Message to all my Juniors: How to Make the Most of Your Summer ?

This message is for all my juniors working for Techniche. Thank you for inspiring me to write once again..

I thought to write “Message to all my First Yearites” in the heading but then I realized that End Semester exams are now over and hence, you all are not a first year students anymore.  The days of being kids are over and now you all are responsible individuals. Be it Techniche or IIT Guwahati in general, your actions will speak for you and your words will be noted.

BE RESPONSIBLE

Your Summer Vacations have now started.

Congratulations to all those who were able to bag internship in their very first year. Make IIT Guwahati proud wherever you go.

And those guys and girls who are not able to fill in the above mentioned category, well. You have better days ahead. Let me tell you why:

This is perhaps the only holiday in your life that you’ll ever get. This particular one is the first and the last.

Why (you ask)

When we were kid, we all had summer vacations, winter vacations, festival vacations and session break but these vacations had their own share of Holiday Homework and Session Breaks, were consumed thinking about mark sheets and results. In addition to that, when we were young, we weren't allowed to tread outside our narrow domain. Our parents and family members kept us under their scrutiny. Now, the domain is wider than ever before. Go out and Explore.

And the years ahead, think about it, “Are you going to get any holiday (this long) in your near foreseeable future?”

NO, a disappointing NO

So, these three months of your life are extremely important, more important than any of your semester. Use or rather Spend it wisely.

Here are the list of few things that I did and a few things that I regret not doing during my Holidays.

1.       Teach Voluntarily

This is perhaps the noblest thing that you can do right at this stage. It costs virtually nothing and the satisfaction that you get at the end of the day is limitless. This task was easy for me because my parents run an educational institution and I taught students of Class 9^th and 10^th. Generally, the students of Bihar Board (the regional education board) are weak in English. I taught them English on a regular basis and took a few substitution classes.

I understand that for me it was easier but if you try a bit and all you got to do is to meet the owner or the one who runs the institution, once you mention that you’re studying in IIT, they’ll definitely allow you to take a few classes.
We all blame our professors that they don’t how to teach. Step in their shoes and experience for yourself that how it is to be like a teacher.

Plus, it‘ll make enhance your communication skill.

2.       Spend time with your Brothers and Sisters

Well, we have already been doing it. Why to emphasise on this point? The reason I’m mentioning this particular aspect is that, you see, we all are getting older every day. Pehle School mein the, now we are in College and with us, our brothers and sisters are also growing. Then one day, you’ll get a phone call from your home informing you that

“Di ki shaadi honi wali hai” or,

“Ghar mein bhabhi aane wali hai.”

And once you’re married, no matter how much you deny it, but you aren’t the same person anymore. Priorities change and the way you act and behave changes. And then you’ll be no longer able to enjoy the way you did together.

I have my one of my sister’s wedding scheduled this summer and all I wish is that if I could have spent more time with her.

Isliye, make the most of it. Spend maximum time with your relatives too because, time management is difficult. Your 8-9 months are spent in the college itself then next year se you’ll be going for intern and summer training, so, it will be extremely difficult to meet every one of these people personally.

3.       Date a Girl/ Boy

An important thing to note here is that,  I’m asking you to date, I’m not asking you to get into a serious relationship. Take that step, once you are very sure. Try talking to people who have same interest as you do and you'll be flabbergasted to know what you've been missing about the stuffs you like. Talk to people who don't have anything common with you. You'll get to know new things at a lightining fast rate. It'll also make you more tolerant. And while you talk, you might end up being great friends. I had my first heartbreak during my first year summer vacations and I'm grateful for it. Do it and you'll thank me later.

4.       Pick up a Music Instrument

This is a wonderful time to actually start learning a new instrument. In today’s world, being musically literate is considered an important personal qualification. Plus, it relaxes your mind, makes you feel good about yourself and life. So, why not learn it and play it in your free time.

5.       READ a LOT

The whole point of typing the letters keeping the CAPS LOCK on is to make you all understand, how important this is. By reading, I don’t mean that you pick up a Chetan Bhagat’s novel and your reading part is over. Read about current affairs, newspapers, weekly magazines and articles. Be aware of things that are happening around you.
It’s better to be aware-d that to be Beware-d.

