Love (a feeling that makes life more lovable) or L.O.V.E. (Lake of Sorrows, Ocean of Tears, Valley of Death and End of Life), which way would you prefer taking it! I would partly confide with the latter definition (a little out of proportions may be). Don’t go berserk already; I’ll prove to you why.
One of the best definitions of ideal love (picked up from a movie and is fictional in its own way) I have ever come across would be:
"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part; because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, and it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. “
There are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who don’t actually know what love is and those who know what it is and yet take the chance of tasting it. Either way, you end up getting hurt. So, question yourself as to where you belong and then brace yourself to get hit on the face, the way it pleases you!
Lets talk about the first kind. Ironically, the more sensible the above definition sounds to be, the more difficult (or impossible) it is to find such true love. More often, it withers away as a ‘temporary madness’. It is the decision making part that is the hardest. The earthquake or the initial frenzy phase which people confuse with love is no more than an attraction; it is the satisfaction one gets in knowing that there is someone out there you can share your feelings with. It is the pride and joy you feel in changing your relationship status to ‘Committed’ (on sites like Facebook and Orkut) and swashing about your new found love in your social circles. I believe it is the idea of having something new in one’s life that excites people more than anything else. The tag of ‘lovers’ to such cases is totally gross and you would only end up in sorrows and tears.
Now lets see how the people who, by definition, have found their love of life suffer.
Love, as it is said, has no boundaries and this is the problem. As friends you respect these boundaries; you treat some things off-limits, but in love you become devoid of this personal space.
I have seen how things change over a period of time. Things about your partner which once excited you to the core (like their independence, attitude or personality) now seem to be very annoying, reason being you have taken too much of it now. Questions which were never raised earlier require a firm justification as the relationship grows old. The idea of taking your partner for granted (I can provide more examples from a male perspective here) raises all sorts of doubts and misunderstandings. Compromises start to hurt your ego more than ever. While you were ready to spend hours waiting just to catch a glimpse of him/her initially, the very thought of having to wait seems to irritate you now. ‘In love’ you were ready to fight with the world to have him/her but once this ‘being in love’ phase(by the earlier definition) burns away you only fight with him/her, even over issues that are, apparently, very trivial. Jaane kyun…..what, at the end, comes your way is only loads of pains and sorrows which you could have very well done without.
PS: This is a purely personal opinion and no offense is intended to anyone. Would love to be proved wrong! As for me, I have taken the easy way out. Please don't judge me :)
Cheers,
Piyush.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
End of an era....a new journey awaits
As the day comes near, it is becoming even more difficult to absorb this feeling. An overwhelming sadness, an agonizing pain amidst the sweet memories of this wonderful life that is fast approaching its culmination is what describes my present state of mind. Yes, I speak of the end of graduation life or should I say my BITSIAN life.
It feels like only yesterday I got down from the Haryana roadways bus only to find out that the BITS campus has an entrance no grandeur in appearance than a dilapidating school building in some remote corner of the country. My mind is fresh with the memories of the initial registration process, those ill-zoomed clicks which happen to appear on our ID cards for the next four years, that long walk around the campus with parents and the speech by the vice-chancellor welcoming us to the campus.
For the past four years, I have always dreamt of the destination - having an engineering degree from a reputed college and passing out with a decent job in hand - but now as the destination has made its way clear of the clouds of fear and chance, it feels like the journey was far more memorable and enjoyable. Even as I write this post, there is this submerging feeling of nostalgia, this yearn to have the chance to relive these four years over and over again.
The gen lacha sessions, interactions(euphemised ragging) with juniors and seniors, late night ANC and Cnot sessions, PD trips, early morn Nootan hangouts, OASIS and BOSM thrills, LAN gaming, chill-outs at Ganga stores, QT cricket and volleyball, Assoc nights, Music nights, movie and cricket match screenings in Audi, various sports tournaments, OASIS and APOGEE Inaugs and what not. There have also been moments of stress and concern-the first hour tutorials and tests, the pressure of the Comprees, the night-outs before exams, just missing out on a grade in a course, applying for make-ups with fake reasons, CDCs, last hour assignment and report submissions, for that matter anything related to academics!
What is even more stressful and concerning is just imagining that once I step out of this campus there is a very hostile and brutal world waiting to plunge me in. A world full of competition and corruption where at every step there is a quest to prove oneself better than the others in the race. There would be no friends who you can speak to without giving a thought to the aftermath of the dialogue. Today when I have a problem I have friends who, I know, would do anything just to make me feel better,who would celebrate my happiness and share my sorrows putting all their issues aside. The fight for grades never compromises the values of friendship. Maybe I am being cynical but I would not want to learn the lesson a harder way.
