Back Again!

Back again. Cleared all exams once again. Well, almost!

Except the last one, I'm certain to clear almost all of the rest.

I can't help wondering why we are made to endure this arcane ritual of examinations every semester. I call it arcane because I'm still in dark as to what purpose they serve. We any how don't bother about acads till the exams are on us. During the xms we set every thing aside and try to mug up as much stuff as we can. We just spit it out there on the paper. If we fail to clear them, we can still work out by shelling out a few thousand bucks. So why write in the first place?

I wish someone cuts out this crap.

Here is the reason why I haven't posted for a while.....

 I got this image link at Stumble Upon...click on the photo to go to photo url.)

Update: The cartoon is from The New Yorker Magazine. Photo URL link deleted. Link: http://www.cartoonbank.com/item/121304

Yo Twenty20!!

What a match it was....Yo Twenty20, its the way to go!
If you are wondering what match I'm talking about...well its the India Vs Pakistan match.

At the beginning of the tournament, I was sceptical about the Twenty20 game, but now I like the game very much. The credit should go to the curator of the pitch.It was a game pitch that really gave some scope to the bowlers in the game. I was actually afraid that all the bowlers would be butchered. But thank God(for the weather conditions) and thanks to the pitch, they were really the stars of the match.

True, Twenty 20 is really a made for TV format. But since most of us see cricket sitting in our drawing rooms rather than the stadium, it's OK.
I find nothing wrong.
Maybe this is the way to go ahead. Of course its really too soon to say anything about scraping the ODI format as some of my friends suggested. But still I think that this format is really good for average viewers of the game. The highlights are the crowds, the short time of 3hrs it takes to complete the match and of course the full throttled action. As for the really connoisseurs of the game there always is the Test format.

But we need to take care that the matches don't really turn into a gladiatorial shows for the bowlers. We need to see that lively pitches are made, that help the bowlers to turn the ball a bit. Of course one may wonder what a batsman can do in such conditions. But a bowler pushed to the limit can never hope to cause as much damage a batsman pushed to such limit is capable of. Even the most ardent lovers of slogging don't like a cake walk for batsman. And then there are always so many rules that really restrict bowlers.

Anyway I'm going to enjoy this tournament very much. And hope you do the same.

I am happy to say that all four of our friends who were wounded in Monday's accident are now out of danger.

Let's keep praying that they find enough strength & courage to overcome both the physical and mental hardships and let's stand with them in the face of the challenges ahead of them.
Let's also pray that the families of Preethi and Pravallika too find the same strength & courage to overcome their grief.

Let's Pray.

A really sad day for all of us, students of SRKR Engineering College.

Early in the morning a group of eight of our friends who set out from here, Bhimavaram to a birthday party in Rajuamundry met with an accident en route. One of them, Preethi died instantly on spot while Pravallika died while being taken to the hospital. Four of them, Vindhya Vimala, Chandra Lekha, Rajasekhar and Eswar received major injuries. All four of them are now in hospital receiving treatment. Details of their conditions are yet to come out. The other two, Balaji and Das Kiran were lucky in that they did not receive any major injuries. All of them except Vimala, who is from final year EEE, are from final year Mechanical engg.

Whenever I read the maxim 'Speed thrills but Kills', I used to make light of it. But now the impact of the truth in that maxim has come down as too big a shock upon all our friends and college mates, to bear. Most of us all still too shocked to even think of what happened. Most are yet to digest the truth of what has happened to our friends, some of whom we met as recently as yesterday night. The college is still reeling under the deadly impact.

The whole college is saddened by this and the worst part is that this incident has brought back all the bad and shocking experiences to mind. All of us are still so gloomy and some are so depressed.

I don't even know what prompted me to post this. I've had some nightmarish experiences as shocking as these earlier. But still the pall of gloom that has descended upon us has knocked the hope even out of me. I'm feeling really helpless. As some friend pointed out a few moments back, Gods must be crazy to play this little game of life and death with us. I'm no atheist; nor am I so religious. I don't know if they are crazy. But I only pray to all of them to get those still in the hospital out of that living hell and help us overcome this grief and let live with a little happiness and hope.

And I request every soul on this earth to pray for whoever Gods they trust for the same.

