It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets.

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to. ~P.J. O'Rourke

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. ~Brooks Atkinson

I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second. ~Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~Edgar Guest

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. ~Joey Adams

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.
~F.M. Knowles

New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. ~Mark Twain

The beginning of the end

So this really is it, huh? Last sem, last year you can get away with being a university kid and all that. The last time time of so many things - bidding for modules, December holidays with nothing to do, staying up too late, hanging out with friends in hostel lounges with no worries of going to work the next day.

The other day I was checking my passport's expiry date, in one of those moments of panic before travel when you are convinced something must be waiting to go wrong, like me having forgotten to apply for a new passport. It was 2014. And then I wondered what life will have been like when (if?) I do reach that year. What more stamps/visas will my passport show? Will I decide to study further? Where will I be working? Where will I be living?

So many questions, so few answers. But one thing is for certain, life will be different. Better or worse, time will show. Maybe I will be one of those people who will love their job. Maybe I won't. Maybe I will still be living in Singapore. Maybe I will be in a country with snow and real Christmases.

Different is good. Change is good. It is inevitable, too.

New Year Resolutions

Despite the fact that I think New Year resolutions are lame, and also the fact that I am convinced I will never stick to them, these are my first ever resolutions. For 2011:

1. Be more positive.

I tend to always imagine the worst possible outcome. While this is usually helpful in case of failure, and leads to a pleasant surprise in case of a positive outcome. But I don't think at the end of the day it is worth making myself miserable for too long. And I also doubt it leads to a positive outcome.

2. Be less whiny.

I tend to whine a lot. About how much work I have, about how much life sucks, how boring it is, how hard it is, etc. And I have discovered that the people who whine less always do more. So, less whining.

3. Be nicer.

This I believe shall be hard. But recently I've been told that I am not as evil as I think I am. So I shall try to get in touch with the nicer side of me. Some deep soul searching needed for that I'm sure.

4. Be more outgoing.

Last semester, last chance to have mindless fun, last time when you are still classified as kids and can get away with stupidity. Once you start working, it's all downhill from there. (I realize this contradicts point 1 right here, so I shall rephrase). There are lesser opportunities to follow your whims and fancies with a 830-6 job.

5. Be that person. Who has a job.

For this, I need to have good grades, be hardworking like I was in Year 2 Sem 1. So less slacking, more working.

6. Be more trusting.

And have faith that it will be alright in the end. That if I get what I want, I will be good at it. That if I don't get what I am hoping for right now, it will still be ok in the long run, and that the universe has a better plan for me.

Ever wonder why, sometimes when we have it all, we decide to squander it all? On a whim? A fancy?

When we know one decision, to do something with your life, would lead to everything you could ever have hoped for?

When it is finally falling into place, why are we so unwilling to take that last step?

Are we afraid we will fail? And it would be better to blame it on lack of effort than an inherent failing?

Why do we set ourselves up for failure? When we know we are better than that?

Hum, rahein ya na rahein kal, yaad aayenge ye pal..

Do you remember..

Good morning, yesterday
You wake up and time has slipped away
And suddenly it's hard to find
The memories you left behind
Remember, do you remember

The laughter and the tears
The shadows of misty yesteryears
The good times and the bad you've seen
And all the others in between
Remember, do you remember
The times of your life.

Reach back for the joy and the sorrow
Put them away in your mind
The memories are time that you borrow
To spend when you get to tomorrow

Here comes the saddest part
The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life.

Why do other people's lives always seem so much more fun than your own?

Last Christmas...

This has been playing around in malls and I like it :D



Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance but you still catch my eye
Tell me baby do you recognise me?
Well it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me

(Happy Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying "I Love You" I meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now I know you'd fool me again

India

Mosquitoes, traffic you're amazed you lived through (whether driving or crossing the road), awful cold (and it's not even that cold, it just feels awful. Oh central heating, when will thou come to India?), the never changing home (seriously, nothing changes. In the first 5 minutes of entering home, I go around making a mental note of what is different. The same conversations, dialogues, bickering, cursing).

And then a family trip to Andaman. The beach on Havelock Islands was long and pretty. Other than that, I didn't find anything that spectacular or new. I don't mean to be a bitch, but seriously, don't all beaches look the same? Unless they're too pretty or too awful.

I remember when I was in 4th grade, we had planned a trip to Andaman. Then the ship got cancelled, my mom got bitten by a crazy monkey (no kidding), and we ended up all sad. So at least that long ago dream became true. Though at the time I had never seen a beach so it was a "wow" thing. Now, not so much.

So anyway, 9 flights and 9 days later, I am back in Singapore. And wondering why I came back so early. It all made more sense when I was cribbing about the cold in India to go back asap. Now there is nothing to do here. Except eat and sleep. And convince myself to get off my lazy bum and do something to lose some weight.

The Good Life

The Climb

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

If I Die Young

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh
The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when your really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

Get to know your mind

Why we love nacissists (at first)

Why we lie to ourselves

Why we get over bad moods sooner than we predict.

Caffeine makes us easier to persuade

Why we all stink as intuitive psychologists

How far will you go to be obedient to authority?

The influence of fleeting attraction

7 highly effective Facebook habits

Random memories

I was just remembering today, while writing with a Pilot pen, how it used to be a luxury, say, 15 years ago. How we had to use pencil for I think first 2-3 grades, and then we moved on to using ink-pens. That was the time when you could see students with ink spots all over their hands, and shirts and pants and skirts. Ahh the fun times. Apparently ink-pens are supposed to make your handwriting good. I guess I just didn't use them long enough :P

BBC 10 things we didn't know last week

3. David Cameron slept on the Mall the night before Prince Charles married Lady Diana.

5. German shoes are wider than Italian.

7. One in three people aged over 65 will die with dementia.

8. Dartmoor prison rents land from Prince Charles.

9. Badgers still occupy setts known since the Domesday Book.

10. The number of people raising funds for charity has doubled in the last three years.

Read the full article.

Circumcision

How is removing foreskin from a guy's penis a 'rite of passage' and religious requirement? :O

"Circumcision in the U.S. sprang from an erroneous belief among physicians that it cured masturbation."

