How i look at it...??!!!

The Transition

2011-07-10T18:58:00.000+05:30

Well to start with I would like to say that, don't let the title fool you at all!!! I have already written a couple of blogs about the change from college life to the "professional" one and as I sit down to write this one, my intentions are totally different (WARNING: I may end up saying the same thing). As I sit here, at my home today, jobless and useless for past couple of months, I have had the time to think, which by the way few people complain that I do a lot! I have the benefit of hindsight.

Most of us have already received our final semester mark sheet and the others are in the process of getting theirs. Soon the university will have a convocation and we will be officially declared as "engineers". This thought has unsettled me.

One day, I was just sitting at my home, lazing around, no worries, not tension and then some one asked me when will I come back to Patna next. I did not know how to answer that question because I din't have an answer. Earlier it was so easy to say summer/winter vacation but it struck me then that there are going to be no more summer/winter vacations. I would not say that its a bad felling all together, on one hand I am happy that I am going to be earning now, the whole idea of being independent is fantastic while on the other hand the idea of things changing so drastically is little frightening. So I though and I looked back and this blog is the result of that process.

First year of college is always accompanied with excitement. There is a transition from school to college. In your school you were the senior most and now all of a sudden you are like a puppy lost in the crowd, left out there to fend for himself. I am sure college life is one thing which everyone looks forward too. First year was filled with getting used to the place and meeting new people. You had to brave the rains and then sit and listen to the lectures and also get used to the accent. I remember how everything sounded Greek initially, well not that we were not interested but how to you cope up when "M" is pronounced as Yuuummmm and "N" as Yeeenn. You make loads of friends in your initial days, some stay with you while you just move a little away from few. First year went in no time and before I realized I had loads on my hand.

Second year was the time when we moved into our respective branches. Our one big section was divided into smaller ones. It was this year that we cemented the relations we had formed and made a few new ones. You don't have any kind of tension in the second year, placements are still couple of years away and MBA is just a word that sounds good in news. Two of my friends, Rahul Sharma a.k.a Lallu and Jerry had already shifted out and it was at their place that we had the first house party. One hell of a night of which i still have some vivid recollection. Sidharth Singh a.k.a Sid (though my personal favorite is honey singh) graduating from boy to man and Mohit Morarka a.k.a Muru dancing like a fool with his broken arm (he always had one part of his body in plaster at all times) were the high points of the night. There was also this event of Abhishek Roy a.k.a Roy leaving us in the middle of the road and taking lift in a "shared" auto to get some stuff and never returning back. I remember how much Rohit Pandey a.k.a RP cursed him that day. So second year went in exploration which also included a couple of road trips. I say only couple of road trips cause at that time only Rohit Kumar (Roh) had a bike. So every time we planned something, we had to make like hundred phone calls to arrange for transportation. In class, Piyush (Poppa), Sid, Sarthak (Sexy), Divya, Saumya, Madi ensured that there was never a dull moment but then they were in a different section, in our section we had Mayur (MJ), Toshu, Roh to ensure we had all the entertainment required to cope up with the "difficult and tiring (read: boring)" course. Lot of times it used to end up on MJ, Toshu and me being on one side and taking Roh's case.

Third year was the time when all of us moved out from hostel into "our own" place. We even got more vehicles and naturally the road trips increased. Personally for me it will always be a big year as I got a car, thanks to Papa and Kushal. Parents generally have this apprehension that once their kids leave hostel they are bound to get "spoilt". This made me laugh cause I seriously could not figure out how much more can we be possibly be spoilt. Jokes apart most of us did better academically once we shifted out. It was also the time when we had more number of parties and the secretary of our building was a constant nuisance. Third year was marked by people doing all sort of things. The definition of fun was changed and just when you thought this is it, everyone said, "bring it on". People throwing up in bathrooms, dancing till late, laughing for no reason.

The beginning of the final year was a very unusual one. My brother, Abhinav, had decided to join MIT and I was to come with him to Manipal, full twenty days before my course was scheduled to start. To my relief I had MJ and Poppa for company there besides RP, Jong and Roy. Till date when Poppa and me sit together we end up talking about "those twenty days" at least once! Well I am sure Poppa would agree that this is not an appropriate forum to discuss those days. Final year saw us touching new heights in every aspect. We did all that one could possibly think of and before we realised placement season was upon us! The first company to visit the campus was Delloite. Only a few of us got into that! The placement season for us, "less intelligent" ones, opened with EMC. Morarka, got into it and gave us a reason to be happy! It was followed by Sid's Citrix! I remember us shouting "Sidhhhhaaarth Singh Sidddhhhhaaarth Singh" at KC! Soon all of us were placed and we then realised that what every any one might say, we did everything possible there and still ended up with a job in our hand.

In the middle there were those random/planned trips to Goa. The number of road trips rose. We even played kabbadi at one of the beaches. Saraf's one liners kept us going even on the worst possible days.

Today, when I pick up my phone to call any one I have to ask my self if he will be in office or not? The transition, so far, has been a smooth one. People have more or less settled down and have become comfortable with their new life. I just hope this is not the silence before the storm and that we continue to be what we have been!

Cheers and Good luck!

Social cause or a political gimmick

2011-06-07T23:30:00.000+05:30

I am not a political guru, nor am I an expert on social causes or rallies. I haven’t even been a part of a cause. I don’t support or oppose the concept of rallies or protest which are organized these days in India. I have not voted even once in my life. My experience might be very limited. However, I do consider myself to be a responsible citizen. I have no doubt that I love my country and understand the problems that it faces. I somewhat understand how things work here. I feel as patriotic when I hear the national anthem as anyone of you would feel. India winning the cricket world cup was as happy a moment for me as it was for you. However, having said all this, I look at my country; I wonder is this how our Father dreamt of it as? Is this what Bhagat Singh gave his life for? When Jawaharlal Nehru said, “At the stroke of mid night hour, when the world sleeps, India shall awake to life and freedom”, did he mean this?

