The plunge into the icy Atlantic is scary. It’s bone freezing cold and you wonder if you can survive. Even the charming Jack couldn't do much as he swam in the Atlantic when Titanic sank. What chances do you have? Plenty.
First of all, you’re not in the Atlantic. That’s a good start for you. Making the move to talk to a girl can seem like a very daunting task. This is a very natural step that is as unique as you can be. You could do just about anything here, walk up to this person, even if she is with her posse of giggling girls, who already know why you’re approaching them, or you could step in closer and wait for the moment when she’s alone (which usually never happens. How wicked, isn't it?).
Here, again, your words don’t really matter, it’s all mostly in your tone and your composure, and that wickedly sweet smile of yours! Even if the damsel is proud and pretends like she isn't interested in knowing you, you can still go on with your words, adding humor and a line that makes her understand that you can’t imagine leaving the place without knowing her, and spending a few moments to get to know her better. Be calm, however much you feel the situation slipping away from you. If you want to pester her to talk to you, even if she declines it, do so deftly coating your words with a lot of charm and elegance.
If you've always dreamt of swimming across the English Channel, you know the first thing you have to do is learn to swim. It takes time, but you know there isn't much you can do but master the art of swimming one baby step at a time. The same with a girl , you get smoother each time you make your move.
If you can pull it off at the first try, that’s just perfect. Or beginner’s luck! If you’re not very confident, practice it a few times in different situations, when you’re alone and bored. It definitely helps you become that much more smoother. If it doesn't work in any rare circumstance… well, don’t tuck tail and run under the bed. Remember that even the best moves can go wrong. That shouldn't really stop you from approaching anyone else. Remember, approaching a girl you admire is wonderful, and it’s always a great feeling if you can pull it off your way.
Learn from your mistakes, and very soon, you would be able to approach just about any girl without a single sweat bead on your brow. If you are worried about the others who just watch and wait for you to mess up, just to get their laughs – ignore them.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Last day at my first job ...
My last day with previous employer started on a hectic note and ended with me being exhausted. Slept for about two hours before I was up to catch the cab to Airport. Reached airport and was seated looking around aimlessly as usual after the formalities . Saw a gorgeous girl seated few feet away from me. Her beauty was flawless. But my eyes turned away from her .. This was just the second time this has happened , first such instance being in a mall. Then the girl , though beautiful was smoking. So didn't like looking at her any longer. This time though the reason was different. My eyes were restless and mind was tired. Went on looking around. Then I saw a kid of about two playing with another kid of similar age. This was what I wanted for refreshment after a tiresome thirty odd hours. Beauty , in a pure form , to give me some sort of relief and refreshment. Innocence in the eyes , calmness of face and the purity of smile almost made me forget how eager I was to board the plane and doze off. On hearing boarding announcement came to senses and proceeded towards boarding gate. Just slept after boarding the flight and woke up on reaching Bangalore. It was only after my lunch I found time to reflect on the previous days happenings while trying to get some sleep.
Interview with HR was the first thing . Was pretty cool as I refrained from giving any controversial answers and all were politically correct. There was clear lack of motivation and intent in the way I was answering. Completed some other exit formalities and just killed time till afternoon by doing routine things like morning tea with my "Chai Team " , chatting etc . Went out for lunch and was back after about two hours . I was completely mechanical till now , just going through with the motions . Partly because it was hectic and partly due to my thoughts racing around . Bid farewell to some of my batch mates Small farewell was organized which had cake cutting and was given souvenir . T-shirt with signatures and messages from teammates bought back college memories. Was also given a "Jabulani" with signatures of my Chai Team , a pleasant surprise. Was asked to say a few words , which I politely declined . I was in doubt if I could hold my composure if I started talking , particularly because some thoughts of B.Tech were also racing through my mind. Had one final tea meeting in front of CNN building enjoying the ambiance. Made arrangements to get luggage transported and met few other friends before heading home.
Interview with HR was the first thing . Was pretty cool as I refrained from giving any controversial answers and all were politically correct. There was clear lack of motivation and intent in the way I was answering. Completed some other exit formalities and just killed time till afternoon by doing routine things like morning tea with my "Chai Team " , chatting etc . Went out for lunch and was back after about two hours . I was completely mechanical till now , just going through with the motions . Partly because it was hectic and partly due to my thoughts racing around . Bid farewell to some of my batch mates Small farewell was organized which had cake cutting and was given souvenir . T-shirt with signatures and messages from teammates bought back college memories. Was also given a "Jabulani" with signatures of my Chai Team , a pleasant surprise. Was asked to say a few words , which I politely declined . I was in doubt if I could hold my composure if I started talking , particularly because some thoughts of B.Tech were also racing through my mind. Had one final tea meeting in front of CNN building enjoying the ambiance. Made arrangements to get luggage transported and met few other friends before heading home.
