Enchanting, captivating, bewitching, mesmerizing
Why is the dark sky so deeply convincing
The darkness engulfs even the lone star
Its moments of bravery forgotten
It tries always quite hard to spar
Why does it still get beaten
Spellbound it draws you closer
Beauty of the fruit forbidden
Rationale, courage and valour
Defeated by the demon within
Trials and tribulations they mar
Fear and flight together train
Judgement within is at war
Cowers mind beneath that rain
Rising and falling, bending and crawling
Moving where the darkness is shrouding
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Cheers!!!
Life is too short to be depressed. The best feeling is when you feel a sense of gratitude for life's blessings and let that shape your expressions and actions. There are little-little things that happen everyday that make one feel so happy and grateful for all that life has given. A call from a parent or friend when you r blue, a big smile from a person whom you know only slightly, praise from a stranger.....
Would you want to be happy and content with life? They say the magic lies not in fame or fortune, but in the attitude towards what you have got. Things might be going wrong at times, but if you look, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. It's far, but look at it and keep moving onwards with the the joy of the world in your heart.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Kindness
The title may seem simplicity itself yet I choose to explain it. Helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. We generally associate ‘kindness’ with being charitable and philanthropic. But, kindness is also your behaviour towards friends, towards those that serve you and towards strangers.
My first brush with people actually practising the teachings was when I read about Vasant Kalbag, founder of Kindness Unlimited. He was featured as an Everyday Hero in Readers’ Digest. A Mumbaikar senior citizen actively engaged in spreading the word of kindness. That lead to the discovery of helpothers, a website dedicated to making people kinder. Not by doing great deeds but by practising everyday kindness.
There have been instances where the simple acts of kindness that I witnessed have moved me greatly. There is a friend of mine who is excessively caring towards dogs. It is a wonder how patient and loving can she be towards strays. There are dog-lovers aplenty, but very few care about the ones on the streets. No wonder that if you stand with her, near a pack of dogs, soon you’ll be the centre of a group of wagging tails.
Another time, when I was travelling in a train with friends, one of them was overwhelmingly kind and polite to a girl asking for alms. Even after sharing his food with her, he remained polite till the time she moved from our seat which she did not do very willingly in the hope to still get more. People can be so unkind to those who can do nothing to them. Though I do not support begging, yet it is disturbing to see the tone in which people rebuke. The strong, sharp words just to emphasize how much they dislike the practice. Since she wasn’t moving, I’d asked him to be more firm with her. And the reply I got was that if he does then what will be the difference between him and others. That incident left a lasting impression on me.
Lastly,
“Kindness is the rent we must pay for the space we occupy on this planet.”
My first brush with people actually practising the teachings was when I read about Vasant Kalbag, founder of Kindness Unlimited. He was featured as an Everyday Hero in Readers’ Digest. A Mumbaikar senior citizen actively engaged in spreading the word of kindness. That lead to the discovery of helpothers, a website dedicated to making people kinder. Not by doing great deeds but by practising everyday kindness.
There have been instances where the simple acts of kindness that I witnessed have moved me greatly. There is a friend of mine who is excessively caring towards dogs. It is a wonder how patient and loving can she be towards strays. There are dog-lovers aplenty, but very few care about the ones on the streets. No wonder that if you stand with her, near a pack of dogs, soon you’ll be the centre of a group of wagging tails.
Another time, when I was travelling in a train with friends, one of them was overwhelmingly kind and polite to a girl asking for alms. Even after sharing his food with her, he remained polite till the time she moved from our seat which she did not do very willingly in the hope to still get more. People can be so unkind to those who can do nothing to them. Though I do not support begging, yet it is disturbing to see the tone in which people rebuke. The strong, sharp words just to emphasize how much they dislike the practice. Since she wasn’t moving, I’d asked him to be more firm with her. And the reply I got was that if he does then what will be the difference between him and others. That incident left a lasting impression on me.
Lastly,
“Kindness is the rent we must pay for the space we occupy on this planet.”