Democracy seems to be the most loved and loosely used word these days. People can do anything these days in the name of democracy. You are not happy with the government – protest, you are not happy with your employer – go on a strike, you are not happy with the marks awarded to you by the board – shout slogans, after all you are living in a democracy, that too the largest one, so you have the right to protest.

It’s true that right to protest is one of the basic rights in democracy. Democracy, after all is, “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Everyone should get a fair chance to say what they feel. After all, the entire purpose of democracy is defeated if we can not speak our mind out. Democracy, in other words, gives us freedom. Freedom to express ourselves, freedom to live our lives the way we want to and freedom to do what we please but of course within legal limits. It is not wrong to say that today democracy is probably one of the best gifts that we could have got. We can say that we are gifted to be born in a democratic country. Right from the time we are born, the constitution assures us, at least theoretically, that we will not be oppressed and are free to have an opinion.

Off late, we have seen a lot of protests being organized at large scale, to either curb the menace of corruption or to bring back the “black” money or just because someone is unhappy with the management of his company. As soon as someone realizes that there is some social problem another person is already protesting for the same. While I am not against the freedom guaranteed to us; we all must understand or at least try to understand if we, as a society, are ready for such a freedom. Are we, in general, responsible enough to carry the load of this freedom and the responsibilities that comes with it on our shoulder?

Today, we like a leader, not for any other reason but just because he is famous and we have been told by our parents and more “informed” peers that he is an honest and true leader. We don’t even stop to ask ourselves what exactly are the values that the leader stands for. If someone asks us, we simply say, “Oh, we believe in him and what he says.” A lot of times we don’t even know what the leader actually says. Since, we live in democracy and are entitled to our opinion; we just make an opinion without even considering various factors. Again, I am not saying that this implies to all of us, but then I am sure you must have come across people or at least heard of them or seen one on TV who are protesting or are part of a large gathering and when you ask them that what exactly are their demands, the best reply that they can come up with is, “Oh, its ‘something’ about XYZ, I don’t have much idea but I know this is a noble cause because my friend told me so and I am here just with him!”

I agree protests are the integral part of democracy. A lot of times we need protests to keep the government in check and get a point across. At times a simple plea or a letter is not enough to get you justice or to ensure that your point is heard. No one ever questioned the candle march for Jessica Lall and the slogan “Justice for Jessica.” However, we as responsible citizens should not misuse this “luxury”. We should be aware of the issue at hand.

I am of the belief that the power to protest should only be exercised by a person when he or she truly believes in something, however major or minor it might be. For every individual the magnitude of the issue varies according to ones need and position. There is nothing wrong in standing for what you believe in and your point should be heard. It is never wrong to stand up for yourself; however one should be responsible enough not to misuse this power.

This power to protest when misused becomes a menace and a tool to cause unrest. It no more remains a just cause but merely a political gimmick. I would just like to ask you one thing, where should we draw the line? When should we stand up and say enough is enough? How do we ensure that we don’t get carried away and end up being on the wrong side? When do we start to say, this is it, you can not gain sympathy and support under the disguise of social welfare? Time has come for each one of us who claim to be a proud Indian to stand up for our beliefs but at the same time make an informed decision. It is only when the people start to separate the good from the bad, genuine from fake and light from dark; will the country rise.

Only when every citizen becomes responsible and worthy enough to carry the “burden” of democracy on his shoulder shall the country rise.

*DISCLAIMER*

There is no intended reference to any person living or dead. Any such resemblance is purely coincidental.

Life beyond "everything"

2011-05-23T12:32:00.000+05:30

Well it is that time of the year again, the board results have been declared, the college results have been declared, new set of graduates have been introduced to the world and people are ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of them. Some of us are looking forward to it excitedly while others are wondering what will happen.

My last four months have been really hectic and a very learning experience. Some call it as the life from the other side of the fence. In my opinion, once you get to the other side, all of a sudden it strikes you that you are solely responsible for all your actions. All of a sudden you feel that a huge load of responsiblity has been placed on your shoulder. People whom you would have never expected to get serious, become really serious.

Today, as I sit in my friends' flat and see them pack I realise that this is probably the last time that all of us will be sitting together with absolutely no tension and nothing to worry about. This would probably be the last time that we all will sit together, one guy packing his bag and others just taking his case.

Time does fly by. While most of my friends will be goin to Pune, there are still few of us who will be scattered here and there. As I sit down to write this blog, a friend enters the room and says that he feels like going somewhere and without thinking twice we just get up and go.

I still remember how we joined college in first year and all of us were still so raw. As time progressed, bonds were formed. We became like a close knit family. Initially, we had just one bike, Rohit Kumar's avenger, I remember how we used to make calls everywhere to arrange for bikes so that we can have a road trip. Slowly our "collection" grew and we ran out of parking space. The party place shifted from Dollops to Deetee.We had our own "transport manager", Mr. Mayur Jain, who ensured that all of us got back home safely.

Today, as the time to say good bye comes closer, I hope sometime in future we all can get together and look back at everything we did and laugh about it. Slowly, we all get involved with work and everyone starts their own life. It is weird how lives which at one point looked glued together are going to become independent now.

Hope to see all you in future and I hope that we can pick up from where we all left. Wishing all of you a lot of luck, love and happiness. Good luck.

Faith - Something that keeps us going even when we know the result

2010-12-19T07:47:00.001+05:30

"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't."

~Blaise Pascal

Faith is a personal belief. It is something that has been debated over more number of times than we can probably count; and faith has no one meaning! To a young adolescent, faith is knowing that birds will chirp at stroke of dawn, for a teenager faith is believing that his/her friends will be there for him at school today, for someone in college faith is probably believing in the fact that his friends will put 'proxy' for him; for a father faith might be knowing that his son will make him proud one day! Faith in a very general sense is believing.

All of us, knowingly or unknowingly, have faith. Whenever, anyone is in any trouble we hear the near and dear ones say, "have faith in yourself", and sometimes thats enough to give us the courage to face anything. So I often find myself asking this question that what is faith? Is it simply a feeling that needs to be realized or is it a belief in some higher power. By higher power I don't refer to God in particular, for a kid, his father or mother is the higher power.

