2013: The Resolutions

Taken from Flickr under CC licence. Happy New Year to the artist!

Another New Year, Another New Year Post! It has now become customary to post something every Christmas and New Year's Day.

I do not believe in New Years' Resolutions, primarily because I know they don't work. If you really want to make any change, decide on that one thing (only), then start today and keep trying until you have achieved it. That's the simple recipe and most people know it.

So, why make resolutions anyway? Because they are fun! You want to go into a New Year with new energy & enthusiasm and what better way to bring that than having brand new goals to achieve!

As I was pondering over the (new and unique!) resolutions to make this year, I asked myself, what makes today so special?  Looking it objectively, just the calender has changed on the wall. So, why is this day any different from, say, yesterday or day before?

Because...

• Wherever I went people kept on making me realize today is the first day of a Brand New Year! They have slowed down their hectic pace in life and are savouring the day.

• I phoned people (and will continue to do so till the end of the day) who weren't actually expecting a call from me. They were surprised sure, but I hope it made them happy.

• Today I am starting a brand new experiment! Some people have called it weird, illogical. But I am very excited about it, even though there is high probability of it failing.

If these things make today memorable for me, then why not try and repeat them every day of the year. With that mind, here is my short resolution list:

1. Slow Down: Savour life. The years passed recently were some of the most important years of my life, and the coming years will certainly be even more important. Why waste them running for some distant happiness which may never come after all? The most important memories of my life have been when I have actually paid attention and experienced the moments. Why live life in a hurry?

2. Provide Happiness to Others: For past few months I have been trying tricks to make me happier. And one of the sources of real happiness has been when I have been able to help others and make them happy. So, do it more. Do it often.

3. Experiment. Experiment. Experiment!!: Try new stuffs everyday! Life is boring when lived weekend by weekend. Anything new in life, makes me excited. And the responsibility of bringing this "new" also lies with me. Be irrational. Be creative. Collaborate!

That's it! Of course, becoming a master of these is not what I am looking for, but if I am able to do more of above 3 this year compared to past years, I would consider this year's resolutions to be a success.

Every new year brings with it lots of hopes. I do not expect this year to be full of happiness and laughters and all goodies. But I just hope it turns out to be something to remember in future (in a good way!).

Happy New Year guys!

12 Random Wishes for 2012: A Review

On the first day of this year, I had made 12 random top-of-the-mind wishes. Today being the last day of the year, it's appropriate we do a quick review of them. Here we go:

1. Sachin gets his 100th 100. 

Yes, he got it, finally! Then he got another one after that. Then he retired from One Day Internationals.

2. India wins The Series Down Under.

They were thrashed 0-4 instead and went Down Under pretty badly. But Dravid getting bowled again and again and again, hurt even more.

3. Roger makes it his "Grand Slam" year.

No he didn't. But he did win his favorite Grand Slam of the year and was there at the top for a brief period of time! Plus this time we had 4 different winners for the 4 Slams, which is happening after a really-really long time in Men's Tennis. Hence, it wasn't bad either.

4. MSC wins a race in the last Championship of his life.

No, he couldn't. And he retired without much fan-fare. But I did attend the Indian GP after all! And I could see him race live in front of my own eyes. It was a dream come true and it was awesome!

5. I learn to say "You are Welcome".

No, if you come uninvited, I still don't. You are welcome, thank you very much.

6. Lokpal Bill gets passed.

Well some kind of Lokpal Bill did pass in Parliament, but it wasn't the one people were hoping for. Worse, the issue of corruption seems to have gone in cold storage now.

7. India wins loads of Golds this Olympics.

They won none. But they did win 6 medals overall, which was the best performance by the country in terms of the number of medals earned in one Olympics! And that gives hope for a better sports future in India.

8. This blog gets even more awesome.

Well if you consider the number of posts year wise, it has dipped compared to last year. And that is bad, because it shows inconsistency. But if you look at the kind of topics I have covered and the styles I have used, I think the blog DID get even more awesome! I started a novel-style story, decoded the Kolaveri, trolled on Valentine, wrote a number of poems both in English and Hindi, kept on experimenting and introduced a brand new blog. Phew!

