December 11, 2009

My internship at The Hindu

Day 1 of reporting: Covering the inauguration of nth ATM of some bank at the back of city railway station. Duh! Specimen of an insignificant event, but still just how mighty proud I was! Back at work; working almost after a gap of five months.

“Hello sir, I’m from The Hindu,” is how I introduce myself at all the events during those five weeks I interned with the paper. Oh yeah, baby! There’s a legacy attached to the brand name, The Hindu. There’s the pride, the respect. Oh yeah, I loved every single moment of my internship with, yes, The Hindu!

Not knowing Kannada, thus messing up events, caused embarrassment and disappointment more than once in the first week. But then appreciation for my byline stories more than made up for it. My five weeks at The Hindu were like a roller-coaster ride, full of ups and downs.

Caribbean bliss
Had the privilege to cover a wonderful dance and music performance by a troop from Trinidad and Tobago. Man, oh man… Just how ecstatic, blissful, delirious the whole atmosphere was! Their performance had stripped the audience off their worries, made everyone lift their bums up and sway to the cool tunes of Caribbean. I remember how I had got senti and wanted to cry!

Sexy surprise ;)
And then there was this fashion show. Ahem ahem… Over the phone I was told that it’s a press conference by Elder Health Care. “Old people must be grumbling about lack of facilities and all,” I had thought. Didn’t take any pain to look nice that day: wore an old, loose t-shirt, dirty black shoes, didn’t shave. How does it matter to grumbling old folks, right? Wrong.

When I reached the venue of the press conference (Hotel Taj Vivanta, 5-star!) I was puzzled as to how could poor, old, grumbling people afford such a lavish venue for their press meet! There were huge boards of some fashion awards. I immediately started feeling conscious. I wondered if I had come to a wrong event. And then I noticed. At the left-bottom of those huge fashion awards posters and banners was mentioned the name of the sponsors of the awards — Elder Health Care. This company has launched some German cosmetic brand, and to promote that they are holding these fashion awards.

“Man! They should have briefed me about the event! I’m looking so shabby!!” I kicked myself mentally, becoming more conscious upon seeing the models. There were stick-thin female models (four or five), all of whom looked the same. Guys had nice biceps. Hmmm…

It was kinda embarrassing when the fashion show began, what with those similar-looking female models flaunting their endless legs right in front of me, literally at an arm’s distance! Catch-22 situation man, you could neither look/stare/drool at them (you’ve got to be modest) nor could you look away (it’d seem rude). Can you imagine my embarrassment when the finale was announced? "It's time for swimwear round!!" The emcee announced and my face turned into a deeper shade of red.

Just for food
Then there were these non-events where the only saving grace was the awesome food at the end. Like that event by an ethnic group about handicraft. My goodness! It required immense patience to sit there and bear those endless PowerPoint slides about past-present-future of some type of shawls, fabric, whatever it was, that I’d never be interested in. Had it not been for free sandwiches and other nice stuff they had arranged at the end, I’d have surely returned back to the office a very irritated boy.

Special games
It was disgraceful to see the shoddy arrangements done for the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports. Not only were the concerned people careless, they were also remorseless. It was utter disgrace to see how these top-class international athletes were facing humiliation because of insensitivity of Indian bureaucrats. Shameful! I was agonised! The good point was my friendship with Akito, assistant coach of Japanese team. Nice guy, I learnt a couple of Japanese words from him and taught him a few Hindi words (hehe, he had difficulty pronouncing dhanyawaad). It was kinda nice, though, to see how everyone from Kenya to Japan felt that there was too much spice in their food!

Neighbourhood
Neighbourhood is the name of The Hindu’s fortnightly supplement that focuses on one particular part of the city. Featurish, has short writeups about whatever slightly known place there is. Man, I absolutely desisted it. The moment these articles were assigned to me, my mind used to writhe in pain, begging to say “No, please, no!!” I was completely clueless as to what to write about Youth Hostel, Sunday market at some place, chor bazaar, wedding cards… Ugh! I never wanted to do it, but did it just because I had to. Ugh, that was the worst part of the internship — Neighbourhood articles!

