Equilibrium

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because  you tread on my dreams. #Yeats

My Experience With Life!

Art has several form, and each one is beautiful in its own!

So when Karan said that Akhshay's play is up this weekend at Rangashankara (http://www.rangashankara.org/home/rangatest/) I was first bit apprehensive. Karan was like "I am not asking your permission, you are coming for the play!". I was not sure what I have unknowingly registered for. But whatever it was, it was a different experience altogether.

Rangashankara is situated in dense of Bangalore, and trust me I wouldn't have reached there on my own. Vineet was telling the directions and I was just turning the bike left and right. When we reached there, It was a mix of art, energy, subtlety, respect and expectations. It seemed everyone was an artist in themselves. Like those people in movies who are art loving - guys with curly long hairs wearing kurtas, some with funky T Shirts and Long beards, Girls with cloth sling-bags.. And it was like everyone knows each other. Difficult to tell between audience junta and volunteer/actors. Vineet was damn sure he saw some faces which he sees on TV. I was till then still swallowing the Awe of the place.

At 6.45 they announced to assemble near the entrance and sit down. People were confused, thinking the play is going to be here only. On asking how to sit, as in facing which direction, controller said sit anywhere you find space. And with that lights went off, everyone just sat wherever they were. Lights lit behind us and we turned around to see Akhshay and two others. Preliminary had started. It was good. Actors were sitting among audience only. So all of sudden light will focus at a section and few people will come forward and start performing. At 7.20 this ended. Though most part of this preliminary was in Kannada( my guess ) people had already strtd coming in mood of cheering and whisteling.

Inside the theater at 7.30 was an altogether different scene. A huge backdrop of Shakespeare wearing crown like Indian Gods was enough to make you laugh. And by the time we were in we were a group of some 10 people - Vineet, me, Karan, his office friends, Akhshay (since his part in preliminary was over and he ws not in the main play), his mom and wife. We got perfect center row.

Lights off and there was one of those elegantly beautiful lady on stage. People were clapping like anything and with joined hands she was accepting the greeting and waving. I was sure I had seen her before but couldn't recognise. Vineet told that she is Arundhati Nag. And then I remembered, first by her role in movie Paa(as Vidya Balan's mom) and then as owner of Rangashankara. Wife of legendary South Indian superstar, she  herself is superstar and theater personality. She welcomed everyone there and formally announced the play to start. What came next was simply stunning.

Lights went off again and when they came back, it was abundance of colours on stage. A group of people, all in colourful costumes were there on stage. Play had begun. It was Hindi remake of Shakespeare's "The Twelthe night" named as "Piya Behrupiya". Though you know the story, watching it live is something different.

This was the real talent in front of which I thought Movies stand nowhere. Everything was on stage. No microphones for voice, no playbacks, all characters were singing on stage itself, music was played by using dholak and the likes on stage itself. All characters were sitting on stage only so there was no going back stage and changing or anything. Highly Mature acting where characters were so comfortable in there roles that you wont realize when stuff happened which would otherwise have been cut off by great censor board. And jokes, God, there was not a single moment you were not laughing. Exceptionally awesome punchlines.

What I really liked was that each character was better than the other. All were singing like professionals (it was musical play) acting like real characters and expressions - I said to Vineet that I am not going to spend money on movies from now and instead watch these plays. No special effect, no post processing, just pure talent.

And the play ended. Man, it was the best any artist could dream for. More than 10 minutes of standing ovation. People were ecstatcic and none seemd tired though it was already 10.30 in night (roughly 3 hour play). Just imagine, three hours of script non stop in front of you. So much dialogues and songs and evertyhting, thats real something. You dont have chance for retake or anything. Everything need to be perfect and everything was perfect.

While coming out, it looked that everyone had time of their life. To top this, volunteers were standing outside with sweets. It was Rangashankaras 8th Birthday today. Added flavour to festivity there :) Just we were discussing and I saw a familiar face in the crowd. Someone whom I had not seen in last 6-7 years. It was Priyamwada, one of my school friend. I was knowing tht she got married and settled in Bangalore but meeting like this was not expected. It was nice to see old friends!

Well that was not the end. In the pamphlets outside, Vinay Pathak was seen lurking out. We picked and read, he is going to perform here in Dec start. With promise to be back here again for his play, everyone left! And while riding back my bike, for first time in months I was like free in mind where there was no second thought but happiness about small beautiful things in life!

comeback!