Now , I am here in Bangalore , recollecting the days happenings , while trying to sleep. I am quite pleased with how the day unfolded. There are things which I am happy to have left behind , Noida climate being on top of list , especially summer. Having spent three years of my life there , I would have to be a guy with a passive heart to not have things to miss. I am quite happy that I held my composure in the last few moments . Life moves on and my journey now has lead me to Bangalore . Looking to have a great time .
Friday, July 9, 2010
Au Revoir !!!!!!!
Today , when its time for birds to return ..... Sun says bye for the day ......... in the book of my professional life , a chapter comes to an end. Journey , planning of which was done on a cold chilly night of January three years ago , and commenced at an entirely different end of mercury level seven months later , is about to come to an end. Sailing was not smooth and had its crests along with troughs , which is as expected with life . First day is still fresh in mind and haven't yet forgotten Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows read during training.
The sense of achievement , though a minor one , at the start of your career , after days of burning midnight oil and making a release is always a refreshing memory. News that all our efforts were futile the very next day was the down side to it. Loved the challenges all along and take pride in the ones I overcame and I believe the failures , if any , were a learning and only added to my experience. There were many days where it was pure slogging at its best On few days , it was like a craftsman at work. Joined as a freshman and have grown in all facets of life. Got to meet different kinds of peoples with varied characters. I truly believe this played a huge role in my personality development. Had loads of fun and enjoyment in team parties. It would be a grave sin if I fail to mention our tea time chat , the best half an hour of the day where we discuss pretty much every thing . Our " Ashes" between FE and BE teams also was a great experience , though was second best on most occasions. These three years coincided with probably the toughest period yet of my personal life. Few have been of great support in those tough times of mine and thanks would just be undermining their role.
I have always believed " Change is the only Constant " , One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a long time. I thought , time was finally ripe to move on in life. I would like to take pride in being emotionally detached and believe that glitter in your eyes followed by drops on your cheeks is precious .I , along with two other friends , were the ones to have bid farewell to all our close friends in college five years ago . The precious couldn't stay inside the eyes and did come out for a few truly special ones that day. Tomorrow the chances are quite bleak ... but you never say never !!!!!!!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Last man standing ...
It started on Tuesday and carried on till Thursday. It was one of the greatest moments of Sport. Neither of the men involved , though not unknown to tennis followers , was Rafa or Fed . It was last man standing stuff , term usually associated to wrestling and not with beautiful lawns of Wimbledon , that flirted with fiction and reality. It was nothing spectacular but breathtaking and the basic requirement of sport , commitment to the fore. It was a match in which two gladiators , Isner of USA and Mahut of France , giving it all , barely able to stand at the end of 11 hours , were inseparable , with Isner edging it 70-68 in final set. Final set alone was fought for over seven hours easily eclipsing the previous longest tennis match.
Beauty of sport lies in the human factor which eventually makes mistakes that rival can take advantage of or a moment of brilliance or the factor called luck to intervene. But these two fought on for three days defying the laws of sport. It was also beautiful as it was devoid of controversies. This match was purely about will. Every person has a breaking point in him before he quits. It's the point at which his courage ends and contest doesn't seem worthy enough . We give in Psychologically. But not these two. Those two wouldn't just quit.
What makes it more beautiful is that they practically played for nothing. It was not a grand slam final played on Center court , just first round on court 18. The winner will not pocket money in millions of dollars . There was no national pride involved. It makes their performance even more astonishing. They were just playing for their personal pride . Professionals doing their job and giving everything. They were pushing their body for one more point . It was more a show of human spirit than a match. Sport has been bought to disgrace by many issues , match fixing , racism , tampering , politics etc to mention a few. But matches like this are what brings back glory to it , irrespective of what happens around. France football team showed no desire in their match against South Africa. They could have looked no farther than their fellow country man , Mahut , for inspiration. It's a cruel world in which we live in . So one man had to be second best.
Beauty of sport lies in the human factor which eventually makes mistakes that rival can take advantage of or a moment of brilliance or the factor called luck to intervene. But these two fought on for three days defying the laws of sport. It was also beautiful as it was devoid of controversies. This match was purely about will. Every person has a breaking point in him before he quits. It's the point at which his courage ends and contest doesn't seem worthy enough . We give in Psychologically. But not these two. Those two wouldn't just quit.