We have countless examples from past to show us how powerful faith can be. Many battles have been won and lost based on faith. It is said that true defeat occurs when a person succumbs to the situation and accepts defeat, if he still willing to fight, if he is still willing to survive, he has not been defeated. I think this is where faith comes into play. There is a very thin line between giving up and carrying on. I am sure each and everyone of us might have come across a situation more than once in our lives when we would have wanted to give up because it was becoming tougher to carry on. Few of us might have given up while few must have carried on, and I am sure when you look back at it, you can judge for yourself what was the right thing to do.

Having said all this, does faith really give us some special power, some energy? No, faith is just the realization of what we already have. We can not stand on the roof and say that we have faith that we can fly and jump off the roof. If someone even thinks of doing something like that, he himself knows that he is fooling himself, because even if you say that you have faith in such a thing, deep down there will be a seed of doubt.

Faith and doubt can not exist simultaneously. Faith kills any doubt. It gives us that extra push that is required for us to move ahead, to do something which we are capable of. Of course sometimes faith makes us do things which we never thought we were capable of doing.

Faith is something you have within yourself. It gets tested a lot of times and the only thing to remember is that come what may, we should not lose faith, we should never deviate from our beliefs. If you believe in your actions then you will realise that your actions have new meanings.

We all have faith at one point or the other, in one thing or the other. It is not something that we should be ashamed of. It is something that gives us the strength. The moment you let go of faith, you realise that going gets tough no matter how easy the task maybe. So I would like you all to think, and think hard of the times when you have lost faith and how that turned out for you. You will have an answer. I would like to leave you with this thought -

"As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit."

~Emmanuel

August 24, 2010

2010-08-24T14:19:00.001+05:30

It was 1st of August, 2007, I joined Manipal Institute of Technology. I still vividly remember that day. Heavy rains and long walks to the lecture halls used to be as cohesive in our lives as the same daily menu of egg curry and 'coconut' chicken! I had heard so much about college life and here I was experiencing it first hand.

Days passed quickly, we were hoping from one set of sessionals to another; jumping between end semester exams and lab tests and before we could even realize; I am done with three years of my course. All of us used to ask ourselves the same question everyday, "How will we manage surviving for four years in this boring dull place?", and yet here I am, today, a student of final year, telling you that 1st August 2007 looks like yesterday.

I was sitting in one of my lectures, listening to everyone around me, of course professor excluded, when the idea for this entry struck me. I am not writing today to tell you about how much fun we had or to complain about college life coming to an end. I guess I have already done that in my last post. Today I am here to write about something different. Something that I have noticed over the past few weeks and something thats got me thinking!

I see my friends, my classmates, even people I do not know, and I feel that they have all somehow woken up from deep slumber! There is something about all of them that tells me that reality has caught up with all of them. Maybe this is what they mean when they say, "the rat race makes us a rat!". All of them have a look of fear and tense on their face. The topic of girls, crushes and alcohol seems to be a thing of past and have been replaced by what few would say, much more serious things like GRE, GMAT etc.

Everyone is either busy with their word lists or trying to configure routers on a simulation. Few have already aced the tests they took scoring 1550 in GRE while others have become Cisco Certified Network Associates (sounds pretty heavy)! Few of them are happy for being certified by Sun as Java programmers; while I sit here in front of my laptop singing praises for them!

I was always under the impression that the last year of college is meant for fun; after all it is supposed to be the last year of your life when you can sit and chat with your friends (or few with their girlfriends/boyfriends) till you pass out on their couch without worrying that you have to wake up early tomorrow or report to your boss. Well chats still happen, but now its mostly about placements, grades, scores and certificates.

All this has got me thinking about where I stand. I have not done any word list or any certification course; I was not even eligible for first few companies that visited my campus for recruitment. I sit back and I think. Where do I fit in? Looking back, these three years have been wonderful. There is nothing about them that i would want to change. Of course I would'nt mind a higher GPA or a few more certificates; but if I had to do it all over again; I would probably do it the same way.

Was I too casual in my approach? Did I drift away? Did I go wrong somewhere? These are probably the questions that will haunt me and few others like me for sometime. I agree that there have been times when I could have probably been more serious but tomorrow when I look back, I am sure it will bring a smile to my face.

Cheers!!

PS I could not think of an apt title.

To be happy or be sad?? Its coming to an end!!

2010-03-09T02:11:00.000+05:30

Day before, 7th of March, 2010, was a very lazy day. I slept through the entire day and when I could not force myself to sleep anymore; I finally decided to rise from my slumber. There used to be a time when the thought of going online used to make you happy; but I tried even that and got bored after thirty minutes. Its then that I met a friend online and we decided to go out somewhere for supper. As we were getting out of the lift, we met another of our friend who decided to give us company.

So three of us debated for sometime, deciding where to go. Finally we could pick a place from the very limited options we had. Oh, but am not writing this blog to tell you how boring my day was, or to complain about the very few eating options that we have here. My purpose to write this blog is something totally different.

We sat down, placed our order and started talking. Initially it was mostly random stuff, how someone hooked up with someone, how the college fest was, or the new hot girl that someone had spotted (lol), but I don't remember how it came up but it hit us suddenly that in another eight to ten months our college life will be over! Trust me when I say this, there was literally a moment's silence as if we were mourning!

Lot of things started to come back to me. People say that college life is one of the best part of your life and to think that it was going to get over was something big. I still remember the day my class twelfth board results had come. I was still deciding that time which college to join. The whole idea about finally going to college was very exciting and I was looking forward to enter a life which everyone has spoken very highly of. I am pretty sure that towards the end of our high school all of us have thought about college life and it has always brought nice good images to us. We have always looked forward to it. Though we have been really sad about the fact that we were leaving school; but still all of us have looked forward to see what college holds in store for us.

