Wise Applicative Learning

I'm seeing quite a change nowadays, a new form of learning. The concept of applicative learning, where people, rather than referring to books and sources, tend to dive into code straight and analyse the outcomes. A very practical and sensible approach, but let us be honest. In order to be "applicative" or applying knowledge, one is forgetting the way of learning things properly leading to haphazard situations like improper syntax, confusions or misunderstanding in computing concepts and what not to define yourself, a "bad programmer".  And thus, time to get down on some real areas of concern to better ourselves:

Design an idea and not apps

         To learn about a technology know-how, we begin with our old learning techniques of developing "basic" apps. Let us be truthful, such apps are poor in design, scalability and reliability. Thinking of showcasing them to display your technical skills is quite funny to propose.

        App building is fine, no complaints about it. You might tend to see how much you have learned in the code that you write or copy-paste from stackoverflow.com (The most referred site for technical issues). But the fact is, it isn't contributing anything to the idea! Technology serves only as a means to achieve ideas into reality and not creating them. If you have the wisdom of reverse engineering, designing ideas based on the technology you come across, then you have a way out. The more solid (er.. bigger) idea, the more technical exposure it needs. Hence, more learning and more lines on your resume. You'll find a technology that would suffice your idea needs else you'll find creating a new one yourself. Ask peers for help, Google for it. There's always a lame idiot who will post such in no time. Do freelancing, it helps a ton to build up what you need, as a plus.

Utility Automation is useless until it serves a purpose

        Scripting is catching up very fast these days, Python and Ruby to be specific. Tons of libraries emerge out thereby making the developer to be alert to newer developments and shunning old primitive coding. As long as that script is helping you out in cutting down your work, cool! But scripting for the sake of it (think of learning here) is an utter waste of your own precious time. You tend to screw up on the way you programmed earlier as these languages make your life easier. And then there's the transition time to switch. Not only are you wasting time, you're unnecessarily extending the project deadline too!

Focus on a single technology than being a jack

        You might be a bit paranoid of not keeping up with all that Twitter follow-list or the people in Reddit that inspire you to know a ton of things in technology but I'd advise you one single thing, "Utter Crap." Try to inspect why are you following that tech topic or a person well versed in that field. Are you developing something in the same field that he is contributing? Do you have anything extra to learn? Have something to contribute in that project? Well, then go ahead. Otherwise, it is dumb to sit and check everything and know nothing in the end. You just end up as a joker than a jack or heck, even a master.

Tech Entrepreneurs are sick

        Yes. For some reasons. Those geeks have done implementations of their ideas to make money(read Business) and are in the market to sell it at an unimaginable amount. Don't get too much inspired by that. It's just media hype like the JEE-CAT exams hooplah. It doesn't serve the purpose of learning. If you really want to look up to them then look at their ideas rather, than how many dollars he minted from poor investors. That should give you a way of thinking in-line with market needs. You'll find some really good ideas out there in the market.

Read Code, not documentation

         Documentation is for absolute newbies. I've never used it as seriously as I'm being advised upon. It's all about code, code and pure code. Read code. Yes, read it! Just like you're reading this post. Understand. Think of the way things have been put in place, see which algorithms and design patterns are available in those little chunks of magic. See how you can tune it in your version. How can you format. How can you make others understand your own code via block commenting. How to use lines as simple unit test cases. Such practicality can never come from tutorials.

And for Christ's sake, get into building that code than believing it's author blindly. Use an emulator, Raspberry Pi or a physical device but please, flash that bloody code and get things started. People like to see something than sit and gossip, leading to nothing at all.

And if you really want to learn something from books, pick up any topic in Mathematics or Computing conceptual books. Even Fiction will do wonders.

Cheers!

The Three Mistakes of Kai Po Che

So, I finally landed up into watching a Chetan Bhagat adapted movie, yet again. After the thoroughly edited "3 Idiots" which was a total tipsy adaptation of "Five Point Someone", here comes one more of Bhagat's story-telling-masala-masterpiece saga.

Why is it that a movie adapted from a popular best seller always turns out to be better than the book itself? Atleast, this is what the reviews try to compel you. But the fact is, Bhagat's novel, "The 3 mistakes of my Life" turns exactly the opposite to be. Well, for me at least. Looks like a tweaked story of the original piece however.

Don't agree? Well, then let me begin with pointing out the three mistakes of why I didn't "laauve" Kai Po Che. Three pals, Omi, Ishaan and Govind, the best of pals, try to be something in their lives. Well, we have seen much more closeness of the bonds in Dil Chahta Hai and Rock On, but I'm still not able to figure out what made Bhagat, the screenplay writer himself for this movie, turn the climax and the plot around in parts!

The first mistake, Govind should have been the narrator. It is dumb to show the plot going in a loose way which the narrator is the story rather than the protagonist. Bhagat excelled this in the book. I mean, if Govind did took sleeping pills and make his way to the deathbed and then the actual "friendship" masala would've turned out sweeter, no?

The second mistake, the make-out scene. I mean, come on man! Boys die to get that feel out of the narration how Govind explained in the book. How he makes out with his disciple, despite Ishaan being at home. That tensed nervousness, that emotional guilt and the passion that ignited after the few classes he takes is missing. I mean, the Vidya shown in the movie deserved a lot, lot more than how she opens up herself.

And the third mistake, Ishaan is shot dead in the climax! Dude, that was pathetic, seriously! At least you could've given a chance for Govind to confess himself to him, clear the tensions and make him give into his love for Vidya. More friendship tears in the audience I believe, no?

Oh, and a smaller mistake but not counted that is, Australia is missing! I don't know why UTV Motion Pictures, a big branded company didn't had the budget to take the crew outside despite the effect it had showed in the book. The line Vidya says, "Some things that are priceless are usually free." was needed to make the viewer get the effect. Okay, if not Australia, why not make a small trip to Goa or even Porbander, Gujju's Goa rather!

The newbies in the movie are good. Omi's red eyes were the highlight. Ishaan's enthusiasm was the same as the book. Govind scolding Ishaan and his accounting scenes are power-packed. Amrita Puri is a sweetheart Vidya, not as much as the writer had confessed in his book but nevertheless. Characters are tight so this doesn't make for further evaluations. Abhishek Kapoor is over-rated, as the movie doesn't belong to him at all. It's just plain direction under Bhagat's instructions. A strange thing to observe was, the foul language was NOT screened out. Guess, the Censor Board has begun to accept them as dialogues now. There might be "The Departed"'s Hindi version soon if this continues.

Overall, the movie could've been better if it was more touchy with friendship and acceptance but unfortunately, it isn't. Rather, it ends as a simple one with too many edits from the book and no strong message delivered.

David: A deliberate sewn linkage

Three people. Three Davids. Three lives. And one final linkage. Er.. Almost. A complex way of telling to shut your mouth and live on rather than making changes around. Unnecessarily complex.

The movie could've been done by him and himself only. Bejoy Nambiar, the man. After the smaller, psychedelic version seen in Shaitan, a hit-and-run case story and finally leading to mutual misunderstandings, comes a decent version of an usual routine. The same routine, which would've taken three different producers of the same era to picture it in their own different flavors. Nice way of cost-cutting, Mr. Director!