Damp squibs
To my great disappointment, two of my stories that I thought were among my best and would win me accolades, drew me flak. “Everyone’s gonna talk about me, my writing, when the article comes out,” I used to think. They turned out to be damp squib. While my ignorance was the reason for the first one, for the second story, the story is a bit confidential to put in public doman, and I insist that it’s a great story.

Another three could-have-been-great-stories never saw the light of the day. One suffered because of my hesitation in approaching (disturbing/irritating/pestering) the source. Other two got sacrificed because of my striving for perfection. All three are great stories, no doubt, but when time is of essence, you’ve to let go of your personal preference and submit whatever you have. Had I done that, I’d have had three more excellent byline stories. Sigh

Others involved
Oh boy, PR people can be really annoying. That good-looking, soft-voiced PR girl at IISc just drove us crazy by her drive to give us some “gift”. Pen drive, Parker pen.

Also, it was a pleasant change how I was treated at beats. No one used to give a damn when I used to go as “a journalism student from Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media” but now I was from The Hindu, the way every one received me was amazing. How people change when our stature changes!

The work atmosphere at the office was great and to my relief, not even one-tenth as scary as it used to be at IIJNM. Fellow interns were all nice people, with whom I struck friendship. Food at the canteen wasn’t excellent, but I never got to eat much, as I used to obsess about submitting stories first. (I’ve lost weight further!) Staff members in the office were all very kind and supportive, and it felt great working there. After five months of freewheeling, I gave my all to internship. I didn’t take off even for a single day in these five weeks, used to go to the office early and leave late, seeking press releases, working on special stories. I’m highly satisfied.

It’s during the internship that I realised that my true passion lies in reporting. And it’s then that I realised that I have a flair for reporting, that I can find story ideas, and good ones at that, notwithstanding the two "D" grades I had got for reporting and writing in both sems in college. Atonement, I had talked of in an earlier post about IIJNM, and with this internship, I think I’ve achieved it to some extent. I’m satisfied. And proud. Because I’m from IIJNM. And because I’ve done a month-long internship at The Hindu. A successful, satisfying internship, to be precise.

November 03, 2009

Bad day

Can things go any more nasty? Traffic cops pulled me twice in past four days and fined Rs. 100 for jumping traffic signal, when I hadn't done that!! That ba***rd let another driver, whom he had stopped, go but penalised me. (I wish I could type here all those gaalis I'm thinking for that ....)

Yesterday when I woke up, I found my mobile phone missing from my room. It got stolen in the most amazing fashion! Someone came into my room between 11 pm and 2 am and took it from my side!! Look at the audacity...!!!

And today, on MG Road, saamne sala auto wala break mara, to uske peechhe main tha maine break mara, par meri bike ke pichhle tyre ke neeche slippery mitti padi thi, to break maarne pe meri bike gir gayi :(

Sala apna ek news story ko 1 mahine se complete kar ke rakha hoon, abhi tak atka hua tha, just because of one elusive quote. Saale telecommunication companies aur Government of India's telecommunication department hi contact me nahi aa rahe! Aaj ja ke ek quote mila, finally. Woh bhi ek mahina purana quote hai, naya kuch nahi. Sala...

Hatt sala... Aur yeh sab tabhi ho raha hai when it's the most crucial time of my life yet — my internship at The Hindu. I'm taking this time very seriously, looking forward to make a grand impression so that they hire me. Aur uske beech me sala yeh sab nautanki.

Hmmm... Well, I've survived worst things past year. Haha, exact one year ago. Kya khikk time tha. Having survived that, I can survive anything. And these are just bad breaks. Hell with 'em! Come, if you are too eager; I'll just show you who is bigger.

*********

Ah! Here I wrote that it's a bad day, and God just affirmed that indeed it is!! After writing the portion before the *** marks, I went somewhere to get some information to complete a story. Parked my bike. And as I was walking on footpath, a speeding car passed over a small pool of water on the road (thanks to rain), and splashed the dirty water all over me. In the most disastrous fashion. Just like the way they show on TV — it drenched me from head to toe! Really! My God... What a terrible day..!!

