Young Adult in India

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

I have my life. I have my to-do lists. My engineering coursework. But I also read newspapers, check Facebook and try to be aware of humanity beyond my personal motives.

There is something going on in my country. People are protesting. Against what, is debatable. But I do know a few things.

I know when I have to stand in lines so that other people who pay a 'premium'don't have to; I know when big corporates buy government licenses at 'subsidized' prices; I know when careers get destroyed when someone is unable to pay backdoor 'donations'; I know when roads outside my house don't get repaired in 10 years but patches of it being polished when a MP's nephew is married; I know when farmers and researchers suicide due to funding 'issues'; I know when land -that is bought by a serviceman's life savings- is snatched by a property dealer demanding high 'security' to pay to authorities; I know when only 'some' funds reach schools and the education of bright stars of the country is suffered; I know when a sports event that is supposed to be my country's pride gets so 'messy' that reports can fill you with disgust; I know when my family asks me not carry enough money for a challan when I drive, but enough to 'get out' of the situation.

I am a young adult and I love my country. What do I do?

They say I should join a protest that is claiming to get some things in order. They say that things have gone so bad that some strict policy-level decisions are the only way out. They say that I should support one man who had the balls to give his 100% to a cause that is claimed against corruption. They say that I should support the protest which is trying handle this menace by empowering a new body specifically for this purpose. They say the body will be as transparent as possible and will question anyone who needs to be.

But then others say that this protest is unconstitutional. That adding another layer of bureaucracy is not an answer. That this constitutional body upon which we are trusting can also stab our backs. Is there any trust or faith left in this country? How did we get here?

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

They say I have been given a power to vote. They say that instead of questioning the people I put in power, I should question why did I put them in power. I ask, who should I vote?

On one side there is a dynasty full of scams whose 'charismatic' ancestors have put this country in an emergency before. They have a future descendant ready who is himself confused and cannot hide his shame behind the political misdoings of his party. On the other side there is a leaderless group of non-secular, conservative old men(and some loud women) who themselves have plenty of scams in store, some of which get sprouted from time to time. My country feels screwed to not have a good alternative.

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

They say maybe I should wait. A third alternative will arise. Someone who will be responsible. Who knows that the answer is in the fundamentals along with some rigid policies on the top. Someones who understands that this country has become a nation of cheaters. Someone who knows that tax evasion and corruption have become a way of life and this needs to be changed.

But how long will I wait? I am certain that it's not some Baba who's trying to close the economy and thinks that homosexuality is a disease. When will this third option arise? People are continuing to get busy with their personal lives and treating their country for granted. Courage continues to die for personal 'growth'.

Meanwhile, careers continue to get destroyed, education continues to get hampered, farmers continue to suicide, illegal buildings continue to get constructed, science continues to get roadblocked, rules continue to get broken.

I am not impatient. But it is enough now.

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

I have no idea and I am scared.

Summer of '11

Semester#3 is here now. From tomorrow starts another semester of sleepless nights, endless assignments and loads of work. But somewhere down, I know I am waiting for it. Plus there are quite some things to look forward- our first tech fest, return of the half marathon, SR elections, some courses I have been waiting for, robotics workshops, some family events etc. The semester hasn't even started and I know how busy I am going to be. Work, fun, repeat.

If not something else, one thing I learned this summer was the speed of time. It was neither too fast, nor too slow. I am not complaining that my summer flew away so fast and I am not saying that it bored me to death. I have been extremely lazy and extremely productive. So below is a approximate timeline of how I spent the Summer of '11:

YES+: For the first six days of the summer, I attended an Art of Living workshop in my college aimed at young adults. It was fun and I learnt a thing or two. Didn't followup much though.

Rishikesh: After YES+ ended, we stayed that night at college and left for Rishikesh the next morning at 6. It was legendary. We jumped into any water body in sight and I ended up bathing 9 times in 4 days (my Mom still refuses to believe this). I did rafting for 4 hours, floated aimlessly in the Ganga, separated from my raft by almost a kilometer and jumped from a rock two storeys high into the water. 4 times. We also trekked, did rappelling  and climbed a ton of rocks and slopes. Not to forget the sleep deprivation, endless talks, shouting eeeeee... like crazy and sleeping on the grass under millions of star. Of course, I fell ill. But it was the Best. Trip. Ever. Except for a nickname I got after some small mammal. I don't like it.

