Things that Make Me Feel Old.

This is about nostalgia. Unhappy observations my past self makes though my present self is in love with the present too. Talk about living in denial.

What people mean when they talk of periods of creative boredom, I understand. It is during one of these times that it struck me that I am a complete nineteen years old and that this will be the last year that I get to say to people that I am nineteen years old; the last time I get to say that I am a teenager. So this post is a dedication to that, a tiny celebration of that one last teenage year and of everything before that.

Why Google is Like A Mother

A valid yet an invalid argument against cries for greater online data privacy.

A lot has been said about the amount of user data online giants like Google and Facebook collect and what they do with all of this data, in the recent past; or maybe its just me who’s heard of this “lot” being said in the recent past. Whatever may be the case; they’re watching. Everything, or at-least they get close to everything. Every click, every search query, every profile visit, every log-in, every link you click on, the website you’ve got open in the other tab, who you like, what you like; everything. And this data is powerful, the inferences one can draw from seemingly harmless data are shocking. And now a little story; from the book by Malcolm Gladwell (For those who’ve seen that name on this blog previously too- yes, I am a fan), Blink:

Why Responsibility?

A heartfelt call asking to be more proactive. 

Here is a story, slightly narcissistic but a story none-the-less. Back in school when it was suggested that I be the school captain and then I had been approached by the Principal; me- shy, pathetic and afraid, at first I had refused. Then she asked me why I refused, I had said that being captain, that leadership, wasn’t for me. Then she asked me how I could guarantee that I would not be President of the country someday; I had no reply. Not that I thought I ever stood the chance of being President but I was just silenced, my mind blanked. Well then, up against the wall, I agreed. Though at that time I thought that what had happened to me was not right, I think now that there was a moment I’ll always remember and in the best sense possible, I was glad it happened. The ways in which taking even tiny bits of responsibility help one become a better human beings is phenomenal.

Don’t prune the weeds.

One of the many “off-mainstream” reflections on the incident in Delhi.

To call rape a problem we have because of men is as silly and condemning as saying that terrorism is a problem we have because of Muslims. Natural selection chooses traits that increase reproductive success of the individual; some traits evolve as by-products of the original adaptation. But adaptations do not necessarily increase reproductive success in current environments if those environments differ significantly from past environments say biologist Randy Thornhill and anthropologist Craig T. Palmer, in their controversial book“A Natural History of Rape”. From a strictly evolutionary standpoint, rape could be blamed at a mans sexuality. On the other hand Susan Brownmiller talks of rape in her book “Against Our Will” an expression of male domination. In reality the reasons for rape could be many and varied. 

No crackers, a visitors account

An attempt at telling the story of a visit to the Parikrama Humanity Foundation, Bangalore. 

I was in Bangalore this December, it is a wonderful place and I am a lucky kid, so much so that a few of my friends hate me for it. But there are times when my luck absolutely peaks, exam times for the past year for instance. This time though it peaked when I was in Bangalore, I had the chance to visit an organisation by the name Parikrama Humanity Foundation, an organisation that works for the education and welfare of underprivileged children in Bangalore. Shukla Bose is the founder and head of this organisation. Parikrama has four centres, schools, across Bangalore and at present works for around 1200 children. Not too large a number given the number of children who do need organisations like Parikrama to help. But as Shukla mentions at TED Mysore the objective at Parikrama isn’t in numbers, it is that they aim to assist the child right from kindergarten till he/she completes graduation and is employed and then! not just the child, the troubled families that all these children come from are assisted too, for education does not begin and end at school. And it is to one of these four centres that I had the opportunity of visiting.

Are we whole?

On our overrated physical form.

A few weeks ago one of my friends introduced me to another friend of his, his hands weren’t well formed, he is crippled; The first thing I felt when I first saw him and before my friend recognized and greeted him was pity, then I wondered if it would be appropriate for me to stretch out my hand and shake his hand in greeting, then I felt guilty for having felt the way I did; he stretched out his hand as best as he could and shook my hand. I marvelled at how well my friend got along with this guy. I would have not done as well. My friend tells me how the guy we just met, among other things, is an excellent swimmer; I can hardly swim a few meters.  I marvel at his grit, he has a new fan. I begin to wonder if he is the one crippled.