9. They reconstruct the lanes in my colony.

Yes, they did construct one lane. But it wasn't the lane passing by my home. It was the lane next to it. Damn sons of politicians!

10. I get a girl.

Yeah, you must laughing your guts out there reading this one. I don't blame you. You earned it!

11. I learn Telugu.

Naaku Telugu Raadhu!.... Happy?

12. The world does not end.

For the kind of negativity that's going around in the world, especially the space nearby me, I wish I hadn't wished for this wish to be true.

---

Well this year like every other year, wasn't just filled with happy memories, as we wish each other every time on a New Year's Day. There were some bad and some ugly moments as well. But the mixture of all that is what life is about, and that actually is what makes an year memorable. And as you can see in the 12 wishes above, we can wish a lot but the nature has its own way of playing the game. All we can do is to play along with the best of our abilities.

I also want to take this moment to thank each and everyone who were a part of my life in 2012 in anyway, because you shaped how the year turned out to be for me. You might not read this, and you might not reply after reading, but I am grateful to you.

And 2012, you will be remembered!

12 Random Wishes for 2012...

All images taken from Flickr.

1. Sachin gets his 100th 100. 

Damn it Sachin, it's been too long. Let's finish this off ASAP, so that we can start obsessing about your 50th ODI ton.

2. India wins The Series Down Under.

I remember the debacle in 1999, I remember the heroics and bad luck of 2003 and 2007. But just heroism is not enough. I want to see you winning the Border-Gavaskar Cup. Period.

3. Roger makes it his "Grand Slam" year.

It feels like Fedex is a setting sun, way past his glowing years. But I still have hope; belief that he can still rise again like a phoenix and get past the Rafas and Djokers. How about winning all 4 slams this year?! Besides I like the smile on his wife's face when he wins :)

4. MSC wins a race in the last Championship of his life.

When Schumi retired in 2007, it felt like F1 is retiring for me. I desperately searched for a new hero to look forward to but couldn't find any. So, when he returned back last year, it was like a dream come true. But, it's been embarrassing seeing him in the middle of the pack, just racing for a position. He deserves at least a win in his farewell championship. And yes, I want to go to this year's Indian GP!

5. I learn to say "You are Welcome".

Howsoever hard I try, it seems I can never say "Welcome!", "You're Welcome", "It was a pleasure" etc. whenever somebody thanks me. Instead I say "OK", "Alright", "Not a problem", <nothing> etc. What the heck!

6. Lokpal Bill gets passed.

This issue is just dragging on and on. I know it's not the easiest bill of them all to pass, but I believe a lot of friction is coming because a lot of egos are at stake here. And I know whatever bill comes, it will take years of commitment and polishing to get it working properly. Why don't we just get it started for now? You know it's disgusting to see an old man going on Anshan every now and then for the issue.

7. India wins loads of Golds this Olympics.

All said and done, no feeling beats the warmth and pride in the heart when an Indian goes at the topmost podium on the mother of all sporting spectacles. I want that feeling, I want to live that moment again! And again and again!

8. This blog gets even more awesome.

Last year was the year when I proved to myself that "Yes! I can be a blogger", good or bad doesn't matter. I have always tried to experiment with different things. This year I want to experiment even more and hopefully become a more consistent and dedicated writer.

9. They reconstruct the lanes in my colony.

I don't know if I will get to live in my area for most part of the year, but with all the construction going here for the past few years, it's a pain in the feet to walk over the dug up lanes. And it gets worse during monsoon :/

"Golden Dream" courtesy Fussel

10. I get a girl.

Well this one more for friends than myself. "What Ravi/RavS! You don't have a girlfriend? You must be joking!". It's so painful to explain that it's true. Now, I can also make up a story, generate a fictitious girlfriend, but I am not that good in lying. Plus, as they say truth is so more beautiful than fiction! (or was it "stranger"?)

11. I learn Telugu.

Well, it's not like I intend to settle in that awesome southern region (though it's a "remote" possibility :D ), but because learning a new language is always fun (and this I say by trying out so many programming languages!). It's time I learn a language that actually humans speak, at least to form some basic phrases. "Avanu, Nenu can!" :D

12. The world does not end.

For as much as I want this Kalyug to end and Satyug to start again, I would at least like to complete the average life expectancy that humans currently have. Bas kuch saal aur ruk jaao bhagwaan...

