Dec 14

Its been 3 and half months since my journey as research scholar began. Its been an eventful  100 days of my academic life. Course work is underway and my electives are finalized as well. We have one core subject as computer science. This includes the mathematics foundation and of course the refresher on various computer science concepts. This is handled majorly by Dr Keshavan Sir. 2nd subject is Research Methodology course. This is very relevant course work for us PhD students. This empowers us to have research outlook and is acting as a catalyst for tuning our mindset towards research work. It is more like a bridge between the traditional academics and research oriented studies. I am inspired by the learning thru this course which is primarily handled by Dr Sandeep Shastri Sir.

My 2 course of choice are - Information Security and Cloud Computing and Security.  Text books have been finalized and things are going well although little bit slow. Need to speed up the process of studying.

All in all things are going good and I am enjoying my weekend (sat) classes from 2 PM-7 PM. Have made good friends and teachers are inspiring me to pursue original work. :)

and the journey begins....

The Formal Inauguration of the Ph.D. Program will be at 4 PM on 29^th August 2013 at JC Road Campus of Jain University. Super excited and looking forward to it. Have put half day leave for the same. Cant wait :-D

- With Hope

Got Admitted to Ph.D Program!!

Today, I had taken leave from office at a short notice of few days for completing the admission formalities at Jain University for Ph.D. program. It marked officially that I joined the course and would be committed to it for the coming years. I gave couple of cheques; one on today's date for Rs 31,250 and another for the same amount dated Jan 1st, 2014. Next year, fee would be Rs 50, 000 and last year (hopefully) Rs 40, 000. Both of which can be payed in 2 installments each.

Now its no longer a dream or a hope. It is reality! I have to work harder and smarter than I have ever worked before. It is definitely not going to be a walk in the park or a short sprint to finish line. Its going to be a marathon. Its going to be highly challenging.

On Aug 29th, we have inaugural program of the degree at 4 PM  followed up with course work detailing. I am really excited and looking forward to the same. May God give me strength to carry on and enjoy the journey while it happens. 

Double Dhamaka!!

What a day it was! August 20th, 2013. I received two news which form very important milestone of my academic life. First, I received my results of Master's degree that I had successfully cleared it and secured a modest 8.3 CGPA. It had been 2 long years, a hundred weekends later that I had earned this degree. Truly it is a very dear achievement and I am grateful for all the people who supported me in various roles.

More importantly, it meant that, I  was now officially eligible for Ph.D. degree, result of which I was still waiting to hear rather nervously than anxiously. Later after an hour I received another e-mail. This time it was from Jain University!! This was it, I would know if it was yes or no. I prayed as I clicked to open the email. I calmed myself as the email was loading... I remembered one of the principles which I was brought up with, by my father: "Hope for the Best. Prepare for the Worst". I felt a sense of calm, a steady mind to accept what ever news I received. I had put it a lot of effort which technically started year or so ago and had picked up pace in the last month and a half. By this time, Email had opened and I had no choice but to start reading the mail. It started as below:

Dear Varun Deshpande 

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that you have been provisionally selected for the Ph.D. Programme in Computer Science Engineering,. Congratulations.

I closed my eyes for a second and thanked God for his kindness and Dr MKN for her support. I remembered Venus, my favorite heavenly planet, who is my constant source of inspiration. I felt at peace rather than over joyed. I took a deep breath and continued to read the rest of the mail. It took few minutes to sink in and immediately rushed to Balaji to tell him the good news. It was a major miles stone and a huge hurdle cleared. I had earned my ticket for my journey.

Later that evening, when I reached home, my mother greeted me with tears of happiness and hugged me. I told her there is still at least 3 years to go.... :) 

Nervous wait for the official word

Interview finished yesterday. Dr MKN had come as external research supervisor. She had taken lot of effort and altered her day's schedule in order to be there for me. I am so grateful for her kind gesture. During the interview, I unfortunately had a brain freeze :( and there were so many people who had applied for the seats. There were very limited number of them. I could have done better. I later rehearsed the things which I should have said after i was out of the hall similar to a batsman practicing the shot after he gets out :P.

However, some part of interview did go well and I got a good vibe from the examiners. This was the first time I had faced a panel of more than 2 members. I have to admit that I was not comfortable to it and also was nervous. I have to learn to cope up and excel with it if I have to earn my PhD.  

