Student Progress Report - Capital Idea: Fill & Download for Free

I started a sort of cult-following in my school for the entire 7th grade.I can pinpoint the exact time where the idea formed in my head. It was November of 2016, and we were sitting at the lunch table. One of my friends came from Nebraska, so he knew. He knew what they didn’t.“Hey Omar, you’re from Wisconsin. Do you remember Menards?”For those of you who don’t know, Menards is a hardware store that saves you BIG money. Think home depot, but better in every way.I remembered Menards. I had a lot of good memories there for some reason. I loved Menards, and I wanted others to love it too. There was no Menards in South Carolina, and nobody knew what it was.This is where I formulated the early workings of my plan. I knew I was going back to Wisconsin for thanksgiving break, and there I would be reunited with Menards.We drove a 14 hour car ride to Wisconsin, because my parents don’t do planes. I immediately told my parents that we had to go to Menards on this trip. I do this kind of stuff a lot, so my parents didn’t really ask why. And since they needed light bulbs too, it was a win-win.When I got there, I went straight to the empty checkout lanes with no clerk. I didn’t want witnesses.There they were, my prize.The Menards gift card.I preceded to take all of them off the shelves. I needed every single one. I stuffed them in my pockets. In my hood. In my parents check out bags, I emptied 3 lanes.Counted up, I had over 250 gift cards. Finally, I could enact on this wondrous plan of mine. It’s actually a good thing that we didn’t take the plane, because I have no idea how I would explain that to security.I went to school, and I started with my friends.“Look guys! I have Menards gift cards!?!”“What’s so great about those?”“What ISN’T so great about those?”And that’s all it took. Our school required every student wear a lanyard with their ID inside them. I instructed them to put the Menards Cards (as we called them) in theirs. They did, and although they were at first confused, they came to understand the true meaning of Menards.My friends had pretty high social status, and were considered “popular.”That’s what I was counting on.Sure enough, people asked them what Menards was, and why was it so great? And then, “Where can I get one?”I had people lining up to put useless cardboard cards in their lanyards. We were growing in numbers, and people felt faithful to our cause.We called ourselves the Menard Squad.However, I only had about 50 members, and people stopped coming for Menards cards. I needed a new strategy. How could I get people to wear Menards Cards? How could I get them to come to me?Then I realized, that was the problem. My reach only extended so far. People didn’t want to come to me for Menards cards, they wanted to get them from people they trust. I needed distributors that were involved in every clique.So that’s what I did. I pitched the idea to people that sort of knew me and liked me. I got a girly girl distributor, a nerdy girl distributor, a jock distributor, and a nerdy guy distributor.My Menards empire grew much faster than I could ever realize. So fast, that I ran out of cards.I wasn’t too worried though, I had anticipated this and asked my mom’s friend to send me more cards. 150 more cards would arrive in a week. But until then, I had to keep the hype up. I told my supporters about the Menards jingle to keep them occupied, people were singing “SAVE BIG MONEY AT MENAAARDS.” in the halls for weeks. It was perfect.After I got my shipment, things were smooth sailing for the next few days. But I had grown too powerful. With anything that is big, there are always enemies. Whether they are haters, competitors, or businessmen, any popular organization will have to conquer them to survive.Here’s how I dealt with them:Haters: The haters were a problem, spreading propaganda against Menards. It was a matter of basic psychology to take down most of them. All you had to do was convert everyone they interact with to the Menard Squad, and they would follow suit. Some however, were tough nuts to crack. These kinds of people do this to feel superior, and this was where “The Menards Millionaire.” came into play. He was a man who had all the different types of Menards cards, all 24. He would offer them a rare Menards card, and tell them other people would be jealous of them. That always did the trick.This specific card was the rarest of them all:Competitors: The Home Depot Squad was growing, and I had to stop them. For this I simply cut off the head of the snake, and used the Menards Millionaire tactic to convert the leaders, and the Home Depot Squad was dissolved. The Lowes Squad was even easier, people lost interest before I could even shut them down.Businessmen: These were by far the biggest threat to the Menard Squad. They wanted to sell Menards Cards for money, and I wouldn’t have it. After all, selling stuff on school property is a one-way ticket to getting shut down. I had to shut down black markets selling “the rarest Menards Cards”, and make sure the “Dealers” were blacklisted from receiving Menards Cards. They were relentless though. I kept getting offers from kids that wanted to capitalize on the Menard Squad. I told them it wasn’t about the money, but they wouldn’t stop. I never really got rid of these, all I could do was keep them at bay.I even sent a letter to John Menard Jr, the current C.E.O. of Menards, telling him all about it. And he sent me back 100 Menards cards. It was going good.But alas, my time as leader wasn’t long. For I was moving at the end of that year. I found a prodigy in the year behind me, and taught him everything I know. Hopefully he has done well. I send him shipments every now and then and I still get progress reports.To this day I will never step foot in a Home Depot or Lowes.VIVA LA MENARD SQUAD!

