Jobless

Nights actually begin after midnight. I still wonder why midnight is not called startnight yet. And midnight gets good if you're bound to use a road where traffic remains rampant all through the day! However, there is one major transition that takes place. Human beings, with their two wheeler and four wheeler vehicles and the pedestrians of course are replaced by a four-legged animal. These animals are the most over-hypersensitive animals I have ever met after human beings. Their ears remain erect all though the night to sense every fucking single activity that takes place though the night, be it an a pigeon having loose motions, walking tip-toed, looking for a place to shit, in the sense of urgency at midnight. The dogs would bark and scare the hell out of the pigeons just to ensure that everyone remains restless all through the night. Long before movies like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag were made, these dogs we authentic in promoting athleticism. Has your car ever passed though a road inhibited by dogs at midnight? You would have definitely witnessed their act of over-enthusiasm. No one, including dogs seem to understand why they chase the cars randomly every night, all through their life. I am yet to verify if Usain Bolt or for that matter any other athlete can match their speed, because the fact is Usain Bolt won't chase my car if he doesn't get money for it, dogs do. Every time I look at them, the guilt inside me of being highly jobless reduces a little bit. 

Mirror

It is easier to get over a heart break than getting over the addiction of tea. No matter how hard I try, every afternoon at 3 pm, I find myself at the chaiwala's place with a cutting chai in my hand. That day was almost like any other day had I not found this interesting character, a child labor, bringing the tea cup to my table. Afternoon is a time when the place finds itself a little less busy. This child, probably eight years old, malnourished and with a coat of innocence on his face was totally carefree. For him, the world was a playground and he was yet to be exposed to the challenges he had to face later.

He sat at the bench, next to me and begun playing with a rubber band. I tear opened the Parle G packet and offered him one. He took the biscuit and stared at me for probably six seconds, thirty one micro seconds and  eleven nanoseconds before making me raise an eyebrow. He smiled in response and then focused back on biscuit, clamping the rubber band on his wrist. He took little bytes of the biscuit and till he finished the biscuit, I was already done with my evening dose. It was a sheer delight to watch him eat. The innocence he exhibited somehow took me back to my own childhood days which were necessarily carefree. My heart, which continues to be a five year old, got a companion in him. 

I stood up, paid the money and then took out a butt from the pack of goldflake in my pocket. I ask the chaiwala for a match stick and lighted up the cigarette. I turned back to locate the boy and check what he was up to, before leaving. I found him staring at me. However this stare was pretty different than the one he gave while serving me the tea. He disliked the very action of smoking. His firm stare somehow made me feel guilty and persuaded me to keep the nicotine roll away from my lips. I immediately looked away from his eyes, and almost in a reflex action, dropped the cigarette down and stamped on it. I walked away from the place without looking at his reaction, perhaps because I didn't have the courage to do so. Although I wasted valuable Rs. 5 from my wallet, I somehow smiled. It was a different feeling whatsoever, to face the mirror, which on the other side contained the carefree child, who radiated a strong beam of innocence. 

Keeping my fingers crossed

The past few days have witnessed some unusual activities going on in my life: I remain away from my phone, I remain away from the Social media,and yes,I remain away from the auto-rickshaws of the city,which are too dirty during this monsoon,so I prefer catching a bus instead of the rickshaw.