9/11 Promises: Review

Today is 9/11 yet again and it will be gross injustice to the previous 9/11 post if I don't review it today.

1. Weight 60+ Kgs: I tried for sometime but then just left it. I feel hopeless in this department. I don't even want to talk about it now. Let's move.

2. Promises be kept: In retrospect, I think this was a really vague promise I made. Because there just wasn't any set criteria for what will be considered as a promise, since I seldom use the word "I promise to...". Having said that, I think I did pretty good in the last one year, but still couldn't do a few things I "promised" to do (like meeting after promising!). Promising to keep up the promise all the time is insanely hard. I think it is better to be really careful while making promises.

3. Don't wait to be late: This was once again a disaster. I thought I was late even more times in the last one year than any other year. Total fail.

4. Concentrate to Meditate / Meditate to Concentrate: Tried out a lot of techniques of meditation, including guided meditation, meditation while lying down or walking, meditation while running or even while doing a task. And did get partial success. But still a proper 15-20 mins of meditation everyday is not in my success resume right now.

5. Either be one or forget it: I started revising my programming skills about 3 months back and have been doing regular (though not extreme) programming everyday for last 30 days or so. Not a success yet, but I think I have just made a good start.

6. buzzRSH > 50 posts: Now this is prime reason that I am writing this review :) Full success! (though it came dangerously close to being another failure.

7. It's a funny issue: I think I have done some good progress in this department (though friends will be able to tell better). I have moved on from the sad & painful period, and while set backs still come in life, I think I am getting better at handling them. What's amusing is that some of the issues that were causing discomfort turned out to be a non-issue later on! So, it's funny to say but I am happy :) Don't believe me? Read this!

8. Learn/Do something new: I started learning GIMP sometime ago and I made some good progress in that department. I also shared my progress (secretly!) with a selective few friends. I have also been trying to learn to sleep early and I am proud to say that for about 1 month I slept on or before 9.30 pm and around 10 pm for the past 2 months! Unfortunately, the Anna movement has disrupted the schedule and now will have to build it all over again. But now, I know I can sleep early!

9. Stop being afraid: Again it was a bit vague promise. I think I meant to say as to take far more initiatives, which, I did I would argue. So it was a fairly successful promise.

I made 2 more promises more for others (read family/friends) than for me (and also because 9 + 2 = 11 :) 

10. Get (a) mobile: I tried mates, but like a girlfriend, I think mobiles are not made for me (or the other way around?). The thing is that I really don't feel a need to keep mobiles, they just irritate me. I don't think, I will "never" get a mobile. But when exactly, I can't and won't promise (again). But to compensate for that I did something else "just for friends" (you know what I mean ;)

11. Get employed: I did complete this promise and though I could have done a better (or say smarter) job while getting a job, I am content with what I achieved, for now.

As I said when I started, I wasn't sure of completing even one of these. But I did do a few of them and I am proud of the fact. But, I also found out that I kept slacking initially and the real efforts came only in the last 3 months or so. So, I think instead of giving a list of virtually a new year resolutions, it's better to make just ONE promise and try and complete that before making another.

With that in mind, I will try and learn meditation now and get regular in this skill by the end of this year.

AnOSM Blog Story: After One Year

Story behind this blog is a long one and I would try to keep it short, just giving the relevant details and cutting off the fluff (and putting in the facts to the best of my memory).

This all started during the January of 2007. I was preparing for my engineering entrances. Around that time I got my hands on a short book about blogging. I knew just a little bit about blogs, then. I read the book from cover to cover and after reading it, I knew I wanted to have a blog of my own, one day.

But the problem was that I didn't have an Internet connection at home (broadband was just getting popular). And I wanted to have only good comprehensive researched articles on my blog (which, now I know, nobody reads!). And I wanted to have a regular set of readers who would expect consistency. I did make an account on Blogger and reserve a domain, played a little bit with the layout and so on. I also wrote 2-3 lines on the blog, promising to come back and write more but that never really came.

