Day 15

January 18,2010
06:32 P.M.
Monday.

Heyy everybody....I'm back on the blogger with another post and that too within a week....now that indicates the level of our 'foktaii' or idleness these days. Well as we all know days of comfort never last for too long as we had to resume our college from today. Usually during holidays or at time of our GT's I used to develop a habit of getting up late in morning....rather I should say getting up early in noon....and even after awaking I take a long time to regain my consciousness. But today, it was all different. Noticing my pace....mom inquired about my intentions and she was 'totally shocked' after learning that I am getting ready for college !!....let me quote her exact reaction which goes like "abhi se college ??....abhi to exam khatam huye dus din bhi nahi huye hain....collg abhi se khul gaye kya ??"....then it took me another half an hour to make her understand that in all other previous semester there was also no such thing like semester break....we use to take that break on our will and this time for a change we are not taking that huge break(although the inner me was aware of the fact that this was not for a change....this time our intentions were a bit different !!)

After that the time that we spent at college was also superb....I mean it was really awesome to see the faces of our respected faculties who were jolted after seeing us at the college in the very beginning of the session. It was fun to see the condition of faculties who were in a great dilemma after our traumatic appearance. Although the strength today was only thirteen but it was enough to compel them to move their butts to the classroom and take the lectures. The situation can be easily estimated by the instance that the time table which was in effect from the 11th of January was circulated to the concerned faculties after our appearance in the college. Well the most positive thing about the time table of this semester is all senior faculties are allotted to us this time time. Well I'm afraid that I'll be able to enjoy these moments for two days only because I have to leave for Mumbai on 20th.

Ahh....Mumbai....another excursion and I guess it will be the last one in my engineering tenure so I want to enjoy it completely. Here, I would like to tell you that I'm a touring freak. I love to visit different places, different cities, roam there, meet people of different cultures and know about them. Well the only reason for my this passion is the real incredibility of incredible India. India is said to be the land of cultures, religions and diversities. Geographically, it is distinguished by the rest of the Asia by the great Himalayan range and stretches upto the Indian Ocean in the south and from Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. Amidst these boundaries India virtually holds every imaginable landscape. An abundance of mountain ranges and that too in every region, rivers, national parks, forest etc provide copious opportunity for adventurous activities such as trekking, river rafting, camping etc that fascinates me the most. I have already been to many parts of this divine land but still there is a lot to discover about it. I would love to give you a glimpse of this splendiferous country but then this blog post will break all the records of lengths, but I promise to deliver that to you in next post.

Today, when I came back from the college in the evening I was traversing through the various channels on television and found something to be cherished about. The legendary song "Mile sur mera tumhara" is being re-picturised and i guess re-recorded also under the name "Fir mile sur" featuring Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Salman bhai and many others and whose launch is scheduled on the 26th of January thats Republic Day. I still remember when I was small and there was no flood of such commercial television channels the stand alone entertainer was Doordarshan. Although the telecast of each day always used to began with Vande-matram still the frequency of other patriotic and nationalistic songs immensely increases while approaching towards any such National Holiday. I hope almost all of us have at least listen it once....any way for the ones who haven't and for them who wants to hear it again I'm posting it here.

Now, this is a song which is self sufficient to project the unity among the different diversities in India whether be it region, religion, culture or just anything. In that promotional video for fir mile sur I found Salman Khan saying that this song is almost next to National Anthem for India which is not wrong in any sense. Well I'm very much eager to see the new version of this great song. On the closing note let me wish you a a very happy republic day in advance, as would not be able to go online from 20th to 27th of January, till then be good, do good and keep loving your nation !!

Long Live India
Ravi Sharma

Day 14

January 12, 2010
01:03 PM
Tuesday.

First of all to start with....A Very Happy New Year to all of you....may this year bring new heights of success for you and add new accolades in your life. A new year has just commenced...full of new hopes....new targets and not to forget new resolutions, leaving behind the memories of the old one. Lets hope this year will be peaceful, brighter and more prosperous for all of us.

Phew....again a huge break....again many excuses (though some are justified too)....but OMG !!....I forgot the first anniversary of my blog that was on 8th of January....oops I missed it....anyways belated Happy Birthday my blog. Well quickly coming to the main concern of today's post....how many of you know that 12th of January is celebrated as "National Youth Day" in India....and how many of you know that on whose birth anniversary this day is celebrated ??....If you don't know....don't worry you are still in majority !!