It's almost 2:30 in my watch and I'm attending my last lecture. As usual my bench mates are busy fighting,and I am almost physically involved in the fight. But mentally,I am still thinking of that same face,which I have been admiring for the past 24 hours now. This strange mental activity of guessing whether I'll meet her or not is going on on my mind "Yes,I'll meet her.. No,I won't",I'm almost sick of this thing now,but I just can't stop.
                                                                           ~
Yesterday,at this point of time,normal activities were going on. Listening to the professor and jotting down notes,fighting with the bench mates and seeing when it would be three and I'd get free. We got our first assignment to solve,and  I got a bit late due to the complacency filled work of the Xerox-Wallah. In haste,I reached the bus stop and caught the next bus,not knowing something pleasant was awaiting to happen.
                                                                          ~
It's 2:50 now,my heart is beating faster now,I am recollecting how she looks. If she competes in a beauty pageant,the probability that she'd win is a bit less than the probability that I'll ever bath more than twice a week. Yet,there's something about her personality that can make a guy go mad for her,perhaps her simplicity appeals a lot. Meanwhile,the final bell rings,and the day comes to an end. My heart has now begun to beat so fast that I suspect that the guy next to me will overhear it. I try to hurry up to the bus stop only before being stopped by the cultural secy.,she wanted to discuss about the freshers' party's theme with me,and I couldn't say no,the meeting would take half an hour,I suspect.
                                                                      ~
It was raining so I got a bit wet. I boarded up the bus,with my hair wet. I didn't get a place to sit and it was quite irritating. At the next stop,some people boarded off,but yet I didn't get a place,and now I thank god for that. She boarded up the bus,and it didn't take me much time to notice her. "Eyes,control yourself please" I told myself,but damn,I begun noticing every little thing about her,right from the small bells in her dupatta to the intricate border work of her dress. Her eyes were beautiful and they could easily drown anyone. While noticing her,I found out that she was looking at me, and I immediately,took my eyes off from her. Moments later,I tried to look at her and again the eye-contact happened,we both repulsed,but then this series of eye contacts took place for some time.
                                                                    ~
It is 3:15 now and I am desperately waiting for the discussion to get over,being passively involved in it,and this is the first time in my life that I trying to run away from responsibility-yes the responsibility of the Class representative. Abhilash and Jayati came up with almost six themes in the last 15 mins. and now we're discussing the feasibility of each of the theme,I am wondering if she could be there in the party as well. This is the most illogical part of getting a crush: you begin making imaginary situations and mind begins wandering without any sense.
                                                                   ~
Meanwhile two more stops came,I was too busy noticing her so as to realize which seats are getting vacant. Suddenly I saw one of the seats getting empty,she rushed towards it and so did I. She got seated and before I could occupy the seat next to her,an elderly person,almost of the age of my grand father,requested me for the seat. I relented without any complaints,I somehow could feel like he was my own grand father. Meanwhile,I noticed her smiling,perhaps she was impressed. I had to get off at the next stop and I felt a sudden gloom,I didn't wanted to get off,but I had to! I got off at the next stop and dared to do something which I was thinking of in my mind: I smiled and waved her good bye. This happened almost spontaneously,sometimes your body goes out of the control of your mind! To my surprise,she too waved me good bye from the window. I almost fainted,perhaps sometimes one meeting is enough to fall for someone.
                                                                 ~
It's 3:35 now,we're finally done with the meeting and the theme and dress code. I am in the same bus in which we met coincidentally. Currently,I am standing at the same place where I was standing yesterday. It's raining a bit,and the weather is cool and romantic. The bus has halted on the very stop from which she boarded up the bus. With each person getting up,my heart beat is increasing,"will she come or not" is the question going on in my mind right now. Let's see what happens (Fingers crossed)
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Untitled

As for the record the last post on this blog was written on 4th of July,2012 and today it is 14th of October 2012. So for three months I've remained away from active blogging and I am highly skeptic that this will happen for some more coming months. Meanwhile I tried to write a lot of posts and ended up making fourteen drafts,all incomplete. Complacency I say is the biggest enemy of pseudo-creative people  Meanwhile,I'm back with a story,at least with an attempt to write one and hope this one doesn't end up being the fifteenth article in the draft's folder.

The best part about evening is that is is preceded by an afternoon nap,especially for those for whom it is an inevitable part of life. He's one of them,who prefers tea to succeed the afternoon nap. So he got up,plugged in earphones and left for the tea shop. He reached the tea shop and ordered a cutting chai  Parle G,while planning to do something which he was thinking for the last two days. Once done with the evening addiction,he reached the nearest Pan ka galla for a Gold Flake. His heart beats increased as he saw 4:35 pm on his mobile phone's screen saver. A week back,they fought,mutually committing that they won't talk to each other any more in their lifetime. But then these commitments fail to last more than the anashans. He called her last night and she,as expected,didn't pick up the phone. He was angry,a hell lot,but he managed to subdue it as the desperation of not talking to her overrode all other feelings.

