Sorry for the Hiatus...

I am really sorry for the hiatus I took from blogger for quite some time. My holidays have begun and I am not sitting around idly for the first time in my life. I have a lot of personal projects I want to complete before I return  to college on 20th. Yeah, that's right, my third year in college is coming right up baby...
You know it is amazing how fast life flows, sometimes you feel as if it has coagulated and is not moving at all, but on the whole, it flows just too fast. It seems so recent that I made my way up that towering staircase ( the Golden Walkway) up to my college for the very first time alone. I was scared and excited of this new, and unknown era that I was getting myself into. But right now, I am acclimated to this new environment, which admittedly is very different from a school, yet preserves most of its features.
But that is a whole different tale. I was talking about my holidays. One of my personal projects was an implementation of the game hangman, and thankfully that is finished. But it is excruciatingly painful to distribute it, because it requires .NET framework, and I can find no other way to get around it. So for now it is stuck in my laptop, with no one using it. ( The .NET framework can however be downloaded free from the microsoft site and takes about 20 MB space). Besides i can think of no one to distribute it to, and so, I have buried my first app and trying to think of a second one.
It's not all programming though. It can get a little frustrating if you code day and night. That's where blogging comes in. Two of my favourite pastimes, coding and blogging, what else can be life??? Oh and watching wrestling ( but the storylines now seem to be too bland).
Will keep posting...

Scripps National Spelling Bee 2012

The most prestigious spelling bee in the world today, the 85th version of the Scripps National Spelling Bee concluded just minutes ago. We have crowned a new champion. Snigdha Nandipati took the championship trophy in a final that lasted nearly an hour and 45 minutes. In the end, she spelled guetapens, a French derived word meaning ambush, snare or trap to clinch the title. This marks the 5th time in a row that an Indian origin speller has claimed the highest prize.

A couple of fan favourite knockouts in this year’s bee included Vanya Shivashankar, sister of 2009 champion Kavya Shivashankar, who was eliminated in the semi-finals. But hey, she’s got a lot of years left in her to return and claim her trophy, and you can bet that she does exactly that soon. Nicholas Rushlow made it to the championship finals, and tied for fourth. This is the last time we will see Nicholas at the mic, but it certainly isn’t the last that we’ll hear from this phenomenal young man. Arvind Mahankali was next to go, being placed third. He still has one more year left in him, and be sure to watch out for him next year. Snigdha and Stuti Mishra battled it out for some time, but in the end, Snigdha won it.

But the trophy is just the way competitions go. In my opinion, every speller who tried to that prestigious trophy is a winner. This goes with gold studded letters for the semi-finalists and finalists. What we see out there, on that stage, is the lives of these spellers. Pure unadulterated dedication, the passion to do whatever it takes to get on top, and the ability to brave the biggest guetapens of them all, pressure. This is all they need to make it big in their lives. This is success personified. In my opinion, all of them are winners.

Because having a dream, and having the ability to focus and work for that dream, and at the same time never letting go of your other pursuits, that my friends is the key to success and happiness.

Trying to Rise

Ever since I nearly flunked my digital lab exam, things have been going downhill for me, and life's been souring fast. A slight mention of someone not passing, any side note about a failure makes my heart go limp. It seems as though all of my blood vessels are constricting and I am being squeezed into nothing. Something goes off in the bottom of my stomach, and I feel reduced to nothing.

My self confidence has been severely mutilated, and right now I am not sure I will amount to anything in life. The only thing I had for all my life was this, my ability to always deliver, always get good marks no matter what the circumstances, and as and when I lose that ability, I become nothing. I get reduced to a worthless piece of crap.

See this is how writing helps you. Once I typed the above lines, I myself enunciated my problem. I began to associate my accolades and accomplishments for me. I began seeing the two as one and the same. I went to such a level that they were inseparable. For me, the only reason I exist is because I can achieve something. The second I cease to get good marks and all, I cease to exist. I began to think that I need the approval of everyone around me, and for me the only way to get that approval was to be the topper. I had put myself into a world of trouble, and I had no idea what I had got myself into.

See this is a problem that comes to a lot of people. Ego. Often we mistake the ego for our true selves, and that happened to me too. The ego needs the approval of people around us and seeks to gain it by any means whatsoever. If it doesn’t get it, it reacts. It reacts by making us feel bad, it reacts by putting us in a desperate state and gently nudges us to do something to gain the attention of others around us once more. What we don't realize is that we do not need the whole-hearted approval of everyone around us. We can feel secure within ourselves. Once we do that, we reach a place where we are not bothered by the results of our actions. We know that no matter what happens we will always be ourselves, and that none of our mistakes can diminish what we are really worth. We begin to perform with only one thing in mind, and that is the action. When Sachin Tendulkar goes to the ground to bat, he doesn’t think about his centuries, he doesn’t think about what people will think, he thinks about just performing. Sure, he gets out for a duck, and sure he hits centuries. But all that doesn’t change the fact that he is the best there is.