September 22, 2009

Happy as heaven :)

Oh yes! I'm happy as heaven!! :-) WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!! Yeah... Happy. Happy as heaven! WHOA! Well, all I wanna do right now is sing and dance and yell, and do it till I tire and fall asleep. Whoo!!

OK. OK. I'll try to calm down now. Caaaalm... down...
Breathe in... Breathe out...
Breathe in... Breathe out...
Breathe in... Breathe out...

Be sober now, and write. Yes! Sober! The ecstasy of happiness drives you crazy! KRRAZZYYY! But happiness-induced crazyness is something I'd never wanna let go, notwithstanding the inconvenience it causes. Yes. I'm in British Library, grinning ear-to-ear, talking to myself and laughing. Thinking of something and clapping randomly. Looking through the glass panes at the two beautiful girls who just walked by, and laughing again. I'm pacing around the library, looking if there's someone I can laugh with, or hug. Creating so much excitement, I'm drawing the ire of fellow readers, and the library staff. Sorry, folks! But it's just that I'm suuuuuupperrrr excited!!

OK. I had thought of writing something particular when I had started the previous para, but have completely forgotten now what it was. Well, that's what happens when I'm very-ultra-super-happy. YO! I'm not even writing anything meaningful or informative now, just typing out anything. While typing, I'm getting happier, and proud of my excellent typing speed. Oh, I am such a quick typist!!

Yeah. So what am I happy about?? Ok, it's been some days that I'm very happy, for no reason in particular. And since yesterday, my happiness has just increased. Exponentially! Ok, now let me try to find out the reasons for the happiness. Ummm... Well... Tch... Ok. Ummm... Let's see how many can I list:
1. My bike: Oh its engine is running sooooo smoothly now. Good servicing, folks! I just love the sound when it is at neutral. It is almost inaudible! Driving it has never felt better in its three-year-old and 20,000-km history. And I think this time it will give good, no, best mileage than ever. Riding my Discover is a pleasure!
2. Traffic: Yeah. Usually traffic is a reason of pain, not pleasure, in metropolitans. More so in Bangalore! But I'm lucky, you see. I get more greens than reds on the signals!
(I can't think of more!? There must be more reasons. Think, HG. Think...)
3. Two days ago, I went to Crossword (a big bookstore), and there picked up a book on a subject of my interest. And then the information I came across was, like, just what was needed! I remember, how happy I was, while reading those pages, wearing my trademark grin. Oh I was mighty happy!
4. Well, one BIG reason... Something I would tell my friends, but not put up on a public blog. But this event/thing got me on cloud number ninety-nine! Eeeeeeeeehaaaaawww..!!
5. Ummm... Very soon I'm going to land a job. A proper job, in a newspaper. What, how, when... I don't know, and I don't even need to know.
6. More than an year ago, my first ever mobile phone (Nokia N70) had stopped functioning. Thanks to a heavy downpour, it had died. The Nokia service centre people had given up, saying its mother board and IC were gone. But now, an acquaintance of our milkman repaired my cell, and now it's as good as new. Whoa! Gonna flaunt my N-Series after a long time :-)

Ok. I can't think of more reasons. And it hardly matters. The bottom line is that I'm happy, and that's all that matters. I just need to stay in this mood. Well, previously I had written more than a dozen depressing posts on this blog, all of which I deleted later on. I've worded enough of my worries, fears, insecurities and lowliness... It's high time, baby, that I affirm my positive state of mind. Have done enough cribbing. It's time to celebrate joy! YO! Whole life is supposed to be a celebration. Isn't it!

Hmmm... May be this post won't go down as the best one I have written, but who cares! True joy, true happiness takes you to a state where you don't bother about others' approval or opinion. You are not attached with the result of your work. You do it just for the joy of working. Unattachment, contentment... See, the side-benefits that happiness brings!

Well, I hope and pray that from here my joy and happiness only increases. That I get more and more silly reasons to be happy, more reasons to celebrate, and more importantly, more friends — true friends, I mean — to share my happiness with. Amen!

