In relation to...

Well, after a long time, I have found something worthwhile to write about. The holidays are kind of an oxymoron for me right now. They are both boring and entertaining. Feel like running away to some place and enjoy. But then, even that would become boring after a couple of hours or so. Being the kind of introvert I believe I am, I've decided to be something more sociable a.k.a an ambivert. Seems like the GRE classes are finally getting on to me, seeing that I've started using complicated words while talking and my friends are finding it hard to understand :). Being an ambivert is not so difficult. You simply need to talk to people (be rather verbose!) when you feel like it. All the other times, you could switch back to the same old introvert-like behaviour! The best place to start is,  indeed, friends. I've been trying my best to do that, and have, let me be honest, had moderate success. Trying to get out of your cocoon is not so easy as it is to write about it, take my word for it.

Then after a few more tries, I took a break and started thinking about human relations. I was almost immediately wondering why every relation has to have a name. Why do we need to justify ourselves and the world about the kind of relation that prevails between two people? That was a rhetorical question, and I certainly don't expect an answer from any one. I once had a conversation with a friend which was something to this effect.

"Well, bro, I don't believe in friendship."

I was a bit surprised and I asked for an explanation. And the explanation was good (bit rich coming from me, right!)

"Simple, people tend to strike that chord and use you. I don't like being used. If I like someone, I'd rather call them my siblings than friends. The sound of friendship freaks me out."

Indeed, this kind of perspective on his part has led to a petty paradox in his social life, we all usually choose to ignore that.

Then, I realised that, I don't believe in naming relations. Seriously, how can you blanket the intricate levels of comfortability and closeness under a single common noun friend? Every relationship is unique. Period. I don't think this even needs an explanation. You can't say that an acquaintance is actually a friend. This perspective of mine leads to a complicated scenario where you find it hard to explain to people. But then, we can always live with that. Any day! And anyways, who cares what people think! :) Seriously, I feel it insulting if you call someone who's very close to you just a friend (and yes, no matter how may adjectives you add before that, it still sounds the same.) So, simple concept. Stop naming relationships between people. For all we know, they might end up completely different from your expectations. :)

Rock On!!!

P.S. : For more details about that friend of mine, contact me. :) (I'm sure he's not gonna like it!)

Me v/s Ignorance

People tell me 'Ignorance is bliss', and for once, I would like to take their word for it. Ignorance indeed seems to be bliss. I am the kind of person who believes in knowledge for the sake of knowledge. That is, the only reason you can have knowledge is to have it. A bit confusing, I know, but it's easy to get over. Why do we study? (Study, as in, acquire knowledge...) You may have several reasons, but, for me, it's just one... I want to be knowledgable. Period. Let me give you examples. I am very knowledgable about medicine (thanks to Robin Cook and Michael Crichton, besides that, if I'm interested about something, I look it up on the Internet...). So much so that, I could get into a decent level of talk with a doctor about any kind of medical procedure. Then, there is law. I can reel off legal procedures in the US in my sleep (thanks to John Grisham and the Internet again...). Not that I'm compaining or bragging, but it certainly is discomfiting.

Recently, I've made an important observation (for me at least). Everything I know, seems to have some use ater some time. I can easily elate after the event that, I needed to know that thing because of this! I can't remember them off-hand, but happens pretty often with me. Some are pretty trivial, but still, my intuition seems to know what I need to know. What disconcerts me is, is it really a good idea to have so much knowledge? I don't know in what kind of situations this knowledge is gonna help me. If I were to guess wildly, I'd say they'll help me in writing a book :). Still, as long as I'm playing "what if", I'd indeed like to have all the knowledge I can get, for the sake of being knowledgable.

I'd like to believe that Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge according to me is more blissful and powerful.

I rest my case :).

Of Silly Mistakes..

