Intern ka funda!

Ah se Aha tak!
I got the call! I got my foreign internship : Glasgow University, Scotland, UK. (World Ranking 79 university, much ahead of IIT-D which stands at 135)

So, now after being successful, I got the right to write my tryst with this stuff called internship. In a series of Q & A's, I will answer all the doubts, which may turn to be of your help.

1. What is this bug called 'internship'?
-> There are companies and universities which have a provision for providing internship. What they do in an internship is that they offer a stimulating research experience or work experience during vacations especially long summer vacations.

Internship may be funded or unfunded depending on the kind of sponsors and the financial provisions of the institute or the company.

2. Why do foreign universities offer internship? Why do they pay for your expenses?
-> Offering internship to students from aboard helps the professors to enrich their CV and thus enhance their chances for promotions and future academic accomplishment. During the vacations the professors have several PhDs working on some projects and they need assistance. So, professors hire students from abroad.

The fund that they award may be from their University or some sponsors for the research that the PhDs are carrying out. Plus, there are some internship funding organizations too.

3. What are the eligibility criteria?
-> Rather than having a superb academic track-record, the thing that really matters is how you present your track-record. Organized resume, with a balanced description of your academic as well as extra-curriculars is really required. CG is important if and only if you are a non-IITian. IIT brand sells, professors get impressed in the first time they see the word IIT in your resume. I didn't mention my CGPA in my resume and it didn't make any difference.

If you're not an IITian, don't get depressed. Perform well in your institute, get a decent GPA(I am preaching about GPA, heh!) and try to get some recommendations from the professors!

N.B. Don't praise yourself too much in your resume. Be humble, even if you are basically not humble, but BE!

4. When is the right time to send the applications?
-> Start early to have an edge over your friends. One should start atleast during the mid-October. I started on 28th Oct nevertheless, but having an early offset helps you to be ahead of the rest of the janta.

5. How to find the professor?
-> There are some things more important than orkutting that internet offers you to do. Just google the word "Top 200 Universities". Go to every university, find your respective department, click on reasearch and then groups. Find the people associated with the research group and send application to any one of the group-member with the cover-letter clearly describing your enthusiasm for the research-area.

6. What input is required from you?
-> Of about 40 people in every branch, only about 8-9 people manage to get an intern in a good university. The key is not the academic qualification, but rather its perseverance that counts.

Be prepared for rejection and keep trying! Take rejection as there is something better in store for you. Interestingly, I received more than 70 rejections before I got a clear positive.

Perseverance will definitely win. I got my internship after sending more than 640 applications. Most of the people get tired after sending just a 100 or so, and that's the reason they don't get an intern!

The whole of my lecture can be summed-up in five key points:

• Present yourself well,
  
• Read their area of research,
  
• Show your enthusiasm for the topic,
• IIT-tag matters a lot
  
• Persevere, persevere and persevere

Best Wishes to all of you!
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P.S. My Stressed out self is finally happy, very happy!
P.S. Thanks to my friend Deepesh for helping me all through the way, right from resume to universities to doing the talkings.

Stressed out!!!

The last three days had been quite stressing. I hope writing everything will help.

Day 1 : My laptop's display flickered for two minutes and went on to a life-long hibernation. Thankfully, it's still in the warranty period, but it would be repaired only when I reach back Delhi. All my writings, my elaborated novel and movies are rotting in it. My next few days of holidays are going to be quite boring, I suppose.

Day 2 : I sent intern re-application to the professor in Scotland. Things are on the final level. I am just one application away. But, the reply was that he is on leave for a month. Another bottleneck in my work.

Day 3 : After getting awesome reviews from my friends on my novel, I showed them to my Dad. He asked me to contact a publisher, which I did yesterday only. I got a reply from them - with one good news and the other frustrating news. They are quite interested in my work but they need atleast 55,000 words in my novel to make it publishable; but it contains only 33,000 words till now. Means I would have to rub my ass on the chair for 20 more hours.

It feels repelling to work on a completed work, nevertheless once I will begin to write I am sure that I would go on and on. It's only starting a task that seems difficult.

The things that nevertheless were good, quite gratifying are
1. A portrait of a street children captured by me got published in the Hindustan Times on 12th December, 2008.
2. No. of visitors of my blogs are astoundingly increasing and awesome reviews have I got from some students and erudite English columnists.
3. My prize-money in the rendezvous photography competition got credited into my account. I am richer now!
4. Got a HP all-in-one. Scanner did its work and now my cute childhood photographs are on the net!

Just one line from the book 'The Last Lecture' instills belief in me. It's worth mentioning :

"Brick walls are there for a reason. It measures how intense is your desire to get to your goal."
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P.S. Get yourself the 'wordweb computer dictionary'. It's the best. Here is the link.

A Gift

I looked up at the velvety blackness of the sky
And I see stars adorning nights dress so bright
Even diamonds may feel shy

And then I see the one
That breaks free and shoots to
I know not where
Oh little star!
Will you take my wish to her who is so far
Tell her that i am
Just a little lonely here...

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P.S. I haven't written it. It's a gift to me from someone special.

My Passion

My Passion

Someone asked me, "What is success in your eyes?"

"Success is finding your passion", I replied.

"What is passion?", he asked.

"It is anything which can make you lose your sleep."

"Have you ever lost it?", he enquired.

I opened my eyes and exclaimed, "I did!"
And I began writing this.

I found my passion, what about YOU?

It starts with me and ends with me...

Wait has been over, majors came with a bang. Today was my humanities paper. The enormous hate that I had mounted in my mind against my humanities teacher was washed away in no time. The overview of the whole course tells me that it was a worthy course, though the professor tried to impart all the soft skills in a single semester with cumbersome readings, term papers and presentations, he had been successful to some extent - especially giving us a brief insight that what part of our personality are important in our careers.

I am feeling extremely positive and my attitude is perfect for the examinations ahead. I had a good start with today's paper going great. Tomorrow is my favorite subject - Optics - and I am gonna rock it. I am feeling very blessed to finally encounter 'The Real Me' after such a long time. This Me is positive, optimistic and enthusiastic and it has been awaken on its own without any of outer influences or inner contemplation. I had the same attitude before my JEE and I hope to carry this attitude for long.

I have my entire holiday plans chalked out : This time I am going to make use of my time efficiently. My holidays are going to include :

• Daily jamming sessions with my instrumentalist friends, preparing a dozen songs -Indian classical as well as Floyd and Metallica's - perfectly.
• Complete my novel- Oops and sit on editing session with my Dad and Sister.
• I got an idea for a new novel. I will start it at home. It's titled - 'Those 14 days'.
  
• Translation of my Dad's short stories in English and publish them in a blog.
  
• Mastering Brett Manning singing sensation - voice exercises to improve range and texture.
• Sending 50 applications for internship daily - though I have got some positive replies - financial issues need to be resolved.
• Read about holography in detail from internet and other sources.
  
• Photographing portraits of slum-dwellers - depicting the hidden side of India.
• And of course, synergy will keep you updated with my doings and misdoings.
  
• Read about four book in the season. One on India, other on management, Gandiji's autobiography - My Experiments with truth and fourth one, a novel - Of course I love you by Durjoy Dutta.

