Nipun Dave

Stepping back

2013-05-02T00:16:00.001-06:00

Every moment, the world gets increasingly complex with each action taken by every microbe, every insect, every animal, every human and our environment. In the book Shantaram, written by Gregory David Roberts, one of the dons he meets opined the following:

"In the beginning before the Big Bang, everything was contained in a perfect simple singularity. Then the bang happened, and the universe began to expand, and since that time, everything has been increasing in complexity. The nature of everything in the universe is to do this. The more complex something is, the more alive it is. Also that everything is heading toward an ultimate complexity, which can be called God.

It also goes on to say that anything that helps this process is Good, and anything that thwarts it is Evil."

Whether you believe in this over-arching concept or not, the ever-increasing entropy is inevitable and so is our want to understand the structure, the forces in the chaos and thereafter, establish a model. This curiosity differentiates humans from most other creatures. It has indeed been the fuel in our pursuit of knowledge. What do we get out of this endeavor? It is nothing but a clarity in thought, in vision and in understanding.

"Clarity begets Simplicity, Simplicity begets Beauty."

Can we get this understanding by embedding ourselves in the chaos? I would think not. It does help us establish a familiarity with the system. What truly helps us transcend is the ability to step back and take a holistic view.
In this age, we have innumerable apps and services feeding our curiosity, adding to the frenzy with constant notifications, vying for our attention. We can withstand this deluge up to a limit after which we are unable to keep up. This breakdown is a consequence of our inability to process the information and make sense of it. All we need to do is take a step back, pause our thoughts and then sort through them.

A thought or a conversation?

2012-10-21T22:51:00.001-06:00

Newton's third law "Every action evokes an equal and opposite reaction" is indeed one of the fundamental foundations to our understanding of this universe. This wonderful symmetry permeates the entire universe. Indeed, in a world with multiple things interacting, this reaction will evoke a reaction from other body and cascades so forth.

The sound of laughter makes you smile. The sound of music makes you sway. The sound of a baby crying melts your heart. The sound of your inner voice, your thoughts, what does it do? Is it just something that is going on in your head? Is it saying something that you dont want to share with others?

This inner voice has an indelible impact on you. The emotion of this inner voice reflects in your mood. The content of those thoughts drive your actions. Sometimes they present themselves to the physical world as your voice. Quite occasionally, they lead you to do things that you repent. And then, they lead to more similar thoughts.

Imagine having a conversation with your inner self, thinking through your thoughts, listening to them, understanding them and talking with them.. The power of such a conversation is just unimaginable. You can question without coming across as dumb or stupid, you can argue without seeming childish, you can yell without hurting anyone and you can laugh without been perceived as insensitive. Until you say it out loud, its just your thought.

Rather than saying more about this, I will leave it to Creedence Clearwater Revival to present it:

It's just a thought

But I wondered if you knew

That the song up there is you.

They can't take it from you

If you don't give it away

Why are we so afraid of ourselves?

2012-04-28T01:17:00.002-06:00

A simple question pops up in your mind, a question about yourself, a question about who you are, who you will be, how you will be or something like that! A question that in its simplicity belies the complexity, the depth required to really understand it, let alone answer it! A question that in its simplicity emphasizes your inability to answer it. It is something that makes you uncomfortable, that makes you anxious. Running away definitely seems to be a better option than facing it.

What do you do then?

Well, nowadays we choose to distract ourselves with all these products that give our mind something else to focus on. They give our mind an excuse to run away from the question and thereby the answer. They provide us an illusion of comfort through a sense of familiarity, through a sense of predictability, through an ability to complain about something that exists outside of us.

Why are we so afraid of ourselves?

It is indeed ironical as I was pondering on this question, I decided to write it up on my blog. Am I avoiding the question? Only time will tell.

Half A Day at the Half Moon Bay

2010-12-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

and the day concluded with this beautiful view. How could I not forget everything else? There I was standing at the vantage point near the Ritz, having forgotten my life for a while. I was there, in that place, in that moment, in that breath, in that fragrance, in that light. This photograph not only captured the magical view, but also the sense of tranquility and of being one with nature that I felt there.