"No one has ever injured his eyesight by looking at the bright side of things." — Unknown

July 15, 2009

IIJNM — Looking back

The beginning
“I feel like a fish in the water,” I proclaimed at home on phone after my first day here.

Just a couple of months before joining IIJNM, I was so clueless about my future: law, army, management, journalism… Had applied everywhere and just didn’t know what I really wanted. But the first day at my journalism college was enough to affirm I had made the right decision.

“Be a shark in the water,” came the prompt suggestion from home. Yeah, shark is so much cooler, I thought.

Social life screwed?
I was disappointed upon learning that I had only 54 other faces (and only two dozen girls) to see in the last year of my college life. That the college was situated in no-man’s land on the outskirts of the city didn’t help the situation at all. “Man, my social life is screwed,” I thought. I saw my already slim chances of falling in love here vanishing.

Life in general
If the initial hiccups may be ignored—when I used to stammer and fumble while talking to girls (out of obvious nervousness)—it was a fairytale beginning. I liked everything: my teachers, batchmates, roommates, classes, my computer, food, security guards, mess workers, pink, red hibiscus flowers in hostel… You get it, right? I liked everything and everyone there. I was so grateful and so cheerful! How I used to grin 24/7 out of sheer joy! How any minor thing used to elate me to no limits! Those were the days of delirium.

Academics
I wanted to be a columnist, to raise awareness and generate momentum against the fundamental flaws in our society, viz the flawed education system, corruption at grassroot levels, red tape, discrimination, women empowerment. These were the issues I wanted to write about. Instead we were required here to do news stories. That irritated me.

Have I ever done something when I don’t want to even if I’m required to! And well, my academics suffered. Initially my teachers seemed impressed by my potential and enthusiasm. But as the course (which was not in sync with what I wanted to do) gained momentum, my disapproval (which clearly reflected in my work) of it turned in to faculty’s disapproval of me.

When going gets tough…
Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. My grandfather passed away on October 8, the day when our week-long Dushehra break  started. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to do well in reporting, the core course. Was feeling guilty about falling in love (unknowingly) with a close, cherished friend, who then snubbed me, only to augment the troubles. Grief, loneliness, guilt, frustration, helplessness amalgamated into what was the toughest phase of my life.

Had withdrawn from work, food, friends, world. Oh, I had turned into such a loser. Every night used to sleep with a strong headache and wake up with it the next morning.

…the tough get crawling
I had almost quit college after first sem. Thanks to our vice-dean, I was able to come back and finish the course. (sigh) I still can’t fathom how this beautiful dream turned into a nightmare... No day in the second semester was easy. Frustration, helplessness and unanswered calls, unreplied messages and all kept haunting me. All the joy, silly grin, enthusiasm, love for food, popularity was gone. Life was dull, tough.

Softcopy/Solace
The only time I was oblivious to the pain was when I was engrossed in Softcopy, our college’s news website. I still remember the frenzied pace at which I had worked on the first day of daily news bulletin, single-handedly managing to get the multimedia-rich website up and running. The site looked really cool, everyone liked it and appreciated it. However good it was, I cried after completing it, as there still was scope for improvement. That was the only day in IIJNM I felt I had done justice to my potential. Softcopy was my only solace.

I passed!
I was surprised, and pleasantly so, upon learning that I had passed the course! Yes, I was going to get my diploma! I had passed! Big achievement, considering college administration had sent two letters to my home, saying that I was failing the course.

Then came the convocation, and I was looking sooo handsome in that formal cream-coloured shirt and bottle-green trousers! After receiving the diploma I delivered a short, spontaneous, sweet speech! My jokes worked, the audience applauded and I got compliments from fellow students and others for it. Well, delivering speech is something at which I was a veteran even before I was a teenager!

Overall…
I’m highly grateful to God that I came to IIJNM. I maintain that it’s the best place one can go to for serious journalism training. Yes, my story that had a fairytale beginning did turn nightmarish, and I do regret having let down teachers who had faith in me. However, I know the time will come when my teachers will take pride in my achievements. My work will be my atonement.