Side by side, keep on reading books and novels. Your control over language will increase and you’ll be able to present your thoughts more properly. If you immerse yourself in Literature, you'll start discovering aspects of yourself that you would never have known otherwise! Philosophy and literature nourishes you somewhere.

So, here you are at the end of your first year and the small list that I gave you is not exhaustive. People might suggest you going for different things and those things might be even better that what I have mentioned here but the whole point of making you go through this is to make you all realize that how important these days can be.

Happy Holidays.

Enjoy to the Fullest…

Before departing, let us all shout in Unison.

On the count of three

1

2

3

Jai Techniche !! 

Message to all the First Yearites

I wrote this a week back for all my juniors in the Marketing Team of Techniche. And just today Piyush Bengani, a very good friend of mine told me that how inspiring he felt when he went through the message. Therefore, I am posting this on my blog page. There are few points which may be irrelevant to other people but similar analogy can be drawn in that case in relation to their department.

It’s been hardly two months since we have come to know all of you but it feels like you were there for a long time. And we want all of you to continue working in this team.

The only reason which may stop you from pursuing this is “Unsatisfactory Academic Performance”. The reason why I wrote unsatisfactory and not poor is because everyone has his own expectation level. Of course all of us want to be among the top but when you compete among the best on common grounds then there is always a first and a second and a last. This however doesn't mean that the one who stood last is worthless.

Why am I telling all of you this?

Well, you have your exams coming up, which is likely to carry 50% weight age of the entire semester. So, it is kind of make or break situation you are into. I personally certainly don’t believe that CPI or SPI is the hallmark of once intelligence but it is not bad to score well. Many a times it has been noticed that people leave the team when they are not able to score good academically. [A convincing reason but not a valid one] But we forget that it is not our co-curricular activities that came in between but it was our own lack of dedication and devotion.  Let’s talk about Marketing in that aspect:

• ·         Half an Hour is all you need to profile one company (maximum)
• ·         Meeting (One and a half hour) which has never been scheduled daily rather it has always been consulted by every one of you when it comes to this.
• ·         Going to City, which has actually not been started yet but we’re not telling you to go to city every day.

All of you told me that you’re going to have your exams next week. Good! Study for it. But
Saturday ko toh ja hi skte ho.

Can’t you manage these three things with your study? And all of us have been in Second Semester, we know kitna padhna hai.

Academics is why you’re here and Academics should be the most important thing until and unless you’ve found your passion in something like Music, Dance or Writing etc. That’s why in the very first meeting itself, we gave you an inequality equation,

Blah Blah Blah < Techniche < Academics

So, All the Best Wishes for End Sems. (Although I’m posting this but this is on behalf of every senior)

I know exams 22 se hai but it is always good to start early, isn’t it? Aur make the most of your Lab Exams as they are quick and easy way to score. :P

Just like during the JEE days, people wished us; in the same breath I’d say:
Paper phod kar aana. J

All the best Guys and Gals !!

An Observation

The lessons learnt are as a result of personal experience so it might vary from the reader’s perspective and may be partly because I might not be able to fabricate all my experiences in words.

1) All of us have aims and goals in life. Not all of us are particular about the long run but we all have immediate goal like getting into a good college, bagging a good scholarship, getting out of the famous “five point someone domain”, winning inter hostel or inter college competition or may be something like achieving pre-defined target under a given timeline.
2) We’ve to work hard for it. [Everyone knows that.]
3) Apart from these two, there is a third category which includes everything that doesn’t come under the first two. You can broadly call it a Sustenance Factor, or the factors that gives meaning to life.


Many of us are not able to achieve our so called goals and sometimes when we do achieve we realize that we are late. Now as a result of the outcome we decide to cut down activities from the third part thinking that the time spent on those things can be reduced so that time spent on fruitful work can be optimized (Quite a reasonable decision). One can reduce the third part to mere zero but then that condition won’t stay for long because for the second category to deliver efficiently a proper amount of third category is needed.

We are morally taught that if we follow religious doctrines and keep away from things like booze and liquor, we‘d be successful person for sure. Well, it might be apt but only to an extent. If you really want to get something, work for it. Being ridiculous about it, isn’t going to help. I’ve heard people saying that, I’m a very nice person. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink but still God is unfair to me and the guy who lives next to me does all rubbish things and is still getting promoted while I’m stuck at the same desk from the moment I joined the company. [This example can be easily extended to college or school life. All you have to do is replace promotion with better marks.]