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Serving the nation
"It does not matter, who I am, I will work, and work, all the forces of universe, will also assist me. I will achieve , what I dream."I took this oath with hundreds of other students on 7th February in the auditorium. It was initiated by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam when he visited our campus to inaugurate Quark 09. He said that when you dream, when you work, it does not matter who you are.
At the end of his inspiring speech, there was an interactive session with students. Somehow, all the questions submitted beforehand were from boys. So, he asked that last two questions should be asked by girls. One of them was mine:
Me- "As a technical student, when we are getting excellent education in a technical institute, after college, would we be serving India more if we become a researcher or would we be serving India more if we become a grassroots activist?"
Dr. Kalam- "If you take 100 engineers, technology group you take, my feeling is 10 to maximum, depending upon the institute, 20 percent, they will like to be interested in real research.So it is the necessity of the institution and the country also, to support the research. Because, competitiveness India is 41 now. Out of hundreds of nations, the competitiveness we are 41. If you want to become number one, two, three, four, five - science needed. Science only gives new technology. New technology will not be available to us immediately, till the technology becomes a product, somebody gets money for it. So science... Science, we need to encourage science. Government of India willing to spend 2 percent. Out of that, 0.8 percent for fundamental research. But our institutions are not spending."
At the end, he made us take another oath "I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity."
Amen
(Note: The 'Amen' is a personal addition, not a part of his speech)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Divided we stand
“All are equal but some are more equal than the others” said George Orwell in “Animal Farm”. The statement most accurately depicts the tussle between egalitarianism and social divisions. Governments and intellectuals eulogize the romantic concept of egalitarianism but, reality remains starkly different. The Preamble of the Constitution of India declares her as a “socialist, secular Republic”. It also includes the Fundamental Right against Discrimination. Yet, in modern India, caste and religious differences are seen in prominence as never before. The flames are fuelled by political motives. The USA granted equal rights to blacks but, only years later were they able to hail the first black President. Worldwide, such differences have perpetuated, generation after generation yet intellectualism still strives and upholds egalitarianism.
Classlessness is a fundamentally right concept. Each human being is equal in the eyes of God and in the eyes of law. Equal rights should be enjoyed by John Doe and the billionaire capitalist. A few societies do realize this state. Like the nomads, some Chinese tribes and certain North Australian communities. In a Chinese tribe, which survives on hunting, the one who makes the kill is teased in proportion to the size of the beast to deflate his ego. In North Australia, each person is bound by custom to share anything that his neighbour needs. Everybody’s needs are hence taken care of. The nomads own nothing but the bare minimum and hence do not fight over what belongs to whom. These egalitarian societies have been built upon the principles of kinship and collective ownership of resources.
Individualism, privatization and the notion of ownership of resources– ubiquitous concepts in modern world, all but destroy the possibility of egalitarianism. The countries who gave equal share of wealth to everyone, saw their economies in tatters until they allowed some form of capitalism. Anti-egalitarians also argue that nature creates genetic differences. It makes some men more able than the others then why should their progress be stymied in the name of equality for all. Society being divided into strata is so strongly a part of every society that it must be essential for a stable society. It thus stands empirically correct even though morally, egalitarianism stands higher.
Classlessness is a fundamentally right concept. Each human being is equal in the eyes of God and in the eyes of law. Equal rights should be enjoyed by John Doe and the billionaire capitalist. A few societies do realize this state. Like the nomads, some Chinese tribes and certain North Australian communities. In a Chinese tribe, which survives on hunting, the one who makes the kill is teased in proportion to the size of the beast to deflate his ego. In North Australia, each person is bound by custom to share anything that his neighbour needs. Everybody’s needs are hence taken care of. The nomads own nothing but the bare minimum and hence do not fight over what belongs to whom. These egalitarian societies have been built upon the principles of kinship and collective ownership of resources.
Individualism, privatization and the notion of ownership of resources– ubiquitous concepts in modern world, all but destroy the possibility of egalitarianism. The countries who gave equal share of wealth to everyone, saw their economies in tatters until they allowed some form of capitalism. Anti-egalitarians also argue that nature creates genetic differences. It makes some men more able than the others then why should their progress be stymied in the name of equality for all. Society being divided into strata is so strongly a part of every society that it must be essential for a stable society. It thus stands empirically correct even though morally, egalitarianism stands higher.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Awesome Day
It’s a good time to be alive.