What makes it more beautiful is that they practically played for nothing. It was not a grand slam final played on Center court , just first round on court 18. The winner will not pocket money in millions of dollars . There was no national pride involved. It makes their performance even more astonishing. They were just playing for their personal pride . Professionals doing their job and giving everything. They were pushing their body for one more point . It was more a show of human spirit than a match. Sport has been bought to disgrace by many issues , match fixing , racism , tampering , politics etc to mention a few. But matches like this are what brings back glory to it , irrespective of what happens around. France football team showed no desire in their match against South Africa. They could have looked no farther than their fellow country man , Mahut , for inspiration. It's a cruel world in which we live in . So one man had to be second best.
Monday, June 21, 2010
College Chronicles --- Part - 4
When I was in class eleven and twelve , I had the pleasure of experiencing five different campus environments in two years. My first stay was about twenty miles from town , serene environment and also had a hostel kind of feel associated to it. My stay there was for a month and was shifted to a place which was in out skirts of town . This place was a colony and residents were not just students. It was a pleasant change for reasons pretty much obvious . My time in this place was even less and had to shift my base again to campus which was in heart of town. The only advantage being its accessibility to hotels. This stop in my journey was for about six months before we moved on to a place which had a country side feel to it. Here we spent around seven months and we really had a blast.
Our next campus was about fifteen miles from town , in a village. It had a proper campus feel to it and had acres of greenery to supplement its wonderful atmosphere. There were two temples nearby. One was on top of hill outside our campus and the other just beside , which can be seen for my room. Evenings were pleasant at times , with cool breeze and gentle music from temple , relieving you of stress and pressure of college life. There goes a saying that old habits are hard to change. On our way to college , we observed small stalls on road side where food was available. One fine day we tasted the food when we were given permission to go to town for bringing necessary things. The urge to go out and eat was difficult to contain. We had two options . Either take a walk to office , fill out a form , take permission from in charge and go out . Just jump the wall and explore the world outside . Found the latter option easy to implement. This activity which started as an occasional one was now pretty much regular. Me and a friend also were pretty regular visitors to the nearby temple. Generally we used our highway , jumping the wall . On certain special occasions we followed the formalities . We preferred our highway as it was just a matter of five minutes walk from our room. One evening after some discussion we decided on using our highway. My friend jumped and I was about to. I heard my friend say some thing. I was in no mood to listen and climbed it. When I was about to jump , saw campus in charge seated in temple along with the priest. He was the one who used to wake us up every morning as he very well knew that we didn't care our warden. Now I could make out what my friend was trying to say. I was about to jump back into campus , but stopped on directions from in charge. When we went to temple , he started his lecture involving the priest in between . He was praising us at times. When we started to relax , he started scolding us. He was mixing in every thing he could think of and we were in utter confusion and couldn't come to a conclusion of what he tried communicating to us. We were given a lecture for about thirty to forty five minutes. On the first break he took , we seized on he opportunity and asked him that we will leave and we had to study. He could understand the cynicism in our voice and class extended another ten minutes. We finally left , taking offering of god from him. We jumped back into campus. We burst out into laughter and were in tears , for not all tears are an evil.
Our next campus was about fifteen miles from town , in a village. It had a proper campus feel to it and had acres of greenery to supplement its wonderful atmosphere. There were two temples nearby. One was on top of hill outside our campus and the other just beside , which can be seen for my room. Evenings were pleasant at times , with cool breeze and gentle music from temple , relieving you of stress and pressure of college life. There goes a saying that old habits are hard to change. On our way to college , we observed small stalls on road side where food was available. One fine day we tasted the food when we were given permission to go to town for bringing necessary things. The urge to go out and eat was difficult to contain. We had two options . Either take a walk to office , fill out a form , take permission from in charge and go out . Just jump the wall and explore the world outside . Found the latter option easy to implement. This activity which started as an occasional one was now pretty much regular. Me and a friend also were pretty regular visitors to the nearby temple. Generally we used our highway , jumping the wall . On certain special occasions we followed the formalities . We preferred our highway as it was just a matter of five minutes walk from our room. One evening after some discussion we decided on using our highway. My friend jumped and I was about to. I heard my friend say some thing. I was in no mood to listen and climbed it. When I was about to jump , saw campus in charge seated in temple along with the priest. He was the one who used to wake us up every morning as he very well knew that we didn't care our warden. Now I could make out what my friend was trying to say. I was about to jump back into campus , but stopped on directions from in charge. When we went to temple , he started his lecture involving the priest in between . He was praising us at times. When we started to relax , he started scolding us. He was mixing in every thing he could think of and we were in utter confusion and couldn't come to a conclusion of what he tried communicating to us. We were given a lecture for about thirty to forty five minutes. On the first break he took , we seized on he opportunity and asked him that we will leave and we had to study. He could understand the cynicism in our voice and class extended another ten minutes. We finally left , taking offering of god from him. We jumped back into campus. We burst out into laughter and were in tears , for not all tears are an evil.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