“Bogibeel is not just a bridge joining two banks, it is an emotion, a symbol of progress, a hope for the people of upper Assam and something more!”(This is going to be a long answer, if you are impatient and want a brief answer without background then directly jump to point number 4)1.To understand the above quote, let us see the map of Assam as below:Notice how the Brahmaputra literally divides the state into two parts from Sadiya in the east to Dhubri in the west. The upper part is called ‘North Bank’ and lower part is ‘South Bank’. The Sadiya to Dhubri stretch is ~800 km long.See the below map of Brahmaputra river system:Now, I hope it is clear that development of the state of Assam is directly linked to bridging the Brahmaputra which is India’s largest river as per discharge (Avg 19800 m^3/s) and is as wide as 20 kilometers in some places of Assam. Also, the river is prone to channel migration and avulsion and has changed its course of flow during major earthquakes of the past!(Veterans recall day the Brahmaputra changed course - Times of India)2. Now, Let us look at the major cities of Assam ( Moderately developed towns/ cities, commercial/ educational/ Healthcare hubs ) [Developed here is a relative term with respect to Northeast India]North Bank: Bongaigaon, TezpurSouth Bank: Guwahati, Nagaon, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, TinsukiaWhy are the districts on the south bank more prosperous than those of the north bank?NH 37 which is the busiest highway of Assam runs on the south bank from Guwahati to Tinsukia connecting all the cities mentioned above. Parts of this highway is 4 Laned, remaining of which is being converted to 4 laned highway.The main line of Indian railways also runs on the south bank connecting Guwahati- Lumding- Mariani (Near Jorhat)- Simalguri (Near Sibsagar)-Tinsukia- Dibrugarh. British built this track mainly for tea, oil and coal found in upper Assam and this was one of the reasons for prosperity in upper assam.(The black one in the above image is the main line, Green one completed by 2016, The bogibeel bridge will connect these two at Dibrugarh)On the contrary, North bank areas like Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Bishwanath weren’t connected by Broad Gauge till 2016. This is also the route to Arunachal Pradesh’s capital i.e Itanagar (Naharlagun). Road infrastructure is double laned highway and isn’t that well maintained (Negligence of governments in past)The Brahmaputra is narrowest (1 km) near Guwahati and hence the First-ever bridge over Brahmaputra was built in 1960s i.e Saraighat bridge and both the main highways/ railways crossed the bridge. Ferries were used before the existence of this bridge. Rail and road passengers would arrive at the ghats, cross the river by ferries and again board their train or bus on the other side to connect to north bank Assam and rest of India.3. During 1962 Indo-China war, Chinese army entered through Arunachal Pradesh, brazenly entered Assam and reached upto Tezpur while Indian army was late in their response, deserted many posts, fled and were inexperienced since they were only prepared for Indo-Pak conflicts and were called from the plains of Punjab and Rajasthan into the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. The lack of urgency showed by then PM Nehru towards saving NE had created deep sense of fear and anguish among the residents of Assam. Lack of infrastructure i.e bridges over Brahmaputra was another reason for slow response of our forces.That’s when demand for bridges in Tezpur and Dibrugarh were raised by the civil society.The Kolia-Bhomora setu was opened for public in 1987 connecting Tezpur (North bank) to Nagaon. It is a double lane road bridge built by N.F Railway.In 1998, Another Rail-cum- road bridge opened for public in Jogigopha connecting Goalpara and Bongaigaon. This became a boon for western Assam’s infrastructure.4. However, plight of Dibrugarh- Dhemaji- Lakhimpur-Itagnagar remained despite demands of bridge after Chinese aggression in the 1960s, subsequent promises by PM Rajiv Gandhi to student agitators in Assam Accord of 1985, and numerous tragic ferry capsize accidents in Dibrugarh where river is violent and 10 kilometers wide.Dibrugarh was a major center for education and healthcare from pre-independence era due to British built Dibru-sadiya railway and Berry White medical school. Assam Medical college, 1st medical college of N.E which is visited by people from all over N.E is in Dibrugarh. Dibrugarh university was one of the first few universities of Assam. Dibrugarh airport and well-connected railway station (A non- capital city with 2 Rajdhani express, trains to Chandigarh, Delhi, Kanyakumari, Bangaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Trivandam