He completed smoking and effectively managing to shorten his life by an awful five minutes when he saw her,draped in salwar kameez,carrying an aura of simplicity. She made him skip a thousand beats,a combined effect of euphoria and adrenaline. He instantly forgot all that he thought he would tell her,and begun following her. She too noticed him but she continued to walk,ignoring her. He touched her hand,trying to hold it,but she repulsed. "What brings you back?" she said as her facial expressions changed from that of anger to crying. "Baby,you look prettier when you are red faced" He said as he smiled. The frustrated look on her face vanished but she was not done yet. "These old tricks won't work on me,I'm tired of all your pick-up lines." She said,almost controlling her laughter. "So how can I convince you that I am dying to talk to you?" he said,venting out all his frustration. "And what would you tell me if I talk?" she said,being a bit less offensive this time. "Baby,I.. I" he stammered. "What?"  she said,as a smile appeared on her face. "Baby,I.. I feeling hungry,can we eat something?" he said,as both started laughing. "Idiot!" She said and slapped her. Her touch got him goosebumps,as he held her hand and both walked towards the nearest pastry shop. He felt a sudden ease as he felt alive after seven long days...

Mummy's Khichdi

I always loved my mummy from the bottom of my heart. It's always a different feeling to call her Maa . But I never cared to show my love. Perhaps I never found it important to show my love towards her. After all,she is always there for me regardless of my attitude towards her. It's perhaps her duty to take care of me.Perhaps she's doing nothing special for me,every mother does this for their children. There are possibly endless reasons like that and no special reason to understand her worth.

I remember the school days when mummy would remain too busy handling the household affairs and on some days she could manage to make just Khichdi for me. Every time she used to make that,It used to be my utter pleasure to to make faces while eating it,since I liked to eat spicy food. It is the duty of every mother to please their children. It is the right of every children to criticize her when she fails to do so.


But times changed. I am living a bachelor's life now,and thank god there are two awesome restaurants at the walking distance from my home. Life is good with all the spicy Biryaani and paneer dishes I can eat now. I have the access to the best food now so there isn't any problem. But perhaps you can eat these food for weeks and months but one day you are bound to reach the saturation point. I was a fine October evening,and by then I was bored of all the food that I had access to. I didn't wanted to eat Biryaani,neither did I wanted to eat Dhosa or Tandoori Chicken. I wanted that old Khichdi that my mummy used to make. But that day,I didn't have my mummy with me! There was no one whom I could order to make that uninteresting Khichdi for me,neither could I criticize anyone for not making food while I was hungry. Life taught me the worth of my mummy in a hard way.

The best of mouth watering dishes available in any restaurant are no match for the food mummy  makes

My eyes were moist. Situations showed me the mirror and I saw how ugly I was from inside! Two days later it was Saturday. I decided to catch the earliest morning train to home and I did. I was back home and the first thing I did was that I hugged mummy tight and say thank you.  My mummy was perplexed on why I said so,but I didn't speak anything more... my voice chocked and I just smiled. Later my mummy asked "Babu toke to jhaal khete bhalo lage na? Aajge kopi diye dalla banayi?" (You like eating spicy food no? Should I prepare cauliflower's dalla for you?) I said "Na ma.. Khichuri kavar mon koreche.. banabe?" (No mummy,I would like to have Khichdi..  will you make it?) 

Reference Points

It was the last exam of our second semester. I had reached the exam hall a bit early since I was done with the revision somewhat two hours before the exam. My semester exams were okay okay and I didn't wanted this one to go away in a similar fashion.

While I sat on my bench,I saw the guy who sits ahead of me. There's some unusual thing about this guy which would make you respect him. He wears specs,has mustaches and light beard but doesn't care to trim them. Neatly dressed and quite reserved. His face remained quite expressionless and calm,knocking out the exam fear.

In the first four exams,I had not talked to him much,but this time,I decided to get into a conversation with him. He was from the Electrical Engg department which I understood from the orange strip on his ID card. 

Me: Today's exam is a bit tough.. I guess there will be a lot of diagrams to draw

He: Yeah.. I'm sure there will be some tough numerical as well.

Me: Lets see.. anyways,done with all the chapters

He (In a modest way): Don't know.. Lets see :)

Me: Ahem! Don't try to be so modest.. how much did you score in the first semester?

He: Umm.. 9.37 points. 

It was a sudden shocker for me,he was the college topper and I guess he had scored the highest in the city as well. He didn't ask my pointers and by then the supervisor had entered the hall. 