And I realised what i had left behind in all these months .. myself. So many months of solitude and it took one confrontation with death to realize that.
Every man has a code to live with and so do I. That is the reason why you feel restless..angry..irritated all the time if you are not following it. Evidence for this - no post in last so many months.
Death... I mean Accident.. it taught many things. How fragile you are. No seriously! Nothing bookish or Shakespearian! Its absofuckinlutely true. Those end seconds after you realize you can't control and before you hit, its waterfall of thoughts which you experience. How to save yourself? Why did i fight with my best friend? Is there any way of reducing the impact? Is this the end? Your mind at that time leaves control to impulsive control system of the body, giving way to all your life thoughts to flow in!

And then there are miracles.. falling at such speed and still no broken bone..u got to be kidding right! Lying on the road..drenched in blood with jeans, jacket, shoes torn..one leg at odd angle and one feelingless hand .. you cant make your mind whether you are alive or dead. Well you never see sky at that "lying on the road with numb body feeling" angle! Do you?
Therefore, lying on the bed with nothing to do for days but either to watch some sitcom or ponder over things, realizations happen. So much free time for yourself makes you think clearly.

Its been a full one month today! Now no jogging though but limping.. no lifting stuff with hand, just using it casually. Life is slowly coming back to normal. But with a lesson..there are  many things in life to do and you dont know anything about how many of them will you be able to complete before its time. So best is to live like its your end. And be happy with everyone around you or dont be around with the ones you are not happy with because you really don't wanna be on fighting terms with anyone in your last time!

Hibernation

No nothing to do with it!.. Just that, I am too far from being myself! Thanks to many things!

Still waiting for myself to come back!

Till then .. :)

Tweet

"When life laughs at you!"

Nothing more to say!

Though I Was Not Your Mentor!

Author's Note

Dear Ansh

This is my first book :P

Hope you like it

Feedback are welcome :D

Happy Bday!

                                                   Vishal Goel

                                                    22/1/2012

This book has some things, habits, actions which are required for everyone. I have written those which I felt important. Enjoy!!

Set Goals 

You know Ansh this is the most important of all & that's why first. Don't Worry how hard the goal is. More important is how you achieve it. :)

Make U'r today Special 

Nothing better to say than line which Mallika likes.. "Everybody wears sunscreen" - #Do one thing everyday that scares you#

Never Complicate Matters 

Often Solution to Complicate problems are very simple. THINK BASIC. Don't take too many charges. Throw away Unnecessary. You are gifted with one life, LIVE IT BIG

Record Your Thoughts 

Ansh, make this your habit...write down things. You or me or anyone comes across 100 ideas a day but retain none as we never write it down. Use your phone if paper not there.

Use the power of patience

Most people quit too soon. Use this to your advantage. Listen to what others have to say, reason it out and then act. YOUR TIME WILL COME

Accept Differences/Let them Be..:) 

I have seen many people who think themselves above others. Am happy, rather learn from you how to accept differences.. STAY THIS WAY! *This is one major quality many lack..

Give yourself gift of Self Reliance! 

You need Will, Self Confidence & Action Plan! You have all 3.. Don't lose them

Look in the Mirror 

Best Self Realization medicine this is. Look in the mirror in your eyes..you see yourself then cool. PS - I always see someone else :|

Risk Failure, Cause Change 

If you will not take risk then who will..If you will not cause change then who will?

Be Prudent 

Just because you deserve victory doesn't mean you will win every fight. Others might have tactical advantages. Have self confidence to know when not to fight.

Don't be a perfectionist 

Start off with the work..if you wait for perfection it will never. First time things will be K..second time good and then Perfect ..

be persistent 

You know this very well Ansh. Specially this place will teach you..! You can't get your work done unless you are persistent.

Walk The Talk 

Don't say anything which you can not perform. Think before doing things you have not promised for .. :)

be proud 

Be proud for your team..for your work..for your appearance..for your hometown, Never let negative talks hamper this feeling..

Love many things 

Music, art, adventure, books, friends, garden, home, office, cellphone, clothes, shopping, exercise, sunsets, walks, gym... Feel good for everything!

be decisive 

Don't let decisions lingering around. Be quick in making accurate decisions. Higher people like diro likes straight yes/no kind of people.

Develop your special Talent/ Do what others can not 

Most people can’t help a crying friend..you can. Most people can’t get up at 6 am and jog..you can. Keep trying to find your special talent.

Think win win 

Its nothing but +ive attitude. Try to find solution which is good both for you & for others. PS: I am waiting for this footsteps!

Negotiate with Power 

Almost everything is negotiable.. have right reasons to negotiate.. Don’t argue or threaten. Respect other party’s position.

