Our Virtual Twins

Electronics and IT industries do not directly supply what the consumer desires. For them consumer is not always right. They manufacturer decides what a consumer 'needs' to fulfill his expressed 'desire'.  No one really demanded a smartphone, what was asked for better ways to be in touch with others. The smartphone was created to address the root of the desire to be connected.

Internet is a revolution in the history of mankind. (However trite that may sound, but who am I to deny) . Mozilla described it quite aptly as "more of a resource to be tended to than a mere a commodity to be sold"

Many people classify Internet and social networking on the web as commodities which are not 'needed' by humans. Yet everyone wants them because it is there and freely available. Many believe that social networking on the internet is not an inherent need of humans, but innovations and inventions in the internet have made man dependent on it and now he feels that he needs it. After all, we do know that mankind was doing just fine before the internet revolution, we had our social lives before facebook too which was more about going out and playing, or meeting people in person rather than in front of the computer screen. So a shool of thought does exist which believes that internet has just taken over lives and is not necessary for mankind if it wasnt there inthe first place at all.

But as hard as I may try to reason, I am not able to convince myself that we were meant to be purely "non-digitally social" creatures ( pardon my neologisms) and that our level of networking and information sharing before internet was sufficient for survival.

If we look at the people who grew up in the 70s and 80s, they are in no way as in touch with their high school or college mates as the generation which grew up in the 90s can expect to be. So, we can assume that they grew up in a world which was neither inundated by digital social networking nor subjected to an information overload about what is happening in the world or for that matter, what is happening in other peoples' personal lives. Hence this generation should be the one unaffected by the internet boom since they never knew such levels of internet social networking and our original hypothesis claims that humans can do just fine without the internet too. Still, milestones in the history of internet like Facebook, Google+, smartphones with messaging apps have impacted even the older generations and got them involved in this social network in a big way. This leads us to the proposition, that internet and the world becoming drastically smaller was bound to happen sooner or later. Why is it so?

Because internet and social networking sites cater to the basic biological instincts of human beings- the fact that man is a social animal and mankind will always subconciously  try to innovate to network further and bring each other even closer.

It is very natural to say that by the beginning of the 21st century, apart from the physical world, a second world - the digital world had established itself. This world has one virtual copy of all the physical world citizens(having internet access), and these online versions are independent. They even differ in their personality and behaviour from their real world couterparts. Just think of the number of online friends you have who you hardly talk to in the physical world, but both your online versions are really great buddies! Think of those of friends who are shy and closetted in the physical world but are gregarious in the online world. Yes I am hinting at our online identities, which have started developing minds of their own. It is this individuality of the online world and the digital version of ourselves, which have now made us sit up and realise in the past 10 years the reality and gravity of cyber crime and the need for digital laws just like physical world crime and the need for physical world laws.

Well Im just hinting at one thing... bring in dictatorship in the way net is adminisrators (Read: consequences of the equivocal interpretationsof SOPA and PIPA), and I wouldnt be surprised at an Arab Spring like revolt in the digital domain.

C'mon ... how will I do my homework without Wikipedia ! :-O

Calculus of Appreciation

It is a very common, deep set habit amongst many of us, that we hesitate to appreciate. The habit is so deep set that it happens subliminally, without making its insidious presence felt. Observe yourself the next time you find someone better than you in a particular task. You are impressed by him/her, you have the urge to clap, to stand up and say "Bravo!" , to actually go up to the person and pat him. But what do we do instead? We cringe, start calculating. "Should I praise him?" " He is already better than me" "What if i project myself as weak" "What if my appreciation makes him even better than me, what about my reputation" "Let me just ignore it".

Appreciating your co-workers, your team mates, friends et all, is a mark of a motivator. And to be a motivator, one has to be motivated himself. On the psychological level, to appreciate requires a degree of inner security, emotional fortitude and self esteem on the part of the appreciator. Hesitating and calculating when you feel like appreciation reflects your insecurity and an unfound apprehension that I shall harm myself by praising someone. This instead, is a very unhealthy attitude at the team level and detrimental to any target and execution oriented situation.