There are many things I like to think about. There are some memories of mine which I ruminate over (don't get me wrong here, I'm no cattle), and can't stop smiling. Yesterday, while attending my GRE class, I was reminded inexorably of my old self from 10th grade. Looks like I haven't changed much :). Let me first tell what I think about doing stuff to prepare for GRE. The questions are essentially dumb, especially the quant(that's what we call the Quantitative Reasoning section..) ones. Then there's this part called verbal. The words are so complicated that, I wonder if we are actually gonna use them in our daily life (even in the US...).

So, the incident. We were discussing rates in the Quant class. It's supposedly an important topic for GRE. The questions were word problems. Incidentally, I'm good at those. So, I was trying to arrive at the answers ASAP (and look cool! :)). I did about 2 out of 3 answers correctly. Then, I realise that I was going wrong because I was hurrying and making some silly mistakes. That reminded me of my 10th grade days.

During those days, I was one of the people who care a lot about marks (It was the 10th std, important see). Actually, I was not much concerned about marks. It was the people around me. I believed, and still do, that doing our work is important. If you deserve marks for what you did, you get them automatically; you need not worry about that. I have always been in a hurry (my high school friends can testify that :)). So, even during those times, I used to hurry up during exams too, ending up committing silly mistakes. There was this co-ordinator of ours, a good man. He used to keep telling me to take my time with things and not commit such silly mistakes. One day, I got onto his nerves and despite all his saying, committed loads of mistakes in the paper. He flew off his handle and told me off like never before. He then told the whole class about this "habit" of mine and told them to call me "Silly-mistakes-Munaf". That got onto my nerves and I decided not to hurry again. Of course, I did not succeed in that as such, it did help me while giving the board exams where I managed to keep my cool and use all the time. Then, of course I left school for bigger and better things. I met this co-ordinator after a year or so, in a bus and he actually asked me - "Do you still commit those silly mistakes??". I was dumbfounded and just smiled at him.

So, now, I've decided to keep my cool even for this small period before and during my GRE. I just hope I'll be able to do that :).

Adiós Amigos!!

Don't mess with me!!

Well, seems like I've got a lot of time to waste now that I'm free from exams. And worht mention here is that, the guy who supposedly reads my fortune (Today's Fortune column :)) has been fired, is getting married and is on a strike all at the same time for a couple of weeks now :), can't help laughing out loud.

I like listening to music. Actually, I'm so much into it that I try to make out and remember all the lyrics of the songs I like. That has had an adverse affect on my blog, obviously. Whenever I try to write something original, the lyrics closest to the meaning of what I'm trying to write surfaces in my mind and I end up waging a mental war to prevent such lyrics from creeping into my blog. The actual reason behind that temptation is that, it's easier to copy-paste lyrics :).

Recently, I was reminded of the time I went to school in Kurnool. I studied my 1st to 5th grades there. There was this interesting incident which makes me laugh everytime I think about it, although I barely remember it. There were many actually, but this one stood out because I was heroic in it :). 

I guess I was in my 3rd grade or something, I don't remember exactly. Those were the days when I was very gullible and almost a cry-baby :) (C'mon, now, I was just about 8 or something.). So, I used to go to school in an auto-rickshaw (yeah, the ones that are crammed to the brim with school kids :)). So, there was this fellow who was elder to me (was in his 8th grade I guess.), and he was possibly called Sarath. He was like the bully of the worst kind and somehow, he was also good at acads. So, he was the culprit here. He used to tease me a lot. I don't even remember what he used to say. I used to be on verge of tears every single time he started off on me. Feels funny now, if he were aroung now, I'd have simple thrown some profanity and might even have gotten into fisticuffs :).

So, one fine day (or not so fine, I might say :)), the day starte off regularly for me (at least I believe so!). I was on my way to school in the auto (Sarath's house was en route from my home to school) and we had to pick him up after me. Then, he got started. I was on the edge now. And then, we were hardly a couple of blocks away from his place when I was fed up. I'd had enough. I told the driver to stop the auto, got down, picked up my bag and walked away. Not to school, but home :). Ironically, my sis was in the auto and did not oppose to it. When I reached home (oh, I knew the route..), bag and all, my Mum was totally upset, you know, all the stuff of over-reacting and all. I got a long telling-off which I managed to shake off immediately :). The driver of the auto also got a good tell-off. Then, it was the turn of Sarath. I made sure he got told off by his Dad :).