I want to write about me. I am just loving my state now : supremely happy.
So here it goes :

• My favorite singer : You all know, it's KK and Jagjit Singh
  
• My favorite pastime : You all know, it's orkuting.
• I am most passionate about : Writing(presently)
• The gadget I wanna acquire the most : Any 10+ mp digicam.
• My favorite outfit : A loose white T-shirt and deep blue jeans(DO you recall anything?).
• My favorite font : Trebuchet
• One thing I am strictly against : Being Idle (read vella!)
  
• My best friend : Ravi and Sunny
• The person who I remember most : My Sister

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P.S. My typing speed has increased to 62 wpm. Bravo!

The Best Policy

The day I joined IIT, I started losing something. That loss may not be irrepairable, but still over the last one and half years of my stay in this place, the losing process continued. The thing that I started losing had been ingrained in my personality right from my childhood to my school-days, it being an integral part of my character. Even my fellow friends used to praise me for that, but after coming to this place, my character started deteriorating. The thing I am talking about is Honesty. The tag of unscratched honesty that I carried over the whole of my schooling days was shredded the day I joined this institute.

Copying assignments, lab reports, term papers and almost every other thing related to academics became a commonplace in my life. I don't know what motivated me for doing that, perhaps this dishonesty is the bonanza we receive as a part of being an IITian, my conscience didn't even stop me or told me that this is not what I used to do or this habit is bad! My fellow class-mates(leaving a few gems!) did the same and I felt this was nothing bad or wrong. The experiments were done with fraud readings and even sometime left incomplete relying on copying the readings from my friends. All this continued to be happening without any guilt on my part.

And the last minor, it was my exam of Mathematical Physics - being amongst the toughest courses I have this semester. I had screwed the Minor 1 paper of that subject and was desperate to score more. Exam-time came, all my friends - including me - planned out that we would sit next to each other, and help each other out in the paper. On the day of the exam, we got up early and rushed to the exam-hall quite early just to capture the last seats for us to facilitate us in cheating from each others' answer-sheet.

Exam started - and as expected - the paper was tough. Out of the four questions - I knew just three. The fourth one carried highest marks and I started with that. While putting my brains to that question, I got stuck. I wanted to look into my friend's answer-sheet who had done that question, but to my surprise, I could not gather the courage to look into his copy. The fear didn't come into the picture because of the invigilators since they were not too vigilant, rather it was just my 'Self' which inhibited me to carry out that thing called cheating. My friends were taking use of this silly freedom of the backbench to the max while I was busy fighting with myself. In the dilemma of this yes and no, I wasted about 20 minutes of the exam-time out of the prescribed 60 minutes and as a result even the questions which I knew were also left incomplete. I could solve only one question completely and a half of the second one.

Last to last week, I got my answer sheet - I got a dismal 7 out of 25, which was worse than even the marks of Minor 1. My friends, who sat together during that exam-time, got marks in diverse range from 12 to 18 and managed to score quite good considering the toughness of the paper. Presently, carrying the copy in my hands, I can proudly proclaim that I am much happier than them because my conscience has been awakened and I re-learnt the great truth of life - honesty brings pride. The honesty that had been in me in the yesteryears is again going to be a part of my life and truth is to be my constant companion.

Thank you all my friends for(unknowingly) bringing in this transformation in me.

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P.S. I want to dedicate this article to my dearest friend Sunny, who has his principles, values and integrity intact despite living amidst the lowest grades of unscrupulous people. You are really a gem and a living source of inspiration for me.

An Indispensable Man

This is the best poem I have come across till now. I had read it on the bulletin board of a X-ray institute in Patna when I was a in 4th grade. I have found it once again and I want to share it with all of you. It is called 'An Indispensable Man'.

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.

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P.S. If you hate poems then please read it once, you will start loving it.

The Break-up Prize

We had every moments spent splendidly, she had been always there with me whether it was my up or down. She was my first love and I was exceptionally fond of her, but you know, time changes everything. Our love had its own way and things started to go bad and then worse and finally to the worst. From the last few months, she had started behaving erratically. She had become numb to my emotions and she did not sound happy with me. Despite my conscious efforts to tune her attitude towards the better side, she resisted. The comfort level had been lost somewhere in the dust of time. The years of togetherness had been evil-eyed.

Tired of being sorry, my patience couldn't last for her to improve. Her behaviour was worsening regularly and at last I gave up. Annoyed, I left her last week when I found that she was irrepairable. I had not told her that I broke-up with her, since she was smart enough to understand the rift in between us. We neither hung out nor even talked to each other since I started ignoring her. She might be upset, but I don't care. She had lost her charm for all I care.

After snapping our relationship last week, I was happy, very relieved. During the last four days though, I missed the presence of that somebody in my life, I again became desperate.

I needed a girlfriend man! Someone with whom I could have more fun, someone more beautiful, sexier and with whom I could make my friends envy me. I went to many places to search for her. On my couple of visits to the best places in Delhi for finding my perfect choice, I found many sexy models. They were complete in themselves to satisfy my desires. But still I had something unknown inhibiting me from interacting with them.

Last night, I became very desperate to have that SHE in my life. I went to the other part of Delhi, which was a home to all the sexy and ravishing figures of the country. I interacted with about a dozen of super-hot models. While I was flirting with a super-slim  babe, my eyes came across Henna. If you don't believe that there exists a thing called "Love at first sight", then you are certainly wrong!

She was everything I had in my dreams. My break-up with my previous girlfriend proved to be fruitful as I found a real 'hottie'. Perfect figure, fair skin, beautiful texture and a raunchy voice. She had double the assets that my ex. She was the perfect material to make my friends jealous and even develop an inferiority complex in my ex-gf!

I asked her to accompany me, and she willingly accepted. She told that it was the first time that someone had showed so much interest in her. Being a Casa Nova, it was my forte to win hearts of ravishing beauties. I caressed her in my arms, and held her throughout I came back to my place.

In my room, I asked her to feel at ease. She was there in front of me, with a tempting charm in her body attracting me towards her. I was drawn towards her and I could not help resisting my desires. I needed her to dissolve my sorrows that had been entangled in my mind after the break-up with my first love.

I went near her and carressed her. I tickled her with my fingers and she laughed. I uncovered her body and started to touch her all around. She was sensuous, and when in my arms, I could feel that she was the one who would satisfy me to the zenith. I closed my eyes and shrugged away the rust of time from my senses. Lost in ecstasy, after a long trance of pleasure, I opened my eyes.

Standing in front of me, it was my ex-gf Eva staring at me with no emotions at all on her face. Angry, I got up with Henna still on my bed, and with coercion I locked Eva in my cupboard. She didn't even resist.

After my night stand with Henna, I took out Eva. I did not talk with her, I just let her stand in front of me. Right from the morning, Eva has been standing in front of me, withered and broken with rusted strings while my Henna, being more precious, is inside the cupboard now!

Looking at Eva, I can still feel the moments of our intimacy we had together. Amidst all these emotional turmoil, I have learnt that like grief, love also fades away with time. No-one is indispensable, new people come and make our life beautiful again. I am gonna sell Eva to someone, I just hope that she finds herself a passionate lover!

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P.S. This is the sequel to my most popular post so far "One Night Stand". Click here if you haven't read it.
P.S. Henna is something with which I can make the whole Institute jealous. It's a twelve string - double the assets, remember?
P.S. Henna is worth 8k bucks! She is broader, fairer and sexier. An electric guitar can never compete with the harmony of acoustic one.
P.S. Click here for having a glimpse of Henna.

Why blogging?

This is a question I want to answer to all my friends.