That is all easily said than done. What has been programmed into us for years is not necessarily erased in a day or two. It takes consistent hard work, persistence and dedication. We can't change what has happened. We can't erase the mistakes that we made. We can only try to live without repeating those mistakes again. We can change our way of thinking. No one can evaluate or rate us without our consent.

In fact I am glad this nervous breakdown came now rather than later. Now I can analyse what went wrong, and change myself. Sure it is going to hurt when you poke and probe into an open wound, but it is better to probe it now and clean it than leave it to fester later.

As someone said,

"Only through weakness can a soul gain strength" 

Dead Again...

I nearly flunked my digital lab exam. I couldn't get a full output. I got only a partial output. I am dead. I lost. It is over…..

Safari...

  The animal safari was in a jeep, open on both sides. Each jeep seated about 6. The route was by tarred roads, lined by dense forest on both sides. This was part of a tiger reserve, and you had a fair chance of catching wild animals here. We saw peacocks and peahens first. Some were shy and ran away quickly. Still others were determined to pose for the cameras. Then came the wild boars and elephants. Herds of deer ran here and there. But there was something missing. Monkeys.

It was only on our return trip that we saw a large group of monkeys and languor. Nothing much to say here, see for yourself... 

Bear Mountain Resort

Hi everyone!!!

It has been sometime since I posted. I had been to Bear Mountain Resort in Masinagudi near Ooty during this time. Here is a short description of the place and the whole set up , with photos.

Personal photos have been omitted for privacy reasons.

We reached Bear Mountain Resort, Masinagudi at around 1 in the afternoon. The entire resort was set in around 4 acres of land, flanked  by gigantic peaks covered in vegetation. The whole place was meant to recreate an outdoor camping experience. Exquisite flowers, and green bushes were set along every inch of the expanse, and steps were either made out of rocks or lined with rocks. Dogs, 

literally hundreds of them, ran along the whole area freely, and they made every breed imaginable from Rottweiler to Labrador and what not (I am no good with dogs and their breeds!!!). Nothing to worry of course, they were very friendly and you could walk with them, pat them and everything without fear.

We reached our camp. There were two bathrooms and beside them lay a metal staircase. The landing atop it was made of wood, with a shelf and table with a couple of chairs. In the centre lay a big tent. The tent was awesome, except for a couple of holes and could hold three. There were beds inside them, so you don't have to sleep on the cold hard floor. One more staircase led to the second floor where again you get the same paraphernalia with the addition of some potted plants. Above us, a thatched roof protected us from the heavens opening up.  We had a clear view of the forest nearby, and we saw deer literally seconds into the trip. A barbed wire fence separated us from the forest and was meant to keep us in and the wild animals out.

 

Hammocks lined every few metres in the expanse, and there were many thatch roof sheds with chairs and tables. A table tennis court, a badminton court, volleyball court, and cricket court, all with floodlights, were the icing on the cake. There was a restaurant which served food at particular times of the day. It was a buffet, and you could pile your plate with anything you want.

As night falls, they begin to set out the chairs and prepare for camp fire. Every group camping there get a separate campfire. You also get snacks like pakodas, chicken tikka, drinks like coke, mirinda  etc there. You can sing and dance all you want and they will relight the fire when it goes out.

That’s all folks, next post is about the safari...

A Tearful Farewell to a Young Star

A Nepal flight crashed a couple of days ago. I don't know how many of us paid attention to it, we are used to such news. I didn't for one. But recently I came to know that death played a most sadistic game that night. It claimed a young girl from our midst. Not just a young girl, but one with so much talent and so much potential that her loss will be felt throughout. It claimed Taruni Sachdev.
Who is this girl, you ask? If you are a malayali, look no further. Remember the little girl in Vellinakshatram? That is her. At such a young age, she gave such a stunning performance, so much that it is rated "perfection" by senior actors. Starring in a lot of commercials, and even appearing alongside Big B Amitabh Bachchan himself in Paa, she did things in 14 years which most of us never do.
But death proved why he is a sadistic clown with no remorse when he claimed her life, not only that, on her 14th birthday as well.
Taruni will never be forgotten. She will live on in our hearts forever.