The story begins with the climax and ends with the climax again. Only difference is that what happens between these climaxes is somewhat dull. Alright let me put it straight, boring. What's so special about David the gangster, being the ultimate loyal servant to his master, ending up in a stage to kill his own king? Or that David, the guitarist who tries to avenge his anger against a politician? Or that David, the drunkard who wants his best friend's would-be as his own wife? It is for that simple reason that they never end up achieving their missions at all. That's David. Or rather, defining an attitude for that name.

Come 1975, London and Neil Nitin Mukesh as David the gangster fires and kills enemies of Abdul Ghani in a ruthless manner with his .5mm pistol. Hooks up with Noor, the maid's daughter who is a real-life rock-band singer. Monica Dogra, even though essaying the role neatly, still has to overcome her foreign lingo. It's just intimacy and sheer intimacy when you see Noor. And a background music for you to remind that until and after the movie has ceased. He eventually learns about his master being his father, an usual copy of older movies and hunches a plan to attack him after tying up with the Indian spys. Meanwhile, Ghani's son, that computer whizkid in Shaitan is a spoilt brat and progresses to damage his father's "image" for which Ghani decides to marry him with Noor, the pregnant lady with David's child. Noor rejects the marriage and stays in David's room for their love episode remembrance. And all this in 1975, is a tad unbelieving.

In between sneaks in David, the guitarist. Mumbai of 1999 doesn't look anything different than Mumbai of 2013. I wonder why that year was picked up for reasons I may not know. A serious guitarist who doubles up as a teacher for a few homes, friend for Lara Dutta and bass guitarist in a pub. Why serious? Because he's eating dinner when his band at the pub is busy thulping beer. Amid this, he has a family headed by Nasser who happens to be a small-time religious leader of his community, inspiring people to do God's work. His dreams and ambitions are that of any simple, middle-class boy which get shattered on one rainy day when Rohini Hattangady, the Hindu leader puts black paint on his father's face and he walks out in the open to seek out why.

Chiyan Vikram, the last of Davids, falls in love with Isha Sharvani, the Kalaripayattu queen who is a deaf-dumb combination but is extremely beautiful and is hooked with his friend. I wonder why the people of Goa really speak in that way of how is being depicted. In spite the scene is 2010, it is rather immaterial. He seeks out help of his dead father, of Tabu, of his mother and of Prahlad Kakkar for her hand but ultimately fails. Tabu as the massage parlour owner is class, making one wish like a friend of her nature. But I don't know why the dead father's character was needed for some comic attempts.

Now, for the character assassination er.. ratings. Neil Nitin Mukesh is surely an under-utilized actor who badly needs a good director. Vinay Virmani, an exact copy-paste look-alike of Ranvir Shorey is new and can go up provided he stops looking like the replica. Vikram is wasted, utterly wasted for the way he acts. Despite pouring his own money, Vikram is not up to mark. Isha Sharvani is truly beautiful. Rest look like Shaitan's crew which are required but, negligible.

Check for the climax. The second one. You'll find it a better movie to have skipped it before.

Shaitan was much better than this. Much, much better, Mr.Nambiar.

Oh, forgot. "Ghum Huye" is an awesome track to sign off. And stop that Jhoolelaal track remixing over and over. Tired of hearing Ali getting first rank every time.

Don't watch it again. You might just start liking it.

The Race that never started

Wondering myself why am I sitting on a Monday morning and putting up a blog post. Also wondering why didn't I tweet it in a single line rather than putting it up here. Wondering at the wondrous work of the wonderful team of Race 2. That's why..

Race 2 (Ah, a sequel of course) is an epic Hindi blockbuster movie that could very well er.. challenge the ongoing stupidities of the Dabangg series, Sajid Khan series, Sonakshi Sinha series and Rohit Shetty series. It simply surpasses them all! How? Simple. Cast a big unit, pay them in unrevealed amounts, put in the famous reverand couple-oops!-director-duo, Abbas Mustan and tada! Your movie is out. Er.. Did I mention about the script? Not necessary for it to take the limelight.

The team is brilliant, so brilliant that I sometimes feel why. A script that goes haywire, music that's unnecessarily intervening that you sometimes feel like shutting down the movie itself example, Allah Duhai Remix, stunts that tickle your funny bone and ridiculous acting by most of the junta. You also wonder why some people are being cast into guest appearances knowing the fact that they weren't needed for their stupid roles at all.

Take for example, Ameesha Patel and Aditya Pancholi. The former suits to the line perfectly as Deepika Padukone says, Fruit-and-Nut. Wonder why the Gadar lady accepted such a side role after doing some unwanted movies after. I guess she needs Sunny Paaji's shout-over-the-roof voice or Hrithik's bare-body stunts to rev her image up as an actress. And there's Aditya Pancholi too, the so-called Godfather in this movie with the qualities of none. Imagine Godfather speaking like a buffoon about printing cards and all! Or having a very dull entry with an overly blackened suit to hide the image. Do Godfathers move around with girls all the time while they are into something important working? Well, Race 2 makes you believe that so.

How did we forget about Anil Kapoor, the bare-body-artist who can make even Salman Khan shiver? Check that scene where he gets intimate with Ameesha. You'll know why I don't dare to explain. Deepika's entry was raunchy, makes you think who tore her dress off for her to get out of the helicopter. She does similar acting, like that Marathi-toned speech being a multi-billionaire heiress living somewhere outside India or showing some skin. And there's the imported item, Miss Srilankan-so-called-actress, Jacqueline Fernandez. Somebody please tell her to speak properly and change her dubbing person. It looks like I'm seeing Murder series within an action-comedy. She's got no looks, no action, like a wax model. So overall, actresses stand out as not even mere eye-candies like the South Indian counterparts.

Let's come to the main starcast, John Abraham and Saif Ali Khan. You'd want to know, right from the first scene why John avenges out on Saif, but the dumb suspense is taken till the end where in he reveals why. And that too, in a single line that he loved the manly-Bipasha before Saif took over. Sort of real-life-turned-reel plot, I say. His body has made his face look saggy, he shouts way above his girly voice and fights worse than Balakrishna. And then, there's Saifu, Kareena's Saifu. In order to portray him being the hero, God knows why he accepts such a loose plot. He jumps off rocky buildings and not even a scratch appears on his body! For christ's sake, even James Bond faces injuries but not our Ranveer. He can think faster than the computer and manages to jeopardize his villians better than Jason Bourne. Owing to this movie's prequel, he was the only hope of expectation and he sometimes, delivers.

A small token of condolences to Abbas-Mustan's direction as well, a feat I admired during the Baazigar days. It's surprising to see what happened to them to sketch this plot loosely compared to it's predecessor and hover it around.

Overall, I wanted to spend my Sunday happily and now, this blogpost will be the reason why it went haywire.

Cheers!

Quickie Vacation

I must be out of my mind. Seriously! For the fact of putting up a post immediately after one published a day earlier. Or maybe, I've nothing else to do apart from thinking bad English and putting up nonsense here as always.