"Life is not all cakewalk and no baking." — Notes From The Universe

February 21, 2009

Once upon a time in Dehradun

As the legend goes, not so long ago in Institute of Management Studies (IMS), Dehradun, there was a group of devil-may-care guys, who cared for nothing else but G-I-R-L-S. And one of them was just crrrrazzzzyyyyyyyyyy about them. He had a crush on, say, every other girl. Well in terms of girls, his college was heaven. Even there was strict uniform code (waiter's uniform - white shirt, black pant, blue tie), girls looked fantaaaaaastic. And being the loving guy that he's, he loved all of them.

The window

Sitting with his friends on the window-side seat of his first-floor class, from where every goddamn place in his not-so-big college was visible, he developed a crush on, umm... countless girls. Never mind, if almost every teacher noticed, objected, condemned, ridiculed and punished them for staring outside the window, despite repeated warnings during the class. The particular guy I'm talking about, he was asked to come and give a five-minute presentation on why he looks outside the window all the time. And the truthful guy that he's, the truth he told: "There are so many pretty girls in the college sitting outside, it's hard to concentrate in the class."

Sight of every other damsel used to drive his senses nuts. If one girl's hair impressed him, other girls' eyes won him. (DO NOT think further... He's a gentleman!) He was so loving, that he fell instantly in love with every pretty creature. Name a course, and he'll have a dozen of crushes in each batch.

No discrimination
Love knows no boundaries, and he proved it alrite. Course, batch, height, weight no bar, he loved them all. Curly hair wooed him just as much as straight, permed hair. Girls in high heels won him just as much as girls in flats. He'd sigh a wishful sigh as a feminine girl would pass by, and would be impressed by those tom-boyish girls too. If he liked one particular girl because she was silent and cool and calm and poised, he'd like "loudspeaker" too.

Tall or short, dusky damsels or fair and lovelies, slim or unh.., shy or outgoing, sexy or unsexy, feminine or tomboy, almost every girl appealed to him (given that she had something sort of 'charming.') By the end of his second year at college, there was no pretty girl in his class who didn't have the honour of being his crush. And as new batches came, new girls got their names etched in the roll of honour. Ah, those (countless) lucky ones...

Codename XXX
He knew name of each of them, but to be able to converse about them openly, without letting others have an idea what he's talking about, he assigned nicknames to all of them. And thanks to his great circle of friends, that all these pretty girls got rather wonderful names. His group was always abuzz with few of those names at a time. Oh you wanna know what those names were like? What, Whitewash, Sonia Gandhi, Original, Duplicate, Batakh (Hindi for duck), Button, Shampoo, Patakha in Pink, Kangana, Bomb, Arjun, Model... There were many more, couldn't recall now. Others used to wonder, "what the heck are they talking about!?!," as these reckless boys merrily talked about those pretty girls in their secret terminology.

As long as these guys were in college, these nicknames were pretty famous. And so were the guys! There were at least a thousand love stories involving them. All of them one-sided, though.

The tree
There was a "tree" in that college, just in between of the undergraduate and postgraduate building. These guys used to sit under that tree when class was off. And these guys used to sit under that tree when the class was not off. From there, they used to see "Kangana," that short girl with curly hair and high heels, whose class was on the first floor, just in front of the tree. Kangana always used to sit near the window, noticing these guys. And these guys always used to sit under the tree, noticing Kangana.

"That tree" holds a rather important place in hearts of those guys, as in their farewell they were felicitated for sitting under it. Those guys were pretty infamous among a group of junior girls, there was "romantic hatred." Romance was from guys' side and hatred from girls.

Gone are the days
For these guys every day was Valentine's Day. Especially for the particular guy I'm talking about, he was infamous for falling love at the drop of a hat. Alas, as love was in full swing, their course come to an end, and none of these guys failed. So they moved on to different cities to study further. Hmm... The only subject these guys studied in their college (no prizes for guessing), was girls. Alas, there's no certificate course for excellence in this! So let us say these guys had to go on to pursue higher studies to get a job, as it's time to get serious now.