One good thing about this incident was that I became strong after this happened. Not that, Sarath was still teasing me, he'd stoped doing that (not on purpose, at least). I never tried such hare-brained stunt again, though. It was an intersting experience though. I still do that, if I don't like something, I just try to change it, if not, I move away from it.

I still don't know why I suddenly "felt like" sharing, but it was fun indeed!

P.S.: Well, let's hope that India is set free from the clasps of terrorists. I convey my deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in the Mumbai attacks last night. May their souls rest in peace, God grant their families strength. I hope as always, this is the last terrorist attack that happens in the world. And hats-off to all the police force and military for keeping us safe.

I'm Back!!

Phew, I'm free!

After a lot of time and exam preparations, I finally found some time to blog :). It's with great pleasure that I proclaim, My exams are over for all practical intents and purposes. Now, whatever that's supposed to mean?? It's the fine print guys. The one you see in ads saying "Conditions Apply". Thing is, I am yet to complete my exams, but, the last one is so far off that, it almost doesn't exist! :). And as a good way to start my holidays, I joined an institute for GRE coaching (I don't want to leave any stone unturned, see :)). So, I'm pretty much booked for whatever remains of my holidays.

Actually, it's not pretty much factual that I did not try to blog during the exam time. I did. But that was very much a disaster. Only I know how many posts I wrote partly and discarded just because I didn't feel like it (In case you are wondering, I usually don't "feel like" many things, most of which I end up not doing. Nothing new for me :)). Actually, the reasons were lamer, as were the topics :). At least, I felt so at that time. Another thing was that, I had started to look at the post and topic from an outsider's perspective. Later I realised, What the hell?? This blog is for myself, ain't it? So, now, I've decided to post whatever gibberish I feel like. Then, there always is the thing about my not having time. But, I've decided to give this thing some time too (Helps with my essay writing skills, see :)).

Bottom line - I'M BACK!!

P.S.: For those who still are giving their exams, ALL THE BEST!!

One of the BEST things that happened in my life... :)

Well, here I'm, all over again. :)

The exam season is indeed taking a toll on most of us (me included, of course..). That is pretty obvious for us, considering how we spend the non-exam period of our semesters :P. just thought I'd mention this on my blog (Looks good, see :)).

So, what is this thing I'm talking about? No prizes for guessing guys, I'm talking about Orkut. Yes, indeed, it is certainly one of the best things that happened in my life (Now, that's saying something, considering I'll soon be 20. :)). 

I still remember the first time I was intro-ed to Orkut. It was the June of 2006. It was funny actually. I had just completed my Intermediate exams and had loads of time to waste at home (I'm sure most of you can relate to this too. :)). So, after a lot of persuasion, I made my parents take an Internet connection at home. Well, of course I was very enthusiastic about it and went about downloading anything I found (which said FREE, of course :P). Then it began to wear out. After a week or so, I had nothing to do on the Internet. Chatting with friends was out of question, because I didn't have friends' IDs and I was, and still am, a bit paranoid about strangers. Then, enter Sudheer, my friend who just came to my place started talking about this site. Initially, I thought - "What the hell!! What's so great about it, man. I guess he's exaggerating." and a lot more on those lines. He also sent me an invitation to join Orkut right then. (Orkut was invite only, back then.). Sudheer left, and I started filling out the Registration form. I was irritated at first. The reason was the fields to fill in there. Indians are basically prude, and I was no exception (Now, I guess I am an exception..). It felt so 'not good', being asked to fill columns and check boxes like Sexual Orientation, Dating etc. I stopped the registration process then and there. That was my first tryst with Orkut.

Then, in just a couple of days, I started hearing a lot about Orkut. Suddenly, it seemed like everyone has "fallen for" Orkut. I decided to give it a try and ended up being the Orkut addict I am now.