Remain Adaptable 

That is how world evolved.. You want to be in race, remain adaptable. Now you are in comfort of your friends, later you may not..

Applaud the beginner..spread Enthusiasm 

Never straight forward say no to beginner. Tell him the draw backs & to work again. Team enthu is in your hands. People work best under that stage :)

Act with BOLDNESS 

No one honors faint, shy and timid. Asking for glass of water or making a deal, be confident..

Read Read Read 

Society respects those who are well read. Despite whatever we have said, grades not imp & all.. STUDY WELL!! Reading broadened your outlook.. J

Work at Work 

:D Something I still need to learn. When working then give your 100%. No sms, chat, call, pep talks..

Develop your sense of Humor 

People love those who laugh… People love those more who can laugh on jokes made on them.. Your “SMILE” is contagious.. J

Show Loyalty 

I know I failed in this one.. But please..always be true to your friends!

Control Conflict 

Always remain calm and detached. Allow others to rage while you consider appropriate response. You have live example STUDC to practice .. :P

Demonstrate your LOVE 

One serious draw back with many that they can’t show love. If you have crush then tell… Tell your mom n dad how much you love them.

Stay fit & Healthy.. Relax your Body. 

LOL.. I wrote more for myself I guess..Second line is for you..Do not strain too much..Theek hai MBA hai.. but you also know… Take sound sleep…

Follow your code of HONOR 

Stick to this If you don’t say lie..never do. If you don’t smoke.. never do. If you commit something.. always do. HONOR YOURSELF

Share the credit/ Make every1 feel important 

That’s how you get love and respect. Even a small piece of work is appreciable. Your small yes can do wonders to your juniors. Never say “I did”, its “We Did”..

Develop Winning Habits 

It feels good to win. Don’t give up easily. If entering a competition then go to win and nothing less. Nobody remembers who came second.

Ask yourself lot of questions 

Best way to Discover things around you. There is no age of learning..and its never too late to learn stuff which you think you should have long back.

Get tough..Accept Hard Work 

You are tough..seriously Ansh. Point here is that you should not submit yourself to easy looking task. Take one of those difficult project during intern.

Imagine! Venture outside the box 

In other words “be Creative” Fresh ideas are always welcome everywhere.. And don’t hesitate in coming up with weird ideas.

Build Group/Team/Network/Friends 

Its all about networking. How can Rajat /gupta do that scam..? :D But on a serious note, talk with everyone and carry them along. Be like Partha here :)

Submit to higher power/ Become Grateful 

…………………………………………. Learn your religion :)

Communicate with ease/ Speak Out 

MOC+WBC .. Interviews can be cracked with a smile if you know how to communicate easily. Shouting is bad. Look into eyes when talking to someone.

COUNT the time 

Person who does not keep track of time is hard to succeed. I have seen Niketa doing wonderfully well in this. Also “enjoy quiet time”..this place offers you lot to enjoy that :)

Appreciate your Appeal 

That’s self confidence type. Wear in which you feel comfortable (you already are awesome looking :P ) Believe in your personality!!

Close the doors on the past| Avoid thinking that :|

Some doors are better closed off as they no longer exist in your life. And after closing avoid thinking about it. PS: Am wrong person to tell this. Hope you do it well.

Do what you love doing 

If you love writing backwards then do so.. Life is too short to live for what others expect you to do. I like you despite so many pangey.. but these moments will not come again

Run the short road..March the long road  

 As in finish small pending issues first. They, if left unattended, starts giving tension. Walk the long road where experience is going to help you. Learn from each step here.

Maintain +ive attitude | Avoid –ive people 

You need not be friends with all. The success comes with positive mind & you will often feel down with people with negative outlook. Just try this once.

Offer Freely | Give generously 

You do this J Here I mean is help.. offer it freely. And when you are helping someone don’t hesitate in giving your 100%

Act as you feel | Listen to your Instincts 

Some of the best decisions are taken at instinct. As the more you think more you find pros and cons. Though that’s good but if you feel like hugging a total stranger, Just Do It .. :P

Practice Peace, Forget Everybody, Practice Forgiveness 

The best thing you can do to someone is forgiveness. The worst – neglect. Its not worth keeping grudges..talk them out.. Talking helps everything.

