Friday, August 8, 2008

08/08/08 True meaning of a Guru!

Exhausted,tired from the college classes but still rejuvenated. I has promised to write about feminism,resolutions etc ,but I have to share this one with you. I just came back from a guest lecture in my college society named IBC conducted by a faculty named Ms.Somi Jacob. And I can assure you,she is the best thing that could have ever happened to our society. It was a one hour lecture on Group discussion for interviews and placements in MBA. It was supposed to start at 4.30pm ,but due to the Indian Standard Time instilled in students, it started by 4.45pm. And those one and a half hours were the most enlightening moments of my entire life.It was the first time I didn't lose focus nor get distracted even for a moment. She began explaining what GD is all about. We had been given hand-outs to be referred to. It contained the bullet points of the lecture. She explained the most common mistakes that one tends to do during a GD (which I plan to put up in points in my post someday just like she did). With the perfect blend of humor,knowledge and application ,she totally had all the ears and mind for her. She was truly awesome. I can proudly say that,for the first time in my entire life,I've understood who a good teacher is.She defined the meaning of a good teacher,of a guru,who imparts knowledge to students,to the extent of enlightening them .The 45 minute lecture was then succeeded by a mock GD just to test our skills in GD.She became the evaluator and gave us a topic which left mouths open (literally). The topic that she gave was "HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON A WALL"(I know your mouth is left open too). She gave us two minutes to start. We all came up with the crappiest of stories and points which were meaningless(some insightful I must say). The GD lasted for about ten minutes. After evaluating us on the Gd,we called the IBC members on stage an d gave her a token of thanks by giving her a Cafe Coffee Day cup and saucer. 08/08/08 is going to be a very memorable day ..Because she defined the meaning of a true teacher,a guru.

Coming UP!!

Its been days since Ive blogged. And this time Im going to resolve to write daily..Even if it is the smallest of things. I just had some ideas in mind which i had to put down on pen and paper,most of all that were from a feminist's point of view.I hate to be authoritative and extremist in my views about feminism,but if the world works the other way round,why cant I do the same and bring it back to square 1?(Hope you get me ,.negative*negative makes positive). So Ill be coming up with a few blogs about feminism,some reviews of my friend's blogs (even criticisms maybe) and a few health tips for a fitter you(for women ,by the way). So keep blogging ,and do read my posts. Enjoy!!!

PS-I might also come up with a few resolutions to fulfill by the end of the year (or life's resolutions)...(This is psychology that if you announce to the world,it becomes a matter of self esteem to fulfill it.)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Happiness comes in large packages!!!

Its been a lot of days since I blogged..I actually had a lot of things in mind but couldn't get the time to put it on pen and paper. Or maybe because I was busy thanking god and counting laurels. Also the ambiguity of whether to write down things that made me happy (considering I shouldn't jinx it) left me with a few days before I realised I couldn't stop myself and share with you. Normally I (like most mortals of this world) have always felt that luck favors the world but me (pessimist ..I know). But lately I have started feeling different these days. Maybe it is my pessimistic attitude diminishing or that luck has given its share to me . Also considering the option that this semester is lucky for me (I hope you get how much I deduce things..)..

Many things have been happening that made me believe in the fact that things can be going well for a lot of people without even realizing.

a)I ruined my digital camera completely,scratches all over and the lens went out of focus.I really surrendered thinking Ill have to buy a new camera. And just look at my luck .I ended up getting an absolutely new camera for free.Apparently the camera was under warranty and repairing it would have been costlier than getting a new one.I couldn't have been happier.Seriously.

b)Me and my roomies got an AIRTEL internet connection and a 5 port switch. Now it seems we bought a very low quality switch which people said works like a hub (god knows how such a thing is possible however cheap a switch is..). We did every possible thing to get three laptops connected to one airtel connection....Considering we are not such experts in connection ,we called upon a technician to help us.And turns out we knew more than him.Then one night me and Urvi (the cutest roomie anyone could ever have..) sat and started experimenting with the settings .We were determined to start the connection that day itself. And Lo!!! Persistence paid.. Oh by the way,which is another philosophy I truly believe in. Everything started working that day. You might not realized the extent of my happiness ,but live in a room for two years with a laptop but no connection and you'll realize. Except for cut wires and LAN clips scattered in my room ,my happiness knew no bounds.