I am currently very nervous and very tensed about the results which would be announced later this afternoon by e-mail. I was hoping that I would be notified yesterday itself, however there were too many participants and they had to shortlist them which was taking more time. So they asked me to wait for an email from them. Hoping to hear the good news. Yest preparing for the other. Whats it going to be? Will soon get to know.

- With Hope

PhD Interview - D Day is finally here

My mission had got a jet boost around 2nd week of July when I was seriously searching online for universities who are offering PhD matching to my requirements and timelines. I felt, I found my train which would help me in my journey and eventually accomplishing my mission once I stumbled upon Jain University website. After much thought and analysis, I had made up my mind that I was going to apply for PhD at Jain University in this academic cycle. Thus started my revamped journey, my mission.

I managed to clear several hurdles and was fortunate that stars had aligned to help me ( Metaphorically. Not a great fan for astrology :) ). And today (18th Aug), the D-Day has arrived where I have to face the interview and defend my topic of research. my interview slot is around 10 AM this morning. I am little bit nervous but confident at the same time as I believe in the topic and believe that this work needs to be done. I watched few lectures around my topic of cloud security on youtube yesterday to reinforce in me the inertia of the topic.

May God give me strength for facing the interview panel of which my guide Dr. MKN would also be part of. Today is a major milestone to be achieved in order to earn my ticket which would take me into the PhD train and head towards my goal en route my mission.

-With Hope

Cleared Entrance Test

Since morning of 13th August, I was waiting for an e-mail from Jain University. An e-mail which would tell me if I am still in the race or if I am not.

Then later in the afternoon, I saw a new mail had arrived from JU. I took a deep breath and hoped for the good news, while preparing for the other. Fortunately, it was GOOD NEWS!! and I had cleared the entrance test and now the next step would be to prepare for the interview.

I am meeting my guide this morning (14th August) in order to touch base on the research topic that I have chosen and would be defending on 18th August. Its been a long time since we met, it fills me with anxiety and am looking forward to it.

Drawing analogies

During one of my discussions with Kannan (One of the most respected and knowledgeable folks at McAfee), a year or so ago, he provided a valuable insight on how to look at solving a given problem or even as far as visualizing it.

He was of opinion that we can model any given problem to a real world problem with real world entities or objects. Once we draw a suitable analogy, we can look into how we as a human society solved the problem and we can leverage on similar methodology is solving the issue in the digital world.

Even if solution to the problem is not available in real world or is needed to be improved upon or thought about with a new perspective, it is easier to think when we are dealing with real world entities. It will help us in contemplating certain aspects of problem analysis which would have been rather difficult to think in terms of binary digits!

I am truly inspired by this thought and would be looking forward to use this during course of my research on cloud security. Like drawing analogies to building a new city or new residential / commercial layout. The answer should definitely lie in the design! Well, we will soon find out :)

Thanks Kannan for inception of this way of thought. :-)

Waiting for Entrance Test Results

Yesterday, I received the sweet news that my mentor Dr MKN is now part of elite group of recognized research supervisors at Jain University and I am really looking forward to work with her again after 3 years!

That said, I am still waiting for the test results from the entrance test results which have a cut off marks and we will get to participate in the interview round only if we cleared this one. Every passing hour is making me more anxious of knowing the results. I don't want to let anyone down. Above all, I want to begin my research as soon as possible. God willing, everything would be smooth and graceful.

Written Test done

I wrote written test on last Sunday (Aug 4th). It had both MCQs and subjective questions. 2 papers, one on Research Methodology and other on Computer Science. Totally, it was 90 minute test for 90 marks. 45 marks each for each paper. There would be a cut off marks for selection procedure and to move forward to interview round it seems. We would be notified by 13th Aug if we are eligible for interview which would be held on 18th for my department.

There were 20+ candidates for Computer Science Engineering and about equal number for Computer Science. The vacancy list in the University website suggest that there are only 5 vacancies in a specific department! Although, Dr Sandeep Shastri had mentioned that its not a strict number but only a reference.

Now, I am realizing how difficult it is to enter into research work. I am competing with experienced teachers and corporate guys. Probably, I would be one of the youngest candidates across all faculties! Lets see how the results turn up. I am positive and look forward to the results.

-With Hope

August 1 - PhD Orientation Program

I attended the PhD orientation program today. Dr Sandeep Shastri, Pro Vice Chancellor of Jain University precided over the whole program and addressed all the questions of us, prospective PhD candidates. I found reassurance in his words, and felt being at right place for my journey.