 

"Be A Mentor"

  

Mid Life Crisis

You would have read this I guess somewhere or the other. It keeps getting re posted on face book now and then! If haven't read till now then just read through. Dunno who wrote it at first place but whosoever did, did it beautifully - 

"24-25 is not a nice age for a man.... your ex-gfs are getting married , Your career has just started, Elders treat you as unproven theorems, College guys feel that you are too old to have in there group... You seem to enjoy both cartoon and news. You can no longer eat whatever you wish without putting on weight. You are not invited for weekend cricket matches . Every Aunty you meet asks “Shaadi kab kar rahe ho beta!!” while uncle asks “Career ka kya socha hai beta…”. When the reality is that you are just riding the wave and going with the flow. You have all the confidence in the world but little achievements to show, You already have the first hand experience of life , You know that whatever you have been taught about the world in school has been sheer waste of time. You can be denied a job even after passing the test and you could be given a job if you know someone placed high enough… Politics till now was a dirty word but now you feel it everywhere. You know now love is not that blind and that friendship has its terms and conditions. .You know there is nothing for granted and free lunches are not free. Your overconfidence is now making way for a humble conscience. . You now know it is not exactly what we thought it would be"

The line which struck me the most was the one I put in bold.. everything else seems derived from it! :)

Jack n Jill redefined

Well this is the redefined version of Jack and Jill poem by Ballu. Made during our trip to Nongstoin.

Vishal and Shubhi went up the hill
          to get a picture clicked!
Shubhi fell down and got stuck in rocks
          and Vishal came laughing after!

There was nothing better in that trip..! Trust me..! :P

Hard Fact 3

"I am best at losing the ones i loved the most!"

Click here for Hard Fact 1 & 2

Lies & Truths

Its Lies & Truths and not Truth & Lies .. because that's how its working these days.

 

Everyone is so busy in racing their lives that stopping and thinking about their loved ones has become a hurdle. So if someone sees his close one in trouble and asks "Is everything all right?" the first reply he gets is "Yups", although clearly its splashed across the face that things are not at all right. Small tensions to bigger problems.. all goes with saying "yups everything is right". Either you make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it or simply don't say it.

And this is not because the person doesn't want you to tell, its because they don't want you to feel the anxiety, the trouble of knowing the problem. Somewhere its there in mind that why should I bother them with my problem. All noble and sweet but aren't we doing something wrong. Are we thinking the person who is asking to be less competent? Aren't we making him fell uncomfortable by that "yups everything is right"?

You think that you knows your best friend the best. But still you will not tell many times that you don't like his/her certain behavior, some acts. Why? Is it because you are afraid that the other person will think wrong about you? Test it..! In true relations, these are taken in a constructive manner. You can not tell that you don't like something about your best friend to an outsider and when that friend of yours get to know you had said , you refuse. Have the courage to open up to your best friend at-least. Have the dignity of not lying to him at-least.

Many relations, friendships have gone to end just because of this "lie". And the sophisticated society has given it a better word - "trust". This relationship has no longer trust in it ..

Is it that difficult to speak truth? Agreed there are situations you can not tell things. But then instead of saying that things are right, you can say that you can't tell now but will tell later. And trust me, there always will be time when you can tell things you promised back. The greatest friend of truth is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant companion humility. Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying.

Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness, give your friends truth! There is no better way to have that relation going ahead.

I've ...

I’ve seen castles made out of sand

Met people who believe destiny is engraved on the palm of their hands

I’ve seen people change their faith

Experienced love and change into hate

I’ve seen people grow younger with age

And a bird who wouldn’t fly out of an open cage

I’ve seen love sold out for money

People who are devastated inside but outside they’re funny

I’ve seen unicorn fall in love with a toad

People who owned half the city have now hit the road

I’ve learnt to expect the unexpected

Perfection doesn’t exist, we all are born defected

Everyone cries, some just hide their tears

They say coal turns into diamond over a  thousand years

For some you are just another ‘nobody’ in a million

But someone may believe you are one in a billion!

For all you guys here at shillong - bhim, lala, balu, velle, fartha, baba, duckling, bangu, sana, amma, chink, princess, shubhi, ditcher, miss mentor, divi, mantri, nitish, raghu, joy, guptaji, dada, nakli, bhav, mishra, nagar, khandu.....

Impulse

“There are things you do sometimes, actions that you take by obeying sudden impulses, without stopping for even a fraction of a second to think, and then you spend the rest of your life either lamenting it or thanking yourself for it. They are rare, unique, and perfect moments.”

The real life is confusing and things are more than what is simply white and black. Ex-girlfriends are purely irresistible. They keep jumping down your head, reminding you of each of your gesture and the behaviour and all these complicated stuff which you really never cared as a man when you were free. Life has grown ahead by tying itself to a backdated hook. You do stuff still having the notion of how you were doing the same few years back. Why? Impulse!