Appreciation (or the lack of it) not only manifests itself in the corporate world, but also at the social level. Many males feel threatened by females who might be better than them in speaking, socialising, dressing up or maybe financially. They would turn hostile, ignorant and affected towards her. Similarly, many females are threatened by other female acquaintances who they find better looking than themselves, or maybe for other similar reasons. All these are manifestations of insecurity and harbour resentment. This attitude harms the person harbouring these feelings rather than the person they are intended to.

Whole hearted Appreciation can do wonders for you and your team at work or even your social acceptance. Being a motivator and an appreciator does not put you at any disadvantage, but instead gives you the strength and fortitude to improve your own shortcomings. Moreover it is a great way to improve the efficiency and morale of your team at work. Just catch yourself if you start calculating and hesitating the next time you see someone deliver a fantastic presentation or someone who has lost weight and is looking great. Go up to him/her, stand up, give an ovation, shout out "Bravo!". See how good you will make the person, let alone your how good you yourself will feel. And watch how things fall in place by learning the mere art of Appreciation.

Cheers.

... where the streets have no names

Do you remember how badly you wanted what you have right now? It could be your job, your education, your house, your car, your family. Think about it, think about the time when you did not have it and achieving it meant the world for you. What value is it of to you now? Doesn't it deserve to be a reason for your happiness now? More importantly, did you congratulate yourself enough when you achieved it? It is an old saying that it is the journey which matters more than the destination, quite true. But what I am talking about is the fact that one must open that scrap-book of completed journeys and give oneself a pat on the back. Enjoy what you have now... For only then you deserve to yearn for your next goal, only then the world will conspire to give you your prize... once it is sure you treat your achievements with the regard they deserve.

I have been brought up in the city of Delhi- a city where swanky cars maneuver through abjectly poor slums and whose facade changes rapidly with urbanization. Since recently, I have been working in a remote area of India on a petrochemical plant. The best form of establishments around that district are tea shops and the rest was a sprawling expanse of wastelands till as far as eyes can see. The lack of social life, the lack of infrastructure, the lack of they city hustle and bustle and the lack of people to put in simple words did take time to adjust to mentally since I am quite used to the city life. I did end up missing friends and family but the period for which I have been cut off from my people made me stumble upon some startling revelations about life and my country and there aren't many conversations around me, I have had a have a lot of time to myself to ponder over these small but profound experiences.

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Sitting in the train watching the fields whiz past me, as the stations became more and more deserted, a young boy with a limp came to my seat and asked me if he could share the berth till the next station, which was also my stop. I shifted my bag and sat up as he settled next to me and called his father on his phone. "Baba, Im fine, a gentleman has given me a seat till my station". The ticket collector arrived and he whipped out his ID for his being a dependent of railways staff. A scheme allows them to travel limited distances on the trains without a ticket. I got down at my stop, looked around at the starkly deserted station. A couple of bums were sleeping on the platform and another was staring blankly on the walls. After the train chugged away, the only sound I could hear was the wind blowing and the rustle of the leaves as the swirled across the platform forming mini tornadoes. A bus was waiting for me to take me to my apartment and I hopped on.

The next day, at the plant, my workplace I sat down during lunchtime, cursing the God forsaken location I was working in with its lack of development, public transport or even a proper market, let alone Dominos or KFC. I was cursing the hazardous environment I was working in, with its petroleum gas fumes and chemicals under the burning sun. Most of all I was miffed at the fact that I was in a lonely setting, much unlike my hometown where I was always surrounded by people friends and family. As I squinted across the horizon a shadow fell on me. I turned my head to see that boy from the train smiling at me standing with another boy of the same age.