"The WHO has estimated that 664,500,000 males aged 15 and over are circumcised (30% global prevalence), with almost 70% of these being Muslim. Circumcision is most prevalent in the Muslim world, parts of South East Asia, Africa, the United States, The Philippines, Israel, and South Korea. It is relatively rare in Europe, Latin America, parts of Southern Africa, and most of Asia and Oceania. Prevalence is near-universal in the Middle East and Central Asia."

"It is considered of such importance that in some Orthodox communities the body of an uncircumcised Jewish male will sometimes be circumcised before burial."

"Milos and Macris (1992) argue that circumcision encodes the perinatal brain with violence and negatively affects infant-maternal bonding and trust."

Creepy.

p.s. Clarification - this is part of a reading for 1 of my modules. I'm not so randomly pervy.

Daaroo

Alcohol is sin, pleasure, mistakes, redemption all combined - instant karma.

Latex!

ISM Report done! Don't think I have ever written 800 plus lines of code even for my Comp. Sci. modules. Oh well.

I love this kid.

The power of Bob Marley can make a lil kid stop cryin.

New developments

It is interesting how my spam folder is more full of emails selling Vicodin and Hydrocodone than Viagra or porn. I think this has been a recent development. Last 2-3 years maybe? More people are in pain than in need of sex?

And in case you're wondering why I check my spam folder, it's because 2-3 times in my life, important mail has gone there and I have felt so happy that I do check it. Also, I cannot stand having unread mail in my inbox, so I must delete my spam box whenever I open my mail.

The man who sold the world

They say not all who wander are lost.
I say not all who are lost want to be found.
I know I don't.

In places no one will find,
All your feelings so deep inside.

PMS(?).

I might just explode with the cuteness

Post-it love

The West cannot defeat al-Qaeda

The West can only contain not defeat militant groups such as al-Qaeda, the head of the UK's armed forces General Sir David Richards has said.

I like him already. I fully concur.

Find your own match :D

A big black bear was forced up a tree - twice - by the family pet, a tabby cat called Jack. The terrified bear was only able to make its escape when the owner Donna Dickey called the hissing cat into the house.


Another case is : A mountain lion found it was no match for a Jack Russell terrier which trapped it up a tree on a farm in the US state of South Dakota.


Amazing, isn't it? :P

Your life on Facebook? Sounds plausible

So I went and did this

Gag a Gaga Day

Recession humour

They used to say there are only two sure things in life – death and taxes. Now there are three – death, taxes, and borrowing money from the Chinese.

Things are bad. The poor are being ignored, the country is at war, rising unemployed. In fact, Margaret Thatcher picked up the newspaper and thought, "Hey, I must still be Prime Minister."

The term credit crunch was actually the first name given to Dorset Cereal Muesli. And if you can afford to buy the stuff, then I think the the real credit crunch does not affect you.

The Dow Jones is looking so ugly and battered they are considering changing it to the Vinnie Jones.

How much do you think bankers make? Some now make as much as £150,000 a year. But they say it stimulates the economy because eventually that money will trickle down to pubs, clubs and brothels ... and so it will eventually get back in the community.

The Government has always warned us that al-Qa'ida has planned an attack to damage our economy. Well, I've a feeling someone is sitting in a cave right now going "Wasn't me".

So let me get this right, it started with Bush creating sub-prime lending, a way for the poor of America to afford their own housing. It crashes, causing worldwide financialdisaster, plummeting our banks and mortgages, but now giving a chance for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder here. Define irony...

Mervyn King today said, "There is light at the end of the tunnel." Unfortunately it is a candle.

The biggest worry in the US is gas prices getting higher, and if that happens we might see something totally unprecedented in America. People actually walking.

People are too willing to put their non-existent money on credit cards. The only people who only accept cash are drug dealers. And they've all kept their jobs and still drive around in BMWs.

What's the difference between a banker and a pigeon? A pigeon can still make a deposit on a Ferrari.

No wonder Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley failed with the FSA in charge. What do the Food Standards Agency know about mortgages? They can't even get the fat content of a latte right.

We can't really complain about capitalism backfiring on us like this. As my grandmother used to say, "There's no point whingeing about being eaten by a horse if you've decided to play polo dressed as a sugar lump."

I knew the banks were in trouble when I turned on to watch Deal Or No Deal and the banker had disappeared. There was just Noel Edmonds, 22 boxes and a recorded message.

I remember the good old days, when "credit crunch" was just the sound your kneecaps made when the loan shark caught up with you. They were simpler times.

A man walks in to a sweet shop and says, "Have you heard about the credit crunch?" The man behind the counter replies, "Is that made by Cadbury's or Nestlé?"

Why Australia is definitely going to lose the Ashes.

Australia? Don't make me laugh. Brilliantly written article. Some excerpts below.


As the cricket match-fixing scandal pinballs around between annoying, disappointing depressing and alarmingly sinister, this blog will ignore for now the murky morass that threatens to swamp the international game, forget about the potential implications of Zulqarnain’s unscheduled London jaunt, and distract itself from the grim realities of reality with an altogether chirpier topic (from a pre-Ashes England supporter’s point of view) – Australia being not very good anymore.

Katich is also reported to be suffering from an existential crisis of confidence after accidentally seeing video footage of himself batting (Cricket Australia had successfully protected him from seeing himself for years, using a series of increasingly convoluted distractions, including puppet shows. Katich loves puppet shows. Can’t get enough of them. He owns DVD box sets of all TV puppet shows. And if that is not true, let him sue me.) “Oh my god, no,” he said, dumbfounded, after watching himself ungainlily nudge a leg-side boundary. “I thought I played like David Gower.”

He [Shane Watson] averages only 30 when Australia lose the toss (compared with 47 when they win it), suggesting that Ponting’s coinflipwork and Strauss’s head-or-tail preferences could be crucial to Watson’s success or failure.

Anyone telling you that Ricky Ponting has not declined over the last few years is either talking about a different Ricky Ponting, or has been poisoned with a mind-altering potion, or has seriously misheard the question, or is Ricky Ponting, or is trying to wilfully engage you in an unwinnable argument whilst their accomplice steals your electrical goods and/or priceless collection of David Boon memorabilia.