Well what’s going on? Life is full of ups and downs. This is no excuse that your idea got rejected at one place and you blurt your anger out at some other. Pure human impulsive tendency, but wrong! In the process of calming down, you will impulsively think that “Ok, let me confront them one last time!” But seriously, it’s not them you have to confront. It’s You yourself.

Being impulsive is underrated. I think the best decisions are often the ones we take in the spur of that moment. But then, sometimes the biggest mistakes of our lives are made on impulse and you will end up saying it’s all over. And of love and ambition, nothing remains! To me, I didn’t know whether it was going to be good or bad - one of the most impulsive decision - resigning from my first job just because of sheer anger. You storm in general manager’s cabin with your papers turned in and without listening to any counter argument from that old “i-am-the-boss” you continuously chant swearing words. You see the picture of that one daisy flower (of course there is a background story of this flower) and all your anger flies. Impulse again. But good or bad? Well good it turned out it seems!

Sometimes we don’t want the same things anymore. Yesterday’s broken dreams still haunt us. Mirrors lie and ask difficult questions – “Is that smile really genuine?” You can fool the world but not yourself. Well, you might sometimes but is that really what you want? For an instant that sad expression will peep out and that’s the moment of impulsive truth.

Broken hearts can be mended. All it takes is few nights of drunken revelry and many nights of tear drenched pillows. The real solution to a broken heart is of course another girl. In a company of friends, that JD bottle but at the night those reading of the old messages on your cell phone screen with a smile passing on each passing message. And then you think, why we got apart in such an impulsive moment. Had we withhold the fight, had we remained quite for that moment and had we agreed to fight at some other time, we would still have been together. 

There was this line often said - ”Never make a decision when angry and never promise something when happy” I guess now it is clear why this is so true in real life! 

Happy Singles Day

Its 11:11 a.m. of 11-11-11

And therefore I wish all you singles out there.. a very Happy Singles Day! :D :P

This moment will not come for the next 100 years.. so go out.. njoy..have party.. but remember.. only with other single friends :P

PS: Is there officially any day known as "Singles Day"?
PPS: If there is any, screw that. Today is the day you need to celebrate out \m/

Relations are not Maths

What is maths? They say its the basics of all fundamentals which we humans learnt...how to count and keep everything in order. And then what are relation... again i guess right from adam and eve humans learnt its meaning. The two terms got mixed and we got "Mathematical Relations".

Right form  childhood we have heard this term "mathematical relation". Many of my friends used to hate maths when i used to score 100 in primary classes. They used to say maths is tough.. I used to say maths is the easiest. Time passed, Math really grew tough and so do the relations.. I used to always try and explain maths.. and relations.. to people. Always felt too sure, too confident about these two things in my life that i can never get wrong here. I know them correctly. But nopes. Things were never that simple.

What went wrong?

Law of associativity - a + ( b + c ) = ( a + b ) + c

Simple enough! But mathematically! It does not hold at all when it comes to relations. With the passage of time, in a group of three people, 2 will come closer..share secrets..talk..and yes third is still there. To an outsider, it is all same.. but internally it is not. The whole summation of the group has changed by putting those brackets around two. And if the same bracket is with other combination of 2 in the group.. again it changes.

End Result - a + ( b + c )  ≠ ( a + b ) + c and infact the best thing for this relation is leaving it as a + b + c only!

Law of distributivity - a * ( b + c ) = a*b + a*c

This is much more easier to understand. Again mathematically it is very simple. But take it from relation point of view. In a group of two if third person enters.. do you think that this third person distributes/shares his time, emotions, problems, secrets and all this equally?? No right! in some cases, 'b' is more close to 'a' and in other 'c' .. that is mathematically speaking.. value of 'a' differs as soon as the bracket is open! It is not the same person any more. Rather you can say it becomes a1 and a2 making the value of the relation different than intended.

Therefore, it is always better for 'b' and 'c' to tackle 'a' from inside the bracket i.e. not opening themselves individually to this outsider. 

And adding on to these.. I just felt that it is not just maths but other subjects which defines relations. Take thermodynamics. Zeroth law of thermodynamics state that if a is equal to b and b is equal to c then a is bound to be equal to c. Writing mathematically - If a = b & b = c then a = c

Give it a thought..hardly you see this happening! 'a' is a very good friend of 'b' and 'b' is a very good friend of 'c. But then it is not a confirmation that 'a' should be a good friend of 'c'. In fact 'a' and 'c' could be arch rivals or non existent for each other. And from the point of expectation of 'b' also it is not justified at all to think that 'a' and 'c' should be as good together as they are with him.