I noticed his limp again, which seemed to be because of an atrophied thigh muscle. "Namaste sir ji !" He chirped happily. Given my state of mind, I was in no mood to exchange pleasantries with him and I replied with a curt "namaste". He turned to his friend, pointed at me and said, " He is the sir I was telling you about. He is an officer in our company and he is the one who gave me a seat to sit in the train. He is a very good human being". Given the misplaced flattering, I got miffed further, but for the sake of politeness I answered ,"thats okay dont mention it". I really wanted to be left alone, I had enough to worry about already. The first being how was I to adjust myself to this remote place. Then the boy suddenly remarked, "My parents are so proud of me that I was hired as a trainee as an office assistant here, How proud of you your parents must be ! You are an engineer here !". That remark made my train of thoughts come to a grinding halt and I just looked at him, not knowing what to say. Flashbacks of when me struggling for the entrance exam, then for my interview and then finally making it through filled my mind and It dawned on me : I wouldnt deserve to aspire for my next goal, If I donot be thankful for what I have now. The boy hobbled away with his friend, oblivious of how he had unknowingly U-turned my thoughts in a minute's conversation.

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City life in India gives a very misleading impression. Most of India is rural and rustic with agriculture as the main occupation of settlers. Women walking miles to bring pails of water from the nearest well, bullock carts lumbering their way on dusty roads, farmers tilling their fields are some of the common sights Ive seen during my stay away from the urban infrastructure of Delhi. In fact it has dawned onto me that this is how most of India is and all I see in it is scope for development, scope for investment. When one lives in areas without telephone signals, without urban amenities, without transportation, without pukka roads, without shopping malls, offices, high-rises ; just huts and people living a simple hand-to-mouth lifestyle, one wonders where are the elite-educated of our country.

What is the purpose of educating the youth in world class institutions such as IITs, IIMs, State universities and colleges? Isn't it to make the development spread beyond cities and reach these forgotten places as well, considering the fact most of the country is still in its rural setting. Where are all the managers, technocrats, engineers, humanities graduates, commerce graduates and architects? Where are they? Shouldn't they be spending their energies planning for the future of the country rather than leaving it to the politicians who, blinded by their quest for power, have corrupted the very meaning of politics and governance in the country? Shouldn't the educated elite sow the seeds of development in the forgotten expanses of land separating the metros instead of rushing into self-centered careers? I always urge people I converse with, to remember the bigger picture. The purpose of your life is an eternal question that has plagued humanity, why spend your lifetime just surviving and making a living? Dream big, do something for the nation , the society , something which will make your lifetime leave a footprint in the sands of time.

It is food for though for sure.... Are we putting the right people in the right jobs, Considering the fact that India aims to be a superpower in the coming few decades.

Sanctity of the Ashram

I was in Bangalore recently, just holidaying with a couple of cousins who stay there. On the day I was to return, I was joined by my mother and aunt and we were to catch a plane in the evening. Having the whole day to us, a sudden epiphany struck my aunt and mom and they decided they wanted to visit an Ashram( A holy place) of a spiritual guru(spiritual leader). Obviously, I told them I'd rather stay back in the hotel and watch a movie, visiting a holy ashram in that heat which was miles away from the city anyway was the last thing I wanted to do on the last day of my holiday. But you know moms. and aunts. Emotional blackmailing. I wasn't going to relent but then they decided that they wouldn't be returning back to the hotel. They would reach the airport directly, and I had to give in and go along with them.

The Innova hit the highway at 120 kmph with the AC on full blast as I sat muttering imprecations at this unfair collusion. I woke up with a jolt when the car turned into a pathway leading away from the highway and we entered a huge complex sprawling complex- the ashram. My mom and my aunt were ecstatic, according to them "it was so peaceful!" and the place had "such good vibrations!" and "oh my God what beautiful prayer hall!" and "oh look at that sparrow!" and "wow a souvenir shop!" and "oh what lovely flowers!". Well, the sun was scorching me, and I was too hot and sweaty to be bothered about sparrows and my eyes squinted at the glare of the copper sun. As we walked towards the prayer hall, my mom was trying to tell me "appreciate the calmness and serenity of the place" "feel the spirituality" "you should learn to meditate" "it is very important to be in touch with your inner self".