On 12th January, 1863 a boy named Narendranath Dutta was born in Calcutta which was then part of Bengal Presidency of slave India, who later turned out to be a legend and was known as Swami Vivekananda to the whole world. The same Swami Vivekananda who changed the way the world look at India, the same Swami Vivekananda who showed a path of success and enlightenment to the Indian Youth. The one who taught the lessons of spirituality , self control and human service to the whole world. He was the chief disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and later established Ramakrishna Mission on his name.

Since birth Narendranath was more inclined towards spirituality and realization of god. While searching for a man who could directly demonstrate the reality of God, he came to Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and became his disciple. As a guru, Ramakrishna taught him Advaita Vedanta and that all religions are true, and service to man was the most effective worship of God. After the death of his Guru, Vivekananda became a wandering monk, touring the Indian subcontinent and getting a first-hand account of India's condition. He travelled through rail and road to different parts of the country and studied various cultures and literature. He also gained information about various religions being worshiped in India. He visited almost every part of India and in this continuation he lastly visited southern India. At Kanyakumari, the Swami meditated on the "last bit of Indian rock", famously known later as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial for three days. At Kanyakumari, Vivekananda had the "Vision of one India", also commonly called "The Kanyakumari resolve of 1892". He wrote,

"At Cape Camorin sitting in Mother Kumari's temple, sitting on the last bit of Indian rock - I hit upon a plan: We are so many sanyasis wandering about, and teaching the people metaphysics-it is all madness. Did not our Gurudeva used to say, `An empty stomach is no good for religion?' We as a nation have lost our individuality and that is the cause of all mischief in India. We have to raise the masses."

Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago to attend The Parliament of Religions. His journey to America took him through China, Japan, Canada and he arrived at Chicago in July 1893. But to his disappointment he learnt that no one without credentials from a bona fide organization would be accepted as a delegate. He came in contact with Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University. After inviting him to speak at Harvard and on learning of his not having credential to speak at the Parliament, Wright is quoted as having said, "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens." Wright then addressed a letter to the Chairman in charge of delegates writing, "Here is a man who is more learned than all of our learned professors put together."

The Parliament of Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago. On this day Vivekananda gave his first brief address. He represented India and Hinduism. Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and began his speech with, "Sisters and brothers of America!". To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. Dr. Barrows, the president of the Parliament said, "India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange-monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors." He attracted widespread attention in the press, which dubbed him as the "Cyclonic monk from India". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his strong, intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange was hardly less interesting than those earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical utterance he gave them." The New York Herald wrote, "Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation." The American newspapers reported Swami Vivekananda as "the greatest figure in the parliament of religions" and "the most popular and influential man in the parliament".

Swami Vivekananda not only helped to restore a sense of pride among Hindus over their religion but also enlightened the Indian Youth and provoked them to be thoughtful and be united. In many institutes, students have come together and formed organizations meant for promoting discussion of spiritual ideas and the practice of such high principles. Many of his quotes were responsible for this....some of them are :

• “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

• “We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”

• “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

• “The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”

There are many such quotes said by Swami Vivekananda which elucidated the thinking of many Natonal Leaders and inspired them. He will be remembered as a great spiritual leader and will be seen as a great idol for youths. Today's post is completely dedicated to this great man who is regarded as one of India's foremost nation-builders. To end with

"Arise, Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached"

Wishing you an enlightened year ahead,
Ravi Sharma

DAY 13

October 23, 2009
10:02 P.M.
Friday.


"Dinbhar kaam, nahin aaram....koi ye bataye kahaan jayein hum....!!"

These were the exact lines from the lyrics of a fantastic song filmed by the Design Programme, IIT Kanpur which were drifting in my psyche when I sat down to write a blog post today, after a huge break of more than two months. Ahh....two months !!...or you call it more than sixty days....and the most astonishing part is I really don't have any idea where I have lost these days. No Abhivyakti this year not even Raj or Patrika Garba, no tours, no excursions (except one that also to Bhojpur only)....gosh !!....where the hell is time slipping away ??

Then suddenly my conscious reminds me of different assignments that I am engaged with nowadays such as TOC Coaching (MWF : 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM), Java Coaching (MWF : 7 PM to 9 PM) ,T.I.M.E. (TTS : 7 PM to 9 PM) and another one DBMS, that is going to commence from tomorrow apart from college (where we seldom visit !!) which can certainly be used as excuses....but then when we look behind at our childhood....dint we have assignments, dint we have coaching and tuition, were we not burdened at that time ??