Only thing which i think is holding true is Newton's first law, a body in motion will remain in motion and a body at rest will remain at rest unless it is acted upon by external force.

A relation will remain in tact unless there is an outside force which tries to disrupt it. Any external news, gossip, person, truth, lie, anything will alter this state of trust, equilibrium and harmony - however minutely or largely it do.

MindBlog

Its long since i made last entry here. But there are so many entries which keeps registering in the mind every now or then. Any topic.. discussion.. situation.. everything gets framed and waited to be showcased. have so many half written  entries now..!
Its just the laziness that they are not getting posted..

Get over.. ! 

Disconnected!

Remember the last post - N70 my lifeline~!


Well I guess it was just waiting for some time. Finally my N70 has gone dead. In the morning rush to exam (that too IBFS) it dropped and this time I knew.. something serious happened with it. It didn't turned on.
And now once again am realising the importance of this piece of gadget. Life is so disconnected without this. All the people who were just a second away from you really look miles apart now.
Even though as temporary I am using old 1100, still something is missing kind of. Don't know who is messaging you and have to ask back to every new mssg who this is! irritating! to give icing..people wont tell and say guess! i mean what guess? there are millions of cell phone users and seriosuly once the number is stored in your phone, you dont care to remember them!

Anyways, am confused whether to buy new or get this one repaired! And if new then which one! :|
Why can't this N70 come back to normal without all this?!?

You and your DSLR

*Original post lies here and all credits to the original author. Respect man (figure of speech :P), you wrote your heart out and absolutely apt for point and shoot photographers like me!*

When Manmohan Singh opened up the economy, little did he know the ramifications of it. Yes, we have great plasma TVs, IT jobs and foreign cheerleaders in our tournaments and calendars. But it has brought in some side effects as well. As I browse through my Facebook feed through various tinted photographs of poor people and a crow eating from a bowl of rice, it only compounds my irritation. 

Apparently anyone can now own a DSLR without knowing what it expands to. The moment you get one, you update your Facebook status with technical specifications of your camera that serves as a harbinger to us. Then you have two passive Facebook users(Their role in online social life ends with the like button) to like it. I think they are like assassins. You can hire them and get them to like stuff on a temporary basis. An innocent girl falls for the bait and comments “Wow”. A hound of wolves go and like her comment, which tallies to a higher rational number than the likes for your original post, thereby embarrassing you. I mean, why this hoopla? Aren’t bloggers like me shamelessly publicizing blogposts on Facebook enough for humanity?

When you get your DSLR, do you start looking at everything as a prospective photograph. Poor people are now the target of your black and white pics. Suddenly old senile men clad in loin cloth are of value to you. A wrecked car becomes an object of art. I mean, how suddenly?

You categorize stuff into different senseless albums. Stray dogs come under the category of wildlife. Why man, why?Do they live in the forest? Are they endangered? I really don’t think so. They chase me all around Velacherry, as I ride my bike with my legs near the handle bar out of fear, when I return home after 11 pm. Your cycle bell is shot in high resolution and uploaded into “random pics”.”Random pics”, the worst ever name, not just for for an album. If you hate your child, you should name him “random pics”. 

Doors, windows, bullet enfields and light switches go under the category of classic pictures. Who certified it as classic dear? The Academy awards jury?Sigh, self-proclamation. And yes, find new names. “What I see”, “Brilliant shots from my eye” and “Shots through my lens” are trite names for an album. Just like fatuous names like “Virtualjunk” for a blog.

You know what I dread the most? When you go for a photowalk. Apparently it is exactly like your normal walk, expect for the fact that you annoy other people with your camera during your walk, thereby intruding their privacy. You shoot pictures of mango sellers, beach, shops, and everything you find. Then you post process it and make it look pretentious. And then you put your logo and copyright. Yeah, because P.C.Sreeram is looking to sneak away your photos and plagiarize it in his next movie. Some of you even put “Rights reserved” at the footer of the image. I wonder what rights you have reserved for yourself. I will plagiarize it and see how you effectively sue me in Mumbai high court. It is tiring to see “Ram photography” , “Shyam photography” or “Soorpanaka photography” as image footers. 

You don’t stop with that, do you? You have to bestow your photography tips on us. When we common men click photos with our “point and shoot” cameras, you go all over our pictures and say “This should have been shot in Macro mode” , “That should have been shot at this exposure”. Ok, I know you understand the nuances of photography. However all I want is just to click a button and get a picture. From now on, your shooting tips will be met with shooting, from a gun. 