So, why do I call Orkut one of the best things that happened in my life? Well, firstly, it was because of all the old school friend I kept finding there. Even to this day, I recieve friend requests from old friends who studied with me when I was 9 or 10 years old. It gives me very beautiful walks down the amnesia lane. Then, there was this problem of mine. I was an introvert. Tentative to talk to people (especially girls.). Orkut was the path I chose to change that, and trust me it changed me a lot. Then, there was the school community of ours. We all liked it, but no one was creative or patient enough to make up topics or do interesting stuff there :). People say, "You don't meet your school friends everyday.". But, Orkut changed it completely and literally, I could chat with most of my school friends everyday and that meant a lot of "feel good" factor.

The best part was when we organised a Reunion of our school using all the tools of Orkut. It was a lot of fun, to meet all(or at least most) of our school friends after about two years. Then, it was the peak time of Orkut surfing. The first thing I'd do after coming from college was check for scraps (I'm still talking about Orkut, not food. :)).

But, lately, Orkut is becoming a bit boring. That probably is because of us growing up. We've started taking communication seriously and prefer IM and phone to Orkut. And on the rare occasion we meet online, the conversation enters the endless loop of "What else?"es. Seriously, I find it very funny and I intend to change that (People who chat with me would be more knowledgable about this. :)). Yet, I love to check scraps on my Orkut account. I love to look at peoples' profiles :). I still love Orkut. It indeed is one of the best things that happened in my life... :)

Keep rocking Orkut!!

Au Revoir!!

D.I.Y.!!

Fine, I'm back... Not that I'm cool with spending time this way during my exams, but this seems far  more enjoyable than my preparation :).

So, what's this all about? DIY stands for Do It Yourself, as most of you might have guessed. This according to me is the philosophy of our generation. Everyday, we face people who complain about, well, everything. Be it the pollution, the traffic or the education system in our case :). But, what are we doing to change it? Let's be honest, virtually nothing. And why? because we are lazy? No, sir, that's because we've been brought up that way. As Mahatma Gandhi rightly puts,

"We need to be the change we wish to see in the world."

Let me put it this way, we prefer complaining, hemming and hawing (That reminds me of Who Moved my Cheese by Dr.Spencer Johnson), to doing something towards changing the things that irritate, or rather cause discomfort to, us. 

Why is it that, in our social setting (guys, I'm talking purely about India), the first thing we are taught is to "adjust". 

If someone is irritating you, just get along with it, don't punch him in the nose. Control your emotions blah blah.. 

If you find that something wrong is going on around you, ignore it, "It's none of your business!". 

Now, that phrase strikes me to be odd. C'mon guys, if it's happening around me, it damn well is my business, me being the quintessential citizen I try to be :). Don't you think it is the concern for everyone of us? So, where's this fit in with "DIY"? Simple guys, you might as well have gotten the point by now, don't depend on others. If you got something to get done, try and do it yourself. The instrumental word here being try, as opposed to do. If you don't like people using plastic bags, initiate the movement, start using paper or cloth bags, I'm sure you can get the drift..

Instead of saying, "Something has to be done about it.", we could use the more optimistic "I/We gotta do something about it.". Sounds loads better to me anyways. Then there's this common issue of people commenting us. Seriously, guys, we are more sophisticated than that, as in, we don't need to acknowledge the comments so long as we believe in what we are doing.

Let's not digress...

So, DIY is the cult among people of our generation. The reasons? Simple, we prefer being independent, we like to try new things, we like "getting our hands dirty". Then there also is the massive ego of ours :), if an expert can do it, why can't I? Well, worth mention here is my belief that an amateur can be more creative and successful in any field than the professionals. Simple logic, a professional is taught all the rules of working and the human mind is such, that once you know the result of some mistake, we presume it to be true, without ever trying to test for the truth. A person who is self taught can definitely view things in excellent perspective, as compared to a person who's been taught. Also, there's this satisfactory feeling you get after you have accomplished something by yourself. You actually feel on top of the world. Your mind becomes freeeeeee, you don't need to depend on others. So, essentially, it's important to try and DIY (sounds poetic, eh? :)). Now, I know this gotta end now - not DIY, but this post. :)

Adieu,

Try and DIY :) :)

All the best!

