Viva Forever...

It's been a long time since i've updated the blog...too lazy...and G has been askin' me to post for quite sometime now...so came up with somethin' today, finally...quite surprising as nothin' usually happens in my boring life..: No, its not about the viva forever song by the spice girls, nor is it about the chocolate drink:D...yeah u guessed right, its the dreaded viva-voce..the questioning sessions that accompanies the even more dreaded lab exams... I happened to go through..i mean actually went through 2 such sessions...and well learnt a pretty good lesson...'VIVAS are not a joke'(see, that's a mistake i made..underestimated 'em:)..u know nothing, then what you're about to read is how screwed up your viva can get if you are absolutely clueless about the subject you're dealin' with!!! Let's keep the best one last..i.e my lab viva..(maan :))it was ridiculous)...here goes my w/s 'experiance'...what's given in brackets is what i'm thinking, an example of how nonsensical unrelated stuff can run through your mind even when your attendin' something important...in short, how perfectly well i concentrate... As our batch time was running out, the external asked 2 of us to attend the viva at the same time..i has sree along with me..it was a relief coz she was a buji, so i kinda hoped she would answer all the q's and i would just have to nod my head in agreement:D... Ext: (movin' the answer sheet towards me..like she wanted me to draw somethin')..."Explain how you get a 180 degree phase shift in an RC coupled amplifier"...(wow!!!, i dont knowwwww..i'm gonna make a perfect 1st impression...:(...while she asks sree, "What does the B & C in a BC107 signify"..(hey not fair, that is absolutely not fair, that question was meant for me..life is never fair...if there's anything i knew in w/s, it was about the components..hehe..that's the easiest part in EC)...guess it was out of frustration i started of with the answer...maam B stands for silii...and my voice trails off as she stares at me sayin, "answer your question first"...(aargh!!!)...sree answered the question perfectly...saw the Ext smilin' at her much to my irritation...while i sat there fiddling with the pen and paper...the Ext goes on askin' her about other components and applications while i sit there gettin' restless by the minute...she kept lookin' at me every second to see if i showed any signs of answering the Q...as a last resort i try explaining to her about the workin' of the amplifier (believing some miracle to happen with me ending on the 180 degree answer) , and she says "use the equation Vce=Vcc-IcRc...(yeah right..as if that was a clue..left me even more clueless)...finally i force out an "i dont know"...i end up gettin' an unbelievable stare... The Ext asked us something like what's BMW followed by a number...(car???)...sree an' i kept lookin' at each other helplessly..we were sure it was a component though we didnt know which...finally sree said "maam is it a f..f..f...eee...(..:))..i couldn't help laughin' at that..)...the Ext completed it for her.."yes its a FET"...(...well she tried..and she got it right!!!...what are you doing here now shal???..get lost!!:) Sree was done and maam asked her to leave...i got up too, relieved that it was over...when the Ext said..."where are you going???you're not done yet lady, i've got more questions for you"...(that's not what she said exactly, but that's what she meant...what the hell???...i look at the time..it's past 2 and i was really getting hungry...)...i got to sit with another gal this time...a lateral entry, so i need not tell you about her knowledge...i guess she answered most of the questions, while i sat there nodding a 'yes' or a 'no' even though i wasn't really sure(when was i last time anyways!)...and finally after what seemed like ages, she asked us both to leave, confirming my name and roll number for the 3rd time...(just to make sure she gave me a big zero i suppose!!!) The w/s was only the beginning of the story...the next i.e my lab, is a perfect example of how you 'never' learn from your mistakes!!! I was the first person in my batch, so was asked to attend the viva even before i started with my question... The Ext looked like a nice lady though she did not smile even once...(at the end of the viva, i changed my mind,believe me, looks are really deceptive...really really deceptive...) Ext: (asking me to take a seat)...what is your question? Me: High pass low pass filters maam... Ext: Ok. Now tell me what are bypass capacitors in an RC coupled amplifier used for? Me: (kewl!!!i know that i know that...and with a big grin on my face..)..maam they're used to divert the signal to the ground... Ext: (silence) Me: err...yes that's what it is for...(why is she lookin' at me like that?!..the grin suddenly disappearin' from my face) Ext: Where do the signals go from the ground??? Me: (eh???...do they actually go somewhere?...i didn't think of that earlier)...no it doesn't maam...(takin' a guess) Ext: Then what happens to it???Does all the charges get accumulated there??? Me: (now, even more confused, well i guess it does)...yes maam..(:D) Ext: (givin' me one of her stares, she had huge eyes, so that made it even more scary...)...what are the ideal characteristics of an RC CA??? Me: (not smiling this time)...input impedence high, output impedence low and less noise and distortion...(now i had no idea about what the 1st 2 points meant, heard a gal sayin' that before we got into the lab for the exam..bless her bless her!!!) Ext: That's all??? Me: (Well that's all i know...be satisfied!)...err..yes... Ext: What does input impedence being high mean? Me: (expected that!..lookin' away to aviod her stare)...err..mmmm... Ext: Quick! Me: (defeated)..i dont know... Ext: Did you actually prepare for your viva...why dont u do something...tell me what i should ask you... Me: (I wish i could:D...i didnt say anything...) Ext: What is an IFT??? Me: Intermediate frequency..err...(transistor or transformer???)...transformer maam Ext: ok!(phew!)..and where is it used??? Me: Hartley oscillator...(ha!!had that for the w/s...genius shal!genius) Ext: What is it used for??? Me: (great..i dont know that...well lets see...its 'intermediate frequency' transformer...so gotta be something related to intermediate frequencies...)...(i dont remember what exactly i said, but i'm sure it was some blunder...) Ext: really???..(yes it was a blunder...the 'really?' said it all!) Me: (silence) Ext: Its better you tell me what i should ask you, that would be easier... Me: (too embaressed to answer)... Ext: U can leave...(she looked very satisfied, as though she enjoyed the session very much!...well she didn't have a hard time putting the marks i guess...maybe that's why!) Yeah, those were the 2 unforgettable episodes...screwed both of them up big time...but really. thinkin' of the externals that have to sit through this an entire day, with students givin' them all sorts of answers and new 'discoveries'..:))..well compared to that kinda torture..this wasn't a big deal... Lookin' forward to more 'bloody bullshit' vivas..(courtesy for that vocab in quotes: mac(hehe, thanx yaar, that really expresses it;))