End of rant.

P.S: Not intended to be derisive.Just an ironical perspective on photographer idiosyncrasies. No need to outrage.

7 Surprising Benefits of Having a Mentor

*This post is completely taken from a post shared by my friend 'Vishal Khatri' on Google Reader*

No matter whether I listen to a lecture given by a Tibetan monk, talk to a Swami who came all the way from India to share his knowledge or attend a workshop organized by a successful marketer – I keep hearing the same advice, “Find a mentor, who will guide your actions and help you to grow spiritually and professionally”. I am guessing that the Universe is trying to tell me something… :) For the longest time, just like many other people, I underestimated the importance of having a mentor.  After all why look for a specific person, when you can always turn to your parents, friends, colleagues, multiple social networks and even public forums when you need advice and moral support. If like me, you, are wondering why anyone would need a mentor, here are some serious reasons for having one:
1. Valuable experience.
As much as it boosts our ego to think that we are smart and we can “handle everything” and “figure it all out”, sooner or later we might face a problem bigger than we can handle. You would never think of using a trial and error method to neutralize a bomb. Neither would you try to fly a plane for the first time without an instructor. It might not sound very optimistic, but life is infinitely more complicated than plane flying or neutralizing a bomb. There are some situations when too much is at stake and guesswork is simply not an option. In this case a mentor could be the only person, who is knowledgeable and experienced enough to help you make the right decision and prepare you for the serious exam called everyday life.
2. Self-improvement.
It is not always easy to live according to our conscience. The line that separates “right” from “wrong” and “good” from “bad” is often blurred and it can be tempting to make a convenient choice instead of the right one (especially if our heart is telling us one thing and our mind another). A mentor is a person who with one simple question is able to clear your doubts and gently, but firmly push you in the right direction.
3. Encouragement.
We all have those days when everything seems to go wrong. We feel demotivated, tired, frustrated and alone. Good-intended remarks like “Cheer up!” or “It is going to be ok” accompanied with an affectionate pat on the shoulder may have the opposite effect, especially if there are coming from a person who has never been in our situation and has no idea what we are going through. A mentor, on the other hand, might not tell you that everything is going to be just wonderful, but somehow they still manage to reassure you and give you the necessary encouragement to keep on going forward.
4. Honesty.
Wise men of ancient times believed that a person can be qualified to give a good advice if they meet three conditions:
1.  They should not be emotionally attached to you, because otherwise they will not be unbiased. Their emotions will interfere with their judgment. 2.  They should not ask to be paid for their advice or depend on your income, otherwise they will be conditioned to tell you what you like to hear. 3.  And finally, they should practice what they preach. There are plenty of people who will readily give you advice, but only a few can overcome the impulse to tell you what they believe you WANT to hear and have enough wisdom and inner strength to tell you what you NEED to hear. A mentor is a rare person who can do this.
5. Better chances of success.
Basically there are two ways to gain wisdom in life – learn from your own mistakes or learn from the mistakes of other people. The first way is more painful and more time consuming. The second one requires a mentor who will share their experience with you and help you to avoid mistakes that you would otherwise make. There is no doubt that any failure holds a valuable lesson that in the future will help you to improve your performance. However, why fail more than it is necessary? If you want to achieve success faster and with less effort, finding a mentor might be your best option.
6. Greater motivation.
Most of us have a pretty clear idea about what we should do to improve our health and quality of life: exercise regularly, eat less fried and greasy foods, be more patient with our children, go to bed at a reasonable hour, yada yada yada… But for some unknown reason we do not do any of these things. Why? Because there is a huge difference between knowing something and really understanding it. We might know something for years, but one day out of nowhere it just makes sense. If you have ever had those “Aaaah…Now I get it!” moments? Then you know exactly what I am talking about. A good mentor has the rare ability to explain to you what you need to do and why, in a way that makes sense. That is why an encounter with a mentor often becomes a turning point in many people’s life.
7. Less room for excuses.
Our ability to quickly come up with excuses and half-truths is basically a built-in self-defense mechanism that serves to protect our sense of self and ultimately our ego. Think about it… Excuses allow us to procrastinate, give up on our dreams, blame our failures on someone or something else, or avoid helping someone when we do not feel like it (and we can do it all without having to deal with such unpleasant feelings as guilt, fear and embarrassment).
The only real problem with this excuse mechanism is that it holds us back and makes it impossible to succeed at anything. A real mentor will easily be able to see through your carefully fabricated excuses and will not let you get away with them. Why? Because their main purpose is not to please your ego, but to bring out the best in you.

