Two is better than one.

There are at least two possible endings to every story.

When you travel across the United Arab Emirates, it is inevitable that you come across many wild camels strolling merrily in the intense heat. So I got down and got some pics of them nibbling on prickly bushes. While those were good moments in their own right, just when I thought I had got what I could from these two, they strike this pose. Almost coaxing me to take them. And so I did.

While it may not be the sharpest image I’ve taken, I am immensely proud of this picture, esp. since it was one of my earliest.
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Lonesome.

Sometimes it’s just a barren, depleted you and your shadow.

So I’ve been roaming around with a DSLR for about a year now and decided it might be time to put up some of them in the blog.
This is from a series of pics taken while on a road trip in the UAE, en route to Fujairah. This tree, devoid of any leaves and all on its lonesome struck my eye and I just had to capture it. It survives, in spite of the 50C temperature. Food for thought?

2014, AD.

2008 and 2010. Two significant years in my life. The former was fueled by my interest in Science and laid the path for my education in the same. The latter was the year I completed my schooling and secured admission into one of India’s best engineering colleges. Life changing events, for sure.

But why am I talking about this now? This is a post to remember 2014, not one to revel in yesteryear nostalgia! So, what did happen this year?
— — —

Just like the beginning of all my other year-end posts (2011, 2012, 2013 for those interested), this one too started off with my Birthday. And quite wonderfully, unlike any other b’day that I’ve had while in college, this time things were different. My awesome friends gave me a surprise party, bought me pizza  and one baked a cake for me and which was really sweet (no pun intended!). It was the last semester for my college group of friends and it was a birthday to remember 😀

And yes, that was followed by Saarang. This edition, the 4th for us, was more emotional than previous years, for the reason that it would be the last one with the whole gang. We didn’t participate in anything, we just absorbed the atmosphere (I still have one more Saarang to go, for which I am the head of Design on Jan 7th-11th 2014. Yes, that was publicity.)
All shows were attended, dances were done, laughs were had and hugs all around 🙂

Academically, the year was actually pretty decent, shockingly. 8th was extremely hectic but went by without being damaged. The highlight though, was the 9th semester. Why? One word: Placements.
And what an experience that was! All the pre-placement talks, all the nights spent reading math, mugging code that I don’t like or care about, enjoying word puzzles, soaking up data analytics and finance basics.. the stress was continuous and mounting. All we could and did hear, see and think throughout those 4 months were related to this. Quite mind-boggling when you think about it.

All that gave way to the great December, 2014. Placements began on the 1st and well, it was def one hell of a ride.
So many interviews, the panic, the very stupid lack of cell coverage, the eventual toughening up. so many lol moments (in hindsight!), the one lucky day, the one lucky interview, THAT one job and that re-leaf (had to be done, those who will understand, will understand).
And this was why the very first para was written on this post. 2014 is another hallmark year, the year of my first job 🙂

December did not end there though. On Christmas, 3 of my friends and I went to Mumbai and what a wonderful city it was! The food, the people, the places and the sheer size of the place, the perfect end to the year. I am looking forward to living and working there in 2015. 😀

— — —
Personally too, th eyear was a lot more stable. The year saw very very good friendships mature and flaky ones flaking away. I am really glad for having the support and love of my family and friends 😀

2015 will be a fresh start. The last year of my time here at IIT and the first at a new city. The future seems intimidating, frightening even. But as always, it is also always exciting.

Onwards we march and I wish everyone happiness and awesomeness. Here’s to our future 🙂

Happy New Year, folks! 🙂

Happiness.

There comes a time for everyone when we are not consumed by any life event. The boring, mundane plateaus bracketed by Himalayan highs and Mariana-esque lows which fills us with restless energy, not knowing where to focus our attention on. Most of us in the end, end up day-dreaming and introspecting. This is one such episode.

What is this happiness? Can it be measured? Is it the outcome of an event? If so, can we rank these events in order of happiness?
I believe happiness is based on our interests. An event which makes me happy, invariably could make someone else sad. (Take the case of winners and losers of any sport. One event, two opposite reactions.) Happiness, and the level of happiness is dependent on me and not the event as such.
This is a simple way to rule out the case of Objective Happiness.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who said that he believed happiness was an objective entity. It brings up the question: Is it possible to assign the happiest moment in your life? I have talked to a few people about this and most were unable to tell their happiest moment (except Mr. Objective Happiness) but were able to tell me their saddest moment quickly. This was interesting. In theory, since both are opposites of each other, if we don’t remember one, we ought to not remember the other. Apparently, that is not the case. Sadness and negative emotions are much strongly remembered, which led me to think: Can we think of happiness as the relative absence of ‘sadness’?

