The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

That was what Robert Frost said. Though it is a commonly quoted line, I wonder how many people seriously think about the meaning of it. We have seen from childhood the urge to build a career and the concept that engineering and medicals are the main two ways to go about it. I have grown up with a bit more liberal environment, which very graciously even accepted some of the courses as worth graduating in, like math, physics, economics, English. But that is mostly the extent of the less traveled roads that students try taking. In some other places, there’s no life outside medical or engineering. Any other profession is not worth a career.

There are a lot of reasons for this mindset, one of the greatest ones being the fact that the population and the competition faced due to that population is too much to take anything lightly. Anything which is not the most common path, have some risks involved with worthwhile returns. When people are fighting for daily food, how can someone ask them to take risks? They know some paths have guaranteed income, and its safe to follow those.

But again, by doing this, people lose out on their dreams, their wishes. And after that is over, life is a mechanical way to exist. It’s not living. I have seen students being forced to study engineering, when they are extremely talented in say art, or music. How many people can you find who will encourage something apart from studies to form a career in? Just keep the talents and things you most like to do for a hobby and work on something you have medium interest in. Here you need to compete with people who are really interested in the topic which you care nothing about. So of course you are at a losing end, because your strengths are not being utilized to the utmost and you are spending all energy on something else.

What is the way around it? We should learn to widen our vision, to feel that not getting into medical or engineering is not the end of the world. And not pressurize everyone into following the same streams. We should learn to appreciate the different careers possible in today’s world. Money is not everything is it? Money will come after success and satisfaction. But we need to look for those first in paths less travelled. Else how will there be a “difference” in the way Robert Frost had felt?The world is beautiful, go out and explore... :)

Rain drops keep falling on my head

I do love the Forest Gump song -

Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'

But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me

Rains - they bring a lot to the mind...

Rains, bring to mind soothing respite from scorching heat.

Rains bring to mind a cup of some hot drink, and a snuggle inside a blanket, if that is what seems comfortable.

Rains bring to mind, times spent indoors with friends, chatting all the way, nothing else to do. Teasing each other, having fun, laughing....

Rains bring to mind nice times, quality times spent alone. Times where you feel like listening to music, and feeling one with that, The whole world is immersed in that music.

Rains bring to mind, splashing waters around, umbrellas not enough to protect, and finally doing away with the umbrellas, and playing around in the rain!

Rains bring to mind, some mad antics in the hostel! More so the first rains after summer.. :-) Some laughter, some fun...

Rains bring to mind, days spent with family at home, no one able to go for work due to heavy rains. A day of vacation - one unexpected, making it all the more precious.

Rains bring to mind, nights with the continuous sound of pouring. Everything else silent, velvety dark. Trying to study before an exam, but distracted by the continuous outpour.

Rains bring a lot to mind, most are happy memories. But somehow rains also make me feel melancholy. A wish to go back, a wish to retrieve some memories, a wish to talk to some close friends. Or might be, not even talk, just cherish the silence of the friends.

But then, without rains, you wouldn't get the raindrops sparkling on the leaves in the sun, nor would you get the magnificent rainbow! So I still would wish for rains, because though its sad at times, it helps cherish old memories, things which you dont remember in the mundane course of life... :)

What does rain bring to your mind?

Have you observed something nice today?

People generally get fed up with their mundane lives, and long for something new, somewhere new. But most often they do not realize that what they are searching for is quite near them, if only they had the eyes to look for it. There is a small 8 lined poem by Rabindranath Tagore which states

“After travelling a long distance, for a long time, seeing a lot of countries, having spent  a lot in the process, I have gone to see the mountains, I have gone to see the sea. But what I haven’t seen, 2 steps from my home, one drop of dew on one leaf of grass”

For people who can understand here’s the Bengali version

“Bahu din dhore,bahu crosh dure

Bahu baye kori, bahu desh ghure,

Dekhite giyachi porbotmala,

Dekhite giyachi shindhu

Dakha hoe nai chokkhu melia

Ghor hote shudhu dui pa felia

Ekti dhaner shisher upor

Ekti shishir bindu”

 

 

I appreciate this thought. Really how many of us notice the feeling of serenity that a blue sky brings us? Or does anyone try to feel the happiness on seeing a tree in bloom? All of us are generally becoming busier and busier day by day, and with the amount of work and the competition, we have been growing old immaturely. Stress and tension have been known to be the main reasons for that. But I feel, taking small moments off, might be 1 or 2 minutes a few times in the day, noticing something beautiful in nature, and feeling glad about it would help a lot about the mental well being of any person.

In college I used to feel a sense of homecoming on looking a tree with green waving leafs, looking as if it bowed down to welcome me back to my humble abode. Or as soon as I entered the gate, would get a glimpse of the blue sky with bright green leafs in contrast. Have you seen mall leafs emerging, soft and brown in colour, so vulnerable, at your mercy of you touch them, or as mentioned earlier, a drop of dew sparkling in the sunrays on a leaf of grass? Everything can bring a smile to the face, but only if we let it.

This is only about nature. Another thing which never fails to make me glad and thankful deep inside, is the fact that I have wonderful friends all around me, to share my happiness as well as sorrow if needed. So it is a choice each of us makes individually. Do we stay optimistic and smile with the sunshine, or do we grumble at the sun and heat? Do we create happiness for us and others by being like a prism giving rise to a rainbow, or do we become like dementors sucking joy and happiness from whoever we come in contact with? What would you prefer to do? 

A quick flick into the past.. :) :)

Nursery rhymes bring with them a pleasant sense, at least for me it does. Somehow it still makes me feel good to recite nursery rhymes sometimes just for fun. But how many nursery rhymes do we remember? These are a few I do remember:
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
When the blazing sun is gone
When the moon just shines upon
Then you show your little light
Twinkle twinkle all the night.