Right now I'm a bit disoriented and am not exactly aware of what am I writing here. I just spit out whatever came to my mind to find catharsis.

Lets Pray.

Project Gutenberg

Hello world!

Here is a link to one of the best sites on the Internet. The site is www.gutenberg.org. It is a repository of free e-books. None of these books are illegal as most of them are out of copyright. And this collection is put together by volunteers all over the world. Most books are available in html format and other formats. Any book can be downloaded. Perhaps this one of those good endeavours on the web.

And the coolest thing about this site is that you can find almost all the classics you have ever heard about.Go check it out and help build it up.

Right to Information

Thinking of Right to Information recently, I decided to google for it. Here are the few links I came across:

http://righttoinformation.gov.in/

http://www.ndtv.com/rti/default.asp

http://www.righttoinformation.info/

But I haven't gone thoroughly through any of those websites. But still I thought that some one might find these links useful. Check thse out and write in comments any thing you found interesting on those sites. Also add any of the links you know about RTI.

Gone with the Wind

'Gone with the Wind' - this is one of the best books I have ever read.

I didn't understand what the title really means or how is it related to the book, even after reading the book. I only found it while researching to write this post, on Wikipedia. Yet, I loved the book. It took me longer to complete than any other book did. One reason why it took me longer is that the book itself is very big, over 1000 pages of relatively small print. But the other reason is that the book is so good that I enjoyed reading every word and I feared reaching it's end too soon. I had put the book away often, while reading, to recollect the vivid descriptions and ponder over them again.

The book is set in the backdrop of American Civil War (1861-1865 A.D.) between the anti slavery Americans of Northern states (referred to as Yankees) and the cotton kings from Southern states (referred to as Confederates). The descriptions of the war and its consequences are at times too vivid to bear and to continue with reading.

The best part of the book are these characters- Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler and Melanie Wilkes. They are some of the most interesting characters I've ever read about.

Scarlett - she is my favourite. She amazed me with her attitude. I wish I could put away all my worries from my mind, today, so that they can be worried over tomorrow, like she does.Though unscrupulous, insolent, proud, rude, ambitious and selfish, it isn't just Rhett Butler who fell in love with her. I couldn't help it either. I love the way she overcomes every obstacle step by step, patiently, without ever losing hope. I love her Fortitude.

Rhett Butler - cool, suave, dashing, daring, charming but not so affable. Well, those adjectives do some justice to his character. Yet, I felt his character was too complex. I liked his cool head, logic and more than anything, his candidness. I wish I were as charming as he is.

Melanie Wilkes - how I wish to have a friend like her. Or rather I wish I were her. She simply is everything I love and is everything i hope to be some day. Her strength, braveness, understanding, patience, understanding nature and everything , I just love those characters. She reminded me of the character of Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mocking Bird. Though at the beginning I didn't think much of her, as the book came to the end, I couldn't help admiring her remarkable strength. She made me cry, literally.

Apart from the three characters, there are other characters I liked very much like Ellen O'Hara, Will Benteen, Dr Meade, Mammy, Gerald O'Hara, Mrs Merriweather and Belle Watling. I couldn't help thinking of so many people I've seen in my real life, reading about these characters. At one point of time, I even forgot that all these characters are fictitious. Indeed, at one point, Mammy says to Scarlett that Scarlett and Rhett are both mules in the hides of horses and it is only at the end Scarlett realises that the remark is very true. But by the time she realises it, she loses too much that she could never hope to make up for. This particular remark actually brought back to my mind, my own past- all my arrogance, over confidence and careless nature. (Well, this doesn't mean that I'm a horse now, it just means that I stopped pretending to be one.)

And its just not the characters, I loved the style of narration also. Initially i.e., in the beginning of the book, I thought the book was unfair in its attitude towards the Yankees and seemed to glorify the South's Cause. But the frank remarks of the book's characters on issues like slavery expose the narrow mindedness of the southerners. The book is, in that way, balanced in that regard.

More over, though the book is historical in nature, the characters, their reaction to the situations are just as relevant today.

Though this book took me strenuous effort in reading it, in understanding the Blacks' language and referring to dictionary often to check out the meaning of numerous words I came across, in the end I'm happy that I read a very good book.