Without a doubt, one of the most priced possessions I would be taking back with me are my friends (although after a couple of weeks the phone would most likely be the only way to keep in touch). It’s been a true privilege to have known you guys and to have been with you guys. I can proudly say that BITS would not have been this beautiful and graduation life this memorable but for my friends.
It feels like the end of an era, the climax to a rather romantic and relishable journey that all of us embarked on four years ago.
Three Cheers to this wonderful time :)
It feels like only yesterday I got down from the Haryana roadways bus only to find out that the BITS campus has an entrance no grandeur in appearance than a dilapidating school building in some remote corner of the country. My mind is fresh with the memories of the initial registration process, those ill-zoomed clicks which happen to appear on our ID cards for the next four years, that long walk around the campus with parents and the speech by the vice-chancellor welcoming us to the campus.
For the past four years, I have always dreamt of the destination - having an engineering degree from a reputed college and passing out with a decent job in hand - but now as the destination has made its way clear of the clouds of fear and chance, it feels like the journey was far more memorable and enjoyable. Even as I write this post, there is this submerging feeling of nostalgia, this yearn to have the chance to relive these four years over and over again.
The gen lacha sessions, interactions(euphemised ragging) with juniors and seniors, late night ANC and Cnot sessions, PD trips, early morn Nootan hangouts, OASIS and BOSM thrills, LAN gaming, chill-outs at Ganga stores, QT cricket and volleyball, Assoc nights, Music nights, movie and cricket match screenings in Audi, various sports tournaments, OASIS and APOGEE Inaugs and what not. There have also been moments of stress and concern-the first hour tutorials and tests, the pressure of the Comprees, the night-outs before exams, just missing out on a grade in a course, applying for make-ups with fake reasons, CDCs, last hour assignment and report submissions, for that matter anything related to academics!
What is even more stressful and concerning is just imagining that once I step out of this campus there is a very hostile and brutal world waiting to plunge me in. A world full of competition and corruption where at every step there is a quest to prove oneself better than the others in the race. There would be no friends who you can speak to without giving a thought to the aftermath of the dialogue. Today when I have a problem I have friends who, I know, would do anything just to make me feel better,who would celebrate my happiness and share my sorrows putting all their issues aside. The fight for grades never compromises the values of friendship. Maybe I am being cynical but I would not want to learn the lesson a harder way.
Without a doubt, one of the most priced possessions I would be taking back with me are my friends (although after a couple of weeks the phone would most likely be the only way to keep in touch). It’s been a true privilege to have known you guys and to have been with you guys. I can proudly say that BITS would not have been this beautiful and graduation life this memorable but for my friends.
It feels like the end of an era, the climax to a rather romantic and relishable journey that all of us embarked on four years ago.
Three Cheers to this wonderful time :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Blogger unblocked....
Its been quite sometime since my last post courtesy the campus. For reasons unknown, the site had been blocked by the IPC, BITS Pilani. There were many floating ideas I wanted to post on but they have all left the voids of my mind and as of now I have to really think again on what would be my next post.
I apologize to all my followers to keep them waiting (being really optimistic that people actually follow me whereby i mean people actually read my posts!). The next post would be really intriguing to everyone and I promise you that.
Keep following and keep leaving your comments and ideas. The wait is finally over....
Cheers,
Piyush.
I apologize to all my followers to keep them waiting (being really optimistic that people actually follow me whereby i mean people actually read my posts!). The next post would be really intriguing to everyone and I promise you that.
Keep following and keep leaving your comments and ideas. The wait is finally over....
Cheers,
Piyush.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Who is to be blamed?
It is rather surprising how priorities have changed today. Go through the newspaper or one bulletin of news on any television channel and one can find shocking evidences to this revelation. Only recently as one of my friends on Facebook commented on the issue of Sania-Shoaib marriage making the front page news while an important news of Sino-India relationship having to calmly subside on the sixth, it was really something to think about. Newspapers, today, are filled with news of heinous crimes – murder, extortion, rape, kidnapping and so on. One can also find a lot of celebrity news - their new relationships, breakups, candid cam photos and stuff. There is no scarcity of news highlighting blatant remarks of sycophantic yes-men who love to be in the limelight.