And this repeats to the vacation that lasted. For Ten. Full. Days.
Yes! A vacation that never seemed to cease until the D-Day arrived. Which is today, the 12th of February.

Sometimes 12th of February reminds me of a school friend. He used to dress up in some colorful shirt with red, white and violet flowers all over and a simple khaki pants to cover it up. And some sneakers not to forget, the ultimate pleasure in skipping shoes for one single day. And his torn bag was filled with books and one small tiffin box, which used to have some awesome "Mango Bite" candies to be shared with. The entire classroom used to wait for those candies and everyone was poking the teacher to begin the birthday song. Even the teachers were a little greedy, for they used to get higher numbers, three to be exact, compared to one per kid in the class. And thus, began the royal red carpet welcome for our boy and the entire class used to stand up and began.

"Happy Birthday to You!..."

It feels ridiculous to sing that song now. Many do the same thing, reasons unknown. Must be shyness, or feeling childish for a flicker or just pla8in attitude. I don't know. I just sing but NOT in the eyes of the celebrity of that day. I really don't know. Coming back, after wishing the boy starts to share his "toffees" to the class as mentioned, one per kid. The entire box was offered but we were allowed to pick up only one from the lot. Sometimes, I felt like snatching the tin box itself but feared, reasons again, unknown.

Just after this thought, came the thought of that flight which I feel, to never take. To always sit around, lazying like a lion, eating heartily at others' cost. Let's not get into life, as one pal lectures about. I know, I need to be serious at times and that return ticket reminds me just of that which I'm happy about. But, let's summarize what I did.

Beginning with family, embracing them in that chilly weather, began the day I arrived. And then, began series of meetings with friends and some food to binge upon. And er.. a party to finish them all only at the unwilling acceptance to celebrate. And, not a single day did I work!

And thus, that time comes when the question returns, "So, when're you coming back next time?" for which has no answer until I catch that flight again..

See you in Singapore!

An Edit: On the way to Singapore..

I can't spare a new post for this. So, stuffing this here itself. Flying by the classy, Singapore Airlines for the first time sure gives a bit of jitters as the crowd around, be it that Indian fellow in his shorts with his beautiful looking wife/girlfriend beside or that whitey guy who just cribs about service. It was just a classy flight, with lush interiors, ample leg room and a host of menu options. Switching from a budget airlines to such is quite a transition and I hope it just doesn't make me addicted to.

Only problem is, you have far less time to sleep after appreciating the courtesy, which took nearly half of the journey's time.

Research-based Coding: The side of a developer.

The full-time developer, separates himself from the professional software industry and lands up in an university to code and explore. This is an experience to look forward to for the developer himself, in times of trouble and motivation. And it started to rain.

Okay. Let me summarize like my old History teacher way back in school, the Paayint system. Means to write in bullet points. As if making a presentation for every stupid answer like how Babur attacked India and Akbar was crowned the King later on. Imagine. In points! I'm sure, even the Din-i-ilahi would laugh his way out at this strategy to earn marks.

Okay. I use a lot of Okays. A way to focus from the randomness. Irritating, right? Just cannot escape from this gibberish as the work involves a lot of randomness too. You're being assigned to design the next big thing and all that you have is a stupid laptop running Linux on it.

Okay, okay, I know. Linux is my favorite too. In fact, most of the developers' favorites as per studies which I haven't encountered any. Hooked into Ubuntu and that's it. You feel as if you're controlling NASA's satellites with that `printf ` code all the time. And then come in some SDKs, a constant running batch job, some emulators to see how your dumb code appears and voila! It starts to work, only to the dismay of the personnel and disappointment at that dull design of yours.

This is the basic problem in a research-based coding arena. DESIGN! And better that be bloody quick and  attractive! You've to use the `latest` technologies to put more weight in your work which itself, takes days for you to sink in as you don't have any mentor to ask for some sample code. And then, go through that stupid "Hello, World!" fonts every time, feel proud of achieving this, and then go blank for the actual work all over. Rinse and repeat for other technologies. Bleh.

And this doesn't stop at that. Deadlines become so tight that you're constantly feeling of missing your train every minute you finish. Or like a rope being tightened at every extra line of code. And once you finish, the requirement changes. Rope loosens and a new train appears. The loop runs. Again.

But, a good thing also comes up in between. Of the all nuisances and mental stress, you somewhere find freedom. Freedom to be yourself. Freedom to code yourself. Freedom to get credit for the work. Freedom to build your resume the way you wanted. Freedom to go to the restroom. Freedom to eat for twenty minutes and fifteen seconds only. Freedom to stay after everybody else departs. Of course, in between as mentioned already. Just before reality strikes. In the morning when you er.. open your eyes and hurry to the bathroom for a refresh to get back to the lab.

Alright. No technical words used apart from Linux, Ubuntu, emulators and so on. So, thank you for ignoring them if you haven't pointed already. You know what I mean. It is against company policies, you know!

See? I just can't manage the Paayint system and use to fail miserably at History for this very fact in spite of it being a `naice` subject. 

Rain was about to pour, bloody earth smell is hovering only. Saturn, I tell you.

Long time no post, so this.

Bye.

Updating interests

Some days back, a friend of mine told me of being closet in nature. I don't blame him for the reason being that it was true to it's slight context. By slight, I mean to say that I've not exposed myself to such varied topics of things that can affect me, though not mentally, but yes, as a person and an individual.

So, here goes. I have now began my expedition of exploring topics. Topics which could be generic in nature, technical in preference and personal in words. And can do share some, otherwise, being the forgetting nature off late these days, owing to the phenomenal information and people and things around, I forget the very ideas that spurt out of application of them lest not this. Most of the things are accidental by nature, some are a result of the social networking that I do the most and a little by people.

One of those happens to be imperative and investigative journalism. On a dull Sunday morning, while going through the updates of the world, I happen to crash around a veteran journalist, Mrs. Madhu Trehan. A founder member of the reverent India Today group and a sensational reporter of the epic oldie Newstrack, she was exposing the way people do journalism these days unlike the "pure" ones which we used to see when we were kids. Now, let's keep the definition of pure out of this post else, it would go in a way that you might skip the very essence.

Second comes the technical updates that go around the world. Be it yCombinator's Hacker News, Google Feeds or Slashdot as per recommendations, I was dumbstruck with the flow of technology in every person on this planet. Every thing you need for your line of work, is available. Well, almost. The way to learn new languages, testing features, working on new components and flavors is an awesome experience in itself owing to such constant, nagging-though-beautiful updates. Oh, and Cloud Computing has bitten me too. So, I do follow it, quite seriously - if you mean, I can sit and open a VM right now and start building a virtual cloud system on it just to test how it works!

Thirdly, and I fall in and out of this again and again is the beautiful world of Cryptography and the science of hacking. I mean, you should be a true applicationist, as I'd say if you can tweak things and work around established setups. It shakes the very meaning of them and a sense of satisfaction within. There are some phenomenal people out there who make you look like a sissy when it comes to the mind that should work. They start, when we stop. And this is just the beginning of the study. The topics would be known when I explore more.

