The magic ingredient

           I reluctantly opened my eyes hoping I wouldn’t have to get up. But I managed to roll out of my bed and looked outside the window. The first light of the August morning enticed my attention as I shrugged off my beautiful sleep. I stepped outside my room to the welcoming call of the morning birds. After a quick refresh, I geared up and crossed the road to the running track around Agara Lake, The then not so polluted water body in Bangalore.

The perks of being a morning person are to enjoy the serene beauty of dawn. As I jogged into my regular track, the sky was lighting up. As my knees kept bending and moving ahead, the biting chillness of the morning became bearable. My heart pumped faster and I could sense my joints get oiled up for the day ahead. Beads of sweat battled their way out despite the chillness out there. My lungs filled up and so did my zeal with every step. Despite wanting to give up midway I pushed and puffed ahead. I could feel my throat and lips dry up when i was almost done with the run. Phew!!!  

This ritual every morning reassured me of the strength that was innate in me whenever I wanted to give up. Not just being a physical challenge, the endurance of my character was tested. The sense of fulfilment that the morning run gave me could match no other.

It is disheartening to know that today our lifestyles have tagged physical exercise as a chore or obligation rather than a routine or habit. Rolling a heavy ball is indeed a challenge at first. But as it turns and turns the ball gathers momentum and rolling it becomes easier. Likewise the habit to get out of bed and sprint is only a challenge until it becomes a daily habit.

               Every morning, that extra mile we run, those additional push ups we take or just the drive to get out of bed in the morning could be the one magic ingredient needed to light the thunder for that day.

Step out- Explore- Discover

Im technically single, but my heart is all taken up by her. After a long days work I would look forward to spending time with her. She always had time for me and never said NO. I was truly, madly deeply in love with her. Isn’t she pretty? This my dear friends is Jennifer, my dear Recliner.

My laziness had got me graduated from being a couch potato to reclined watermelon. I had become so lazy that i would eat, sleep, watch TV and browse the internet all at one place. My Sundays were dedicated exclusively for her, there were no TM meeting also on Sundays. On one such lazy Sunday afternoon I was comfortably relaxed with my dear Jennifer I received a call from my friend Ankur after a very long time. “Hey, how about we go out somewhere? Im bored at home”. I was in no mood to ditch my dear Jennifer, but he somehow persuaded me to pick myself up and go out. It was 3PM and the Sunday sun was burning my skin but Ankur was upbeat and asked me to hop on to his scooter.

 

I had no clue where we were going. We were talking about our lives and then in a matter of few minutes from having left my house a sudden cool breeze passed me. I was pleasantly surprised and inhaled a lungful of fresh air. When I looked around I realised were going towards the mountains, North-west from Coimbatore. The empty road had a lot of tall old chimneys puffing smoke like an old rail engine. The enticing fragrance of eucalyptus signalled that we were in the foothills of Aanaikatti. We rode into the mountains and the temperature had dropped a few degrees despite the 3:30 sun. The roads twisted and turned as per the topography of the region.

25Km and an hour long ride from my house we reached the Niligiri Biosphere Park. I had not known about such a park in such close vicinity from Coimbatore. Having been greeted by a few butterflies, we got  tickets and with the excitement of school boys on a field trip we explored the park. It was teeming with flora and fauna. There was a small hillock in the park and we trekked to the top to get a scenic bird’s eye view of the region. With a separate section for the domestic animals and reptiles, where we saw a group of young kids playing.  The aquarium was a treat to the eyes with lots of colourful fishes. For a geek like me, all exhibits had the details of the exhibit along with the scientific and specific name coupled with interesting facts

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The sun started to hide behind the mountains and we rode back to the city after a cup of hot Chai. On our way back we were greeted with some showers but we managed to reach home before getting drenched. It was definitely an evening well spent.

What was planned to be an evening that was supposed to be spent with Jennifer, my dear recliner turned out to be a blissful and memorable experience. My decision to step out of my house and explore the nearby places has been extremely rewarding with wonderful experiences and memories to cherish. Coimbatore is a city that is close to many such exciting and vibrant biosphere hotspots. So I urge all of you to travel and explore the region and not shy away from opportunities to discover something new.

The little attributes that weaned off...

My nephew, Advaith who is sixteen months old had come home last month. The little chap is already living up to the standards set by his uncle for his notoriety. I overheard my mother recollect tales of my mischievous days. That's when a sublime thought crossed my mind, I was also once a colorful character, when did all these attributes wane off? Hence inspired by my nephew, I am going to take you down my memory lane and am going to reflect upon all the wonderful childish traits that we miss as adults.

First, A child's smile. It is the purest thing on Earth. When we see a child smile, we tend to forget all our worries and enjoy the moment. As adults we seem to have almost forgotten to smile. It is a proven fact as we age, our smiles per day drop exponentially. Why is that so? We tend take up our problems way too seriously and blow it out of proportion. There is something that's got to be understood is that worrying makes nothing better.

Second, A crying child. Isn't that the most dreaded thing on earth? But have you watched closely? Whenever they cry, they seem to pour their heart out. If they want ice cream, they cry. If they are uncomfortable with something they cry and they never seem to hold back their emotions. But as adults, do we do that? No. We are afraid of being called a cry baby or a drama queen. Hence we end up bottling our emotions, just like a dump yard. But this dump yard has also got its limitations and when it breaks out, the unthinkable happens- depression, loneliness and anxiety. I'm sure you'll be able to find one person in your contact list who's got one of these problems. Don't you think its ironic that in this world of seven billion people, there is someone committing suicide because of loneliness.