I believe in you

2010-05-23T00:33:00.001-06:00

Over ages, humans desires and choices have evolved so as to ensure propagation of the best genes. An intrinsic aspect of this is the drive for the protection of their surrounding ecosystem composed of other individuals, settlements, nature etc. This might lead one to assume that people would be willing to sacrifice almost anything for maintaining this ecosystem. However, that is a flawed assumption. As the ultimate goal of each individual is contentment, they attempt to uphold their beliefs about what leads to this satisfaction. In fact, an individual's desires are just a manifestation of his/her beliefs. The urge to achieve fame and money, power, education or just about anything else stems from the belief that it will lead to contentment and happiness.

These beliefs entrenched in people provide them with the motivation and courage to sacrifice. They are portrayed in each and every action, right from choosing their friends as kids to the way seniors treat their subordinates; emotions ranging from attraction to patriotism to hatred. In a sense, a culture is the depiction of these beliefs through various modes. The Greeks and Romans believed that they had only life (opportunity) to achieve greatness which would thereafter enable them to enter the paradise. Their conquests and attempts of world dominance are quite well known. On the contrary, the Indians believed that each individual goes through a cycle of birth and death which he leaves when his soul attains a sense of balance. Consequently, they have never attempted to even conquer any adjacent country. They try to conquer themselves.

A deeper understanding of a person can be gained only by understanding their beliefs. In fact, these beliefs constitute the individual's identity.

A moment that felt just right......

2010-05-18T23:31:00.005-06:00

With a serenity in myself that the surroundings can only enhance;
A chain of thoughts that so beautiful in itself, that it remained unblemished;
A silence that was so burning that only music could quench;
A sense of stillness that a breeze could only emphasize;
A presence that seemed timeless;

As you go through your life going about your work, there are these little things that just seem to be sooo right. A sense of calm flows through your brain and nerves unhindered...

If you guys are wondering what I am talking about, this is what I experienced as I gazed out of my window today at the dreamy sky listening to "Pictures of you" by The Cure and it felt just right..

Entrepreneurship: Really?

2009-11-14T12:05:00.001-07:00

Many individuals at some point of time or the other has definitely coveted the riches, comforts and respect being enjoyed by the entrepreneurs. They want each of those things and more for themselves. Tell them to go down the path of entrepreneurship and the one question that they have is "Is it my cup of tea?". The word itself sounds so esoteric that most people desire it and at the same time run away from it.The pessimist in some people rises to the occasion giving them a multitude of reasons to never even think about the possibility of establishing a startup. Some of the predominant reasons include the financial risks involved, time "apparently" wasted, high probability of failure, a mental block, the want to settle down quickly.....

Most people forget about the actual intention and the mode of establishing a startup. Firstly, one does not establish a startup just because one wants to. The seed is sown when a person identifies some problem or some need in his/her life which are not being satisfactorily addressed by the existing companies. If the problem is severe enough or if the person is persistently enough, given the right circumstances, this identification eventually leads to a solution. Concurrently, the person might also observe that this solution addresses the problems or needs of other people. At this stage, there are two possibilities. The more interesting is the one in which the person is active enough to begin to market his idea to others. The identification of a sufficient number of people feeling the need provides incentive to pursue the arduous task of developing and fine tuning the solution and then selling it.

This is one of the many possible ways in which a startup comes into existence. However, one concept that underlies each of these techniques is that you convince others about the need and effectiveness of something that you have worked on for a long time. If the idea seems to be simple that others should have thought of it, then there is only one thing I can tell you... The other people are not doing good jobs of selling their ideas as otherwise you would have known about it. Ergo, your idea is still worth your time, effort and your intelligence. I will sign off by saying this: "Entrepreneurship is one way of making loads of people believe in your thoughts."