I'm now hoping to see the movie as soon as possible.

Tell me what you thought of this book or any other great books you read.

Thanks Blogspot for profile search.

I tried out the recently added feature, Profile search in our blogspot.
It's superb. I was able to find out all the blogs being published by authors hailing from my town, my state and sharing my tastes.

Thankfully, some of those were really good.

Thanks Blogspot.

I wish you actually added a search box too.
But still, I'm very happy...............

Placement Predicaments

A prominent MNC has recently recruited nearly one hundred and seventy students in our college even before we completed completed our third year. The recruitment drive has then (i.e., nearly two months back) disrupted our academic schedule. And as the recruitment was conducted just a couple of months before our exams, it affected our semester end scores.All the same, we weren't really concerned as we already got placed. But a few days back, i.e., a month or so, we were told by our Placement and Training cell that all our placements are cancelled. And this was confirmed by the company through mail. To say that this shocked us would be an under statement. We broke down completely. The Company told that since some irregularities and unethical practices were found to be followed in the recruitment drive, they need to re-assess us. And they sent us an e-mail stating the same. And a couple of days back, they sent another mail giving us details of where and when the next drive is being held, to which we are expected to attend.

The same happened with nearly one thousand students who were also recruited by the same team. (The figure is approximate, but not too wide off the actual figure.) It is rumoured that the Recruitment team took bribes. Some rumours were that the HR team was bribed. While the two statements apportion the guilt between the two guilty parties viz. the college managements and the Recruitment team, in a different manner, they had the same effect on us. They just meant that all our efforts went down the drain. For one thing, the swiftness with which the company has reacted after knowing the truth and the way our college training & placement cell has pulled all stops to ensure that the effect is mitigated are commendable. But still the fact remains that affected students are still heart broken and a some are still depressed. We have lost precious chance of being recruited into two companies which visited our campus after the first company but before the news broke out. It means so much to us.

Luckily, I'm one of the very few students who were able to make it to another company recently. But there still are about 150 students who haven't been so lucky. And this brings me back to the question which I have raised in my previous posts"The season has begun....." and "To hell with this lab work......". Indeed, the whole affair has answered my question partly. The question is:
Should the campus recruitment drives begin in pre-final year itself?
My answer is : NO.

Here is why: To begin with, the whole drive has disrupted our schedule in the pre-final year, a very crucial one in one's academic life. And the result of such drive, either being placed or being rejected distract students from studies. They effect our performances so much as proved in our case.

Is there any solution? I think so. I think colleges should frame a placement policy just as they frame their quality policies. In this, they should consider all possibilities and should ensure that students aren't affected by the whole recruitment drives. Best of all, the placements should not commence till the end of first semester of the final year. And colleges, instead of messing up everything in the end regarding the students' communication skills and language skills, should chart out a program right from their first year to ensure that they are employable by the time they graduate. And companies should also join hands with the academia to ensure the same.

And last but not least, the academia should go beyond the IT field regarding placements. It needs to make sure that the students are knowledgeable and employable in core fields too. While I'm not particular about this, I have friends who long to work in REAL JOBS as they consider It jobs as too unreal. I don't share their views but I wish they get what they want. Next I would like to blog on my placement.

Placement Predicaments - 2

Well, as if we haven't had enough trouble, recently, some of our friends, from EEE and a couple of other branches, who went to attend an off campus recruitment drive for IT jobs were told there, after getting registered and even attending the Preplacement talk, that they aren't needed and need not sit for the test. They were given back the registration fee and were shown the door, not so politely.

But I wonder who pays the rest of the expenses incurred by my friends in the form of travel and accomodation charges. And who is going to teach them the lessons they missed here.

GOD, save us!

Oh, Rafa & Roddick! Plz do it....

It's June, it's raining and the colours of the season are Green and White(no, not definitely the black of the clouds).
And the place to be is at The Championships, Wimbledon.
I'm no connoisseur of Tennis. Nor am I a long time fan. I'm still trying to know more and enjoy the nuances of Tennis.
I, in fact, discovered Tennis only a few years back. I was a long time fan of Cricket till then. But the whole match fixing scandal made me switch my allegiance. And now I love watching tennis.