Then I got admission in college and other things took importance, one of my friends by that time had started his own blog and I always encouraged him to write more & more and better & better; because in a way I used to imagine, someday my blog also getting the similar kinds of reactions. In fact, whenever I came to know about any blog of my friends, I have made it a point to actually read it and comment. By doing that I was creating a ready-made followers for my own blog, without even starting it yet! (But my comments were and will always be genuine :).

Then during the winters of 2007-2008, I said "what the heck, let me start the blog, if it fails, then so be it". So, I wrote an article on the ongoing India-Australia test series (Cricket is one of the easiest topic an Indian can get to blog on!). But I never really got to publishing that one (again not having a net connection was the reason and pen drives weren't fully popular by then, so transferring data was also a pain).

So, again it went into a cold bag. Now, there is nothing more stressing than a work half done. While I got busy clearing the semesters, the thought of making the blog always remained buried inside. During the start of 2010 when I finally got an Internet connection, it was a perfect opportunity to start the blog, so I did go around in reserving a domain again and writing a short blog post.

But again there was this flaw in thinking, that my blog posts should be large and comprehensive to be taken seriously. So, once again I couldn't go beyond the first post (which was just an introduction and nothing else).

During the summer-break of 2010, I came up with another idea (I am usually good in devising ideas, it's the implementation that's mainly the problem :). The plan was that instead of writing a blog, why not go short and start a mini-blog of sort. So, I wrote this post to 8 of my closest friends. And after a writer's block of 1-2 weeks it finally started!

Writing blogs also follows the principle of inertia. When you haven't written for a long time, it is just kind of hard to start again. But once you somehow start writing (and posting) and getting encouraging responses, you are on a roll, and you start to crank up posts after posts. If you check out the archives section and see the the dates of my blog posts, you will see that my writing was stuck at least 2-3 times, but there have also been time, where I posted 2-3 times per week.

But persistence is the key. I persisted while facing difficulties and here we are! This blog is over one year old! Today I have a full fledged blog with over 50 posts and set of low numbered but consistent readers (friends :)! Hopefully, in next one year we will make it even bigger & better :)

You "Mean" Teachers...

When I was in 2nd standard, I had a nexus with 2-3 kids; we used to sit close to each other during tests  and cheat from each other. As the time went on, I became better and better as a student but my cheating powers kept on diminishing. In fact, I became so bad in copying, that I have been caught 'cheating' even when I wasn't! And as one can imagine, a lot of my friends have also suffered due to this 'inability' of mine. Sometimes, they used to feel guilty that I was caught helping them cheat (but invigilator always thought it was me  :-/) while other times they would make me feel guilty saying they failed only because I couldn't help them cheat (:O).

Anyways, now that you know I am a path3tic cheater, we can move on to the actual topic for today, shall we!!

Last year, on our Teachers' Day I wrote a post about the teachers I have encountered in my life. I didn't tell you about my social science teacher in 3rd standard. After 2nd class, we got reshuffled in different sections and hence my nexus of cheaters was broken. So, now I was alone in this big cruel world of cheating (believe me this post is not about cheating!). I had never cheated alone, so it was bound to hit back. So, in a simple Social Science test, instead of learning, I preferred to write the answers at the same place of test notebook where I was supposed to give the test. The next day teacher caught me (again with my bad luck with cheating, it wasn't cheating that made her caught me) and then I was beaten with wood stick; so badly that my left ankle was bruised for 2 days.

As I grew up I got better in studies. I being an innocent child, used to think that the teacher by beating me, had changed my life, since I was never inclined to cheat in exams ever again. It's only in the last few years that I have realized that I am what I am NOT because of that stupid incident but because of the good things that happened to me later and I would have remained the same sans that incident.

And that's the whole point of writing this post. I am sure you would have been beaten by teachers as well. But today, think about how many times it was justified. I mean yes, I deserved punishment sometimes (I once tried to copy my teacher's signature on some 'late' work which in fact she was still to check, so I got slapped). But other times it was just plain cruelty (keeping the hands up for 1.5 hours in 4th standard, causing me to cry in pain for the whole next period, just because I didn't bring a freaking notebook).