All are in different cities now, trying to make something out of life. But still when they reunite, they can't help but relive the nostalgia. Oh, when they meet up they still zip and zap through Rajpur Road of Dehradun, looking for girls. They'd roam in tuition hotspots of Dehradun, waiting for girls to come out. ("School girls are the easiest to link up with," says one of them.) They'd go to the crowded Paltan bazaar, stand in front of McDonald's, go window shopping in Vishal Mega Mart. Time can just throw them outta college, but it can't take away from them their instincts.

And yeah, amidst their busy schedule of "bird-watching" in Dehradun, these guys still take time out to go together to "their" college, IMS, and sit under that tree. And girls of that rival group still make faces upon seeing them. These girls can't forget those guys. And those guys can't forget these girls. It's a love-hate relationship.

Cheers to friendship, cheers to life!

February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day or...

It's Valentine's Day! Just 40 minutes past midnight and a beautiful girl is giving me missed calls; she wants me to call her. In morning, another girl calls me and wishes "Happy Valentine's Day" very enthusiastically. Ten minutes later, my cell buzzes. A very very very charming and sweet girl has wished me happy Valentine's Day.

Ok, it's nice, I love you all. Thank you. But... I mean, that's it! Only my sisters wished me Happy V-Day! First girl who gave me missed call is a second cousin, second girl who called is my sister (real sister, in your terminology) and the third one was next-door neighbour in Balco.

So, was it Valentine's Day or rakshabandhan or bhaidooj, huh! I mean, nothing against you sisters who called, but what's wrong with other girls in the world! Don't they know I'm single and available! I mean, just sisters wishing me on V-day... What a mockery of Valentine's Day! What a tragedy!

Never mind HG, it's alrite. Like your sis messaged you, never mind if you're single yet; tell others that God is busy writing the best love story. Nice message, dear! Thank you :-)

February 08, 2009

The power of "OM"

Om... I had read that the word "Om" has tremendous power, had read quite a bit. But like my mom had said once, to read and enjoy is one thing, and to feel and experience is another. Today, I felt and experienced.

For those who don't know me, right now I'm doing my post-graduation in journalism. Here, as a part of our course, we have to produce a master's thesis, a research project. I chose the topic "alternative techniques of healing". Among other techniques, I'm including Sanatan Kriya (a modern-day yogic technique). In Bangalore, Dhyaan Foundation is involved in promoting Sanatan Kriya. Today, I went to their centre and practiced the abovesaid yoga technique with them.

It includes practicing ujjai breathing, while simultaneously rotating different joints of body. After all this, it was the time for the audio CD to be played; it was Yogi Ashwini's (he has devised the kriya) directions on what to do and how to do and all. I was lying on my back all this while, in shavasan, as it is called. Towards the end, he said "om" several times.

I don't know how to describe it, it was an experience. You could say, every time he said "om", I felt some energising vibrations (or force or power) entering/passing through my body. And it was very strong vibration. The feeling was, how do I put it, energising, and very refreshing.

And while I was lying down on shavasan, my fingers moved by themselves to form a mudra. Later on, Ruchi, who was conducting the session, said when one is in the state of meditation, the fingers automatically form the mudra suited best to one's body. She told the practitioners that each of the possible different mudras aims at restoring one of the basic five elements of body — earth, fire, water, wind and ether. So whatever our body lacks, it tries to replenish that during Sanatan Kriya by getting into the mudra that facilitates reception of that element.

It was an amazing experience, letting go the control of your body, and observing these never-had-before experiences. Ruchi said that if one is regular at Sanatan Kriya then s/he could notice change in him/herself within as short as two-three days. "Really?" I asked. "Didn't you feel those strong vibrations in the first day itself!" she replied.

Sanatan Kriya is based on guru-shishya parampara. It says, you cannot achieve gyan by reading books or watching CDs, you have to be under guidance of a guru. Yogi Ashwini, who has devised the kriya is guru of all the practitioners, and he leads them further onto the path of spiritual journey. He promises to take your responsibility, all you have to do is to be regular on your part in doing the kriya.

