Certificates and Awards

Going through my old file and found my certificates. For some reason, I want to make a list!
(In chronological order)

1. Prep - Standing third in her section in 1987-88
2. I - Standing second in inter house English recitation competition held on 19 Sep 1988
3. I - Standing second in her section in 1988-89
4. II - Proficiency in Science in 1989-90
5. II - Standing third in her section in 1989-90
6. II - For being adjudged the best turned-out student of II-A section during academic year 1989-90
7. III - Standing second in all the sections of the class in 1990-91
8. III - Standing first in her section in annual examination in 1990-91
9. III - Proficiency in Maths in 1990-91
10. III - Proficiency in Social Studies in 1990-91
11. IV - Standing first in her section in final examination in 1991-92
12. IV - Proficiency in Social Studies
13. IV - Proficiency in Science
14. IV - Standing second in all the sections of class IV in 1991-92
15. IV - For being the monitor in 1991-92
16. V - Primary school prefect with effect from 1 April 1992 for academic year 1992-93
17. V - Runners up in Inter House Kho-Kho tournament (girls) held on 25-8-1992 (Ended the long awaites quest for a medal!)
    
18. V - Best bus monitor (route no. 7) in 1992-93
    
19. V - Standing first in the final examination in the year 1992-93
20. V - Best monitor of academic year 1992-93
21. V - Standing second in all the sections of class V in 1992-93
22. V - Standing first in Inter House GK Quiz Competition held on 20 Aug'92
23. V - Standing first in Inter House Art Competition held on 9 Oct'92
24. VI - For being placed in the scholars category on the basis of her academic excellence for the year 1993-94
25. VI - Standing first in the calligraphy competition
26. VI - Standing first in the craft exhibition
    
27. VI - For standing first with 96.14% in 1993-94
    
28. VII - Standing third in Class VII in 1994-95
29. VII - For being placed in the scholars category on the basis of her academic excellence for the year 1994-95
30. VIII - Standing third in class VIII in 1995-96 with 95.46%
31. VIII - For being placed in the scholars category on the basis of her academic excellence for the year 1995-96
32. VIII - Standing second in the Calligraphy Competition
    
33. IX - For being placed in the scholars category on the basis of her academic excellence for the year 1996-97
34. IX - Standing first in all sections in 1996-97
35. X - For being placed in the scholars category on the basis of her academic excellence for the year 1997-98
36. X - 0.1% certificate of merit awarded by CBSE for Mathematics
37. XII - PCM Topper with 97%
38. B.Tech. - First class with distinction
39. MBA - Merit rank 9
    

Bloody Men

So, a wonderful friend introduced me to poetry today. I think I am beginning to like it. And obviously, it doesn't need the attention span of reading a book.

Here's one I really liked...

Bloody Men

Bloody men are like bloody buses -
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.

You look at them flashing their indicators
Offering you a ride.
You're trying to read the destinations,
You haven't much time to decide.

If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.
Jump off, and you'll stand there and gaze
While the cars, the taxis and the lorries go by
And the minutes, the hours, the days.

by Wendy Cope

Ludwig Van Beethoven to his 'Immortal Beloved'

Letter 1

Good Morning, on July 7

My thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved
I can live only wholly with you or not at all -

Be calm my life, my all. Only by calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together. Oh continue to love me, never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

Ever thine.
Ever mine.
Ever ours.

Life Quotes

"I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss, or the perfect parent or the perfect outfit but maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been given and accessorize the outfit we've got."
- Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City

I think that is really the bottom line, try to do the best with what we've got. Can't keep wishing for things I just can't have!

Curing PMS

So many women out there suffer a long week every month reeling under the effects of PMS. Feeling weak-willed, trying to get up and move on but not finding the stamina too. I am one of those women. It is almost as if for about ten days every month I turn into someone else I don't quite know. I want to do things, find energy to get up and actually do it but it is as though something has tied me and I just can't do. Most of the time, I would spend these days procrastinating, sleeping, lying down, doing unproductive thing, watching movies, anything which just blocks the thoughts in my head and doesn't need me to make any effort.

They say you take vitamins, eat well, exercise, etc. and that helps PMS. Well I don't actively exercise but I am active. None of these worked, not even a little. Add to that the stressful lifestyle, and there is no hope!

Recently I read somewhere that PMS is caused by serotonin deficiency. Some people are more prone to it for unknown reason. How to fix the serotonin? Well you could exercise, take anti-depressants or in some cases, it has been found that a deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids causes serotonin deficiency. So I looked around for supplements, generally too expensive. Then I found ground flax seed supplement. Well, it was worth a try.

I took one spoon of ground flax seed, also called linseed everyday with a glass of juice. Voila! No PMS! Let's just hope it wasn't a temporary fix, that it works consistently every month.

Precautions for taking flax seed:
1. Keep it in an opaque, air tight container.
2. Don't cook them. Sprinkle over not-very-hot soup, add to juice or sprinkle over a cold salad.
3. Drink 2 glasses of water extra per spoon of linseed taken.

