Purple Hibiscus

I am writing a book review on a book set in Nigerian culture. I am sure very few people would have read this book and i would like to introduce you all to Purple Hibiscus By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This book was long listed for Bookers Prize.

What I like about Purple Hibiscus is that the protagonist Kambili is just like any other teenager whose life is circumscribed within her family wall. She has to deal with her abusive and oppressive father as well as her caring mother, navigating her way through life while trying to follow the rules her father has set for her.She is often confused with the kind of feeling she has for her father.Since her father is a well respected man in the community , she is proud of him .Yet he is so abusive that she cannot help but hate him.

Kambili and her brother Jaja do taste the freedom,when their father leaves them with their aunt,due to the political unrest spreading in Nigeria.Even while they are there ,every time the phone rang,Kambili shook with the fear,fear of her father.

Then suddenly, all around them,Nigeria begins to disintegrate and the same begins to happen in the family. A violent coup causes her aunt to go to America.The unrest shakes the family and aggravates the feeling of violence.Kambili, Jaja and mother learn to live without papa.They have freedom but a questionable one.She begins to realise that the bad part of her father were more of his personality that she may have previously understood.

The title of the book is Purple Hibiscus just to show that, the freedom and happiness Kambili looked for ,are fragile like the flower,as compared to the harsh world.

Midnight Fireworks

I know its way past the deadline of wednesday night and Im really sorry Im late. I really din't know what to write about plus its been a while since i wrote anything but songs (nearly 6 years).Thankfully, I came up with this during a random moment of inspiration last night at around 3. Couldn't post it then coz, well, i was too lazy :P I'd love to read what you'll think about it.

A grand party, his coming of age.
My cute baby brother, his fifth birthday.
The whole street on our terrace that night,
a grand spectacle like Bilbo's eleventy first birthday.

Fun, frolic, games , food and yet more fun,
the part had it all, even gifts and toys.
I watched my parents from the corner of my eye.
Both of them, beaming with joy.

While my parents went to sleep after the long night,
after the huge party and the heavenly food we had.
My baby brother and I tiptoed our way to the terrace,
to count the stars, in an unknown street in Baghdad.

We laid down, huddled together, counting stars,
drenched in sweat after chasing each other around.
Suddenly splendid lights appeared in the sky.
Are they shooting stars or falling meteors ?, I wondered.
And then Kahlid screamed as loud as he could,
"Look Fathima, the beautiful bright lights in the sky,
The 'midnight fireworks' on my birthday night".

Walking around the house where I used to live.
Blood splattered all around, in every nook and corner and debris covering the ground.
An eerie silence, there ain't no sound.

Memories keep flooding my head.
The games in the corridors, chasing my brother before he used to fall with a thud.
The heavenly aroma of Ami's food in the kitchen,
now filled with the saline smell of stale blood.
The fun story times in the night in my parent's bedroom
where now holes complimented the painting adorning the walls.
"Stupid architect, we need more sunlight", dad used to say.
With tears flowing down my face, I said aloud,
"Wouldn't you be pleased now Abba, there ain't no roof now"
The only piece of furniture left intact,
in the most cruel of ironies, is khalid's crib along with his pillow.

I still remember that dreadful day,
left without a family and a home to stay.
Celebrating my baby brother's birthday that night,
the food was heavenly, the atmosphere divine.
And lying down in the terrace with him into the night
when he screamed as loud as he could, his voice to hear, a delight,
"Look Fathima, the beautiful bright lights in the sky,
The 'midnight fireworks' on my birthday night".

Fight Club Review

I’m an avid movie watcher, and I just finished watching fight club (with an enhanced senses, if you get what I mean). Here’s my review for one of the seminal films of the 90’s, and one of my all time favourites:-

In the start, the narrator, Edward Norton’s character is a nameless, boring drone who leads a shallow, meaningless life as just another cog in the great corporate wheel. He spends his time buying sofa-sets and basically indulging in the huge façade that is today’s materialistic and fake society. As he puts it: “We used to read pornography, now it’s the 'Horchow Collection.'”

But he isn’t satisfied with his life. There’s always this nagging feeling, deep-down, a hint of discontent. He becomes an insomniac. With a stroke of luck, he discovers therapy groups, and there, on the pretext of a terminal disease or an addiction, he cries. He cries about the hollowness, and the utter futility of it all.

This daily discharge helps him sleep. Until, that is, chain-smoking, messed-up Marla Singer starts coming to his therapy sessions for a similar purpose. Seeing another ‘tourist’ there bursts the happy he finds bubble of the narrator and insomnia creeps back into his life.