More Cricket
Having started on cricket in previous post , I'll continue with few memories of cricket. When I was in school , I used to spend my holidays either at home playing or my grandma's village. It was the time of Sankranti and we usually have a school break for about ten days. I was around nine or ten years of age and was having a blast in holidays at the village. Usually spend time going to my uncle's fields or playing along with others of my age group. One early morning there was a buzz outside our home. People were going in groups with bats in hand. My uncle had some casual talk with them . They were a person short and I said that I would like to play. I looked out of place among them as they were all quite few years older than me. On the way I came to know that it was a regional rivalry ( among two streets of village )and they would be playing for money . I was tense as this was the first occasion I being involved in a match which money was involved. Ground was surrounded by bushes . Opposite team batted first . I was made to field close as they thought I would not field well and my mistakes would result in boundaries. I enjoyed fielding close in. I dismissed two batsmen (run outs) , one which was a direct hit. They put up a good score and my team was going on well with our chase. At that stage I thought my part was done for the day and was happy that I played my part well. From a healthy position , a dramatic collapse put us in bother. Though runs needed was less , wickets were thing of concern . I was the one left apart from the other two at crease. I was praying that these two win it for us and I shouldn't be needed. Rarely do things go on as planned or the way we want. Another one got out of the last ball of a over and we had one over to go with three runs to get. I had to go out to bat. I was still hopeful of winning and me not getting to face a ball. Striker wasted two balls and got out going for a big hit. I was left to face three balls with three runs needed. Our team was resigned to defeat. Seeing my diminutive size , bowler relaxed and just bowled a loosener. I dispatched the ball into the bushes and our team was victorious. I couldn't believe , overcome with joy and was mobbed by teammates.
In school our class had the reputation of being the most indisciplined one in entire school. We maintained this legacy till we left school and took no measures to change it at all. By chance if any new teacher came with no opinion about us , it took very little time for other teachers to give description about our class. When in class eight , there were plans to have a match between students of class nine and ten for sports day . We were against it and insisted that we also be given a chance to play. Though there was certain opposition , it was decided that we take on a combined team of classes nine and ten . I was my team captain and chose to bat on winning the toss. Our team was a well balanced one. We batted deep and also had quite few bowling options. We put up a good score with contributions from all those who went in to bat including me . We knew opposition strengths and weakness as we had already played them many times. Three or four of us discussed and set fields , bowled according to plan. I initially took my position in slip and in later stages fielded close in . Took two good catches of their important batsmen. They could never go at the required rate and in the end we won quite easily. It was a memorable victory as whole school was watching and practically all teachers were supporting the other team.
Cricket was pretty much part of our daily schedule in BTech. We played almost everyday after college. In our first or second year we played a match against fourth year guys. There was a bet involved of around hundred bucks or so. We had first go with the bat and scored above one hundred and fifty in fifteen overs. When it was their turn to bat , they were pretty dismal . We were on way to a handsome victory with just a casual effort with ball. Then trouble started with umpire , a guy of batting team , calling two of our bowlers for chucking. First guy somehow completed the over. The second guy was so irritated . He uprooted the stumps , started hurling expletives . He also said that they could have the money as charity and there was no need to cheat for mere hundred bucks. One of us , of course not me , had to intervene and cool him down and stop him. I was completely taken by surprise because this guy was the last person I expect to lose his composure. ( This guys name also starts with H and its not me .) I still have a good laugh when I recollect those events. In BTech I was badly injured my hand just before exams , playing cricket. Luckily I didn't have to struggle as exams were postponed and my injury healed in time. I still have a memory of it on my palm.
In school our class had the reputation of being the most indisciplined one in entire school. We maintained this legacy till we left school and took no measures to change it at all. By chance if any new teacher came with no opinion about us , it took very little time for other teachers to give description about our class. When in class eight , there were plans to have a match between students of class nine and ten for sports day . We were against it and insisted that we also be given a chance to play. Though there was certain opposition , it was decided that we take on a combined team of classes nine and ten . I was my team captain and chose to bat on winning the toss. Our team was a well balanced one. We batted deep and also had quite few bowling options. We put up a good score with contributions from all those who went in to bat including me . We knew opposition strengths and weakness as we had already played them many times. Three or four of us discussed and set fields , bowled according to plan. I initially took my position in slip and in later stages fielded close in . Took two good catches of their important batsmen. They could never go at the required rate and in the end we won quite easily. It was a memorable victory as whole school was watching and practically all teachers were supporting the other team.