The problem with that approach is that there is no standard against which we can compare our happiness level. It would be insanely tough for instance to compare the birth of your child to getting your dream job (for example). Even events such as having lunch or went to school, which are trivial of many of us, may be a huge happy event for those who do not have access to it.
Everyone has their own priorities in life and unless you live in an idealized society where everyone is stripped off their innate emotions and replaced with a set code, such objectivity is simply not possible.

But what is the need for objectivity in emotions? As mentioned above, objectivity would just remove all human-ness in us. Machines are objective. The problem is that as we head deeper into modernity, somehow, we want things to be more standardised; more predictable. We are scared of surprises. We want the pleasant ones but are willing to sacrifice them to get fewer unpleasant ones. We prefer a mundane life, even though we keep talking about our life being mundane. Genuine laughs, innocent smiles have been supplanted by courtesy smiles and smirks. Risk-free is the norm, risk-takers are looked down upon.
We settle, we stop reaching.

Happiness is what you want it to be, it has no definition, it’s a feel. And this feel has become depressingly artificial over time. I envisage a world where there is more unpredictability and tolerance for the unpredictable. There’s no use in holding back just bacuse something is risky. As they say in business, “Higher the risk, higher the return”.
Sure it could result in some hard times and disappointment, sure there might be huge backlash; but the moment you fight and succeed, the moment when you reap your reward, that is simply priceless.
That is Happiness.

— — —
@sreesquared
facebook.com/DoWMblog

 

2013, AD.

With another blink of an eye, the year comes to a close. And just like every other year you can’t help but wonder, “Man, this year just went faster than the last!”

As is tradition, just like 2011 and 2012, I was asked to write up the year-end post for 2013. And I sat and wondered, “What only did I do this year?!”
— — —

Well, the year started off, just like all others, with my Birthday, which after a very long time was not during school/college days.  So instead of the usual b’day bumps, the day was spent at Mahabs. What better way to spend your birthday than to be at the beach? 😀

Then came Saarang, the second highlight of January. Unlike last year, I didn’t go to too many fests this year. Not too sure why. Saarang was as it always was, fun with people you know and love. Highlights would be winning 2nd (again!) in the Treasure Hunt, the Sunburn EDM Night which was introduced last year and beginning of various conversation topics that would continue all through the year.

That gave way to a week of the sniffles. Why is that relevant? Because I passed out due to an epic allergic reaction to an antibiotic given. No, not a pretty way to end the most racy month of the year, but hey, it’s an experience! 😀

Summer was spent at the ever-awesome, super cool Dubai. Back to the homeland, back home. 2 months there was filled with fun, food and well, work. The 6 week internship at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was quite an eye-opener, quite a lot loved and learnt. And many friends as well. Which opened the way for me writing as a tech columnist for MindThis, an e-magazine.
And along the way, the gang stumbled into a love for psychology and the MBTI and ever since, we have not had any discussion without people’s personality types coming into the discussion. Which also brings into focus the very active WhatsApp groups that keep talking various topics, sometimes even plotting and scheming. Perfect summer! 😀
2 weeks of winter was spent at Bahrain, which in comparison was very tame. Still, another new place added to the list, which is always a plus.

On the writing front, mainly one short story was written and the response was generally in the positive. Read a lot more than last year and in all probability, 2014 will see the completion of the umpteen unfinished works in the Google Drive.

The two semesters went in contrasting fashions so I’d say a neutral end to an academic year, which is not as bad as it seems. The year was filled with a few treats to places more ‘exotic’ than the usual Ascendas and the now closed down Basera.
The 4th year was the beginning of the end of a long saga.  The odd semester was majorly filled with all the final years’ tensed about the all important placements. Everywhere, the discussion was how to tackle interviews, which company is better, what they want to do, what they don’t want to do, whether to wear the lucky yellow tie or that coat for a profession feel.
And I’m glad everyone finally did get a good job after all those sleepless nights. 2014 will see quite a few of my friends moving on towards their future. Bleddy they are going to WORK ! Seems too funny to be true. These guys, with all the eccentricities are going to be working men. Time, off it flies! And I’ll be doing all this next year.
— — —

2014 will be a huge year. Just like 2009, a year to prepare for a transition. Many decisions to make, many more things to learn, many more people to get to know and perhaps a few to bid adieu to.
“So what only did I do this year?” Well, if not in quantity, it was a quality year. And that is quite enough for me.
2013 ends with the beat in the up and here’s to a kickass 2014.

