When I opened facebook today, I was pleasantly surprised to see my wall flooded with posts which showed that we focus on the things that matter, rather than just poltu conversations in hostels. This is a sad moment for all of us. One of our own brothers has tried to end his life because of the immense pressure to excel, to live up to his expectations. There are many things in life which we have to struggle with, in some we shine, in others, we do not. But never ever a failure can be a cause to end this life, for not only we have to fail at some point, but also we have people around us who care for us, not our achievements. Although everyone is saying that you are always welcome to talk to me, my door's always open, I do not agree with that proposition. There are two people who will always support you, with whom you can always talk about any problem you face. Your parents are one's you should always approach, no matter what you feel, you should talk with them if you are feeling low. This will always be more relieving than talking to anyone whom you have met a year ago and haven't even fully known yet. So go, have a long conversation with your mother, you will get to know that you are more to her than a set of achievements. You have a long way to go, don't give up here.
Sunday 2 April 2017
Thursday 29 December 2016
The essay to a second grader
Some time ago, my hostel mates were chatting in the late night, remembering our early schooling and stuff. While talking, one of us joined in the conversation saying," Ek fix paragraph milta tha, 'What do you want to become when you grow up?'" All of us laughed and moved on with our anecdotes. But a thought got stuck in my mind. If somebody had asked me this question 3 years back, I would have confidently answered that question saying that I want to become a "scientist". Would I be able to answer this question today?
After I joined college, confusion crept in my mind- "What now?". There are so many options to choose from, and I have no idea of the road ahead. "Screw it." I thought, I just got into college. It's too early. But I knew that was a consolation. I felt hollow, it seemed futile to do anything, to learn. meanwhile, all of my life went into a 'screw you' mode. One of the effects of not knowing what to do in life is you start doing random things. I started to take part in a whole lot of activities, neglecting my studies. My grades started falling, all hell broke loose. I started feeling depressed.
A doubt remained in my mind, there must be hundreds of millions of people like me. People in confusion, people who want to be recognized, who want to be revered, or wanting enough resources so that they don't need to look at the price tag even once. Everyone wants something that would make them different from everyone else, make them stand out, make them remembered for something or give their hearts a satisfaction of making an impact on someone else's lives. I learnt that I needed a goal. Something to aim at, a direction to go. I was foolish to think that college was my goal. It is far from that. I realized that college was only a platform. A platform whose foundation was being built all these years, and on which we have a chance to build a house upon.
A doubt remained in my mind, there must be hundreds of millions of people like me. People in confusion, people who want to be recognized, who want to be revered, or wanting enough resources so that they don't need to look at the price tag even once. Everyone wants something that would make them different from everyone else, make them stand out, make them remembered for something or give their hearts a satisfaction of making an impact on someone else's lives. I learnt that I needed a goal. Something to aim at, a direction to go. I was foolish to think that college was my goal. It is far from that. I realized that college was only a platform. A platform whose foundation was being built all these years, and on which we have a chance to build a house upon.
This made me go in a "deep think mode". I thought and thought on this topic for days. I found out a result- this is not the real question. The real question is- "What do we want in future?" The first question can only be answered if we know the answer the second question first. If we know what we want, we can find the answer to what we should do in the future. It is not easy to know what you really want. If you don't believe me, try to answer this yourself. If you think about it long enough, you will realize that you don't know what you want too (probably). If you can answer this, then you can judge yourself if you are on the right path. If you can answer this, you are probably on the right path.
All of this raised a question in my mind, am I the only one? I did a little survey among my batchmates, other people of my age, and I found out a disturbing (consoling for me) fact. Most of them didn't know what they were going to do with their lives. Most of them hadn't given it a thought on it. They were concentrating on a short term goal for some time, till they knew enough to decide the path to follow. At first, it seemed a bit childish to me to think so, but on thinking for some time, I realized that this was the only reasonable option available to my kind at this point of life. If I had set some short term goals for myself, some obvious goals that would benefit me, like "I should ensure a GPA above 8" or "I should participate in these four volunteer opportunities.", I would have achieved a lot more.
All of this raised a question in my mind, am I the only one? I did a little survey among my batchmates, other people of my age, and I found out a disturbing (consoling for me) fact. Most of them didn't know what they were going to do with their lives. Most of them hadn't given it a thought on it. They were concentrating on a short term goal for some time, till they knew enough to decide the path to follow. At first, it seemed a bit childish to me to think so, but on thinking for some time, I realized that this was the only reasonable option available to my kind at this point of life. If I had set some short term goals for myself, some obvious goals that would benefit me, like "I should ensure a GPA above 8" or "I should participate in these four volunteer opportunities.", I would have achieved a lot more.