Cricket was pretty much part of our daily schedule in BTech. We played almost everyday after college. In our first or second year we played a match against fourth year guys. There was a bet involved of around hundred bucks or so. We had first go with the bat and scored above one hundred and fifty in fifteen overs. When it was their turn to bat , they were pretty dismal . We were on way to a handsome victory with just a casual effort with ball. Then trouble started with umpire , a guy of batting team , calling two of our bowlers for chucking. First guy somehow completed the over. The second guy was so irritated . He uprooted the stumps , started hurling expletives . He also said that they could have the money as charity and there was no need to cheat for mere hundred bucks. One of us , of course not me , had to intervene and cool him down and stop him. I was completely taken by surprise because this guy was the last person I expect to lose his composure. ( This guys name also starts with H and its not me .) I still have a good laugh when I recollect those events. In BTech I was badly injured my hand just before exams , playing cricket. Luckily I didn't have to struggle as exams were postponed and my injury healed in time. I still have a memory of it on my palm.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
College Chronicles --- Part - 3
Cricket ... Seven letter word which unites people across age , gender , caste, religion , regionalism and all other divisive factors .. It is a religion which has devout followers . As it is with every religion , this too has a "God". When he is on field a billion souls pray for him. Mumbai streets are empty. Even at times of distress he can bring a smile on your face .. Some confessed their nightmares .. Some said " I have seen God , he bats at no.4 for India in Tests" . A banner once in Sharjah said " I will see God when I die , but till then I see Him " . Another in Sydney " Commit all your crimes when He is batting . They go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching " . I can go on and on .. For the limited edition species who are still unable to make out , He is Sachin. My memories of cricket dates back to 1992 and I have been a pious devotee for 18 years and counting . In my 11th or 12th class , which my pea sized brain can't properly remember , after our night study hours , a discussion started between ten or twelve of us about him. I couldn't understand the reason why Indians take pride in criticizing their heroes. Discussions usually turn into a debate with people taking sides. Amazingly in every such situation , I end up in minority group. It was three of us who were in support of him and we were easily outnumbered. The discussion / debate / fight , had more of a noise than information. It was passionate sprayed with tiny pieces of logic in between . Time flies during these times , and even before we noticed we had spent almost 4 hours . As I am used to now a days , meetings or discussions rarely have conclusions. It was never going to be different and our debate didn't deviate the script. Everyone went to bed , tired , with a feel of satisfaction and belief that they had the upper hand in debate.
Time Magazine's quote on Sachin:
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam. When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."
Time Magazine's quote on Sachin:
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam. When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."
Saturday, June 5, 2010
College Chronicles .... Part -- 2
Returned to new campus after holidays. It was business as usual after few days of roaming around the campus and surroundings. Started playing cricket on top of our building in the evenings. It was a lot of fun and a novel experience as well trying to play in a controlled manner. Fun carried on for few days. Like all good things this had to end . On one fateful evening , our campus in charge caught us playing . Were given a lengthy lecture as usual and bats were taken away from us. Sun slowly was getting into his groove . This meant exams were round the corner. In the place where we had our food in campus , there were few lemon trees. On a fine night , during one of our breaks from study , one thought popped out of no where . Why not play cricket for relaxation !!!! We had tube lights on the roof .. So no problem of bad light . Next bat and ball. We being aspiring engineers , and just in college , there was no dearth of innovative ideas. After due discussion , we zeroed in on writing pad and lemons. Two of us were off to bring lemons. Brought enough of them from tree. This was awesome. We had lots of fun , enjoyment ... Of course cricket is incomplete without controversies and arguments irrespective of where it is played .. Had plenty of these as well ... Continued playing even during the exams. I can't comment on the effect it had on our marks .. They were quite good .. Could have been better .. But who cared about 11th class marks ... Our goals were higher .. Lemon cricket became part of our daily schedule .. It came to an end when we had to shift our base again ..
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Funny one liners collection ...
If women ruled the world there would be no wars. Just a bunch of jealous countries not talking to each other
Hard work is rewarding. Taking credit for other people's hard work is also rewarding. And faster
Multi-tasking: twice the mistakes in less time
Money can't buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Ferrari
I try to cut down on the number of mistakes I make at work by coming in late.
Not to brag, but I have completely mastered the right way to do everything wrong.
Cop: "You going to a fire?" Motorist: "Trying to prevent one, officer. My boss said that's what would happen if I was late again."
Don't worry i won't tell anyone.. and if i do, i'll tell them not to tell anyone
Three of my fingers are willing to write, but my thumb and forefinger are opposed
The mind needs exercise, just like the body. That's why I'm thinking about jogging
Men are like coolers. Load them up with beer and you can take them anywhere.