And lastly, our news. I mean, the things ongoing in my country. Be it the corruption charges, the anti-corruption movement and the likes, I feel like following it quite for sometime and build up a knowledge base before I can begin to even argue on that for a minute.

Er.. Books. They remain where they need to. Bedtime reading or company during transit. More might be in the pipeline.

Happy researching!

Just another post

Now, if I say that again and again that it is a personal phase that I'm writing about every time, you might want to stop reading this. As this is what is going on currently apart from Twitter, Gmail and movies-on-loop.

But, anyway, let's continue. As I don't want to start a new argument of my existential phase and the reason of me giving lecture each and every moment. I told you, I could be a professor someday. Looks like that phase is somewhat approaching nearer.

Wondering how? I was perplexed myself too when I got a call from a Professor who was looking for Engineers in the line of research he was going into. Strange as it may seem as of how did I manage, considering the pathetic, bare minimum clearance of academics in my post-graduation, a hell lot of other activities which weren't helpful for my benefit and the tons of distractions on campus.

So, without thinking of anything else, as the phase of job search was going through extreme vigour, the interview stage was set. The decider came in, took a look at my created mess, admired and cleared, only to find, after a couple of days, a mail in the inbox approving his selection.

Man! If you taste success after a painful, continuous, wanting-to-end type of stress, your hands starts to tremble. Your body begins to ache all of a sudden and the eyes water out in a jiffy. You tend to call all your near and dear ones to share the happiness. You tend to forget what went through and what you achieved.You suddenly realize all that is around is meaningless and immaterial to the inner soul of penance that it gives which can turn out to be the most superior of all forces...

Bah. The above few lines were exaggerate, just like you tend to feel when you watch a South Indian movie dialogue marathon. Anyway, lets continue. The job line would be different, so as to what people are saying, but as long as it gives me food, I won't mind. When you live in an expensive country like Singapore, all you need is money to feed yourself and money to pay for some place to stay peacefully.

I don't know what I scribbled, just wanted to keep this blog alive for September as there were no posts and it was feeling lonely.

Okay. Bye.

A marathon of.. hope

I thought of deviating from my personal boring posts but the sole motivation to turn up for a blog was the same and thus, I take back my words. Let us jump to a new topic, hope.

Hope is a bitch. A true bitch. For it gives us an emotion to hold on to the things we do and a faith invisible in behavior. It gives us the motivation to hang in there and the zeal to persevere. The ability to accept hardships and willingness to meet boredom. But, hope cannot make us achieve results. It can only give us a hand on the shoulder to keep trying and surge ahead.

After the grueling 2011, with a new environment and a new study regime picked up amidst the brainy of the lot and the slogging junta, I braced myself for 2012. The year of anticipation of a new hope and a new life amid a new place. Again.

And it gave me exactly the way I had expected - the worst of problems, the best of moments, new habits, wonderful people and a beautiful life. I won't exaggerate on the problems here but there are lessons to be learned which I could share.

"Always account for variable change." A mantra for your ongoing expeditions. Some have the ability to plan and execute and some move as per the tide flow. My experience - have a mix of both. You're subject to a thing called "experience" which is nothing but your own mistakes amid your planning and the changing circumstances.

"Focus on the thing in hand." They just say this. I'll complete the remaining, "And don't care about anything else." Bring that stupid mind in line, no matter what. Whether you hate it or disgrace the notion. You have to focus and let go of everything else.

"Decide." Yes, the most common mistake that we falter on. You have to decide on what you pick, whom you choose and where you want to go. And never look back. You will realize it's beauty. Maybe not in quick succession, but in sometime for sure.

"Motivation is bullshit." True to it's word. You don't need to be motivated. Simple as that! You know what you're doing and that should be enough for you to get you out of the bed at 4 in the morning or make you slog for 20 hours a day rigorously for any time you have in hand. Motivation is for nobody. It is good to hear such lines but tough to follow them.

"Be patient." The word has an immense weight under it. Patience is not something that you get out of the blue. It develops. Through peers, activities, experiences and drawbacks.

"Believe in luck." You have to! When you give in your full strength and are not able to make it, then leave it to work on it's own. You can see the outcomes of it gradually.

"Learn." Yes, a simple thing to say but has far reaching effects. Learn to code. Learn to fail. Learn to embrace. Learn to hug. Learn to talk. Learn to eat. Learn to connect. Learn to quit. Learn to experiment. Learn to do it yourself.

"Be selective." There shall be people and things that you're not comfortable with. Ditch them. Period! It's okay to have some enemies than cribbing behind. After all, we're human.

"Propagate gratitude." Most of us fail to do this. Tell yourself how lucky you are. Tell your employer how lucky you are. Help some people with the corrections you made. Tell your other half how much you care for. There is never a beautiful thing than being grateful to someone. You cannot do it all alone, for Christ's sake!

And all of the above, come from one single factor, hope. With a dream and the faith that you could turn your imagination into reality.

Okay, enough of the lecture. I stop here. As these are some of the things I came to know in some layers. It started with hope but ended up as an advice.

Bah! I could be a professor someday!

Victory Parade

Ah! So finally, the results are out, one day before my birthday so that it could either be the cause to concern or the reason to rejoice. I slept off late, thinking about the same the day before, hoping for a good one. And then it arrived! And then came, a flickering moment of the entire tenure of what went through.

To summarize the journey, it was more of an actual roller-coaster ride. The downs began as soon as I choose subjects in my first semester seeing the "trends", which I saw in my under-graduate course. Unaware of the coursework load in the form of assignments and the constant nagging of mini-projects on top of them, it was surely one semester, that I'd dread for my life. The examinations were surprising, easy to judge them but difficult to be graded upon. The competition around, from the fellow countrymen was so intense, it literally pushed me to the back seat, handing my first acceptance of failure.

I never admitted this anywhere else, but here goes. I flunked in my first semester with an "Academic Warning" notice slapped onto my face. It was the most embarrassing, irritating and the stupidest mistake I had ever done in my life. Without any consultations or building up networks and peers, I just jumped in, thinking that I'd sail through but things weren't bright and shallow from their ends. Drowning, drowning and drowning, I then went into console mood to everybody else, saying, it was just a warning and they shouldn't be worried about it. I was even planning to give up studies owing to the huge involvement of the loans and I didn't wanted to spend one extra penny if I behaved like this. The vacation time post the results was a dreaded one, at least for a week to the most as the effect had to be sulked in. When I admitted that I made a mistake, it felt better and then decided to come over and continue studies with a challenge.

Continuing my journey, it wasn't an easy one. Many people were doing projects even after they had a brilliant exposure to the industry, hoping to get some reference from professors for their next jobs in Singapore. But not me. I was focused to clear my "backlogs" and didn't even think of that option as it was riskier and time consuming. Riskier, for you're depending on them for your grade upgrades and time consuming as they gobble up much of your time neglecting your other chosen subjects. With this focus, I literally sat studying in the spare time I used to get, whenever I came over to college in the mornings. A brief glance through the modules was all that was required. But the interesting part came into my world during this period. It was the brilliance of Computing and it's profound effects on the human mankind. With some peers actively being into this, it radiated like a star's twilight. And then, began the tryst of exploration since it connected to the same field where I was working before. With a lot of other simultaneous reading of books and improving my lingo, I sailed till the exam duration.