I think the answer is YES....we were...!!....and as a matter of fact we were much more saddled than what we are rightnow because at that time we don't have any choice but to get up early in morning (which most of us now doesn't) and get dressed up in a champu like school uniform wearing a ghonchu cut hairstyle to catch a prototype school bus to attend a marathon tour of education stretching over 6-7 hours that includes no bunks, no proxies....nothing (of which we are not compelled now). Then, after home coming there starts another dose of tortures in form of tuition and home works....but still I don't know how but we were all able to manage a decent time to play in evening(esp. cricket), to stroll all over the locality at dusk (called as 'Jansampark Abhiyaan' by my parents) and to gaze aimlessly at stars from the terrace at late nights.

So....the present situation is more or less the same it was at that time....then what is missing....what we people are lacking ??....Aren't we moving much faster ??....Don't you think that our childhood zest and enthusiasm is evaporating rapidly....or in short the child within us is being slowly poisoned ?? Is there any way to get out of it ??....of course, because where there is a will there is a way !! There are two essential tips to lead a happy life :

• Be Optimistic, Be Grateful : Always try to look for a positive side of everything and don't forget to thank God and every one else who have blessed your life with some thing or other....no matter how short the span be !!

• Slow Down and Experience : Slow down and enjoy life because it's not the scenery you miss by going too fast, you also miss the sense of where are you going and why !!

Take some time out for yourself, watch sunrise-take deep breaths, take photographs-capture life, play with kids, read comics, give yourself a lazy day atleast one in a month, gather with old friends, go for an excursion, watch cartoons (Tom & Jerry-childhood favorite), read inspiring quotes, feel the music don't just listen, just take a brush and paint something-be colorful, Browse your photo album for your treasured memories, do some crazy things, tease some one, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, dance in the pouring rain, tell someone what they mean to you, and smile until your face hurts because Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. Again on a closing note :

"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life, be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Live life so completely that when death comes to u like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal !! "

Wishing you a beautiful and a blessed life....ENJOY,
Ravi Sharma.


(PS: Here is the video of the song for you guys, with which i have started the post !!)

DAY 12

August 15, 2009
12:03 A.M.
Saturday.

Well nothing new for today...this article was written by me on the last Independence day, which due to some unfortunate reason was not published last year...so here it goes...of course with some modifications !!

Warm greets on 62nd anniversary of India's FREEDOM

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !!!

But, are we and our countrymen really happy ??

Are we and our fellow countrymen really free or independent ??

Let’s spare few seconds to figure out the basic problems and to chalk out the possible solutions...

Today, our nation is developing speedily, technology is improving extremely, living standard is uplifted considerably, India is leaving her mark in almost every field whether be it science, technology, agro-science, space or sports ...AGREED.

But is this all that we expect from our nation or I should say from ourselves ?? Do we have this much potential only ??

India, our pride is still manacled with evils such as poverty, illiteracy, reservation, corruption, unemployment, mismanagement, terrorism, extremism, regionalism and religious conflicts. Our population is increasing enormously so as our needs which is giving a boost to inflation, that is increasing day by day leaving us and unprivileged crowd helpless. Corruption, which is already acting as fatal rust in Indian administration system has stretched its legs in small public offices to big corporate sectors that could damage Indian economy anytime.

Where are such political leaders who were having their global impact ? What happened to Indian political and administration system ? What happened to Indian leaders who were ready to shred their lives for their country and fellow countrymen? And above all, where is the much praised INDIAN YOUTH ??

Indian youth, which was considered the most thoughtful, enlightened and dedicated group towards the nation; the youth which comprises of legends such as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Subash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda; what happened to it ?The only answer to all the problems of our country is AWAKENING OF INDIAN YOUTH.

Yes, my friend now it is time for me, for you and for all of us to think upon it. We will have to participate actively in all the matters of our country. Its time for us to REALISE the importance of FREEDOM, and the COST that our great freedom fighters paid for it.Come let’s take an oath together to make India a more prosper, more peaceful, more thoughtful, more successful, more enlighten, more literate or in all the best country to live in.

Wishing you independent thoughts, independent feelings...and above all an independent soul !!

JAI HIND !!

Ravi Sharma.

(Small but an integral part of INDIA)

DAY 11

August 2, 2009
09:59 A.M.
Sunday.