Karma Kitchen

2009-10-22T20:29:00.002-06:00

There I was in the Economics Department Lounge, working on my assignment and sipping some coffee. Suddenly I received a mail about the possibility of being a volunteer at a place by the name of "Karma Kitchen". My curiosity aroused, I accessed its website and then I was just dumbstruck by what I read. You enter this restaurant, have some amazing food and get a bill of 0.00$. I did not miss any numbers btw. The bill is for zilch. However, there is a footnote which states "Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. To keep the chain of gifts alive, we invite you to pay it forward for those who dine after you."

A discussion began with Aditya Gudipati which raised the point that such a restaurant just cannot be conceived in India and if established, is bound to go bankrupt in a matter of days. The conversation that ensued went something like this:

me: mast idea hai yaar yeh
1:52 PM Aditya: hmmm
but india main nahi chalega

1:53 PM me: yeah
Aditya: thats the irony
me: most probably pehle din hi pura khaana khatam
Aditya: these concepts of karma are lifted from indian mythology
but today americans believe in it more than indians

1:54 PM me: i know
you know the difference is that
previously Indians did not have to survive
they lived
now most Indians need to survive
its true that we had a great past
1:55 PM Aditya: yeah
me: but we need to build an even better future
:)
Aditya: these thoughts are for people who are settled in life
and for civilizations which are better offf
then it was us
now its them

House MD

2009-10-18T18:17:00.003-06:00

To all those people who feel watching serials and movies is a waste of time, here is one that proves you wrong. This one has years of experience crammed into episodes of 45 minutes, and I am not referring to medical experience only. Wisdom about life just oozes out from it. However, today I will talk about only one particular episode that changed me forever... the first episode of the 6th season. Lifelong I had been in pursuit of cogent answers to certain questions about the working of the world. There I was, just relaxing in my room, and I began watching the episode unaware of the tremendous impact it would have on me.

Dr. Gregory House went around rampaging others lives around him, cutting across authority, demanding and grabbing whatever he wanted... Then one of his childish acts which resulted in one delusional person jumping from the second floor and incurring multiple fractures and a ruptured spleen. That one incident made him realize the grievousness of the impact of his actions and he thereafter vowed to change himself. One of these changes involved apologizing for his actions. Thats when House argued that how could saying sorry compensate for all his actions and the consequences borne by the guy. It just didnt seem fair and just. This was the ONE question I had had.

Then the Dean said something to the effect of "So this is what instigates to make you miserable: the attempt to balance out others errors, the want to make others to go through what they made you go through. Whats important is to realize that the words do not matter as much as how intensely do you really mean them. Once you truly mean it, those words will mean the world to the one who deserves the apology." I would like to leave it at that where you can derive your own interpretations.. :)

Crossroads

2009-10-18T00:16:00.003-06:00

At any milestone in our life, we are presented with millions of opportunities to stray away from the path we are on but ironically, there is only one which can take us ahead on that path. Does that imply that we strive to stick to that path or at every milestone be greedy and select the one that seems to take us to the best goal? Or should we be opportunistic by exploring a different path, and retracting to the previous one if it seems unviable? One could go on listing the possibilities forever.

However, the question still remains.. There have been instances in everybody's life when the deviation from the main path has taught us something drastically new and different, probably good, in life. When the new path takes so far down a dark alley that we become almost blind to the bad around us, we tend to curse whatever that brought us to the crossroads.

How do we then proceed further when the uncertainties in the world have rendered us blind? The only answer to this to pursue our passion. The passion will provide us with the courage, motivation and the energy to persist on the path come what may. The goal is not really as important as the path as it moulds us in to the person we are.

PS: This thought came to my head as I was wondering if I should attend the Diwali Celebrations tomorrow at Old Union or not. :)

Sound of Music

2009-04-24T04:46:00.004-06:00

Around 2 years ago, I had been to Karlsruhe, Germany. I had gone to this riverside area to a park with my friends. We just sat there relaxing and looking around. Suddenly, I could hear the melodious strumming of a guitar in the background. I turned around to see this guy playing a tune eliciting a feeling of anxious joyousness.... A song which seemed to convey that what he had been working for, he was almost about to achieve it... The pain he went through was nothing compared to the happiness that was soon going to be a part of his life. I just sat there listening to the orchestra of guitar, wind, birds as they gave birth to these thoughts in my mind, emotion in my heart. There is something so soothing about music, something so innate in music which brings out thoughts and emotions locked away by the pragmatic people.

