It's Her!!!

:: Grit, Guts & Glory::

A BALL GAME

.

I am round and I am red…

This fact about me was pointed out to a man by another. The next moment I was hit aloft the 30,000 fans, screaming up, gazing at me. I was away from them as if I was shunned from their community, but then, when Newton’s Fourth Law [the one which says that things going up, come down too] cared to take notice of me, they, ecstatic of my air-borne presence, held their breaths and jumped in the air to welcome me – before anybody else – to the best of their abilities.
It is not always that I land in the stands, into the incapable hands of spectators – spectators to the unfolding drama of commitment, competition and passion. Sometimes or the other, unfortunately for some bloke standing in the midst of the open air theatre, I am recepted by both hands with such extreme care enough to shy away the most brittle of glass.
As such my heart is very soft, of cork. I always have to tie down my emotions with a string covering it all very tightly and put up a shining face of leather. But have to save the face from disintegrating into pieces of orange peel with the help of a seam.

I rather have a bright red face as to my younger cousin who is clean white but when the stress of the world weighs down on him; he easily becomes very placid and dirty. And then there are others of my species close to me, the Golf and the Tennis balls, quite different in various aspects. Actually they’ve adapted themselves (we are a pretty evolved species) according to their civilisations and Philosophy of life.

I was in a peculiar geographical confinement called as the subcontinent. The people here claimed that Cricket was religion, but I knew better, here, religion involved politics and politics involved religion.
Nevertheless, the fans – ranging from various communities, thronging the stands, never deny me the multitude of feelings which stem from various causes—counting from the minutest details of body structure to the Purpose that I serve the world.

Measuring hardly 225 mm when gauged by circumferential standards, I can be easily gripped in between fingers and that helps me conform myself towards my ultimate Purpose, notwithstanding, my weight of a five and a half ounces caters to need of the hard-hitters, who believe that I stay beyond the green cover. But it hurts me more when I’m tired and down and am deteriorating and I have to bear the hard ground on my face…rather than when I’m new and young and enjoy performing antic movements in the air.

Thus I serveth…
This is what my life’s aim is. Come what may, I am here to entertain the cheering crowd and repay whatever love and affection they’ve bestowed upon me every time I’m out in the middle. To make myself worthy of the recognition that I crave for.

To live through the power-plays and slog it out to the death while keeping the scoreboard of life ticking, over by over.

The Virtuoso...

::More Than Anything::

What is it...afterall?

Expression is the key,

Let the mind be free;

Let it wander to distance infinite,

Make talent and imagination to unite.

CET & Me...

::made for each other::


Undoubtedly so.
This bond looks like it has been drafted ages ago.20th July 2003 –an inimitable date in my life-history. Regardless of the several indiscrepansies surviving in’n’round the college, I believe (in the college). Moreover, I believe not for the sake of believing, as many do, but the college has an appeal that makes it qualify for the greatest socket/the most important port in my life cabinet. No, I’m not gratifying myself. Rather, it is true that whenever I’ve joined any institute (school, college…), my choice has always been a nascent force, ready to spur ahead of all competition and become practically invincible, i.e., with the integration of my silent force. That’s what I expect of myself for my alma mater. As for my expectation from the college – only that it lives up to its USP, u know what it is? Let’s put it like this;

Strength for the weak, flexibility for the rigid.

Mobility for the static, stability for the unsteady.

Precision for the sharp, poise for the delicate.

CetB is everything. CetB is life.

Well, CetB does guarantee, like Jet Airways, “The Joy of Engineering”. It’s most talked about “bottom-up approach” ensures a feeling of completeness in any pass-out year after year. When the students themselves stand up to the functioning (pun intended) of the college, the niche is obvious. The college has had enough boastings in the past as it climbed up to the top spot in list of colleges in Orissa.
Being numero uno does not make CetB that what it is today. It is not just education but integration of passion, obsession and infatuation that makes the wide open Techno Campus the most livable space in the whole round world.
Talking about infatuation? Well, I really cannot stop myself making a note of the various (of all shapes, sizes and colours) lovebirds “propping up” (it really baffles me that the combinations do not change over the period of time, i.e., in spite of the numerous options available to the lucky CETians).
Let’s leave them alone and get back to business. CetB does not only provide technically strong engineers but as a craftsman polishing the gems before sending them out to the market, CetB makes the future corporate bigwigs or the technocrats of tomorrow the roundest of all personalities available in the market. The qualities that the Techno Campus promotes in its students include Adaptability (check out my next article), Compassion and above all Emotional Intelligence.

ADAPTABILITY

The foremost survival instinct


‘The best laid schemes o’ mice and men often go astray’
– Robert Burns


The modern day world is full of changes, occurring on every nook’n’corner of one’s life. Well, I know one constant that is here to stay for quite sometime now. Change. It is the only constant worth constanting that you’ll find today, be it the workplace, the social circuit or even in our own personal lives.