I won't say that students should be given a free run, some form of restraint is definitely necessary (seeing the new generation and their behavior I think it is even compulsory). But I don't think kids in lower standards deserve such treatment. You must have heard horror stories of how the students got fractured or went into coma, or even died because of cruelty from their teachers. Well, believe me a lot of these incidents go unreported (because kids, like me, think that it was 'their fault'). I have experienced teachers punishing students by making the issues too personal (they won't teach until student X gets out of class).

I am not writing this to bash the teachers. I really respect some of the teachers that taught me, and I know even if they punished me it was for my own good (no, Not that 3rd standard teacher; she once slapped me because I entered her class 10 seconds after her). But they commanded so much respect that thought of letting them down was the biggest motivator for me.

Govt. and courts are doing there bit in making this physical punishment a crime. I hope we as a society also wake up and take notice of this issue. Here is wishing for better disciplined but pain free future for the small kids studying in schools right now (including my little brother).

And for my 3rd grade teacher, Mam I dedicate this to you...

Happy Teachers Day everyone!

Happy? Independence Day

The Indian Tiger. Sleeping.. or Defeated?

Few days back, I was having a "free country vs dictator-ruled country" debate with a friend on Twitter. I of course, being a proud Indian, was on free country side. But, she surprisingly said "I would prefer to live in a Dictator ruled country". Of course, I didn't agree with the arguments she gave but after what I have experienced in recent days, it got me thinking if India was really the country to be worth living in?

After the recent terrorists attacks in Mumbai, sentiments were really (and naturally) high. I got to read an article from DNA, where someone named Swami had given his "esteemed" views on how to eradicate the "Islamic" terrorism from this country. Well in the first few lines itself, he started talking about Hindus and stuff, and I really couldn't stand that. Because for me, terrorism has no religion. If you catch a Muslim terrorists, he is a lunatic. If you catch a Hindu terrorist, he also is a lunatic. I don't see any difference. So, I just skimmed the article to see if there is any sense in this madness. At one point the guy talks about, Muslims can join the fight if "they acknowledge with pride that though they may be Muslims, their ancestors were Hindus."

Well what the heck is that? I don't know much of about 'that' history. So what he said may or may not be true. But does it matter? To me it was purely provocative piece without much point of tackling the real issue. The matter could have been closed there. But to me, the real problem started when the article and the guy started trending on Twitter. I thought people will trash him and his article. Some people did, but to my surprise a lot of people even supported him! Some said he had the right to speak whatever he felt like, while a few even found merit in his article (please do read it and tell me where is the merit, I may be mistaken).

So, now my question is, why does it matter so much that if I am a Hindu or a Muslim? To tell the truth I have my own version of God, but I do respect all the religions. I visit temples, churches, shrines, gurudwaras without any bias because I find solace/peace/bliss there. People say all religions teach love. I wonder if they also teach respecting others' sentiments.

Last week, I was checking out a bollywood song video on YouTube. Nothing to talk about video, but when I saw the comments, I was shocked. Instead of trashing/praising the song, people were abusing each other (apparently it was India vs Pakistan going on there) for no foreseeable reason.

India has experienced quite a few riots since Independence (shamefully even in this 21st century). We have developed hatred towards other countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh), heck we even hate the people of our own country. We may have abolished untouchability, but I still see people thinking someone as lower than them just because they belong to the so called "lower caste". We still haven't been able to give equal rights to half of our population. We are still neck deep in corruption, just trying to fill our own coffers.

Of course, India is progressing and I enjoy it becoming a superpower, inch by inch everyday. But it really hurts to see that we are suffering from so many of these problems which are rarely heard of in majority of countries of the world. I believe for any country, people living happily and peacefully is all that matters, not how much economic progress we are making.

So, I wonder if India would have been better served without Independence? Now, please thrash me for making such a statement, because I want people to come forward and tell me how is India better in its current state. I know we have a high sense of patriotism, but I still feel that we are divided. So much that some bloody bastards cause some random explosion and make us start to suspect each other. Instead of catching them, we start to spew venom against each other.