There were many candidates who had come today from various faculties and backgrounds. There were range of people from young to what seemed like retired guys and everywhere in between. It was truly a diverse crowd who wished to pursue research.

Next step is written tests they week end, on 4th and later interviews on 17th or 18th of August. By God's will, if everything works out, classes would be starting by this month end. Lets see, how it turns out :)

-With Hope

PhD Application Form Submitted

I submitted my PhD application form on 23rd (Tuesday). I felt a strange sense of happiness when that happened. Now, have to look forward to orientation meeting on August 1st, and later the written tests on 4th Aug. Interviews are scheduled for 9th and 10th August.

Now, I can peacefully step into 4th year of my professional service tomorrow. :) Well, it would be most challenging one so far as I have to manage work, research and course work (week end classes) all at the same time. I hope God gives me strength for the same.

I have started making list of journals, in which I can publish my first few papers. I have not yet set any target to myself on publishing literature survey papers. But I know that with guidance of MKN, I will soon get started on the same. First one year, I need to strictly focus on understanding every aspect of cloud security. I found http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/ very useful in managing call for papers in a single place. Hail Crowd Sourcing! 

I purchased couple of books on amazon today, "How to publish Your PhD" from Sarah Caro and "Research Methodology" to get a feel of research and what it takes to pursue it. Waiting for its delivery.

July 21

And its done! It feels great!! Almost an year's effort presented in half an hour...

Now I need to shift focus on preparing the Research synopsis for PhD application. Also, I need to fill up the application form tonight itself.. No time to look back. Will reserve celebrations for later. Presently, its time to work! :) 

July 20

I could not submit Ph.D application form today as I did not have all the necessary documents yet. Hope to submit the same by Tuesday. I am currently making final preparations for BIG  day! Tomorrow is my final viva exam for M.S project. Hope is goes well..

Manipal has unique academic calendar of first 2 semesters theory (6 subjects and 1 mini project) and 2 semester full time project work. So, I have been spending time since October / November last year till now on my Master's project. It truly takes a lot out of you! I had taken a topic of my interest in cloud computing, Customer driven SLA management. It has been a long, exciting and memorable journey which I embarked along with my guide/guru, Balaji. I couldn't have come so far without his support and mentor-ship. I am truly grateful to him. In a way, it was a great exercise for the next 3 Years of my life :) I know that I have to work lot harder with dedication to even come close to writing Ph.D thesis.

Tomorrow is going to be a small step in Master's Degree, but a huge milestone in my education life.

-With Hope.

July 18

On July 26th, this year, I would be completing 3 Years of my service at McAfee and staring the 4th one. Although I am super exited about that day, a lot of work has to be still completed before that. 

My Master's Viva is due on 21st. Need to update the slide deck I have prepared for it. Also need to submit PhD application form. Plan is to submit it on 20th itself. 

Its heart warming to look back and enjoy this moment today. Completion of Master's, Applying for Ph.D. , 3 Years of service.. all packed within a week. :)  Feels Nice. 

Jul 10th 2013

It's been 2 and half years since last post.  My pursuit of Mission Dr VMD has taken twists and turns in this  The route which I had planned in Dec 2010 to pursue masters degree from BITs Pilani and then pursue PhD from iisc did not get realized...  instead I pursued MS at Manipal University from July 2011 and is expected to conclude later this month.

I would be applying for PhD from Jain University on this weekend and if I am able to clear the entrance tests and interview, course would start from August 3rd week on wards.

I am really excited to take the leap into research and even more motivated as my mentor, Dr Mydhili Nair has agreed to guide me during this journey. I cant express how great full I am to her for this! I remember promising myself after B.E that I would return back to work with her for pursuing research. I am thrilled that I am getting an opportunity to fulfill this promise I made to myself.

Now the real work starts... beginning from choosing my research topic, then to preparing a 4 page synopsis for research proposal. Aim is to complete all this by Friday so that I would be able to submit my application on Saturday.

I always wanted to work on "Security Issues in Cloud Computing" since I joined industry 3 years ago. I had started reading materials and getting prepared to work on literature survey. During my 2nd year of Master's degree, I took "Customer Driven SLA in Cloud Based Systems" as my project topic and concentrated my focus there. As I already have background on this topic, it is tempting to take this itself as my research topic for my PhD. I am currently evaluating my options and would come up with a decision today.