I still very clearly remember the first day of my college life. I had just left my parents in Udupi and along with another friend of mine was taking a rickshaw back to Manipal when we got a call from another friend warning us that seniors were looking out for freshers and ragging them (which turned out to be a false warning). The call did scare us and I remember getting out of the rick and just running away! Those initial days when we kept asking each other names cause we were still trying to remember them, or getting lost in place as small as Manipal, still discovering something new everyday, those times when we shouted out of frustration cause we had not been given our laptop yet, still trying to find our drinking buddies! It all seems like yesterday!

Its really hard to believe that time flew by so fast. There we were, all new faces, wondering how the place is going to be, how people are going to be, will be manage surviving here; and now we have almost reached the end of our course and I can't even believe that in another year we won't be here. We saw people going from very happy state to sad state; we became a family; shared our happiness and sadness; saw our friends really excited about a girl/guy to those bad break-ups; someone scoring A+ to people getting F; we saw buildings coming up; we saw the entire face of the campus changing and am sure all of us at one point or other cursed this place for being really boring or monotonous or sad. Now, today I want to ask everyone, each and everyone of you if you disagree with me when I say that these have been one of the best three years of our lives! Did anyone of you realize how time just passed by? We cursed the administration for making it so hectic for us; one sessional after the other, then those assignments and lab exams, now all we can think of is, we din't even realize and it all just went by!

While there is a part of me which is really excited to enter the 'real' world out there, the world that exists on the other side of those college gates, and to experience first hand various things; there is a very big part of me which asks me if I really want this to be over? The various changes, so many of them that we will have to adapt ourselves to, do we really want all that? Changes which are going to be really hard! People who really matter to you, who you really care for, they will go, trying to make a place for themselves. I am in dilemma, should I be happy that finally I will be graduating (hopefully) and will be earning; getting my chance to conquer the world, to make a place for myself out there or should I be sad cause none of this is ever going to come back. Life is never going to be so simple and relaxed! It will always be a race from here if it wasn't already!

Time flies by and those of us who adapt to the changes around us manage to survive and the rest of us just perish. I just hope that while adapting to these changes I don't change, I don't lose my identity and I don't lose the people who matter so much to me. I am lost, I am confused, I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go. All I can do is hope that everyone, each and everyone of you, make a place for yourself out there and we are still together and I still have you and am sure with you by my side, rest of my life will also be like my college life.

Good luck to all of you!!! Cheers!!!

Bottled Up!!

2010-01-08T21:26:00.000+05:30

"Tears are words the heart can't express"
I have been caught crying many a times and most of these times I have heard people say, "be a man, don't cry"; what I still don't understand is what's ones sex got to do with ones feelings? Men are expected not to cry and keep their emotions and feelings bottled up inside; and we tend to try our level best to do that. However when words are not enough; when it becomes to much for us to keep it to us anymore; it all comes out in form of tears.

We have been told since time immemorial that we will portray our selves as weak if we cry and that its not manly enough to cry; but what I don't understand is that how can the entire male specie be expected to turn emotionless. Well wait, before you start hurling abuses at me let me amend my previous sentence a little; the male specie is expected to keep his emotions bottled up inside only when it will portray him as a weak person (read make him cry), otherwise he is expected to show full emotions,feelings and understanding.

I am sure most of us have come across circumstances when we feel the urge, the need to cry. Its supposed to be one of the best ways to let out your emotions. Its scientifically proven that after you cry, you feel more relaxed. Metaphorically speaking you feel a big load off your chest.

You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you don't want to feel. Emotions are such a big part of ones life that its almost impossible to be emotionless. A person without emotions is as good as a dead person. Emotions like any other thing have two sides to it. A happy one and a sad one. How can someone be expected to show the happy side whereas keep the sad one just bottled inside?

Is it fair to ask a person to laugh along with you, to make you laugh and to show it when he is happy but at the same time if he becomes sad he must not as much as tell someone that he is sad? Is it possible to ask a person to show love but at the same time not show hatred? Is it possible to ask a person to care but not feel bad? Is it possible to ask a person to be cheerful but never be miserable, to be happy but never sad? I think this is as impossible as tossing a coin and hoping that you always get heads.

I feel if a man cries, he doesn't become less manly. Only a man who is totally comfortable with himself and is courageous enough can cry in front of others. There is nothing wrong in letting go of your emotions in what ever way possible. So all I want to say is that next time you see a guy crying don't say, "Be a man!" or "Guys don't cry! or "You are such a sissy!"; just try to understand that there can be a very deep reason for him to cry; that maybe you should talk to him instead of making fun of him; that maybe all he needs right now is a hug or an ear to hear him, cause you never know the little actions you do can make or break a man. Remember no one other than yourself is going to love you for what you are; people love you for how you make them feel.

My first encounter with working lifestyle

2010-01-08T10:55:00.000+05:30

Till now I was living in a very well guarded world. My boarding school in Ajmer was like a fort; I was not allowed to go out neither could someone just come in, so my interaction with the outside world was very limited. Then came my high school in Delhi. It was a place with relaxed rules. I could go in and come out, we had day scholars, we had people from different backgrounds; so my interaction with the outer world increased. Finally came my college. College as we all know, places almost no restriction on you. It is assumed that you are now mature enough to decide what you want, to distinguish right from wrong. Here I chose my set of friends. My life was again going very smoothly. My parents kept meeting my demands for money and I never faced any difficulty as such.

It was towards the end of my fifth semester that the thought, "Life is not a bed of roses", rang a bell. I started to wonder that for me till now life has been more or less 'bed of roses', with only minor hiccups here and there. It is then that I decided I need to experience first hand how life outside the protected walls of my college is going to be. How it is going to be after I am forced out of my comfort zone.

So armed with 126 credits (thats what you get for clearing every subject in your course even if you don't understand a word of it) I went looking for a place which would be kind enough to offer me training. In time of recession, when people are finding it hard to retain their jobs, finding a place willing to offer training was surely a tough task. Here also I was again saved the hard work as a place was found through 'contacts'.