Happy New Year, folks! 🙂

From a Window Seat.

Dubai.
Silver wings dazzling under the golden sun. Hundreds watch, enraptured by the flying machine’s allure. A hundred more wait inside, first timers chanting with prayer beads, the experienced fast asleep. It moves. Its lethargic start beguiles open-eyed onlookers. Black rubber pushes back ash tarmac at an ever-increasing pace. Buildings begin to blur into each other, each pebble sending considerable shock waves. You feel a sudden plunge in your stomach; the engine groans against the strain.

Lift-Off.
As the desert land slips away beneath you, you see your altitude on the screen; your heart rate syncs with the ascent. You see the horizon sloping down, dwarfing the dominating cityscape you know and love, giving way to untamed rocky terrain. Flying low, brown peaks are seen amidst the raging sandstorm, the land easing into miles upon miles of hot sand. In a blink of an eye, this rippling stretch of sand blends seamlessly into deep rippling water. The vast golden land meets the wide blue sea.

I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds. – Mike Tyson

No longer flying low, you see white wisps just above you. A moment later, you are above them; towering over the clouds you once dreamed of reaching. Bright blue as far as the eye can see. Hills of bulbous cumulonimbus tower over plateaus of dark stratus clouds. As you ascend, you see vast plains of white and the islands of blue rising and falling in this albescent expanse.

The sun sets; the sky is filled with a profusion of dark hues. Another timezone, gradients of blue separated by a line of orange. Tenebrous clouds rumble as they merge into each other; the captain informs of mild turbulence. The Royce cuts through the clouds nonchalantly, humming a sustained tune to itself, ignorant of the swirling storm outside. You look down to see multitudes of green cutting into swaths of sea.

India.
Over the next hour; the altitude steadily but slowly decreasing, all you see are the lights and lamps of India from inside. Soon you glimpse a lighthouse and the iconic long stretch of the Marina. You realise ecstatically that you’ve reached your destination. Seeking clearance to land, you circle the great waters of the Marina, spotting boats and ships floating placidly on the Bay of Bengal. Within minutes, you rapidly descend; your heart-rate rises once again when you recollect that most accidents happen while landing. You hold your breath when the tires screech on impact, massive brakes working to slow your rapid pace. The Royce groans one last time before it says goodbye. The captain confirms the successful landing. Seconds later, you’re parked and everyone gets up frenetically to get their luggage. Air hostesses smile and everyone departs single file.
Life goes on.

Arrival. Chennai.

Onwards

Relentless in its pace.
Ruthless in its execution.
Reckless in its being.
Oblivious; it moves on.
Onwards.

Boundless in its excesses.
Thoughtless in its retribution.
Ageless in its experiences.
Regal, it moves on.
Onwards.

Tireless in its patience.
Mindless in its hate.
Endless in its love.
Impartial, it moves on.
Onwards.

However merciless it may be,
We all must live through.
Many crumble; some live on,
Live on for name or shame.
Regardless, the wheels turn.
Match its flow, if you can,
For, unchained, life moves on.
Onwards.

~Sreedeep Sreekanth

— — —
A scribble while on a flight from Chennai to Dubai.

2012, AD.

End of the year. Actually feels like just yesterday I had written the end-of-year post for 2011!
To be frank, event wise, 2012 was pretty much just like ’11.

The year began horrendously, with me getting food poisoning on Jan 1st. That subsided and the 4th semester began.