No Australian captain has ever lost three Ashes series. Ten years ago the prospect of Australia losing three Ashes series in the rest of eternity seemed remote. But then again, they said man would never walk on the moon. Ponting is all set to become Australia’s Neil Armstrong.

He [Michael Hussey] was once within touching distance of Bradman. Now he rubs statistical shoulders with Wavell Hinds, Manoj Prabhakar, and Chris Tavaré. Could still bump his average back up into the 80s this Ashes, but only if he scores 2500 undefeated runs in the series.

After smiting three centuries in his first six Tests, [Marcus] North has averaged 29 in his last 13 matches. Traditionally in Australia, this leads to impeachment by Parliament and disappearance to the Dirk Wellham Memorial Gulag, 150 miles outside Darwin. North has been out for 10 or less in more than half of his 32 Test innings, and his five ducks make him the most regular duck scorer in the Australian top six since the 19th century. To where some Australian supporters seem to want him to emigrate.

[Mitchell] Johnson is becoming the Australian Steve Harmison. If Harmison bowled one of the great series-losing balls in Ashes history in Brisbane four years ago, Johnson bravely attempted to steal his thunder with one of the immortal series-losing spells in Ashes history with his geometry-expanding effort at Lord’s. Having come to England with a reputation as a bowler who could bowl unplayable balls, he proved that reputation well deserved - albeit that the balls were only unplayable due to their being unreachable.

[Doug Bollinger] Has never dismissed an Englishman in a Test. Largely through lack of opportunity, admittedly. Has also been injured, and might not play in the first Test, extending his lifelong habit of not dismissing Englishmen in Tests. Startlingly inept batsman. Possibly hair-replacement-themed teasing victim.

If Australia pick him [Ben Hilfenhaus] and Bollinger, they will lose. The last time they picked two seam bowlers with tri-syllabic surnames – Gillespie and Kasprowicz in 2005 – they lost.

On previous Ashes tours, England’s positive statements in advance of their inevitable first-Test mincing sounded not so much like men clutching at straws as men pointing their fingers nervously at what they thought might be a straw, and mumbling something about being confident that it was probably a straw, and that they were definitely planning to try to think about clutching it. This time their public confidence is well founded. England are quite a good team. As are Australia. It will be a draw. A glorious draw.

Hallelujah

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah...

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne, she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah...

Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah...

There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?

But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah...

Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah...

Can't

swim
drive
sing
dance
play any instrument
lie convincingly
stand hugs
drink too much
not waste time

Life sucks sometimes

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. I can take it in small doses -- but, as a lifestyle, I find it too confining.

Some days you're the windshield,
Some days you're the bug.

“Most people think life sucks, and then you die. Not me. I beg to differ. I think life sucks, then you get cancer, then your dog dies, your wife leaves you, the cancer goes into remission, you get a new dog, you get remarried, you owe ten million dollars in medical bills but you work hard for thirty five years and you pay it back and then one day you have a massive stroke, your whole right side is paralyzed, you have to limp along the streets and speak out of the left side of your mouth and drool but you go into rehabilitation and regain the power to walk and the power to talk and then one day you step off a curb at Sixty-seventh Street, and BANG you get hit by a city bus and then you die. Maybe.”

Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that on one ever asks for.

"I'll starve without a job but don't feel you have to give me one."

Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.

Dear Icebergs, Sorry to hear about the global warming. Karma's a bitch. Sincerely, The Titanic.

Sometimes I feel I was born to be a cook

So today I decided to try making gajar ka halwa. Series of events, starting with my falling sick a few weeks back, led to this. Well, when I fell sick, I bought milk (as milk and bread is the only thing I willingly eat then). So then a few weeks later, I realized I still had almost the entire carton of milk left. So I decided to make khoya out of it. So then the khoya tasted not so nice as it was the carton milk one and very fake (despite the claim that it was made from real Australian cows). So then today I went to Nanyang and saw carrots there, aur mera maatha thanka aur maine kaha, bas ab toh ho jaaye :P

So I called mum up to get instructions, and the rest of the story shall be told in pictures.

This is grated carrots. I obviously grated part of my thumb in the process too.

Then I boiled the grated carrots in the microwave. Then to get the water out of them, I put it in cloth and nichodo-fied.

This is what the gajar looks like after it has been nichodo-fied.

Then bhoono-fy it in desi ghee in the saucepan.

Then put milk in, and cook it for about an hour, so that most of the water evaporates.

And this is what it becomes.

Garnish it with some clover and cardamom. And lo and behold, we have something awesome to eat! :D

HAPPY DIWALI

So it's going to be the 6th year that I am away from home on Diwali. But I shall cheer myself up with the thought that next year, I can go home for Diwali.

See, there are 2 scenarios.

Either I won't have a job. In which case I should be rotting in India coz Singapore is too ex to survive in with no income. => I am home for Diwali.

By some luck of nature, I do have a job. So I shall apply for Diwali leave on day 1 of office and get it approved => I am home for Diwali.

:D

Remember doing all of this? I miss it!

A cautionary warning to all those who will be playing with firecrackers today, please be safe! It would be really sad getting hurt, or worse, hurting someone else on these awesome day!

And do remember mother Nature and how horrible the smoke coming out of these firecrackers is! So avoid it if you can. Or at least cut down on the number you blow up in smoke today.

p.s. Wow I sound both corny and mature. Lol. Interesting development.

Chasing Cars

If I had to pick one song to epitomise my whole exchange, it would be this one. It is such a beautiful song, with hope, despair, vulnerability and tenacity all mixed into one big melting pot of awesomeness. I remember trudging around in the snow in my boots listening to this very loudly and singing along when I thought no one was around.

Though the video I had seen so far was a different one, I like this one better. More suitable. Though the guy has a very Ogre-like face, don't you think? Ok I shall not be mean.

If I lay here, If I just lay here.
Would you lie with me, And just forget the world?

Oh John u make life worth living ♥

I'm such a sucker for dimples.

Repost

This bubble we live in: I had posted this about 1.5 years back

Tum chalo toh Hindustan chale

I forever love this video

Advice to self

Regretting your stupidities and feeling sorry for yourself are the dumbest things you can do after making your mistake.