Regarding blogging, my friends have three views(the most common ones!) :

• Hey Harsh, is there anybody who reads your blog? Kyun time waste karta hai?
• Hey man, this blogging thing is great, nice hobby yaar. But I am too lazy to write and make my own blog!
• I can't understand why you people blog. I prefer writing stuffs in my personal diary. I don't want to make them public.
  

CASE 1 : If you regard blogging as a time-waste then buddy you are mistaken. You don't see the hidden aspect this blogging carry. You may not realize but if I elaborate, you will be shocked. On an average I learn five new words daily due to this blogging bug and what - this is an ongoing process for the last four months. So in the last quarter of year, I have learnt 600 words.

You may not realize where it is leading to? It is in short an ongoing preparation for GRE, TOEFL and CAT. After three years, I hope that I will know each and every word that would be asked in the Post-graduation aptitude tests. Besides, one learns presentation skills and writing is definitely one of the prerequisites in the compulsory soft skills for any career.

CASE 2 : If you are lazy to write, then it's fine. There is no problem at all. But suppose you were blind, and you wanted to realize how beautiful this world is? Nothing else than words could make you realize you about it. The joy of success, the taste of failure, the ecstasy of music, the beauty of nature when turned into words has the ability to make those moments immortal, their essence could be very well trapped into words. Plus it is always a fun to add spice to even the boring situation through your writings!

CASE 3 : Writing in any form is a great thing. It is good that people maintain a personal diary in these busy days. But if something beautiful is concealed from everyone, then how can its beauty be appreciated? If Vinci concealed his masterpiece 'Mona Lisa' from the world, then would its beauty be valued? I know not all of us can be Vinci, but atleast we can strive for!

This analysis never intends to push you towards blogging but it's simple point by point argumentation that blogging is not a waste of time.

Last month, I came across a book titled 'Of Course I love you' by Durjoy Dutta. Interestingly, that book was first published in his blog and then somebody read it and got very much touched. The father of that somebody owned a publishing house and he published it. Blogging is taking active writing nowadays. Celebrities also stay in touch with their fans and critics through their blogs, why should we lag behind?

Blogging is growing daily and it is going to take over the whole domain of active writing in the coming years!!!

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P.S. There is a song in the movie Lakshya called 'Kitni Baatein'. It's beautiful.
P.S. A trick to disturb any stranger(elder) : domain oWhen you cross that person, greet him/her, "Namaste Uncle/Aunty". That person will waste the next fifteen minutes trying to decipher who you were?
P.S. If you want to know the link of the blog of any of your favorite celebrity then do ask me, I have got all their blog-links(if they have a blog!).

10 things to do before you climb your death-bed

These are some of the moments which defined my life. These moments were the best moments in my life, and I want to recommend some of these to you all. Hope you also share your best moments with me.

1. Watching the sunrise from Kanyakumari, the tip of India: It was 4:30 in the morning, I got up and ran to the beach. There were people of all the ages, with a single burning desire to see the most beautiful dawn of their lifetime. The small sun appeared in the horizon out of nowhere, colourful clouds danced in welcoming it thus embarking the beginning of yet another wonderful day.
2. The Shawshank Redemption : If there is one movie which you can't miss in your entire lifetime, it's this. The Shawshank Redemption - A Story of Hope. There is no better source of inspiration available on the entire earth.
3. A tour on Shikara : Kashmir, considered as a paradise on earth, remains incomplete if we don't mention shikara. Its basically a small boat. Cruising through the ice-cold Dal lake in the Shikara with hands and feet being frozen and eyes being mesmerized to see the beauty of the lake surrounded by mountains, I felt at bliss.
4. IIT Insti Top : The city of history and majesty, Delhi, and a 10 floor high vantage point to give a panorama to this city - Incomparable. The breeze that flows at midnight at this place together with the soothing moonlit darkness multiplies the effect thousand times.
5. Guitar(My Eva!) : If in your lifetime, you don't happen to exhaust your fingers trying to make a song out of this, then certainly you missed something big. Fingers ready to bleed the next moment and you still determined to reproduce the song that you just heard perfectly, leaves you no option to think of any other thing. It is a great game of passion vs comfort!
   
6. Sudarshan Kriya : I am not a Bhakta of Sri Sri Ravi Shanker, nor any active member of his foundation, but I really respect him for his ingenious invention "Sudarshan Kriya". Tiring, exhausting and straining while you do the kriya, and utmost destressing, comforting and relaxing when it's over. It was the first moment in my life when I achieved the state of blankness with awareness in my mind for 15 long minutes.
7. The Autobiography of a Yogi - This is not just a book, not just a best-seller, but it is a sheer revelation. The things which are unbelievable and still exist, the infinity of human potential, the sublimity of the soul and the siddhi's conquering even death. There is no other so radical book ever published in the history of the world.
8. Writing : Thoughts are integral component of our existence. Of all the chatter that our mind produces, there comes something which is so new, so radical, so unique, so profound, so hilarious that you get an instant urge to secure it forever in words. You just pay attention to your thoughts to know how wonderful you are. I bet once you realize your thought's beauty, you will instantly wanna store them in words.
   
9. Listening to Indian Classical music and maestros : If you want to feel elation, relaxation as well as divinity at the same time, lock yourself in a room, and play any Classical music at a serene volume. It will take away all the stress and bring you closer with divine. In India, in guru-shishya parampara, music is treated as Goddess Saraswati, and every maestro - be it Zakir Hussain, Amjad Ali Khan, L.Subramaniam or Hari Prasad Chaurasia - strive for the union with the divine through their music everytime. See the documentary "The Speaking Hand" on tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain to inspire yourself.
10. Share your feelings : The last point is very close to my heart, as it is totally my own thinking - no inspiration for this. Before you climb your death-bed, at least write a testimonial to all your friends on orkut and even in life. Make them know how much you like them, how special they are, what were the moments when you learned from them, and what are the things that makes them special in your life. You can make yourself happiest only by making others happy.
    

The Shortest Film-Review Ever

Is there anybody on this planet who you hate with all your passions?

If yes, then there is nothing more torturing than to make him/her see the film KIDNAP. I have not seen a more agonizing movie before. I can assure you that there could not be a better way to torture him.

Poor acting, poorer script and poorest dialogue delivery. In short, a complete bull-shit!

P.S. I wonder why don't the directors get to know after seeing their film that the film is going to be a flop?

It's an Animal's World

4th October : It's animal's day, infact World Animal's Day. That's why I could see hundreds of dogs and cows smiling all around the city. Other than RJ's mimicing dogs and cats, there was no other thing I could hear in the capital.

I can't understand why these guys hold these kinds of days? They too know that they don't need to distribute blankets nor they need to build school for these animals then what the hell is the intention behind holding these days. Idle people who had no other jobs other than gaining respect from the society by doing some humanitarian work(sorry, 'Animalitarian' work) made this day.

C'mon, let us strain our brains a little about what can we extract from this day. This day, what can we do to make animal's life interesting. Let us analyze :

• We can make sudoku puzzles for them to improve their mathematical abilities : Naa, they are too dumb for it.
• How about creating websites to provide them free e-mail, chat and "Bark-ut"(dog's version for orkut) for social networking : Designing special keyboard for animals would be a mind-boggling task.
• How about involving some parrots in a reality shows - singing competitions such as "Tota Title" or "Murga Recital" : Even if these are telecasted, a serious question is who will watch these programs...
• How about making magazines like Playdog(an animal version of the Playboy) considering their physical needs : Naa, this will be economically not viable as there are very few earning dogs(studs like that Hutch wala kutta are very few in number).
• Having an Olympics for the animals called "Animalyimpics": This seems a cool option, so go and start searching for sponsors for it. You are most probable to return empty handed.