c)Me and my batch decided to go for a trip to Sanchi and Raisen fort in Bhopal,India (Hello.. which again was decided after we thought of big plans which got canceled ). Now one day before the trip date was decided ,I and Indu (another cutie pie of my batch) drove my twelve year old kinetic till old Bhopal (which is one of the toughest bumper car races one can have) and finally reached the travel agent.Talking to him we got the bad news that the RTO office was closed that day and the buses needed a permit to go to any of these tourist destinations. I was really really disappointed considering that I had made up my mind to mange this trip well and make it a success. Now here the convincing part played an important role. We asked the agent to do anything he could to get us the bus for the next day .After like millions of years of convincing he finally said he was prepared to take the risk . And Lo .!! again our work was done. Now the next task was to contact resort to get buffet system ready for the girls. Wait the job is not done yet !! No one in my college seemed to be having the phone number of the resort where we needed food from. Now technology swooped its way into its importance this time. Unexpectedly the phone number of that resort was available on the internet (don't raise eyebrows because it wasn't such a famous resort )..Talks were done and everything was perfectly planned . And for the record,the trip was fabulous..It couldn't have been better. Oh ya not to forget mentioning, there were a few stalkers in Raisen fort who got a really good verbal thrashing from us thirty six girls...It was like a nice release of emotions.Felt really good btw.. (ya ya I know that you must be thinking what a feminist I am..Well I'm proud of it).


d)We played housie (or tambola as some call it) during the trip.. Now my luck in games is like a donkey's luck in singing . And I won two prizes during the game.Me ,Indu and Nupur were in one team. It was so good.Seriously.

e)My mobile phone got soaked in a polythene bag where I had kept it from protection incase it rained .What I didn't see was whether the polythene was dry or not .And to my luck it wasn't .(Lol ..look at the irony)..My phone was soaked in about 50 ml of water for four hours and I had no clue about it.And after I came home and saw a thick layer of moisture on my screen ..I knew it was time to buy a new cellphone)..I dried the phone besides my laptop exhaust hoping that it might just start, and fate startled me by getting the phone started..Good news ,I don't have to buy a new phone now. Bad news ,Oh yes I don't have a camera mobile,my cellphone costs Rs.2800 and I'm really proud of it.I don't plan to change it till it cracks into two pieces or water succeeds in making its way again and choking it!!!


And now I suddenly realized that there were so many things that made me happy, and most of it might be insignificant to you . But these little things made me realize that luck can favor us in small ways without making us realize. And trust me,if you start keeping count of how many things made you happy in a day (with a positive mind, of course) you'll realize you are the luckiest person in the whole world!!!!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Man's best friend..in his home!!!





































As is always said " There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.".
Do you ever look at puppies and get emotional to the core?Does your maternal (and paternal) instincts awaken looking at these adorable cuddly babies?Do you ever look at these cute little toy-like creatures and wonder why God didn't give them the love they actually deserve?Did you ever look into their innocent eyes and get pinched thinking of the fact that a lot of these puppies do no have a proper home to live, or proper food to eat??

Everyone loves human babies. And everyone dreams of holding their own baby in their hands some day. Similarly,a lot of people are animal lovers and love them like their babies ,and to be specific,DOG LOVERS. Dogs are miracles with paws. But unfortunately not many are able to do anything for them.
WHY?


Is it because of lack of initiative,or because of apprehension or just the thought of taking up so much hassle?


I was just going through a community on Orkut about animal lovers in my city.To my utter surprise I saw a lot of people having found stray homeless puppies.They had kept it in their houses and asking people who wished to adopt them.And it was shocking to see that it had been more than three months to the post submitted and not one person contacted to offer adopting the puppy. Is it that people don't login through Orkut (the most popular social networking site in India) often enough to see the post submitted by those people,or is it their lethargy that stops their stiff fingers to type into the post,or is it that they just don't care about pets??If it is the first two ,it is not their fault.But if it is the latter,then the matter needs looking into.

A few months ago I saw this video of puppies in IIM Ahmedabad. The students out there were posting to all different pet forums as possible ,and asking people to adopt pets .They even went to the extreme of vaccinating each one of them and deworming them as well.

In spite of so many people willing to do something for the puppies,Why are so many puppies still homeless?