Then he meets Tyler Durdan and he’s drawn, like everyone else, to his magnetic personality. One night, on a whim, Tyler asks the narrator to hit him. He complies, and thus begins fight club. Fight club transformed into a nocturnal activity in a basement where semi-naked men expressed themselves in a purely natural manner- by pummelling each other senseless.

That’s all that I’m going to reveal here. But let’s talk about Tyler Durdan. For it’s not possible to talk about fight club and not talk about Tyler Durdan, a character who was recently named the greatest movie character of all time by a magazine, beating out competition from the likes of Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, The Joker, John Rambo etc.

Brad Pitt outdoes himself in portraying just about the best example of an alpha-male you’ll ever see. Tyler epitomises the saying about Bond (“Man want to be him, Women want to sleep with him”) more than any Bond. The rugged Daniel Craig, the cool suave and sophisticated Brosnan and Connery all fall flat in front of his sheer charisma. His laid-back, casual attitude tells of a man who has not a care in his life. The conviction with which speaks tells of a man who’s got it all figured out. His radical thoughts and ideas tells of a fearless man, not afraid to go against society. And the small, condescending smile he occasionally afforded the narrator te;;s of a man who kno’s just how superior he is too everyone. Tyler Durdan acts the saviour of the society’s repressed men and frees them from it’s clutches.

Edward Norton does a brilliant job as the narrator, and his boring drawl as a narrative paradoxically draws you further in the movie.The dialogues are smart and some of the lines have now achieved cult status and are often quoted to each other’s by today’s hippier-than-thou teenagers. The cinematography is completely in sync with the somewhat non-linear storyline and is so good that it somehow distracts most watching it for the first time (including me) from a very obvious truth which makes you feel really stupid afterwards. Because of this, Fight Club, has, for most of the stupid audience (which constitutes an incredibly large number of us) and also the ones who think they’re too smart (the rest of us), a huge twist that leaves you gasping, adding to its excellent plot.

The film does tickle the fancies of many, despite the film’s anarchistic messages being tempered down with wry humour. Fight club preaches about evolving beyond the endless pursuit of perfection by today’s superficial society. Fight Club is about showing on your face what other people hide in their closets. Fight Club is about exposing the dirty underbelly that every household inevitably has. But it also preaches against taking its own ideas too extremely. But above all, it entertains. It is more than two hours of intense entertainment.

For all those who haven’t seen Fight Club, go watch it right now!

9/10

Crescendo Innuendo

Who has the right to judge? Why have people started to resort to truculent belittling? Is it a voice to safeguard the “devouring” morals and ethics left in our society or is it just a hidden act of one-upmanship?

You turn around and see a friend. You turn around again and you see two more. You turn around again and you see their minds insinuated with dubious thoughts for what you stand for, as if they were to decide the running morals of our society.

One speaks of what is right and what is wrong as if there were a fine line of distinction between the two. If you think about it, it’s just a relative term. Taking an example as quoted by a friend, why do people insist on vegetarianism to be the ethical thing to do? If killing of animals is considered a savage act, perhaps a mark upon ones morals, then what explains the theory of “Survival of the fittest”? History of mankind and all evidences intact shows man to be an omnivore. According to many articles there hasn’t been a culture that has thrived as vegetarians. If at all it did, the human race would be wiped out completely! So if I am a meat eater does that make me a sinister being? For some people it does, for some it doesn’t. Going by scientific research I’m just doing my bit to keep the human race going, but for some my eating habits might be a proof of me bearing unscrupulous morals.

I am just trying to find answers to an array of simple questions- who decides what is right or wrong? If at all we do find a decision maker, are his beliefs ought to be just and credible? If there doesn’t exist such an almighty jotting down morals for us, then why have people started to cook up their own theories and judgments to target one’s reputation? It could be a strong sense of jealousy and competition, to prove one better than the others or not. Everything we do has become an allusion to sinful behavior, it is frowned upon. The society we are living in has reached a confused state of what I would like to call “crescendo innuendo”.