Today was my first day, and the starting day, as I'd say. I'm going to be regular at it, oh yeah. I've also given my name when Ruchi asked for volunteers for training, who could then conduct workshops. Nice start, a good one, I'd say.

A journey of thousand miles starts with a single step, as they say. I've just taken that first step, and hope to cover those thousand miles, and beyond, as efficiently and quickly as possible. I hope to be able to serve mankind in whichever way I could, and also be able to realise my full potential.

February 07, 2009

Tranquil, silver moonlight

I wish electricity hadn't come back past night. Still two days shy of achieving its full glory and shape, the moon looked darn handsome nonetheless. Oh yeah!

It was 8 pm, and all of a sudden we had power cut. That means hostel lights gone, street lights gone... Basically all lights gone. Usually it irritates, the power cut, but not yesterday. Oh my, oh my, oh my! The whole world looked sooo beautiful last night... Our hostel building, under nothing but the moon light. Cool, soothing, calm moonlight. A soothing, silver ball of light in a dark night. Whoa! It looked terrific, I'm telling you, terrific! What a pleasant atmosphere it was man!

And it's amazing, the same place that sometimes becomes so unbearable that you don't feel like staying there, was looking so serene and peaceful that you didn't feel like going from there! Everything looked sooo peaceful, so quiet, so pleasant, and just so so caaaaalm.

The world looked so beautiful under the silver shower of the moonlight! That is called nature at its best. I was just standing under the heavenly sky, soaking the moonlight, singing romantic song (oh yeah), enjoying the serenity and tranquility... And then electricity came back, street lights lit up, hostel lights lit up, every damn light lit up. And all the beauty was gone. It just made me think, as always, that how in his pursuit of comfort, man is losing out on enjoying the best of the nature.

Oh boy! I'm going to live in a large farmhouse, and there I'd have control upon all the lights for as far as I could see. When not required, I'd turn them off and gaze at the magnificent, star-studded universe, which is shaping my destiny with me.

February 01, 2009

A beautiful evening

Whoa! It's such a beautiful evening! What's so special about today's evening? Haha, the first point just came to mind — PEACE.... Tranquility... The usual guys in the lab who make a lot of noise are all out. Only three people in the lab now, all working silently... Ah, I feel so relaxed. And outside it's the light blue sky, with that orangish fireball sinking down beyond the horizon. The orange rays on our college building are looking really fantastic today! (I wish they had emoticons in Blogger.com)

Nice, cool breeze is blowing outside... Everything seems so, so... unh peaceful :-) Yeah... Wow.... It's so nice.

Well, objectively, this evening is no different from other evenings. Every day it's kinda same. And at this time there are very few people in the lab. Dunno what's so special then today, I'm liking it, and that's what matters.

Hmm... You know what? I know what's special. "I" am relaxed. There is no worry, no hurry, I'm all peaceful and relaxed, may be that's why I'm able to appreciate the beauty around me — cool breeze right now and starry sky every night. Life is great, and easy! Oh, I love life.

Ok, ok.... Mr. philosopher (you know, I really want to study philosophy and spirituality), get to work and do something worthwhile in life. Get to work!

"Happiness is a state of mind." - Abraham Lincoln

January 15, 2009

New Year Resolutions


Yes friends, Hemant Gairola with a New Year Resolution list! No talk about how and why I have changed. Let's get to work (ooh, sounds impressive!):

1. Don't pro... WAIT!!
Yup, resolution no. 1 is say only positive words. If there is something you don't want, don't think, speak or write about it. Instead, think, speak and write only about the opposite of what you don't want. Such as "I don't want to be alone" should be written as I always want to be with friends, having a hell lot of fun. ALWAYS SPEAK IN AFFIRMATIVE, AND AFFIRMATIVE ONLY.

2. DO ALL YOUR WORK ON TIME
First things first. Stephen Covey also says this. Was it the first or second habit? Nonetheless, it's very important. What can be done today, should be done today. Life is so much easy and relaxed when you're with, or ahead of schedule. Now onwards, finish the assignments that you get on the very same day.