My squinting eyes were desperately darting, searching for some cool place to have a couple of coladas , a restaurant or something, to save me from burning. I have sensitive eyes since childhood. My aunt and my mom somehow seemed to be shielded by the grace of the spiritual guru or something, they were least bothered about burning out in the glaring heat and walked briskly, determined not to miss the prayer session. hey should I have stayed back in the car? I panted, and finally we reached the huge prayer hall. The sun was already too bright for my eyes and all the marble flooring in the vicinity of the hall almost blinded me. That's it , I decided I really did not want to go any further and shouted "you go ahead ill meet you in the car, please excuse me" .. and I hurried away, irritated and impatient, without waiting for a reply.

I found a cool plaza with a fountain , and it was covered by a thatched roof. There was a souvenir shop, I decided to go in to find some nice key chains or cool titbits, I expected them to be cheap, this was not supposed to be a commercial place. I was taken aback to see keychains priced at Rs50-100, simple rings made of shells for Rs 350, and small mantelpiece models of the ashram for as much as Rs1000!

"Maintain Sanctity of the ashram" , a signboard on the shop said. Sanctity, yeah right, a wooden miniature of the ashram for Rs1000.

A man dressed in a white robe , who looked like a protege of the "guru" came up to me with papers in his hand, and started trying to persuade me to join their "brotherhood" organisation or something like that, for only.. mind the word only... Rs 75 000 per annum. Wow, and he was giving me reasons to join as I could enter any prayer in any ashram of the brotherhood for FREE. Great, I never knew prayers cost money. The priest-like gentleman started taking out membership forms and a pen and started penning down some thing, uptil now I was just muttering under my breath, but this was the limit, I told him to firmly stop bothering me, I had already told him 3 times I wasnt interested in his brotherhood. The man was visibly shocked at how could I refuse such a "fantastic offer". What, attend any prayer for free anywhere in India , for 75 000 a month and some postcards and spiritual seminars ? I stormed out of the souvenir shop, and again I saw the sign on my way "Maintain Sanctity of the ashram"

I bought some Jamuns (berries) and sat in shade, let my eyes adjust a little and looked around. Little kids of priests dressed in robes and lungis (loincloth) were prancing around a fountain. The Jamuns were good, and the masala made me smack my lips. I tossed the seeds on the soft earth under some trees. I noticed another signboard- "Please use dustbin, Maintain sanctity of the ashram".

Sanctity yeah right, those seed are good for the soil, and it will do a lot in improving the sanctity of your ashram. 75 000 rs per annum, wow, I couldn't help thinking about that offer, I mean there are people who actually take that offer? "Please use the toilet, Maintain sanctity of the ashram", another signboard caught my eye. I didnot use the dustbin, used the soil, just wait till I not use the toilet and use the bushes.. that would do good to your plants atleast. The mercenary nature of everything about the ashram had made me averse to it.

But hey that fountain looks inviting. I went up to it, put my hand in the cool water, it was refreshing, sparkling clean, I splashed some on my face. The water cooled my burning skin and my eyes felt much better when i washed them with water.
I looked up, "Please donot touch the holy water, Maintain Sanctity of the Ashram".

I was fuming now, one more signboard asking me to maintain sanctity of the ashram , I would go back to the souvenir shop and slap that priest-guy right across the face.
I washed my face some more, and this time I looked up, the junior priests who had been playing all this while were standing still, staring at me as if I was some alien. What? havent you guys tried the holy water? Its awesome! I stared back at them, a few moments of staring passed, when I suddenly jumped up and made a howling sound like a Red Indian, flailing my hands at them I darted towards the five priest kids. This scared the wits out of them and they grabbed their lungees(loincloths) and ran away shouting something .

