukuraen!!

(1) explain Inclusion complex-with respect to the hydrophobic behaviour of beta CD.

(2) what other parameters do you change/moniter during your chiral separation?

Mobile phase, particle size, length of the column

(3) what is the advantages of your CSP over other chiral columns available?

cheaper, since it requires very little amount of the CSP particles.

(4) Is it because of your CSP,the separation of the di substituted benzene is better or is it a property of those compounds?

(5) Which compounds can be separated using your CSPs? (ie) which functional group reacts with your CSP--> -NH2, -OH, -COOH etc.

(6)This looks like a totally chemistry research,what has it got to do with faculty of medicine?

(7)According to your thesis title,you ll be doing chiral separation in both drugs and environmental samples. But,there are no results or data showing that you have done any work so far?

(8)

innum oru rendu kelvi kaetanga adhu ennanu theriyamaa mulichittu erukaen,gyanabagam vandhdhum update panniduraen.

edhu pola pala kelvigalai dhinamum vazhkaila sandhichittu dhan erukaen!!

aana,edhulayum oru nalla vishayam enna na--PQE la pass panninadhu dhan.inimae yaaru kaetalum dhairiyamaa sollalaam illa,naan PhD pannuraennu.

-now let us look at the fun side of the so called PQE/Quals:

PQE mudinjadhum pasanga eppidi agiduranga paarungaa?!?!

innum neriya comic strips eduthu vachaen,but endha padhivoda neelathai manasula vachu kittu podalai..

P.S-Tamil la dhan type pannanum nnu erundhaen,enna aachunae theriyala,tamil typing selectionae panna mudiyala!!

I really wanted to write something,but could not (well,doesnt me that i was busy but was really lazy!!) I have so many half written stuffs in the draft section and i have no clue when i will ever complete them.

And this is one of the mails i got today and i loved the last one. Do have a look!!

Questions with no answers:-

1. Does a clean house indicate that there is a broken computer in it?

2. Why is it that no matter what color of bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

3. Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

4. Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

5. On electric toasters, why do they engrave the message "one slice"? How many pieces of bread do they think people are really gonna try to stuff in that slot?

6. Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

7. Why is it that no plastic garbage bag will open from the end you first try?

8. How do those dead bugs get into those closed light fixtures?

9. Considering all the lint you get in your dryer, if you kept drying your clothes would they eventually just disappear?

10. When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right so why don't we say, "That hurt!"

11. Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

12. Is it true that the only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road the stuff is placed?

13. In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

14. How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

15. If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you try doing it like your wife told you to do it? And obviously if at first you don't succeed, then don't take up sky diving!

16. The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four person(well,it was Americans but what is fun in that) is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends, if they're okay, then it's you.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas celebrations kku Orchard road poganum poganumnnu plan panni kadasila 27th Dec kilambiyachu..

I should mention these two little girls. Takashimaya vaashal la these girls were performing gymnastics..Olympics la ennamo "perfect 10" appidinnu sollurangalae adhai naan parthadhu illa..aanaa i would say that this performance was mind blowing.

Ennamaa valayudhu avanga udambu..appa kannu muzhi pidhungiduchu ennakku!!

எல்லாரும் போட்டோ புளாக்கிங் பண்ணுறங்கன்னு நானும் செய்ய முடிவு பண்ணின, அதை வெளியிடுறதுக்குள்ள ஒரு 4 மாசம் கிடுகிடுனு ஓடிப்போஒச்சு.

இதை நான் இன்னும் வெளியிடாமல் இருந்த என்னோட சோம்பேறிதனத்துக்கு ஒரு முடிவே கிடையாது..முதல "publish" பண்ணிடுறேன்..அப்புறம்,"editing works" எல்லாம் செய்துடுறேன்.