That day as I sat there, I finally let my emotions free... Nothing of my past, present or future mattered to me. I just sat there engulfed in the waxing and waning waves of sound, grasped by its intensity, immersed in its depth, devouring the pleasure and doing away with the pain, transforming into a person who no longer wanted to stifle his emotions, a guy who had a dream, a human who would do anything to achieve it, a soul who needed music in his life..

Aero to EE

2009-04-15T05:15:00.002-06:00

How did a guy like me obsessed with planes and cars end up in Electrical Engineering instead of Aerospace?

So here's the story behind the sudden change in my plans... As a 17 year old guy, who had cleared IIT-JEE on his first attempt, I was obviously ecstatic. Besides, I knew that I could easily get a seat in Aerospace engineering at IIT Bombay. Then I started talking to some of the IIT students who had taught me in Yukti. Their point of view was that I should get into a field like Electrical Engineering since I could. Although this did seem to be a bit stupid reason to get into Electrical engg. it did influence me. But I still wasnt convinced about it.

To sort it out, I went with a couple of my friends to IIT to talk to students from each of the departments. This was around mid-June when most final year students were busy with their projects and reports. Most of them were happy to help us out with whatever information we needed. After a good long chat, we did have a better idea about the fields but I still did not know what to do. Doubts had begun to arise in my mind about taking up Aerospace because of the drastic difference in the facilities available in the two departments. Besides, most people in other departments seemed to be dissatisfied with what they were doing. However, these reasons still were not good enough for me.

One day while I was watching something on Discovery I began to realize what fascinated me about the planes and cars was the human interface each of them had and not just how they worked. Each of them had the brain to control the entire system which otherwise was just a bunch of expensive immobile stuff put together. Besides, I would always wonder how could some materials show videos or play music or control a plane. I had studied Electronics as a vocational subject during my 11th and 12th and found it to be really interesting and intuitive. This entire thought process convinced me to go for Electrical Engineering rather than Aerospace - Adopt a new dream in place of the previous one.

Today, when I look back at it, I am really glad that I did change my opinion. EE rocks!! :D

Life before IIT

2009-04-10T12:14:00.006-06:00

"I want to be what I was when I wanted to be what I am" - I read this quote on one of the benches in a classroom in the Electrical Engineering Department of IIT Bombay. That was just one of the many things that got me thinking about how did I reach here..

Uptil April 2000, I felt I was just like any other average guy scoring in the 70s every exam. In fact, I never had the inclination to try harder and get better scores. In fact I did not even think beyond clearing that particular year with reasonable scores. I played a lot, watched a lot of cartoons, spent most of my time dreaming about random stuff... The only thing that could have remotely indicated that I might be end up being in IIT was my obsession with the shows on the Discovery and NGC channels and well my spectacles too :P. As any other boy, planes and cars fascinated me to no end. My parents, intrigued by this incessant thirst of mine, started finding information about the possible career choices for me. They found out that the IITs were the best place to stay Aerospace engineering. Being a very ignorant person, I decided then and there that IIT would be the place I study Aerospace engineering in. Quite likely this ignorance played a role in my being able to achieve that dream.

In May 2000, I shifted from Mira Road to Malad, where I attended a new school by the name of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya. The admission to the ninth standard was'nt so straightforward and my parents ended up resorting to my dad's contacts to secure an admission there. Nevertheless, I still had to give an admission test which apparently I sailed through. Sometime around mid-June was my first day in the new school. Dressed up in the new uniform, with supposedly strong but huge carbon fiber spectacles, I entered the class room filled with strangers. 10 years of attending the same school rendered me shy and slightly scared of interacting with others there. I sat on the first bench, right in front of the teacher's desk, opened up my bag, extracted a book and started going through it. I did notice others glancing at me but I didnt bother much.