So we(me along with two of my friends) reached Mumbai, all set to experience the working culture, thinking about how I will manage when I have no support! The experience started right from the time we got down at Andheri Railway station. Looking for a place to stay was not only very confusing but a big hole in pocket too. Finally we found a place and decided to stay over there for a night.

The next day we were supposed to go to the head office of the company. The ride in the local Mumbai train is a experience in itself. When I saw the building which housed the office, I was awestruck! It was so huge and beautiful. Excitement took over me. The person I was supposed to meet was very helpful (contradictory to my belief that no one treats college students seeking training nicely)!

My training was to start from the next day. I was supposed to go to Vashi which is very far from where I was staying. Again the local Mumbai train came to our rescue. I admire the person who gave the concept of local train. It would have been so difficult without it!

I was expected to reach office by 10:00 AM and by the time I reached it was already 11:30 AM. On my first day at office I was late by an hour and a half! So you see things didn't exactly started as planned. To be honest I was little scared cause I didn't know what to expect. After waiting for sometime our department head came to us. He was a very helpful person. During the entire course of training he never made us feel as if we were trainees and took really good care of us. We were treated very nicely.

Everyone in office seemed to be busy with their own work. A few of them I guess where even surprised to see three undergraduate students walking in the office. All my fears vanished soon. The next few days were decent enough. Other than the fact that we had to travel more than three hours everyday, everything else went fine.

The entire experience taught me few things. They are :

Once you go out of college, life is not easy. I saw people working there. They probably reached home late and slept cause they have to wake up again next day cause they can't afford to be late.
Discipline is a must. You should be disciplined in whatever you do
If you are good to people, they will be good to you

So friends I would like to say one thing, don't get scared. Go out and have fun. Its not an easy world out there but its not that scary also. Remember who you are and don't get lost in the crowd.

Cheers!!

..Going towards the sea bed..

2009-08-07T13:41:00.004+05:30

"Two roads lead into the woods, and I took the one less travelled by.. And thats what made all the difference!!!"

One of the most interesting part of life is that it manages to surprise you at every corner. Just when you think that you have everything figured out, you are confronted with somethingor the other. Well it won't be right on my part to complain about it cause this is one aspect of life that ensures that we encounter something different from normal or which puts us out of our comfort zone and tests us. It ensures that life does'nt become monotonous. Just when you think you have it all figured out, it throws a surprise at you!

The ship which I took to sail in the sea of life was yet to hit any rough patch and the journey seemed to be going on pretty smooth. There were those minor hiccups but nothing big enough that my ship could'nt handle. What more could I have possibly asked for?

One morning I woke up and went to the 'deck'. The sun was shinning bright. It was what we call the perfect sailing weather. I was sitting there and enjoying the sea and my wine. I could'nt have asked for anything more. And just then I heard a deafening noise! I was thrown out of my chair. The force was very large. She had hit an iceberg!

A perfect day has just turned into a nightmare. The hit was big and there seemed no way to save her. I could hear the captain saying, "Abandon Ship" but how could I just leave her? We have sailed through the toughest days together, we have sailed through all the rough patches and come out of it strong; and now there she was, bleeding, making her way to the sea bed.

The captain came to me and asked me to get into the boat so that we could leave immediately but I could'nt do that. How could I just leave her? I finally decided to stay aboard. She had been there for me when I needed her, through all my tough times, through the worst phase of my life and she had hardly disappointed me. Now it was my turn.

Life is like a see saw. One moment you could be at the highest point and the other you could hit bottom. The only thing we should remember is that we should never give up. We should stay positive and have faith. If something is bound to happen, it will happen. However the least we could do is to make sure that we don't do something that even destiny decides to change its road; and ofcourse we should not be afraid to take hard decisions cause at times these hard decisions help us in the long run. Every day is a learning experience. I have had some wonderful times and I guess I should be strong enough to accept that I have made loads of mistakes. Some of which I really regret; but then I guess this is life. We can't really do anything about things of past. We just have to deal with it. Though I hope that one day I will be able to correct all my mistakes. I am still a kid who is learning with every passing day; afterall life is all about learning, is'nt it??

...!!!!!.....

2009-04-23T19:26:00.002+05:30

I closed my eyes, the time had come. The inevitable was here and there was nothing I could do about it.

At times like these, your entire life flashed back right in front of your eyes. You tend to see all the good and bad that you have done throughout your life; the opportunities that we missed and the ones that we grabbed; the betrayals, the happy times, the pain, the agony, times when we laughed our heart out, times when everything seemed to be so good and we thought we will always be happy. People who have mattered to us thoroughout also cross our mind; and more interestingly we also think of people who we have hated and maybe at one point wanted to kill. But none of it matters now.

All I can hear is a cry coming from a distance; it keeps calling out to me and it keeps getting louder as time passes. I dont think its possible for me not to notice it and to turn away from it. I am standing here all alone near the window of my small room. Staring at the sky filled with shinning stars. The river flows at some distance, I can hear the sound of forest; but these beauties of nature, which are supposed to make me feel at peace don't seem to be helping.

I am feeling more and more lonely. There is no one other than the bird sitting on my window to listen to my miseries.

I made my self one more drink, the finest scotch and four cubes of ice. I could feel it warming my throat and running down it.

I had so many friends, so many loved ones; where have they all vanished? Why does it feel as if i am a ghost living between people who can't see me? Why did they all leave? Leaving me behind, all by my self! I guess that is how it is supposed to be. I guess that is what you call 'destiny'!

I picked up my phone and punched in the only number that i could recall, the only person that i had spoken to in ages. The call lasted for just fifteen seconds, the worst fifteen seconds of my life without doubt.

It only made the cry louder and my shivering hands stoped to tremble as I put the barrel to my head and pulled the trigger.....

!!! The past.. the present and the future..!!!