2008 தீபாவளி கொண்டாட்டம்ஸ்

எல்லாருக்கும் வணக்கம், ரொம்ப வெட்டியா இருக்குறேன்..அதான்,இந்த வருஷம் தீபாவளி எப்டி போச்சுன்னு எழுதலாம்ன்னு வந்துட்டேன்.

தீபாவளிக்கு முதல் நாள் வரைக்கும் வேலை இருந்துச்சு..அதனால தீபாவளி ஷோப்பிங் கூட ஒழுங்கா செய்ய முடியல...ஆனா, நமக்குதான் அது எல்லாம் ஒரு பொருட்டேயில்லையே..லேட் நைட் ஷோப்பிங் எல்லாம் போயி ஒரு வழியா முக்கியமான சாமான்கள் (கைல மெஹந்தியெல்லாம் போட்டுட்டு)எல்லாம் வாங்கிட்டு வந்துட்டோம்.

தீபாவளி அன்னிக்கு என்கூட வேலை செய்றவங்க,friendoda friends அப்டின்னு ஒரு 10பேரை (வந்தது என்னவோ 7 பேர்தான்!! நான்தான் சமைக்குறேன்னு சொல்லியிருக்ககூடாதோ)லன்ச்க்கு வீட்டுக்கு கூப்பிட்டுயிருந்தேன். மத்தவங்க வேற எதாவது விஷேசத்துல மாட்டாமலா போயிடுவாங்க!!( யாரு யாரு வரலைன்னு குறிச்சு வச்சுட்டோம்ல!!) லன்ச் பிளன் - Creamy Palak Soup, Veg Briyani,Paneer Butter Masala,Badam Halwa. (இதுக்கு அப்பறம் இருக்குறது எல்லாம் ஆங்கிலத்துல எழுதியிருக்கேன்..தமிழ்ல எழுத முயற்சி பண்ணினேன்....முடியல...ரொம்ப கண்ணு கட்டிடுச்சி..)

Creamy Palak Soup and Veg Briyani is Amma's recipe and I have already prepared them once or twice. I cooked Paneer Butter Masala and Badam Halwa for the first time.

முதல் முயற்சிக்கு OK ன்னு தோன்னுச்சி.அதைதான் வந்தவங்களும் சொன்னாங்க( நம்புங்கப்பா!!) I have to thank the recipes for that. It made things easier. I think you can also have a look and try out.Click the item names to get their recipe and who knows may be you ll find some other wonderful recipe out there. I should say,that is one great site.

அப்பறம், வசந்தம் சானல்ல "கண்ணாமூச்சி ஏனடா" படம் போட்டாங்க,அதை கொஞ்ச நேரம் பார்த்துட்டு இருந்தோம். படம் முடிஞ்சதும் ஒவ்வொருத்தரா கிளம்ப ஆரம்பிச்சுட்டாங்க.

ஒரு 6:30 மணி போல விளக்கு வைச்சிட்டு,பக்கத்தில இருக்குற கோவிலுக்கு போயிட்டு வந்தேன்.

இந்த மாதிரி ஒரே பரபரப்பா தீபாவளி வந்ததும் தெரியமா,போனதும் தெரியமா முடிஞ்சுடுச்சு!!
இதுவே நம்ம ஊரா இருந்தா,இன்னும் நல்லா இருந்துயிருக்கும் ஒரு நினைப்போட.

எவ்வளவோ பண்ணிட்டோம் இதை பண்ணமாட்டோமா?

இவ்வருட தீபாவளி celebrations (romba kustam pa..tamila type pannuradhu..romba porumai vaenum pola..adhu dhan nammakku suthama kidayadhae) pathi ezhudhanumnu deepavalikku next dayla erundhu yosichukittu erukaen..but sariya naeram kidaikalai. Adhukula ennoru vishayam nada,diwali issue pinnukku thalividapattuladhu(eppodhaikku).

Naethu i started another set of reactions.Edhu ennoru pudhu CSP(Chiral Stationary Phase). I used a new compound--C-Methylcalix[4]resorcinarene. Calix[4]arene oda modified compound dhan but romba different erundhuchu.