That evening,I was back to home after a long train journey and from the shelf,I decided to pick up 'The Greatness Guide' by Robin Sharma (P.S: I love reading his books again and again,it rejuvenates my spirit). I reached a particular topic called  'Choosing Reference Points'.

I re-introspected my performance over the year,I mean the last two semesters. I found that I wan't aiming much from the exams,thanks to the tremendous amount of complacency I had gathered during the year. The entire year was spent without much hard work and with low expectations.

I decided to change this habit and start with new and more efficient habits. I asked to myself "If he can,why can't I?" after all god gave me everything that I needed . I decided to set him as a reference point for my exam performance. I decided to set some more reference points as well. For example,there are some guys in my class who are good and regular at completing assignments,I'd refer them for my progress in assignments and continuous checking would help me buck up whenever I get loose and lag behind. Some guys are good at workshop,some are good at managing the class affairs. When I check their performance and I try to learn from them,it does wonders.

"There's something to learn from everyone around us,all we need is a positive attitude"

The best thing about reference points is that you always get a direction and standard. Merely saying that I'll get 9 points this semester becomes a bit vague,at times you don't know how to approach things. Don't ignore the fact that there are some smarter people around you and it's always wise to learn from their work and get it incorporated into you work. 

How I got into engineering

Engineering is one of the most respected things to study. The foundation of any country is laid on the shoulders of capable engineers,doctors and managers. Their skills and their creativity determines to what extent a country can develop! Therefore the vision of any country must be to nurture the talent of the youth and promote them to become skillful professionals who'd strive to make their country a better place.

I am an engineering student,I got into engineering in  a purely conventional manner just like many other students of our country. I managed to score well in Higher secondary (10th grade) thanks to the limitless cram work I had done in the entire one year. I passed off the exam with a decent 88.8 percentage of marks,decent enough to get me into the science stream,I had a special interest for economics apart from mathematics and physics,but I decided to opt for science.

As I got into 11th,I was not sure in how to approach the subjects. I took wrong coaching and I screwed up almost the first six months with poor marks in the unit and terminal exams. I changed my  coaching classes,and things did change,the new sir,a chemistry teacher mentored my progress,teaching me enough of chemistry to bring about any sort of conversion. I did fairly well with the organic part and slowly bucked up in the other two parts of it namely inorganic and physical chemistry.

Mathematics was a total failure in 11th,I didn't get a proper approach to calculus and I screwed up with the differential calculus (which later has become one of my favorite subject) . I surely got weak with the mathematics part. Nothing bright happened with physics either,with me lacking in the conceptual part of Newtonian Mechanics and oscillations. Textbook were appearing boring and I never fared off well. 11th grade was bad at personal level too. I suffered a lot of embarrassment from my classmates,thanks to the weak links which earned me the tag of a failed crammer who crammed in 10th to get into science,probably it was enough to get me into a doubt on whether I did justice to myself in opting for science.

The only good thing for which I would remember 11th is for the computer science part. Our school teacher taught us from the root level and I worked hard to get the fundamentals of programming right. We had C and C++ in our portion and I did well in both of them,thanks to clear concepts. (Please note: The fundamental to programming is clear logic,be clear on the how to approach a problem and then code it in the given language,you need to get the commands right,but logic should be clear before you proceed)

With a bad approach,I scored some 78 % in my 11th grade's final exam and I had left all the hopes of getting an admission into a good engineering college. The vacation between 11th and 12th was short,and the immediate step I decided to take is change my coaching in physics and mathematics. The beginning of 12th wasn't so rocking. More of personal embarrassment I suffered,and I became completely demoralized.  There was a vacation in may before the school finally resumed. This vacation was the turning point for me,I read 'The monk who sold his Ferrari' by Robin Sharma and I finally realized where I was going wrong. I read 'The Greatness Guide' by the same author. Both these books made me believe in myself and I realized everything was getting screwed up because I had lost faith in myself.

After the vacation,I was determined to proceed. I scored 68% in the unit test,but I took this score as a benchmark and I worked hard in school,coaching and then at home to grab all the concepts and
do well. Within two months,my physical and inorganic chemistry improved,physics was fair,I covered both electrostatics and magnetism and there wasn't any problem. The real hard work I made was in mathematics,where my new teacher patiently solved all my doubts and got my concepts clear. I grasped the integral calculus and spent time revising the differential calculus. I suffered more of demoralizing from my classmates but I decided to ignore their comments and alienated from them. In pure solitary,I worked hard with my aim clear.