I love the thunderous aces, the graceful volleys and the never ending rallies. But if there is one thing I like much less than anything else related to the tennis, its The Fed Express's dominance of the game on the Hard courts and on the Grass. Of course, I'm talking about the invincible(at least on the fore mentioned surfaces) HRH Roger Federer. To hell with this man. I love his game. I love his disposition. I love the calmness and composure with which he reacts when he loses a point. I love the way he hits Backhand with single and and amazing speed and precision.
I love the his winners. All the same, I loath the way this man is single handedly dominating the game on Grass and Hard courts. It sucks. Of course, it's none of his mistake.

I wish this changes this time. After his yet another failed coup d'etat at the Rolland Garros, I fear the worst is yet to come. Ravaged by the defeat, he might take his game to yet another new level. I pray this doesn't happen.

I hope at least Rafa(Rafael Nadal) will stop him this time. High on his record equalling success at the Rolland Garros, I wish he'll find some way to stop Fed-Express. Rafa has it in him. The fight he put up in the 2nd and 3rd sets in the last final is commendable. I hope he follows in the foot steps the great Swede Bjorn Rune Borg who made it a habit to win both the French Open and The Championships successively.

Another thing I'm hoping for is the revival of Andy Roddick's form. I wish he wins at the Wimbledon at least this time. The way he just gave up the match last time in 2005 after losing the first two sets made me sick. Of course, you can't often expect a comeback when playing against Federer, but still, I hated that blank, hopeless expression. I didn't expect that he would through in the towel so soon on that occasion. Do we, from a world class athlete?

And here is my prayer for this season:
Our Father in Heaven,
Please let either Rafa, with his enormous reserves of stamina or Roddick, with his beast of a serve take the crown at the Championships this time.
Or let anyone You like, except Roger.
And I promise You, I won't bother You, at least till the next season.
Amen.

Bye....

To hell with this lab work.....

As I wrote in the last post, the Campus recruitment drive broke loose all hell in our college. Right from the next day we had to work night outs to get all our assignments and records completed. And finally we did it.

But all the while I worked on my record, I couldn't help wondering what purpose, completing the record serves. That we didn't exactly follow the experiment is one thing and that we didn't even take down the right observations is another. But both these things rendered every thing useless. What's more? Even writing down the theory of the experiment is useless because we didn't write it by our self. We were first given all the material related to the exp. and were asked to copy it down twice- once in observation book and once in Lab record. Does this copying down serve any purpose?

The importance of lab work i.e., experimentation can't be over emphasized, especially for us in technical education. Thankfully not all labs are like that. I mean, at least some of the lab work
is done properly. But saying so can we afford to be so, even if its related to only a few subjects? I don't think so.

In India, especially at this conjecture, when cream of the students community from every branch is being sucked into IT & ITES, we need to get things like labs right. Lab work is supposed to rekindle the students' interest in relatively dry and boring theory subjects. But as long as the labs are as they are now, I don't think this objective is going to be realised.

And no, growth of Computers is not a bane. Indeed they granted us a boon in the form of Simulation Software related to various subjects like CAD, CAM, SPICE, HDL etc. All these need to be incorporated if we are to produce better Engineers.

And same as ever all I can do is only write about this....and hope some one who can do some thing reads this....

The season has begun......

It has been very long since I posted last. Any how I'm back. And this time I have some thing interesting. Well, interesting to me n my fellow Engineering students in India, anyhow.

Yes, the season has begun. But this time it has begun a bit early. No idea what I am talking about? Well, its the season when even big MNCs come hunting for young talent even in the interior regions of India that are other wise never given much thought about. Yes its the season of Campus Recruitment.

What's surprising is the eagerness of the companies to out-do each other in attracting fresh and young talent. But this time around some companies have actually come here to recruit students even before the end of our 3rd year, 2nd semester. Strange. Last year the companies began coming at some time around June or July. But now, we are not even half way through March.

Well, its all pleasing to be offered a job a in reputed company with a fat pay check. Its a great feeling to have a job offer in hand without even having our degrees (B.E. in my case). But still the timing of this recruitment drive has caused a little trouble with our academics. This is especially because of the imminent semester exams preceded by our mid sem exams. More over his is the time we will be busy getting our lab work records finished.

