After a long hiatus
Okay guys...I am back again. Well, it kind of feels funny to say "Guys I am back again" coz I really believe that no one really reads the blog apart from me. Ahh...Saurabh has been kind enough to go over some of my posts and had some kind words to say about it.
Hmm....now what do I write here? Where do I begin?...Its been ages since I wrote here and so much has happened in the meanwhile. My folks were here in US for a month long trip. Pity I had those summer courses, or I could have accompanied them to the west coast.
Okay...now the last two paragraphs were written in October...and right now its 10:45 PM, 28th November. So obviously, whatever I write now is going to seem disconnected. I must confess, I have been really lazy with blogging. Well, I think part of it is due to the procrastinator's creed that I religiously follow and partly because I don't have much of motivation for doing this.
It's not that I am "always" lazy. I do slog...only when there's something to be had in the end. I think the "carrot and stick" policy works perfectly for me. Even when I was a kid in school and then later in undergrad, I would slog only if I found that there would be some direct benefits of that. Now that's what I call "instant gratification"!! I do agree that this is not necessarily the most optimal way of doing things, (which is why I am an Electronics engineer and have no clue whatsoever of how a triode works) because, more often than not this attitude tends to be short sighted and you miss out on "learning". Now, I realise tha it's more important to focus on learning the material and having a "couldn't care less" attitude when it comes to grades. Maybe, if I had realised this sooner I could have derived more out of my undergrad and could have even become a VLSI engineer ( whatever that's supposed to mean ). If I have started rambling incoherrently here, and all that I am writing is making no sense whatsoever, (no, it's not because I have had a peg too much of Absolut) it's because my roomy is chatting on the phone with his girlfriend and I need some peace to write sense!!
Anyway, now all that stuff about hard work and motivation has got me fired up, so let me write about a very common misconception people generally have about one of the most widely qouted sayings from BhagavadGita. It's the concept of "Nish Kama Karma". I often hear people say that this means that one should work towards one's goals tirelessly, selflessly with single minded devotion without any expectation of reward. Now, that is not really what Lord Krishna meant. "Nish Kama Karma" says that one should not "think" about the outcome/reward at the end of the task we are doing, while we are at it.. It is only human to expect something at the end of our efforts, but what Lord Krishna implies in the saying is that if you think of the fruits of your labour while you are working on it, you get distracted from the task at hand and you end up giving less than your very best, which is evidently not desirable. Okay...that's enough of "gyaan" for today.
Disclaimer: I have not turned religious. I happen to know the quote because it was written on the verandah door of Room no.48, Hostel Block 1, VNIT where I spent a very eventful year of my life.
Now, let me wind up this post by telling you guys about this great book I read over the weekend. It's called "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon. It is a very beautiful book. The author has spent considerable time working with autistic children, and this book tries to show the mind of an autistic child. It shows how misinterpreted these children/people are. Most people think of them as stupid or retarded, but it is cerainly not so. You will understand it when you read the book. The book is written from the point of view of such a child. I would say it's a must read.
Last weekend was a long weekend coz it was thanksgiving....but that is another story and I'll write about that later. I have to sign off now coz its 11:38PM and I have to wake up at 6:30 AM and go to office!! ugggghhhhh...I hate early mornings!!
Hmm....now what do I write here? Where do I begin?...Its been ages since I wrote here and so much has happened in the meanwhile. My folks were here in US for a month long trip. Pity I had those summer courses, or I could have accompanied them to the west coast.
Okay...now the last two paragraphs were written in October...and right now its 10:45 PM, 28th November. So obviously, whatever I write now is going to seem disconnected. I must confess, I have been really lazy with blogging. Well, I think part of it is due to the procrastinator's creed that I religiously follow and partly because I don't have much of motivation for doing this.
It's not that I am "always" lazy. I do slog...only when there's something to be had in the end. I think the "carrot and stick" policy works perfectly for me. Even when I was a kid in school and then later in undergrad, I would slog only if I found that there would be some direct benefits of that. Now that's what I call "instant gratification"!! I do agree that this is not necessarily the most optimal way of doing things, (which is why I am an Electronics engineer and have no clue whatsoever of how a triode works) because, more often than not this attitude tends to be short sighted and you miss out on "learning". Now, I realise tha it's more important to focus on learning the material and having a "couldn't care less" attitude when it comes to grades. Maybe, if I had realised this sooner I could have derived more out of my undergrad and could have even become a VLSI engineer ( whatever that's supposed to mean ). If I have started rambling incoherrently here, and all that I am writing is making no sense whatsoever, (no, it's not because I have had a peg too much of Absolut) it's because my roomy is chatting on the phone with his girlfriend and I need some peace to write sense!!
Anyway, now all that stuff about hard work and motivation has got me fired up, so let me write about a very common misconception people generally have about one of the most widely qouted sayings from BhagavadGita. It's the concept of "Nish Kama Karma". I often hear people say that this means that one should work towards one's goals tirelessly, selflessly with single minded devotion without any expectation of reward. Now, that is not really what Lord Krishna meant. "Nish Kama Karma" says that one should not "think" about the outcome/reward at the end of the task we are doing, while we are at it.. It is only human to expect something at the end of our efforts, but what Lord Krishna implies in the saying is that if you think of the fruits of your labour while you are working on it, you get distracted from the task at hand and you end up giving less than your very best, which is evidently not desirable. Okay...that's enough of "gyaan" for today.
Disclaimer: I have not turned religious. I happen to know the quote because it was written on the verandah door of Room no.48, Hostel Block 1, VNIT where I spent a very eventful year of my life.
Now, let me wind up this post by telling you guys about this great book I read over the weekend. It's called "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon. It is a very beautiful book. The author has spent considerable time working with autistic children, and this book tries to show the mind of an autistic child. It shows how misinterpreted these children/people are. Most people think of them as stupid or retarded, but it is cerainly not so. You will understand it when you read the book. The book is written from the point of view of such a child. I would say it's a must read.
Last weekend was a long weekend coz it was thanksgiving....but that is another story and I'll write about that later. I have to sign off now coz its 11:38PM and I have to wake up at 6:30 AM and go to office!! ugggghhhhh...I hate early mornings!!
posted by uStaAd dEboO | 5:07 PM
|
0 comments