Now hear what I have done to celebrate this auspicious day. I had two leg-pieces and one fish fry as lunch and dinner respectively. That's something to be proud of and even make my friends jealous(courtesy to the unpalatable food of hostel). My tummy protruding out of my shirt owes itself to the yummy animal protein as well as fat, which made my day fruitful today.

Ironically, in reality, it was I who really celebrated this so called red-lettered day called "World Animal's Day", because I am grateful to that chicken which tasted so yum and satiated my hunger completely for hours. I will remember its taste forever(this remembrance brings saliva into my mouth even now). People of PETA or or any other NGO related to animals must have done some social works or had seminars or even had nude models walking for them for this special day, but they could not counter the pleasure of the two leg pieces I had on this special day. I am excluding the pleasure of the people who had been with a nude model, as ofcourse that would have 'tasted' better. In fact, it is only me who really felt the importance of animals in my life. How plain and awful this life would have been if there were no chickens and fishes?

Organizations like PETA are doing their BEST to promote ethical treatment of animals by emphasizing that someone else's flesh is more lucrative than that of animal's flesh. Their campaign seems to have a great effect amongst the general population as people tend to be more unethical to animals to get to see more and more infinitesimally clad women. I wish, I were in US!...[:(]

Talking about this day, neither can we make this day an official holiday for animals because they really don't do anything, nor can we make this day off for the butchers and the slaughterers, as people would not turn their hunger for flesh down. So why not celebrate this day paying gratitude to the animals for the wonderful taste of their flesh and relishing them with all kinds of recipes. So the conclusion is World Animal's Day is nothing but a day to party with kababs and biryani ornamenting the dining hall. What else can we do? Hmmm? Almost nothing...Isn't it? Can this 'almost' provide us any ray of hope??

There are people amongst us for whom nearly every day is World Animal's Day, and what a pleasure, I also used to be amongst one of them, but from NOW on I choose to become a vegetarian as I love doing things which are challenging and different from what the rest of the world does!

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P.S. It's sarcasm, if you have not got it.
P.S. Happy "World Animal's Day"
P.S. The NOW in the last paragraph came at just that moment of writing and I am going to stick to that.
P.S. It is not an article about vegetarianism, it is just an inspiration - "If you are not happy about something, you need to act NOW. Be the change you want to see in this world."

My Experiments with Bapu

Some things in life deserve a Royale wall, and for everything else there is a Mastercard.


I was getting bored in the national holiday, so I took out my drawing book after 4 months and remembered Bapu. Hope it does find a 'Royal wall' for itself.

P.S. If not, then I have a mastercard.
P.S. Oops, I forgot to draw an aura for Bapu!
P.S. NOTE : Bapu does not wear goggles in this pic, though it seems.
P.S. Today is my friend Chayan's Birthday. His no. is 9958034757. Ask him for a treat.
P.S. "You need not be a Mahatma to follow the principles of Gandhi" - Tushar Gandhi

Face to Face

I was busy orkutting today in the evening when my friend Akshay came into my room and asked me, "Do you want to go to teach the street children, for NSS? Hours will also be awarded." Smitten by lethargy and internet, my usual answer was, "No, not interested." Even the greed of NSS hours could not motivate me.

Fifteen minutes later, I was frustrated with the net speed in the hostel and finally thought of moving out. I saw Apoorv going for the Teaching Project. I accompanied him just for the sake of providing recreation to my mind cluttered with boredom.

We moved towards the place in our campus where all the masons who build our hostels live. There were about a dozen children of the age-group of 5-10 who haven't yet touched a pencil. We had to convince all the parents to allow their children to be taught by us. In most of the cases the father would allow, but the over-protective mother would always hinder saying, "Anjaan log se padhne kaise bhej de?"

We told them that we were not strangers but we too were students. We decided to teach the children in their locality only, so that more children turned up and parents could also develop a faith upon us. This was just the beginning. Everyone of us(the volunteers) were assigned with one child to teach. We were asked to be a friend first and then be a teacher.

I was assigned to a girl of about an age of 8 years. Her name was Rani. Inexperienced in the domain of teaching, I tried my best to do my job effectively. I asked her how much had she studied. She told, "Sirf ek saal tak, uske baad ma ghar ke kaam me baitha di."

She turned out to be interested in studies. She told that she knew counting from 1 to 20, she knew hindi as well as english alphabets, she could identify all the colors and she loved playing luka-chupi. She told that she liked to study when she was in school, but her mother did not allow her to go to school saying it was of no use. I was in gloom after hearing that, feeling very very apprehensive.

To change my mind, I asked her what her ambition was, what she wanted to become when she would grow up? After I poked her for some time(she was feeling shy to tell, perhaps because it could be too big dream for her), she said that she wanted become a doctor. Drawing inspiration from the movie Taare Zameen Par, I asked her to draw anything on the paper. She asked me what to draw. I told her to draw a circle, and then a leaf, then a flower and then a face...and so on. She drew almost everything which was constituting our the surroundings. Wherever she stumbled, I helped her out. It was great fun for both of us, especially when starting something from scratch...from the grass-root level unlimits the possibility of explorations. I taught her how to write her name in hindi as well as in english. I talked to her about basic hygiene, about what's the importance of washing hands before meal and cutting nails. I asked her to share all these facts with her family too.

Time passed swiftly, and soon dusk overtured the sky. Our work for the day was over, Before leaving, I asked Rani to do a homework i.e. to draw a cow and come tomorrow. To my surprise, her reply was, "Ghar mein pen nahin hai." I asked her that your Dad might have it. She said,"Baba ko padhna nahin aata hai." . Stunned at what she said, I came to realize the real condition of my country. In the campus of India's best academic Institute, ironically when these people don't even have an access to the basic ingredients for education like a paper or a pencil, then what would be the condition of the remote areas of the country. I looked at her eyes, all I could see was the innocence and an immense desire to learn. I gifted her my pen and two A4 sheets and made her promise me that she would turn up tomorrow, no matter what her mother said!

What more, we had done our work, and probably two hours would be awarded for that(thereby making my hours count for NSS as 54). If I take off my mind from the NSS hours, this day has showed me something bigger than any of my personal desires i.e. my real India : the condition people at the very base.

Look at these eyes, can we be so mean that we don't even pay notice to the fire hidden behind those cute little eyes. The grass-root level has got an immense potential which will remain unexploited until people look forward to contribute. If we look around carefully, we can find numerous Rani waiting for us to show them the way. Often, we want to contribute but we feel insufficient to convert our thoughts into actions. Today, I came to know that we are not insufficient, but we are gifted with a great tool which is enough to bring a radical change in various lives and that tool is nothing other than EDUCATION. YOU and only YOU have the all the ability to reach out to thousands and touch their lives. This one hour of teaching has provided me with much greater feelings for my nation than my entire lifetime life had, and now I can say proudly, "Life is too big than these NSS hours."

P.S. NSS stands for National Social Service.
P.S. Some of my friends had a great struggle teaching kids who didn't even understand Hindi, but they didn't surrender. Hats off to them!
P.S. I have completed just 52 hours of NSS in the first year, of which about 10 hours are by fraud. They ask us to complete 100 hours in a year though.