Suddenly, a guy named Jay sat next to me and enquired about me. Little did I know that that particular instant would change my life forever. The few words we spoke then, drastically changed my outlook and gave me the courage to interact with others in the class. In this school, I found opportunities like never before where my hidden talents in Maths, Sciences and General Knowledge came to the forefront. I would have endless debates with the teachers about whatever they said or taught in the class. The first quarter I ended up scoring 87%, a figure unheard of in the previous school. The encouragement I got from my teachers, the confidence I developed by talking to people, participating in activities... they turned me into this guy who really wanted to achieve something in his life irrespective of what others told him. I ended up directing and acting in a play for the teacher's day, compering for the annual cultural festival, performing a musical piece there, commentating at the school's sports festival. These new-found capabilities I had gave me the capability to ignore whatever others had to say about what one could achieve in one's life.

After my board exams, I was this guy having a dream of getting into IIT but still lacking the confidence. A lot of incidents did test my desire to get into IIT. For example, once I was discussing with my school principal about the possibility of securing admission at IIT. She promptly replied that I should concentrate on my 12th standard studies first and thereafter give a shot at IIT-JEE so that I wouldnt end up screwing my life altogether. Each time, somebody told me this, they just strengthened my resolve of getting into IIT... of finding out what was it about IIT that people feared it to this extent. I ended up taking a book on Chemistry for IIT-JEE from my school library, which somehow had a copy. When I went through the first chapter which dealt with the atomic structure, it did take me a lot of time to understand the concepts. But in the end, the satisfaction I felt after understanding them made it worth the effort. These little steps I took then, apparently insignificant, gave me what was necessary for me to crack the exam - thirst for knowledge, satisfaction obtained from understanding the world, applying the concepts to do something worthwhile.

There I was after my board exams, attending sessions organized by various JEE coaching classes, trying to identify which one might be the best for me, confused as I ever can be. Finally I ended up joining Yukti Educational Services which again turned out to be one of the best decisions. Around mid-June the board results were declared and I did not perform upto my expectations and more importantly my capabilities. Nevertheless, I did end up getting a seat where I wanted.. that was in Mithibai with Electronics which was close to my JEE classes center. Naive that I was, I ended up joining Agarwal's classes for the 12th Board exams, which ended up being a sheer waste of 20k.

The first ever test in Yukti and I ended up scoring 1 on 10. During the lectures, initially there was a strongly perceptible difference between people who came from a CBSE background and those from SSC background. They seemed to know most of the concepts before hand and could quickly pick up the ones they didnt. They also had the ability to view the problems in an unconventional manner which helped them reach the solution rapidly. While those guys didnt realize that they were doing this, I realized that I lacked in those aspects. This realization gave me the advantage over them as I knew what I needed to achieve while they did not know what they could improve. The first year turned out to be really gruelling with me attending the college lectures from around noon to 6.30 in the afternoon, then attending Yukti from 6.45 to 9.15 and then discussing my doubts with the profs till 10 or so. Then I would reach home at 10.45, quickly have dinner, revise the concepts learnt in the class and sleep off around midnight. The next day I would get up around 7 in the morning, quickly freshen up and start studying. I followed this monotonous schedule every alternate day for almost an entire year without ever getting bored of it. The best thing about this was that I got to do something that I was really passionate about.

By the end of my first year, my performance did improve quite a lot but here came up the other factors that made me say previously that joining Yukti was probably one of the best decisions. Apart from having a faculty who were just a few years elder to me, I ended up being with some of the best people in Mumbai who were planning to give their JEE in 2004. That not only resulted in an amazing atmosphere in the lectures but also drove us to find our limits and try to go beyond that. The skills I learnt from all these people included lateral thinking, performing calculations rapidly using Vedic Maths, questioning the basics, viewing the concepts in my head... They brought me closer to the world and helped look at everything as somebody from inside the world rather than from outside.