First thing,
GOD IS NOT UNFAIR TO ANYONE.

He’s perhaps the kindest of all. If you’d have been in his position, you may have awarded yourself with even lesser happiness quotient. Now the guy next to you is getting promoted because he worked for it (apart from getting wasted all the time, he must be giving enough time on his work which is the reason why he’s successful today). People who just keep bitching about others stay where they are. It doesn’t matter what you choose from the third category, if you work on the second part you’ll definitely get to the first part. There is no if and but here.

Another instance is that most people blame their relationship when they are not able to perform academically or professionally. There are three possibilities when they walk out of their relationships.
a) Success remains same
b) Success increases
c) Success decreases

Now the most important part before you decide to walk out is to identify what your relationship is all about. If it didn’t mean much to you and she/he was just to keep you engaged for a while, you’ll be in the category (a)
If she/he was waste and you genuinely wanted to get and you knew beforehand that he/she just an obstacle in your way, then category (b)
And if she/he was your support system, then category (c)

Another side to these incidents is making silly resolutions like “Until and unless I get this done, I won’t be talking to him/her”. This is another pragmatic situation which needs to be addressed on a personal level. For some people this acts as a boon and for some it has side effects. The reason being the same, every one of these situations affects us differently. The bottom line is just don’t bring relationships into work and vice-versa. Your professional goals and achievements depend on how much work you put into it and not how much relationships you sacrifice for that.

Why Valentine's Day?

One Ring and Single Light Source
united to form a Heart. I clicked
this picture by directing the
mobile flash light on my ring held
rigidly by the edges of the book.

I've seen a lot of people against this whole notion of Celebration of Love and they come up with very deep answers when asked to advocate their point. They say,

"Love is not a thing to be celebrated once a year. If you love someone, every day is a Valentine's Day and if you're not in Love or trying to get away from your relationship, days like this can't hold you back. [It might hold you back for one day but the aftermath would be more horrible]"

And they're right. Love in true sense doesn't need to labelled on a day, especially not on a day which when followed nine months after results in Children's Day, 14th November. :-D

So, do we celebrate just as a forced tradition or is there any meaning left behind this. If this day is just to make College Life  or School Life more wonderful, then believe me it doesn't serve it purpose, not even a bit; rather it frustrates all the Singles. [I'm a student of Mechanical Engineering and I know what this frustration is].

Why do we celebrate it anyway?

What I think is that, it's neither for singles (as obvious) nor for committed (they don't need a day). This day is for all the pseudo-single people  who in their heart adore certain someone.

This day gives them courage to talk.
This day gives them strength to stare right through.

For on this day it is difficult for people to turn down someone. So, a stalker  can have his level upped and can be now in a Friends category.

While for some, it might be a day to enter in the "Friends" Category, for some it might be a day to get out from the FriendZone.

And quite often in a marriage, people are so much caught up in their day to day affairs (esp. when they have a child) that it is impossible to be in a romantic mood all the time. This day gives them an opportunity to be so.

And if this day unites even two single souls in the whole world or bring the old days back for some old lovers, then
Yeah! It is worth celebrating.

Why Rose?

"Why Rose? Why? You're so stupid. Why did you do that?" Jack scolded Rose, but there was pride in his eyes. Pride screaming loudly that, "Love brought his Love from the rescuing boat".

This scene from Titanic  comes to my mind as soon as I read the title but right now,  I'm talking about Rose the common noun, and not the proper noun. Here I'd like to talk about Rose- the flower.

7th of February, a week before Valentine's Day.

People celebrate this day as Rose Day as a starting indication that "Valentine's Week" is here again. As a part of the celebration, I shared an old photo from my digital album on Facebook wishing everyone.

The photo to your right was clicked back when I was in Kota. It was during that time when I developed fondness for Photography and my prime motivation were these Flowers. They taught me that Popularity and Fame is for few days only and then people forget about you, but then those days are worth living for. The sense of Pride and Love that you receive for such a short duration is worth a Lifetime and the hard work that we put into, as plants put their efforts in reproducing such beautiful flowers is worth putting effort into.

As the day was about to end and I was carefully tucked in my blanket, I thought, Why Rose?

Why is that of all the flowers in the world, Rose gets the privilege to be associated with Love. The thing that intrigued me even more was this is not some recent phenomenon rather it has been here right from the time to which written history can date back to.

