...when you have an exam on the next morning and just one night to slog through the syllabus:
1) Go to the library. Take a paper and pen and make a list of all the books you want to read. Don't leave out any section... fiction(English, Hindi, etc.), politics, philosophy, history...
2) Organise all the music on your computer. Dont forget to provide shortcuts to songs which fall in two categories(there should be a shortcut for 'Comfortably Numb' -- residing in 'Pink Floyd' folder -- in the 'Best guitar solos ever' folder).
3) Pick your favourite TV serial(pick Coupling if you don't have a favourite). Watch at least one season.
4) Assume that the food in the mess is simply inedible. Then walk leisurely to Indra Nagar for food and come back at an even more leisurely pace.
5) Log on to orkut. Count your fans(Do drop a comment if you have more than 52). Then count your fans/friends ratio. Then count how many people you are a fan of.
6) Surf Wikipedia reading articles about all the weirdest things in the world.
7) Download music, movies and stuff from the LAN. Surf through filelists of all users. Don't forget to consume all the downloaded stuff.
8) Reply to every single mail in your inbox telling friends and family how burdened you are with studies and exams.
9) Gather other jobless souls like yourself in the corridor and bc about the futility of exams and studies.
10) Blog.
Do comment if you have more innovative ideas. I'm falling short of things to do.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Too many things, too little time
No. this post is not about how overloaded I am with assignments with very little time left to finish them. This post is about how there are so many things that I want to do in the coming few years and how time is running out very fast.
This thought first came to my mind when I was going through the books on the library shelves. I've been going to the library quite frequently for the past few days. For the first time I spent some time in the sections other than English fiction. To my surprise, I found many books in the Mathematics section, which I would like to read. I have this habit of making many lists (Smiley thinks it is quite feminine. Well, he knows best about the female psyche). But it does help me reduce the number of things I forget. So, I thought I'll make a list of books I want to read before I leave IIIT. I dropped the idea for some reason. I think I'll just put my last sem away to read books.
An year ago, I'd read in some magazine, National Geographic I recall, about a man who had made a list of more than 100 things he wanted to do in life which included brilliant things like climbing Mt. Everest etc. and actually managed to put a 'done' mark against every entry in that list!
I had made a list of 7 things I want to do in a previous post (which was a historic post, for the number of comments it got). But it was too short and too unthoughtful. But now I have ample time to think of such arbit stuff in the Social Entrepreneurship class.
I think we need to keep reminding ourselves of what we want to do, or else we get caught in the unending cycles of our routine. I strongly believe that if our desire is strong enough, then opportunities appear out of nowhere. We just have to grab them. Which means being alert, flexible and ready for taking big risks.
But now I'm wondering, will the things that I want to do, remain the same as time passes? Maybe they won't, but then I'll edit my plans. But wait, I don't have any plans! What am I doing? Why am I wasting time blogging? Being the author of a highly popular blog isn't on my to-do list. Or do I see something scratched off it very violently?
Off I go. I need to chalk out a few plans tonight.
This thought first came to my mind when I was going through the books on the library shelves. I've been going to the library quite frequently for the past few days. For the first time I spent some time in the sections other than English fiction. To my surprise, I found many books in the Mathematics section, which I would like to read. I have this habit of making many lists (Smiley thinks it is quite feminine. Well, he knows best about the female psyche). But it does help me reduce the number of things I forget. So, I thought I'll make a list of books I want to read before I leave IIIT. I dropped the idea for some reason. I think I'll just put my last sem away to read books.
An year ago, I'd read in some magazine, National Geographic I recall, about a man who had made a list of more than 100 things he wanted to do in life which included brilliant things like climbing Mt. Everest etc. and actually managed to put a 'done' mark against every entry in that list!
I had made a list of 7 things I want to do in a previous post (which was a historic post, for the number of comments it got). But it was too short and too unthoughtful. But now I have ample time to think of such arbit stuff in the Social Entrepreneurship class.
I think we need to keep reminding ourselves of what we want to do, or else we get caught in the unending cycles of our routine. I strongly believe that if our desire is strong enough, then opportunities appear out of nowhere. We just have to grab them. Which means being alert, flexible and ready for taking big risks.