Exam time, huh? Well, it's the same old story again.. Night outs, Syllabus completion marathons, Wierd speculations about the papers and what not!

I just wanna say,

All the very best to you all! :) (no lecture this time :))

I hope everyone of us will come out with flying colors in these exams!

Is anything impossible??

Fine, here I am with another post, in spite of having exams. :)

First of all I'd like to wish all my friends, having exams, luck. Give it your best shot. Don't take any pressure. :)

So, what is impossible??

Is it when something that cannot be done within the boundaries of common sense? Or, is it a situation where we give up all hope and try to get away from it with an excuse??

I'll give you my views... These are mine alone and most importantly, in case you don't like them, no offence...

Well, according to me, Nothing is Impossible (and in case I can't do something, it means "nothing" to me :), just kidding..). So, why is it that I took up such a deep topic? I've met people. As many people as there are around me. What I've noticed is, most people are so prejudiced that, you cannot make them believe anything that's even slightly out of the ordinary (now that's a perception issue, I agree..). 

Why do people have trouble believing in fantastic stuff? (No, I'm not talking about Magic Wands and Spells. :)) Had this been the case with old people (I consider even middle-aged people old..), I wouldn't have minded (and WHOOOSSHHH.. this post wouldn't even exist...). But, I've met people who are young who don't like to believe in stuff. For instance, if I go and tell the fellow that, "Hey, did you know, Intel has developed a 80 core processor for research purposes?", the first reply I get is, "C'mon, that's impossible... Someone bluffed you..". On the other hand, I who have seen the news release on the very web-site of Intel, feel.. I dunno..wierd... Let me describe the feeling to you... I'll try my best, you start to hate the person so much and at the same time, feel pity on them. It's a pretty complicated feeling see.. Now, the reasons. It's a simple truth that most of us fail to acknowledge, We are afraid of change. Here we are, in a world where things change every hour, every minute, every second, and yet, some of us find it hard to believe in those changes? I leave you guys to plough out the reasons(Let me know if you find some credible ones..). I read this beautiful thing from Through the Looking Glass.. (not again, huh?? :)). It's an exchange between Alice and the Red Queen...

"I'm just one hundred and one, five months and a day."

"I can't believe that!" said Alice.

"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."

Alice laughed. "There's not use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Isn't it just wonderful, the way you start beliveing things which seem impossible? Doesn't mean you make dreams your masters though (as Rudyard Kipling beautifully puts in his poem If ). So, here's the deal guys, let's start doing this ASAP. Let's start believing in what defies common sense.. Because, we are the ones who're gonna shape the future, and we are the only ones who can make it as beautiful and wonderful. Simple, keep dreaming and work for it (Now, that's important too! :)). Who knows, may be you(or may be I, :)) could be the next great scientist to put forward some theory that defies common sense! Let's all start believing that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!! And let's rock the future... It's all our's see...

All The Best for your Exams once again :).

Keep Running..

I was looking through this great work of Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass". It's a sequel to "Alice in Wonderland". There I noticed the observation of the Red Queen..

"In this place, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

It struck to me, how true it is even in today's lifestyle. Seriously, guys, that supposedly is actually a theory (from what I gathered over the Internet.). It's called the "Red Queen Hypothesis", though it is completely a different perspective that it deals with. I'll try and keep it as simple as possible.. I'm certainly not dealing with what's in that article now.

Let's discuss this from our own perspective, most of us being students...

What we usually do is - study, study and more study... More so if you don't live in a hostel :). Why do we study? Simple, we've got a reputation to keep. There were time when we were in school and our grades were out o this universe (Face it, we actually used to get 95% or sometimes even 98% :), our happiest hours :)). Now, this false rep, sets your parents', friends and acquaintances minds in such a way that, any grade that you get less than 90% looks like blasphemy. So, what we try is "keep running". This happens especially when you grow up and are doing your bachelors or something... It's pretty much evident to most of us.