I had my first MT prac today. It was a good and at times funny thing. Electrical Experiments are all about connecting wires. You try to tie three thick bush-like wires to a single knob and the lab assistant comes at pulls at them. Unexpectedly they are seen in his hand instead of on the transformer. Next, my partner was trying to adjust the load on a motor. Somehow she rotated the handles such that the spring balance that was hanging from it unscrewed and went down with a clang. The instructor and assistant came running. First incident in that lab. Then after some time, when we were done with the readings, we tried to turn the motor off. I lowered the voltage. The motor hissed and then the silent lab came alive with the grinding sound. Our assistant was standing a few feet apart. We told him “Sir, our motor is making a sound”. That guy turned his back to us. Then seeing at a distant star, as if having a premonition, he said “Wait, I can hear some sound”. Till that time, the instructor who had been at the other end of the lab realized where the sound was coming from and rushed over. No damage done, thankfully. We didn’t exactly appreciate the idea of blowing something on our first day itself.
The evening was made fun by a DJ nite organized for Lohri. Maybe the name Bhangra nite would be more appropriate. I danced this way after quite long. One and a half hour of non-stop of dancing with friends – sheer joy. Doing फुगड़ी is another exhilarating experience. For the uninitiated, fugadi is a kind of dance step where two people, usually girls, hold each other’s hands and move around in a wide circle. The faster the better, even though the world is dizzy afterwards. And if you haven’t clasped tightly, you are flung out and land as a heap on the floor. Punjabi songs are fun to shake a leg to. Even last time’s Lohri DJ nite had been fun. Unlike the one in Waves where Nikihil Chinappa was the DJ. It is desi music that rocks.
So folks..my life is becoming better by the day.. how’s urs?
I had my first MT prac today. It was a good and at times funny thing. Electrical Experiments are all about connecting wires. You try to tie three thick bush-like wires to a single knob and the lab assistant comes at pulls at them. Unexpectedly they are seen in his hand instead of on the transformer. Next, my partner was trying to adjust the load on a motor. Somehow she rotated the handles such that the spring balance that was hanging from it unscrewed and went down with a clang. The instructor and assistant came running. First incident in that lab. Then after some time, when we were done with the readings, we tried to turn the motor off. I lowered the voltage. The motor hissed and then the silent lab came alive with the grinding sound. Our assistant was standing a few feet apart. We told him “Sir, our motor is making a sound”. That guy turned his back to us. Then seeing at a distant star, as if having a premonition, he said “Wait, I can hear some sound”. Till that time, the instructor who had been at the other end of the lab realized where the sound was coming from and rushed over. No damage done, thankfully. We didn’t exactly appreciate the idea of blowing something on our first day itself.
The evening was made fun by a DJ nite organized for Lohri. Maybe the name Bhangra nite would be more appropriate. I danced this way after quite long. One and a half hour of non-stop of dancing with friends – sheer joy. Doing फुगड़ी is another exhilarating experience. For the uninitiated, fugadi is a kind of dance step where two people, usually girls, hold each other’s hands and move around in a wide circle. The faster the better, even though the world is dizzy afterwards. And if you haven’t clasped tightly, you are flung out and land as a heap on the floor. Punjabi songs are fun to shake a leg to. Even last time’s Lohri DJ nite had been fun. Unlike the one in Waves where Nikihil Chinappa was the DJ. It is desi music that rocks.
So folks..my life is becoming better by the day.. how’s urs?
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friends
A few days back, I updated my orkut profile. From living “with parents” to living “alone, friends visit often”. ..Friends are family now. More than any other relation in the world, friends brighten up your day, day after day. They are the people with whom you share every joy and pain and lay bare your deepest desires and fears. I like what Anais Nin said about friends:
Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
In a Utopian world, friendship would be only based on the kind of person you are. But fallible people that we are, glitter sells more than gold. Trivial things like the way somebody dresses or looks, matter. Else, we cage ourselves with shackles of our language or region. The other day, one of my friends asked-“Aren’t boys better friends? They aren’t selfish, jealous or gossipy. True, you can’t ramble on about emotions and feelings to them but, they’ll help you in need even after you’ve had a fight.” I asked back-“Why aren’t you thinking beyond stereotypes? It’s a person’s values and not their gender that determines good friends.”