Then began Agarwal's classes which turned out to be an anti-climax. The problems were more of like trivial mental exercises rather than being challenges and consequently I started loosing interest in the lectures there. I would sit in the back benches solving JEE problems or discussing about random stuff with others or just napping. Eventually I decided to stop going altogether and save myself the time and effort. I even stopped attending the lectures at Mithibai as they werent any better. The second and final year of my preparation, my schedule was something like this: Get up early in the morning and attend the practicals if any, study at home with some breaks in between when I watched cartoons, random movies, leave around 5.30 pm to attend my JEE classes which began at 6.30, reach there and discuss some questions with friends, sit through the lecture, discuss with the prof after that, go back home, have dinner and then study until 2am listening to the radio.

Just a month before my board exams, my parents started pressurizing me to prepare for the boards as they were concerned that I might fail in my boards.. Surprisingly, they were confident of me clearing IIT-JEE. Succumbing to their demands, I started going through the books which were too small compared to the 500 page books I was used to studying. I would just flip through the pages while watching TV or listening to music... The day my board exams concluded, I took my first break by going for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with some friends. After that it was back to being immersed in the thought processes striving to find out the solutions to problems.

The screening went pretty smoothly and I secured a good rank, not as good as I hoped to though. The few days before the mains exam were a bit nerve-wracking. The penultimate day however, was pretty chilled out because I knew that I had done my best over the two years and now what mattered was my performance during the exam. Maths turned out to be a killer exam with a lot of emphasis on matrices with which most of us were still not comfortable. Coming out of the exam center, everyone knew that the maths scores would either make or break our chances of getting into IIT. The days after the exam were something drastically different compared to the previous 2 years - there just wasnt any schedule.

The day the Mains results were to be declared, my parents woke up really early and in their eagerness logged on a bit before the scheduled time 8am. The site showed that I had not cleared but I was quite confident of getting through. While I was calmly seated and trying to recheck my results, my parents were very nervous. Both my parents were on the verge of tears. My dad sat next to me wondering why I wasnt reacting to the result while my mom went to another room and was crying. Suddenly my aunt called me congratulating me on having got through. My reply to that was "Thats ok! But first tell me what my All India Rank is. I dont know that yet." My aunt then ended up receiving a lot of words from my mom who thought that she was joking about the results. They were satisfied only after we saw that I had gotten through on at least 3 different IITs' websites. Thus my dream of studying in IIT was almost about to realized.

Now remains the question of how I decided my field of education in IIT. Will get to that in my next post.

Freshie year

2009-04-04T04:35:00.004-06:00

Hostel 3, IIT Bombay... The place that has been my home for the past four and half years.. The place where I had some of the most amazing experiences of my life.. The place where I met people whom one can't refer to as only friends.. The place where I discovered myself as an individual and as a part of a team.. As the day I leave this home of mine fast approaches, the feeling of nostalgia is gradually creeping in, driving my mind down the memory lane...

Towards the end of July 2004, I entered this place as a freshie with a kind of awe and fear and at the same time lots of expectations that a place as renowned as IIT evokes in people. While to some extent, it did not stand up to my expectations, the people I got to be with more than made up for it.. The wide diversity in the people here in terms of interests, skills, social, intellectual and economic backgrounds... Every interaction with my hostel-mates strikingly revealed various aspects of the quintessential human nature.. The so-called fundae sessions I attended as a freshie did seem to be a bit futile then. But when I look back at them, I realize that they primarily gave me the confidence that I could take up whatever I wanted to and excel at it.. There might be lots of reasons for why you can't do it but the one reason why you should do it surpasses all of them -the reason being its your passion, obsession, destination.

The nature of IIT-JEE is such that it makes you feel that you can learn a lot through books. This misconception I had was rectified at IIT. As I kept discussing with people about random stuff, their thoughts & opinions on the same topic, their life experiences - these things just opened my eyes to the things that cannot be effectively put down with words.

A Poem I had written a long time back....

