Midnight Oil Isn't That Bad To Burn

Another exam season is here.
In fact the first one after I joined college.
To specifically mention, the worst-ever-prepared exam in my entire life.
But its the first time that my last minute studies have come up to be so effective.
I wonder why.

The horrible portions which never entered my brain cells even during class tests, they were sinking into my memory so fast! Like magic. I had no idea where this superpower came from, only during the exam time, after which it just vanishes into thin air.

I was just googling for random stuff when I accidentally came across the answer to this magic.
That was when the science behind this superpower was unveiled.

Anything done under stress registers faster into the brain.
The simple reason for why bad and terrible memories remain with us longer than the good and even wonderful ones, because of the hormonal changes created by the pressure we undergo.
Similar is the case of exams and all the stress that we undergo.
Cortisol and adrenaline are essential components of humans' 'fight or flight' mechanism - the neuro-biological response to stressful situations that has evolved through millions of years.

Stress hormones bind to specific receptors in the human brain and enhance our control of learning and memory. This enhanced learning caused by increased levels of stress consolidates the formation of memories in the hippocampus - the part of our brains directly involved with memory and learning.

So stress isn't that bad either.
It does give us a way in front when putting us into a bad situation.
Then what's the harm in taking a bit of stress when it can give us the superpower of fast learning!
This bit of info did turn pretty useful for me, especially its exam time and badly looking forward for a little confidence.

So burning midnight oil isnt that bad at all!

(PS: No idea why I'm suddenly remembering my 12th standard English teacher who used to repeat the same phrase always - "its 'accidentally, not accidentially".  )

Back to Square One

The past few weeks were a little busy as the season of college fests finally arrived.
Went for Cult A Way at SCT and Crossroads at MBCET - had a great time - enjoyed and got a few prizes too. And above all - Aagneya - the techno-cultural fest of our college Govt Engineering College Barton Hill.

Being first years, it was our first experience - with the college fests. Working for fests and participating in many, gave a pretty good amount of memories to cherish throughout my life. Getting to know a lot of new people, meeting old friends after a long time ( that was the best part of it), new places, learning a lot more new things and above all a lot of experience - the past month had been great!

From about a month, I literally forgot about this blog, till yesterday when I was under a deep investigation at the margin free market in the dilemma of selecting one from a wide variety of shampoos available there. :P
After going through all the description, and (almost false) promises and stuff written on the bottle, finally ended up with loreal paris, which finally 'sounded' comparatively better.

The past month which had been busy with all the work for our college fest - Aagneya, which unleashed its fire within, the last week, its time to be back to square one - the old schedule again.

Day full of classes (no more bunking) and finally back home with nothing much to do other than textbooks. Time again to be back to the little experiments too. Exams coming up and the fact that there is a lot lot lot more left - it hurts, but still the hope and optimism shines again. Exam preparations starting and back to the old life again. Hoping for a good time ahead.

AAGNEYA '14 : Gems Stop Motion Promo

A great amount of effort put in by a few creative seniors - for the promotion of our college fest Aagneya 2014.. Unleash the fire within!

#Govt Engineering College, BartonHill, Trivandrum

Success stories

'Career' became a matter of discussion somehow, in a random talk with a friend today.
He wanted to be a design engineer.
That was his passion since childhood, and thats how he ended up studying engineering.
But now, at the first turning point of choosing a career option after studies, he is still doubtful of what his real passion is.
One has to be so good with the theory and drawing to be able to design something new. And that meant a lot of effort that needed to be put in. My friend was saying how he is at the turning point of parting with his dream, because his present position is not good enough to reach his destination.

This random talk just made me think about my career too.
Thankfully, and unlike my friend, I ended up pretty happy and confident.
As an entrepreneurship aspirant, all great success stories that I got to listen from everywhere had something in common.

Searching something motivational, all I found everywhere mostly were all these. 

Dropping out and sheer talent combined with passion and hard work leading to the glories of success. 

Kidding apart.

What these stories actually show is that, if you have the passion, talent and hardwork nothing, not even a namesake degree can stop you. 

No matter what, the mental power to cut through all obstacles and rise up with passion and consistency - that has magically turned all these failures into success glories.

And thats something very great to be motivated from.

Tantrums from Abroad

The bus journey from my house to college everyday is a pretty long one.

Thats when I mostly come across a lot of people, from almost every walks of life.

From the stubborn, dark lady who sells fish to beauty queen aunty who is always with a hell lot of makeup.

Listened today to a very young pretty lady, talking to her friend. About how her husband is working abroad from around 7 years, and comes once every other year home. She kept going on with her tantrums of taking the entire burden of the family on her weak shoulders. 

Why do we actually live for?

Ultimately, we all want to be happy in life. To have all goals accomplished and wishes fulfilled.