Let's go into the reasons... We face this ruthless competitive world around us. And we simply have gotta keep up with it (sounds like Taare Zameen Par, right? I feel the same too :)). For example, if you stand at a certain place in your class (whichever class, math, guitar or whatever), you gotta work hard to keep that place - you can run but you can't hide - see. So, you keep running, you stay where you are (you start wondering if you are on a treadmill :)). Eventually, what happens is, you are depressed like anyone would be - c'mon guys, your hard work doesn't seem to be paying, right? So, here's my message, don't be disheartened, period. See, look at it this way, if it's taking you so much hard work to stay where you are, what might it take to improve? Just keep that in mind, and work for it. Like Joel Hawes says,

Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your 

arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a 

level with yourself.

So, it makes sense really to keep running to stay there, yes, it certainly is worth the trouble guys. But running faster gets you to be the best, or at least better than yourself. Set aims for yourself, actually, don't let others put words in your mouth. It's as simple as that!

That's all... Keep Running :)

P.S. : Thanks for your response to this blog, guys. :). Means a lot to me, really.

Fear...

fear

—n.

1 a panic or distress caused by a sense of impending danger, pain, etc. b cause of this. c state of alarm (in fear).

2 (often foll. by of) dread, awe (towards) (fear of heights).

3 danger (little fear of failure).

—v.

1 feel fear about or towards.

2 (foll. by for) feel anxiety about (feared for my life).

3 (often foll. by that) foresee or expect with unease, fear, or regret (fear the worst; I fear that you are wrong).

4 (foll. by verbal noun) shrink from (feared meeting his ex-wife).

5 revere (esp. God).  for fear of (or that) to avoid the risk of (or that). no fear colloq. certainly not! [Old English]

That, my friends is what the Oxford dictionary says about the topic - fear.

Just think about it,

What's the thing you fear the most?

Hmmm, lemme guess... Snakes? Ghosts? Darkness? Talking to a group?

Let me explore the reasons... Why, exactly, are we afraid of things??

Let's face it guys, we live in a kind of social setting where everyone scares each other... Be it about asking a doubt in class or going out in the dark... (Remember, when you were a kid, parents scare you saying "Don't go to that place, you'll be caught by the old man.."). Whoever that old man is, we were scared to the core. I feel that, this is pretty bad... Don't scare children yaar, they're gonna live with those fears for the rest of their lives... Try to be positive :) ..

If childhood experiences are one of the reasons for being so gullible to fear, ignorance is another...

Ignorance, the state of not having the complete knowledge about something, plays an important role in creating the "fear factor". I've seen people who are afraid of things which they don't even understand.. I've got some tips for you guys.. Try to understand what you are afraid of.. Because, I believe, fear of the unknown is the worst of all fears..

Then, there's this class of people who are afraid of silly things... I've got a couple of friends, who are so much concerned about their marks that, they don't understand the subject, nor do they care for what the subject is about.. The worst part is that, they are afraid of the consequences of their grades... C'mon guys, grow up, in a couple of years, no one is going to give a damn about your grades, try living today! Most of us are afraid of the future, though we don't acknowledge it.. There's this saying I heard..

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why we call it the present.

Simple message guys, don't be afraid of anything.. Believe in yourself..

Knowledge is the best way to fight your fears... Do it..

Now, coming to my case, I'm afraid of a couple of things... one of which is reptiles, and I intend to change that...

Nobody's perfect, neither is it possible to remove your fears completely, try to attenuate them to the maximum possible extent...

That's it guys, I'm done..

Don't fear.. Stay Happy :)

RIP - Michael Crichton, We'll miss you..

A set of scientists, a lawyer and an enterprenuer visionary  getting down from an SUV...

The scene is set in a lonesome looking not-so-special island, with everyone wondering what the trip is all about..

Then comes the surprise, beginning with a set of thumping sounds...

All the group looks up, their hearts skip a beat... They are actually witnessing a Dinosaur!!

