Introspection

If you read the description of my blog.. introspection is very much an issue which I want to do through my entries... What is introspection? Introspection is like the activity described by Plato when he asked, "...why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?"

Everyone faces times when they have their 'backs against the walls'.
You wake up in the morning thinking "Oh damn, here's another day". That's not a very good sign! Dreading life is something that I dread of... Another issue I have is that I have a short fuse... very very short fuse indeed. There have been times in my life, when I've simply lost my cool.. I've lost my temper so badly that I've felt like throwing something at someone.. Why?

That's probably a million, zillion dollar question. I obviously don't want to lose my temper, it just happens! I don't plan for it to happen. It's just a trigger that someone presses - and that's it! I competely explode! The worst part is, that when I lose my temper - I lose control of my mouth. I say things which are exaggerated - and this is in a bad sense! I say things which I probably don't mean at the time, but they just come out. I used to be really uncontrollable.. but now I have mellowed down to an extent. What's the point of wasting your energy on pointless things? What's the purpose of wasting your time by pondering over the most meaningless things on this planet?

What I've learnt - and this is already at my age... is that we should learn from bad experiences. We are humans, and so mistakes will be made by us. There's simply no point in being in a state of despair when you've made a mistake.. I think we should learn from our mistakes - only then will we become better people. When we have a bad experience - we must make sure that such a situation doesn't arise again.

The thing I love about life is that it evens things out.
If I do a dreadful deed, I will pay for it.. whether it's today, next year or in 1o years! Perhaps, I believe in karma then. It's what one of my friends calls 'universal law' ie. What goes around, comes around!

There have been other times in life, where I've felt that I was not at fault.. I've felt that I had been hard done by. I feel vulnerable at those times.. my mind wanders into some crazy thought. I've had the support of my friends which has somehow always kept me up there.. sane and completely stable. I always talk about issues in my life with them.. it takes a huge burden off my chest and gives me a different perspective to my problems.

I want to also talk about my academic experience in what they call 'the crucial years' down here. When I returned to India 4 years back, I was disillusioned, disinterested and very capable of becoming disheartened by academic failure. I really hung in there for one year, and as I began to study a bit more and more - I got the rewards. As the rewards kept increasing, so did my interest. As my interest rose... results became a lot better Really sounds like a piece of cake,
doesn't it? Whatever I've achieved though, has not been done by me.. it has been done with the courage that The Almighty has bestowed upon me.. absolutely no doubt about that.

I have grown over the past 4-5 years. I can't imagine what life has in store for me for the next set of 4-5 years! I've made mistakes about judging people, losing my cool far too easily, getting really tense for stuff which I should not even get the 't' in tense. Mistakes are made by everyone.. I certainly hope something strange doesn't shroud my thoughts in the future.. because clarity is priceless! Certainly, I have learnt how to deal with the above said issues...

To end this, one quotation which I want to follow and want everyone to follow...

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - M.K. Gandhi

Football... At Last!

Yes! The time that I've been waiting for... to write about one of my passions, football. As an Indian, it is really strange to have football as my favourite sport above cricket - whithout doubt at that! I guess it all started 6 years back.. when I was abroad and there wasn't really any cricket and football was the only sport I could really watch. The thing I love about the sport is that it isn't really stop-start like cricket.. it is really continuous and at most times that I watch, quite an exciting sport. Why, you might ask? As I am a proud fan... erm.. fanatic of ARSENAL F.C.!

I cannot get into anything specific today... but, I really got inspired to write this entry after we beat Reading 4-0 away. So, I will try to be more general. To me, football is synonymous with Arsenal.. anyone who knows me and watches "Arsenal".. will definitely think of me! I've even made certain people support Arsenal.. after some brainwashing.. but I don't think they regret it even a bit! I love Arsenal.. they are the team who really in my opinion play football the way it is to be played. I love our manager... "Arsene" (Nothing to do with the name 'Arsenal'.. coincidence) Wenger.. What a manager! He epitomises what I feel managers, or for that matter men should be! I truly admire him.. and without him, I might not even be supporting Arsenal today.

Arsene Wenger.... "Professor"

Today, any football fan would put their hands up and say that Arsenal are the best football playing team in Europe. Many people won't understand what I mean by this.. Football in England (English Premier League) is physical... incredibly rough and requires loads of stamina, pace and technique... Arsenal at times have been found wanting in another department.. the strength zone. We've not been able to cope with physical oppositions in the past, and are known for the constant whinging for lack of protection from the referees.

The player I admire, love, idolize even.. has to be without a doubt.. THIERRY HENRY! He came to Arsenal as an unknown left sided midfielder.. with Wenger converting him to be a player who has won the Player of the Year (English) 3 times, top the European scoring charts twice and getting nominated for the Ballon D'or (European Player of the Year) and FIFA World Payer of the Year Award once too. He loves Arsenal, and most importantly us! (The fans!) He has been a truly loyal servant to the club and while many of our opponents would feel that he is arrogant, I can't find a single Arsenal fan who will tell you that.

Thierry Henry... God! 

