Framing thoughts

Trying to make sense of the ideas that I have.

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Not trying, is failure.

That day when you were trekking through the valleys, there was a landslide and the cave’s mouth in which you sought shelter was blocked by a huge boulder without even letting through the slightest of sun rays… Life was at an end even though you were still breathing. Your hands automatically goes to feel your belt buckle. Instead of just sitting down there to die, you slowly start chipping at the boulder. What at first seemed to show no sign hope, suddenly starts to crumble under the knock of your buckle. It was neither your strength nor your technique. But God saw that you did not give up… He saw that you tried and he rewarded…

When you grow and get to know things from here and there, you start seeing bigger and bigger things ahead. Of course, what I’m about to write in this post won’t have the survival instinct to help you as in the boulder’s case, but still, my idea is to convey the fact that no matter how big a thing that you see in front of you, failure is the decision not to take a shot at it instead of taking a shot at it and not succeeding. Though I would highly recommend against taking a “shot” at a “big guy”. Let’s not misunderstand or misinterpret what I’m saying here.

Personally, what made me to start writing this post was the critiques that I received for writing my blog. As always, keeping the good comments aside, people have told me about certain posts of mine to be boring and to not even try writing like that. However, I was passionately trying to bring out something new. I was neither an expert nor a journeyman when it comes to writing. But that does not mean I can’t be one. And that definitely does not mean I should stop trying to be one. So I decided no matter what, I’m going to keep trying and someday, after long years to come, I’m sure all this will pay off.

In a different context, you have to try to impart whatever you know to others. Whatever little it maybe. If you genuinely feel that the knowledge you have has been helpful to you and will be helpful to others even without them knowing it at the moment, then unless you try to let them have it, you have failed. Of course, all the time when you try to do something of the sort, the comment that you get is “over aakalle!” (which basically means “don’t show off”). That is the part where you have two choices. One, don’t do it. That way your friends won’t make fun of you, no one will blame you and everything is in its normal way. Two, ignore the comment and do it. Help the ones you wish to. Those who comment are just jealous of the fact that they have neither the knowledge nor the passion to help others. However, mind you, sometimes this “helping others” can end up in you making a complete fool of yourself and at that time, those who commented will be at their peaks telling you, “Dude, didn’t I tell you earlier not to do it?” and they will be all wise advices and stuff. T-O-T-A-L C-R-A-P. Even though you will feel bad hearing that, what you should know is that you tried, they didn’t. That makes you a winner and them, a bunch of blabbering losers.

I do agree that exposing yourself in front of others really takes guts and anything and everything around us only makes us feel not to do it. About 95% we will feel to simply be in our comfort zone minding our own business. But trust me, it is the other 5% that counts. Even if you can’t directly help others, give them the chance to be helped by the ones who can help them. I believe in that and no matter what, I’ll hold true to it  no matter how successful or not I am.

So whatever huge things that you see in front of you, be it life’s challenges, subjects to study, open source projects to contribute to, GSoC, gaining knowledge, chip at it slowly with your belt buckle. God will help you.

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“It is hard to get you excited”

This post comes from the words of a person who has been a great inspiration for me. I think everyone reading this post will be familiar with the name of Pramode sir. An awesome teacher as well an awesome programmer, it really fills you with a certain energy each time you talk with him. And sadly, I believe that lack of interaction with people such as him is what the students are suffering nowadays.

One Saturday, a bunch of us students from NSS including me were attending his workshop on Python and embedded systems. You can find the details here. During the class, he in his friendly manner was chatting with us in the midst of which he made a statement that frightened me quite a bit. And that statement is the title of this post.

He reached the point of making this statement when he saw that after running a code that made an LED blink on the expeyes embedded device, we were all sitting as if nothing great had happened. And when he made the statement, it suddenly struck me that the curiousness of wanting to know things and the excitement of seeing something was really low for the students these days.

And the problem is that all of us are already tapped out of excitement! Just think of it. From our childhood days onwards (nowadays starting from when one is 3 years old), we’ve been continuously exposed to all sorts of excitement. And that has not been in learning but in watching TV, movies, mobile phones, songs, games, etc. A blinking light on a stupid board is nothing compared to what Neo does in Matrix as far as we’re concerned!

As for putting the blame on our parents for this, well, I won’t say it out loud for I can find a million other things that I have to be thankful for regarding my parents. One being them not having that attitude of “Harrrrrrrrrisss! You scored less markksss! WHAT HAPPENED!?”.

But now we have an option to make a change. The kids we see around us, our niece, nephews, neighbour’s kids, whoever it be, if you wish to make things right for them, then you really can prevent them from being exposed to a lot of trash instead of sitting there and saying, “Dude, the world is bad. Even if I prevent him, he will be exposed to everything from other people. So why bother? Its not practical…”. And you can make up a million excuses for ruining that kid’s life. But yeah.. Why should it concern you huh? Its not like you have assumed the responsibility of the world or anything.

So hear me those who wish to be responsible for living in this world, do not think of what others would do. Make sure you do your part right. That is, help the young ones to keep away from the TV, all the music. Talk with them, listen to all the childish things that they might have to say, make sure you control your tongue in front of them, make sure you don’t encourage and laugh when they say vulgar jokes..

I mean it really is fun to hear them say things that an adult would say, jokes that an adult would say. But the question is, is the ruining of their innocence and curious mind worth the amusement? Think about it. Start with your self.

Here is an inspiring song that I’ve heard to this effect. Its called “Man in the mirror” by Michael Jackson.

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Identity.

When was the last time you were lost in a moment of thought and said, “Man… Times sure have changed”?

Only too soon, I guess.

Let’s take some time here and see what we meant by that sentence, shall we?

I bet those words came out of you on beholding an improvement around you. Well, saying “improvement” might be wrong. Let’s call it a change for now and we’ll decide whether its an improvement or not after we are through discussing.

Now, what is the change that you saw? I bet that either it was something eccentric (which will not be the topic under discussion here) or something that doesn’t blend in with the surroundings. But here, since we are talking on, “times sure have changed”, the change that you felt is based on time. And as such, the ‘surrounding’ here are the times that we live in.

In short, something that is not related to the “times” has happened before you that triggered a feeling of change.

Now, what does “time” actually refer to? It can’t be anything that is going to happen since the future is unpredictable (in the sense, the when and where’s cannot be known). So it has to be something that has already happened.

What has already happened is the past. And we have witnessed a change that doesn’t blend with the past. But where has the past’s knowledge within us come form? From the heritage and traditions that we have been following throughout our life.

The ideology of whether those traditions are good or bad is debatable. But the point we are stressing upon is that those traditions are not practices that came in about a span of 10 to 20 years. Those were followed and practised over decades and maybe even centuries. As such, those who held true to those practices were known as those who held true to those practices. And to keep it short, they had an identity.

So summing up, it is when we see something contrary to our identities that we say, “Man, times sure have changed.” Now let us keep pushing the limit and see where this leads to.

What is the change that you saw? Was it something that was readily acceptable or was it something that made you uncomfortable with its existence in front of you? In which of the necessity, comfort, luxury categories does it come under?

Well, my GATE examination time is almost up and I have to cut this short. I hope I have been able to touch upon the point of what identity means and where it plays a role. I’ll be coming back with lots of thought on the questions asked at the end.

Sayonara!