Why do the call it baby-sitting when you spend all your time chasing after them?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
College Chronicles .... Part -- 1
Winter of 2000 .. Was in college . College administration decided to shift our batch to a new campus. Plans for the day were pretty simple. Shift our belongings to the new campus , catch next available bus and go home for holidays. Shifting was scheduled to be completed by noon . Assuming IST , I planned on catching bus at 6 hoping shifting would be done by evening , in worst case. Surprisingly things were completed well before schedule leaving me with ample time before next available bus . Started exploring the surroundings along with friends. The new place was nice and peaceful with a country side look to it. The house next to ours had a nice garden . Guava trees caught our eyes. Only thought was to lay our hands on those delicious fruits. Without any second thoughts , started climbing walls and in no time had enough fruits in our hands. They were delicious and this was my first experience of having fruits freshly of trees , that too by stealing .. During our brief stay over there we were later offered fruits by our neighbors many times , and we happily had them ... The feel after the ones we had on first day was always the best.. As the saying goes ... "fruits" of hardwork are always sweeter ...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Mistakes of my life
" A beautiful thing is never perfect " . I believe Life is beautiful . So a person's life will never be perfect. We all make mistakes and keep on learning from them no matter what phase of life we are in. Choices are also part and parcel of life. We have to make then all along our way in life. The results of some of our choices may be good and the other not so good. In retrospect we can always say that if this was my choice my life would have been better . But we all have a very good hind sight. But it is our fore sight which makes difference ..
Humans tend to introspect a lot in certain circumstances. They have lots of things on mind and feel helpless being able to do nothing fruitful. When they think they could have handled their responsibilities better. Introspection is generally done by heart to address conflicts of heart or mind. In my case , my reasons for introspection are a mixture of all possible feelings like helpless , sad , dissatisfaction from not being able to take care of my responsibilities better. During such introspections I tried to look at the other side of choices I made .
My first choice which I remember having made was declining to join a particular school after having got admission in it by writing a competitive exam . Reason was I didn't want to stay away from home in hostels. I was just around 9 years old . Those were the days when I used to cry if my mom was delayed in coming home from office because of work . So I couldn't even in my scariest or wildest thoughts allow such a scenario let alone real life. My parents also didn't even try persuading me about joining it. Looking back , though I don't regret it , I think I would have got to know a different life and my home sickness would have been addressed a lot earlier than when it was actually done.
In the next phase of my education , choice was between MPC and BiPC , two groups which large percentage of students from my parts take. My choice was against my Dad's wishes but I never felt it was the wrong choice or even thought about the choice not taken. My next decision was what you can say life changing or life defining one. I had option of joining a professional course in a fairly reputed college or try another year and give myself the opportunity of joining a college of National reputation. Though I was interested in giving another try , I was talked into taking up the professional course . This is the choice which I regret the most in my life. I always felt it was the wrong choice and still even after almost 10 years I feel the same. It may even be the case of unknown pastures being greener. But this is how I feel deep down in heart.
I would like to associate or look myself as " Jack of all trades and Master of none " . But unfortunately had to do my Masters that too in Technology , when my dream was always Business Administration . The factor that the institute being of National repute may also have played a part in my choice. But eventually that particular choice of pursuing Masters to joining a job made me spend five years of life thousands of miles away from home. It hardened me in many ways and I can say have more exposure to ways of life. Initial two years were quite hard from personal and professional front. Needed a lot of emotional support because of things happening around and with me. Though there were lots of friends who were quite supportive , would have felt better sleeping with my head on mom's lap. After joining job , things got tougher on family front. Dad was diagnosed with a serious ailment and the medication was quite taxing both mentally and physically. It is in tough times you get to know your real friends or relatives. All those who were with us when things were better deserted us. Those who were along with us in my home practically their whole life didn't bother to care. They may have stepped back fearing we may ask financial help for treatment or they may have to stay helping my Mom. But the only thing wanted was emotional support. Though I was able to do it on phone I would have felt a lot better if I was nearby. If things were not already tough enough , got tougher with my dad's demise. My brother who is still studying had to do things beyond his age. In this struggle , which my mind / heart has been through for the past few years , I felt my choice was a mistake and I would have been happier or you can say peaceful if I had taken up a job after my bachelors.
Making wrong or what you say not so good choice was sadly not just limited to my professional or student life. I had to live with this even at a personal level. Not once ... not twice .. but thrice in life I made the same kind of mistake. Despite my choices , few of which may have not been good or which I feel could have been better , I am in a position of strength. All these experiences have made me tougher and prepared me for further challenges ahead in life which I think will be even more trickier and challenging.
" I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence , I can reach for , perfection is God's business " .