I came out victorious, clearing my warning "modules" with a vengeance. Not only I cleared them, I surprised myself for the results that came out, exceeding my expectations. And then, the final semester arrived. I mixed bag of modules, ranging from relevant subject courses to irrelevant financial matters, I took them all. The dedication was the same like the previous one but the results disappointed me. It was truly a mixed bag, unable to react and wonder simultaneously. But nevertheless, happy for the course to finish. With some additional "projects" under my belt. Self-motivated and passionate towards Computing now. A graduate certificate now awaits in the month of July, which would be quietly taken and sneaked out. I wished it'd be more value for the money involved but anyway.

The post is not for the journey I took and the boring story it lies with. It is about the experience that taught me a load of things on the personal upfront rather than the academic phase of it. To begin with, I became more calmer towards people, accepted failures and took up challenges being practical and realistic. I even came to a decision which would be my source of income for the next ten years at the least. I even decided  the stream of expertise I wanted to be in. Started to learn on my own - some technologies and some habits, came across some fantastic sources of learning otherwise, became more disciplined and organized, took more responsibilities and became stronger towards handling emotional bonds. Became more dedicated, a trend I never saw in my life, worked for 17 hours per day for a period of two months without any weekend offs. I even became more of a stalking person in the career front, admitting the fact that, it is you, and only you who is concerned about yourself. It would be idiotic if you expect it apart from yourself. I even started to judge people, stayed away from the ones I didn't like, cut down on nagging and fake people and came to know more about their cunning intentions rather than the fake generosity. I made mistakes, a load of them, but without any regrets to any as they were my choices and I myself had to blame for them.

Special thanks to everyone who was connected to me in real or in virtual world, for if you weren't there, this post wouldn't have come. And Happy Birthday to me!

Sob. Sob. ;-)

Fakeness Personified

In the few months that went by, apart from getting exposed to the fantastic world of Computing via some Google Groups and Social networks, I happen to see one interesting trait. Of the very old falseness of the people around. Too loud, yet hollow. Too big, yet too small in stature. Too much of attitude, but plain dumb luck otherwise.

Of all the people I see around, I don't know why but this random fakes try to dish out every possible platter on your menu. Everything you need. or don't need to. Or just try to be in your lines for the sake of it. I mean, how can you act in a way, that is not yourself?

What triggers them might be, is the quest of finding people with qualities that they can only now dream of. Of the things that might look interesting enough, but end up as a plain dumb episode with ad breaks and no content. By God's *grace*, I came across many such groups around and I should be thanking everyone of them, from whom, I stay away from.

Take the simple example case of that lousy couple who might be the next Curie thing on this earth. (Oh, for those who don't know, the Curie couple have won a Nobel for their invention. Link found here - "One rare couple". ). Their intelligence wasn't matching the level of arrogance. To add to this concern was to shout out loud voices and irritating behavior which can even make a dead man alive. Oh, not to forget, the obnoxious feeling they used to get when they don't feel like talking to one is but sure, a demeaning feature.

Or another example of a group, which I met accidentally by chance. Or rather, from a fake fellow. Once he sees a cute girl, he makes it a point to just shove his ass off to them and dance with his body, naked, if demanded. No doubt in being funny, but expecting the other party to be one too and then ditching them just because they weren't your "types" isn't cool.

Or the recent one, for example. This has to be described in detail. A lean, short kid who has interests in football and nothing else starts building up fake attitude when he sees his fellowmen. The same fellow, who is pretty normal with his egoistic speeches and childishness around, suddenly becomes a monster of falsehood. Of the similar types though! Ranting about stuff is okay, but humiliating someone in front of others is just a plain "wannabe". Just that. What worse can it get? Ignoring once or twice could be nice, but repeating the same trait is mere stupidity. A counter-answer? It should be taunted back in straight lines. Else, the advantages keep coming in and escalating.

Whoa! I should thank Singapore for introducing me such dumbfucks as this is one phase of people, I didn't meet with. And the smartness of ignoring them is the best thing that you could do. To yourself. To yourself. And only, to yourself.

A counselled consulting

Let me begin with a story. A new kind of a story. It isn't a pointed story but a generic one and a lesson to learn from. And here goes.

"... I should curse myself for that thinking. The very same thinking of applying for a job posting in some dumb website. After applying and unaware of having submitted one, I get a call from some consultant who doesn't has his own website and says that he is looking for people interested in the technology I was looking for and thus, I ended up mailing my resume. The voice was quite eased, casual in tone and extremely friendly at the beginning, just like you enter into a 5-star restaurant and the waiter/bill man greets with a smile and you're unaware of the price list shock thereafter. And so, believing the tone and the confidence he invoked, I blindly mailed. An experienced profile, who has seen a bit of professionalism and an etiquette of high standards and manners. Being the global company I worked in, those teachings should be praised as they taught me how to behave with customers and people in a very friendly and calm manner. Now I hope this converts into a "resume" of a professional and if it hasn't please tell me so that I could change it back to "Curriculum Vitae" ~ a tag used for freshly passed out job seekers, or basically, inexperienced candidates.

Getting back, this same consultant shoots back about the salary needs and the amount of interest to work. The pressure that was put in that two-minute call was so immense as if I was sanctioning the next financial policy of a country and I don't know the after effects of it; to the fact that I'd be held responsible for the drastic effects oozing out. I was completely oblivious to the fact about how the job consulting industry works in a country away from mine and was quite new to such experiences since my work was in a single organization and I was not looking for any opportunities elsewhere. Henceforth, I agreed to his terms and got my scheduled appointment of interview. But now, things got haywire. I forget to wake up due to extreme exhaustion on the previous day and the location to be met was a place which takes a minimum of two full hours of journey time. And now, this fellow calls up and starts abusing about my unprofessional behavior. I admitted that it was my mistake, which it truly was, but just as I wanted to inform this person, his abuses became intolerable.

This fellow now starts getting personal, gets on to my upbringing and his occurrence of things extremely personal which, no one actually never listens but to curse my circumstances, I had to, after cooling him down and telling him not to repeat them. I quickly apologized, called the company's HR, rescheduled my interview time and had a discussion with them. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised about the way they treated me and was equally sad for the language, this consultant spoke in. Being a consultant itself proves that you want to live life on your own but one cannot buy the fact that you get the authority of abusing people who are actually standing on their little fingers just to bag the job and somehow, control their personal commitments. I admit that it was my mistake and apologized but the way of abusing itself proves who is professional here.

Now, more things have happened. After the interview, I call up this fellow and he calmly says that he would get back to me after checking with the company people. His answers were quite trustworthy but I couldn't take them as I'd seen people back home not responding professionally if rejected or anything of the matter. Curious of the fact, I called up the company to know my status. They inform me to check with my "agent" and would be in touch with him. This agent now comes to know about this and blasts again with a full-on lecture about the company culture and what not. Being the most professional in my company and having no such complaints ever in my life, this was like a taken-aback statement.