Tunneling to the Next Level

After penning down about 50 articles including two poems in my blog, I plan to tunnel to the next level of creative writing. I think I am capable enough to proceed to the next level. I am starting a short novel, which I will post in another blog chapter-wise. It is interesting, hilarious and dramatic. It's my first attempt of such a big thing, so I hope you read it and comment. Proper criticism and suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Here is the link to that blog.

P.S. Please popularize it as much as you can.
P.S. The writing has been started with just an initiating thought in the mind, its end is still unknown to me. I will decipher it as I proceed.
P.S. It might take some time to upload the next portion of the writing, as I have regular classes, so kindly cope with me.
P.S. Good Night.

Nostalgia

The smell of rain
The muddy terrain
With football on the wet grass
A dozen guys going insane

Kicking each other more than the ball
Dodging and dancing in rock-n-roll
Totally lost in the game
With laughter and cheers crushing every wall

Iota of ecstasy painted on each face
Felt like a shower of God's Grace
Oblivious to the surroundings
Enthusiasm climbing much above the base

Soft drizzle played with sweat
Bestowing relief to the wet
Some slipped and skidded
While others trying a goal to set

The fight for water after the games
Calling each other by the funny nicknames
Fully exhausted, yet
Pushing hard for recognition and claims

Tired, back home
Rubbing soap hard to have a foam
To clean the wounds
And shrug off the loam

Those days are still alive
Vibrant and full of jive
Making me nostalgic
Everytime in my mind, they contrive!

The elusive thing is not any ploy
It's something enigmatic, O boy!
It's we played not for success then
But instead, just for JOY...

P.S. It's my second attempt at writing poem. I had a thought which I thought could be best described by a poem.
P.S. This poem tries to distinguish the borderline difference between success and joy. When we have success vs joy, often people choose success, but the reality is - "Success is doing the thing which gives us joy."
P.S. It's not too long, nor too philosophical, I hope you can go through it once and comment!!!

Taste of Triumph - 2

I had no expectations, it was totally out of sudden, amidst mixed emotions - a call made me dumbstruck. I was strolling along the Wind-tunnel of the institute when my phone rung up, I was jumping in heaven after that call. Man, I got to know that I had got the third position in the Rendezvous Abstract Photography Competition(which consists of Rs.200 cheque and a certificate to cherish). I screamed the loudest "YES!" I could on the road, almost the whole of the crowd near me was a kinda' dumbstruck. I called my Mom and she jumped on her toes, talked to my Dad and my Dad became emotional, my life could not have been better. It brings great pleasure to have a sudden surprise, without even having any expectations.

P.S. Acknowledgements : Vidhu for taking great pains for inquiring exquisite details for the event, Akshay and Aman for their words of appreciation(which really mean a lot to me even though I don't tell) and my parents for being twice more happy than I am and for believing in me twice more than I believe in myself.

P.S. I saw Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy performing at a 10 metres distance, they are so versatile man...hats off to them!!!
P.S. Don't judge my photography by seeing the photograph of my certificate, as the poor photography owes itself to my sleepy head.
P.S. I want to sleep, though it's a morning now...good night!!!

The Photographer is Back

It had been a while since I touched my camera. Yesterday, I came to know about an event of Abstract Photography to be taking place in our fest Rendezvous, so I took out my digicam from my cupboard(after 3 long months) and experimented with light and darkness. Some shades appealed to me and I thought of finding something resembling the texture of the wall. Luckily, I had drumsticks in my room, so I got an interesting outcome. It is titled "Rhythm of Light". Do comment on it - concept and innovation :

Taste of Triumph

Finally, the wait has been over. I had been waiting for this very day from the last one and half years. I have shared this feeling with no other person, but now I can write this feeling to the world. Last two semesters had been time of despair, failures after failures, with no taste of success coming in any field of activity. I am not only including academics in my list but I am pointing towards everything I tried my hands upon. I was involved in music, but none of the competitions did I win; neither in photography, neither in football, almost everything I tried my hands upon I ended up finishing last in it. I used to say that I am happy and satisfied but that was just to please my mind, I was totally at war with myself. My self-confidence dripped down day after day and I would be switching from one hobby to another intermittently. A dilettante like me could not find anything in which he was better than the majority, dissatisfaction clouded my mind all the time. That X(in the article 'The Algebra of Life') which I was missing in my life was success, as I was tired of failure. From the beginning of this semester, I was craving for success and I knew success in academics was the easiest to achieve as it had been my forte in the school-days.

And today as I got my optics paper, a wait of 3/2 years has finally been over. I got 21 out of 22 and I was definitely very happy. The lost self-belief was finally won back. I could see the happiness in the faces of my real friends at my marks and anguish in the face of some of my fake friends. Some appreciated me while some condescended and disbelieved me that how could I get that marks. I called my Dad and told him my marks, and to my surprise tears started rolling down my eyes. I could not decipher what was making me cry but I could feel iotas of relief stacking over my mind as my tears were rolling down. Dad was much more happy than I was, as he craved for my success much more than I did. I could feel the happiness in his voice. The voices of yesterday - when I used to tell my school marks to my Dad - echoed my ears and brought more tears. I am missing my tutorial class now - just because I needed to write this feeling, the feeling of success, for the first time in my life after I started blogging.

P.S. No P.S. this time.

Awed to envy...

For the past 15 minutes, I was on the rickshaw, having no faint idea of the way ahead. I told the rickshaw wala, "I need to get to Daryaganj - near the mosque." The rickshaw was trotting ahead and I enjoyed the view sideways. No, there weren't any girls there, but there was a majestic monument - The Jama Masjid, with elegant red textured walls. The other side of the road had a chain of slaughterers, butchers and spice-dwellers, the smell along the road was not at all pleasing my nasal cavity. A sudden advent of some dark clouds pleased my sun-warmed body. I was quite relishing the other side of Delhi - which contained an air of Mughal era in itself. Old architecture, sufi houses and small dhabas provided a periphery to my curious vision. Small roads, too many rickshaws and 'thelas', and ultra small shops retailing paper, clothes and glasswares brought back the memories of the Arabian Nights back into my mind.

A sudden voice brought back my mind to the present moment, I had reached the mosque and rickshaw-wala was demanding his reward for dropping me to the place. I gave him his share of my wallet, and went on to inquire about the shop that made me visit such a remote area of my city. The guy told me, "Just follow these stairs, the shop is at the third floor." About a half-century of helical steps gave me a sight - An ultra-modern heaven in between these small shops. Awed, definitely, I opened my sandals and entered the place. My eyes grew bigger and bigger to its maximum radius as what I observed was a childhood dream come true. It had every thing, every possible brand right from Fender to Givson, starting from a mere 3000 bucks to as high as 94,000 bucks. I was wondering that someday I win a lottery and purchase the whole shop. Clarinet, piccolo, ukulele, cello, pedals, double bases, tenor sax to the twelve-strings., you think of any of them - it was there. You might be wondering what I am talking about? If you haven't got it till now then let me elaborate. The shop had every kind of synthesizer, even the Yamaha electronic drum-set worth Rs 1.5 lacs and ranges of violin from a simple one to the elite. (You got that, I know!) Amidst this rural outset, this monolithic shop had it all, all the musical instruments, all the brands and everything one can think of. It was a kind of musical instruments library - just no lending was possible. I tried my hands upon a V-shaped electronic guitar worth 23,000 bucks and it was a fabulous experience. After spending 2 hours in the shop, analyzing every small detail of the instruments, I finally made up my mind(and my wallet too!) to purchase something. I finally gave upon a German chromatic harmonica(popularly known as mouthorgan) worth 550 rupees and was overjoyed at its mellifluous voice.