etc) made it a transport hub of the region. All these infrastructure meant that people will flock the city from all parts of upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. But, remember there was no bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra for North bank people!People from west Arunachal Pradesh, Itanagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and other north bank places had to reach Silapathar, take a ferry and come to Dibrugarh for health, education; to connect to various parts of the country and to go to Guwahati quickly. The ferry ride can be 1.5 hours to 5 hours long depending on weather, depth of river which keeps changing, flood, erosion of banks etc. When there is less depth for ferry to move, the ferry has to come sufficiently downstream and then go upstream again to reach ghat. Nobody wants to be stuck in the middle of Brahmaputra in a sandy island. At night and during medical emergencies/ national examinations like JEE etc the ferry operators would charge exorbitant price for crossing the river, as high as 2000–5000 rupees per trip. A woman who is in labour or a student who has an exam would have to pay that amount and cross the river. Cars, Bikes and people desperately get on the dangerous ferries (see image below) to reach Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, historical town of Sibsagar, Jorhat etc. Many of these ferries had no life vests and no restrictions on overloading. The alternative bridge and the resulting loop would take 10+ hours and 700 km via Tezpur bridge (Is that even an option when Dibrugarh can be seen from north bank as just 10 km away)The non-existent bridge was election issue in Assam every five years but politicians wouldn’t care after winning.Crossing a Moving Ocean : An account by a journalist on the ferry ride.5. Assam MPs persuaded the PM H.D Devegowda government in 1997 to include Bogibeel bridge in budget even when rail minister Ram Vilas Paswan rejected the idea but later had to accept after PM Devegowda asked him to include the long pending bridge. Foundation stone was laid in 1997 by H.D Devegowda but construction didn’t start for the next 5 years.21.04.2002: PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee personally visited bogibeel ghat, Dibrugarh to start construction of the bridge as Northeast Development was his priority. He was also influential in the foundation to inauguration of Lilabari airport, Lakhimpur in the north bank of Assam. It was his government which came up with the proposal of Dhola- Sadiya bridge that links Upper Assam to Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. (Dhola-Sadiya bridge: All you need to know about India's longest Dhola-Sadiya bridge)Successive congress governments in Assam and Centre delayed the project citing lack of funds despite being booming economy both in Assam and Centre. PM Manmohan Singh was a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam yet never visited the bogibeel bridge site to take progress report. Floods and short working season were few challenges to the engineers at the site. Many times floods used to wash away the construction works. Although, PM Singh declared the project as National project in 2007, it didn’t really speed up the construction. The company that UPA awarded contract had to be terminated in 2014 due to slow pace of work!The above photo was taken in 2014.At various stages of completion of the project e.g opening of the new stations on either side, trial runs of trains, load testing, goods train movement, people used to gather on both sides to witness history, media used to show it with great enthusiasm, locals used to dance and sweets used to be exchanged. That's how emotionally connected people are with the bridge.4 more years passed and on 25.12.2018, PM Modi inaugurated the longest rail-cum-road bridge of India ending a struggle that started 5 decades back!On the opening day, 3 Lakh+ people gathered at the north bank side of brahmaputra to witness the first train crossing the bridge. Mishing tribe's people came wearing their traditional dresses. For many villagers it was the first time they witnessed a train as the Tinsukia-Itanagar express was flagged off over Bogibeel bridge.That's the train that crossed the bridge with passengers, lakhs of people were on both sides of the track, on the roads and on the fields cheering and sloganeering “Joi Aai Axom”, “Happy journey” etc…Now,With the opening of the bridge, 74 km long railway line project also got completed.NH 37 (South bank) got linked to NH 52 (North bank), bus services started linking the towns and villages of both banks by Assam state transport corporation. Various private carriers started buses connecting Arunachal (east) to (west) and Assam's both banks. It's