But it looks like there are some others who are not so pleased about the prospect of recruitment in 3rd year. Well, they have their own fears and those fears are not totally unfounded. And they are our Professors. They are thinking that we may take every thing else easy once we secure a job. And this has been proved to be true in case of our seniors. Last year, our college enjoyed a huge success regarding placements. And this, in turn has shown some effect on our seniors' studies and seriousness. Everyone, who were preparing for CAT or GATE or GRE suddenly relaxed and lowered their level of preparation. It was as if they never thought of appearing for such exams. There is nothing wrong in getting job while in college but getting one in our 3rd year tself is, I think, a bit too early. More so because most of us don't have a clear idea of what we want to do in our future, even in 3rd year of our graduation. One more aspect is that, in Engineering, having a backlog during the course is so common. And most of the companies put a restriction that those aspiring for a job should not have a backlog. While that is understandable, what needs to be understood is that many of us still don't take our studies as seriously as we are supposed to be. The reason for this is that we don't find our courses and colleges as interesting as we expect them to be regarding facilities like laboratories and libraries after bieng emanicipated from the drudgery of our Intermediate studies. So for the first 3 years, or so, of our Enginnering course, we dont take anything quite seriously. So naturally the talented among us have some backlogs. Anyhow by the time we enter our final year, we do take every thing quite seriously and clear up all the backlogs. So I think final year 2nd semester is the ideal time for Campus recriutment.

Well, this is what I think. And I invite your comments and suggestions regarding this matter. Just post in your comments below.

Novartis, please drop the case....

Recently I came across an article and an advertisement in 'The Hindu'. The article was about how cheap, generic versions of ARV (anti retro viral) drugs are helping millions all over the world fight the AIDS epidemic. But now Novartis, a US based drug company which holds the patents for the original versions of those drugs, has filed a case against Indian government for allowing drug companies like Cipla manufacture those generic versions. Novartis wants the manufacture of the generic versions stop and that its patent rights are honoured. Indeed, this is not the first time such a thing has happened. Earlier too, major drug companies tried to force some African nations in this way. But a international out cry over the issue and a major campaign has later forced the companies to drop the law suits. But now, India, as a signatory of WTO patents regime, is expected to protect the interests of Novartis. But this may prove to be a worst blow to the millions suffering from AIDS and the aid agencies helping them, all over the world. Are lives of millions more important than patent rights? No. So few groups have started a media campaign and a signature campaign to request Novartis to drop the law suit. The least guys like you and me can do is to take part in the campaign. So to read the news article article, click on the following link :

Generic drugs and the fate of the global AIDS response - The Hindu (29th Jan, 2007)

or
click on the title of this posting,"Novartis, please drop the case...."

And to take part in the campaign or to know more about it, click on this link :

PEOPLE BEFORE PATENTS:
THE LIVES OF MILLIONS ARE AT STAKE!!
SIGN-ON TO HELP PROTECT ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE MEDICINES!!

Please pass on this information to all your friends and urge them to take part in the campaign.

Education Blues......

For the past few months, we have been hearing a lot in the debate on reservations for OBCs in institutions for higher education. And also a lot on inclusion, or rather, exclusion of creamy layer.

Many people, leaders and experts have voiced their opinions on these issues. But one issue has largely escaped our notice. The issue is the quality of so called higher education in other institutions all over the country. Regarding the fore mentioned issue of reservation every one, except a very few, have argued and discussed on how much of the cake a particular section of the population is entitled to. But very few have thought of how to increase the size of the cake. No, increasing the size of the cake, here, doesn't mean just increasing the number of seats in those institutions, it also means increasing the quality of education in other institutions.


Almost every one agrees that even after more than fifty years of policy of reservation, much hasn't changed regarding the social and economical status of those concerned. But then, nor has the quality of higher education in general. If anything, with increase in demand, the quality has actually fallen over years. True the economic status of India has improved. But perhaps, that is because of the effective utilisation of our resources and not because of any tremendous change in the quality of education.