The return journey to my hostel was a very thoughtful one, my mind still being intrigued and awed by the wonderful sight I just saw, and a part of me pushing me to acquire the whole shop someday. In the midst of happiness and temptations, the auto moved along the road transmitting me from the remote area to the ultra-modern capital of the nation. Back home, there was nothing but a smile on my face showing my happiness on a nano-scale. I placed the harmonica in my drawer and had an ecstatic siesta!

P.S. Clarinet, piccolo, ukulele, cello, pedals, double bases, tenor sax are musical instruments.
P.S. The shop's name is Bhargava's Music. It is in Daryaganj. Do pay visit to it once in your lifetime. I bet you can't resist being awed!
P.S. Yes, I know how to play harmonica, I am not prevaricating!
P.S. Did you know that harmonica is the largest selling musical instrument in the world.
P.S. An advice - consulting a dictionary-cum-thesaurus while seeing a word is much more conducive for developing a good word power than consulting only a dictionary.
P.S. Today's movie : What women want.

Peculiar Peculiarities

There are some peculiar things about me that I inherently like. They are very unique to my personality and I think everybody has something in them that makes them unique. I love my uniqueness. I feel great about myself after reading an inspiring book called 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch. Life has offered me with great peculiarities that had made me whatever I am.

Those peculiar things(often termed as 'Learnings of life') about me are enumerated below :

• I like writing in the original way, I don't use short forms, not even in my SMSs(I prefer dictionary there). This habit, I find, is very useful, as I can cruise through my typing at an exceptionally good rate of about 55 wpm without any mistakes. I also don't have to do conscious editing while making any presentation or writing any article.
• While listening to music, I can tell all the instruments that are played in the background. I can distinguish each individual sound of instrument. That's perhaps because I spent my entire childhood with a synthesizer with about 200 voices in it. But there is a demerit associated with it that I don't pay heed to the lyrics, lyrics are always my second priority.
• I like my nail short and tidy always. That's because its comfy while playing guitar. And also I don't wear stones or any ring whatsoever, because I already have one stone of Hope inside me.
• Having spent nearly 12 years with musical instruments, now I have got a knack of playing any tune whatsoever on any musical instrument whatsoever.
  
• Any time I come across a new word I straightaway consult a dictionary, that's the reason of my satisfactory word power. I also have a huge turn-off for wrong spellings. Wrong spellings straightaway predicts careless observation and insincerity.
  
• I play challenges with myself and I love rewarding myself for any of my small deed. Anytime I get to see a difficult task or situation, I bet myself, "If you surpass that, I am going to give you one 5 star." And everytime I achieve that challenge, I rejoice and dance in the joy of triumph and the sweetness of 5 star. (This dance literally means dance).
• I love being at the top. There is just one flaw with this thing, for loving being at top, I need to get to that level. So that motivation is difficult to find. Once I get to that level, I am not going to lose it under any circumstances. Perhaps that was the hidden factor behind my success in JEE, I won at the school level and to maintain that position I toiled day and night.
• I am a closed book. Even the closest of my friends and my parents think they know me or my thoughts-pattern, but the fact is their knowledge is very superficial. I am totally different from what they perceive. I hide many things from people, I don't want them to know me. I have different facets to different people. Only one person in this world knows me almost fully. For the rest of the world, I am very unpredictable and very mysterious.
  
• I love reading about things which are not even faintly related to my area of interest. Be it genetics, art, Indian history, geography, philosophy, technology or science, everything appeals me. Perhaps that's why non-fiction books never bored me.
  
• I love to dream. The wildest and especially the weird ones, which other people don't even dare to dream. I dream of winning a Nobel in literature as well as physics, I see myself being awarded Bharat Ratna when I am 40, I dream of having a stroll on mars, I dream of a big mansion with a Jimmy and a Ferrari in my car stand, I dream of travelling the whole world, I dream of writing a best-seller, I want to be famous, I dream of making a lots and lots of money to pursue all my passions as well as those of my closed-ones without any inhibitions.
• I am always under addiction, once it was cricket, then it came to stamps, to coins, to countries, to books, to football, to movies, to computer, to gaming, to internet, to guitar, to photography, to writing, to blogging. Presently its that I am addicted to time-management and I found it is one of the best addictions to have. At present I am managing my time the best way possible.
  

P.S. Gratitude : I imbibed almost all of these habits from my Dad.
P.S. Today's word : Zilch - which means nothing, of no importance.
P.S. The best way to manage time is to avoid idle company with goal-less wanderers.
P.S. It is purely personal account, any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely intentional.
P.S. Do read the book : 'The Last Lecture' for some inspiration in your life. Its video is in my orkut profile.
P.S. I saw Rock On today. A total kickass drumming and guitaring and crispy voice of Farhan made it wonderful.
P.S. Its 3:21 am in the night and I have no mirage of sleep visible as far as I could see.

Grown up?

Hey, today is my birthday. I turned 19. This is such a special day : this being the only day when everyone makes me feel special, everyone makes me feel important. It feels really nice, people talking nicely, people postponing their anger for the next day to make today a special day for me, many of my old lost friends calling me specially to wish me.

When I was a child, this day began with me getting up over-excitedly in the morning and straightaway jumping and touching the feet of my Papa, Mummy and Dadi and Dadaji. I used to assure my Papa - "When I'll grow up, no matter where I'll be, I will make sure that I begin the day of my birthday by touching your feet." After that Papa would give me my birthday present and Mummy would make delicious recipes for me. Dadaji and Dadi would give me 200 Rs cash which I would put in my wallet very cautiously and hide it from my Mom behind my book-shelf. As day proceeded, my relatives used to begin coming to our home one by one and would help us prepare for the grand party to be taking place at the night. Every relative came with gifts of all the possible kinds ranging from video games cassettes, clothes, games, books, stationers, sport-stuffs and CASH. It felt so great - one day dedicated especially to me. The party began with a bang of applause when I cut the cake and everybody singing Happy Birthday in their unique tunes, rejoice was clear on every face. Even the persons who I did not know, who were at the party especially greeted me making me feel so very important. Party over, my room-floor having no space to put my small foot with gift-wrappers all around the floor and my sleepy eyes having lost their sleep at the sudden excitement. After dismantling all the toys into their constituents would I be satiated and hiding all the CASH from my Mom, I went to sleep. Next day at school used to be revolving around my friends inquiring about what gifts I got.

And today, my day began late, as I was busy entertaining my friends on my phone the last night till 4 o clock. At 6 am early in the morning, my phone started ringing. After four continuous rings, I got annoyed. Having no faint idea who was at the phone and to add spice to the wound - today being my birthday was completely out of my mind, I picked up my cell.

Half asleep, I said, in my irritated voice without noticing who was at the phone, "Why the hell are you disturbing me so early? Call me later."

There came a reply in a voice quite familiar, "Happy Birthday Son. You really have grown up!".
And the phone got disconnected...