Since, I wanted a higher salary, I hinted him about my other ongoing job interviews and the confidence I had from them. Now, this fellow comes back with another pressure to choose between me and another candidate who is ready to work even for free. What should I do now? Cancel the ongoing process or budge to his demands and admit that I'm ready to work for any offered salary?"

The story appears quite visible to you. Isn't it? Especially for people who're unknown of such experiences. Also, there might a high probability that it would've happened to anyone around. Looks like our story fellow is quite an adventurous person who takes risks, learns mistakes and then mends them and finally, moves on. So, going further, some points for people who are striving for jobs via consultants:

1. Be frank. They are linkers to the companies and can put in their own voice of opinion into your profile as the company people believe them more. So, better have an honest appearance.

2. They are powerful enough. Especially the senior cadre. Never mess with them. Never! You'll learn your lesson quite hard in that if you attempt to risk.

3. They know the job market. So you either seek advice from them if no one appears in your circles or if you do not know how the system works if this is your first job. After a few inputs and ideas, you're on your own. No one will guide you after. Not even your instinct!

4. Be polite to them even though you don't like the behavior from their side. Yes! They are quite expecting, more than the companies themselves, so you better buck up in this regard.

5. They sometimes pressurize you quite hard to take a decision. It's your call to sound it professional, rather to say a Yes/No or just get onto the learning wagon and getting the chapter tougher.

6. Never treat them as your friend. Never! They are chains after all, giving you a job opportunity thereby connecting people. It'd be foolish on your part to assume friendliness and a lopsided attitude towards you.

7. Don't tell them hazy scenarios. This one will take your breath for a moment if you're not aware of them as this post stands mainly on this fact. They might assume on their part, but not from your side, as they have a job position to close and thousands would be applying for them. And they assume things very randomly, so you better be clear of your objectives.

8. Keep your salary expectations either in market range and confirm your attendance if you don't want to reveal or tell them a straight figure. Period. It was stupid on the storyteller's behalf that he assumed the company would offer him in a way based on experience. After all, you want a job for yourself and the bottom-line is to earn money. It is okay if you don't get further than getting into an argument with your consultant to "flex" options.

9. "Even though you might smell good now, after two hours people might come towards you and give a nasty look based on your sweaty shirt. Be aware of this minor fact" - as told by the protagonist, the consultant.

10. Be ready for big lectures if the consultant is in a very senior position. About company cultures and perfumed footwear. You might not buy this even though you're right in your attire and attitude but your circumstances are not that green enough for you to argue.

11. The consultant is your single point of contact. That's it! Never dare to call the company people even if you left your laptop during the interview in their meeting rooms or anything you need from them to be responded. Everything has to go through this contact. Every little information! The consultants are professionals, so rest assured, you will be informed of any outcomes.

12. You'll have an upper hand if your experience is *relevant* to the position applied. Only then the salary payment shoots up. Just because you've experience/exposure to that industry doesn't mean that you can be tagged similar to the ones who've worked in those fields in the same duration as you've worked for. They stand an upper hand, for obvious reasons.

13. Never speak about your offers unless you have hard copies of their conformance. This is the most trickiest part while negotiating salaries as the ball is in your court and you have the full authority to swing if you've been found as a valid candidate. Otherwise, shut your mouth, literally and accept what he says and think it over, if negotiations are in progress. Never give the chance to snatch the ball and make yourself suffer for your expectations.

14. To end this, demand what you feel. Only if, you've done the interviews right and you know you'd be called for an offer discussion. Just that, demand. It's their headache to communicate to the companies whether they'll buy this or not. Not yours. Don't worry about your image. Nobody else cares either.

Apart from those basic points, remember one simple thing. Always. "If the consultant is rude/abusive and is unprofessional, irrelevant to his seniority or whatever, and he demands the exact opposite of it, then he is not worth of your precious time. Period." Move on. There are more to help you out.

So, there you have it. Be professional, be honest and earn in buckets!
Cheers!!

P.S: The story is entirely hypothetical. Any such incidents or occurrences in real life are meant to be understood as pure co-incidence and not connected in any format or part whatsoever.

P.P.S: I don't care whom if it would've referred to in real. If yes, then read the points and get a life! 

Receding Line

Wow! Is what plainly describes the new exoneration. The new inscribe. A feeling of a hidden despair vanishing in a flash. And what a change, it has brought in too.

After a medication advice from a practitioner, it felt like going under the knife. The receding line was clearly visible and was nearly total when a recent intimation happened. Perplexed by the ugly getup it portrayed, hurrying through the buses and ending up at a salon.

The salon was quite exquisite. With leather-cushioned seats, adjustable heights and a kit load of accessories to operate with. And hosts, uncountable. Spikes- for the men and women alike, it looked like a shrub with no grass cut ever in its tenure. White makeups, scissors in their pockets and a black robe to cover the dirt that sprayed onto them with a welcome message splashed. It was luxurious for the air-conditioning service pre-installed in the salon and on the customer's pocket. Beams of drying equipment, trimmers and cash counters blocked the paths. All of a sudden, a lady bangs open the door and orders me to sit on the decorated chairs. Like a stuffed goat, ready to be axed.

Innocent me, obeyed as ordered. And then zip-zap-zoom! Two clothes of towels quickly engulfed the chest. And a coat for the same dirt to fall on. I had an intention this time. To cover up the receding line as well as show it up in a cult fashion. And then came up the trimmer onto my head. Of course, before the custom of asking the style that you need. Which, at first instance, I didn't know about.

The line started to disappear and emerged a partly flashy skin, ridiculous with the companions around. Not withstanding the stupid look, I suggested her to continue trimming it up and closed my eyes. After three rounds of the electronic instrument over the head, it finally stopped. I opened my eyes after the weird look and found to my surprise, a neat and clean head, not to worry about. Not to doubt on. Happy on the choice made. And a emergence of attitude.

Posting a snapshot of the new look, I amazed myself more. With the global acceptance and likable feature, I swelled up more with pride. With a paltry sum charged amid wonders.

Inspire

The 50th post had to be special. For an incident to be shared that cannot be forgotten. Or not made to. An oasis in a mirage of hopes and thoughts in a desert of laid back human resources.

On my visit to a career fair in my university, I was eager to catch a glimpse of the new companies that had few to work, but tons of it. No biasing here. But the MNC stalls just didn't make me interested. After catching few persons of this nature of work and their demand, I was caught in attention by a tall, white, half-bald person who was with a MacBook and a stool as his stall. He had this gleam of passion in his eyes and the body language was just supporting it. Dressed in casual shirt and jeans, he then began his short speech. Err.. Introduction, I mean.

He was the Chief Technology Officer of the company that he was campaigning for and had flew all the way to Singapore from the US. Just to meet passionate people. Just that! Other stalls were of the regular nature of asking your technical skills and the monotonous nonsense which wasn't worth for.