When I look back at days as an Arsenal fan.. the best moment has to be at Old Trafford, 2002. It was in the second half.. Sylvain Wiltord scored the goal that won us the title against our bitter rivals.. and a team I really don't admire much.. Manchester Utd. A moment of great dissapointment would be not so long ago.. the night in Paris, against Barcelona.. I really dreamt about Arsenal winning the Champions League, for years! We reached the final and really should've capitalized on our chances that night. Jens Lehmann (Keeper) got sent off within 20 minutes of the game, and that made things really tough. Even when Sol Campbell headed in on the half hour mark.. it looked difficult and a rather ominous task ahead of the team. I just looked at the number of minutes to play on the tele.. and watching each minute pass by, made me feel relieved... then came the dreaded 2 goals in 4 minutes that wrecked me. I was distraught.

 My Time as a Fan... High.. OT, 2002... and Lowest of Lows... Stade de France, 2006 (Left, Right respectively)

That said, Arsenal have moved to a brand new stadium this season. We started shakily (if there is a word like that!) and now we're really starting to play the football that Wenger stands for. Movement, technique, skill, pace and all that... it's just a treat to watch us when we play well. I just hope that we are able to mount a serious title challenge on money hogging Chelsea.. who have bought their way to being champions. I know that it will be tough, but what isn't in life? I will be an Arsenal fan for life... I will love Arsenal for life... and really would love to write more stuff about them on this blog.

I hope to be writing on more specific issues in football very very soon. As far as I'm concerned.. there are too many of them to discuss here!

Beauty Pageants - Allure or Absurdity?

The Miss World Pageant was held last month I think... with a lot of hype, lot of advertisements and panache which is always the case in such events. Do such beauty pageants really exhibit beauty? Are they played on a level playing field? Is the purpose of such pageants to show the world how many beautiful women/girls (at times!) there are?

According to Wikipedia.. the free online encyclopedia..

"A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition based largely, though not always entirely, on the physical beauty of its contestants."

I think we can remove that little bit in the centre 'not always entirely'. To call such an 'event' a 'competition' is funny! What is a competition? A competition in my opinion is something wherein talents and perseverance are tested to the largest possible extent. Intelligence, athleticism, bravery even are attributes which can be tested and compared not because an individual needs these to live life.. but because most of us are not born with such attributes. What about physical beauty though? Can an unattractive person wake up all of a sudden in the morning and look attractive? Obviously not!

So, comparing physical beauty is seriously demeaning to women. Surely they would have more pride won't they? What then, is the ulterior motive of such pageants and what attracts women/girls to participate in them? It's really a 5 letter word that rules all... MONEY.

The Miss World Pageant gets television viewership to the tune of 2 billion people.. convert that to dollars, it will be billions and billions of them. The 'charitable organization' then donates 250 million dollars (wow, whopping amount!) to charities. This was only really started after 1996, when major protests threatened the 'competition' from going ahead in Bangalore, India. The Miss World Organization does not disclose financial results to the public.. I wonder why?! The Miss Universe Organization is owned by NBC and The Trump Organization. Why do corporates have to run the show if the real purpose of such pageants is to showcase beauty?

There are very few rounds which actually test the intelligence of the participants. Importance is given to swimsuit rounds and rounds where the participants wear night gowns and all that... How can these pageants even claim to judge the contestants on aspects other than physical beauty?

What do these pageants ultimately do for our society? They create a totally wrong image about beauty. Girls and boys alike would probably feel insecure about their looks, and spend tonnes and tonnes of money on cosmetics. They aren't going to enhance a thing, so again cosmetic companies gain! In India, if you win the Miss World or Universe competitions... even Miss India for that matter - your future is pretty much in the Bollywood Film Industry. Not in the place where 'They would want to help the society, the children and all the handicapped people in the world' (The answer we often get in the final round of these pageants when they're asked.. 'what do you want to do for the society?')

Ultimately, beauty pageants defeat the real meaning of beauty. They create a massive divide in our society and attempt to classify human beings on not talent, but what we have the least control over - our looks. They create huge revenues for a variety of industries and claim that they donate 'massive amounts' of money to charities. They create an endless list of models, who are really just used by corporates to promote products and directors to make item numbers in movies. They really degrade the status of women in the name of enhancing it!

The future of Beauty Pageants is good.. unfortunately. Beauty pageants at one time weren't even televised on British Television until 1998, due to the sheer lack of interest of the public. In countries like India and Venezuela though, these pageants will be very closely watched if not, justified. No one can learn how to be physically beautiful, and as long as that fact is not understood - these pageants will suck out the very virtues upon which our society is built upon.

Education In India.. Over-rated?

India is renowned for tourist destinations, fantastic food and... and bright students! If you go abroad and say "I studied in India", everyone says.. "Wow! That must have been tough!" Indian Education is notorious for over burdening students with a load of facts which will never make a difference in their future!

So, what problems do I have about Indian Education? My opinion really developed in Singapore, where I lived and studied for 3 years. Although, academically my development might have been stunted in those 3 years... my personality and the way I looked at the world changed a whole lot thereafter! Indian education is very one dimensional, the only dimension being academic excellence. The syllabi are advanced and students that age probably don't even understand what they're reading! They just memorize and replicate that in their exam paper.