Birthday:
In complete contrast to the year before, 2012’s birthday was surprisingly tame. The night was spent with college mates; paying cards on Alakananda hostel’s terrace, reminiscing all the memories of the past year, mocking each other and their stupidity, taking random pictures and attending a dozen phone calls.
Yes there were the bumps, but I was able to sit the next day!
A good birthday with close friends. Guess that’s all you really need 🙂
And yes, the treat was put at Ascendas by Sanky, Suji, Gopa and I (I guess there were more. I really lost count of the people who came actually 😛 )

Fests:
Saarang, Kurukshetra, Techofes, Orbitce and JIF.
Attendance were put in all these fests and sorry folks, but Saarang trumped them all bigtime. While K! tried to match upto the awesomeness of Shaastra (or maybe even Pragyan), Techofes was a bag of hot air. They even had Saarang’s logo in one of their stands 😀
Orbitce was chumma timepass visit. So was JIF. Time well spent though, I’d say. 😀
Saarang was the highlight. As one friend rightly said, “Dude Saarang! Candy for the heart, mind, soul, tongue and eyes :D”
The Iduppu Dance Troupe (us :P) moved to the fast beats of Vishal-Shekhar and DSP. Choreo wasn’t as eventful as last year. Met many people, old and new. Won 2nd in Treasure Hunt and my team won the paintball battle.
True, not as fiery as 2011. Oh well.

Holidays:
First was in March. A trip to Bangalore, Mysore and Madikeri with Sanky, Arithy, Arun and Nawin. Orey the gujaals only. B’lore was mainly spent with mall roaming and window shopping, mostly ‘cos we had only about half a day and ‘cos we basically had no cash. 😛
Madikeri is a quaint hill station, right before Coorg. Trekking, boating, rafting.. all the usuals were done.
Mysore Zoo was visited. And return to Chennai was put off.
Fast-track to July and the Long trip to North India happened. Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Shimla and Manali. FANTABULOUS only. Highlight was white-water rafting in the rapid waters of the Satluj. 😀
December saw me temple-hopping across Kerala and relaxing in Kanyakumari. It’d say good end to the year.
Oh yes. There was this Tirupati trip that happened after North India. Horrible experience. Plus they made me shave off my hair. -_-

— — —
Doomsday happened. Well, nothing happened really. The Mayans must be chortling their heads off looking at the stupidity of their descendants.
Dravid retired from Intl’ cricket and Sachin retired from ODIs. Ponting and Hussey retire from Intl’ cricket. Sad year for the 90s fans. 😦
Man. City manages to defeat QPR 3-2 and wins the PL championship after 44 years.
12/12/12 and Rajni’s B’day. The tribute was put.
The year will end with the ongoing protests regd.  #DelhiGangRape which became viral and caused the nation’s citizens to fight hard for the rights of women.
Satyamev Jayate, and all that.

Nothing else really  happened this year, personally.
2 sems went by. One meh and next pretty decent.
One internship at Ashok-Leyland was put.
More TV shows were downloaded and seen, as usual at epic episode rates.
Short films were taken, none as major as the one that was released in Jan (NNUA).
The blog is going well, this would be my 64th post once published.
A year when I wrote a more stories and poems than before. A year when I made friends with some awesome bloggers and writers from across India.
Ties with friends were re-knotted. Some made tighter, some loosened up while a couple of them snapped hard. Yes, as usual, the lows of the year would be that.
— — —

A good friend asked me few days back. “How was 2012 for you?” I replied saying that it was a mixed year, just like any other year. I was asked if I learnt something this year. “I haven’t thought about it” I said.
Now what did I learn? “Nothing is permanent”. Sooner we realize that, the awesomer we become. 🙂

Onwards to 2013. 🙂
— — —

Quick fact: 2013 is the first year since 1987 to have different digits. Yes, 26 years.
PS: No, I do not make resolutions. Ask me that, you get the standard reply. “Yes. My resolution is 1080p”.

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Satyamev Jayate.

This is an article that was published in the online emag, Pulse72+. You can catch the whole magazine, here –> Issue 09. This article, is there on page 10 🙂
— — —
(Warning: This may offend a few. Also, this was written after the 2nd episode.)
About two weeks ago, something huge happened in Indian Television. No, it wasn’t another show where 10 people sing and 3 people criticize them. This was quite different. Here was a show that dared to confront issues in our society that were considered as ‘taboos’ in

Aamir in SMJ

our deeply conservative Indian households. And yes, it had another popular Bollywood star at its helm, Aamir Khan to shine the light for us.