Third, The curious child. When my nephew was bored of all his toys I had made him a paper plane and he was playing with it for some time. I noticed that something as trivial as a paper plane was something that interested him a lot. As adults we seem to have evolved to bigger things in life, There is a need to know what Modi, Dhoni or Deepika Padukone is doing right now but we seem to have the liitle things around us? Do we care to ask what our watchman's children's names are? We don't seem to have the time to stop and greet a five year old girl on her birthday and compliment her for her pretty dress. It's not going to cost us anything, but a small enquiry might make a lot of difference to your watchman or that little girl. Hence I want you to be curious. Curious enough to hear the trickling water from that unclosed tap and curious enough to pause your busy life to hear those birds sing.

So, to sum it all up, Smile more often, fear not to express yourself ,relish the little things in life and bring out the child in you.

Hey :)

                    Ashley Patterson, Toni Prescot and Alette peters- They are all the same person - I vividly remember  reading this sentence sent shivers down my spine. It is a sentence from the popular thriller novel "Tell me your dreams", by Sidney Sheldon, the first Novel I've ever read. The habit of reading caught up with me not very early in life. There was a bunch of books piled up in a corner, untouched for many years in my house. Out of curiosity I pulled out a book, dusted it and started reading and there began my journey into the wonderful world of Fiction and literature. Every time I pick up a book, it helps me paint a wonderful picture into my imagination and i cherish it. I particularly  enjoy the works of Jeffery Archer, Ravi Subrammniam and Ashwin Sanghi.

                    But the authors that i despise are Adel Sedra & Kenneth Smith, The villains of my Under graduation. They've publised the Microelectronic  circuits. I am an Electronics and Instrumentation Engineer from Amrita school of Engineering. I have an inclination towards logical programming and I was able to do a research project on similar lines. Cardiac Output measurement using Ballistocardiogram was an pertinent application of Electronics and Instrumentation. After an arduous 18 months of research we were able to successfully complete. As a reward the project was selected for the International Conference for Biomedical Engineering  held at National University of Singapore. I was asked to do the presentation and I had the opportunity to meet researchers from around the world. This event opened me to a whole new world of academia and has inspired me to pursue my post-graduation. Due to my interest in programming, I fell in love with the graphical programming language, LabVIEW and I was able to start a career in that field. I aspire to become a National instruments certified LabVIEW developer, this year.  

                    I'm in the habit of participating and supporting causes for protecting nature and serving the society. But I felt  guilty of not doing enough. So I decided to water the trees outside my building at the start of this summer. Three days into my routine, the unseasonal rainfall arrived. Nature was mocking my efforts. But I didn't lose heart. For the past few days I have resumed my interest and aspire to more.

                    My interests in Cricket and football have helped me through the most darkest days of my life. My college days were extremely challenging. A major accident had caused severe head injuries had turned my life around.  Marred by multiple reconstruction surgeries and backlogs, it took me an extra year to graduate. Although the yearlong International cricket season kept me entertained and busy.  Harsha Bhogle with his eloquence and witty humor made me his biggest fan. On one occasion when I was watching his motivational videos, there was a link to another speech. "I see something in you" by TM Dhananjay Hartiarachi. That video inspired me and opened up this wonderful world of convivial speakers . I look forward to an amazing journey with The Toastmasters. Thank you.  

Are you really strong?

Student: Why is there a sudden discussion about women empowerment and safety?

Teacher: It's not just now, these discussions have been on the table for quite some time now. The world has gotten smaller with the coming of technology so thoughts and opinions of people are up for broadcast easily today.

Student: Is it true that all the men around the world overpower women?

Teacher: Not necessarily. There are many reasons for a person to be assertive over another. A relationship is formed when two or more people come together and it is by nature for one person to be stronger over another, For example, take this class, ideally the Teacher is has more power because you as students have sought me to gain knowledge. But that might not be necessarily the same always.

Student: So, do you mean to say that men are also treated badly.

Teacher: Why do you want to just confine this discussion to men and women. Look at this from a broader perspective. Children are abused by the elders in many places and people belonging to the LGBT community have suffered a lot by the so called normal people for ages. So it is clear that when a person finds himself weak or without support, the others strong arm to show their strength.

Student: Is it necessary always be the stronger of the two? How do we do that?

Teacher: To answer this question I will take the support of the famous saying "Survival of the fittest". You must understand the correct meaning of this phrase. The proper understanding would be that when Lions fight in between each other, one must be fit to survive the duel. But unfortunately it is understood that for the Lions to survive, they must destroy the weaker animals. If all the Lions stood against a flock of sheep with an ambition to destroy them, obviously that will result in the extinction of the humble sheep. And after that the Cow, Deer and the like will follow. At last there will only be Lions, who will eventually perish due to hunger. So it is not always essential to destroy another to show that you are stronger than the other.

Student: I'm unable to follow you. So to be the strongest does not necessarily mean to destroy others?

Teacher: Everything that was said or written has been with reference to a certain context. We as Humans have been blessed with a sixth sense and that is to distinguish the better of the two. So unless it is a matter of survival, there is no point in being the strongest. 

It was all Green

My first post... Phew... Let's go for something that I connect strongly to.

I remember as a child, reading my textbooks. It would say that we were facing a lot of demons and got to take some action, but most of them, the demons have grown big now. The text books would say that the number of trees are being cut down and we've got to stop cutting trees. Then an exam would come, I would write a decent essay  about the need to protect nature and get the marks. But it all was forgotten there. I really wish I was asked to do something about it. The seriousness of the issue I  believe is taken too easily.Before I'd even decided to do something about it,  I'd gotten entangled in the fight to survive and I'd become selfish.

This is something that I seriously regret not working upon. I intend to contribute to the rejuvenation of earth. I'll attend more of the greenpeace meetings and plant more trees.

This blog post I believe would act as a reminder.