So what if you spent the whole day sleeping/eating/watching shows. Now get up off your lazy ass and do some work!

Ring-a-ling

My dreams seem to include social issues. One night I dreamt of euthanasia. Federal agents (I am one of them) stumble upon this euthanasia club of a select group of doctors who offer these services for the terminally ill, where people take their sick kids and family members because they know a better life could not exist for them.

Of course, in my dream, the route to go inside the building was through a drain and the people had just fled when I went into the drain to chase them. But we lay low and caught the next group who came. Which is how we found out what this was.

Dramatic eh?
_____________________________________________________________________________

Do you ever get the feeling that the world is passing you by and you are just sitting here doing nothing?
_____________________________________________________________________________

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but what imagination can conjure can often be beyond the bounds of expression altogether.
_____________________________________________________________________________

I am a rock, and a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.
_____________________________________________________________________________

दिल को है गम क्यूँ, आँख है नम क्यूँ?
होना ही था जो हुआ hai |
उस बात को जाने ही दो, जिसका निशान कल हो ना हो|
_____________________________________________________________________________

All those cool kids you saw in high school and were so in awe of, do you think they're better in life now than you are?
_____________________________________________________________________________

Sarcasm can cure most anything.
_____________________________________________________________________________

The kind of people you grow up with makes a lot of difference. No matter how much your life changes, your basic sense of right and wrong will not change too much.
_____________________________________________________________________________

The present becomes the past way too quickly sometimes.
_____________________________________________________________________________

The worse you are, the more room there is for improvement.
_____________________________________________________________________________

That everything happens for a reason is so much easier to believe when things are going your way.
_____________________________________________________________________________

I think the human mind tries to trick itself more than anyone else does. And the most common lie we convince ourselves of is that it is all going to be ok.

p.s. Except for the KHNH and rock quotes, these quotes are for once original :)

Home

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The miles are getting longer, it seems,
The closer I get to you.
I've not always been the best man or friend for you.
But your love, remains true.
And I don't know why.
You always seem to give me another try.

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.

The story of Vikram Pandit at Morgan Stanley

Interesting article by NY Magazine: The Most Powerless Powerful Man on Wall Street

There is so much politics everywhere. And we will be flung right into the middle of it all in less than an year.

मैं हूँ ना !

I have had these dialogues stuck in my head forever, so I tracked them down today after going through 13 parts of Main Hoon Na.

ज़िन्दगी निकलती जाती है, और हम सब प्यार के बिना जीना सीख लेते हैं |
क्यों प्यार को मौका नहीं देते, क्यों अपनों पर विश्वास नहीं करते?

लोग बदलते हैं, प्यार उन्हें बदल देता है |
तुम्हे डर है कि वो तुमसे नफरत करते हैं, शायद उन्हें भी यही डर हो?

क्यों हम अपनों से इतना डरते हैं?

ये ज़िन्दगी नफरत के लिए बहुत छोटी है |

Lean on me

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Lean on me...

20.10.2010

Coffee Art!

Everybody loves a winner So nobody loved me

Maybe this time, I'll be lucky
Maybe this time he'll stay
Maybe this time, for the first time
Love won't hurry away

He will hold me fast
I'll be home at last
Not a loser anymore
Like the last time, and the time before

Everybody loves a winner
So nobody loved me
Lady peaceful, Lady happy
That's what I long to be

All the odds are, they're in my favor
Something's bound to begin
It's gotta happen, hahaha-happen sometime
Maybe this time I'll win

Cuz
Everybody they love a winner
So nobody loved me
Lady peaceful, Lady happy
That's what I long to be

All the odds are, they're in my favor
Something's bound to begin
It's gotta happen,
happen sometime
Maybe this time I'll win

A-tish-oooo

So I just slept 14 hours straight. And now that I have woken up, I keep sneezing every 2 minutes :X

Thank God I have no classes today so I can lie in bed all day and 'recuperate'. Though I do have bucket-loads of work :(

Stupid flew

Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn,
Wire, briar, limber lock
Three geese in a flock
One flew East
One flew West
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

Rail gaadi chuk-chuk chuk-chuk! CWG Closing Ceremony!

Verdict on the Commonwealth Closing Ceremony - I like it!

Just like uncoordination was the theme of the opening ceremony, the armed forces bands' display was so amazingly coordinated and awesome and colourful that it kinda made up for it. The Delhi kids once again outdid themselves. Some 2000 of them apparently were involved in it.

36 countries got at least 1 medal. 35 got none.

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GAMES EVER for India. 38 Golds. 27 Silvers. 36 Bronze. 12 in Wrestling, Gold in 4x400m, Saina's Badminton Gold to get India to the 2nd place over England, clean sweep in Discuss, etc etc.

Shera finally makes an appearance! Shaan made an appearance and sang in his awesome voice too! Talking of singing, awesome choice of songs in the whole ceremony! Rail Gaadi Chuk Chuk Chuk Chuk which accompanied the volunteers' coming centre-stage was so awesome! Good job the 20,000 volunteers btw! Wish I was in India and could have been one of them!

Bravo to the Organising Committee. (Though it was still boo-ed). But they managed to pull it off without any major life-altering screw-up during the event. Salute to the defense forces. Apparently all flights were on time to ensure the Games could start on time as well.

This is how it all started in Melbourne. Ash looks a bit uncomfy standing there in the middle doing nothing, like a bait.

And now it has ended. Goodbye World! We (ok not me per se, but the people of Delhi and the whole of India for that matter, and me by extension) have really enjoyed hosting all of you at the Commonwealth Games 2010! Hope you have had an amazing experience in 'Incredible !ndia', and will come back some day to visit us again!

I feel almost sad and nostalgic seeing the flag folded and given to Scotland. But in light of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the whole world as one family), I shall wish good luck to the next hosts, the land of men in skirts - Scotland. Let's hope they start preparing early enough! Their performance was certainly exciting and confident.

And it's still not over! Bollywood music is here finally, arguably India's biggest contribution to the world! With a long list of big names of singers/DJs. Great songs. Grand colourful dance. Rangoli dance floor (left by Delhi kids). What better way to end it!

And with a spectacular fireworks display, it is Thank You and Good Night.

CWG comes to an end....