I simply cannot forget the delightful feeling I had when I first saw this scene, and I'm sure none of us can. In case you haven't guessed yet, this is from the legendary movie "Jurassic Park". Combined with the excellent skills of Speilberg, the plot of the story doesn't fail to capture anyone's imagination..

Few people know that, behind such a great movie, there is an author, who single-handedly was responsible for such a beautiful plot and characters...

A giver of many such thrills and original, ingenious plots, Michael Crichton, is no more. I, for one, am a big fan of his works, right from his first novel "The Andromeda Strain". I've followed virtually every book he's written. This post is dedicated to the creativity, ingenuity and moral values of such a great author.

Going through some of his Obits on the internet, I found this very fitting phrase... 

"America loses its moral technologist: Michael Crichton."

I, personally, owe a lot to this author. He (along with Richard Feynman, of course) was responsible for my interests in Quantum Mechanics. He also broadened my horizons to every field, right from biology, biometrics, genetics and what not? Even environmentalism...

The major distinguishing thing in all his books is the fast pace, sci-fi themes, human errors in technology and moral issues of science and research..

I've noticed that, in all his books, there a exists a central figure - a visionary genius, who drives the world around him with his unique vision. Be it, John Hammond from Jurassic Park, Harry Adams of Sphere, Dr.Jeremy Stone of The Andromeda Strain, Robert Doniger of Timeline or Richard Levine of The Lost World.. I have drawn inspiration from every one of them and thank Crichton a lot for all the insights he provided.

Actually, I've been nursing a dream eversince I heard the story of how Arthur Clarke inspired Tim Berners-Lee to invent the Internet through his short story. I wanted my name to be taken that way with Michael Crichton. Indeed, he inspired me a lot through his works... especially Timeline.

I just wanna say that, wherever you are, sir, you will be remembered forever for your great imaginative works and your moral philosophies... I will miss you, though you;ll live on through your works...

May Your Soul Rest in Peace...

Why do I blog??

I've been thinking about it. It might interest you that, that's the only thing I do these days - think about pretty much useless things :). This train of thought began right at the moment I created this blog. I'm pretty sure this is gonna stop now at this little station where it started :P (pardon me for my poor attempt at humor). I ended up having a few strong reasons for blogging... Behold! Here come the reasons :)

• I, being pretty much an introvert, need a place to vent my feelings, thoughts and anger(rarely, I hope..). So, a blog perfectly serves the purpose and keeps me light :).
• I've seen this one on the blog of one my friend's - a delightful person, I might add - the culprit seems to be "peer pressure", and I thought, how true! Indeed, our un-ending thirst to stay ahead of our colleagues, friends, family.. yada, yada... does indeed drive me to do this in spite of all my other interests...(Let's face it guys, I'm very much human. I love to stay ahead of others., be it in having fun or making my "presence" felt on the web. I often gloat about the fact that I have a blog, while most of my friennds don't :)). So, essentially, I don't come from "Planet Loser" see..
• Ahh, here comes the silly one... I need an excuse to listen to music on my comp. I've been using the comp for such a long time that, I become pretty hyper-active while using it. I simply can't listen to music - I mean do only that. This might as well become the case after a few days of blogging though :).
• Then, there's always the classic one - To stay connected to the world through the Internet and share my thoughts (with anyone who cares to go through the blog I might add...).
• A blog, I feel, also helps me improve my creativity and ingenuity :).
• And, I had this certain "whim" to go and blog (Don't mind, but, this was after I read a couple of blogs of my friends').
• I also felt like improving my "writing skills", which are pretty important for some of the tests I intend to take. May be even my vocab, dude...looks good, eh??

So, there goes... I've had enough for today I guess. Enough reasons too, keeping in mind the fact that, I usually do things on instinct :).

Stay Good (Whatever that means? :)).

Why do I hurry?? :)

Well, I had a practical exam today. And as always, mine was the last number to be called in for the day. Usually, what happens is, the batches divided to perform experiments overlap, so that, the overall time spent in the lab for the day decreases substantially. Today, however, the exam was conducted as per the actual schedule, which meant I had to wait for about 2 hours more than what I usually do. 