“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey

Amlarem trip

*A late publish
Amlarem trip no doubt was a good one! Despite all the initial confusion about roads, the fall was worth it :)

This batch trip (though less than expected number) started at 4.30 am in morning on Saturday last week. Pam had booked 3 buses and we left campus at 5.30am. People in my bus - Rahul, Shashank, Bhim, Balu, Sakshi, Payal, Gaurav, Rajat, Mayur, Anshu, Pooja, Pallvi, Nitisha, Partha, Sunil, Rishabh, Ritika, Dharshanya, Sreya, Shubhi(who joined later), Sushant(who left our bus)

From starting of the journey, everyone was in electric mood. Music and dance and laughter! With DhinkaChika, Character Dhila and DKBose the bus soon left the congested Shillong roads and started the journey on beautiful Meghalaya highway NH44 with lush green mountains and valleys both sides. Soon we stopped for tea somewhere :P (its next to impossible to remember the names of places here) And then we stopped again (chips and water) and again (wrong road) and again (again wrong road). 

When we reached Jowai, a small town on Shillong-Silchar highway everyone was so eager to get out of bus as it was already some 3 hours of driving. But the waterfall was no where to be seen. So as we stopped again at one point where Pam again ran out expecting to see the falls(which everyone was thinking hows it possible seeing that we were driving in almost planes for last 30-40 minutes, Bhim and I also ran. But soon heard from Nikhil nd Pam that they cant see the waterfall but could hear the water. So we all started searching for the fall and the route to it. Pam, Nikhil etc going one direction and Bhim, myself, Hemant, Ankush(both), and Dollar bhai going in other direction. After 10 minutes of walk through the thicks we saw it. It was not at all what we were expecting, not a fall falling from a hill but a wide one on a river. Spending few minutes there 5 of us then headed back to the path on which rest have started descending towards the fall.

Reaching to the bottom was a very slippery business. But in the end the fall was simply awesome.Everybody enjoyed to the max there. Even those who were not in mood of taking a dip were drenched completely.

Spending some 2 hours there we headed back to the bus. Surprisingly climbing was much easier. Once back in bus, we headed towards caves. No one knew what those were. But after some time we reached there. Again a long walk to caves. When we started going down the rough path towards them, there was a bifurcation in the path, one towards caves and second to Bangladesh. Curbing the urge to take international route, we went to caves just to be disappointed by the fact that we cant go in because of not just one but many reasons (read below). So just the pics and we were again back in the bus.
After lots of hanging out from bus, enjoying the rains, plucking flowers and singing to the tune of nature, we reached Dawki, where a board greeted us with "Welcome to India" making us realize that we have reached the end point of the country. Bangladeshi forces were standing in front and Indian Jawans too.We stopped there for some refreshment and headed back to our Shillong. This time Antakshari has taken a nasty face with war going on with songs like "bhag chudhail bhag" targetting people :P

All in all a great trip it was and just waiting to go to exclusive cave expedition trip!

Few facts -
Total distance covered - roughly 190 km. It was round trip (check the map attached. Red dot is Amlarem and bottom red is Dawki)
We nearly touched the Bangladesh border at Dawki.
Pitcher plant pond was one thing which is not to be find anywhere else as it is very localized species and isolated distribution are known to occur in this region only.


Cave was one thing we missed. And after going through the details its like we missed the best part. But point is that for going in that cave we need to have been fully equipped. Meghalaya is in the Top 10 caving destinations of the world. The deepest cave in the subcontinent is in Meghalaya
The longest cave in the subcontinent is in Meghalaya.  Top three longest caves of Meghalaya are Krem Kotsati 21,530m, Synrang Pamiang 14,157m and  Umthloo (Tongseng) 13,413m

And if I am not wrong that the cave we visited was this particular one only, few things about the cave "Krem Chympe" we visited today -

"It is a resurgence cave, situated at a walking distance of about 3 km approximately north along the track from the village of Khaddum to Sielkan. It is a magnificent river cave which would require over 3.5 km of swimming over a series of very large and deep lakes, formed by the existence of more than 50 natural dams or gours, 6 to 8 m high. The cave has a very large colony of bats and possibly cave-adapted fish.

With 10.5 km of surveyed length it is currently India's 5th longest cave. The cave has several leads yet to be explored. Sielkan Pouk which is at the upper reaches, acts as a sink to the cave system."

Also while googling for cave got this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnA0IWnAsc0