As he caught the word “friends”, another friend observed-“You know why I love being with my friends. At times, when I am upset about something, and sit silently; my family will nag me about it. They’ll want to swoop out of the sky like Superman and solve all my problems. Even when they don’t understand. But with friends; with my friends I can just be…”
When I think of friendships, another thing that comes to mind is that why don’t people let a guy and a girl be just friends? A small spark starts a fire of gossip that can char a platonic friendship. Somebody please tell them to give it a rest.
At times, you have a friend so cherished, that nothing could ever dissolve or even threaten the bond between the two of you. For a friendship to be a nonpareil, friends should not be absolute copies of each other. Their basic plane of thinking should be same, otherwise they won’t find any joy in each other’s company. But, in other domains, they can be starkly different and still be happy together. Celebrating differences makes you grow more than closed cliques.
When friendship takes root in one’s heart, love blossoms. Platonic love does not bring with it the sweeping winds of teenage love. It is more the quiet intimacy of a couple celebrating their silver anniversary. Like true love, true friends are also hard to find. But, when you do find one, you no longer wonder what an angel looks like. Somebody who’ll always be there for you, before everyone else and even when everyone else has turned their back on you. A shoulder to cry on, a listening ear for life’s troubles. Just the thought of them brings a smile to your lips. They can make you smile through your tears. And they are the ones who’ve seen you crying out of happiness. And that somebody is so much a part of you that the thought of going away….It’s just too hard to bear.
Hard indeed it is when a friendship breaks. A broken friendship is a stinging wound. A wound that takes too long to heal. Misunderstandings and pent-up anger can break the bonding thread so easily. The bond shatters like glass when trust is broken. There’s an element of trust in every relationship, which when broken once, remains a scar forever. Have you ever lost a friend to things that need not have happened? A day ago, there was the joy of companionship; a day later, there’s a void. You are left behind with memories of shared laughter and tears. Had you been a child, you would have wiped your tears and extended a friendly hand, but, now egoistic adulthood has closed the doors.
“Ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened”. Sometimes in life we think we don’t need anyone. But sometimes we don’t have anyone when we need….So, if you have been keeping to yourself; go out and seek a friend. And…your world will become better.
Note: I had written this article for Sizzling Sands 08, BPGC annual magazine which came out in print last month.
Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
In a Utopian world, friendship would be only based on the kind of person you are. But fallible people that we are, glitter sells more than gold. Trivial things like the way somebody dresses or looks, matter. Else, we cage ourselves with shackles of our language or region. The other day, one of my friends asked-“Aren’t boys better friends? They aren’t selfish, jealous or gossipy. True, you can’t ramble on about emotions and feelings to them but, they’ll help you in need even after you’ve had a fight.” I asked back-“Why aren’t you thinking beyond stereotypes? It’s a person’s values and not their gender that determines good friends.”
As he caught the word “friends”, another friend observed-“You know why I love being with my friends. At times, when I am upset about something, and sit silently; my family will nag me about it. They’ll want to swoop out of the sky like Superman and solve all my problems. Even when they don’t understand. But with friends; with my friends I can just be…”
When I think of friendships, another thing that comes to mind is that why don’t people let a guy and a girl be just friends? A small spark starts a fire of gossip that can char a platonic friendship. Somebody please tell them to give it a rest.
At times, you have a friend so cherished, that nothing could ever dissolve or even threaten the bond between the two of you. For a friendship to be a nonpareil, friends should not be absolute copies of each other. Their basic plane of thinking should be same, otherwise they won’t find any joy in each other’s company. But, in other domains, they can be starkly different and still be happy together. Celebrating differences makes you grow more than closed cliques.