I know you must have read such sceptical/negative articles before also. And you may have rubbished them (I have), ignored them, but there is a reason why a few people "genuinely" write such stuffs: for us, to think about it for a moment. We are just clinging on the hope that tomorrow we will progress, we will become better. But what about making today better?

Happy Independence day everybody!

My Idea... of an Ideal Teacher

"Teachers teachers everywhere, everyone has to preach

Teachers teachers everywhere, not a single to teach"

I have been a student all my life. And as a result, have encountered teachers of every kind based on region, language, gender, color, and physical appearance. They being a teacher, these criteria does not matter also. But may be barring a few, most of them haven't been able to meet my high (impossible?) expectations. But this post is not about showing negativity and disappointment. This is about positivity and hope.. that may be aliens will teach us someday.

I myself have been a teacher in some sense (teaching my brothers, and being a part time tutor). But I know I am nowhere near the perfectionism that I want from a teacher. But that does give me some idea about what I, as a student, want from my teachers. Here is my idea of an ideal teacher:

1. Impartial: An ideal teacher got to be impartial towards students and give each student the same time and support, keeping personal perception aside. She (from now onwards, 'she' implies 'he/she') must give more marks for the same question, only because it deserves them, not because the answer was written by her favorite student. Many a times, I have been guilty of getting better marks this way, and believe me I feel really embarrassed.

2. Understanding: Is it too much to ask from a teacher to be understanding? If one becomes a teacher, does she stops being a human? Its a known fact that, not every one has as high IQ as me (no, don't laugh, I am really intelligent!), some students need more time to understand the concept than others. Anyone can teach students who can self study, to teach the students with low motivation towards the subject is the true test of a teacher.

3. Patient: So many times I have heard teachers telling students to ask any concept 'n' no. of times, till the time they don't understand it. But it is amusing to see the same teachers getting irritated when the student is unable to understand the concept even after the third attempt (may be n=3). When I was a kid, I used to get beaten by the teachers for not knowing the alphabets. I learnt them properly only in 3rd standard. Today, I ask myself, what difference did it make in my life to learn alphabets 4 years later than what children normally do? Was it justified to get slapped and scaled on the palms?

4. Adaptable: The field from where I belong keeps changing overnight. In this scenario, it is unacceptable for a teacher to be rigid about her teaching methods. She should be ready to accept that a student can find a better solution to a problem, he/she can know more than her. An idea should not get rejected just because its not mentioned in the book. Anyone would love to go into a class, where the teacher is innovative in her style of teaching. Takes real life and unimaginable examples rather than copy book examples.

5. Knowledgeable: It never hurts when your teacher is the master of the subject, truly passionate about the things that she teaches. It only gives a student confidence that he/she is in the right hands. But to tell the truth, I give a rat's arse about the teacher's knowledge of the subject, as long as she meets the above criterias. If the teacher is willing to do the hard work, ready to accept her ignorance about a topic and willing to learn with and from the students, it doesn't matter to me, whether she is a B.Tech or a PhD.

"I may not be the best of the students.. But that is the precise reason why I deserve the best teachers"

PS: In junior classes I studied about ideal gases only to be told later that there is nothing like an 'ideal gas', but its poor cousin the 'real gas'. I think an ideal teacher is an endangered species, if not non-existent. So, my real teacher will be:

1. Hot: I mean not metaphorically but literally. If her temperature remains high all the time, this will mean nobody will dare ask the questions (such a waste of time). The syllabus gets over well in time, and you can concentrate on better things in life. Also, when she is burning hot, that means she will take loads of holidays (she is not well stupid), implying loads of free classes.

2. Sexi(st): Its been a long since boys have been victims of discrimination in the class. Its time girls should also get the know what it is like to be beaten, just because you are not a boy. Grr..

3. Charming: There I said it. She doesn't know anything about the subject? No problem. She can't solve even the basics of problems? I will manage. She doesn't think she is qualified to be a teacher? You are in majority, mam! All I want is that she (here she implies she) has a nice personality, good looking face and sweet voice. If you can't be easy on brain then just be easy on eyes and ears. Just don't make the 50 mins of an already boring class a torture for me.

Happy Teachers' Day!