But who is to be blamed? Is it the media or the readers/viewers at fault? Is the media more concerned about the frivolous and less important issues or are we giving them the chance to behave the way they do?
I believe the media is nothing more than a sheen picture of our priorities and thoughts. As viewers and readers we are the ones who should be questioned. A news of some celebrity appeals to us more than something as important as a nuclear agreement or policies of the state. People ask questions about the idea of having newspaper pages filled with the news of murders and suicides or trivial stuff but don’t we enjoy a charade of ‘Sansani’ (a TV show on Aaj Tak that covers all sorts of crimes committed all over the country, claims to be a crime patrol for the aam aadmi) or talk about the grandeur of TV9 (a news channel which has exemplified the concept of trivialization of the media) news? Perhaps a rhetoric of mockery, we still give these media people the idea that such shows are celebrated and popular among the audiences. ‘The Hindu’ has lesser readership than ‘The Times of India’ because its content is more serious and it does not entertain sections like ‘Hot Klix’ and ‘Celebrity news’.
The people who run the media know that some new findings about Shoiab and Ayesha would interest a larger mass than something like ‘India’s stance towards the US-Pak nuclear deal’. We don’t generally talk about how India should have handled ‘The Summit on Climate Change, but ‘Should Aishwarya Rai marry Abhishek Bachchan?’, why not, bring it on! There is a plethora of such examples. We sensationalize the stuff they show and give them the reason to act this way where intruding the privacy of an individual or sending wrong messages to get the people talking and spatting is nothing immoral or irresponsible to them.
Maybe a few of us are actually interested in the more-important issues going on in the world today, but TRPs don’t only cover these people, you see! It is not only ‘this’ lot that follows the TV or surfs through the morning newspapers, a rickshawwala or a grocery vendor also likes to keep himself aware (perhaps not on the same issues!). And with the competition growing exponentially every day, I find no fault with media persons trying to up their TRPs or readership ratings, means matter not. Media is a business today and profits drive businesses after all!
Don’t you think so?
Cheers,
Piyush.
But who is to be blamed? Is it the media or the readers/viewers at fault? Is the media more concerned about the frivolous and less important issues or are we giving them the chance to behave the way they do?
I believe the media is nothing more than a sheen picture of our priorities and thoughts. As viewers and readers we are the ones who should be questioned. A news of some celebrity appeals to us more than something as important as a nuclear agreement or policies of the state. People ask questions about the idea of having newspaper pages filled with the news of murders and suicides or trivial stuff but don’t we enjoy a charade of ‘Sansani’ (a TV show on Aaj Tak that covers all sorts of crimes committed all over the country, claims to be a crime patrol for the aam aadmi) or talk about the grandeur of TV9 (a news channel which has exemplified the concept of trivialization of the media) news? Perhaps a rhetoric of mockery, we still give these media people the idea that such shows are celebrated and popular among the audiences. ‘The Hindu’ has lesser readership than ‘The Times of India’ because its content is more serious and it does not entertain sections like ‘Hot Klix’ and ‘Celebrity news’.
The people who run the media know that some new findings about Shoiab and Ayesha would interest a larger mass than something like ‘India’s stance towards the US-Pak nuclear deal’. We don’t generally talk about how India should have handled ‘The Summit on Climate Change, but ‘Should Aishwarya Rai marry Abhishek Bachchan?’, why not, bring it on! There is a plethora of such examples. We sensationalize the stuff they show and give them the reason to act this way where intruding the privacy of an individual or sending wrong messages to get the people talking and spatting is nothing immoral or irresponsible to them.
Maybe a few of us are actually interested in the more-important issues going on in the world today, but TRPs don’t only cover these people, you see! It is not only ‘this’ lot that follows the TV or surfs through the morning newspapers, a rickshawwala or a grocery vendor also likes to keep himself aware (perhaps not on the same issues!). And with the competition growing exponentially every day, I find no fault with media persons trying to up their TRPs or readership ratings, means matter not. Media is a business today and profits drive businesses after all!
Don’t you think so?
Cheers,
Piyush.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Got me thinking....
I recently came across an interesting article which said that atheism is a higher form of living-the first step on the path to freedom from the silken bonds of maya. The author says that God-worship is no more than a deification of our ego, a euphemism to self-worship. There is also this supporting statistic by a French sociologist which says that in countries where the tradition of God-worship is most entrenched (like India or Roman Catholic Italy), the incidence of bribery in everyday life is also proportionately high. This is because, the authors supports, when people take pleasure in bribing the eternal for their personal motives, they also don’t find fault in slipping in a few currency notes to get their work done.