The world is set on the fire of problems. While we are trying to combat the perennial social evils like child labour , dowry, human trafficking , we have encountered environmental problems which started as a ripple and now have transformed into a giant wave. Moreover this world still has many global issues like corruption, terrorism , global warming to be solved. The world is caught in the cobwebs of deadly and fatal evils and we need to take immediate actions to solve these problems. I do not want to write this article discussing the problems, the people responsible for it, the causes, the effects on the society or the ways to solve these issues because that is known to all of us. This article urges the reader just to take a step and do something.
Some great personality said" whatever you do in life is insignificant but it is important that you do it because no one else will do it for you." We all are aware of all the social evils and other problems that are present in the society and we often talk about them. We have always been discussing , criticising , writing about the flaws and faults in the world. Moreover there has been a lot of discussion over what needs to be done but how many of us have actually done something to eradicate such evils?
The need of the hour is not the discussion anymore but is the action that needs to be undertaken. We really need to stand up and do some "work". There is an utmost need to bring a change in our carefree attitude which often says " what can I do?" Or " my solitary action will not bring about any change." Let us just perform our action. We need to take an initiative ourselves. These little actions will surely help in making this world a better place to live in.

I see you

I see you

Lying in front,

Flat on your back.

Asleep after a long day at work.

Your face looks tensed,

All nerves bundled up.

Your sleep disrupted,

Your eyes shut tightly.

Is it just a bad dream,

Or a sad thought

You’re trying to evade?

Your shoulders are arched.

Oh how I wish to climb

Just like when I was a child.

All happy and playful,

Always ready for a piggy back ride.

A stroll in the park, and

An ice stick would suffice.

You promised, I remember

“I’ll show you the world from here.

High mountains to climb,

Distant stars to reach,

Wide waters to swim.

Just flap your wings and fly.”

Now that I see you,

I want to clasp your hurting shoulders

And take the pain away.

Your hands move

In an impatient rhythm.

Almost counting something.

How my hand

Would wrap around your pinky,

To take journeys unheard of.

All I had to do

Was tighten my grasp,

And you would know

Any discomfort I suffered from.

I want to clinch on

To your hands so tight,

To compensate for

All the unsaid aches.

Even when you lie awake,

I see you thinking,

Staring into nowhere at times.

I wish I knew

What haunts your mind,

What keeps you oblivious

From what surrounds.

Your mind has always raced ahead,

Is always aware of the next step to take.

You asked me to do things,

I saw no meaning in.

I cried, at times howled

To show my resentment.

You still pestered me

Into doing what I detested.

Now I realize,

They are what set me apart.

Even now, there are times

I feel like sharing.

Telling you what haunts me,

What makes me weak at the knees.

Yet, for some reason ciphered

I decide not to.

If you have your way with me,

I have my way with you too.

For matters of the heart

You have never triumphed.

All your logic seems to fail,

When there is something

For which I wail.

You got me all things

Bright and beautiful.

My desires, my whims, my fancies

You met.

I remember once you told a friend,

“Anything that makes her happy.”

You never tell me,

What your heart desires.

I think I am old enough

For at my age,

A life you had started to make.

Let me in to your secret land,

I promise not to tell.

I hope some day

I can put together

All my gumption,

Tell you how I feel.

For

I can see you.

Well I cannot say that this is my first blog on this site but let’s make this my first logical blog… well I didn’t know what we couldn’t write on this blog or not so I apologize for my previous blog which was a bit childish on my part…… and now about this article please do not take me as a diehard romantic in no way does this poem have anything to do with me ….. I hope you guys like it…..

When I looked into your face

I felt Gods grace, my heart did want to praise,

Your beautiful eyes, your lovely innocent lies,

Even though my heart cries

You are beautiful Godly Divine and hence thou never might be mine

I don’t know if I have committed some crime,

For God has punished me like an unworthy dime,

This pain is terrible, the feeling is unbearable

If my love is pure then only can I be sure

For me there must be some cure

You are beautiful Godly Divine and hence thou never might be mine

My heart is bleak, no longer does it speak.

Of you what can I say?

Cause I really can’t understand your way

Let’s see if you can understand my Cray

That is want of a new day.

This song is incomplete so is my heart without thee

To the land of nod do I now dream away with glee…

Corruption

While I was watching T.V. and munching chocolates, I thought of writing my first blog on this topic, a topic that i strongly feel about.
Corruption is the greatest problem of any country, especially India. It hampers its developement and economic growth. Corruption is like a parasite that eats up the country's economy from within without showing any signs of its existence outside. Earlier, corrupt officials were found mostly in Hindi movies and telefilms. But as time has passed it is a common sight to see money in gunny bags or briefcases being taken for bribery. Every other day we hear news of an officer or so on a high rank being caught in sting operations charged of bribery. The surprising part is that government officials consider bribery as 'investment' and the ones who dole it out seek even more share in bribes. It has started being considered that a person opts for a government job not because he/she wants to work for the country but because they find it a good oppurtunity to misuse their privileges and indulge in other corrupt practices. The weaker and honest ones go for private jobs strenghthening this belief. The question that comes to my mind is, Why do people indulge in corruption? Don't they get enough from their salaries? Are they not satisfied with how much they have?

