Nostalgia—OB Presentation

Back in the day we had a course called Organisational Behaviour/Organizational Behavior. (A course that has been life-altering. :))

Going through my Google Docs, I found a document that was the text of my presentation as part of the tutorial for the course. It was about a fifteen-minute speech on "Experiment". The starting idea comes from one of the best books ever: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I also read quite a few blog posts from around the blogosphere for inspiration; thanks to all those writers.

Let's see if you think it's an interesting read.

view.txtbear.com/81565/ob-presentation

P.S. "ICE Age" is the term our tutorial teacher used for the current times of Information, Communication and Entertainment.

Winter Wonders!

As North India shivers its way through a cold wave, and some unfortunate people succumb to it, I sit here talking about the wonders of winter... Heartless? Maybe I am.
But no matter what, I'm loving the fog outside. Or maybe not exactly outside; because it's actually trying its best to come barging right into my hostel room. On the way I walked right through a thick foggy curry.
And even within the hostel, which normally carries the aura of a safe and enclosed open space, I can hardly see the breathing souls more than a few inches away! And what to say about the aura—it's just... Well, fogged up!
Here are two interesting facts:
1. While most of us hardly have a directly visible square inch of skin even indoors, there are a few out on the terrace, busy on the phone. (I don't know how to react.)
2. The entire day was clouded/foggy, and the only times the sun was visible, it took everyone a moment to realize it's not the moon that got yellower and farther—IT'S THE SUN! And the weather forecast for the entire week was that it'll be sunny, with single digit positive temperatures (Celcius) and highs around 20 degrees. I can now tell why looking up the weather hasn't really caught on in India. Or maybe this is the reason the forecast doesn't come after enough research. And then again... Oh well.

Looking back...

As the end of my third semester here at TU approaches, I am evaluating how the last few months have been. (Great, no doubt.) The best part is that I've discovered what I'd been missing out on all through the first year. And here is that list!
What I sincerely intend is for this list to be a constant reminder to not postpone squeezing out the maximum from each moment, and being on a constant look-out for the new.

- Taking pictures for the sake of photography
- Finding a wonderful friend in Priya Mahajan
- Lemonade/fruit shakes @ the Campus Fruit Store, flavoured soy milk @ "Confect", coffee @ Amul
- Exercising on the terrace, first thing in the morning (I HAVE to start doing this again.)
- Using worthless lectures to catch up on shut-eye time :P
- Working for T and I. The official campus newspaper is one of the coolest things around. Followed closely by the team that makes it happen. And now I'm part of it. This rocks!
- Blogging more actively, and commenting on my favourite blogs :D
- Watching movies on a screen larger—way larger—than my laptop's
- Having food delivered to the hostel room--well, almost. (Love you for that, Surbhi Agarwal!)
- Quizzing. A few of my friends had been trying to convince me to get into this (and it was even on one of my old list of things to do while in college), but I just never found that internal push. However during Elixir '09, I was almost forced to represent my year in two quizzes, and that was SO much fun. I happily stand corrected.
- Following mental_floss. I was going to mention this only in the follow-up on the My Favourite Blogs list, but mental_floss is by far the most interestingly compiled blog (like, ever) and a great way to learn tons of interesting stuff. I'm getting addicted to their quizzes, and overall really glad to have stumbled upon the site/magazine. (Although that did not happen through StumbleUpon. ;])

Thanks to all my friends who've been a huge part of these discoveries. A huge thanks particularly to my buddies from the Cellar Door Productions team. :)

"Justify the title"*

Back in the day when I was in eighth grade, we had a literature chapter by the name of "Life's a Glorious Gift". It is a beautifully written play about the interpretation of life as a functional gift, that should be used, and not merely displayed like a piece of art on a glass showcase.

The play has a beautiful message, and especially for someone raised in a very secure environment, is an eye-opening insight into the life, thinking and strength of people--young and old--living in warn-torn areas. For me covering this play was a profound experience: it was one of the first times when we covered literature that had a more mature side to it than most children's stories. And most importantly my English teacher who taught us that year is the person who single-handedly forced the writer within me to surface. She continues to be a great source of inspiration, as well as one of my favourite people ever. (Thanks always, Namita ma'am.)

With all these thoughts in mind, I had started this blog a couple years back. My idea behind the name is more about my belief that life (human life in particular) is an invaluable gift. No matter what goes wrong, there are always ways to truly live it in a commited and fulfilling way...

Let's go out then, and starting right now, live our best lives!

*"Justify the title" was a very common question in our English exams. Ah, nostalgia...

A Rainy Day!

Thanks God, for the beautiful weather today. This rain is a delight for the soul, a treat for the beating heart.
Today I saw the clouds swivelling past more swiftly than ever. I could look up directly at them and see the interplay of the coming and going, the composing and dissolving of the dark and the white clouds.
The cool breeze, the breathing earth, the pair of birds gliding against the misty backdrop... it all made me feel so one with You!
Rain is pearls falling from the brink of heaven, pearls that wash away the pains of the body.