Now, this got me thinking. That is because I am a theist to the core. And when such an idea comes up it really shakes up the very foundations of my belief. I believe I have a fair justification to my perception of the ideology, the concept of God worship.
It is true that when I pray I ask for certain things from the almighty like peace of mind and heart, to make me a better person and an apology for my mistakes. It is certainly not right to pray for some material things as a good grade or a better job etc. (and I am being fairly true to myself here). These are also unquestionably personal. But then who prays for world peace or a cure for AIDS or for a solution to global warming and climate change! People may part views with me on this but in the privacy of their innermost desires, I know, the prayers are invariably personal.
However, when I chant verses or light diyas and candles, it is not only for some favors or gains. It goes to show that I completely and absolutely surrender myself to the creator, the God and comply with the fact that there is some higher power that makes all the things happen, things which are even outside the scope of science, or logic and reason. This does not make God some bribable Babu and the very thought of comparing Him with some bureaucrat (as the author of the article mentions) is gross. Sometimes, just sitting in the serene solace of the almighty makes all the pains and fears go away. How do you justify this?
The author says ‘Why make it God’s job to get you what you want?’ To me this is a false argument to being an atheist. Prayers, to me, are nothing but taking blessings from some elderly person just as one takes blessings from parents before an important endeavour or asking for help to achieve some immaterial things like solace at heart or peace of mind. God-worship is also a reason which keeps you away from any wrong deeds.
I believe a prayer which includes material things - passing an exam, getting a good job or finding the girl/boy of your life – is not the right way of showing devotion to god. If thus is the case then that author is right in saying that we are trying to force our supremacy on other fellowmen, reinforcing and entrenching the sense of self and trying to bribe God for things which are in our total control and will.
Be a theist at heart and a rationalist person at mind. Let’s not give people a chance to question our ideologies (As for the earlier statistic, I believe it is just a coincidence). Personally, I don’t care a whether a person believes in God or not, it is purely a personal choice but when someone questions my ideologies I surely will voice my opinion.
Cheers,
Piyush.
Now, this got me thinking. That is because I am a theist to the core. And when such an idea comes up it really shakes up the very foundations of my belief. I believe I have a fair justification to my perception of the ideology, the concept of God worship.
It is true that when I pray I ask for certain things from the almighty like peace of mind and heart, to make me a better person and an apology for my mistakes. It is certainly not right to pray for some material things as a good grade or a better job etc. (and I am being fairly true to myself here). These are also unquestionably personal. But then who prays for world peace or a cure for AIDS or for a solution to global warming and climate change! People may part views with me on this but in the privacy of their innermost desires, I know, the prayers are invariably personal.
However, when I chant verses or light diyas and candles, it is not only for some favors or gains. It goes to show that I completely and absolutely surrender myself to the creator, the God and comply with the fact that there is some higher power that makes all the things happen, things which are even outside the scope of science, or logic and reason. This does not make God some bribable Babu and the very thought of comparing Him with some bureaucrat (as the author of the article mentions) is gross. Sometimes, just sitting in the serene solace of the almighty makes all the pains and fears go away. How do you justify this?
The author says ‘Why make it God’s job to get you what you want?’ To me this is a false argument to being an atheist. Prayers, to me, are nothing but taking blessings from some elderly person just as one takes blessings from parents before an important endeavour or asking for help to achieve some immaterial things like solace at heart or peace of mind. God-worship is also a reason which keeps you away from any wrong deeds.
I believe a prayer which includes material things - passing an exam, getting a good job or finding the girl/boy of your life – is not the right way of showing devotion to god. If thus is the case then that author is right in saying that we are trying to force our supremacy on other fellowmen, reinforcing and entrenching the sense of self and trying to bribe God for things which are in our total control and will.
Be a theist at heart and a rationalist person at mind. Let’s not give people a chance to question our ideologies (As for the earlier statistic, I believe it is just a coincidence). Personally, I don’t care a whether a person believes in God or not, it is purely a personal choice but when someone questions my ideologies I surely will voice my opinion.
Cheers,
Piyush.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Up and Going again !
The comments on my last post made me go through it once again. I guess you guys were right. That was not me writing. A post such low on energy scale is definitely not me. But look at the positive side. The next time I feel low or out of life, I surely won’t miss out on reading the post and the comments over and over again. Probably it would serve as the morale booster or that extra bit of energy (the one I was talking about in my last post) in times of despair. Voila! I guess this is one way blogging helps :P
See, I can already feel myself up and going again!