But now I'm wondering, will the things that I want to do, remain the same as time passes? Maybe they won't, but then I'll edit my plans. But wait, I don't have any plans! What am I doing? Why am I wasting time blogging? Being the author of a highly popular blog isn't on my to-do list. Or do I see something scratched off it very violently?
Off I go. I need to chalk out a few plans tonight.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Wish you were here
"How I wish, how I wish you were here."
4th year in a row.
Damn the postal service.
4th year in a row.
Damn the postal service.
Monday, August 07, 2006
My First Testimonial
Received my first orkut testimonial yesterday written by a Neon, a dear friend. It was both surprising and revealing. So, I thought I'll put it here:
I do hereby testify that:
Sankalp is NOT
- A good person by heart, nature, character, and whatever else should/could/would be the criteria.
Hey! What the hell? And I always thought that I'm the nicest person on earth.
- A person you should be looking for help/suggestions/condolence when you're heartbroken or depressed. If you ever commit such insanity, he would probably urge you to commit suicide or 'find your damn solace in dope, not me!'
Alright, I do find it a little difficult to come up with the exact soothing words to symmpathise with people. But this point is greatly exxagerated. So, if I ever respond coldly when you come to me in such a situation, then please know that it doesn't mean I don't understand your feelings.
- A Fat Admirer.
Come on! I have so many friends with that extra pound of fat. Neon himself is an example. I don't admire fat, but I have nothing against fat fellows. I think they are the most cheerful bunch around.
- An occasional smoker, drunkard and liar.
True. I don't lie often, I don't like smoking, and I just took my first step on the 3rd front, a few days back.
- A "Ok-your-blog-is-better-than-mine" acceptor.
I will never accept that Neon's blog is better than mine. Because it isn't.
- A drug addict, homosexual, Bisexual, or anything-that-you-should-be-afraid-of-sexual.
True again. No drugs and I'm perfectly heterosexual.
And;
Sankalp is:
- An intelligent geek.
I would love believe that I'm intelligent. But I'm not a geek. No way.
- A mature person with very high IQ (just 4 points ahead of me).
Mature? Dont know. Maybe I am. But I don't think so.
The IQ, well, I think he changed 'average' to 'very high' because I was 4 points ahead of him.
- An honest, and considerably modest, sane soul who believes in being himself.
Honest, quite true.
I shouldn't comment on the modest part.
Sane? Nah!
Staunch supporter of the 'Be Yourself' philosophy and the greatest fan of the song by the same title.
- An optimum and live proof of the hypothesis "some distinct variety of babes prefer bald heads to khaandani tummies."
No comments.
Sealed and Signed
***** ******.
(Neon Zamboski)
I do hereby testify that:
Sankalp is NOT
- A good person by heart, nature, character, and whatever else should/could/would be the criteria.
Hey! What the hell? And I always thought that I'm the nicest person on earth.
- A person you should be looking for help/suggestions/condolence when you're heartbroken or depressed. If you ever commit such insanity, he would probably urge you to commit suicide or 'find your damn solace in dope, not me!'
Alright, I do find it a little difficult to come up with the exact soothing words to symmpathise with people. But this point is greatly exxagerated. So, if I ever respond coldly when you come to me in such a situation, then please know that it doesn't mean I don't understand your feelings.
- A Fat Admirer.
Come on! I have so many friends with that extra pound of fat. Neon himself is an example. I don't admire fat, but I have nothing against fat fellows. I think they are the most cheerful bunch around.
- An occasional smoker, drunkard and liar.
True. I don't lie often, I don't like smoking, and I just took my first step on the 3rd front, a few days back.
- A "Ok-your-blog-is-better-than-mine" acceptor.
I will never accept that Neon's blog is better than mine. Because it isn't.
- A drug addict, homosexual, Bisexual, or anything-that-you-should-be-afraid-of-sexual.
True again. No drugs and I'm perfectly heterosexual.
And;
Sankalp is:
- An intelligent geek.
I would love believe that I'm intelligent. But I'm not a geek. No way.
- A mature person with very high IQ (just 4 points ahead of me).
Mature? Dont know. Maybe I am. But I don't think so.