Baa baa black sheep have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
One for my master, one for my dame
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been
I have been to London to see the queen
Pussy cat, pussy cat what did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.

Little Miss muffet, she sat in her tuffet,
Eating her curd and rye,
There came a big spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss muffet away.

Peter peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear
The king of Spain’s daughter came to visit me
And all because of my little nut tree.

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Could not put humpty together again.

Hush a bye baby on the treetop
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby cradle and all

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock.

Jack and jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down, and broke his crown
And jill came tumbling after.

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns
One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns
If your daughter don’t like it, take it for your sons
One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns.

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot 9 days old
Some like it hot, some like it cold
Some like it in the pot 9 days old.

Diddle diddle dumpling my son john
He went to bed with his trousers on
One shoe off and the other shoe on
Diddle diddle dumpling my son john.

Just try remembering the ones you had learnt as a child, I assure, it will be fun... :) :) :) And please remind me the ones I have forgotten??

Examination - a necessary evil?

In the dialogue of our infamous professor, I. R. Rao, examination is the bane of education. He agrees it is an evil, but also agrees it is necessary!! So he doesnt ever abstain from taking tests, on the contrary takes surprise ones! :(

But apart from that, seriously, what do exams signify exactly? We learn something, we write in exams, and get marks accordingly. But how much of that knowledge or information do we actually retain a few days or even hours after the exam? Isnt most of it rote learning? Is it actually helpful to a student? I personally feel practicals are a much better way of learning than taking exams. On trying to do a practical experiment, if the theory is not known, then it needs to be known properly before the experiment can be attempted, and the concepts become much clearer after the completion of the experiment. And as something is applied, the concepts truly become knowledge, they dont stay just as topics learnt to be forgotten. Isnt a practical work much more important than a marks in a subject? Does a marks really carry information about who knows the subject better? Most of the times, preparation for exams entails mugging up lots of information, that will be freely available in actual life. So the grading is based on something which is totally unnecessary. What is the meaning of such a grading system? Knowledge is when information can be applied to a practical problem to solve it. But how many exams truly test that? And is it possible to test it?

If this is a wrong way for evaluation, then what is the right way? Is it possible to check everyone's knowledge by making them apply it practically? If it can somehow be made feasible, maybe it will actually be the evaluation of a person's ability, better than now. And also in that way, lots of other things along with the knowledge will be tested, the way in which the person approaches a problem, his creativity in combining the known knowledge with the uniqueness of every individual. Along with that the dedication and perseverance of the individual will also be known. Isnt this form of exam much better than the one followed at present and cant this somehow be implemented, if not on a very large scale, at least on a small scale?

Maturity

One of my aunt's friends once gifted her a book, with the following passage written in front of it:

On Maturity

The things you learn on maturity aren't simple things like acquiring information and such. You learn not to burn energy in anxiety. You learn not to engage in self-destructive behaviour. You discover how to manage your tensions. You learn that self pity and resentment are among the most toxic of drugs.

You find that the world loves talent but rewards character. You come to understand that most people are not for you or against you, they are simply thinking of themselves.

You learn that no matter how hard you try, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling, and then really quite relaxing.

- John Gardner

This I liked a lot when I had read it first, and now when I read it again, this made me think. What is actually maturity? Learning how to conduct yourself in society? How to talk to people and handle situations peacefully? Not only that, the last sentence is also very important. Everyone wants to be liked by people, but its not possible that every single person in the world will like someone, so that needs to be accepted. If someone cannot accept it, it doesnt allow one to stay in peace.

Another point which I feel, everyone should accept is that every single person will not approve of something you do. You will face criticism or you may hear something bad being said behind your back for something you have done. All of this cannot be taken into consideration. If you feel you are correct according to your knowledge, and the few people you know, who wont lie to you just to satisfy, are in support of you, then you should go ahead, do whatever your heart tells you. And not bother about the criticisms you hear. If you are correct, everyone will come to understand at some point of time. And if you are not? Well then you will learn a lesson, and not ever repeat it. But you cannot always hold yourself back from doing something, being afraid of "what people think". Thats the worst of all fears. Risks always have to be taken, roads less travelled by have to be traversed, else what will be the challenge in life?

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry: The famous duo, the cat and the mouse, the forever enemies!! :)
I am an ardent lover of Tom and Jerry. The pair and what all they succeed in doing is hilarious. I shudder to think what would have happened if a cat and mouse like Tom and Jerry really stayed in a house. :) I heard one of my friend's saying that she had a mouse in her house which likes to eat particular brands of soaps like Glycerin soap, but not Dettol soap!!! I found that it reminds me of Jerry..Thankfully, there's no cat resembling Tom nearby.. :)
Tom and Jerru break ceilings, walls crash down around them, and the whole house gets blasted except the part where Jerry is staying, and still they survive, happily play around, and chase each other. They bring out the truth of the statement, 9 lives of the cat. And Jerry is too naughty. Even if Tom is serenely lying down, Jerry is not at peace. He doesnt feel satsified until there is a scuffle going on and he is running around with Tom behind him, ready to pounce on him, and gobble him either uncooked or roasted!! In a few of the episodes, some baby birds or elephants, and in one of the episodes, one lion comes in. The episodes with the birds are also brilliant, the baby bird keeps on talking talking talking.. :) oblivious to the danger Tom presents to him, and Jerry is hell bent on saving him!! :)
And there are a few rare episodes where Tom and Jerry are friends for a part of the time. But then again how can there be a Tom and Jerry episode without a fight and flight part in it?
As long as you keep watching, they will never get old, you will never get bored!!
Long live Tom and Jerry!!! :) :)