Had the first algorithms midterm today. It went well, I suppose - rather, I hope. I was the first to leave the classroom, and - not to brag - one of the few before the exam who weren't engaged in frantic review. So as not to come across as a douchebag (especially before the exams are graded), I will add that this was not because I was overconfident or anything, but because I was going through the draft of a new FIITJEE story (featuring Verma) that I started writing late last night. Also, to be sure, because I didn't feel like I had to review any more than I already had, which didn't amount to a whole lot to begin with. I guess I was a bit overconfident after all. Soon after I had turned in the exam I realized, much to my consternation, that I had messed up the last problem in a stupid way: I had confused the indices of a certain array with its values. This ruined lunch for me. But happily, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't committed that mistake after all. And all was well again. I've still got a long way to go before I can rest easy, but at least I've recovered somewhat from the Impostor Syndrome that I'd been experiencing last night for no other reason than that Google had got the term stuck in everyone's head a few weeks ago with their seemingly well-intentioned workshop aimed at combating it that I scrupulously missed. I am, of course, still an impostor of sorts, but only because that's what one has to be in these days of little privacy.
Also, since it's the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11, I think it's worthwhile to recall what I remember of that day - being a fastidious chronicler and all. I was eight years old, and we were living in India. My dad was flying to the US on one of his numerous business trips. I remember my dad saying something like he was going to return with a suitcase full of toys or whatever I was into in that phase of my life, because I was shallow as fuck as a kid. Then 9/11 was on the news. It happened around 9 AM Eastern time, so I guess it was 6:30 PM in India. If Indian news channels were as reliable back then as they are today, then I guess it was more like 8 or 9 PM. (Gotta get all those commercials in!) I must admit, I don't think I knew back then what the Twin Towers were. My mom explained to me patiently that they were one of the icons of NYC. My mom was not able to get in touch with my dad, of course, since he was on the flight, but we learnt in due course that they were forcing all US-bound flights to turn around. Anyway, one of our family friends personally drove over to our house after several failed attempts at getting in touch with us over the phone, since he knew my dad was heading to the US, and told us something like "50,000 people were killed". That's about all I remember from September 11, 2001. Needless to say, I didn't get a suitcase full of toys or whatever.
Also, since it's the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11, I think it's worthwhile to recall what I remember of that day - being a fastidious chronicler and all. I was eight years old, and we were living in India. My dad was flying to the US on one of his numerous business trips. I remember my dad saying something like he was going to return with a suitcase full of toys or whatever I was into in that phase of my life, because I was shallow as fuck as a kid. Then 9/11 was on the news. It happened around 9 AM Eastern time, so I guess it was 6:30 PM in India. If Indian news channels were as reliable back then as they are today, then I guess it was more like 8 or 9 PM. (Gotta get all those commercials in!) I must admit, I don't think I knew back then what the Twin Towers were. My mom explained to me patiently that they were one of the icons of NYC. My mom was not able to get in touch with my dad, of course, since he was on the flight, but we learnt in due course that they were forcing all US-bound flights to turn around. Anyway, one of our family friends personally drove over to our house after several failed attempts at getting in touch with us over the phone, since he knew my dad was heading to the US, and told us something like "50,000 people were killed". That's about all I remember from September 11, 2001. Needless to say, I didn't get a suitcase full of toys or whatever.
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