KYCEan Reloaded ! Know Your CEan- Pensu

Hello CEans !
So here I am with an awesome talk with a liberal CEan. His posts on CE many a times stimulate your thinking. Yes, he gives an all together different dimension to a debate with his opinions. A computer freak and a wanderer hungry for knowledge and enlightenment , courageous enough to lead his life on his terms and conditions.
Lets see what all Mr. #-Link-Snipped-# has got to share with us.
Happy Reading CEans 😀


Karishma : What is your real name ? Why did you choose Pensu as your username on CE?
Pensu : My real name is Peeyush Gupta. Pensu was nick name my friends gave to me during my B.Tech. College. It started with something else and it took it 3 years to evolve into Pensu! I liked it so I opted it as my username.

Karishma : Give a brief introduction of yourself.
Pensu :Okay, I just finished up my M.Tech from NIT Dugapur. I am going to join IBM-India Software Labs next month. I like reading books, listening music, watching TV shows and all sort of philosophical shit! I am a strong supporter of Open Source philosophy, tux for life! If you see a guy with specs stuck to his computer screen not talking much to anyone, that's me! I love fantasy work especially involving superheroes and yeah, I am Batman!



Karishma : Name 3 things that you cannot live without.
Pensu :My phone, internet connection and of-course Oxygen! (Not necessarily in that order!)

Karishma : Why did you choose to do MTech ?
Pensu :Well, I actually didnt plan for post graduation until 3rd year of my graduation. I just appeared for GATE that year and got a good rank. So, when it came to placements, I thought getting a job is no big deal, but I might not get a chance to study again. I talked to my parents and they said it was up to me. So, I decided to ditch placements and go for M.Tech.

Karishma : "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hands." This is the line in your signature. Can you be more elaborative about it.
Pensu :I have seen a lot of things in life till now and I have seen a lot of people struggling to go through it, even me at some point. People generally blame their luck, sunshine, timing and all sort of stuff. But I believe this all is out of any-body's control. You might have heard about Murphy's law. I mean, whatever is gonna happen will happen, you can't change that, you just need to deal with it and your attitude makes all the difference.

Just like in a game of poker, you can't control the cards which you are gonna get, but you sure can control the way you play the game!

Karishma : I read your thread on CE named " Passion is Overrated". It makes me ask you what are you truly passionate about and please put share your views on Scott Adam's theory of "improving your odds".
Pensu : Unfortunately, I haven't found my true passion till now, I mean something that wakes you up at 6 in the morning(I wake up around 10-10:30!). Though there are a lot of things that motivate me to work hard and one of them is to make some changes that will matter. I remember a Steve Jobs quote here, “ We are here to make a dent in the universe, otherwise, why even be here!” So, basically I hope to make some remarkable dent in computer industry. Wish me luck!
As far as Scott Adam's theory is concerned, I agree with him. Not everybody finds their passion or born with a particular skill and in that case the only thing is to improve your odds in whatever you are doing. May be, one day you will get lucky and will get to lecture people about passion! Till then, just keep working in right direction with right attitude and you will find peace without worrying about true passion.

Karishma : "If you have an exit strategy, it's not an obsession!", Tell us things you are obsessed about. You can mention people too.
Pensu :Firstly I am obsessed with Internet, I can spend days reading stuff without complaining! Secondly it's computers, in fact most of my time on internet is wasted(!) on reading different tech-related articles. Then there is politics and literature.

And yeah, there is a person too!

Karishma : If Alladin's genie turns up before you, what three wishes would you ask for ?
Pensu :
1) Create a world with all the DC characters, 2) Make me Batman there and 3) Another million wishes, please!


Karishma : I came across a good big discussion on CE on " Which language should be chosen as the national language of India to unite the people probably" ( not quoting the exact topic). There seems to be no consensus achieved on the same. If you were to provide one solution for it what would it be and why ?
Pensu : As I said in that thread too that we should make Hindi the official national language of the country. And the reason is simple, to make communication easy. I have been to a lot of states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and I feel like an alien in my own country because I don't know how to talk to them. If I can't communicate with my own people, how am I supposed to feel them as my brothers and sisters! The solution is actually really simple, make Hindi mandatory for primary school students. Some people had objection in that thread that it will make regional language go obsolete, but I don't agree with that. Regional languages can be taught at home, and I think the most effective way to teach something to whole nation is to teach it to children.

Karishma : At times life makes you face shit. What is your philosophy to come out of these tough times ?
Pensu :Just hang in there. As Churchill once said,

“If you are going through hell, keep going!”

And really, that's all that matters. Life has it's phases, sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail. You can't help it. The only thing you can do is keep moving. May be there are good times ahead, may be there are not, but just blaming your circumstances, luck etc. or worrying isn't gonna get you anywhere. So, just relax, have a beer and keep going!