And so the Indian contingent has fulfilled both its promises - 2nd position and 100 medals! Bravo Saina! GOOD JOB INDIA! Now for the Closing Ceremony :)

Do you ever feel that sometimes you missed out on being who you were supposed to be because you were so busy being who everyone expected you to be?

Maybe mistakes are what make our fate..

For without them what would shape our lives? Maybe if we had never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, have babies, or be who we are. After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away.

Am I a terrible person for wanting to regurgitate my lunch when some people go on and on about happy and perfect their life is?

Killing our dreams - Paulo Coelho

The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight.

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the Good Fight.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state, we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams – we have refused to fight the Good Fight.

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being.
We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice.

And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breathe, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from our certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of our Sunday afternoons.

CWG Update

Day 7: India completed a rich haul in wrestling with a total of 19 medals from 21 divisions, ten of which were gold. In doing so, they became the first country to win 10 gold in wrestling in any Commonwealth Games :)

In the morning, England took the second place from India for a while. Though then India regained it with 5 more Golds. With 4 more days to go, let's hope we can maintain that. As someone said, "they enslaved us for 200 years. What more do they want?!" :P

The more complicated life becomes, the better it is to learn to say nothing.

Please end this pain soon

So today I thought I will read up a little on the Commonwealth Games, update myself on what's been happening results-wise. Well the first few headlines are focused only on how big a screw-up the whole thing is. This is the first search result.

Used condoms block drains at Delhi Commonwealth Games, which apparently has the Games chief Mike Fennell happy that so many of the 7000 competitors at the athletes’ village were being careful.

Organisers are clueless on where the Commonwealth Games tickets have gone, with large-scale hoarding seeming to be the only explanation. On one hand, a majority of seats at various Commonwealth Games stadia are lying vacant. On the other, people are not getting tickets through the internet, at the CWG headquarters or at kiosks. Why are there empty stadia even though people are hankering for tickets?

Swimmers sick at Games, organisers say water is all right. Of course they do. I hope they can continue to claim this even after the test is done on the water.

Everyone it seems is unhappy with the games.

The only good thing which can come out of this is if India get the 2nd rank and a 100 medals, as was their target. Though England and Canada are catching up pretty fast.

This cracks me up everytime. Hootsuite is adorable!

Ok I know next to nothing about football, but this is pretty neat for a 6 year old!

Kidney beats grades

I was thinking today how simple and easy our life is. How we have had everything from our childhood. Food, home, clothes, school, friends, family. When we crib about being broke, it's not like we won't have a way to get nutrition.

I've been feeling terrible about my midterm marks since yesterday. To make a long story short, karma of not studying came and bit me in the ass. But then I saw one of those many signboards along the NUH construction area today, which normally annoy me very much for how in your face they are, specially the little girl with a bouquet of flowers in her hand, and the mother's dialogue "I will be able to see my daughter get married". What if your daughter never wants to get married?!

Anyway, this one said, "with a kidney transplant, I will be able to need a normal life". And it struck me, how stupid and narrow-minded and short-sighted I am; all I need is better marks, not a new kidney. At least the former is something I can do something about.

2nd

So the India team is so far living up to its promise of being ranked 2nd, with 5 Golds and 11 medals overall.

The Organising Committee is also living up to its promise of screwing up, with venues still undergoing frantic construction, the website getting stuck for half a day, tickets being handed out for free after most venues look soulfully empty, no drivers to drive officials and delegates around, and Kalmadi claiming that Prince Diana was here.

Let's hope it doesn't get worse. And focus on our medal hopes. Will India clinch an athletics Gold, specially with a lot of top players not present?

Holy Crap!

2 Golds!

So that's 2 gold medals for India on the 2nd day in shooting, which brings the medal tally to 7 total, the highest in terms of sheer numbers. Though Australia is clearly leading with 4 Golds thus far.

Is it just me or do the Commonwealth Games have a gay vibe? "Come out" (of the closet) and "play"? :P

Opening Ceremony: Fiesta or Fiasco?

So how many of you enjoyed the CWG opening ceremony? It was certainly huge and grand and colorful. And truly Indian. And the huge helium balloon used a screen is purely genius! ("At the same time, spending almost £10m on a giant balloon in a country when so many try to live on less than a pound a day could only kick up uncomfortable moral questions.")

What I would ask more for is coordination, which was almost absent in the entire opening. I mean I get it, with that many people and that humongous-ly large venue, it is an incredibly difficult feat. However, Beijing showed that it could be done in the Olympics opening ceremony, which was amazingly coordinated and organised. But in the desire to be a melting pot of culture from all over the country, all I saw was a central theme of chaos.

The Rhythms of India got a bit monotonous in the middle, the dances were cool though the dancers looked highly uncomfortable coming down the stairs each time, and the ones who went on did it like they were in a school play. A Naga dancer during the Great Indian Railway journey actually fell. Cringe. Aren't you supposed to hire professional dancers who will not fall during a ceremony where you showcase how good you are to the world?

And what is with the theme song Jiyo Utho blah bleh. 5 crores went to THAT? Seriously? Are you kidding me? I think it is a testament to their own recognition of how incapable that song is of getting people on their feet that they had to play Jai Ho after that. I used to tell people that Jai Ho is nowhere in the same league as A.R. Rehman's other brilliant creations, but after watching these 2 songs in succession, I must say I prefer Jai Ho a thousand times more. And what was that besuri screaming that Rehman did at the end of Jai Ho (minute 13)???

Though they must be congratulated that after all the media hoopla about unpreparedness and safety and hygiene, they have pulled off what is being hailed as a major success. "There have been delays and many challenges but we have managed to rise above them all", as Suresh Kalmadi put it, after being booed by the audience, 'reflecting the embarrassment many had felt over the crisis-hit preparations and worldwide headlines of the past fortnight, the same mortification that had led the Tribune newspaper to refer to "a national shame" and the Deccan Chronicle to "a bunch of inept, inefficient and corrupt administrators".'

So have we forgotten all about the shame now? Have all those who said "cancel the games" now all for the Games? Just like the Mumbai Taj attacks led to boiling blood for a few weeks, and then inaction, it seems that a similar future awaits the Games.