2009-03-28T08:34:00.000-06:00

On the boat of our love,
There has been push and shove,
Having weathered many a storm,
There have been periods warm,

Soon, however far you may go,
The boat of love we will row.
Will say I, with each passing sunset,
Closer will be the day of "Yaayy! We met."

At times, might the boat rock,
Sure I am, nothing can break the lock.
Soon there will be times we treasure,
With happiness beyond measure.

Francis Child might have written a ballad,
To me its just a word salad.
Shakespeare might have inked a sonnet,
I prefer us sitting on our car's bonnet.
Look at the moon in the sky dark blue,
Turn around and say "Honey! I love you!!"

From Red Box to Kashid

2009-02-18T07:16:00.005-07:00

One of my life's greatest experiences began from a plan to see the movie 'Billu'. The five of us, Pande, Gangal, Sharayu, Namrata and me, we set off from the campus hoping to get a break from the boring humdrum of our lives involving getting up in the morning, chatting with people, doing some work, watching movies/serials..... It took some convincing to get Namrata to join us who wanted to see an english movie... In the end, a short movie show turned out to be an enthralling experience of 13 hours!!!

The dinner plans after the movie started with Red Box, then Bombay Blues and then Chakra's. Suddenly, Gangal suggested that we all go to Lonavla.. As if it was destiny, everyone promptly agreed to it. With nothing except for some food from McDonald's, some water and lots of excitement we began journey. As we reached the highway, we suddenly changed our plans to go to Khashid beach on the Ratnagiri coast, near Murud. It seemed as if we were being driven by our hearts and not minds... That was one amazing drive, going through the ghats in a darkness difficult to see and silence unheard in a city like Mumbai. We stopped at plenty of places including a naval port, various villages and at random spots on the ghats... The markers on the roads, that was one of the most beautiful man-made sights I have seen..

We reached Khashid beach around 3.30am. The sensorial experience I had at the Khashid beach, it easily surpasses most experiences I have had in India and rivals the ones I had in Switzerland.... In the darkness, the moon was gradually rising, changing from a dull red to a bright white color. There was a slight breeze, tingling our nerves giving us goose bumps. The sky was the darkest I have seen with the stars and constellations clearly visible. God is telling us, how much ever you find beauty in your life by running away from the nature, the more of nature's beauty you will miss. The waves lashing against the coast from the left to the right... it was Nature's orchestra at play!! In all this, the five of us were lying down on the cold, fine sand, shivering slightly and chatting.... The experience brought me closer to nature, to my thoughts, to the happiness I seeked and craved. This night got permanently etched in my memory... Finally, when we could no longer bear the cold, we slept off in the car. (There was a lot more that we did during the trip, but I want to end this note with the climax....)

Definitely, Maybe

2008-09-05T03:58:00.002-06:00

While many have to see and finish a movie in one go, I am the kind of a person who does not mind having long breaks in between the movie.. About a week ago I had the movie Definitely, Maybe and had seen it for around 30 min and then today I finally completed it. A good movie definitely, maybe not that great, but does touch ones heart definitely, maybe not deeply..... The movie is about this father who tells the story of his love life to his 10 year old daughter, about the 3 women who were a part of his life, about his experiences with each one of them. He used fictitious names for them and in the end the daughter had to guess which one of them was her mom. As he was telling her the story, the memories came back to him, and in the end they made him go back to the one he truly loved, the one with whom he was really happy....

So why am I talking about this movie? This movie did make me wonder about the quote: "Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. Thats why we call it present. "
Sometimes reliving the past or having a glimpse of the future does make one realize that today is a gift; and to relive the past or pore into the future why not live it.. Poring into the desired future aka a dream is what guides us, the past is what helps us and be in the dynamic present. So at any point of time a person is in the past, present and future..

My life about to be unveiled!

2008-09-04T23:21:00.004-06:00

Heyy guys!! This is my first blog ever albeit a really short one... Got some work right now... Gonna start publishing blogs soon and hopefully quite regularly.. Adios amigos!