There can be countless number of reasons but that does not count.What counts is the end ,where
dogs need to be happy. Remember, when aspiring students like you all take a job and are responsible enough for another living being, please take initiative and do something for the pets. Even if due to circumstances you cannot keep pets in your home,at least try in some way or the other to help them.They need our support and they have equal right to live in this world as much as we do.Im truly inspired by the students of IIM Ahmedabad who took care of the puppies and now they have happy homes to live in.

And for the citizens who can afford to keep pets in your house,...Next time you see a stray puppy or a post in your forum ,please take a step from your life and adopt a puppy. I bet no animal owner would have ever regretted keeping a pet at home. They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.

Have a pet at home and you'll always be happy.Because they always give you unconditional love.And also because you know that the pet is someone who will never leave you till the end.

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole". ~Roger Caras

Monday, June 2, 2008

Chauvinist!!!

As is described in the Wikipedia,Chauvinism is "Chauvinism (pronounced /ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzəm/) is extreme and unreasoning partisanship on behalf of a group to which one belongs, especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred towards a rival group..In this existing world,the word "chauvinism" always exists with a prefix "MALE". Everywhere you go,everywhere you see..Its all male chauvinists existing in this world..Be it my college,my society or my surroundings...I cant really see anything else.. Their thoughts are anger-provoking especially when they cannot stand a woman becoming their boss or being someone more powerful than them.I don't understand why the world thinks of women as the weaker of the sexes??

A positive opinion would be that they want women to be protected and well taken care of.But seriously,any woman,let it be your wife or girlfriend,mother or sister or your best friend,ask anyone and they will tell you that for them begin treated as equal and a "TOUGHIE" gives them greater happiness than being treated like a delicate princess. Although even the treatment of "Delicate Princess" is rarely observed (pun intended).I,being a woman myself have seen a lot of things that happen when Male chauvinists are around us. They can never sit behind a woman on a two-wheeler.. Let me ask you, HOW MANY OF YOU DON'T MIND SITTING BEHIND A WOMAN ON A TWO WHEELER?
They hate women who are more powerful than them.And seriously,they hate them with a vengeance.. Every time the woman does something,the male ego bursts like a balloon.Gritting their teeth hard,they always need a reason to get back at the women who succeed in being more powerful than them..I agree women cant pick up hockey sticks and start physically bashing up people, or they cant even be very tough at fighting, but why pick up fights with them just for one's personal grudges of power-play?

I don't say all men are chauvinists,but the ones who are ,are very staunch about it.And thats makes things difficult for people around.Personally,Ive been around a lot of good men and I really find them fun-loving and fun to talk to. I just wish all of them could get this chauvinistic attitude and male ego out of their minds,that would make it a better place for them to live as well.

Men who know they are chauvinists must remember that a woman cant do the things mentioned above, but that doesn't make a woman any weaker. And this world would be a better place for both sexes to live in peacefully if chauvinism from both sides (read:men) ends..I don't think people like me would ever post blogs like this then...

Thursday, May 22, 2008

NITB DBMS PROJECT

Dear friends,

This is the first time Im blogging.Hope this goes well.Basically this was my brother's idea to begin a blog after i told him this funny story that happened in my college NIT Bhopal.
This incident happened during my DBMS minor project when i was in the 4th semester IT. As DBMS was my subject and Oracle 9i a compulsory tool to use for database(I still don't know why it was) ,we were asked to create an innovative project (not using C or C++,another head scratcher). So our team decided to use a back end server of ASP combined with SQL. Now we had five teams in my class,and everyone had pretty much geared up for it ,except for our team. Now finally after the laid back attitude of one and a half months ,the professor finally gave us the final date of project submission. Suddenly waking up from our siesta we pulled our heads together for the completion(read:beginning) of the project...Our project was basically one of having a database of movies where people connected through the LAN could insert their IP address corresponding to a particular movie and thus they could share movies within a hostel. Now i was mainly in charge of the database part . I started feeding in data at full pace..Now the problem that arose was that I didn't know how to save the insertion after I closed the program(Eyebrow raiser..I know). But to my surprise,no one in my class knew hoe to save the SQL insertion commands.. I didn't know then(now I do) that this was one of the most basic commands any SQL users should know.Luckily I met one of my seniors who happened to tell me that the command was "COMMIT;"..My brother had a hearty laughter when he heard this..And because of this and a lot of other reasons,he pities the scenario at NIT Bhopal.