The reactions steps are just like that of Calix[4]arene. Dont know how much efficient the reactions would be..but adhukula enn vaathiyaar papers pathi paesa arambichutaar. Endha compound vachi 2 papers publish pannalaam appidinnu..avanga avangalukku oru kavalai..ennakku reactions pogumaannu kavalainaa,edhai vachu aethanai paper anupalaamnu avarukku oru kavalai..

Reactions steps updates will be done later after i get to know the results!!

அவர் பேப்பரைப் பத்தி சொல்லும் போது இது தான் தோண்றியது எனக்கு---எவ்வளவோ பண்ணிட்டோம் இதை பண்ணமாட்டோமா?!!

Grad students life as described in PhD comic

The strips from PhD comic is so true and all the PhD grads would agree to this. Everyone has his/her favorite strips from this comic. Listed down here are some of my favorites.

The first Comic strip is about the work output from the grad students, and believe me,it is 200% true (well,atleast in my context)

The content of the second strip also happens in most (all) of the graduate students real(?!?!?) life.I have asked my friends the same question and have got the same response and when i am asked how my research is..well, I give them all a blank look just like the girl in the strip!!

The third and fourth strip shows the signs of graduating soon (and i am not in that list)

The fifth strip is about group meetings and do i have to say it again...Unmai,edhil erukkum athanayum unmai, unmai, unmai.

So,if you are interested in reading all the comic strips,you can visit: http://www.phdcomics.com/

Alvida till the next time.

Difference between you and your boss

I get some random mails daily from a website which has a couple of jokes and a funny picture..And those jokes usually bring a smile to my face and today i got this. Though i have heard it before, i really felt closer to the words NOW!!

So,here is it for you to read:




When you take a long time, you're slow.
When your boss takes a long time, he's thorough.
When you don't do it, you're lazy.
When your boss doesn't do it, he's too busy.
When you make a mistake, you're an idiot.
When your boss makes a mistake, he's only human.
When doing something without being told, you're overstepping your authority.
When your boss does the same thing, that's initiative.
When you take a stand, you're being bull-headed.
When your boss does it, he's being firm.
When you overlooked a rule of etiquette, you're being rude.
When your boss skips a few rules, he's being original.
When you please your boss, you're apple polishing.
When your boss pleases his boss, he's being co-operative.
When you're out of the office, you're wandering around.
When your boss is out of the office, he's on business.
When you're on a day off sick, you're always sick.
When your boss is a day off sick, he must be very ill.
When you apply for leave, you must be going for an interview.
When your boss applies for leave, it's because he's overworked.

Hope guys enjoyed and now you know the difference, ACT accordingly!!

See ya till the next post!!

My worst nightmare AGAIN

I have always wanted to blog, but kept wondering about what to blog. What interesting things could happen in a life of a graduate student. But then after a long DAY, I wanted to ramble about it to someone and that is what is in my VERY FIRST POST here.

Did this have to happen again? I started my synthesis of CSPs after about a couple of months gap (not a vacation guys,just a gap...during which time i had to do analysis) and I really hoped i didnt have anyone peeking and yelling at me from behind..Well,I had all my fingers crossed for that..But it is Murphy's law all over again.

I had planned a day before itself about all those things i ll be doing and yet i messed up things. It all started with the vaccum trap blocked with ice followed by one thing and another. And the stuffs that happened after that is a History!!!

I wasnot allowed to do the reactions myself and When i went forward and said i would love to do it all by myself, i was told that the next time i can do it. Is it not the part of a graduate student's curriculam that he learns the tricks.

I really wish this yelling would stop and i could learn to do some things in my own(!!!) way.

So,now that i have my first post here,I ll make it a point to blog something or other now and then. And i ll make it sure that it is not just ramblings because I do have some great moments to cherish.