Sometimes I really wonder, why on Earth there exists some selfless souls who are always ready to extend unconditional support to you when you are in urgent need of it ??...such individuals who always loves to talk about our sorrows inspite of their felicity...such creatures who are allegedly called as ~Friends~ !!...and the next thing is I'm stabbed by an usual bunch of questions such as:

Who is a friend ??
What is friendship ??
Why do we need friends ??
and so on.....

Although, no human not even God can furnish the perfect definition of a friend or friendship...infact what I think is friendship can't be defined at all in words...it is a sensation whose warmth and comfort can only be felt. As soon as an individual is born he is blessed with many beautiful relationships such as mother, father, sister, brother...etc. But the one relation which is synthetically fabricated by human is FRIENDSHIP !!

It is a gift to the man kind...a blessing from the almighty !! The relation which we get in this world are blood related. But the only relationships which are not related to blood is friendship. Friendship is a gift that two people give to each other. It is not an expected result of meeting but a true and unanticipated gift of enormous potential.Where there is friendship then there is no space for any sorrow. When you see a child laughing you will forget your sorrows for a second, sameway when you are with a friend you forget your sorrows. It is a special bond that is created out of genuine affection and is given freely to those who have shown their truth. It is given without the thought of reward but with the essence of the heart which longs for this special connection.

Someone has truly said “True friendship is seen through the heart not through the eyes". True friends form a special connection that will weather any storm. True friends understand being human and give the other room to grow. True friends are there even when they are not expected to be present. True friends know and cherish each others soul. Friends makes our life livable and lovable.

In my life from the point I can remember, I have been blessed with many such friends who all have supported me immensely when I was down, when i was thrashed badly by fate...my friends were always there beside me to endorse me and provided me the strength to strike back. Here, i would like to take the privilege of this platform to thank my buddies for all their love, trust and everything and want to say that 'Life would be hell without you guys...thanks a lot for being with me...being my friend !!'.

KEEP LIFE ROCKING FELLAS !!

Wishing you all a VeRy HaPpY fRiEnDsHiP dAy...!!

Ravi Sharma.

DAY 10

May 24 , 2009
00:14 A.M.
Sunday.

Now, honestly speaking I have lost the right to confront any excuse for such irregularities on the blogger. You may not believe, but even i also desperately want to be regular on my blog...but many times i fell short of topics and rest of the times topics fell short of time.

Anyways, things are happening so fast...like life has been suddenly transferred to a super fast track from a sideline track. Winds of change have created havoc here in my life. It seems like I'm standing still, all alone and the whole world is continuously moving with the speed of light. Well I think that's the most quondam and the most prominent phenomenon of universe known as "CHANGE". We people come across these changes everyday...out of which most changes hardly matters to us but there are some which really matters a lot. Such drastic or sudden variation raise infinite number of questions over each and everything related to the root and the cause of that change and eventually we are deep lost in answering those question and figuring out where things went wrong for us. Presently I'm also observing many such changes in my surroundings unceasingly...changes which are affecting me and my life adversely...changes which are encircling me with many such questions, finding answers of which will make me loose myself...my IDENTITY !!

Sir Charles Darwin in his famous Theory of Evolution quoted that: "It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive or adaptable to CHANGE". Evolution is imperfect and often a violent process. A battle between what exists and what is yet to be born. Amidst these birth pains, morality loses its meaning, the question of good and evil reduced to one simple choice: survive or perish. So, this quote makes one thing very clear that in the struggle of survival the most important quality is RECEPTIVITY which is absolutely essential. But most of the times we people are not so open, so receptive to the changes. To survive in this world, we hold close to us those on whom we depend. We trust in them our hopes, our fears... But what happens when trust is lost? Where do we run, when things we believe in vanish before our eyes?...at that time we are not able to accept what is happening around us due to our mental weakness...our heart and sole refuses to adapt such changes. So is this a failure of human nature ??...a breakthrough point where he looses the battle of survival ??

YES...it is...as I think !! Being emotional, we loose our ability to acquire changes, to adapt variations. We stop challenging our nerves and blindly rely on the one whom we trust. We start rejecting the substantial things and have a disbelief on our eyes if what we saw is contradicting to what we want and what we were told about by our trusted one. But when we deny our instinct, and struggle against our deepest urges...uncertainty begins. Where does this path lead? When will the changes end? Is this transformation a gift... or a curse? And for those that fear what lies ahead... The most important question of all... Can we really change what we are?