Mumbai: After I returned from Rishikesh in the night, I left for Mumbai the next afternoon. As one may guess, I did a lot of convincing for this can't-sit-at-home schedule. And Mumbai was not for 4 days, it was 6 weeks. I went to Mumbai with two of my classmates for community work. You see, IIIT-Delhi requires you to do 80-100 hours of Community Work in 4 years of your BTech. We were planning the trip for a while and worked at an NGO called Parivartan. I'll write more about my Mumbai trip in some later blog posts because there were so many experiences that I can't fit in a paragraph. All I can say is that the whole trip was overwhelming and I learnt a lot. Much more than I had expected and I'll have to say, I had a lot of expectations. It was also a lot of fun. All the work, the managing stuff on your own, the new city, the freedom, the vada pavs, the people, the children. I know it sounds very cliché, but yes, it was life-changing.

Travelling: This summer, I traveled a lot too. Rishikesh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Amritsar. I can pack bags now. I also now have a long travelling wish list.

Movies: I watched a lot of movies too. 9 to be precise. And these are just the ones in theater. I wanted to do 10, but there just weren't any more good movies.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides
• The Hangover Part II
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Pyaar Ka Punchnama
• Avatar (Finally, that too in IMAX 3D!)
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• Shaitan
• Delhi Belly
• Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

30 Days of lazying around: As I mentioned, I had planned for a different, productive last 30 days of my summer after my busy two months. But alas, I spent most of those 30 days just lazying around or hanging out. Which I do not regret because of some flaws in my planning. First, instead of setting new and different goals for 30 days, I set up a long list of regular goals. Second, I again planned much more things than I could have handled. Hence #Fail. But I don't care much, as I enjoyed the last 30 days lazying around and getting up in the afternoon after the hectic time in Mumbai. I did however manage to get a few tasks done in these 30 days, which I am happy about.

So, this is how the Summer of '11 went for me. It was pretty jam-packed yet relaxing. Ah, how much do I love three months of holidays. Also, I did not post about this but around 20 days back, my blog completed its first year. I did not have a separate post about it because, well, I did not blog that much in the last one year to celebrate or something. Nevertheless, expect a series of blog posts on Mumbai 2011 in the coming weeks.

30 days

I watched this TED Talk today and have stopped my list-making ever since. Well, I got inspired so fast is mainly because I have precisely 30 days right now till semester #3 starts and I have been feeling useless since the past two days.

I spent this summer doing a lot of stuff I did not imagine I would do, visiting and lot of places and learning so much that I never thought I could learn. So after two months of jam-packed abnormal fun, I thought I would love  just laying back and sleeping the next one month. But as these lazy days are passing, I am feeling more and more uncomfortable and bored.

So, this 30 day thing seems worth trying. I have made my list but will not share it right now. I will share tasks as they become relevant or complete.

Another added bonus: I get to make tickable lists.

Starting tomorrow, let the ticking off begin!

Darkest Things

Some incredible lyrics from one of my favorite songs:

And it's funny how the darkest things
You only find when you've been searching
Don't back down from what you need
Guiltiness it only makes you mean

Busy Choices

Yeah, the title does not make sense , I can read it too. But the past two weeks have been so overwhelming in being busy and making choices that these two words have just become intermingled in my brain. I read(rather heard) somewhere that while you need to have plans for the future, some events in life are like dots, which connect themselves in the future in ways that may surprise you. Now knowing this fact, its irritating when your brain starts to already explore ways in which these dots may connect. And this has started affecting my decisions which is, again, irritating.

I always looked at some people and thought, "Man, this guy always remains so busy, why does he need to, can't he relax". I vividly remember even once scolding a person close to me about remaining so busy and not taking out time to chill. The bad part comes when one day you realize that you are in a position worse than that. Its even more frustrating when you have a ton of work and realize that you haven't done it as fast as you could. Its then that I realize that why can't I relax. Do I need to be that guy? What's the use of it? What will it give me at the end of the day? Is it worth it?


Decisions. Choices. You need to make them. But when? Probably what caused all this were two simple lines by one of my college faculty:

You have to make choices in life and take a stand.

You can't be good at everything. You can't do Science, Commerce and Arts together.

Reading it like this, it seems nothing you are not aware of. But for me, it is probably the timing of these words. At a time, when I am overwhelmed with stuff. And confused about what I want. And silently realizing that I can't do it all. But again some stuff for me seemed so mixed up, that making a simple choice led to a series of serious big-time decisions which will affect my future actions and intentions.

I knew that I have to make these decisions at some point, but why now? Why do you have to think of so far even to make a small choice? Why have you screwed up your brain in a way that its making you do this? But then you start to get the feeling that maybe this is not bad. Even if I have to decide now, it probably for the best. Its time to finally face things and clear out your head. Optimism is beneficial only when you know when to use it.

So, finally I faced it. Took decisions. Made choices. At the end of it, I finally know what I want. Which is a big thing itself. This was not a dot that will connect itself in the future. This was two dots from the past that got connected themselves now. The whole thing was a line being beautifully drawn. And the feeling of satisfaction after drawing the line, by taking some decisions, is enormous.