We all seem just so pleased that no major screw up happened, that through the Great Indian method of "jugaad", we actually "pulled it off" and are very pleased with ourselves for it. Though I am sure the thousands who have been displaced from their homes to make room for the venues and now live in less than hospitable conditions disagree. Now that everything has been swept under the rug, seems like it will all be buried in the rubble afterwards too, when the temporary bandaids begin peeling off.

We  need to be better than that. We need to expect more from ourselves.

Taken from TOM FORDYCE'S BLOG
A Commonwealth Games that at several points over the past two years had looked perilously close to being stillborn finally sprang to kicking, caterwauling life.

The numbers are vast - 28,378 policemen, 5,000 paramilitaries, 100 anti-sabotage teams, 300 sniffer dogs, 80 radiation meters and 15 bomb disposal squads - and if the organisers cannot be blamed for the wider political problems that require such measures, it can only be an unsettling sight at an event known as the Friendly Games.

These games as a whole will cost India somewhere between £3bn and £4bn, depending on which estimate you prefer, a staggering 60 times the original budget.

When Kalmadi looked up and stated, "India is ready," the derision turned to roars of approval. When he followed that by reminding those watching that, "We have the second fastest-growing economy in the world," the cheers got even louder.

Big multi-sport events are as much about showcasing the host nation as they are about mere sport. Two summers ago in Beijing we kept hearing that the Olympics were China's coming-out party. These Commonwealths, and the Olympics that the organisers hope might follow in 2020, are meant to serve the same purpose for a similarly booming nation.

"INDIA! INDIA" yelled the thousands around the stadium in unison as Prince Charles rose to read the Queen's address. The message could not have been clearer.

This was a night for forgetting the painful gestation, for postponing any worries about the quality of the sport we might witness over the next 11 days or the importance of the Commonwealth Games in a rapidly-changing 21st century world.

All those issues are still there. Come Monday, Usain Bolt will still be in Jamaica, Jessica Ennis in Sheffield, David Rudisha in Kenya. Muhammad will still be stranded in Bawana.

What's changed is that, along with the comical tales of cobras under athletes' beds and sobering stories of corruption, collapsing bridges and missing stars, there is finally a genuine sense of excitement in the Delhi air.

Unanswered questions of the world

Aren't the 'good things that come to those who wait' just the leftovers from the people that got there first?

Why do bullies always ask "what’s your problem" when they're obviously not going to solve it?

If you swallow a burp does it turn into a fart?

How come French fries are not considered vegetables, since they are just deep fried potatoes?

If someone's peeing and halfway through they die, would they keep pissing or stop?

Do the actors in the re-enactments on Americas most wanted, ever get arrested (because they were seen on TV portraying the criminal)?

If you rented a movie and were late returning it and then you died would someone you knew or a family member have to pay the late fee?

Do bald people get dandruff?

How do "do not walk on grass" signs get there?

Doesn't a lightning rod on top of church show a lack of faith?

How come only your fingers and toes get wrinkly in the shower and nothing else does?

Why does the Easter bunny carry eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs.

If a pack of gum says that each piece is 10 calories, is that amount just chewing the gum, or also for swallowing it?

If a General is a higher ranking officer than a Major, then why is a major illness worse than a general illness?

If a stripper gets breast implants can she write it off on her taxes as a business expense?

Do you wake up or open your eyes first?

Do suicide hotlines have hold?

MLID

Today, I realized that we are saving this world from global warming - we rarely turn on air conditioning or heat; we use lota instead of flushing down a bucket full of water; instead of throwing away empty plastic containers, we use them to put other food in; we use less fuel because we're hardly allowed to go anywhere (i mean, we are always studying). GO DESIS!! MLID.

Today, since it's Sunday, I figured it would be a nice relaxing day. But no, at 6 in the afternoon my mom finds out that her sister's neighbor's daughter is getting married. The wedding begins at 7 and it is now 7:30. I'm sitting in my khamiz waiting for my parents to get ready. -sigh- MLID.

Today, my uncle saw me in my basketball shorts and gasped. He hurried me inside the house and told me to wear some fullpants on my chaddi. MLID

Today, I was getting ready to go to the movies with friends. I was brushing when my dad walked into the bathroom and said I couldn't go anymore. He thought I wanted fresh breath to make out with some guy. FML. MLID

Today, we bought a new store. I was the first one to enter and as soon as i first stepped into the store my mom slapped me across the head. Puzzled by her violence, i looked at her. "Vat" she said "You stepped in with your left foot you idiot. now you'll bring us bad luck" MLID

Today, my dad came back from India. Earlier in the week, my mom had asked her sister to send us a jar of Nivea face cream from India because it's apparently cheaper there. We found four tubes of Fair and Lovely when we opened the suitcase. MLID.

Today, my mom was applying Vicks VapoRub to my brother's chest and back. We've had the jar for quite some time, so I picked it up to read the label. It had expired in 1998. MLID

Today, my little brother asked my mom what love was. My mom replied, "its a mental disorder in the brain, don't fall in love". MLID

Today, as my two younger cousins were leaving they bent down and touched my grandma's feet for ashirwad, she wished for both of them to get wonderful wives. They're 10 and 1...MLID

All my old clothes are potential "pochas" for my mom. MLID.

Today, I saw that my cousins profile picture was actually of him and not of a random bollywood star. I've never been so proud. MLID

Today I finally realized that all those stories about 15/16 year olds getting rishta proposals at desi gatherings, are actually NOT fake. I got 4 in 2 days while I was at a jilsah (religious gathering) in VA. One of them is a 25 year old doctor, and my mom actually considered the proposal. She's asked the guy's mom if the are willing to wait a few years until I finish highschool. I'm terrified. MLID

I have just realized that whenever Desi parents receive a call, they stare at the caller ID for far, far longer than anyone else would, and then pick it up. MLID

Today, my mom bought salt and pepper shakers because they were cheap, 87 cents each. When we got home, she then proceeded to tell me to fill one shaker up with salt, and the other...with chaat masala...MLID

Today, the answer to final "Jeopardy" was 'Kama Sutra'. My dad blurted out the answer, then seemed unsure as to whether he should feel proud that the answer was Indian, or whether he should be ashamed it's considered "erotic literature". MLID

Today, I brought with me an Indian sweet to eat during break. One of my gori classmates started panicking before i put it into my mouth because she thought i didn't fully remove the aluminum foil. MLID.