Lord Acton said:" Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This aphorism is widely acknowledged as true. William Pitt,the Elder, a British Prime Minister, echoed similar statements:" Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it." We have learnt from our Moral Science lectures in younger classes that a human being is never satisfied with how much he/she has. He always wants more. So, government officials are no exception. They are also 'people', rather with an additional factor---they do not have anyone to check them. They possess absolute power! So, when a person offers them lakhs of rupees just for a petty signature on some unimportant document, while they are getting just Rs. 50-60,000 per month AND there's no one to watch them, they are likely to fall for it. It is just like you give a child an option to either have a not so tasty vegetable on one hand and a yummy chocolate on the other, the choice is obvious! It is NORMAL HUMAN MENTALITY!
I know some of you would also wonder, if they are not the one's to be blamed, if it is so natural then who is the one responsible for this growing corruption day by day?
Here is where the problem lies, the reason why we are unable to find a solution to this problem. We are always trying to find someone to put the blame on so that we come out clean. If we are paying a bribe even if the official asked for it , aren't we wrong? As Gandhiji had said:"Anyaye karne waale se zyada bada paapi hota hai anyaye sehne wala." We must try to find solutions to uproot this problem and not find people whom we can blame.
Coming home, I saw the worst face of corruption when we had to get my mom transferred to a nearer station from a farther one. First, we had to bribe the clerk so that we could get a quick appointment with the official. Then, as we started talking to him, we realised after a long conversation that he was expecting something more than words. He was clearly asking for a bribe!!! My dad got so annoyed that he rose and left the office immediately. He was determined to get this work done in a straight and clean manner. Till date, he's been trying, but all his efforts finally end up in vain. It is seen that when people start thinking of themselves to be deserving the privileges and positions they are in, they are more pliable to indulge in corrupt activities. The honest ones are either transferred to inconsequential roles or are dejected and angry. Their voice is often subdued and ignored. Finally, even they are compelled to think of personal interest rather than public welfare.
Thus, we need to identify our interests, work to remove mutual conflicts, abandon hypocrisy and most importantly think of our country before thinking about ourselves.

On 'The Argumentative Indian'

I wrote this review a while back. Since this book is mentioned in the reading list (which I doubt our newcomers will read), I decided to post my article here.

Amartya Sen is a genius, and it doesn’t take a genius to make that claim. The sole Indian recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics has received enough national and international acclaim to firmly establish his position among the most influential Indians of our time, and any individual with the slightest interest in economics has most certainly come across his name.

His collection of articles, compiled under the title ‘The Argumentative Indian’ tries to explain the various aspects of India (such as its history, culture and identity) by invoking its argumentative tradition. The reasons he gives for employing the argumentative approach are its long history in the Indian culture and its contemporary relevance. The unique approach towards writings on culture and history makes the book a refreshing read.

The casual reader might come across a bit of a rough patch when Sen abandons storytelling and engages himself in reasoning (for example, in the article ‘The Reach of Reason’). But almost every other article is easy to read, and even a layman stands to gain a lot from diving right into the midst of the Indian history recounted by Sen. Explanations to the fondness displayed by Indians towards philosophy, why the Western world turns towards India for its mystical and spiritual answers, the bias of NCERT’s books against Muslims and India’s reasons for pursuing nuclear weapons are just a few of the various answers about contemporary India that are hidden in this enchanting book.

I do not know whether the pursuit of these answers appeals to our youth. But for those of us left dejected with the view of India provided by our history books, ‘The Argumentative Indian’ offers us a chance to view India in a new light.

Suggested Reading

Following are the names of books suggested for reading, as discussed in today's creative writing forum GBM

1. The Diary of Anne Frank

2. Old Man and The Sea- Earnest Hemingway

3. The Guide, Malgudi Days- R K Narayan

4. A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes- Stephen Hawking

5. The Argumentative Indian- Amartya Sen

6. The Last Lecture- Randy Pausch

7. Interpreter of Maladies- Jhumpa Lahiri

8. The Company of Women- Khushwant Singh

9. Space Odyssey- Arthur C Clark

10. Jefferey Archer (Anything)

Happy Reading. Looking forward to your comments on these books.