Karishma : What are your other interests ?
Pensu :Books, love them! Mainly mystery or fiction. Charles Bukowski is the man, haven't read anything darker. Plus I like music, any kind, though I prefer melodies. I have a huge playlist on my phone consisting of bollywood's 70-80s melodies. Nothing is smoother! I love outings, just get on bike and ride out. Me and my friends have a road trip almost every other weekend.

Karishma : Reading seems to be one of your interests. Name your favourite novel and how has it changed YOU ?
Pensu :The Alchemist. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I am telling you there is something special about that book. It just leaves you thinking, may be you do have a destiny, a place where you are supposed to be and everything that comes along is an omen to tell you if you are going in right direction or not just like the magical stones that Santiago had.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Some rapid fire questions:

Karishma : Your biggest fear in life-
Pensu :My biggest fear – Because of my casual nature, I am going to hurt people who care about me

Karishma : Most stupid thing you have ever fantasized of-
Pensu :Most stupid fantasy – Principal secretary to the prime minister! In my defense, he is actually a very powerful guy!

Karishma : Favorite sport-
Pensu :Badminton

Karishma : CEan you would like to spend an entire day with -
Pensu: #-Link-Snipped-# , a brilliant mind to spend time with!

Karishma : Lady you admire the most-
Pensu :Jennifer Lawrence, a girl doesn't get any more perfect!

Karishma : What would you say to the following people if you met them in person:
1. Nelson Mandela
Pensu :Thank you sir for blessing earth with you presence.

2. Rahul Gandhi
Pensu :Next, please!

3. Alia Batt
Pensu :– I know you have heard it a lot before, but just one more time, Prithviraj Chavan is not PM of India!

4. Aamir Khan
Pensu :Thank you for giving Satyamev Jayate to nation, we need it!

5. Rajnikant
Pensu :You don't say anything to rajni sir, you just bow you head and get out!

6. Sunny Leone
Pensu :Leave bollywood and go back to your original work, you “act” better there!

Karishma : Narrate to us any life transforming incident of your life.
Pensu :Okay, I am not much of a story teller, but since you asked here is one. It was the time when I went to Kota to prepare for IIT-JEE after 12th class. I scored highest marks in my district and was ranked 12th in the whole state. So, I was quite confident that I would be getting into an IIT. Now, I am not sure when did that confidence turned into over-confidence or may be, the success of 12th class exams made me too proud so that I took the preparation very lightly. Obviously, I couldn't get into IIT (I was only able to make it to EML), but when I look back I don't regret it, I think it taught me something important and that is never to be over-confident. Don't take anything lightly, every small or big success needs patience and struggle. The only thing I regret is I wasted one year and a ton of money, may be I could have gotten the lesson cheaper!


Karishma : You probably have philosophical views. So do you think One can bring about a change in the life and thinking of other people. Do you think you can make a person quit smoking ?
Pensu :Okay, that's a tricky question! You see, I do believe that philosophy changes your thinking but to do that it should make sense to you. Reading or listening to something and then understanding what exactly the narrator meant is a rare skill. If you have that quality, if you can understand what exactly the author is trying to convey, it can shake your roots. Of-course it also depends on the author how to convey his message and once the author and the reader relate to each other, both of them see the world differently. You probably read the stories about books/movies/speeches changing lives everyday. So, yes, I am sure, if you connect to the thinking of the people, if you can touch them where it matters, you can change their thinking as well as their lives.
Smoking is just another addiction(No matter how much anyone justifies it, in the end of the day, it's an addiction!) and as I said above if you hit the right spot you can change the way people think, so it's very much possible to do it. If I can connect with the smoker properly, may be, I can make him quit smoking.

Karishma : Where do you see yourself 5,10 and 15 years down the lane.
Pensu :Wow, I haven't planned for that long! My only aim is to inspire change for better. In 5 years, I want to be in a position where I can influence the direction of change in the world or the world that I am concerned with. In 10-15 years, may be, move up the hierarchy and steer the vessel myself!

Karishma : "There are no free lunches", how far are you convinced with the saying ?
Pensu :Couldn't agree more! And believe me, it's not anyone's fault. We are built that way. There is nothing free. A line from true detective here, “Self-awareness is what went wrong with evolution!”. Basically, we do things because they serve a purpose, it could be anything, for happiness, love, business, anything. So, if someone is taking you for a free lunch, that definitely means it is serving a purpose for them. Now, I don't mean all this is negative only, may be the purpose is positive but there surely is something behind it! (Yeah, yeah, I know, too much philosophy!)


Karishma : Your message to the fellow CEans
Pensu :Just one thing - Do Not Worry! It's human nature to be stressed when things don't go as planned and it happens to all. But we are engineers, we are supposed to create things and creation takes patience and continuous effort.

So if you hit a road-block, do not give in to the stress, just relax and keep moving. There is always a light at the the end of the tunnel!

And yeah, a big thanks to #-Link-Snipped-# for preparing such interesting questions. I hope you enjoy reading answers as much I enjoyed writing them.