Naturally for me, I was not so comfy about waiting all the time. People around me, my classmates of course, were in some different world, trying to remember all the stuff for the exam at the last moment. I, eventually, was the only one in a hurry to enter the lab and get done with the exam. 

Then, a friend of mine asked me: "Why are you always in a hurry, dude??".

I was not expecting such a question from him, actually. He paused his preparation for a moment and explained to me the following things:

• I always finish my exams long before the prescribed time.
• I cannot wait to enter the theatre when the usher doesn't allow people to enter still.
• I always hurry to the labs, even when it is just to practice

Then I decided, let's discuss this. I hurry because I hate wasting time, period. I hate to wait to get into exam hall, even to get out of the same. Simple thing, guys, I like to finish things as fast as possible, who doesn't?? I faced some glares from people about it, 

"How can you perceive exams as waste of time??". was the question. I said, 

"Well, look at it this way, I don't give a damn about the grades I get, only as long as I'm enjoying the exam."

After this conversation, we were called in for the exam and it went well.

Then I started thinking, does this habit of mine - hurry - have any serious consequence in my life?? The answer, I'm not clear yet, is may be, a yes.

Here I am, trying to save time and getting grades I get now (my classmates are well aware of my grades.), and at the other end, people try to "utilise" all the time available and getting better grades :) (Not that I care about it...).

Besides that, I never found anything wrong with it. It actually makes you stand apart from the crowd :).

So, I decided, I'm going to hurry wherever and whenever possible for the rest of my life and keep rocking.

Gotta hurry guys, Keep Hurrying up!! 

Being Great?

Well, I'm back... I think about a lot of things, most of them useless, atleast as of now... Thing is, I've been reading some biographies lately, of the so-called "successful" people...  One thing I found in common was, most of them never had any formal education in the field they pioneered, and some of them were drop-outs from related fields... Let's take Bill Gates for instance, or may be even Steve Jobs, who were "successful drop-outs", kind of an oxymoron, right?

There was also this movie called "A Beautiful Mind", that I watched about John Nash the mathematician, and recollected the quote "Classes will dull your mind, destroy the potential for authentic creativity"

After reading about all these people lately, I has this whim, Why shouldn't I drop out too?? May be that'd make me great :). I looked at it from every angle, well, atleast as many as I could, and finally realised, it's not a plausible option for us Indians. No offence, but, let's face it, us Indians have got so many people to answer, right from our parents, neighbors, friends and who not? Even when we try to stay away from them, we are viewed as some - for want of a better word- heretics. Rebels simply are not encouraged in our social setting. The feeling is so imbibed in our minds that, we don't even realise that we believe in it.

Fine, enough of this, lemme not digress, let's get back to the main thing, dropping out..

So, here I was, all set up to take a crucial decision all by myself (All this happened about a couple of weeks back). I didn't discuss this with anyone - not even my friends (I'm pretty introvert see..). I was arguing with myself intensely and even considering making my own lab at home :). The actual reason behind all this was that, I was not able to get the hunch of most of the subjects I was taking under my curriculum, a pretty common thing when it comes to technical courses - I realised. 

Then I thought, "Fine, I've made up my mind!"

And I was gloating about the shock people around me would be in for :).

Well, call it fickle-minded or whatever you like, I suddenly decided to give my subjects just one more try. That, was when I fell in love, with a couple of my subjects. I dunno how it happened. just a week back, the subjects I couldn't make any sense of were beginning to look, well, just beautiful. I still believe that it was quite mysterious, finding no plausible reasons for the phenomenon. I'm delighted that I never publicised my decision and saved all the trouble :).

Bottomline, guys, is that I listened to my heart, my gut instinct and now I'm sure I can do whatever I like in my field. I decided to call it my "revelation". Now, i believe that, a person can be great only when he listens to their heart without any hesitation and follow it.. :)

Keep Rocking!!