Honor Killing

I am really nervous about posting the first thing on this blog. So, I am keeping this whole thing short and simple.

We have been hearing about this a lot lately. Aren't we ? The number of the victims is increasing as we hear a different case everyday, having a different victim, a different story, a different scenario . Let me begin with what exactly does this 'Honor Killing' stand for.

Honor Killing is the murder of a member of a family or clan by the other members in which the victim is believed to have brought dishonor upon the family or clan. The death is awarded for desiring to marry by own choice or for indulging in certain sexual acts. There might be other reasons for the act justified by the fact that the behavior of the victim has brought shame to the community.

In the Indian Society, women have always been treated as personal property. Men have always tried and have succeeded in overpowering women and that too, with the help of other females in the society. In fact, mothers, sisters, mothers-in-law and cousins also support the attack, which has now become a community mentality. And all of this has also triggered the 'Honor Killing' act. However, its not only women who suffer due to it. 'The family' has started attacking men too. Illiteracy and the rigid caste system prevailing in India have initiated this heinous crime. A Brahman cannot marry someone from the other caste. Who in the world made that kind of a custom. After all, we are humans.

However, some people have different opinion about this thing as they believe that people having 'loose morals' deserve to die. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov is of the opinion that "If a woman runs around and if a man runs around with her, both of them are killed." Some national legal codes also support this act and make it legal. They consider the pride of the family and the community to be of the utmost importance.

But, is it justified to take some one's life because the family believes that murdering a member will save the honor of the family? Apparently, there is no law to deal with honor killings in India. So, first of all, we need a proper and a uniform definition of honor killing so that there is no room for ambiguity as to what constitutes the crime because a girl/boy does not deserve to die because he/she wants to marry or wants to have a relationship with the partner he/she likes. There should be some concrete laws to stop this flagitious act.

Finally, I'd like to say, 'Killing in the name of preserving honor only brings dishonor to the family and, largely, the country.'

Is it fine to be an Introvert?

Introverts are people, who love to be within themselves. They cannot be referred to as antisocial. They have social skills, they like people and they enjoy ‘some’ type of socialising. They prefer one an one conversation rather than a group discussion. Introverts may not be good verbally but they can become good listeners. They are intuitive and analytical. What is working? What isn't? Where do you get the most bangs for your buck? This shows they are self reflective and good learners. Extroverts are like lighthouses, focusing their beacon outward toward the world but Introverts are more like lanterns, radiating a glow inside themselves. Introverts have a lot of thoughts and ideas, they are creative. They may have problem showing them, and that is the reason why they need to learn on sharing their thoughts to the world.

In conclusion, it's okay to be an introvert! We should make use of our strength, like being creative, analytical and thoughtful. Only one thing that we need to do is, believe in ourselves and learn to share our insights to the world! We never know what turns out to be a big help to others.

Life's a show, we all play our parts.
The music starts, and we open our hearts.
But don't give me a song,
Give me something to sing about.
I need something to sing about.

Life is a song that you don't get to rehearse.
And every single verse might just make it worse.
I touch the flames,and yet I freeze
Surprised as I am, unable to feel

The raindrops or the breeze

and how nothing feels real.

I am now called through the the smoke
To make my way across the Fire.
To Save the day,
Or maybe melt away.

I shall walk through this Test,

For nowhere else can I turn
The wind howls to the west,
And Maybe this time I too shall learn?

Was I meant to find my way through this maze?

As I see the Night approaching, is it all a haze?.

Set Alight shall be the pyre
the point of no return.
And I will walk through this Fire

And I shall let it burn..

Life is not a song
Life is not bliss
Life, unfortunately, is just this.
You get along eventually, and realise
The pain that you happen to feel,
Is the pain that only you can heal.

Athletics?

With the C.W.G. drawing closer, our media is on fire. Since the international spotlight is on India, they figure that if they flame India hard enough, they might just get quoted in an international paper or news channel. Well, whatever works for them. I’d give my opinion on the media’s response, but I’m too busy struggling with a much more fundamental question regarding athletics.

Why in the world would anyone care about a bunch of people wearing tights perform tasks which a one eyed, brain dead robo-monkey could be programmed to do? Sports I respect, because they all (even the dullest of them all, cricket) involve a certain degree of strategy. They require an individual to work with his team and successfully pull off a strategy to win. They do have a requirement of physical ability, but to reach the top, a team needs to understand the game, not just pass a mark on a physical scale that divides teams into the first, second and third place. Then, there’s athletics.