After two months in the first terminal exam,I got the results of my hard work,scoring 10% more than the unit exam,getting 78%. I worked with my concepts in the succeeding exams but could score only 68% and 72% in the two prelims,however the exams were tough and I found myself doing better than most of my classmates! Finally it was board exam time,with my aim entirely fixed at doing well at boards. The exams went off well,but my parents had already decided to get me into a B.Sc college for a majors,thanks to my poor scoring. But I didn't lose hope.

Apart from board,I had appeared for the National Defence Academy, Gujarat Common Entrance Test and The All India Engineering Entrance Exam, the first two went off well but I hadn't really prepared anything for the third one.

Finally,the month of may arrived and it was result time. One after the other,results were out. I was confident that I'll score decently,but my parents didn't feel the same and somewhere back in my mind,I was a bit discouraged due to the same. Okay,now coming back to results, I scored 88.2 in my board,with 84 in physics,88 in chemistry and 95 in mathematics. I stood 9th best student overall in the class. I got 341 rank in the Guj-CET and  I cracked the NDA exams as well,getting a walk-in interview in navy (executive part). I got 122 out of 360 in AIEEE exam. I brought smile to my parents,meanwhile proving them wrong.

Unfortunately due to my extraordinary height of 5 feet 5 inches and a whopping weight of 80 Kgs,I didn't get an admission in the NDA. AIEEE score wan't high enough to get me into a National Institute of Technology or the IIIT (Not IIT). I got Shri Swami Atmanad Saraswati Institute of Technology in my Guj-CET counselling and I grabbed the opportunity. A bit of disappointment was faced in the successive one month. I didn't appear for the re-counselling and then after the final list was out,I came to know that I could have easily got an admission to any of the best institute in the State with my rank. Doors were closed,and I seriously found myself in a place where I had got into,but personally I always felt that I deserved something better. I tried to focus on the engineering thing and in two months I was over the depression!

Now my only aim is to get better points in my semesters and then get a job with handsome salary or to directly go for MBA and this time,I won't make the same mistake,I'll prepare for the entrance exams in a more disciplined way. My only aim now is to get my life in such a position that after 10 years, I don't repent that I made mistakes when I shouldn't have made. I want to get a clear aim now and I don't want to be distracted by the distractions that students of my age find. I am getting aggressively active in Social Media and I want to explore all it's possibilities,sort of an out-of academics interest I have decided to pursue. But my main focus will always remain the same,to perform fairly in the academics part. 

Samosa and tea...

It's almost 5;15 pm and the sky is changing it's color from a combination of blue and white to reddish orange. After a hectic college schedule of 10-5 I'm totally exhausted. I barely caught an auto-rickshaw from the college and I get that irritating call! Yeah,that's my room partner (Ankit,whose college timing is 8-3) just woken up after the afternoon sleep.

Me: hello?

RP: Kamine,where are you?

Me: Just left for the room

RP: idiot! Want to top or what? Attending all the lectures..

Me: So will you come and meet the Head of Department the next time my name gets featured in the low-attendance list

RP: Attending lectures for studying or just to fill up the attendance sheet?

Me: You're too dumb to understand that! Or may be you must sleep for some more time

RP: No! Enough sleeping,I want to drink tea,get some tea when you return


Me: I've been paying for the naashta (snacks) for the last two days. I don't have any money


RP (in a friendlier tone): Arey! We will share it! I'll pay for the dinner tonight.


Me (still looking for a better bargain): Leave it! I'll pay for my own dinner. I don't have money to fill up others' tummy!


RP: Don't cry now! I'll get the movie tickets tonight okay? Don-2 is a hit! 


The offer is tempting enough for me! The unofficial peace treaty has been signed between us.


Me: Okay! But I'll get the tea only,nothing else okay?




*second room partner (Gaurav) screams from behind*


RP2: I want to eat samosas. 


Me (to RP1) : You'll pay for it?


RP1: I don't know! Our deal has been finalized okay?


Me: no samosas okay?


I reach the locality till then. Both the room partners fight ignoring that I'm still on the phone. I decide to cut the phone and get the tea! 