Go try it!!! It is liberating!!!

Living Green

We seldom think about how little actions of ours are harmful for the environment. It does not need big changes, only a slight thought before we just do things the way we have been doing them. I was able to figure out a few:

1. Keep a handkerchief, as we used to do in the old days. Instead of just asking for a tissue wherever you eat, take out your handkerchief, just as you used to back in school!
2. In office, just keep a tumbler or coffee mug to get your coffee and water instead of using the million disposable cups.
3. Take bath the Indian way, bucket and a mug. It saves water.
4. Fix all the taps that drip.
5. Take the stairs. Save electricity and get some much-needed exercise.
6. Run a full load while doing laundry. Saves electricity and water.
7. Use a detergent such as Surf Excel Quickwash, takes less water.
8. Turn off the charger once you disconnect your phone or laptop. It keeps using electricity even after the phone or laptop is charged.
9. Use an insulated electric kettle to boil water. It is designed to be more energy efficient.
10. Use rechargeable batteries.
11. Install an economy flush system in your loo. It saves a lot of water.
12. Use the back of your printouts for rough work. Or take two-sided printouts.
13. Hibernate your computer before leaving work.
14. Turn off the power of electronic devices when not in use. The standby mode consumes power.
    
15. Turn off the lights when leaving the room.
    

Oh and throw trash in the bin. It helps trash from not ending up buried in the soil, clogged in a drain and keeps your surroundings clean too!

Rotting here

This institute leaves a lot to be desired, and that is just putting it mildly. Here are some data points to support my "hypothesis":

1. We have been charged mammoth fees in the name of facilities and hostel. Facilities such as computer and phone. The document said that there would be a phone in every room. Nada! Nothing at all like that! On top of it, the condition of the hostel is filthy. The paint chips off the walls and ceilings. The lift does not work. In fact the warden and programme director have themselves told us to refrain from using the lift. It is supposed to be replaced and they are aware that it is dangerous. Yet, batches after batches pass out without seeing any real action.
2. The placements are entirely the business of the students. Students must go out, get companies, entertain them without even so much as cooperation from the powers responsible. The director can be caught unawares... wouldn't even know that a process is going on! Unique!
3. The course scheduling is horrible. Perhaps they need to take some lessons from the OR guy on project scheduling. For one course, we were supposed to have only five classes. Can anybody guess when those happen? No, wrong. They take place all in the last week of the term when we have a hundred other submissions lined up and we are actually supposed to wind up everything and study for a couple of days before the exams begin, instead of just sitting in one class, learning alien concepts and analyzing cases, pretending that we have nothing better to do in life.
4. The mess sucks. Unlike all NORMAL places, there is no system of pay-as-you-consume. You have to pay an astronomical amount regardless of whether you eat once a day or once a month. And then you find cockroaches in the food. Of course, the caterer cannot change. There is a tender to be floated and I am sure you can figure out why they like only this one caterer for years and years.
5. The infrastructure is poor, to say the least. There is no place to entertain companies, play sports. There is an area near the canteen that stinks as though there are some remains decomposing there. God help! Maybe we need to call Dr. Brennan to figure out what it is.
6. There will be random guest lectures scheduled. Each person coming and talking about the same thing, sometimes. I understand, sometimes it is needed for networking. But imagine this, some guy coming and telling you how he hasn't fallen ill for 40 years and how you must use his methodology in your life.
   

The only savior of this place are the students perhaps. Perhaps their spirit is breaking as well. Mine certainly is. And to think, what all I gave up to come to this place. Sigh.

Worst Rooms at IIFT

The x7-x8 series of door-less rooms at IIFT are probably the worst ones. Let me explain the architecture of the rooms here in the old hostel. There are two adjacent rooms separated by a gallery that houses a bathroom and a restroom. Usually, each of the two rooms has an independent entrance and a second door that opens into the gallery with the bathroom. This gives a reasonable sense of separation from the washing area and the so-called adjacent room.

However, on each floor the 7-8 pair of rooms are an anomaly. There is only one entrance that goes in via the x8 room. There are no doors between the two rooms and washing area. It is like living in a noisy dormitory with little privacy or peace. Everyone who goes into x7 has to go via x8. The x8 people have to act as doorkeepers all the time. All this becomes much worse when the people in x7 have a proliferating social life and absence of paraphernelia that enables people to speak in a normal human low tone.

Living in x8 is tiring and irritating, especially for someone who needs some quiet time during the day, needs peace to study or sleep. This is extremely testing. Why don't they just put all noisy people in such rooms and let them enjoy each others' company? Why torture peace-loving souls?!

Lastly, exams are around the corner. I hope the noisy events in the adjacent room go down or I might have to resort to some tough talking. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Pain

On Pain
Kahlil Gibran

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.


Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Love Thyself

Carrie Bradshaw in final scene of Sex and the City:

"Later that day, I got to thinking about relationships - there are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back; But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself, and if you find someone to love the you that you love, well, that's just fabulous!"