But not this fellow. He was of the opinion that as long as you want to grow as a developer, technical skills doesn't matter. Be it Ruby, Java or Python. A beginner, novice or an expert. Related or unrelated to the nature of work. As long as you know what it takes to remain as a developer. The study, rigorous practice and explorations that cannot be imagined. He had this unique feature to convince people through the style of work he has done and that simple thing of saying a lot but in a completely jovial manner.

The person's name? Andy Croll. Of ImpulseFlyer. Check out the website to know what I was portraying. What made me his fan was this post. A recommended read. Share and be inspired! And yes, do read his other posts. You might just be on the verge of joining him one day.

Starting Worries

In the recent times, I'm seeing a saturation of vividness in the new age, bored, dull and enthusiastic cult trying to re-define themselves. Of getting out of the race. Of being themselves in another avatar. Living the way they want to in.

Consider a bunch of employees. Their objective was simple. To work in a way and a style they desired. Side effects of the college life of freedom. But then, pops up frustrations for the reason of the new "being" into existence. One, for the way people dress. Trying to change this in multi-nationals won't work. For the strict "Dress Code" being stamped. Of the 4-day formals and last-day casual get ups. With no round necks. And "No revealing legs, please. It is against company norms!", tags and comments.

Dress isn't an only factor of boredom. The managers' woes, of finishing the "task in hand" hounds like a ghost. Come whatever may. Even if you have a suffering mother. Or visiting a paralyzed relative. Or to a friend who met with an accident. Or to a neighbour's wedding reception. "Finish the work and go. You can come in office late tomorrow". Yeah. When all the expectations die. When we have nothing else apart from the remorseful feeling of excuse when needed. For a work, tiny to flash, later to become a time-waster. With no rewards of it, either. Or to another instance of shouting that you are incompetent so that the entire office floor looks to you in an awful position wondering, "Poor Guy. His manager is so cold.". And leaving it just at that.

So what next? "To stop the train, pull the chain." Looking at the scornful situation, the resignations pour in. With managers wondering. Onsite offers popping in. Promotions being promised in. And a nice dinner to end the day hoping the fellow takes his letter back. An image which you feel proud of regaining your importance, unaware of the heinous objective behind. Of showcasing talent retention skills. Of the project concerned in focus of the "client". Of selfish "growth" desires to land up in a bigger car or an apartment with a chauffeur attached. A wish that only such privileged have. Or believe to.

And when nothing works out, "The company would love you to take you back", would be the final statement. As if showing concern till you get out. Before that termination letter hands in. After the pre-last day - post-resignation day slogging that you put in verge of a better world. Before the early exit pay cuts and a negligible gratuity fund. Bah! I'm sure they would think, "Thank goodness!" when the answer would be "My goodness!".

The people, who know their self-worth, would then make it a point of avenging their negligence in the society. The danger belt. Of mirage thinking. Spiced with media hoopla. Topped with false confidence. Guts. And a fake passion for dessert. Voila! There, springs up the idea of a new company. In a way. Most of us wouldn't want to work under someone, although we would like someone working for us. Be it in a thousand foot-held campus or in a garage of one single computer! Ironical. Not to forget, the status factor. Of having the number of companies that we ventured. Or started. Or partnered in. Or attempted. Or attempting. With raising people's eyebrows. And images in girls' hearts. And the welfare of society.

Now, the company is laid to stone. And should now, pour in the business. Money, in short. Floundering around the same customers who they worked for in office sometime back, or for newer "smaller" ones so that the firm floats, be it working even for a shop owner who struggles in a rented box. And charging rates that look competitive. In the context of big corporations' loots.

Amidst all this, one wonders. Of the number. Of customers. Payers. Buyers. Sellers. Borrowers. Business. Clients appearing from Mogadishu. Or from a ditch. Or the confidence of people who know nothing of the risks involved. And money. In short.

Everyday, 2-3 new firms emerge out for businesses in every storeroom of every country. Either of the traditional nature or unheard variety. Are we seeing a saturation in the customer count? Or in starting up? Or are we yet to see a new bubble. The start-up bubble. To burst all over? Or are we coming to a stage where in, you are ready to serve but unable to acknowledge the service.

Companionship

Ahh. Of all the worldly peace that we seek into, this would surely come as a bliss. A close pal talks. And then chimes in the beauty of the psychic touch. The sheer meander fading away. And you enter a phase of happiness with an exoneration.
 
The simple conversations that lead into the sluggish day are aplenty. For the most, of not being any worth of. Some take away your time, some your peace and some give them back. And such moments would be re-winded. Always. Every time.

The chattering can be of any variety. In the form of talk, face or touch. That innate ability to take things into their stride. Of being comfortable to the person conversing with. Subsiding the feeling of having a companion.

Most of the talk would be worthless to speak about. It usually begins from who is paired up with which celebrity ending up with which all TV series to watch out for. The filmy kingdom is all the ones in between that remain. With some personal clutters. For another instance, it would be venting out his/her boss's constant pesters and for some, the chick/guy sitting in the last corner of the floor who is gorgeous. Or handsome. Or whatever.

After a petty fight over an electronic instrument, I broke up with my sister for some time. Which I regret myself. During the later days, it was just to converse formally with the "Hi, how are you?" syndromes. When loneliness and extreme supervisions sulk in, you tend to yearn for a partner to share yourself with. And that happened on a dark, rainy day. Amid a full stomach and eyes, partly closed.

A ping came in my messenger to "Come on Skype". All of a sudden. I followed the instructions blindly. And then I saw her. Her solitude. Evident on her face. With no one to talk to. And a constant work schedule on top. Making herself busy to forget everything around had made her down even more. And then she saw me. And then came in a glitter of smiles. Of the thought of regaining back. Her partner. Her friend. Her lone companion. Hesitant at first, then opening up to her real self. Of being shuddered. And then springing out of the lone darkness.

The rantings began. A five minute talk ended up in a 2 hour marathon. Content being unmentionable and unregistered. As we talk everything under the sun. Except for our lines of work. For them being the black holes of energy. For them being the point of taking a recess.

There was a special event that was also being shared. And a little pride permeated. For the intelligent observations found out. For gifting some special persons, with things unheard of.

Proud of my sister! For being the smarter kid of the two. And talkative of the two. Being the shoulder to smile on.

Silhouetted Routines

Off late, I've been addicted to reading. Not to books. They are always at bay when it comes to opening up my laptop. For them being the lone companion which they excel at.

But my reading refers to the internet. The various links posted by people on their profiles. Facebook. Twitter. G+. Blogger. Reader. Reddit. You name it! And it all reasons to the level of following patterns that you have.

Whom do we follow? Typically the ones whom we can identify ourselves..

With tastes.
With likes.
With interests.
With thoughts.
With ideas.
With passions.
With habits.
With behaviours.

Argh! We do. Even if we don't admit.

And how do we follow? Via the virtual world of invisible people, myriad junkies and connected digital networks.