Wow, I was happy! I felt as if I had done something in maintaining the sanctity of the ashram after all! I started walking back to the car. I saw my mom and aunt, I expected them to lecture me on what I have missed, the purity of the prayer hall, serenity of the atmosphere, how they were lost in the prayer session, what a great experience it was.... But a tirade of accusations was coming out of their mouths... "I tell you what a money minded place!"
"They didnot let us enter the prayer hall!"
"They sent us away because we were not members of the organisation!"
"The prayer is only for members!"
"Such a fraud this place is!"
"I am never coming back!"

I was grinning ear to ear, I told them, as we sat in the car, "aww C'mon...Both of you were not able to respect the sanctity of the ashram!... unlike me "

Deezeetall

Lifes fast. My fifth semester has, as usual, subjects with six foot long names, which could easily pass of as abuses when chanted in front of a layman.

I tend to get very interesting lab incharges and examiners for my practical courses. I had some very interesting vivas in my first semester.. (by interesting I mean whip-ass vivas), and I have a gut feeling I am all set for a deja vu again this semester, after a relatively quiet 3rd and 4rth.

We have a data structures lady who seems to be a martian. She is the most cynical teachers I have ever come across, and the most student un-friendly. And here is the crash landing, she happens to be the better half(or should I say the worse half, tough to say) of someone involved in THIS.
(ok now I can imagine quite a few of you pesky readers rubbing your hand in glee with that nasty smirk n your lips.. Maybe would have been really funny had this not happened to me).
Probably that is why the authorities have had a heart and assigned just a one credit lab to her. The worst part is, that she knows me, thanks to my irresistibly wacky algorithms which pop up in my head and which are probably too much for her to fathom. Well, I am proud of my algorithms since they have been lauded by my teachers, so i rather not give much importance to what the lady says, but the sad part is, she has a whole credit of mine in her pretty purse. 

Oh shoot. Next, worth mentioning is an assistant in a lab called Digital Integrated Circuits. Well the professor for that lab is quite a fabulous teacher, with vast knowledge and quite a knowledge bank which one can benefit from. But it's the assistant who I am more bothered about. The gentleman.. a thin wishbone figure, of medium height and whitish complexion, seems to be built of Digital Integrated Circuits himself, seems to have spent all his life with digital ICs. His pet one liner is " Aajkal digital ka zamaana hai".. which loosely translates to "It is the digital age". It is nice to have a pet one liner, but I get really bugged when someone uses it for every statement he makes, and that is exactly what the gentleman does. His sentences sound like these---

"You people must learn both analog and digital electronics, because aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Please maintain silence in the lab! since aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Get your ICs and breadboards issued! as it is aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Today you will learn about noise margins using inverters... but aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Why are you late bhaii? is it because aajkal digital ka zamaana hai ?

"Please handle the IC pins with care- as it is aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

Damn, I wonder if this is the way he speaks to his wife and kids also...

wife: sweatheart, let us go out tonight... it is lovely weather!
gentleman: Yeah! the weather is lovely, but aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

kid: papa can you buy me an ice cream?
gentleman: Why ice cream? aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

wife: honey let us try a different position tonight...
gentleman: there are many positions... BUTTTT Aajkal Digital Ka Zamaana Hai"

Well you can see I sometimes tend to observe people very very closely. I was once very tempted to ask him something, and when I could not resist I went up to him and asked, "Sir, up til what IC do we need to complete till midsems.." He frowned, looked up from his glasses, and said "up til whatever you manage to do in your lab, but in your end semesters, you will get everything under the sun!"
I was a bit surprised, and was about to walk away, confused, when he looked up again and blurted out.." Bhaiii Aajkal Digital Ka Zamaana Hai!"

And he doesnt speak DIGITAL with the "J" sound for G, he uses a typical colloquial accent and pronounces the J sound as Zz.. and I sound as Ee. So he goes Deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall... aaarrrgh!