2009-02-04T12:10:00.004+05:30

As time passes, we move on with our lives. Change is the only constant that remains with us throughout! We get more and more involved in our doings and we tend to forget our past, things associated with our past. The only thing that we care about as we move on is future. So much we are into securing our future that we often stop living in present! Its only when time passes and misery strikes us that we realise what we have missed upon!
Its not bad to think about our future but in doing so we shall not forget about our past and our present. Its our past that has made us what we are today. We could have been a totally different person if we had a different past. The events that take place in our lives shape us into the kind of person we are today.
Today the world has become a rat race, and we are just another rat in it. Trying to race and defeat our fellow rats. Well, competition is not a bad thing but unfair competition is. The motive of a competition should not be to harm others but to learn something new.
When we leave school and go into college, we forget the friends we had at school. We hardly care to keep in touch with them, or maybe we do keep in touch with the handful! The people around whom our lives' once revolved are not even cared for now! Ofcourse if we bump into them in a mall or theater we will exchange a pleasent smile or maybe cellphone numbers but thats the end of it. We never even care to call them or message them! We meet new people. They become the centre of our lives. This is only the law of nature. There is nothing wrong with it. We should meet new people, go new places after all life is all about changes otherwise it will be very monotonous.
The only thing that we should keep in our mind while we are out there enjoying ourselves is that yesterday someone was there for us when we needed them and we should not forget that.
Its always good to be in touch with your past. There is no happiness like meeting an old friend after a long time, or talking about your childhood days! Even in saddest of our moods if we meet someone who has known us for long, just talkin to him about old days brings a smile to our face, tears to our eyes!
Its rightly said, "Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely.", but remember one thing that if we didn't have this cancelled cheque to our name, we couldn't have afforded the promissory note today! So as we go on with our lives, take out sometime to think about what we have left behind! There is no happiness as hearing from an old friend! Go ahead, the world is at your feet. Grab all the opportunities that you can, the world is out there waiting for you to rule it but when you are at it don't forget anything that helped you in being in such a position that your are today.
Well to sum it all up, its always good and necessary to take out sometime and think about what all we have achieved and what all we have left behind.

...A long weekend...

2009-01-26T23:18:00.002+05:30

weekends in manipal can get borin... really boring at times.. and the weekend just went by was a long one.. with practically no class to attend on saturday..d weekend started on friday it self:).. and it continued all d way 2 today.. it being a holiday on account of republic day..was it repulblic day 2day?!sorry 2 say bt i dnt remember any1 wishin any1 or i didnt evn c a flag bein hoisted!!:(.. wel none d less its an excuse for us to get a day off so all of us are very happy??:)..ok comin bak 2 weekends.. most of d weekends are those typical kinds.. vry monotonous.. party on saturday nite or go 2 sm bar gt drunk.. and den spnd sunday tryin 2 wash away d hangover of previous nite!!i thought this tym its gonna be no different maybe evn more borin!!aftr all how much can 1 enjoy drinkin??!:s.. most of d ppl had gone off to goa or sm other place.. so v decided 2 stick around in manipal!!.. who wants 2 go 2 goa and c all familiar faces frm manipal??!!;-).. wel d party started saturday nite.. a typical one i mst say.. goin 2 new deetee wid frnds.. gettin drunk.. bt it was fun cause firstly aftr long time all of us were out 2gethr!! nd secondly alcohol s always fun:D:p.. so quiet a few of us gt sloshed.. and had 2 b carried bak.. music was nice nd evn we who had clue abt d 'D' of dance saw ourselves swayin 2 d sounds!!or maybe noise!!.. sunday mornin.. again nothin different.. wakin at ease.. and wonderin wat 2 do!! thanks 2 bollywood which is famous 4 makin n number of movies.. v had one dis weekend which v culd watch!!i must say it was a tough job to wake up all d lazy asses who were snorin away 2 glory!!and den convencin few others 2 go 4 it.. a plan was finally made and v set out on bikes 4 d theater;-) [yes v r in coll nw and v have bikes 2 go on.. dats d bst part;-)].. d line 4 d tickets were long bt who cares!!..so v finally got in aftr waitin 4 sometime..d movie was supposed 2 b a horror one bt thanx 2 us.. v turned it into a comedy 1.. bt ya i mst agree dat v did gt scared in parts!!.. nw dat r weekend had started and v were in d partyin mood there was no point lettin it slip off!! so a dinner plan was made and 2 our delite a frnd agreed 2 treat us!! let me tell u there is nothin like free food and booze!!v ended up goin 2 new deetee again!!only this tym v didnt hav 2 pay 4 anythin;-)..as d 'dinner' progressed.. quiet a few of us lost control of their senses!!.. wel there s nothin like a drunk guy who u cant control.. its like d bull had gone mad and is on d run!!.. anyways.. it was fun.. aftral its only at times dat v gt 2 b lik dis!!i dnt no if it was d alcohol or wat .. v decided 2 hit d disc aftr dat!!d 1st onw v went 2 was empty!!went 2 d 2nd 1..by this tym few were vry high nd had 2 b taken bk 2 blk.. rest of us went in.. wel wat hapnd inside i wuld rather prefer nt 2 write here!!
2day mrnin all of us woke up relaxed.. last day of wat had been so far a long weekend!!no plans as such.. and den all of a sudden it hit few of us dat y nt go 2 turtle bay!! jobless ppl dat v r.. v started convincin evry1.. it was nt an easy task i mst say.. bt den evry1 did agree.. few more bikes were arranged and v set off for d beach!! it was a journey of arnd 50kms!!d bike ride was fun. all of us were pumped up.. clickin pics on r way.. signin.. overtakin each other.. few of us loosin r tshirt on d way;-).. aftr d long bt i must say by far d bst ride of my life v reached turtle bay.. d beach is awesome.. vry clean.. as soon as v reached v jumped into d sea.. hittin each other wid d ball.. sand.. playin arnd..jumpin as if v hav jst won a lottery!!
wen evry1 was tired enough.. v decided 2 go bak.. and as it was..v were feelin hungry 2!!.. d ride bak was full of lot of things.. few accidents avoided..runnin out of petrol!! hunger takin over us combined wid tiredness!.. finally v reached bak.. d only place at wuld giv us food at dat tym was hot n spicy.. so v went dere.. orders were placed.. i guess this was d largest single order dey mst hav evr taken!!! v culd sense dat frm d shock on their face!! evry dish was welcomed wid a loud cheer!!!it was lyk ur fav soccer team has jst scored a goal!!.. aftr stuffin ourselves upto neck d only thing dat v culd thnk off was r beds!! a heavy meal combined wid tiredness is a perfect mixture 4 an awesome sleep..
so here i m on my bed.. writtin this blog wen all my frnds are deep lost in their dreams.. only wakin 2 shoo away d annoyin mosquito!! i mst say dis was perhaps our best weekend here in manipal..!!! i wondere why we dont do anythin like this more often!! aftr all as tym passes by its only d memories dat remains and wen v c d pics v will remember d crazy assse dat v were!!!..
bas yaadein, yadeein reh jati hain!!! ..