A word called India

At 11:30 am, I got up from my deep slumber fully rejuvenated, and thanked GOD for providing me this holiday. I loved being free for a day and that too a weekday. After doing my business of the morning(which was now tending to afternoon), I broke my long gap of 14 hours(for me its really really long!) by signing in my orkut account with my strange ID - quantum.harsh and an eleven-lettered password(which everyone pronounces incorrectly). Orkut homepage took 3 seconds to open, and what I observed was that there was a new scrap from a friend of mine, he scrapped me, “Happy Independence Day”. I realized, “Its Independence Day that bestowed me a 10 hours of sleep”. I wondered why the hell is this guy wishing ME? After all, it isn’t so special day of my life.

After 10 minutes of wandering in the profiles of the ‘few’ people in my friend-list, I saw about hundreds of profiles on orkut which had the Tricolor as their picture; which said “Happy Independence Day” with two smileys enclosing the caption in their profile. I was impressed by the patriotism of my friends, their love for the nation was extraordinary, for they got up this day quite early inspite of it being a national holiday and also they are utilising this leisure time by wishing their friends and bigwigs - Happy Independence Day. Strangely, where does this love for nation go in the remaining 363 days of the year? (one day subtracted considering Republic Day)

Sincerely asking, how many of us, in the remaining days of the year, have even thought about our nation? We just have one task to do in the remaining time of the year and that is to criticize the system, to disrespect the motherland by comparing it with other nations, to abuse our motherland for its prejudiced society, becoming more and more inclined towards western style of living but we have no time to contemplate on this freedom which was stamped on our personality right from the day we began to exist. India has become just a word for a vast majority of population living in this country, with the feeling of love for it being aroused only during national holidays.

Today is 15th Aug. If its not your birthday, then certainly you can think of something else for which this day holds some importance. It’s about it being the day of freedom. Freedom once it was achieved became a commonplace straightaway. We took it for granted. But the bitter truth is we still do not value this independence, we don’t still know the meaning of this word freedom.

The meaning of this word ‘freedom’ needs to be elaborated. The lexicons have found the meaning of freedom as the ability to pursue what we want without any second thought. But I personally think that is a very superficial definition. This word freedom has many hidden meanings which need to be stressed. If I ask a straight-forward short-answer question, “Is India free?” The one-word answer that will splatter out of the most mouths of Bhartiya Nagarik would be “YES”. But the question of the moment is - Are we really free? Still we are over-burdened by superstitions and prejudices, still there are stigmas like caste system and regional discriminations in various parts of the country, the political dominion is majorly motivated by personal goals and nepotism and yet we are rejoicing for the fact that we are free. Freedom means being free from all these biases and irrationality. Freedom means freedom to dream big and even bigger and our surroundings encouraging us to capture that dream. Freedom means freedom from hate, anger, violence and jealousy; freedom to do anything we like but taking the consideration of society also. Freedom does not imply having 10 kids and still be in the arena of ministry of the country and thinking for the progress of the nation. Freedom has an ingredient in itself of personal fulfilment as well as social responsibility.

It’s not about becoming respectful to the nation on a particular day but to change the course of our entire actions so that it affects our nation in a positive way. That action maybe as simple as throwing a chewing gum wrapper in a dustbin to returning a lost wallet to the person who lost it; it can be helping destitute with their medicines or stopping bribery wherever it occurs; from removing a brick lying in the middle of the road or preventing embezzlement of hostel funds; from having true insurance claims to speaking truth to your life-partner about your previous relations. The list goes on, these things are very simple and straightforward but it requires immense grit to be able to do them. The effect these actions have on this country may be very subtle to notice, but it will be quite visible in the long term. I am not an idealist who loves writing essays to provoke the mind of people, but I just want you to be aware of your nation and your responsibility to it. Just scrapping “Happy Independence Day” in my scrapbook and thereby incrementing my 5000 scraps by one, does not make me(and even others) feel happy, but your actions in some way or the other has the ability to make the entire nation happy. One day patriotism is like a new chewing gum which loses its taste as time progresses.

P.S. If you have read it, then I appreciate you a lot. Thanks for reading it. Please do comment to make me know who amongst my friends truly value their nation and did not get bored reading about it.
P.S. It was not meant to hurt some real nation lovers, it is just meant for fake people for who INDIA is just a word.

P.S. Country needs you. You just have to look up.

Today's Fortune

On my orkut homepage, a wonderful thought has been coined as my 'Today's Fortune'.

Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause

It's so profound and true.

The Art of Being Happy

There are several studs I have come across. People exceptionally talented in one field or another, they get appreciation wherever they go. They hoist their own flag at any competition whatsoever. That of course makes me envious. I start thinking - "Am I exceptionally talented in anything?" Though I was expecting a negative answer, but I become dumbstruck to find that there is something in which I am a stud and(to please my ego more) that is the most difficult work to do on this planet. You might be wondering what's that?

It's the art of being happy. When I wonder why I always remain happy : The reason comes out to be nothing special, it's simple and straight-forward - Happiness is my ground-level. Whenever I am having nothing to do, nothing to think of, nothing special to do : I spend that time in being happy. And the time when I am busy doing something, then I ensure that it is the task that brings me satisfaction, in a way making me happy. So, the net result is I am always happy.

This happiness many a times is disturbed by some external sources, but now I have become completely numb to these external sources. My goals, dreams and passions are very clearly defined and anything that doesn't make me at ease, I don't pay my attention to it. I am madly in love with myself and supremely happy. Life cannot be better than this.

Most of us are as happy as we make our minds to be.

P.S. Purely personal recount, yet maybe of some inspiration.
P.S. Touch Wood!
P.S. Happiness is such a wonderful thing that it does not require itself a reason. Though, for being unhappy, you need to have a reason.
P.S. I prefer solitude over the gathering of some people.
P.S. Many a times moments arrive, when everything is tuned to perfection yet our mind is wandering for something more satisfying. That is the time to redefine your goal.
P.S. If no obstacles come your way then certainly you are on the wrong track.

Dreams Realized

Sometimes I think that I have wasted my schooldays, by being very shy, very nerdy and geeky. But, while thinking all this I realize, I am taking my alma mater for granted. If I had been anything I wasn't, then I am damn sure that I would not be residing in the finest institution of India.

Two years of arduous experiment with my left brain has paved my way for the future. The kind of outgoing and extrovert person I have now become is a welcome change, and was much needed. But, if I had become so masti-oriented guy while in school, surely my dream of IIT would have always been a dream. I think sometimes that what if I had not qualified in JEE, what would I have been doing? I realize that during the two years of preparation there was not a single moment when I thought this. "I was going to get through JEE", was a belief that was stamped on my self right from the class 9th. I always visualized myself in IIT.

Now I feel that because I had this burning desire to get into IIT many things happened strangely in my favour paving my way to where I am. The universe conspired to let me realize my dream. I got the best teachers at the time when I needed them most, India was kicked out of the World Cup 2007 thereby giving me more time to deal with my books, one guy came in my apartment from Bansal's and we had nice time discussing various concepts, I steered through the Boards with a great attitude and three days before JEE my grandma calling me and saying that she saw in her dreams that I have cleared the JEE. Interestingly enough, I became an orkut bug much after the JEE, otherwise I am sure would have lost my vigour for studies very early enough.

The kind of attitude I had while JEE was ensuring me from within that I was gonna clear. Some higher force was paving my way to help me fulfill my dreams. When you really want something, all the dormant forces become active to realize your dream.