Bottom-line: Being busy is okay if you enjoy it. Make decisions asap. They help.

Resolutions

Its a new year. I won't do a year review now. Birthdays are good for that. Its time for some resolutions. Some say they are meant to be broken. But I'll leave that phrase to promises and begin optimistically. To sustain them, my list is small:

1. Initiate Project Y. Its been on my mind for a long time now and its finally time to start with a codename. I won't let this one become a procrastinated sulk. Its too big in my brain for that. I have started on the right note with weekly time allocations(This week is done!) and keeping it just in my head. No expectations, pressure, questions or answers. My only fear is managing it with my semester studies but I think I'll be able to do it. Rest is planned and I'm not looking back. More updates will come as it progresses but I'll not define any timelines!

2. Lose it. Here 'it' simply means some(more) body fat. This is definitely must be the world no. 1 in new year resolutions to be listed and cheated on. Let's see how good I'll be at keeping it.

3. Time. Need to control it, manage it, use it. This is probably the most bugging thing in my head of all time now. I've always cribbed about this to myself but this year I really want things to be different. Using a planner or anything doesn't work and I always end up wondering why I am not doing anything when I have a million things-to-do. This is also my most feared resolution that I may not be able to keep up. But habits change aaand we're back to optimism.

4. Read and learn. These two words here are to be used together and separately. I actually freaked out these holidays after realizing that there are so many books with me to read and so many more to be discovered. Its something I enjoy yet have no idea why I don't do. And learning also means learning new things. Guitar classes are good to start with and I'll probably start in a week or two. 

5. Blog more. This post may be six days late and there may be seven drafts in my Blogger account, but I will blog more.

P.S. WHOEVER you are, don't ever ask anything about Project Y, coz it won't be any good. Also, after the feedback, the comments bug is now fixed which creeped in after the template change.

College

After promising weekly posts 4 months earlier, here I am writing at the end of the semester about my college life in a post which was supposed to be called 'My First Day in College'. No explanations, no excuses. Just procrastination and life stuff. Next blog post- asap.

Moving on, college has been simply fulfilling. I just really like it here. The way things are and work just suit me. Fine. Kinda perfect. I think its the first time I have felt like this about some part of my life.

Each morning I come here at IIIT Delhi, a very new institute which doesn't even have its own permanent campus yet and functions in just 2 floors in NSIT(a good college and our campus host, yet a world different from us). Ever since the counselling and orientation here, I knew that this place is suited for me. The faculty has mostly young people who are casually dressed and there are seniors who never have to be called sir/ma'am. The studies are bitchin' killing with focus on coding yet on not being a geek. There is always some newness in the air, you don't have to follow stuff, you can start it. Rules are bendy when needed and strict when they should be. Morals and learning are the focus sometimes and fun is the focus when it should be. We don't have grand infrastructure but AC classrooms, super-fast internet, new PCs, a pool table and a TT table are enough to keep us more than happy and occupied for now. Cultural, sports and tech stuff are just starting off with some exciting stuff here and there. BTW, did I mention, studies are the focus. They give us two 4-month semesters in a year with almost 4 months free but at a condition: we will bury you with studies for those 4 months. Homeworks, assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, deadlines... all seem to be a part of life now. Everything is evaluated but dunno why, it seems good.

Now enough about the college, what about how I am doing here. Here, I have changed myself a little bit. I don't want just to bury myself with books and assignments. I want to score good but not too much. Instead, I like doing everything. On the first day itself, I became the class-rep(or See-Aar as people shout all the time).   Its a decision I was rethinking initially due to the amount of work involved, but for now, I am going to stick to it just because I like doing the time-consuming stuff involved and because you get a little say in how the college works(if the GPA requirements allow me, results will tell.) Also I won a pen drive in a programming contest, despite scoring low in the subject. Also, I organized a class party, participated in a quiz, an extempore, made android apps, websites, did some work that actually paid and finally, climbed the college roof a lot. I also have to mention travelling in a Swift filled with 9 people. I am also planning(notice the alsos) to help organize the upcoming tech fest next year and am in the elections for it. You see, I may not be buried in books or programming, but I still keep myself busy. The semester is now ending with exams starting really soon(I really really shouldn't be writing blog posts). The best part is actually scratching off some small goals from your imaginary list of never-ending stuff to do in life and also realizing that much more can be scratched off too. In the process, I am also making some good friends and getting addicted to the internet and Wi-Fi.

So, today, here I am in the hostel living in some friends' room for a week to prepare for the final end-sem exams which start day after while planning to sleep early today to run the the full Delhi Half Marathon tomorrow(more on that later) with my college team.

Lovin' it...