Even today, education means marks. True, marks serve as a very good bench mark to gauge the performance of students and to some extent, that of teachers. But, they aren't what the whole of education is. Unfortunately, many institutions haven't realised this. By and large, the greater purpose of education, which I feel is "to help an individual know about himself, the world around him; to make one realise his own strengths and weaknesses and to strive to better his strength and lessen his weaknesses" is being ignored. Luckily for me, my school education has helped me know about myself and my world. It also helped me discover my strengths and weaknesses. But my professional education (Engineering) hasn't really helped me work on my strengths and weaknesses.
No stress is being laid on Imagination, Innovation & Invention and self discovery.

Even more appalling thing is that, a few sections or branches of education are being are totally ignored. Take for instance science. These days science seems to have been forgotten all together in many regions along with humanities. No one taking the sciences in +1 and +2 are any more interested in doing M.Sc. and B.Sc. All they want is to become an Engineer or a Doctor. The necessity of basic life sciences and research is being ignored. All attention seems to be on Tech and MBA. Of late, interesting things are happening in technical education too. Earlier key stress used to be on practical knowledge with sound basics. But with mushrooming of tech institutes,(yes mushrooming) even basic infra structure like labs and libraries are not being provided.. We do need more institutions. But they shouldn't be allowed to come up in a hap hazard way without proper control. Because of this students are lacking proper practical knowledge of things that they are expected to do later in their profession. For example, even though I am a third year student in Electrical Engineering, I still don't exactly know how a motor works. Another reason for this is severe shortage of staff equipped with proper knowledge tools to teach us (but then, again, I'm lucky to be studying in a college with staff. But not every one is as lucky). And with the advent and success of IT, even the theoretical knowledge is being lost. Every one talks of Soft Skills and Personality development, which should have been an integral part of education in the first place. And here, in AP, every student is expected to be more proficient at C and C++ than their core subjects. Any how core jobs are exotic. Today IT & ITES maybe our forte. But don't we need o stress on other areas too? Especially when we dream of being a developed nation as soon as possible! Don't we need to set all this right.

Fee in IITs and our colleges are about same. We may not be entitled to have the kind staff and facilities they have. Nor can we even dream of their job offers and fat pay checks. But don't we require basic amenities like labs and Internet. There are still colleges which forbid their students from using email in college. All these issues should be addressed very soon , along with the rest of the issues concerning education. I still don't have an idea about who is responsible for this situation. Who ever it is, I only hope that they realise the situation set things right as soon as possible.

"We institutions of higher education which help us realise our full potential. We need those institutions that give us a chance to be ourselves. We need institution where gets to experiment on new things, where one gets enough time to explore some new avenues of life, where we get a chance to Imagine, Innovate & Invent!"

To kill or not kill....

For the past few months I've been thinking 'should death sentence be abolished?'. Well to be true, I have been thinking why death sentence should still be continued while many countries have abolished it. In principle, I'm against Death penalty. I detest it. One reason for this is that I love my life. So do everyone else, I believe.

Apart from my love for a life in any form, one more reason why I oppose death sentence is that killing a life serves no purpose. Yes, the crimes some commit deserve the harshest punishment. But is death penalty really harsh enough. I don't think so. Indeed death penalty offers an exit way from the tough path of transformation of an individual. Punishment is not an end unto itself. Its just a means to the end of transformation. I cases a person proves too hard to crack, he or she can be contained by many other measures like solitary confinement under strict supervision and security.

Still one may find all this concern over a gruesome killer or a terrorist to be absurd. But one reason why this concern is not absurd is that our judiciary system is still not fool proof. It still has many loop holes and pit falls. It is still possible that a real culprit can escape and an innocent person may be prosecuted and proven guilty. No, I'm not writing this in the context of Afzal's conviction. We've had enough debate over that issue. And I'm convinced that he is guilty. But the thing is this case alone doesn't ensure that our judiciary is so tight and strict.

Even if everyone everyone convicted is really guilty, justice is not being delivered on equal terms to all. Take the case of Abu Salem, he was arrested in Lisbon, Portugal. Though we had some substantial evidence of his involvement in some nefarious activities in India, Portugal, when given that evidence, refused to hand him over to us until our authorities gave them assurances that we won't hang him. And so do many countries who have abolished death penalty. Imagine the situation if Dawood Ibrahim too turns in some of those countries. How can justice be delivered depending on where a person, the guilty is arrested? Will we be able to say in such cases, that justice is not served as the criminal is not hanged?