I had a very difficult time tuning myself back to the rigours of this system when I was in class 9. There are 2 "centralized" exams in class 10 and 12 (What so many people call "crucial years!") It was just too damn boring! You need to have loads of focus and absolutely no distractions what so ever to get yourself out of this system unscathed. It's just studying a pile of books - and whatever you study will not really help you in the future. Why is this system sucking the interest out of students?

This is why. Marks are given precedence over everything. So, schools have to make more students get loads of marks. A school's performance is based on the record of its students in those centralized exams. Schools will thus, never compromise on results. Consequently, it is the students who suffer.

A well rounded individual is one who not only gets judged by the marks that he/she gets. It's really your personality that has to be developed at schools. When we are children, our brains are like clay.. they can be moulded in any which way.. personalities can be developed. Instead, all this system of education does is impart textual facts... which are not the be all and end all of learning.

I remember reading somewhere, that education is just not just an assimilation of facts. It is gaining knowledge. I also believe that it should be all about understanding, interpreting and anticipating situations which are associated with real life. Very less or no importance is given to extra curricular activities in India.

What can be done to change all this now? I am dumbfounded when someone asks me that. That said, the IB (International Baccalaureate) has a good approach. The curriculum really allows schools to develop personalities. The academics begin in the business end of school days (classes 9 through 12), where the student is not only expected to score good grades but also is expected to excel in the practical side of things too!
Indian Education must ensure that it doesn't remove every iota of life from the very future of India.. the students!

Practical education, hands on stuff and trying to dilute the effect of marks on the future can be ways to improve the system. There has to be a revamp and it can be done in a graded way.. like the reservation of seats is being done at the IIMs!.. little by little every year.

When we deal with the future generation, we deal with young minds who will make decisions for the future of the nation. When we mould their brain in such a rigid way and make them suffer in the latter stages of their life.. it is neither fair on them or the nation herself!

Which forces me to conclude that.. Indian Education is Over-Rated. It is simply unacceptable to call this an educational system which produces smart individuals as they are just as good as the authors of the books that they've read!

I can go on and on.. but I'll stop right here! You must have got the point by now.

Don't know what I'll write next... might be a while before I do. CYA!

Changes in this blog... Already!!

Hello to everyone who has taken their precious time out to read my entries... Firstly thanks a lot!
Now, there are some changes I would like to bring to your attention.. If you look to your right under the links section, you will see a list of blogs which I think are worth reading.. and the last link is the one you can use to subscribe to my blog.
Just click it and in the following box that appears, click "Yes". For Internet Explorer users.. click "Subscribe to this feed" on the top of your page (in the yellow box). This means you will be intimated through your browser about my blog updates. Makes life a whole lot simpler!!
To those who like football, I am afraid I am not going to be able to write a whole lot of stuff about the EPL just yet. Will do it soon though.. but I might have some other stuff to write about before that!

Again, Thanks a ton! CYA!

School Life... My Way of Looking At It!

I was looking at topics to write my next entry about.. and when I asked one of my friends... he said.. "Write about school life, your style".. What's my style you ask?
Many people have said to me.. that I am an insensitive wreck. I don't care much about emotions and don't attach myself very quickly to things.

When it comes to school.. I switched 7 schools in my life.. so putting that into perspective, I could never afford to get attached to any school. You get attached, switch schools and the whole re-adjusting story begins again! Did I enjoy my school days? Sure, by and large I did.. I will not say.. "School days were perfect and idyllic.. I miss everyday of it". No! I don't even remember every single day of school so how on earth will I miss it?

Where my view differs from others is here.. in my previous school.. mostly everyone was moving from that school to a new institution for the first time.. it was a first for most! Not for me though. I knew, that people move on.. adjust.. and forget. But, there was so much hoo-haa about school and the paradise we're about to leave. Yeah.. ok, school was fun.. but it wasn't the only place to be! The thing that made me different from others was the fact that I had experienced all of that 6 times prior to them. It gets old!

The fact is, people move to college, make new friends... start a whole new life and live it! And, in today's world, dwelling on the past does no one any good! I think people who criticized me then, would now have a fair idea of what I meant at the time.

That said, when I look back at school, I really did not appreciate it at the time. The fun we had, the troubles we faced.. were unique. But, human that I am.. I just saw the problems and not the good things! When I was leaving school, I thought I will be moving on.. to a new place, college... new experiences, and a change! I might have been a bit rash thinking like that in hindsight.

Will I miss school? Sure. Do I call school days the best ones of my life? I cannot tell you, I'm 18 and have barely lived a life... ask me 10-15 years later.. I will give you a definitive answer. The bottom line is that, school was awesome. School days were ones where, I was so massively focussed on my goals, that it baffles me sometimes how I used to have so much clarity. School was the place where I grew, where my personality developed, where I made friends - whom I can approach about any problem I have even today and I will never ever have a poor opinion of such fabulous institutions.

So, please.. just because I didn't feel the same way as soo many of my peers did.. It doesn't mean I don't have emotions etc. My opinion varies a bit, but I still enjoyed my school days! So, give me a break!

EPL, surely next... CYA!