Our Industrial Instrumentation professor, an old man with white hair, loves to talk about his industrial experiences and why he always loves a public sector job and how he became a professor. He loves rambling about his son and then how little tie he has to complete our syllabus. Our Industrial organisation and Managerial Economics teacher, looks straight out of a bollywood movie. Rather he seems to be an upcoming star in bollywood who has just done some breakthrough and suddenly got every one's attention.

There is a Linear Integrated Circuits senior lecturer, who is proud of the fact that he is doing research with one of the most experienced professors in the Electronics department. He is pretty cool though, speaks clearly and fluidly, and knows what he teaches and does a good job at it. And he too loves to have his share of worldly talks. about future studies, importance of technical educations and all. I sometimes feel professors are lonely people, they only interaction they have with humanity is when they take up a lecture. And probably that is why they like to speak about any and everything, and teach at the same time. But good fun anyway.

To top it all, I have mastered the art of sleeping in class. It is the only thing that makes sense in my life- sleep. A two hour long lecture after lunchtime, in a hall with 100 students is an ideal setting for a nice afternoon siesta. The lecturers voice actually seems soothing while dosing off, like a lullabuy maybe, and the quality of sleep in a classroom on the back bench matches all standards. Besides, one wakes up fresh, alert and happy! My mates in the lecture hall make a point to wish me a good morning when I wake up. I have become quite predictable I guess. The credit for my Sleeping-In-The-Class skills largely goes to My Analog and Digital Communication and Linear Integrated Circuits lectures- especially because these are the two which take place in a huge hall with two sections.

Still wondering who am I , what am I set out to accomplish, hopefully will dream about it and that dream wouldnt let me sleep.

cheers
Sid

New Delhi Railway Station

I sat in a train @ Indian railways after almost 8 years! Last weekend I visited Jammu with family and friends. There is a very small percentage of people in North India who havent visited The Vaishno Devi Shrine... a 13 Km climb in the hills of Katra. I belonged to that small population until last weekend. I admit I thoroughly enjoyed my climb.. all of it was on foot. I was expecting my legs would be trashed after all the mountaineering, but had not an iota of cramp in my legs. Probably it was all the gymming and wicketkeeping which helped. Besides, we had an Innova to move about and got a chopper ride too, and came back to Delhi by air.

The New Delhi Railway station... is still by far not upto internationla standards. But there is a remarkable improvement. I had a very filthy image of it before I reached. I was expecting a bedlam, filthy platforms, smelly waiting rooms, no signages, shouting porters, and utter chaos. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. The announcements were clearer, there was less chaos, clean platforms, better signages- in all a much better affair than the last time I visited.

One thing in particular struck me. I always had to run behind my Dad carrying my bag whenevr we used to haveto catch a train while I was a kid. Because already there used to be so much chaos and people used to be rushing, and to save myself from getting lost in the crowd, I had to run to keep up with my father. This time, though my father did not accompany us, I was expecting I would have to run, to keep up with everyone, and save myself from the bedlam but i was pleasantly surprised that the crowd was moving so much in an organised way. Everyone walked slow, steady and everyone was clear where he/she had to go. I was quite glad saying kudos to the rail ministry for putting up proper signages, and neat LED signboards and well maintained overbridges.... then I saw a father.. with his little son running to keep up with him.

It was then it struck me... it wasnot the rail ministry or anything.... just that since 8 years ago...I had grown taller.

Look at it this way....

Look at it this way. We have earth. Which means the world to us. We think the world belongs to us, everything we see, perceive and understand is with respect to this earth and whatever happens on it. We have made our own norms, our laws, our constitutions and systems. For us, these set norms and constitutions serve as the absolute reference according to which we decide right and wrong.