Alright. So now, we have a list. A list of people who we believe, can be a mirror image of ourselves. And so pours in the various idiosyncrasies of opinions, news and views. Tons of people. And thus, tons of views. Tons of thoughts. Tons of blogs. Tons of styles. All of them sounding sensible. And you start pondering over the clock on your desktop toolbar wondering when the heck did it jump so fast.

You must be getting an idea of what am I talking about. If no, then re-read this from above to follow completely. It just shows that you've got insaner by the day.

Going further on the mayhem, take Facebook for example. Till the stupid videos and photos appeared, it looked dumb. And now, after customizing them to filter them out and show only reading links, the reading loop repeats!

Oblivious to the fact that the workload increases exponentially. Yes! Once the links are out on your browser, the urge to read them till the final full stop never ceases and then yapping over to social sites to check if your views matched with others. Beating round the bush, again!

And nowadays, weekends end up just scanning these all the way, leading to loss of sleep time and the lovely television boredom movies which you ritualized since you grew up. And we all wonder why Mondays appeared sooner!

And now follows the usurping advice.

1. Curb down dailies and news sites: They gobble up on much of the energy making you to think and start a small debate on some groups and forums leading to a conclusion which, you could only synchronize with. Tons of current affairs happen and you have quite a very large set unless you choose smartly.

2. Tech Forums: These are the nastier lot. Most of the tech punks are out there just to make news out of every crap they incur after exercising their brains. Who cares if you need a button on your mobile that can post links to sites which you are not even bothered looking at! Anything that is significant in your line of work that could be beneficial is a smarter choice!

3. Link posters: Another bunch of time wasters. I'm unable to imagine the time they get to sit, read patiently amid their daily chores and seek for a review! You start to feel laid back by such with the knowledge they possess. Fact is, ignore them. It isn't worth the price of your time.

To conclude, read when you have nothing in the world to do. Better to shed when you have some prior goals set. And dedicate some time onto them.

The links shall appear whenever you continue to track your statuses.

Whenever. 

Dum Dum.


PS: I just read The God of Small things by Arundhati Roy. And so the inspiration.

Napping power

A long day and a load of tasks to do. You get up early in the morning, do the chores and then set out. One task after another, you keep on doing them but at one point, the brain gives up. Only then you realize that you need a break. That is when the power nap comes in as a remedy.

For my regular habit of dozing for three hours in the afternoon siesta, this came as a handy tool to refresh. The mind is so much preoccupied with the list, that you forget that you need a pause. And to top the tasks would be a lecture not to be afforded to miss, for the tiny things that are missed out in slides which come handy during examination and some of your job interviews, that is when the brain tries to doze if the lecture isn't going interesting. You have to stay awake, else someone would take note of the points and zooms ahead of you. That is when the power nap comes in as a remedy.

The same thing happened to me yesterday. With my regular 12 hour day job, I had a good sleep the night before. After a long morning of reading blogs and studying notes of the earlier lectures, lunch awaited. Resuming after, I hurried to the library to borrow some recommended books for learning passion, being the reader in me to keep up my newly found habit. Checking the regular NewsFeed on my Facebook and trying to dive into the concepts of Android development, I surged. With such constant inputs all the time, the mind slows to reciprocate. If we try to continue, you tend to skip some few important things in hand. So, I thought of trying a short nap to see the enormous power that it brings in, having read many articles on the same.

Napping eases out the tensions just like reading a book, only that the mind thinks of nothing else. The only criteria of such a nap is, to doze for a very short amount of time until the mind enters a state of calm. It takes a maximum of an hour for the brain to get stabilized and the body pain to dwindle. But, we tend to start liking the relaxed state, often forgetting that we still have the remaining long day to pass through. And thus, we doze off with a elongated siesta, turning things haywire.

A method to be used in case of a tiring day, this worked wonders as it did for me. I was able to concentrate at the lecture thereafter and was not even blinking for a slightest moment thinking of the tiredness.

The art of learning

Once I amazed myself. For the fact of learning something from scratch. All by myself. Through some techniques and simple observations. And picked up a skill, unaware of how it began.  And, I am describing the same to share.

How it triggered was my name. Yes! My simple name. Dozing in a class amid one dull afternoon in my 3rd year of under-graduate college, the last benchers, we the cult, were looking around for methods to kill time. Of the people around, one of them was busy scribbling in his book, some words in a language, that grabbed my eye. I asked him about what he was doing. He was writing the same words oozed by the professor, in Tamil.

I wasn't even aware that being in Bangalore and having a junta writing in Kannada, here was one person who could try something out of the box to write in his mother tongue. First of all, Tamil is a hard one to learn. As it has a script and a method totally different from the regular style. This language is very hard to speak, having so many tongue-twisters and imbibed meanings in words together which you will have decode them by joining sentences. This one simple fact of the toughness of the language caught my attention and I requested him to write my name in Tamil. And he did. So, there began my interest in the very language that I had no idea about.

When I compared my name with my father tongue Kannada and Tamil, I found a startling observation. The letters in Tamil were few to write and most of the remaining are permutations and combinations of these. It is a language which has very few vowels and implied letters which cannot be understood if, you are given to test in general. The wonderful thing was the words of Tamil and Kannada rhymed only that the writing script mattered. One sure method for people to catch/look for.

So, to the people who know Kannada, Tamil is easier to learn as it has fewer letters than the former and can be deciphered quite comfortably once the basic flow is grabbed hold. Reading and writing speed improves for obvious reasons of constant exposure. For me it were the news channels, movies, shop hoardings and billboards whenever I had a chance to visit Tamil Nadu or the local bus stands in Bangalore. Of course, I may not be well versed with the kind of exposure that the native gets, but it was an act of self-learning which I can be proud of.

Now, I amaze people in Singapore by reading and writing words in Tamil. When I can do it, so can you! Only important factor is to imbibe interest in yourself and the mission is half accomplished.

A point to ponder

As I was sipping through the evening tea amid a sunny clad weather, I noticed something. The vapours of the tea were swirling over the cup. These vapours had a flurry of dance provoked by an external agent. With the wind being that, these were fluttering along the direction in which it passed through. At some point of time, they swooned to the right and then after a pause, to the left. Maybe was it following the tune or was it signalling a message in them?

The message strikes when we juxtapose with our very own lives. Struggle, confusions and the choices that we make along as life passes. An external agent usually provokes us in one way or the other and so, our life goes into that direction. The agent? Circumstances! They in our case can make us lead to a path known or to a roadblock, only to take diversions. Choices can't be made in all situations, just like the vapours in my tea who don't know in which direction the wind carries them away. In the end, all the vapours lead into the same cloud and then the rain pours in.

What's mysterious is how we are tuned by these circumstances and then realize as we reach a certain stage in ourselves. Some are lucky to be carried in the right path, some are backtracked in an opposite way and some keep going around themselves, unaware of the fact that is controlling them. In the end, we all become individuals, the cloud. And then pours in happiness and hope, the rain. Of course, rain can also bring disasters for the circumstances in totality, cause the vapours.

I do feel that there should be a point where in we need to stop, analyze ourselves and seek for a path. But, just being carried away by the things that control us doesn't make us do that. A point to ponder?