The IQ, well, I think he changed 'average' to 'very high' because I was 4 points ahead of him.
- An honest, and considerably modest, sane soul who believes in being himself.
Honest, quite true.
I shouldn't comment on the modest part.
Sane? Nah!
Staunch supporter of the 'Be Yourself' philosophy and the greatest fan of the song by the same title.
- An optimum and live proof of the hypothesis "some distinct variety of babes prefer bald heads to khaandani tummies."
No comments.
Sealed and Signed
***** ******.
(Neon Zamboski)
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Music
Just came back from the library after spending a couple of hours reading 'City of Djinns'. But as you must have guessed from the title, this post isn't about Darlymple or Delhi or Djinns. So, as I sat reading the book, Smiley was reading an article in a magazine about A.R. Rahman. Then he started talking about how nice Rahman's music is and that they are beautiful in spite of being very simple. I observed the glow on his face as he talked, probably, he had a tune playing his mind.
Last night, we were sitting in his room urging him to play something on his violin. He did play after his usual nakhras. If you look around when he's playing, you can see a faint smile or some expression of joy on everybody's face.
After he finished, my thoughts came back to one of the usual topics, "I should learn to play some musical instrument". I'm not particularly blessed with musical talent and I feel quite like a bum with people like Smiley (violin), Billu (tabla), Gas (guitar, mandolin) and Badri (who thought Carnatic singing wasn't worth it because he preferred to waste time wasting time rather than strain his vocal chords).
My only stint with music has been a fortnight of harmonium lessons at a neighbour's place. Now the harmonium is not a very glamorous instrument like the guitar. But believe me, if you have had a chance to listen to Pu. La. playing the instrument, you're bound to like it. In spite of such great inspiration in front of me, I gave up the when the teacher asked me to identify the notes without looking at the keys he was pressing.
I had a pretty much uncaring attitude about music before I came to IIIT. But now I think I can at least distingiush good music from bad (I can tell, for example that Himmesh stuff is unalderated cacophonic torture). My choice has diversified from Hindi film music to rock, instrumentals, ghazals, and I feel even the Carnatic stuff Smiley listens to, is good. So the next step should be to be learning to play some instrument. Singing isn't my piece of cake unless I'm alone. There are other reasons also. Aai always wanted me to learn. She used to say I'm becoming like Aurangzeb, with no appreciation for any art. Also, they say, girls tend to like guys with some musical ability.
So, any suggestions about how to get started and what instrument to choose would be welcome. Please do not suggest flute or santoor or sarod (as if harmonium wasn't tricky enough).
Last night, we were sitting in his room urging him to play something on his violin. He did play after his usual nakhras. If you look around when he's playing, you can see a faint smile or some expression of joy on everybody's face.
After he finished, my thoughts came back to one of the usual topics, "I should learn to play some musical instrument". I'm not particularly blessed with musical talent and I feel quite like a bum with people like Smiley (violin), Billu (tabla), Gas (guitar, mandolin) and Badri (who thought Carnatic singing wasn't worth it because he preferred to waste time wasting time rather than strain his vocal chords).
My only stint with music has been a fortnight of harmonium lessons at a neighbour's place. Now the harmonium is not a very glamorous instrument like the guitar. But believe me, if you have had a chance to listen to Pu. La. playing the instrument, you're bound to like it. In spite of such great inspiration in front of me, I gave up the when the teacher asked me to identify the notes without looking at the keys he was pressing.
I had a pretty much uncaring attitude about music before I came to IIIT. But now I think I can at least distingiush good music from bad (I can tell, for example that Himmesh stuff is unalderated cacophonic torture). My choice has diversified from Hindi film music to rock, instrumentals, ghazals, and I feel even the Carnatic stuff Smiley listens to, is good. So the next step should be to be learning to play some instrument. Singing isn't my piece of cake unless I'm alone. There are other reasons also. Aai always wanted me to learn. She used to say I'm becoming like Aurangzeb, with no appreciation for any art. Also, they say, girls tend to like guys with some musical ability.
So, any suggestions about how to get started and what instrument to choose would be welcome. Please do not suggest flute or santoor or sarod (as if harmonium wasn't tricky enough).
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