If an event relies solely on physical prowess, the only way over the finish line is by raising your body’s capability beyond that of your rivals; be it through practice or enhancements. And as almost all students know, hard work just doesn't cut it, not when the competition uses unfair means. I'm not saying that football and basketball players don't resort to doping, because they do. What I'm saying is that physical feats can easily be surpassed, records broken in the blink of an eye, by any athlete using other means. Why then, do we praise feats of the body rather than the mind?

An event which glorifies physical ability over mental capability is not something I can pretend to admire. If athletics are appreciated for the excitement, adrenaline rush and entertainment they provide, maybe they could use a fresh dose of entertainment. Imagine Usain Bolt racing a jaguar instead of yet another sprinter: wouldn’t that be so much more fun to watch?

ART

ART

Expressions,thoughts,ideas and creations,

All burst forth with a single stroke,

Our mind whirls with different colours,

And our hand begins to draw what our mind has provoked. . .

Weak lines, dots, arcs and shapes,

All join together in a brave attempt,

To give sense to the unfinished image,

To retort for viewing them with contempt. . .

As the struggling picture emerges slowly,

We see a black and white scene unfolding,

Our hand glides feverishly,

Smudging, shading ,sketching and moulding. . .

As the skeleton structure is done,

We prepare to grant it life,

To cover it with flesh and skin,

We set free the colours of wildlife. . .

From just a newborn impression,

Its transformation followed its fate,

Come on fellow beings,

Its time for us to CREATE. . .

- SANJANA JAIN ( 1st year Electrical)

Emotional Intelligence.

After a month at PEC, probably you all have united yourself with this prestigious college. But still question which arises is- whether our hard work was enough to bring us here or weren’t we capable of IIT or even PEC was beyond our calibre??? If hard-work and struggle would have been the only criteria, then surely PEC was not my cup of tea. Then what is that other element which sometimes becomes most determining factor of your success and rank?? It’s not IQ but its EQ (emotional quotient).

Emotional intelligence or quotient might be defined as a component of interpersonal intelligence, or our capacity to build and maintain personal relationships with others. Radically, emotional intelligence concerns our awareness of our own and others' emotions, their influence on us, and how to manage them in positive and meaningful ways. It’s EQ which allows us to act smartly during harsh and nervous conditions. It’s your emotional balance which determines how much of your knowledge will be your output during exam. It’s your EQ again which enables you to stand silently and firmly during the scolding by your teacher. People may term you as (coward) or (submissive), but that’s the reason you are WISE and they are OTHERWISE. Use of emotional intelligence is so persistent in our day to day life that you merely notice when you are in actual working or reacting smartly. Anyone who is at the pinnacle of something has one trait more, and that is EQ. From top ministers to terrorists and business tycoons to sports personalities, everyone has acquired emotional intelligence, but it further depends on their character how their EQ is put into use. It's not intelligence that matters most. It's what you do with the intelligence you have that matters more.

Hats off to our administrators who are emotionally so sound to live normally even though media condemns or criticises them daily especially CWG organizers and on the other hand, we take at least 2-3 days to come out of trauma only if your GF ditched you.

These days we tend to think of emotional intelligence as a set of qualities that make us successful and popular with other people. The qualities or “hot attributes” that we associate with emotional intelligence are; optimistic, persistent, warm, team player, goal oriented etc. etc. It’s a good list but these qualities are difficult to achieve and to maintain for any amount of time in the real world and in real relationships. The bare truth about emotional intelligence is that it is more than a hot list of admirable qualities. Emotional intelligence is a group of mental abilities that develop over time from infancy through adulthood. These mental abilities enable you to delay impulsive responding to strong emotional stimuli and use your intelligent mind to cope with the situation.

Since (attitudes are caught and not taught), in the same way, EQ is something which u don’t inherit but develop over your experience.

Writing articles, blogs etc will go on and on, what needs to be learnt is how to apply these all sayings so that you are one step closer to success. Like if I ask "How smart are you? It suggests that you can directly measure someone's mental competence, that u can rate a person on a scale from 1 to 10.

But if you ask “How are you smart? The equations change dramatically. It no longer suggests that we are trying to assess your level of "smartness" on a scale from 1 to 10. Instead, it suggests that each person is indeed "smart" but the focus should be on how individuals are smart --- in many different ways. It suggests there are different kinds of intelligence. Everyone should be optimistic and must have +ve attitude towards life, then I assure, you yourself will witness a miracle, a change-- A change of good towards happiness, a change of success and above all, a change your life was lived (presumed) before..............