Some may argue that we need not care about egalitarian principles regarding such criminals. But then, what goes round also comes round. So we need set right our law. We need to abolish capital punishment.

Well, if u feel u have some thing to say regarding this issue... please post your comments below.

Why do I blog?!

Why do I blog?!

This is the question I've been asked by many and by myself ever since I started my blog. And I've been asked this question not just by many, but many times too. I never really had any solid answer to this question. To make my presence felt in this global village of the Internet, I used to say, sometimes. Yet a few other times, I used to say just to have some fun. Fun!!!!! I really never had any idea how? The answers may sound funny. Well, they did for me too. Those answers never really satisfied myself though they did convince my friends that I've gone out of my mind.

Perhaps the only answer that I ever came close to satisfying myself with is that through my blog, I was able to give voice to my opinions and share them (or perhaps publish them), which until then, I used share only with a couple of friends of mine.

But then (and even now), I wasn't really sure that some one out there is listening to my voice i.e., reading my blog. So I wasn't really sure why I was blogging.

Actually, (here is where I can become really boring.....so if U don't care why on earth I started blogging, U may, very well, skip on to the next paragraph) I first came to know about blogging through a news paper. Immediately I took to it and started a couple of blogs whose ids and passwords I forgot just as soon as I created them. And then there was a period of lull. But once again I read continuous reports in newspapers about the hectic activity in blogosphere and the way it transforming lives all around the world. i read about how people formerly unknown became famous, how budding writers got book deals, how a few guys got cult following. And then i also read about the Novel writing month. Being a person naturally disposed to wasting realms and realms of paper just to jot down anything that come to my mind....I thought of this as one big chance. And the result is this blog. Well, as U may have observed the first entry is concerned with my opinions regarding int. politics. But immediately after writing that, I introspected and found that its no good writing such stuff. So then I stared writing about myself. This sounded like a bit of self proclamations of an egoist, but later I found that to be okay. So I settled for it.

But even then I wondered what to write about my self or my life or my world. So I decided to write in it everything I am interested. But this still hasn't given me any solid answer for my earlier question.

Then came December last. This December has changed a lot of my opinions about many things. And one of those opinions is that I'm not as useless or as stupid as I think myself to be. Indeed, I realised that no one is. No one is what they seem to be. Well, at least not what they seem to be to my eyes. And the came the TIME : PERSON OF THE YEAR - 2006 issue. It really along with a few incidents that happened in December, gave me the answer I was looking for. Or at least I'm thinking that is the answer.

The answer is: I blog because I want to be the change I want to see around myself. I want to let my voice raise and let it be heard by many, on issues that really matter. I blog because I want to be the change that's sweeping all over the world and is wrestling the right to speech and power of being heard of from the hands of few.I want to blog because I want to build relations with the whole world. "This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician to politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person to person. It's a chance for people to look at a computer screen and really, genuinely wonder who's out there looking back at them." , according to TIME. Also I always knew I was gifted with a lot of knowledge (sounds a bit like self praise, ain't it? But believe me it isn't). I blog because I want to share this knowledge and empower myself and my fellow humans with it and with their knowledge. I decided to put to use, this knowledge for collective good of my world which has given me so much. Also I decided to use my knowledge and my blog to help spread word about anything that's good. As the first step in that direction, I've put up a logo of a not-for-profit society caring for urchins. Also I decided to post anything I think is interesting and maybe useful. All those who want to care the uncared, please check out that site by clicking on the link.

Ummmmmm.... a lengthy post isn't it. But reading all that I've written I feel that I haven't given an exact and comprehensive answer to the question "Why do I blog?" Yes, I haven't. But then, its OK. At least now, I know what I wanted or rather what I want to do with my blog. I hope to answer, at least sometime in future, "Why do I blog?!" for once and all. And finally the following picture sums up very effectively how caught this habit of blogging.





I request U to help me in my endeavour by posting any comments U may have on my blog. Bye......