almost a month of opening and till date tourists are flocking the bridge to take photos. Media is showing stories of those families who lost their loved ones before reaching Dibrugarh's hospitals, families who had relatives on either sides and students who study in the university.Direct rail connectivity between Dibrugarh and Itanagar will reduce travel distance by 705 kms, to only 180 kmsTravel time between Dibrugarh and Itanagar will reduce from 24 hours to only 5 hoursTrains travelling between Delhi to Dibrugarh will benefit from a 3 hour reduction in travel timeDistance from Dibrugarh to Rangiya will be reduced by 170 km. Now people going to cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore will no longer have to travel via GuwahatiIt will enhance the national security of the eastern region of India by improving the movement of defense forces and weapons systems. The bridge can carry the load of India’s heaviest 70 tonne tanks, fighter jets and is earthquake proof up to 8 Richter scale quake.[ If you like the answer please share this so that rest of India can know about Assam]More info on Bogibeel bridge:Snehal Deb's answer to What are your favorite before and after photos?Piyush Goyal's answer to What are the 10 main things we need to know about Assam's Bogibeel Bridge?Narendra Modi inaugurates Bogibeel bridge in Assam: 10 things to knowSome more photos of the majestic bridge:Edit: 10/02/19Quora top writer Balaji Vishwanathan upvoted this :-)

Sure. I spent 2 years coordinating a project, accumulating expert advice, working with engineers, purchasing and assembling all of the components, studying the theory, writing computer simulations of the experiment and then another research group which had just had their project fail came over and ate my project. Their group was larger than my group and they just took over, giving the leadership role to a guy who was younger and less experienced than me. I then hoped that I would be used as an expert advisor, but found that I was ignored. They changed my designs and they only asked for my input when their attempts to make my hardware work failed. Everything was put back the way I had planned it and it worked - 2 years later than it would’ve had they not gotten involved. Surely I was vindicated and won the day. Not really.In another episode, I presented an idea at my lab and got no feedback. I wrote it up in internal reports and it went up on the web in a couple of places. An older person at my lab pursued the idea a little bit but viewed it as an old, obvious idea, not worth much. I turned my internal report into a conference report and while searching through the other conference entries, I became surprised to find out that a young guy from another lab had gotten an *invited talk* on my idea. He hadn’t published it yet, but claimed that he presented it at his lab around (after) the time that my stuff went up on the web. He got a PRL and an award out of the idea (even though he totally misinterpreted it and got it wrong). He never cited me and I got no support from any direction.We had the ability to test the idea, but the professor wanted his student to get credit for the experimental work so he set his student up as the “shift leader” - I was only supposed to “assist”. When the student fell asleep at about 4 AM during the shift, I managed to do the measurements that I wanted and that he did not deem important. We each wrote about the data we took. The student was given an *invited talk* at a conference and his paper was never good enough to publish anywhere. I was able to publish in the appropriate journal, but in order to secure the professors’ permission, I had to add every student they had ever had to the author list.I see why it is important to foster students’ progress and I see that I could be painted as the selfish post-doc in this anecdote, but it really felt like the professors were in the habit of taking whatever advantage they could and not caring about how it affected anyone outside of their sphere of reputation. They used their students as extensions of themselves to step on those without power (me). And when they were fully aware of more than one incident in which credit was denied to a powerless person who deserved it, they were not willing to spend their political capital to right the wrong, in fact there were instances in which they attempted to bestow credit for something on one of their students who didn’t deserve it. There was absolutely no justice system in the scientific field I was working in.After writing this, I read this nice article on how to create a workplace culture that doesn’t have this sort of atmosphere: Ethar Alali's answer to What happens over time if each year I fire all my below average programmers and get better ones?