..wats it all abt??!!...

2009-01-25T14:13:00.003+05:30

wel i remember d last time i wrote smthin on dis blog i was sm1 else!!! wel ppl dont change.. they nvr change.. its only d times dat changes..nd den v adapt or as few say change ourselves accordin 2 d circumstances.. most of the times wen things go wrong for us.. v blame it on time and circumstances!!! wel i guess dats all bullshit.. v shuld stand up and take responsibilty 4 r actions and stuff!!!...
nw if u evr care read dis u ll thnk wat d fck is wrong wid him??!! life is tough.. its unfair 2.. bt then it us who have 2 survive it and face it..nyways.. many a times things are nt as dey appear.. v think v r happy, others think u r happy bt its nt actually lik dat.. for those of u who no abt art of livin.. it says once u find true happiness, u can nvr b sad again!! cause true happiness s so strong dat nothin can take it away!!.. wel so i guess v r still 2 find 1!!!
i have also become a huge fan of murphy's law.. if anytgin can go wrong. it will go wrong at d worst possible time in d worst possible way.. just a few days bak i thought i had it all figured out and den d lighting struck!!!..wat have v made of ourselves?? gt up in d mrnin.. rush 2 classes.. reachin late 4 dem.. takin pride in takin teachers case. wel i wont say its nt fun;-).. den sleepin thru all d lectures!! relieved dat v hav half day.. probably takin a smoke goin bak 2 block and den snorin away 2 glory!!!.. then comes d evnin time.. rushin 2 d bars.. drownin ourselves in vodka.. nd den enjoyin d awesome high v get..!!! at d end of d day.. i pressume atleast sum of us.. stop 2 think.if only 4 a minute is this wat v truly want??oh ya i 4got.. in between dat hectic schedule of ours.. v also try 2 pick up and hit on girls;-).. atleast try 2..hehehe...
at times v try 2 figure out wat r priorities are?!. wat v actually want? bt v end up gettin more confused dan v already were!!..happiness 2 diff ppl have diff meanin.. wel 2 me it means being able 2 laugh and make ppl arnd u laugh.. wen v r bored.. its mostly wid ourselves dat v r bored..
grass is always greener on d other side..!! wen v look at sm1 we think dat person s so hpy.. nt knowin dat mayb he/she s as miserable as us!!!.. so there is only one thing we can do!!!...work hard and party harder!!! enjoy d icecream of life b4 it melts.. life is short so have ur deserts first.. anyways who likes d main course;-).. cheers!!!peace out.. pranav thakur signin off....

The nicer someone is, the farther away (s)he is from you...Murphy's law...

2008-01-09T14:00:00.000+05:30

It had been almost a year since I passed out from college and I had not managed to find a decent job yet. Finally after months of anxious wait I got a call from a company of my choice. I was to go for interview the next day at 9 AM. I had my dinner early and deviating from my normal plan (which often extends to early hours of the morning doing all sort of ‘things’) I went off to sleep making sure that I had set my alarm for 6 AM so that I could get up early and dress up (in my entire life I had never got up before 9!! And never dressed up decently!!!).
When I finally got up the next morning it was already 8:30 AM. My alarm clock had run out of life (battery) at the night!!! Murphy… He suddenly came to my mind. “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way.” How true is this. What else could go wrong? After months of trying I had got this interview and missing it this way was really frustrating.
It also reminded me of an incident that took place just after my class 12th board exam. Me and my friend Apoorv had to catch a flight to Bangalore (at 6:30 in the morning) to give our exam. We had decided to wake up at 4 in the morning and leave at most by 5. The Delhi airport was one hour drive from my place. I woke up at 4 and turned off the alarm. I thought why not sleep for another five minutes and then get up. Before I could realise, five minutes turned into an hour. When I finally managed getting up at 5:30 I could not think of what to do!!!
Someone during one of the lectures in my college had mentioned Murphy’s Law. So now having realised that I have already missed my interview, I decided to put the blame on this law. I logged on to internet and started to browse through this law. What I came across was very interesting. At first hard to believe but when we compare with our life we find its very true. Its same like, “World is very unfair but I always wonder that why is it never unfair for my good or on my side??!!”
Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance. "If there's more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way."
Now you can blame this law for you getting low grades or missing out on an opportunity or an experiment going wrong!!! It is like the law of life. We often experience that sometimes or in many cases a lot of times things go wrong when we least want it to go wrong! In fact scientists often consider Murphy’s Law when they have to launch a satellite or rocket. They actually consider everything that can go wrong and are already prepared with a solution!!! It is often quoted as “If you make something idiot proof…they will build a better idiot!!!”
Murphy law even supports us being singles (hee hee…finally a valid reason for all my ELIGIBLE single friends out there)..it says “Availability is a function of time. The minute you get interested is the minute they find someone else.”
So my friends…don’t worry just sit back and relax after all now you have something on which you can blame all your failures!!! And yes… one more thing you remember when someone told you that you have topped when you least expected to… or someone told you that the hottest babe of the campus is looking for you…remember my friend…”If its too good to be true…then it is too good to be true…”…

My Journey Through Mayo.....