When friendship takes root in one’s heart, love blossoms. Platonic love does not bring with it the sweeping winds of teenage love. It is more the quiet intimacy of a couple celebrating their silver anniversary. Like true love, true friends are also hard to find. But, when you do find one, you no longer wonder what an angel looks like. Somebody who’ll always be there for you, before everyone else and even when everyone else has turned their back on you. A shoulder to cry on, a listening ear for life’s troubles. Just the thought of them brings a smile to your lips. They can make you smile through your tears. And they are the ones who’ve seen you crying out of happiness. And that somebody is so much a part of you that the thought of going away….It’s just too hard to bear.
Hard indeed it is when a friendship breaks. A broken friendship is a stinging wound. A wound that takes too long to heal. Misunderstandings and pent-up anger can break the bonding thread so easily. The bond shatters like glass when trust is broken. There’s an element of trust in every relationship, which when broken once, remains a scar forever. Have you ever lost a friend to things that need not have happened? A day ago, there was the joy of companionship; a day later, there’s a void. You are left behind with memories of shared laughter and tears. Had you been a child, you would have wiped your tears and extended a friendly hand, but, now egoistic adulthood has closed the doors.
“Ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened”. Sometimes in life we think we don’t need anyone. But sometimes we don’t have anyone when we need….So, if you have been keeping to yourself; go out and seek a friend. And…your world will become better.
Note: I had written this article for Sizzling Sands 08, BPGC annual magazine which came out in print last month.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Studying Economics
People still comment on my quitting chemistry. People includes, as u can guess, people from the chemistry dept. One of the seniors called me an eco spy who stayed in chem. for a year. Another prefers the term “dhokebaaz”. :D Surprisingly, even the faculty loves the game. When I was registering for economics, unfortunately every faculty at the desk was from chem. One of them says “you hate us, don’t u”. My protests were silenced. The truth is I do like chemistry; it’s just that I like eco more. Even today, when I passed one of them, he said “so, studying economics”. What am I supposed to reply?
I will be doing only economics courses in the third year. This sem, I have just two of them, POE and DYSOC (Dynamics of social change). A smaller name for it would be sociology. It is like going back to tenth standard social science and English again even though the course content is totally different. Till now we’ve done things like sociology of religion where we actually debated the origin of religion and the rise and fall of Hindutva. Getting to study all this in a technical institute gives a whole new meaning to diversified education. Most of my friends dislike, no, hate the subject but I happen to be an odd one out.
I also got another morale boost today when I read my eco Prof’s blog (yes, she writes one). Her classmates sure have done well in life. gvkumari.blogspot.com
So, that’s the world of eco for me.. .. .u r welcome to comment on it.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
So Happy to be home
It is wonderful to be back home after four and a half months.
The best part is the welcome that you get after coming home. The kitchen cupboard is filled with the foodstuff I like. The fridge has all the chocolates and delicacies I like. And my mom has even remembered every brand correctly.
खाना रोज़ मेरी पसंद का बन रहा है। हर दिन menu पूछा जा रहा है। चिंकी आज इंदौर से वापिस आ गई है।
There's broadband in which a site actually opens when u click on it.
So, all I am doing is eating , sleeping (like a log) and surfing.
In short, Life is BLISS.....
The best part is the welcome that you get after coming home. The kitchen cupboard is filled with the foodstuff I like. The fridge has all the chocolates and delicacies I like. And my mom has even remembered every brand correctly.
खाना रोज़ मेरी पसंद का बन रहा है। हर दिन menu पूछा जा रहा है। चिंकी आज इंदौर से वापिस आ गई है।
There's broadband in which a site actually opens when u click on it.
So, all I am doing is eating , sleeping (like a log) and surfing.
In short, Life is BLISS.....
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Elections
The CSA ( Council of Student Affairs) elections are over. I reported at 7:30 in the morning and will go back at around 5 in the evening.Election Commission Memeber.There were 4 senior posts President, Vice President, Treasurer and General Secretary. And 4 representatives for each hostel; cultural, mess, hostel and sports.
From our hostel, there's no sports representative.
From our hostel, there's no sports representative.
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