Hardik Batra

E&EC (1st year)

Is the ban on RIM justified?

This is my first blog post. Since our dear SAASC secretary did make it compulsory for everyone in creative writing to post something this week and i spent all my time preparing for a debate, i decided to just type out the debate. Luckily, this week the topic of the post could be anything I wanted. I have tried to alter it to make it more of an article than a debate. I would like to apologize if it still seems more like a speech. Read on and comment.

Privacy vs. Security: Is the ban on RIM justified?

To begin i would like to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither”

I'm not here to tell you that national security is not important. But does RIM really pose a threat to national security? Have there been any reports of blackberries being used? Look at history. The 9/11 attacks happened. The Mumbai attacks happened.

All this happened using Satellite phones (which our government has no control over) and typical carriers, the ones that we all use. It happened in spite of the fact that the government had access to all these means of communication. Blackberry is not used by the common people; its main clientele are large multinational corporations. These are people with large bank balances and would do anything, absolutely anything to access data of a rival corporation. And what we are doing? Giving all this data in the hands of the government. Everyone in this room knows that there is no organisation is this country that is not corruptible.

And why is it that we can't wait to sign over our rights? “Al Qaeda is coming, the Mujahideen is coming, where’s my pen?" Anything to feel safe. Like a parent dangling his keys to distract a child, the government seems to whip out national security wherever they deem it necessary. But this debate is not about national security. It’s not about privacy vs. security. My opponents would have us believe that this is a zero sum situation, but it’s not. Does security have to mean giving up our most basic liberties? It’s a case of liberties vs. control. The reason for the ban is, and i quote here, “they (blackberry services) allow individuals to commit violations that the country cannot control". In 2008 a similar warning was issued to RIM, but nothing was done about it. Now, they've suddenly started giving 60 day deadlines. Why?

It’s the Mumbai attacks. People are scared, and maybe the government wants the public to see that’s its taking steps to prevent such a thing from happening again. Maybe, there is political pressure from already existing carriers. Now all of this is of course conjecture. National security does seem so nice a term. It can cover anything up. Just so people can sleep at night. Who cares if the most basic of our rights is violated?

And why is this the only alternative? Why don’t we consider for a second that we can stop terrorists from procuring blackberries? And then, let’s assume that we can have such an efficient screening process that they cannot get access to these blackberry services (the only part of the phone the government has a problem with)? But why? Why do the effort?

When it’s just so much easier to look into every means of communication and monitor it. If you want to look at people’s bank records, tap their phones, read their e-mails, go ahead, do it. Just say it’s a matter of national security. Why go through the long and tedious process of checking ID’s and checking proofs and then imposing these laws is every part of the country? The easier option is to strip people of their basic liberties, control all means of communication, and blame it all on national security.

Hello.

As much as I would like to read articles from all sorts of domains, I am unfortunately not in the mood for some teenage gibberish.

Please keep them to your personal blogs. If you will be a member of saasc blog, your name will come as a co-author and you can personally invite members to check your blog. However, this is a public forum and I would like to see some quality.

As vaibhav said, I seriously recommend everybody to read the articles from before, in order to get an overview of what we are expecting here.

cheers.

Erm, Excuse me

Happy as I am to see all the persuasion resulting in first years posting on the blog, It is time I made something very clear.

This blog is not your CHAT WINDOW.
While there is no restriction on what you may choose to write on (at least this week),
things like Punctuation, Indentation - a decent font are mandatory.No slang,smileys or weird abbreviations shall be tolerated. It makes your article unreadable, and is NOT cool in the least.

Please, go to the oldest posts in this blog, to see what I mean.

Read the Post titled Blogging 101 before you post, or even some of my earlier comments.

One last thing, this blog represents to people outside PEC and SAASC how we think, please keep that in mind when you choose about a subject to write on.

My Apologies for sounding too patronizing, but I hope this helps

Whom to prefer FAMILY or FRIENDS..!