Here are the few reasons that I lay in support.

Roses are Beautiful, yes they are but then there are many flowers that are beautiful.

Roses are Seasonal (which makes people admire them more because they can't find it around themselves at all times) Still there are few cactus flower which live for only a day. They are even more seasonal, aren't they?

Botany too doesn't provide us with any sharp answer to this question as there is nothing very special about growing Rose.

Multi-layered Petals (which shows that Love can't be understood easily) But then there is Chrysanthemum  which got even more number of petals and it is very beautiful at the same time.

Singularly Coloured (which shows Love is Pure) This category is easy to beat out as many examples would turn up.

There are many flowers which would fulfil all the five conditions, but we have only one winner in the end. We're still missing on one point.

Thorns - Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, thorns.
Love isn't Love if it hasn't been through rough patch.
It's not Love when you haven't face hardship together.
It's not Love, when it hasn't made you cry.
It's not Love, when it hasn't hurt you.

Thorns are inevitable part of Rose which is there to remind us of all the difficulties and obstacle that lie ahead of us or have been crossed while we pursue this path.

This last condition reduces us to only one winner and i.e., Rose.


A very happy Valentine's Week to everyone.

Habit

I was thinking of sending this as a text message to Deeksha to wish her Good Morning but then once I started writing it, it just went on and on, you know, and then it overshot the word limit. Just then I thought, "Let's put this on my blog". Thereafter the laziness struck me, because, you see, this was going to be my first blog this year as I wrote it earlier. And now I'm posting it.

Old habits die hard but once they die, they are hard to retain (Lesson learnt when I was trying to get back to my texting habit). Sometimes, it is because a new habit has taken it's place and in order to retain that old habit, one has to get rid of new one. (but new one by that time might get classified into the old habit criteria). and a few times, it's simply because it reminds you of the time when you left it.

Leaving a habit is always painful experience but at the same time it's very subtle. Usually, people around us get to know when we're going through turbulent phase but unlikely in this case, it's hard to notice.

It is difficult because Love in it's true form is also a habit; an addiction in a certain way. Perhaps this is the reason why we see that even the most incompatible people that we can find on the face of earth, when married, eventually fall in Love. [Indian Marriages are historical and living examples of that].

We may 'like' a thing at first sight, become fond of it over a brief period of time but Love needs a habit, it needs time, it is a gradual process.

In Facebook terminology or what we can say that in it's Timeline preview, it's evolution can be explained as, starting with a like,  then going on to sharing, thereafter tagging along and finally change in relationship status. (recently, they have incorporated change in marriage icons with different icon for straight, gay and lesbians. :P)

The problem (may be I shouldn't refer it this way), the thing with today's generation is that we want results very quickly. We don't want to wait for things. Even in a three hour lab session, what we shout most of the time is, " Yaar! Output nahi aa raha". We don't wait for things to occur, we just make it occur. As a result, there is a severe Backlash. Artificial Rains for example

We don't linger on a process long enough to make it a habit and as a result like  is easily misinterpreted as love and vice versa. Sharing  is misunderstood for  caring. 


I wonder how this started with an idea of sending a text message. May be this also is a habit.

Mann Mera

My friends introduced me to this song and frankly telling it was a bad idea to listen to this.
I spent my half of the year planning that I'd start fresh in the new year, I never thought that my new year blog will start with this

You bind your heart in iron chain and put it in the coffin,
Then with the same hands which once held her hand you nail the last nail.
So, that the next time when you wake, you wake in a world, where your decisions are made by your brain (and not by your heart).
So, that the next time you go to the seas, you sail an easy sail.

You think you got over her by writing a Good Bye letter and doing what you thought was necessary

But that 'crazy son of a bitch' still beats in there,
It beats in there with burning love and melts the iron chain.
The chain melts but you're assured that the coffin won't break (for it is buried deep beneath the ground).

What you forget is that all it needs is a little flare.

Then one day, a spark comes, in some crazy form.
It can be a song that describes your love,
It can be an act of simple kindness,
Or, it can be all of the above.

Then with the same arrow that once pierced that heart, it fights all the nail.
With the same strength, it once did love, it breaks the wooden shell.

And comes out drippin' with Blood,
it comes out drippin' with Love

It comes out as tears in your eyes.



This song brought back the days



Mann Mera by Gajnedra Verma