P.S. Please don't misinterpret. I am just sharing my experience and thoughts. No egoism involved.
P.S. I was wondering what allows somebody to get something and any other person lose that. Its only desire to get that.
P.S. There is a book called 'The Secret'. Its marvelous, do read it.
P.S. If you have dream, you have to protect it. People who can't do something themselves force their opinions on you. You gotta go and get it. Become deaf to all the noise of the society and pursue your dreams with utmost passion. Universe will pave way.
P.S. Every failure offers more learnings than a success.
P.S. Follow your heart. It can never go wrong.

There is no such thing as free lunch :

Amidst the sultry atmosphere of Delhi, what’s more chilling than the air-condition of a PVR. Not much, just 200 bucks were all it demanded to provide me a comfy seat in the second row. My neck tried to revolt a bit, but could not succeed in fighting my strict mind(and lusty eyes for Genelia). Having already filled the accounts of my stomach with an affordable McSwirl cone and an Alu Tikki Burger of McDonalds(Frankly speaking, I’m not lovin‘ it), it was only my thirst that kept haunting me intermittently.

After a two digit prime number of security checks, finally I got into the celebrated PVR plaza at the Connaught Place to watch one of the most celebrated movies of this season. As I was hopping around here and there to catch a glimpse of a really pretty blonde, my eyes found something that I had been desperately wanting. It was not a girl, nor any poster of Angelina Jolie, but it was HLMNO.(HLMNO = H2O = Water) Just outside the entry of the screening theatre, there was a big board proclaiming proudly - “FREE DRINKING WATER”(the font for this slogan was Times but I am using Arial, hope you don't mind). Seeing that, my thirst could not wait for quenching itself. The word FREE in the last phrase was in bold fonts, to display the big-heart of the PVRs. I assured my mind saying, “Chalo, they have been a bit generous by not charging for water.” While I was gulping the chilled water, my mobile vibrated, it was a message from airtel. As I was putting back the mobile(that's the new Sony K530i) in my pocket, I found a paper in the pocket. I pulled out the paper and found that it was a PVR ticket. I carefully observed it. The miser part of my brain suddenly got up from its deep slumber, as what I observed startled me. It was a strange realization - 200 bucks for a movie, bloody heck, they charged for everything they had. The water with the slogan “FREE DRINKING WATER” was not actually free but was included in the ticket only.

The PVRs have been a status symbol for people, as only the elite class can afford them. But the fact is - this very elite class is the most foolish class. They are so extravagant that they buy popcorns whose original price could not exceed 10 rupees by any chance, in 120 rupees. After taking a sip from a 300 ml glass of coke worth Rs.60, guys think that they are too smart or too intelligent. This artificial society has done nothing wrong for deserving all this. Its actually the mastermind of sharp businessmen. Businessmen target the soft spots, they earn money from so subtle sources that ordinary people have no other choice other than envy them. Can you, by any chance, find it logical paying 120 bucks for a cup of coffee in Barista? (special cases involving couples or dates not included!)

The point here I am making is - Should there be any upper-limit to profit making? If there should be then it would paralyze the whole economy. Economy requires freedom to grow, people have the rights to sell their ideas at what price the consumer is willing to pay them, but certainly, the businessmen and corporate levels executive should have a social and moral responsibility to the society. Being a federal economy, Indians have right to sell their ideas making as much ‘greenery’ as possible, but what common people like us want is an honest dealing. What's going on here in PVRs and Malls is nothing less than a loot. The things which we are purchasing in a particular price should more or less be of equal value. The businessmen have implied a shrewd way to extract more money from the society by limiting the access to these 'so called' elite places to lower classes and the middle classes. Places like Barista or Café Coffee Day entertain high class customers with ample green notes to feed their next generations. But very strategically, they cut the access to the general people by their roaring coffee rates. Considering the business, this is a very smart strategy as

• They are making as much profit as they would have by lowering the prices .
  
• They have to entertain less and less people.
• Their restaurants or coffeehouses are much less crowded and well-organized.
  

After seeing all this, I feel that India is certainly a growing economy. This price hike should be normalized and government should make some charges on the high prices. But if this monopoly of prices continues, then sooner or later, people would be buying breads crumbs and laces for shoes for more than hundred bucks!

P.S. The film was Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. Film was good, the heroine was better and certainly the music was the best. The movie did not have ‘Aamir Khan class’, though.
P.S. McDonalds should have more seats.
P.S. PVR stands for Priya Village Roadshow. Did you know that?
P.S. Finally heavy showers arrived in the Capital.
P.S. Zigzag spellings : Millionaire and questionnaire. Most people get the italicized portions wrong.
P.S. Today's Song : Yaadein by Amit Sana
P.S. The bottomline is A.R.Rahman rocks.

Weirdolosophy :

I love writing(No, its not the name of my girlfriend!). I love writing testimonials. WOW...But WHY? Why do I love that? Now, as I am going to give the answer to that question, I have got this great opportunity to proclaim myself as Mr.Altruist who loves praising people asking nothing in return. I can give a self-obsessive answer to this why...and make myself an 'Epitome of Generosity'. But unfortunately(for my ego), I am going to speak THE TRUTH and don't worry, I know how to speak it(after all my blogs are not that exaggerated!).

So the truth is that 'I am SELFISH'(Like you all..:P). I write testimonials with just a prime intention to get something in return. I am not so generous to bestow people with testimonials all in free. I want them back and wanna be praised for my qualities THROUGH TESTIMONIALS. After all, who does not want an incentive for using his right hemisphere of cerebrum.

By the way, writing testimonials is not a bad hobby at all, because in this world of trouble and sadness, we are giving somebody our precious time just to make them feel special(sorry, please omit that 'just' in the last line). A surprise testimonial gives immense joy to the person receiving it(and also makes him/her aware that he needs to give something in return) and strengthen the bond of friendship. Plus you also have an opportunity to make it as beautiful and starry as you can, with numerous smileys giving a shape of a constellation(I have often seen testimonials having more smileys than the total no. of words in it). Actually, there is a philosophy behind it too, smileys are the best fillers - they occupy four characters each, fill space and lower the writing work for the lazy bones who are writing the testimonial.

Lets come back to me, I am very bad(na, not that bad as much as you're hoping but still), whenever anybody bugs me to write him a testimonial, I copy paste it from somebody else's profile. And I edit it with so much perfection that he could never get to know(So its a sincere advice to you, give me some time to get impressed by you, and gift you an original testimonial). But its not only me who is bad, others too are bad. What's most displeasing is - to see somebody accepting a forwarded testimonial over those of originally crafted ones.

But consider the personal benefits, they are innumerable in number.

• It makes your profile popular amongst the friends(especially girls!!!) of the person you gifted the testimonial, and as a result you get to be popular.

• You have a fair chance of getting a testimonial back, unless your friend is too lethargic or too insensitive.

• It makes that friend a closer friend to you(this does not mean ki kuch bhi bakwaas likh do!).

P.S. The article is highly disorganized just to give you a severe headache. Disprin waalo ne commission jo diya hai!!!
P.S. IIT wapas aakar arbit maarna shuru ho gya. This article is the most abstract of all I have written.
P.S. The moral of the story is : Those who got a testimonial from me, do get time to return me an original testimonial.
P.S. I love myself madly.
P.S. This is just a start in Delhi, I am gonna pour down strange and really original thoughts in my blog soon, just waiting for the right time.
P.S. I miss you Lulu, Mom, Dad, Ankit, Yash, Aman and my HCL desktop which burned my butt for the last two months.
P.S. The days here are interesting. Now, fachche call me SIR : heh. It feels big.