Today, we had to turn around and go home on a family road trip because my Mother sneezed and that is apparently bad luck. MLID.

Today, my mom slapped me because I was standing in the way of Dance India Dance. MLID

Today, I was forced to go to group counseling by my parents. We had to introduce ourselves, and say why we were there. It turned out everyone else was in there for hardcore drugs, running away from home, and one guy for stabbing someone. I went last, and had to stand up to say I was there because I got my first C in school. MLID

Leisure

By William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

Tonight's the night!

Trivia:
Shera, the official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, represents the modern Indian, proud of his nation's ancient heritage and a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty.

Jawahar Lal Nehru Sports Complex
Distance:12 kms
Capacity:60,000

The complex has in its heart the showpiece stadium for the Games, which will host both the Opening and Closing ceremonies. A look at the facilities and design is enough to make every Indian proud of this gigantic structure which originally hails from the 1982 Asian Games that the city hosted.

Wisdom from university

The last 3 years have passed by so quickly. Sometimes, it feels like I've had 3 lifetimes - the India part, the JC part and then everything after that.

India was all about academics, JC was trying to figure out how to survive on your own, and uni, well, has been uni. Late nights watching TV shows, going for movies in groups of 20s, looking at notes for the first time in reading week, watching people change and grow apart/closer every semester, it's been a hell of a rollercoaster ride. And now that graduation seems just around the corner, considering the way time passes here, the feeling that life as we know it is going to change again. Work life is nowhere near as fun, crazy, random, spontaneous (read disorganised) as uni. Anyone who's done internships/IAs knows that. So now, as I am supposed to be doing job applications, and inspired as I am by Akash's "Things I learnt in uni", I'll come up with a list of my own.

1. They're not lying when they say friends change in uni - both who your friends are, and what they are like, and what and who they like will undergo major transformation.

2. You change even more than your friends do. Whether you are a local, moved from another city/country for uni, or have been around for a while, it is a whole new experience, incomparable to any other in your life.

3. No matter how much you fight/deny it, you will learn some pleasant, and some not so pleasant things about yourself.

4. Other than a lucky few, none of us will know what we want in life, in a job. Figuring it out can be as hard as finding the answer to the ultimate question of life (whose answer, incidentally, is not 42, despite what the Hitchhiker's Guide would have us believe.)

5. You will realize that learning about life is so much more important than learning about graphs.

6. People all around will start getting married. It will petrify you at first, but then you will learn to accept it as something as inevitable as a PGP dryer not drying your clothes.

7. World events will feel a lot closer to home. Maybe it's the elevated intellectual levels or something, but things like world (US Presidential) elections, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, Ris Low, sports, CWG will become normal conversation topics.

8. You will know 100s of people, but when you need someone to talk to, there are very few you can actually approach. Though the remaining will be good for letting off steam by whining about the hardships of your life and commiserating over theirs.

9. Blogging will become cool. More people will know your blog than know you. And sometimes its the only way to keep in touch.

10. More people will like your Facebook status update than like you.

11. You will develop a love-hate relationship with Facebook. It will be a necessary evil, like friction. Staying off Facebook for an entire day in Reading Week will be something to be proud of. After which your reward will be to go to every update on your home feed, and go through every new album and video posted.

12. More than NDTV or BBC, Facebook will update you on world events. Ball-by-ball, goal-by-goal, set-by-set updates will clutter your news feed. I found out about Bombay Taj attacks on Facebook before I saw the news. (I started my blog because of those attacks by the way. The first post I wrote was Saluting Martyrs of the attacks.)

13. The only way to show someone you don't know much that you care about them is to wish them Happy Birthday on Facebook, which by the way, will be your only way to know when someone's birthday is near.

14. Most of us realize that working last minute is something to be found in our genes, and is indeed the way God meant it. And we will marvel at the dedication of the locals in printing notes, taking down copious notes during lectures, by doing something unheard of among Indians - listening in lectures!

15. Every year you see a new crop of freshmen come in, with hope and big dreams shining in their eyes; you will miss those good ole days of the honeymoon period of the first month of uni, where hanging out with your "close" group of 50 friends day-in, day-out in a tiny room with 1 square feet per person was the way to go; where uni had not ruined your hopes and dreams and made you feel like an incapable arse (I just saw Bridget Jones Diary 2nd part yesterday night).

16. You will miss the joys of first year even more when you have to apply for jobs. Job apps are a pain, no other way to describe them. Why can't they just make 1 standard application and then they all take candidates from that?

17. Some people are better at interviews and jobs than you are. Accept it.

18. Everyone has a competitive streak. Will become more evident nearer exam results time and job app time. Understandable.

19. Maggi will become a cereal. Uncle Chips will become a rare delicacy.

20. First to second year transformation of gals will be an interesting sight to see.

21. Deadlines will begin to define your life, when you sleep, eat, go out, live, die.

22. TV shows will be a constant topic of discussion and FB status updates. The return of a show with a new season will mark a new beginning of these so make sure you are updated. Else you will feel miserably left out when people complain about how much time they wasted in watching back-to-back episodes.

23. Release of an interesting Bollywood movie or one with Priyanka Chopra will be a batch scale event, where you will go in a group of >20 and pass comments throughout the movie, which you will, of course, be shushed for many times.

24. You will struggle to understand why some people are better than you. And you will come up empty handed.

25. Talking about sex/making innuendos 24-7 will seem cool to some people. I have one thing to say to you - grow up.

God, grant us the

Serenity to accept things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things we can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference
Patience for the things that take time
Appreciation for all that we have, and
Tolerance for those with different struggles
Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, the
Ability to feel your love for us and our love for each other and the
Strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless

"50 Things"

Ben Jones | MIT Admissions

Dear Class of 2010,

This will be my last entry written specifically for you; beginning with the launch of our new site in early September, I'll begin focusing on the future class of 2011. I hope that you guys won't be strangers; stay in touch either in person (come visit us!) or online (please drop by the blogs from time to time and say hi).