2008-01-03T10:14:00.000+05:30

Well for all those who no me, no how much attached i am to Mayo...7 yrs in mayo were one of the best yrs of my life..i joined mayo in 1998 in class 4 (thats da junior most class)..junior school (class 4 to class 6) was a different place in itself..it was another part of mayo...v were mostly trying to cope up with the fact that v were all on our own...this was da time i made my new frnds sum of whom went on to become my really close pals..there were times we missed our homes badly...there were times we stood together to face all the difficulties..there were times we cried together..there were times when we fought together.... it was all fun as we were learin how to live together totally dependent on ourself and our friends.. and it was this time dat i understood d real meanin of friendship.. something which remains with me till date...three years passed like three days and then v entered da 'real mayo'..class 7 was fun..4 da first time all of us(my batch mates) were staying in 1 house...v had gr8 times.made sum more frnds and some foes too..!!it was in oman house that v understood da meaning of unity..v were still sumwhat protected frm the tradition of seniority and juniority...soon v went into class8..batch of 128 was divided into rougly group of 16 and sent to 8 different houses...most of my house mates were new to me!!though v had all lived under one

roof for 1yr!!! sum were my frnd frm junior school and 2 were my roommates frm oman house..however soon v all became frnds and got to konw each other very well...also v got to experience the seniority very closly..however my house, bt house was still a 'protected' house in comparison to others..v started to realise our individual potentials..i still remember that da day v had entered bt house v knew that v were not a strong bunch of boys in terms of sports nd academics but v decided tht v will try our best and make a place 4 ourselves..nd i m happy to say by the time v passed out frm 10th our house had many school level sports players and many of us participated in interschool events...BT house became one of d best house and v had many achievments 2 our name....our dream was achieved...promise fullfilled...

as time passed sadly our batch got divided into small 'groups'..this was the time i came to no abt da so called politics that exsisted in mayo..this was one of the sadest part..sum of us became rivals and though this levelled down a lot as time passed nd v againg began 2 live hapily still sum bad taste continued on till end of class 10 nd even now...i just wish that i could go back in time and change this one thing and that dis would hav never happened..i mad sum very gud frns..my best frnds...to say friends would be to under estimate i would like to say i found brothers at mayo...!!! my stay was one experience that i would never 4get...It made me wat i m today...it taught me about life and is greatly responsible 4 my personality development..for all my success how little it may be rite now, after my parents if someone deserves d credits...its mayo..its my second home and my loyality 2wards mayo will always be same...i joined mayo as a kid and left it as a person who had learnt sum finer points of life..a all round developed person...!!! hope those gud moments culd come again... i m PROUD TO BE A MAYOITE!!!

GO MAYO....LONG LIVE MAYO...LONG LIVE THE MAYO SPIRIT.......Let There Be light....

CoNfUsEd.....nd In Dilema!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-23T12:16:00.000+05:30

sometimes all of us come across a situation in our life where we dont know what to do...!! all our reasoning senses fail and we are left all alone.. there is somethin which we dont wanna do bt then one part of us tells us that we need to do it.. why all this?? why is it that we cannot choose?? is it cause we dont no ourselves?? I have been facing such a situation for quiet some time now.. i m totally confused and m in a dilema.. well if u analysise d situation u realise that its self created.. sometimes d decisions v take.. d decisions dat look good at dat pt of time.. have a much bigger effect later.. well den d biggest question is..what should one do in such a time?? bt den i guess this is wat life is all about.. if it went d way v wanted it 2 go den it wuldnt have been fun.... d bst part is everyday is a new challenge everyday a new opportunity.. v shuld have d courage to face d songs of our doings.. and try and improve our selves..lear from our mistakes and try 2 correct ourselves... and remember in d end.. it doesnt matter what shoes u wore hw ur hairs looked or anythin.. wat will matter is wat u learnt and hw u applied it in life.. cause wen v reach our final destiny.. we will have to answer HIM...

A NeW BeGiNnInG....!!!!

2007-11-01T00:45:00.000+05:30

My life for the past 3-4 months was not goin that great.. most of my troubles were self made.. my weak moments, some impulsive decisions and i screwed it up for me... i was mostly lost, sad and depressed.. i hated it.. things were not goin as i wanted them to go.. i did not want this.. but i felt helpless.. there was nothin i could do..atleast thats what i fealt..i spoke to my friends.. the closest ones.. they tried helpin me a lot.. councelled me.. felt better at times.. but then again..everythin kept comin back to me.. i finally had to take the painful but realistic decision.. i had to move on.. i could not hav allowed my life to be run like dis.. and i finally did that.. and today i m here.. CURED.. well not fully though.. but movin towards it.. its not easy.. everythin keeps comin back.. i hav my weak moments bt then i remind myself abt all that i hav gone through and that i dont wanna go through all it again.. i guess that helps.. i m thankful to all my friends.. u hav all been vry sweet and greatful..couldnt hav done without u ppl.. love u all.. muah.. and so here i m .. presentin 2 u Pranav Thakur part II... and i actually like watevr happened.. cause dat taught me hell lot of things... and ya it showed me there r loads of ppl who still care for me....

life...???!!!

2007-10-24T15:05:00.000+05:30

Well most of us curse our life.. We always say it has given us pain...we always curse it..but life s nt all dat bad.. v make it good or bad 4 us.. basically life is nt good its great.. and it gives back 2 u wat u giv 2 others!!! dats d best part of it.. i luv it.. hav no regreats in life....cause watever u did at that point of time u thought it was rite.. so dnt hav regreats.. and ya life gives u good as well as bad moments.. cherish d good ones.. bt dnt 4get d bad ones.. cause dey teach u lot..!!!! and live life king size ...d mantra 4 happiness is...DONT LET A PERSON BECOME A PRIORITY IN YOUR LIFE...WEN U R STILL AN OPTION IN THEIR'S.....!!!!