Humans tend to introspect a lot in certain circumstances. They have lots of things on mind and feel helpless being able to do nothing fruitful. When they think they could have handled their responsibilities better. Introspection is generally done by heart to address conflicts of heart or mind. In my case , my reasons for introspection are a mixture of all possible feelings like helpless , sad , dissatisfaction from not being able to take care of my responsibilities better. During such introspections I tried to look at the other side of choices I made .
My first choice which I remember having made was declining to join a particular school after having got admission in it by writing a competitive exam . Reason was I didn't want to stay away from home in hostels. I was just around 9 years old . Those were the days when I used to cry if my mom was delayed in coming home from office because of work . So I couldn't even in my scariest or wildest thoughts allow such a scenario let alone real life. My parents also didn't even try persuading me about joining it. Looking back , though I don't regret it , I think I would have got to know a different life and my home sickness would have been addressed a lot earlier than when it was actually done.
In the next phase of my education , choice was between MPC and BiPC , two groups which large percentage of students from my parts take. My choice was against my Dad's wishes but I never felt it was the wrong choice or even thought about the choice not taken. My next decision was what you can say life changing or life defining one. I had option of joining a professional course in a fairly reputed college or try another year and give myself the opportunity of joining a college of National reputation. Though I was interested in giving another try , I was talked into taking up the professional course . This is the choice which I regret the most in my life. I always felt it was the wrong choice and still even after almost 10 years I feel the same. It may even be the case of unknown pastures being greener. But this is how I feel deep down in heart.
I would like to associate or look myself as " Jack of all trades and Master of none " . But unfortunately had to do my Masters that too in Technology , when my dream was always Business Administration . The factor that the institute being of National repute may also have played a part in my choice. But eventually that particular choice of pursuing Masters to joining a job made me spend five years of life thousands of miles away from home. It hardened me in many ways and I can say have more exposure to ways of life. Initial two years were quite hard from personal and professional front. Needed a lot of emotional support because of things happening around and with me. Though there were lots of friends who were quite supportive , would have felt better sleeping with my head on mom's lap. After joining job , things got tougher on family front. Dad was diagnosed with a serious ailment and the medication was quite taxing both mentally and physically. It is in tough times you get to know your real friends or relatives. All those who were with us when things were better deserted us. Those who were along with us in my home practically their whole life didn't bother to care. They may have stepped back fearing we may ask financial help for treatment or they may have to stay helping my Mom. But the only thing wanted was emotional support. Though I was able to do it on phone I would have felt a lot better if I was nearby. If things were not already tough enough , got tougher with my dad's demise. My brother who is still studying had to do things beyond his age. In this struggle , which my mind / heart has been through for the past few years , I felt my choice was a mistake and I would have been happier or you can say peaceful if I had taken up a job after my bachelors.
Making wrong or what you say not so good choice was sadly not just limited to my professional or student life. I had to live with this even at a personal level. Not once ... not twice .. but thrice in life I made the same kind of mistake. Despite my choices , few of which may have not been good or which I feel could have been better , I am in a position of strength. All these experiences have made me tougher and prepared me for further challenges ahead in life which I think will be even more trickier and challenging.
" I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence , I can reach for , perfection is God's business " .
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Crazy Dreams and A Walk I can never Forget ...
Everyday holds possibility of a miracle. So everyday is special. Apart from that there was nothing special about that day. I was at school five minutes earlier , which was pretty much my usual time until I was into my tenth class. The day was pleasant , holidays were round the corner with winter just setting in. Whatever little dew on grass was already a history .The tree branches are stark bare, their leaves stripped off in the fall . I come from parts of world where winter is just less hotter. Once school prayer was done , classes commenced for the day. First class was the boring of lot, Social Studies . After concentrating for a while with great difficulty , I lost interest and started exploring my surroundings , a favorite time pass . Our school had classrooms built along perimeter of fairly large squarish rectangle area . My view from the class room covered most parts of the other three sides. I suddenly saw pit of snakes on the roof of all other three sides. There were snakes of wide variety . My initial reaction was of excitement at seeing such huge number at once. I was deeply involved in their observation that one emotion was missing .. fear ..... Suddenly a snake makes an entry to my classroom and finally panic engulfed us. It , probably even more scared by our panic screams , attacked one of my friends. Then I gave out a loud cry . Suddenly I felt someone's hands on me trying to calm me down. On opening eyes , I found myself in bed , mom comforting me and was surrounded by other members of family and neighbors as well. Even for my pea sized brain it didn't take long to realize the situation.