As you begin your college experience, and I prepare for my 10-year college reunion, I thought I'd leave you with the things that, in retrospect, I think are important as you navigate the next four years. I hope that some of them are helpful.

Here goes...

1. Your friends will change a lot over the next four years. Let them.
2. Call someone you love back home a few times a week, even if just for a few minutes.
3. In college more than ever before, songs will attach themselves to memories. Every month or two, make a mix cd, mp3 folder, whatever - just make sure you keep copies of these songs. Ten years out, they'll be as effective as a journal in taking you back to your favorite moments.
4. Take naps in the middle of the afternoon with reckless abandon.
5. Adjust your schedule around when you are most productive and creative. If you're nocturnal and do your best work late at night, embrace that. It may be the only time in your life when you can.
6. If you write your best papers the night before they are due, don't let people tell you that you "should be more organized" or that you "should plan better." Different things work for different people. Personally, I worked best under pressure - so I always procrastinated... and always kicked ass (which annoyed my friends to no end). ;-) Use the freedom that comes with not having grades first semester to experiment and see what works best for you.
7. At least a few times in your college career, do something fun and irresponsible when you should be studying. The night before my freshman year psych final, my roommate somehow scored front row seats to the Indigo Girls at a venue 2 hours away. I didn't do so well on the final, but I haven't thought about psych since 1993. I've thought about the experience of going to that show (with the guy who is now my son's godfather) at least once a month ever since.
8. Become friends with your favorite professors. Recognize that they can learn from you too - in fact, that's part of the reason they chose to be professors.
9. Carve out an hour every single day to be alone. (Sleeping doesn't count.)
10. Go on dates. Don't feel like every date has to turn into a relationship.
11. Don't date someone your roommate has been in a relationship with.
12. When your friends' parents visit, include them. You'll get free food, etc., and you'll help them to feel like they're cool, hangin' with the hip college kids.
13. In the first month of college, send a hand-written letter to someone who made college possible for you and describe your adventures thus far. It will mean a lot to him/her now, and it will mean a lot to you in ten years when he/she shows it to you.
14. Embrace the differences between you and your classmates. Always be asking yourself, "what can I learn from this person?" More of your education will come from this than from any classroom.
15. All-nighters are entirely overrated.
16. For those of you who have come to college in a long-distance relationship with someone from high school: despite what many will tell you, it can work. The key is to not let your relationship interfere with your college experience. If you don't want to date anyone else, that's totally fine! What's not fine, however, is missing out on a lot of defining experiences because you're on the phone with your boyfriend/girlfriend for three hours every day.
17. Working things out between friends is best done in person, not over email. (IM does not count as "in person.") Often someone's facial expressions will tell you more than his/her words.
18. Take risks.
19. Don't be afraid of (or excited by) the co-ed bathrooms. The thrill is over in about 2 seconds.
20. Wednesday is the middle of the week; therefore on wednesday night the week is more than half over. You should celebrate accordingly. (It makes thursday and friday a lot more fun.)
21. Welcome failure into your lives. It's how we grow. What matters is not that you failed, but that you recovered.
22. Take some classes that have nothing to do with your major(s), purely for the fun of it.
23. It's important to think about the future, but it's more important to be present in the now. You won't get the most out of college if you think of it as a stepping stone.
24. When you're living on a college campus with 400 things going on every second of every day, watching TV is pretty much a waste of your time and a waste of your parents' money. If you're going to watch, watch with friends so at least you can call it a "valuable social experience."
25. Don't be afraid to fall in love. When it happens, don't take it for granted. Celebrate it, but don't let it define your college experience.
26. Much of the time you once had for pleasure reading is going to disappear. Keep a list of the books you would have read had you had the time, so that you can start reading them when you graduate.
27. Things that seem like the end of the world really do become funny with a little time and distance. Knowing this, forget the embarassment and skip to the good part.
28. Every once in awhile, there will come an especially powerful moment when you can actually feel that an experience has changed who you are. Embrace these, even if they are painful.
29. No matter what your political or religious beliefs, be open-minded. You're going to be challenged over the next four years in ways you can't imagine, across all fronts. You can't learn if you're closed off.
30. If you need to get a job, find something that you actually enjoy. Just because it's work doesn't mean it has to suck.
31. Don't always lead. It's good to follow sometimes.
32. Take a lot of pictures. One of my major regrets in life is that I didn't take more pictures in college. My excuse was the cost of film and processing. Digital cameras are cheap and you have plenty of hard drive space, so you have no excuse.
33. Your health and safety are more important than anything.
34. Ask for help. Often.
35. Half of you will be in the bottom half of your class at any given moment. Way more than half of you will be in the bottom half of your class at some point in the next four years. Get used to it.
36. In ten years very few of you will look as good as you do right now, so secretly revel in how hot you are before it's too late.
37. In the long run, where you go to college doesn't matter as much as what you do with the opportunities you're given there. The MIT name on your resume won't mean much if that's the only thing on your resume. As a student here, you will have access to a variety of unique opportunities that no one else will ever have - don't waste them.
38. On the flip side, don't try to do everything. Balance = well-being.
39. Make perspective a priority. If you're too close to something to have good perspective, rely on your friends to help you.
40. Eat badly sometimes. It's the last time in your life when you can do this without feeling guilty about it.
41. Make a complete ass of yourself at least once, preferably more. It builds character.
42. Wash your sheets more than once a year. Trust me on this one.
43. If you are in a relationship and none of your friends want to hang out with you and your significant other, pay attention. They usually know better than you do.
44. Don't be afraid of the weird pizza topping combinations that your new friend from across the country loves. Some of the truly awful ones actually taste pretty good. Expand your horizons.
45. Explore the campus thoroughly. Don't get caught.
46. Life is too short to stick with a course of study that you're no longer excited about. Switch, even if it complicates things.
47. Tattoos are permanent. Be very certain.
48. Don't make fun of prefrosh. That was you like 2 hours ago.
49. Enjoy every second of the next four years. It is impossible to describe how quickly they pass.
50. This is the only time in your lives when your only real responsibility is to learn. Try to remember how lucky you are every day.

Be yourself. Create. Inspire, and be inspired. Grow. Laugh. Learn. Love.

Welcome to some of the best years of your lives.

-B