The chaiwala (tea vendor) makes the best cutting-tea in the world! I decide to get six glasses of tea. he packs them up in plastic packets. My eyes naturally get attracted to the samosas freshly prepared. "Both the idiots will be hungry!" I feel (yes the softer side always cares for them) . I get 9 samosas packed for them, meanwhile calculating how much money they owe to me!


After 5 minutes of walk,I reach the room. Gaurav opens the door,hungry and frustrated by then. Ankit rather remaining silent, thanks to the deal we already made!


RP2: Some people are too selfish! They're able to pay for the Manchurian balls at the canteen when they are with classmates. Useless people! Can't do anything for the room partners.


*RP1 decides to ignore the conversation and instead pretends to text his girl friend*  


Me: Some people can taunt but can't appreciate their room partners. I brought the tea.


RP2 (frustrated): I'm hungry but who cares,bring the tea! 


I place both the samosa's packet and tea on the table,room partner's frustrated look vanishes after he gets the smell of hot samosas.

RP1: Wow! You brought samosas?

*Ankit leaves the phone in the bed and rushes towards the table. Gaurav blocks him*

RP2: Girlfriend went to sleep or what? Go and cuddle her.

RP1: Jaa na.. we hae equal share,3 each!

We three settle to eat,and the cold war silently comes to an end.

Friends are recognized by the love between them and the selfless help they offer.....but without any doubt, it is these silly fights that bring us closer than ever!

Top quotes-Part 2

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” 
E. James Rohn


"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons."
Johann Schiller


Giving is the secret of abundance.
Sivananda


"Development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we seek." 
 Dalai Lama


"Fortune favors the brave." 
 Publius Terence 


"If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough." 
Mario Andretti


"True change is within; leave the outside as it is." 
 Dalai Lama


"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."
Lance Armstrong


Source:
Tweets that I came across

The Teacher of Management

There's a post graduation course called Masters of Business Administration, more popularly known as MBA. These graduates are hired by firms where they exhibit their extraordinary skills of managing affairs,be it handling clients,handling the clerks,managing the accounts and so on. (P.S: I don't have much knowledge as I am an engineering student). These managers are paid huge amount of money to manage the affairs of company and optimizing the company's performance.

Okay,now coming to the point,this post has got nothing to do with these MBAs,I just thought of enlightening the readers with all the knowledge (or ignorance,whatever you call it) about the same. Apart from these professional institutes that teach management skills,there's one more institute or I say a single teacher who teaches management,called life (I guess you've already guessed it!)





Life introduces us to different situations at different ages. Each of these stages of life has good things to cherish about and some challenging things and difficult times. Fortunately,be it good or bad,situations always teach us something or the other,and almost every time we face some them,we always find a refined version of us! (Well the fact can't be ignored that some incidents leave us in deep trauma,and if that has ever happened to you,my sympathy is with you and 
yeah! Time is a great healer of wounds).


In life,at different situations,we are surrounded by different types of people,ranging from parents to teachers to girlfriend(s) to wife to children to bosses to clients. Each one of them have different expectations from you,as an individual and you need to manage all the relations pertaining to them! Initially we may not be good at all of them, we may tremendously fail at things,but life,by virtue of time and failures,teaches us to become better in managing people and handling situations. These lessons aren't provided by any other school or college in the world.

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."
Dale Carnegie

 Situation after situation,our life gets molded,and if we look back at time,we will realize that how some difficult situations that we came across left making us stronger than ever,and also improving our management skills. Late Mr.Steve Jobs puts it in a better way:

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

The best part of life is that knowingly or unknowingly,we get enrolled to it's course of learning and that we remain a student of it at any age. Willingly or unwillingly,we need to take the lessons and learn from them. Truth,no matter how bitter it is,always brings about positive changes. Miracles can happen and who knows something miraculous is waiting to happen in your own life,thanks to the better manager you are becoming!

Sources:
Wikiquote: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

Brainyquote: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_success.html

The genius inside us

I was wondering what makes a person a true genius. Being a science student and taking special interest in the biographies of scientists,I always cherished their lives and their works. It feels great to know more about the extraordinary achievements they have made,especially because it always makes me feel inspired!

I always wonder whether it is the "genetic factor" or they are "god gifted" or something else that makes someone a genius! Definitely,they are gifted with some special interest in a specific field. But is that the only reason why they rise and shine?