I can but only make a small recount of the various changes afflicting our lives. Whenever we talk about changes the foremost thing coming to our minds is the changes taking place in our surroundings. These changes make us feel awkward and alienate us from the surrounding, which is exactly opposite of what we must do. We must, in fact, harmonize ourselves with those surroundings and gel-it-up completely.
Other very-difficult-to-handle changes, which sometimes rock us from our ground, are the changes occurring in the situations we are placed in. People, sometimes get so uncomfortable with these changes that they encounter amygdala hijack—taking over of our primitive senses, which take us to fight or flight.
Some other peculiar changes in which we are most likely to err are the problems of scarcity as well as plenty. The latter being the more complex, yet more easily taken. People can control themselves in’n’durin the adversities as well as crises but the problem of having more than anticipated and required make us loose control of ourselves and we lose.
Relationships often go berserk on one person getting a toehold at the wrong place in another’s emotions. These are undoubtedly the results of the inability to recognize the changes that the relationship goes through (remember Saathiya??).



Now enough of descriptions.
We must
· Anticipate change,
· Adapt to change quickly,
· Enjoy change,
· Be ready to change quickly, again and again.


Whenever you get stuck in some tacky situation and cannot find a way out, laugh at yourself, say that “my cheese has just been moved “ and move with it.

The Emotions... Life to Live an Engineer

Youth

Power

Glory

relationships

Prapti - Achievement

Xtasy '06

::A collage of Life, Longings and Lots of fun...::

dhish, dhoom, dhaam

Break the Chains;
Let go!
Free your thoughts;
Much So!

Reason >>

You’ll not find

Beneath >>

It’s there, right

Together >>

Things will bind

Success >>

There’ll be bright

Bubbling confidence;
Unrivalled dare;
Enduring sustenance;
Through-the-wall stare;


:: A winner takes ‘em all ::

Revelations on XX

Satan's but a scrolled distortion

For the heart of the mind. Come see,

Matter of this world is an aberration,

It is, That is - Shall, Should & She.

That, what the Mahatma achiev'd,

And lo, now India Inc's the turner of the Table.

Of which, Dhirubhai made others feel peev'd.

The way of all Good and Able.

I find not Her, but still I crave.

Though I know, She's with my pave.

Little bit of Her is always there,

I'm out to find Her, breathless and bare.

The long and short of the story,
She is - Grit, Guts and Glory.

When Guys Are Smitten . . .Gals, BEWARE.

Everyone experiences a “heart-break” in one’s life.
Some people get it unasked for, whereas some people ask for the split-up. Whichever way the heart is broken; it is the responsibility of both that life goes on. It will, however, not be PC (politically correct) of me to say about gals, but all the guys in this world have got their hearts in for repair at some point in life. Rotate your eye-balls and you will find guys with their appliqué worked hearts showing off with the best of their witty jokes. The various cracks in their hearts never speak out, but beware; they are not going to fall for you again.
There, of course, are a few lucky ones, who have the privilege of having their partners with them. Ever ask them “Are you happy?” and get ready to get a reply “Happy or not, I’m very lucky.” Such is their state that they themselves do not know what is good for them and what not.
I have a problem. I just cannot see people trying to show that they can cling on to some single person as long as they live. How can they do that to themselves and to others?
I mean, will not they miss the eyes of Karishma, the lips of Neha, the voice of Koel, the smile of Nisha, the company of Sweta, the charisma of Ruchita, the figure of Nikita, the gait of Manisha, the power of Swagatika, the colours of Chitra, the form of Shaina, the charm of Abhipsa, the name of Mandakini, the fame of Sania, the …Huh, I hope you got the message, right. I can only say that when God made us, did he say that, we got to cling on to someone and make two lives HELL.
Well, ok, I agree you need a companion in the latter part of your lives, then friends make this your ultimate motto;

“Zindagi ek safar hai, is safar ka ek aakhri junction hota hai. Raaste mein kai chhote-chhote platform aate hain, chai–pani ke liye toh rukna hi padta hai na.”

Disclaimer: The names & characters stated above are fictional and bear no resemblance to any person; any such resemblance is purely coincidental.

The Engineering Herald - the CET annual magazine

::The front and back covers::

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

(As usual…? Not exactly.)

Once upon a time there was a Hare and a Tortoise. The hare was an arrogant, self-confident person who ran very hard and was proud to be the fastest in the jungle. Whereas the tortoise was a slow ,but deep thinking person who focused more on the “How” of a problem than the “What” of it. One day, while on a dispute the hare challenged the tortoise for a race, to which the tortoise hesitantly accepted.However, when the race started off the scenario was different. The hare being ahead by a few miles decided to rest under a tree. He slept it off and the tortoise being no less glad about it hurriedly passed him and won the race.

The moral: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral: " Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable."

The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way it can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. It thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral: “First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency."

The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

The moral: "It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.


Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership. Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.