Teenage is the time of our life in which we undergo maximum number of changes, be it physical, psychological or emotional etc. A common problem many of us face{ including me... i have started facing it recently, just with the advent of college life :) :( }  during this age is  to choose between family and friends!!
We get more closer to our friends than family and our decisions are often influenced by our peers. 99% of us believe that what we think and what our friends advise us is the best possible option. At that moment we find our family a kind of INTRUDER and try ignoring them which often leads to mis- understandings between parents and children!!
Partying out with friends and spending most of our day with them seems the best thing in the world to us, It is not wrong at all if not done in excess, but seeking enjoyment at the cost of ignoring your family is wrong and should be avoided.
Many a times i have heard parents instructing there wards to stay away from a particular friend just because he is not good at studies or has some bad habits(what they think are bad). They reason out that he/she cant benefit you in any aspect. At this point parents are completely wrong. if friends were to be made by seeing how profitable they are then there would have never existed a relation called friendship! it would have been a business deal kind of thing. A friend is never a person who always profits you , but his/her presence just makes you happy.
 Its not that every time parents and family are to be blamed. In fact what is to be blamed is the misunderstanding and communication gap which often occurs between parents and their kids. So friends always just speak out your view points to your parents POLITELY and make them clear what you feel and why for that thing. Parents too should understand and try not to be very over protective. let there wards experience things on there own so that they turn out more mature and responsible. what they can surely give is a sound advice but that should not be in a way that it appears as an interference rather than advice.

by- aviral
(1st yr Mech.)

HOPE
Hope life has for me lots of success,
But I know at times things end in mess.
Hope life has for me smiles and cheers,
But I know life can’t be devoid of tears.
Hope life gives me company of friends great,
But I know trustworthy can’t be every mate.
Hope good fortune adorns my way,
But on every path some stones lay.
Hope things shape up as I like,
But I know uncertainties can always strike.
Hope I am good in everybody’s eyes,
But I know not everyone can think alike.
Hope I never hurt any buddy,
But not everyone’s heart I can study.
Hope life is a road trodden and smoother,
But bumps are inevitable for any traveller.
Hope I soar higher and higher,
But I know all has to come down later.
Hope I’m always confident and secure,
But I know at times fear has no cure.
Hope life never takes away HOPE,
Or with anything I won’t be able to cope.

Blogging 101

Here are some quick pointers for everyone's benefit, so that we don't need to tell each person individually:

1. Use the correct case of letters
Please don't alternate capital and small letters. Please, for the love of God, just don't.

2. Use paragraphs
Don't be afraid: it won't bite. Smack that ENTER key every now and then.

3. Use full words
It may be time consuming, but it's better than getting flamed from the members on this blog, isn't it? It is. So if the blogspot dictionary shows a red line under your word, you might want to look it up.

4. Use correct grammar and spellings
At least to the best of your ability. If you make any honest errors, we will help you correct them. But do make an effort, think about your sentence construction before putting that dot at the end of each sentence.

5. Use headings
It isn't as hard as it seems. Really.

Following these guidelines are going to help you get better at writing, no matter what you write. Yes, it will get your Facebook status update get more comments too. Go ahead, give it a try.

Walking INto "THE PEC"!!!

Here's me writing my life's first blog on what I have felt of PEC till now. The first three day orientation went pretty wellllll..kinda "boring" but ya it was in a way helpful to get to know something about the place we were going to spend 4 years at.The second day - "introduction to the clubs" was the best part according to me for I had had plans to join em since I got admission :P. My list of selected clubs increased and kept on increasing till the day ended..:)..

pheww...it was scaring me :O. But anyways finally, missing some recruitments, narrowing my list,etc etc; I'm in 3 clubs now which I believe are the coolest clubs here.

There was not a single day spent extra than these 3 "somewhat relaxed" dayss..then happened the most unwanted thing to us..."STUDIES STARTED"..we were subjected to the boring lectures, the poor lecture & tut & dunno so many types of halls n stuff.:(:(..Teachers started their experienced work of torturing us and god knows what all (god knows cz I haven't attended many of the classes :P).

Talking about the college, I was really not at all satisfied with the infrastructural status of it, it was loads below my expectations.By now I've adapted to it and believe it's not that bad after hearing to stories of my friends' colleges :D.

The boring college had a turning point when the activity of clubs came into notice...the auditions for drams, their workshops n so much came up with lots of enjoyment. More clubs' recruitments came up soon as well.I had to get into drams(dance wing) for sure so had to attend all the workshops there n believe me someone who's really passionate about dance really knows the fun of these.

There's one more thing I really love of my college and that's a proper "system", Being in school till now has really sucked from this point of view.I really like the enthusiasm in the seniors towards the college and it's rules.

In the nutshell, our college's not at all bad guyss..

PEC rocks ;);)

Since this is my first blog,

I'd appreciate any suggestions to improve.