Our earth is minute. What means the world to us is just a miniscule illusion. We make desperate attempts to venture out of earth and try to fathom the cosmos...but in vain. We, as a result, become so full of ourselves. Our petty problems make or break our mood. We are bothered because someone was rude to us. We are hurt because we feel someone doesn't care for us. We seek attention. We conspire and gossip about others. We hold grudges, we favor some who we think is important to us. We strive for earning moolah, we want swanky cars, big houses. We love our gadgets, like to be loved, and look good, pretty or smart. And all this very well happens with me too, I am no messiah, just a human like everyone else. We end up giving so much importance to the world we live in that we completely neglect the bigger picture. Which is that we are part of a fathomless universe... and death is going to level everything. Humanity has ever been faced with a burning question- what is the purpose of our existence, when we donot bring anything with us when we are born, nor do we take anything with us when we die, on this holy earth.

We are all very well part of this world, involved in the set norms and constitutions, all one should try to do is not take the world to seriously. We should strive to have a more thick skinned and unconcerned side to us. Because it is your insensitive side which would never betray you and help you think clearly in whatever adversity-physical, emotional, mental or psychological, you are faced with. I am saying this out of my own personal experience, and this is why I like to preserve a non sentimental facet of myself. But then again, this detached facet is of no use without one's compassionate side.

"Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young."

Human beings like to believe things, but only those which are convenient. One would like to believe that someone somewhere, who is your ideal match-your soulmate-your love, is waiting for you. And the day one finds him/her, one will know and fall in love. One likes to believe that that someone exists some where. Humans love to be convinced about the existence of God. It is convenient, to have someone you can pray to in difficult times, someone you can ask for mercy and again believe that you are forgiven without any indication if God has actually forgiven you. We need someone to trust and give us moral support and hence we believe in God. Yes true, there is a divine power. But we are all blinded by giving physical forms to that power, nullifying the very purpose we had believed in that seraphic for.

GOD IS YOUR OWN CONSCIENCE. The purpose of a prayer is to get in touch with your inner self, to introspect, to retrospect. Being in touch with your inner self gives you the moral support you need. It is your faith in God which is the origin of this enlightening feeling. Giving a physical for to the Almighty shifts your faith in yourself to an idol. A lack of touch with your inner self makes you feel low, depressed and emotionally drained even after you endlessly pray to an idol. The divine energy you pray for will not come unless you realize the fact that your God is inside you and resides in your soul as your conscience. Listen to your inner voice, else it will slowly be muted one day.

Humans similarly, like to maintain that they are the most superior creatures of the earth. Humans have to cover themselves in layers of clothing, humans need to have friends, humans get their feelings hurt, humans cry, humans are insecure, humans have problems which are not even applicable to other creatures of this planet. Superior? But maybe it is our brain which makes us superior. We have highly developed brains, we can think to an extent which compensate for our physical inabilities. But look at it this way- our brain is what makes us have emotions, feel sad, happy, have grudges, have feelings, fall in so called "love" with someone. Animals donot have grudges, they have set patterns of mating, they donot fall in "love" or marry - they don't have to, they donot have emotional problems, or wear clothes, they donot have to find jobs, pay taxes and matters of economics, politics and society are irrelevant to them - they have lifestyles fixed by mother nature herself- it is a fact that all animals are more close to Nature than we humans.

The earth which we call ours- we actually donot seem to belong to it at all. We just seem to be guests, who will disappear with time. In what way can humans say they are superior to other animals? The best we can do is study the Nature and not try to change it. Natures powers are far too divine to be tamed by us mortals. Science brings us closer to nature and science is what may one day help us find our purpose of existence. All of us, whatever profession we may be in, should have a scientific bent of mind and a rational approach to all happenings.

Never take anything or anyone for granted. Time is the greatest healer, everything is transient. The people you have you around you will not be there in future, you will miss them and come to terms with how you took everything for granted because you were so full of yourself. Be cheerful, donot take anything too seriously. When you succeed, never congratulate yourself too much, and when you fail, never castigate yourself too much either. Think big, never get over involved in gossip. Have fun, and remember to be humble and have healthy ambitions. Play sport, respect your body-be thankful for the fact you are alive in flesh and blood, and have got a chance to live like a mortal on Earth. You have been given a lifetime, live it but donot forget the bigger picture.
cheers
Sid