On 6 May 2012, the first episode of Satyamev Jayate was aired all over our beloved country. And it shocked everyone to their cores.
Over the past two weeks, it touched upon issues like Sex-selective foeticide and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). The show discusses these issues, shows statistics and asks us, fellow Indians to come together and rally against these evils. Sounds good? Perhaps not as much as we think it would.

At the outset, I’d like to point out that I am a huge Aamir fan and that I respect him for what he is trying to do. The show is certainly a paradigm shift from what we usually see, opting to take the bold (and noble) path of awareness over mindless entertainment. If a conservative South Indian joint family actually openly discusses such topics in their households, the show has definitely done something revolutionary, to open our eyes and broaden our senses.

But what else good will come from all this, and how will it come? Frankly, I guess that is something we don’t ponder about much! We are, as a nation, sorely deprived of proper role-models and even the mere hope that someone, someone as great as Aamir is doing something worthwhile is enough to satisfy our messy conscience.

It’s quite amusing that many believe that just by watching the show and see all these evils being mentioned, they all will magically disappear and thus make us ‘morally superior’ in some way.
The show has become the beacon of change with Aamir holding the beacon. We have become so disgusted of our social/political representatives, when someone like Aamir comes along with seemingly no personal agenda, using his uber-influence for more than just a First-class ticket in IPL matches, we all end up looking up to him.
We all have shared and tweeted about SMJ, defending it and vowing to hate people to speak against it, I wonder how that would really help the cause.

An interview

Here’s something else that worries me. It seems most of us are just happy we’re all making a noise regarding issues we all hate.
So far, the topics taken up are those are do not have conflicted views. Both Foeticide and CSA are evils that are firmly branded as ‘Bad’ in our society, something that we all would abhor doing. So it’s quite easy to send that sms ‘Y’, without even having any real thought behind it. But if the show takes up a conflicted topic, one like Caste-based discrimination? Such a topic would really expose how scarred our society is, how divided we really are. The current univocity would then be quite shattered. Would we then given him the wholehearted support that we give now, even if that means going against our own sensibilities? That remains to be seen.

As an endnote, I’d like to say that this show would never reach its self-imposed goal unless there are real legal changes brought about to tackle these issues head-on. Facts and their inferences should translate into laws. And for that, we, the people should show our anger, more fervently.
It’d be sad if the aftermath of the previous episode gets washed out by the impact of the new. The fire must become an inferno and go forth. For, that is what a social revolution should be.

— — —
@sreesquared
facebook.com/DoWMblog 

A New Look.

Sometimes in life, you need someone or something to inspire you to do something new. And other-times, a change in surroundings is all that’s need to change your perspective of life and its vagaries.

In a few days now, it’ll be a year since I first  tryst with Digital Design (Yes. It sounds pseud. Not so much really :D)
My first real project was to change the look of the blog, changing it from the drab one that comes with WordPress to one based on this:

What it basically is, is two planets/celestial bodies colliding with each other, and the resulting explosion caused due to the same.
At the time, I felt it was significant with the name of the blog, the resultant chaos and debris from such an explosion being related to a Wild Mind.  Actually, I still feel the same 🙂
A matching background was also designed, cloud renders and stars included, all matching quite well with the overall theme. (Mystique it was)
2011 was a year I was obsessed with anything dark. It wasn’t a very optimistic year either, thus making the dark and dramatic theme perhaps apt.

Now a year later, after a conversation I had with a friend over in twitter, I felt it was time for a change in layout.
And so I changed it to ‘Splendio‘. Now the problem was, the bg and banner no longer suited the blog (pointed out by @Fullthrottle999)

The sun. In all it’s fiery glory.

And thus, the design you see now was born. A New Look. For I guess it’s time for some optimism is all our lives. Bright colours are quite synonymous with Optimism, I have heard.
And so, the bg had to be sky blue with borders of orange, matching the blue/orange of the layout. And yes, you can see my love for cloud renders again! 🙂

Such a design could never be complete without a Sun somewhere there.  The shining beacon of optimism was placed to the left of the banner, which almost seamlessly blended with the bg (if you don’t scroll down).

So yeah. Out with the old, and in with the new, as they always say 🙂

— — —

@sreesquared
facebook.com/DoWMblog 

PS: Just like writing is a passion, design is another one of my passions, albeit a relatively new one. I feel that together, they can change the world. Just need to figure out how though 🙂