We too,in some way or other have a special interest in some field. But,perhaps we have never shown any special enthusiasm in cultivating the interest. May be someone is gifted with special talent in dance,some have special interest in singing,in guitar,in piano or may be in horse riding. However,we choose to go with the crowd,always preferring to give a special impetus to academics over anything else.

I won't blame the children in this case! They don't have any fault whatsoever. The parents,in this competitive age,want to ensure that their child's future remains secured. hence,a special care is taken that the children excels within the academic field and get an admission to one or the other good colleges,and then get added to the ever growing league of doctors,engineers,chartered accountants,researchers and so on!

However within this force of engineers,doctors or chartered accountants,there hides enormous talent who could become the next Michel Jackson,Pele or Madonna. However,the creative side under them is choked to death in extreme cases,or exists only as a hobby.

Several students and professionals,despite performing well,face a lot of depression,most probably being pushed to do things they don't want to pursue! There is a serious need to understand that life can be awesome by pursuing the god-gifted talent. Initially there may be a large amount of struggling,but enthusiasm when directed in right directions can overcome all sorts of hardships.

In the end I'd like to quote Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots

"If  Sachin's father would have forced him to become a singer and Lata Mangeshkar's father had forced her to become a fast bowler,then they wouldn't have ended up in being where they are currently"

John Lennon Quoted

Its been a long time I haven't written a blog article,so I thought of sharing with you the best of John Lennon,one of the founding members of one of my all time favorite band "The Beatles". 













"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."

"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. ~ John Lennon."



“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” 




"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted."




"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

Are we losing out joy? Twitter shows negative signs.

Are we becoming sadder day by day? A recent research conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Vermont indicates a decrease in the level of happiness among human beings, at least among the twitter users.

Are we as joyful as we used to be?

 The Research
Since April 2009,The team of scientists studied 46 billion tweets from the 63 million online users. Each tweet was analysed and a grade was assigned to the analysed tweets.
The tweets were ranked with the help of Amazon's mechanical truck on the basis of their emotional temperature,on a scale of 1 to 9 on the increasing level of happiness.
The ranked tweets were then analysed by seeking patters based on date,place and time. (Read more about the research here and here).

Indications
Apart from indicating a reduction in happiness level,the researchers also found that people are most happy during the weekends and least happy during the initial week days. Also people were more happy during the day as compared to night.

But,But.....
These research indications may not depict the big picture since a lot of people across the world aren't a part of the micro-blogging service. Another reason is that the tweets posted may often be exaggerated.

Edison Quoted

"Discontent is the first necessity of progress."


"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."


"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."


"I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun."

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work."

"There is no substitute for hard work." 

Some random Quotes

Here are some random quotes that I came across on twitter.


"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."
Casey, M. Kathleen


"Improvement begins with 'I'." 
Arnold H Glasgow


"Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible" 
William Arthur Ward


"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." 
Jim Rohn


"You are not defeated when you lose. You are defeated when you quit." 
Paulo Coelho


"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." 
Albert Einstein


"It matters if you just don't give up." 
Stephen Hawking 


“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.”
 Lucy Larcom


"I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end." 
Larry Bird

Mind Power

Mind Power is a highly talked about topic. Everyone wants to know about its secret,since they want their life would change drastically. Several books have been written on it,and infinite blog pots have posted. But probably I never get most of the matter.

However,on a general level,I feel mind power is simply how much powerful our mind is. To measure the strength of muscles,we have different parameters such as the amount of load one can lift up,or the number of push ups one can made,etc. Similarly the power of mind can be determined by the level of imagination.

Improving the life


Once we can imagine the advantages of an improved life,we get motivated to improve it. For example,when we imagine how our life would be if we end up some addiction,then it would be easier to overcome the addiction with a newly motivated mind.

Mind Power and Memorization

Imagination naturally enhances our planning ability,and also memorization. It is easy to remember anything if we can imagine how it happens. For example,if we want to memorize how an AC generator works,we can read and simultaneously construct a generator in your mind,and simultaneously imagine how the constructed generator works. This is equivalent to watching a generator being constructed at a workshop. Once we've imagined it in our mind,it is easy to reproduce and hence memorization is made a lot easy.

Aims For A New Year

This is that part of the year when we probably realize that we've screwed up it all when it comes to new year resolutions. So I am aiming to make this year somewhat different: No specific resolution,just three general aims that would make my life a bit simple and joyful.