This is a physical world ...everything here is so materialistic that you cant even think of. Here changes are so uneven, so drastic that one cant imagine. People, relations, thinking and anything that you can think of is prone to change even for small interests. We try our very best to be aware of such things, we study history...we develop patterns and we do what we can to understand them. To be ready for change, we steady our hearts, curb our fears, muster our forces, and look for signs in the stars. But these moments, these game changes, remain a mystery. Destiny's invisible hand, moving pieces on a chessboard. No matter how much we prepare for them - how much we resist the change, anticipate the moment, fight the inevitable outcome - in the end, we are never truly ready when it strikes.

I think this blog post is overdosed with some high level thoughts, so again its time for a CHANGE !! Bhopal is experiencing pathetic climatic changes nowadays, heat is taking hell out of our lives. Temperature has reached around 46 and the most ridiculous thing is that we were made to go college for continuous three weeks...still two more days to go...at least !!...Eagerly waiting for university to declare (rather I should use disclose) the time-table of exams so atleast plans could be formulated for post exams happenings !!

Read something very inspirational on BigB's blog...so presenting the same for you people:

Swami Vivekananda, among other things was a great football enthusiast ! What he said all those years ago still holds true.

“Life is the biggest game man has to play between the ultimate goalposts of birth and death. His dilemma stems from his decisions and relationships; whether he should steer the ball politically or emotionally, keeping control through his creative and artistic integrity. Winning or losing depends on how fairly he tackles the game. Because the rules are already set by the invisible Referee. All he needs to do is play his matches sincerely and without guile.”

Wishing you love and luck,

Ravi Sharma.

DAY 9

April 3, 2009
10:02 P.M.
Friday.

Excuses...excuses...and more excuses !!...this single word "EXCUSE" has occupied more space nowadays in my life...excuses for sleeping late, excuses for late mornings, excuses for not studying, excuses for late home comings...and again excuses for being so irregular on blogger !!

So here I am...back on my blog...again with many exculpation to justify this long absence which in any case is unjustified. To start with...recently ended up with the college's techno-cultural festival named as 'GECSPARK 1.0' which was a two day (self-proclaimed) mega event with participation from over 100 technical and 50 non-technical colleges (again the stats can vary drastically!!) across the nation !!

Many technical and cultural events took place under the title GECSPARK 1.0 like Elythril (Treasure-hunt), Technosolution (Robotics and Coding event), Techmonstrance (Technical paper presentation), Diazine Tasches (A foiled task game !! [:P]). Although some events were really successful like :

• Quizzstien : A quizzing extravaganza which saw the maximum participation in the whole festival. More than 100 teams participated in the preliminary round out of which 5 teams were selected for the final clash. The success of this event was already guaranteed as I was one of the coordinator of the event.

• Prahasan : It was the skit competition. This event might have not been that successful if i had not participated in the event. So again the credit is all mine !!

• Antkara : Antkara was the dance competition dedicated to our branchmate Abhi Langeh who unfortunately passed away in a road accident. The event was rocking as all the teams gave a tough fight to others.

• Color-o-mania : Another event which needs to be praised especially was Color-o-mania or the face painting competition. This competition also saw an unexpected response and was also a mega hit.

So this was the glimpse of the events that took place in the GECSPARK 1.0...so now lets wait for the next year and lets see what fun does GECSPARK 2.0 is going to offer ??

Apart from the tech-fest, the awaited semester result has also caught up my nerves...every single day passes with a fear that "beta kal to pakka aa hi jayega result !!". Lets hope the result will be fine for everyone of us...amin !!

Life is getting miserable here in Bhopal...mercury is rising at a considerable rate...April 1st never experienced a temperature of 39 degree Celsius in past 14 years...whole city is struggling with problem of water scarcity and its ill-distribution...massive campaigns have been launched to deepen the upper lake so that more rain water can be stored in the next rain season !!

Read something interesting today which you people may also find appreciable" There are only two people who can tell the truth about yourself...a friend who has lost his temper or an enemy who has started loving you !! ". If you feel this line have some matter...let me know in your comments.

Again to end, i have an fantastic thought for you people "Most of the thing that we desire are EXPENSIVE...but the truth is : the things which really satisfy us are absolutely free of cost such as Love, Joy, Laughter and Good relations...!!"

Wishing you a Happy Ramnavmi !!...and all that is beautiful !!

Ravi Sharma.