Btw, what's the bloody excuse that you're putting up your resolution list after a fortnight of new year's eve? Umm... Let it go, it's a matter of past. Let's move on, buddy!! ;-)

(It's amazing, how I'm tempted to use negative words, as I think only they would effectively convey the meaning of what I'm trying to say. Self-restraint is hard, but not for someone with iron will.)

3. MAKE YOUR FOCUS LASER SHARP
Hemant Gairola, let's take only a couple of things. I want to be a rockstar, a supermodel, gold medal winner, top-class orator and so many things at the same time. The best way to be all is to pick one thing at a time. Let me set my priority then. As long as I'm in IIJNM, I will work on my written and spoken English.
  • Improve your langauge: I want to have flawless English. My every writing should be a case study. Every word I speak should be precise and apt.
  • Give your heart to your master's project and monthly assignments.
  • Excel in your electives. Give your best to all the assignments you like. Try even more on assignments that bore you.
  • Study like hell about the Law of Attraction.
4. WORK ON YOUR PERSONALITY
So Hemant Gairola, you have decided to grow up, eh, after your 21st birthday! Better late than never, buddy. There are somethings about you that you should never change, even if they are very stupid; you can't stop being yourself! Yeah, get over your weaknesses. Hmmm... I think you've already made major improvement in this area. Keep working on your strengths, man. You're truly a gem.

5. SPEAK SLOOOWWLLYYY
No need to rush... Despite what you think, people are not in a hurry and would like it better when you speak slowly. You have wonderful ideas, speak slowly and clearly, let the world know!

6. BE HAPPY
Hehe... Do I need explain that? I know I'm going to be happy no matter what. Life is going great guns. So far 2009 has been an amazing year, and I hope it continues to be so. I'm expecting even more pleasant surprises, beyond my wildest dreams. Woo!! Universe, drive me nuts, baby. Make me materialise at lightening speed...

7. SPREAD HAPPINESS
Yeah, this one is same as the previous point. How can you be ever happy without spreading it around? What you give, comes back hundredfold to you. So to get happiness, give happiness.

Hmm... Pretty practical list. Wow, I'm really maturing! Good. Now that I've written my resolutions, let me also put up my wish list. What I've written above, is telling Universe what I'm going to do. Below, I'm going to write what I want Universe to do for me. After my resolution list, it's time for my wish list. Wooo!! I love creating wish-list.

Just quoting Joe Vitale from The Secret to make my wishes come true even faster: "You can have, do or be whatever you want." Now paraphrasing him: The whole Universe is like your catalogue. It's crazy, you can say I want to have this thing, I want to have that experience, I want to have that kind of person in my life. It's like you just place your order and sit and relax till it comes.

Wow! Now my wish-list:

1. LOVE
What a feeling love is. Life is great, make it greater. I want my friends to love me more, I want to love them more. I want more friends to love more. Let the wounded relations be healed and be stronger than ever. Let there be trust and love between me and all my friends.
Affirmation: I'm a wonderful person who certainly deserves love and trust of all the wonderful people whom I consider friend. All my friends love me, now everything's alrite :-)

2. SUCCESS
Make me successful in everything I do. Make sure I attempt only the right thing.
Affirmation: I'm doing only the right thing. Everything I do, I do it with perfection. I'm a winner. (Woooo!!)

3. MONEY
Show me the money. Show me the money. Show me the mmmoonnneeeeyyyyyyyy...!! Wooohoooo!!
Affirmation: I'm open to money-making ideas. I have great ideas entering my mind. There is more money being printed for me right now. Oh yeah!

4. PEACE
Importance of peace in life can't be over-emphasized. I wish to become a master at meditation and materialising. Let peace be there in my life so that I can spread it in others' lives as well.
Affirmation: My mind is at peace. God cares for me. I'm at peace.

Hmmm... Love, success, money, peace... What else could one want! I just asked, anyways I know I'm on the right track. Oh yeah! One more thing, make me more mature, yeah!

Feels great na, Hemant Gairola, when there's no anxiety, no desperation, cuz you know you'll get what you've asked for!


“Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.” — Bill Vaughan