Lets hope for some positive changes

Aim #1: Would expect reasonable changes

Life can be enjoyed the most when we enjoy every single achievement we make. So basically my first aim includes not aiming a weight reduction of 10 kg in one month, 1 kg sounds reasonable. 9 pointers sounds much impossible,probably 8 seems to be more achievable. Reasonable aims are more probable to be achieved.

No More *sob sob*

Aim #2: Won't take it personally

We miss out on enjoyment when we start taking things personally. When we learn to laugh at ourselves,we start feeling much lighter + a bonus: people who "like" you increase in numbers.

Leave laziness behind

Aim #3: Would try to run "The Extra Mile"

Probably we can do better than that what we think we can. If I think I can stay awake on exam night till 12 pm,I would try to aim half-an-hour more. I may fail at times to remain awake for half-an-hour,but may achieve 10 min. of extra study time. Isn't it an achievement? :)

Well,not much time's left before new year beginning. Without thinking much about the consequence,I begin with these three aims. Lets see what happens *fingers crossed*.

Random Inspirational Proverbs

"Fall seven times,stand up eight"
Japanese Proverb




"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come"
Chinese Proverb




"Smooth seas don't make skillful sailors"
African Proverb




"Vision without execution is a daydream. Execution without vision is a nightmare"
Japanese proverb




"Flies flock to the lean horse"
Italian Proverb




"Count Your nights by stars not shadows;count your life with smiles,not tears"
Italian Proverb




"If there is no wind,row"
Latin Proverb

Cartoon Network

Last evening while changing the TV channels,I passed through a place where I'd spent half of my childhood. Yes it was the same cartoon network,with some new cartoons and some old. I got a chance to watch Tom and Jerry,of course. Those two idiots haven't changed over time,and I hope they never change.

After that 1 hour long marathon,I decided to make a list of my favorite cartoon shows. Here are few of them:

This was a hilarious family,full of ancient gadgets.

    

Welcome to engineering life

Before five months it all begun. Life got exposed to the gas burner,at the same time I made friendship with a sly enemy called complacency. And after four years,I'd become a member of the country's growing league of IT-professionals.

Learning Management
There wasn't a super-manager called "mummy" to handle things. It was the first attempt when situations forced me to learn management skills.


Normal Life
Tea Sessions
Getting up at 8'o clock and then rushing to the tea shop. Again there is no mummy to make tea and breakfast  Nylon Khamman/Samosa-chautney/vada-pav fills up our empty morning stomach. "Cutting Chai" becomes the tonic to wake up.

College Time
College is a place to sincerely show our complacency skills. If we are done with all the sleep at first bench (exactly! I never got caught) we make an effort to find out which lecture is going on,which probably drives us towards a more sound sleep.

Items
This part of college life cannot be ignored,and I won't like to elaborate much. If we looked so unexpectedly energetic,it is all due to these 'college ki kudiyaan'(girls).

Labs
Labs are what interests the engineer in me. Performing experiments,jotting down procedure and observations and then spending the rest of the time dozing off.

Eating time
Lunch breaks usually witness hungry lions coming out of their den after sleeping. (A matter of delight for the Canteen wallah).

Mass Bunking
If dozing off in class becomes boring,then we use our discretion to cut the classes and play cricket.(And eventually getting scolded afterwards)

Movies
Most of the decisions to watch movie are the spot decisions. Each time a new movie is released,we three room partners ensure that the cinema hall doesn't miss us.

Ear phones
Music is a part and parcel of life. Be it classrooms,hostel rooms,road,or tea shops,earphones are plugged and the playlist never gets over.


Abnormal Life 
Submishinzzz
Submissions are the most unwanted part of the semester. A time when we clumsily end up our files and submit it. But the torture begins there,viva+re-viva+again re-viva. Plus making silly reasons out for low attendance. Phew... sleepless nights during the weekdays over that period.

Studying Engineering
Engineering is usually studied at three occasions: internals,Mid-semester and End-semester. These study sessions lasts from 8 pm to 10 am in the morning. And then rushing to exam hall. Night outs usually witness texting+facebook+twitter(in my case).

There are times when we're under pressure and times when elated. Engineering changed my relationship status with life:it's complicated now.