Geographical location of my place gives us adequate rainfall , but it never pours down. On waking up one gloomy day , it looked like finally there was very heavy rain the other night . It was still drizzling. Rain really lifts our spirits. Main reason being hope of a day off from school . On calling got news that it won't one of those happy days and started walking. When I was few blocks away from school , suddenly heard screams of people and they were running past me. On turning around , saw a flood coming in my direction. Instinctive part of brain took over and instructed legs to run as fast as they could ..though the saner part knew it was of no use. Moments later flood caught up with me and was flowing along with it .. I was able to hang on to something that stopped me from going along with water. I was screaming like anything . Next I found myself in bed , sun blazing down , mom trying to soothe me.
I am a reluctant traveller. I like spending my time at home with family. Life gets boring if it gets routine. So for a change was off to places where we could enjoy as well as have some adventures in holidays. Was decided that we go rafting. On reaching the place was pleasantly surprised to see my idols Sachin, Dravid , Ganguly etc . Took some snaps of them and we were getting ready for executing our plans. Everyone over there was busy in their activities. Suddenly observed that some persons were drowning in the river. I along with my friend jumped and brought them out . Someone checked them and said they would be fine. Before even the satisfaction of saving three lives began to sink , was over joyed to know those were of my idols. While I was trying to get to terms with my feeling , a sudden irritating sound started from no where. Came to reality and enjoyed a hearty laugh knowing that I don't even swim.
Days were slightly cold . I was just back in college after Sankranti holidays. On some days I used to go for a walk. My college was located at a place far off from city. There was no shortage of greenery. Vegitation varied from tiny grass to large trees. Walk on a chilly morning in a pollution free area , which our college was , is an experience one can never forget. Humming of birds , songs from a distant temple , sun rays trying to peep out of clouds .. no better audio and video experience . Of course no graphics can compete with nature . On one of those walks , I had a real time experience with a snake. I felt some thing on my foot , I saw it , fortunately biting my pant and not any part of my body. I had no idea if it was even a poisonous one or not. I tried getting it off my foot by kicking it out. But the effect was the opposite. It curled its entire length round my leg. I started kicking air more forcefully .. My efforts bore fruit and fortunately it fell few feet away from me . Morning walk turned into a gallop and was in my room in no time .
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Last day of School ..
It was a day with no trace of cloud in sky. What else should I expect in the first week of April. Sun showing his full might . That was the last day of our school life . Next was college , a complete unknown entity. But who cared ? There we were ... sitting under trees in our school .. shouting on top of our voices ...even hot breeze couldn't spoil our spirits ..
While enjoying the moment , I was lost in some thoughts of my own .. My attention turned towards the watchman who was trying to scare away two fighting dogs. Two cute kg kids were walking hand in hand smiling ... No beautiful sight than innocent smile on kids ..
My attention is drawn towards a bike that stops at our school gate . In walks a girl along with her dad. In a word she was heavenly. She in her maroon dress , wavy hair , light brown expressive eyes and with a pretty smile on her lips was like what you could call Venus , the goddess of beauty. Time stood still. Could care less about extremely heat which was aided by the breeze. Eyes just followed her as she walked past us to meet our teacher in staff room. Waited for a while dazed by her beauty and heart yearning to see her again . Imagined us in beautiful European locations of a recently watched movie having candle light dinner and having a great conversation with eyes . Came to reality on friend's call. She was still in there. In few minutes she was out and was leaving. Could do nothing but watch on admiring her beauty. She came , conquered my heart and left .. She is what you call a dream girl and my first Crush ..
While enjoying the moment , I was lost in some thoughts of my own .. My attention turned towards the watchman who was trying to scare away two fighting dogs. Two cute kg kids were walking hand in hand smiling ... No beautiful sight than innocent smile on kids ..
My attention is drawn towards a bike that stops at our school gate . In walks a girl along with her dad. In a word she was heavenly. She in her maroon dress , wavy hair , light brown expressive eyes and with a pretty smile on her lips was like what you could call Venus , the goddess of beauty. Time stood still. Could care less about extremely heat which was aided by the breeze. Eyes just followed her as she walked past us to meet our teacher in staff room. Waited for a while dazed by her beauty and heart yearning to see her again . Imagined us in beautiful European locations of a recently watched movie having candle light dinner and having a great conversation with eyes . Came to reality on friend's call. She was still in there. In few minutes she was out and was leaving. Could do nothing but watch on admiring her beauty. She came , conquered my heart and left .. She is what you call a dream girl and my first Crush ..
That was the last I saw of her. All the excitement which was there just minutes back seemed like ages ago. Teachers arrived 30 minutes late as usual to the get together to bid us farewell. Pretty routine stuff was on agenda. Couldn't care less about it ... After boring speeches ( content was neither new nor motivating .. same thing was said pretty much through the year ) , songs and dance performance by friends cheered up the mood of the gathering .. Snacks followed and was off to home a little later with mixed feelings.
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