Electronics engineering is an engineering discipline which has always been beyond me. Not that other engineering disciplines have been any better or scared me little less. I have always wondered how one could
be so obsessed with something as difficult and baffling as electronics engineering. How one could treat its study as if it was like some kind of a sacred ritual. How one could bury himself in fat and giant books for ceaseless days and nights. How one could devote his entire life to the study of electronic devices and circuits. And how electron tubes and semiconductor devices could be more interesting than Shakespeare and Wordsworth, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie!
Having a brother who ate, drank, slept and dreamt transistors, diodes, integrated circuits and all such things that once upon a time looked worse than Greek and Hebrew and sounded worse than Altaf Raja (a horrible singer) to me, I grew up in an environment that was flooded with
electronics engineering books and long, relentless lectures on the same subject. Every time there was a telephone, a radio or a television in sight or a car was spotted in the vicinity, I was made to understand the dynamics and the mechanism behind it (even if it meant blood spilling out of my ears!). Little did I know it would become an inseparable part of my life and how!
Initially, I developed a sense of aversion towards the words, electronics and engineering. I stayed in awe of it and wanted to run away from it. But I have to admit, as days passed by and years flew like the sweet wind of autumn, I also grew an affinity for it. I remained forever intimidated by it and at the same time curious to be a part (basically a patient listener) of discussions which included the mention of electronic devices, circuits and the like. I felt a burning desire to know more although I could make head or tail of it. I remember him talking about the seminars he used to attend, where researchers and practitioners from different branches of academia and top honchos from industries spoke on electronic devices and circuits and indulged in long discussions focussing on recent systems and techniques in the broad field. I remember quietly laying my hands on his many electronic devices and circuits books and turning endless number of pages to understand the meaning of things that I did not understand. That is how fell in love with electronics and engineering, and electronics engineering.