But, thinking about the millions of poor Indians working on the foreign lands for years, with absolutely no enjoyment or relief rather than the steaming hotness of workload and stress, its just an emptiness that fills my mind. Is money the only thing that matters in this world? The millions of people who work abroad for long years, not even getting see their loved once in years, what the hell do they earn in life? The bundle of papers?? And that too on the cost of years of happiness. Is it actually worth? These questions that arose in mind, kept haunting me.

It maybe like they don't get to earn much from their native lands, and thats the reason they migrate. But still, where there is a will, there is a way. The ways are always open, you just have to search for it. Anyone can do some decent work and earn a living in India itself, there are endless chances. Its not a too big deal. Going abroad after a certain age has kind-of become the usual trend for a major section of the Indian society. The glitter of the heavy bundles of money is the main reason of going with the brain over heart. And this results in total misery, for the person and for the entire family. The separation for long years with wife and children is not an easy task at all. On the cost of years of happiness, they earn money. Sometimes the savings also dont turn up to be very high, in the end. By the time the person comes back and decides to settle in the native land, he must have become pretty old and good-for-nothing, very weak in health too.

The age to actually live life, the age to enjoy and be happy doing all what you like to do - everything passes away and hardly anything remains in their lives later on. I'm talking about a majority that cannot afford neither to take their family with them abroad nor come back and settle with their family at the native places. I cant find anything to be so much happy about, in such lives. The worst condition of separation and the amount of torment that the person and everyone related to him has to undergo - it just pushes me into a deep trench of haunt.

Personally my opinion is to live life the way your heart says and be happy always. I feel its always better to be with family and live happily. You might be earning less, you might not be able to have a luxurious life. But still you will be happy and enjoying life together with your loved ones. That will anyways be better than sacrificing the entire life to have a decent oldage life. I feel very disturbed for the millions of parents, wives and children who has to be away from the ones they love, for such a long course just for the sake of earning more money. Its the smile on our faces and peace of mind that actually matters, nothing else..

The lady that I came across in the bus looked very pretty. She was very young, thin and shorter than me. The way she was talking about all the responsibilities that she has to take, and the sufferings she has to undergo, touched a lot. The awful condition of separation and loneliness that leaves alone with a hell lot of burdens, it just kept haunting me.
When she was saying about the good times they had together, I'm nearly sure that I saw a twinge of pain and traces of a tear drop in her eyes.. 

The Realization and the Kite

Theories doesn't matter.

When it comes to practical life, and finally when the chances come up to actually put them up to some use, the theories doesn't help much. My 10 year old cousin turned out to be a better in aerodynamic design than me, who had long years of studying physics and ended up now as an engineering student.

The curiosity with which he was explaining to me how to make the kite, how it works, and many aspects of what will happen if we do something wrong, it all actually made me think more..
The long lines of theories, the Bernoulli's theorem, when it actually came to something that matters, something very trivial, all the chunks of theoretical knowledge went to the rubbish pile.

I got very much reminded of the all time hit movie 3 Idiots.
"Beta kaabil bano kabil, kaamiyabi tumhare peeche aayegi.."
Obviously a must see movie for all engineering geeks to open up the eyes that are tightly closed by the universities towards the endless arena of practical knowledge..

Its the whole system that needs a transition.
The whole study-from-the-text system needs to undergo inspection and get transformed into a better one, that gives more chances to think and experiment, and actually do something practically that applies the long lines of theory that has to be learnt to be able to pass the examinations.In the present scenario, even a person with a lot of dreams and innovation, after the long years of absolute theory, will get deprived of all the passion.

Even in these lines, I raised many tantrums against the system, but the little child's words led me to a realization - What the hell am I doing for the improvement that I look forward to?
Not so early, not so late - this realization is going to be a pretty useful one.

Knowledge is power, and that what one needs to have to be successful in life, and to be always ahead.
And to put it into some use, a mindset to experiment is what is needed. Read more, think more and put what you gain into something useful, creative and innovative. For people who have a passion about I.T its going to be a bit more easy I guess. More because, almost everything is 'soft' over there. To experiment and to try making something new, isn't that hard. But there is no chance of an improvement, without that extra bit of effort, which you have to put in.

When the realization struck from within, without any 'external unbalanced force', it actually struck! And I'm going to start putting it into action to keep up my paces towards my passion, to be better in what I want to be.

Thanks to my little cousin for the beautiful kite that he made and gave me. It flied to great heights, which was quite unexpected.. Had a great day, enjoyed with him and we had a look at it with lots of elation as our kite soared high.

And my treasured realization safe deep inside..

Preindication of Transformation

In the world's largest democracy where the super parties keep ruling in turns, 
the common man has eventually started pulling the trigger against the prolonged corruption, 
right at the national capital. 

And the tremendous boost added by the NaMo mania nationwide was reflected evidently in the outcome,
maybe as the preindication of a transformation period... 

Ultimately the whole point is an India that soars high among the world nations...

And may this be a start.