But one thing is true; hardships or problems in one’s life should always be taken as a learning lesson. Else how can one really enjoy the good times. An ECG, I believe, is the true picture of life; there are ups and there are downs and when ur graph is a straight line, it means something is wrong, it means that you are not doing enough in your life to experience all the flavors of life, you are as good as a dead man.
Well, I guess that’s a lesson well learnt.
Cheers,
Piyush.
See, I can already feel myself up and going again!
But one thing is true; hardships or problems in one’s life should always be taken as a learning lesson. Else how can one really enjoy the good times. An ECG, I believe, is the true picture of life; there are ups and there are downs and when ur graph is a straight line, it means something is wrong, it means that you are not doing enough in your life to experience all the flavors of life, you are as good as a dead man.
Well, I guess that’s a lesson well learnt.
Cheers,
Piyush.
Friday, April 2, 2010
As good as it gets!
I am at that juncture of life now where one has to put on the thinking shoes. One tends to start retrospecting as to how better one could have dealt with it. There are lots of plans and then better plans and then even better ones to cope with the failures. Sometimes I get frustrated and at other times I see a dim ray of hope somewhere. You got it right, the final semester of graduation.
As I stepped into this semester I was very confident that within a couple of weeks or so I would be proudly holding an offer letter. Then after acquiring a few years of work experience, I would go for an MBA from some reputed institute. Being one among the top six students from my discipline this semester with a decent knack for finance as well, I actually had everything well thought out. But things always don’t go as planned.
First, there are not many companies for Chemical-ites coming on campus this semester, they say that the firms are saturated to brim with Chemical students and a few companies that have turned up are also not hiring people from my discipline. There is also a dearth of the so-called ‘Bus’ companies and the situation for finance companies seems to be going through a similar phase. So, there is not much to sit waiting for.
I have to come up with an alternative plan. First, would be to sit jobless at home preparing for CAT 2010. I had given a mock attempt at that last semester with nothing good coming from that either. Second, I can try off campus placements but these job-hunt sites are proving to be no good. I get over 10 mails daily from such sites but the jobs they offer have a few small problems (!)-some of them date to over an year back, some of them are receptionist jobs and a few good ones look for work ex.
I haven’t chalked out a third plan yet but now I feel like giving myself in to the mantra ‘Sometimes to deal with it is to do a deal with it!’ The deal here would be to just sit and wait and see what else life has in store for me (already you can see that mounting frustration)!
I know this isn’t the right way to go about dealing with stuff but I believe I have nothing better to do now. I need some motivation to bolster my morale. Probably, when I talk of giving in, someplace deep down in my heart, I am looking for that ray of hope, that tinge of energy to get me up and going again…
Cheers,
Piyush.
As I stepped into this semester I was very confident that within a couple of weeks or so I would be proudly holding an offer letter. Then after acquiring a few years of work experience, I would go for an MBA from some reputed institute. Being one among the top six students from my discipline this semester with a decent knack for finance as well, I actually had everything well thought out. But things always don’t go as planned.
First, there are not many companies for Chemical-ites coming on campus this semester, they say that the firms are saturated to brim with Chemical students and a few companies that have turned up are also not hiring people from my discipline. There is also a dearth of the so-called ‘Bus’ companies and the situation for finance companies seems to be going through a similar phase. So, there is not much to sit waiting for.
I have to come up with an alternative plan. First, would be to sit jobless at home preparing for CAT 2010. I had given a mock attempt at that last semester with nothing good coming from that either. Second, I can try off campus placements but these job-hunt sites are proving to be no good. I get over 10 mails daily from such sites but the jobs they offer have a few small problems (!)-some of them date to over an year back, some of them are receptionist jobs and a few good ones look for work ex.
I haven’t chalked out a third plan yet but now I feel like giving myself in to the mantra ‘Sometimes to deal with it is to do a deal with it!’ The deal here would be to just sit and wait and see what else life has in store for me (already you can see that mounting frustration)!
I know this isn’t the right way to go about dealing with stuff but I believe I have nothing better to do now. I need some motivation to bolster my morale. Probably, when I talk of giving in, someplace deep down in my heart, I am looking for that ray of hope, that tinge of energy to get me up and going again…
Cheers,
Piyush.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)