Turning to a new page......

Recently there was a trend when many people updated their facebook status as " off to IIT Powai " , " got COEP ", " joining BITS Pilani " and many more on similar lines. It was really nice to see so many of my friends getting into such good colleges and I was even happy for them ( rather tried very hard to do so!) However in a small corner of my mind I too longed to update such a flashy status and show-off.......
But today when I too can update my status saying "off to BITS Pilani Goa !! " it just doesn't seem right . I don't understand how to handle the varied emotions boiling inside me. On one hand I'm happy that I'll be getting the prestigious BITSian tag in a few days but on the other, the thought of leaving dear ones torments me .

Actually when the list was out and I confirmed my admission there , all these things never came to my mind ( and even if they did it didn't seem a big deal then!) . Just yesterday someone told me in passing that I had just four days left of my stay in Pune. It was then that it hit me (finally!!) and my mind started racing down the valley of thoughts and worries and fears.
Fear was the first thing I ruled out of my mind .I had already learnt in my recent past through my own experience (wouldn't like to go into the details now ) that fear is not going to help me in any situation what so ever.I thought to myself (rather convinced myself) that I was definetely not afraid of facing a bunch of students who are more or less in the same situation as I am .So what was it that was troubling me ?

As I was pondering over this, I remembered how as a small kid I would cry aloud and make a big scene to go to school. My very first day of school and there I was clutching my mom's saree tightly with tears in my eyes and determined not to leave her . Today the situation is quite different but the small kid inside me still is not ready to leave her safe home and go and stay with strangers for the next five years. Surely I 'll manage to survive, as I got used to going to school(and later enjoyed it like anything , however that is a completely different story) . But still how am I going to live without my mom who is always there supporting me , my father who is always there to discipline me, my sweet younger brother who is always chattering excitedly and comes to me with all his problems .Moreover how am I going to live without my dear friends........

Maybe I'll make new friends there but I 'm pretty sure those bonds won't be as strong as those I share with my friends here. I am going to miss all those stupid comments, silly jokes, crazy hangouts, endless talks over small things, gossips that ticked off everyone, recording videos of mad things we did. . . . .it's really going to be hard living without my friends( eighteen years of friendship and hoping to keep it for several more years coming ahead)
Life is going to be different, of that I am sure what's left to be seen is whether it's going to be harder than I expect or not .Whatever it maybe I'll have to live with it . Probably I'll learn to be independent and responsible when I am on my own but I'll surely miss depending on a friend to do my job when I get stuck up .
It hurts to say goodbye when you know that you aren't going to meet that person again for a long time. Maybe I 'll call up and chat with my friends but still how long can one talk on the phone . . . . .No matter how hard I try to convince myself that I 'll remain as close to them as I was ,I can't neglect the sad truth that we 'll be parted by spaces between us ....
The burden in my heart is heavier than the baggage I'll be carrying in my hand .I am unaware of how the days to come are going to turn out , maybe not as happy as the ones that passed away but still I live in the hope that tomorrow will be , if not better atleast as good as yesterday. . . .

A Venture. . .

One summer when I was thinking of ways of keeping myself busy and was bored ( as I had ran out of ideas ) , something caught my attention . It was my brother who was chattering excitedly ( as always ! ) about how one of his friends could solve a rubik's cube.

I had always seen the three by three cube with coloured faces on shelves of stores and I would always think that to solve it was next to impossible. Something stirred in my mind ; as a small kid I too had owned a rubik's cube as a part of my toy collection. So I searched for it and found it in a dusty corner of my closet where it lay forgotten and waiting to be retrieved . . . . . . . .

Now that I had the cube I started moving the faces at random , but it was in vain . I couldn't make out head or tail of what I was doing myself. After a while I got a hang of it and could atleast understand where each piece needed to be , though I was far from getting them into their right places. A few hours later , I had made little progress and gave up for the day.

The next day after having slept over the thought of solving the cube , I thought of getting some help. Nowadays information is just a click away from us and so it was very easy to get the steps of solving the cube . A simple search on google did the job . I found a video which was very enlightening ( got to know that there is a lot more to it than I had thought !! ) . The video enlisted a number of algorithms that had to be used , so I noted them down and sat down to solve my very first rubik's cube. It took me some time , but I did it !! At first I needed to refer to the algorithms quite frequently to solve it but as time passed by I got better at it and knew the steps very well.
I knew them so well that subconsciously I had devised my own ways of doing certain steps . It was a really amazing feeling when I could solve the cube ( something that I had thought was impossible could now be achieved in less than five minutes !! ) . Now it so happens that I can't even stand seeing an unsolved rubik's cube anywhere , be it in my own house or even at a friend's place , I end up solving it (my hands just can't resist it !)

When my brother saw that I could solve the cube , he got excited and wanted to do it himself. Soon enough he too could solve the cube .We both were so enthusiastic that later on we raced each other with timer on .It was fun!! At first showing off that we could do it and then gaining students who wanted to learn it from us ! The list of people who learnt to solve the cube from us was vast, right from my father to my cousins and many of my friends got entangled into solving the cube .

I learnt a lot from this experience. It was evident that human mind is always fascinated by and ready to take up challenges. However it takes some initiation; it was only when I actually solved a cube in front of people that they got interested in it . But once I had showed them how to solve it , the fire was lit and it spread rapidly .The process didn't just stop at solving the cube but extended to solving it faster and making different patterns on the cube and then solving it back .

I never expected that something that started as a mere venture to pass time during my summer vacations could entangle so many minds and I am saying entangled because such mind games are addictive. At times it becomes difficult to concentrate on other things (especially when you are in the process of learning it and haven't yet solved it completely) . Hours pass by and you are unaware of it , stuck to the cube .
So the next time a mind game catches your interest make sure you have time for it before venturing into solving it. Don't forget that I got into solving this cube during my summer vacations and I had plenty of time at hand !!

I never thought I would write a blog, but here i am ! Thanks to my dear friend who encouraged me to create a blog.

It so happens that many a times things don't work out according to our plans(in my case they specially don't ) Things get worse when I try harder to get them straight.But then I thought maybe I am going the wrong way about it .If the door doesn't open when you push it, maybe you should pull it . . . .and bang it opens ! That's quite simple isn't it? Many a times we keep trying hard and finally convince ourselves that maybe we are not working hard enough. We fail to realize that the door isn't going to open even if we push it with all our strength .......it simply needs to be pulled !!

So if life doesn't take the path you have planned for it don't try to force it to change it's track.
Maybe it wants to take you along a path that is far more exciting than the one you chalked out.
Let the pieces fall and at the end you will see how the pieces fit in perfectly and complete the puzzle. We may not be able to foresee the picture but lets not lose hope.
A man put on a new pair of shoes as he was getting ready for work. While he was on his way he realized that he had blisters on his feet. He had to stop at a drugstore to fix the problem. He was in a bad mood as he was getting late for work. But when he reached his workplace he stood dumbstruck. The twin towers ,where his office was located had collapsed.

So the next time something goes wrong according to you don't get annoyed, maybe it is right according to your life!! And as Robert Frost says : it goes on . . .