So I took over the helm of my life, I started to limit my activities, balanced my studies and leisure time. At the end of the whole incident, I knew the importance of a goal, I knew the importance of a schedule, and although I didn't know what to do with my life, I knew how to find that out. There's your happy ending :)
Well, now you know the dangerous consequences of a late night chit-chat. :)
Tuesday 9 August 2016
Why IIT?
Hi friends,
So, as is evident from the title, I am going to talk about one of the few topics that I know about, wait.... make that - that I think I know about.
So, why this geeky topic, which almost no one on the internet cares about? I don't know, it just came to me that i should enlighten young minds blindly following the IIT brand, very much like me in the past few years.
So, the most natural question, why IIT?
I won't bore you with my history (as many of you are scared of it, as myself ;) ). There are many possible reasons for a child of 16 to want to go to IIT-
If a student is reading this, don't worry, when you get here, you'll get enough reasons to thank the people who forced you to go in an IIT. (And by the way, you should be studying PCM right now ;). )
But the question remains, why IIT?
IIT may have the best set of professors, I don't know, I haven't seen any of the other ones but still IIT is much more than just academics, we are not just a bunch of nerds staying in very large campuses (contrary to popular belief :(. ), we live our lives to the fullest. Don't trust me? Just search Rendezvous or Mood Indigo or Spring Fest or.......(the list is very long, but you don't have enough time). IIT is an experience, a journey most of the people don't get to experience. The exposure you get here is not available anywhere else in India. Before the people of other universities start calling me names I won't even understand, not many colleges in India give this much exposure, this much to learn, only a very few do (you can assume that your college does, no problem.).
You, want to go to a foreign university for a semester to gain some international exposure? You'll get it. You want a fabulous internship to feel industry's demand and pace, you're at the right place. Wanna be a writer (be a good one please), want to do a masters, we have the right ambience here. Wanna do, well, anything? Welcome to IIT. And, how can I forget in Modiji's rule? You, wanna do a startup? We got your back.
There's a lot to do here, a lot of activities, a lot of friends to make, a lot of studies too :P You can take part in anything you wish to do, anything that piques your interest. IIT's won't disappoint you (except the hostels, maybe, but you'll get used to it sooner or later, and enjoy it too.)
So, when everyone tells you," Do saal padhle beta, fir to maje hai.", don't trust them but believe them at the same time. IIT is a platform, a base for you to grow, not the end of your, journey, but the beginning ( as I have been told by every professor whose lecture I have attended ;). )
Hope to see you here in Delhi (Of course, I had to brag :) )
Sanyam Chhangani
P.S. (for boys only) - You'll feel the sex ratio problem of India all those biggies have been talking about, here for the first time ;)
Note-
I am new to this community of bloggers. Since it is human nature to commit errors in any new things which we try, please point out any errors that you find, any suggestions to improve etc. in the comments. Also, if you see that my content is similar to any other content here, know that I am not an avid reader of blogs.
So, as is evident from the title, I am going to talk about one of the few topics that I know about, wait.... make that - that I think I know about.
So, why this geeky topic, which almost no one on the internet cares about? I don't know, it just came to me that i should enlighten young minds blindly following the IIT brand, very much like me in the past few years.
So, the most natural question, why IIT?
I won't bore you with my history (as many of you are scared of it, as myself ;) ). There are many possible reasons for a child of 16 to want to go to IIT-
- First and foremost, family pressure.
- Family environment (not pressure, mind). (My case)
- Having heard that IIT is a very good college from their friends and IITians get very good packages.
- Want to run from all the other subjects that are not really taught in a very good manner in our schools. (Yeah History and Biology, talking about you.)
- Really want to study PCM (Yeah, I have seen such rare cases too.)
- Many other stupid reasons have been omitted for your sake.
If a student is reading this, don't worry, when you get here, you'll get enough reasons to thank the people who forced you to go in an IIT. (And by the way, you should be studying PCM right now ;). )
But the question remains, why IIT?
IIT may have the best set of professors, I don't know, I haven't seen any of the other ones but still IIT is much more than just academics, we are not just a bunch of nerds staying in very large campuses (contrary to popular belief :(. ), we live our lives to the fullest. Don't trust me? Just search Rendezvous or Mood Indigo or Spring Fest or.......(the list is very long, but you don't have enough time). IIT is an experience, a journey most of the people don't get to experience. The exposure you get here is not available anywhere else in India. Before the people of other universities start calling me names I won't even understand, not many colleges in India give this much exposure, this much to learn, only a very few do (you can assume that your college does, no problem.).
You, want to go to a foreign university for a semester to gain some international exposure? You'll get it. You want a fabulous internship to feel industry's demand and pace, you're at the right place. Wanna be a writer (be a good one please), want to do a masters, we have the right ambience here. Wanna do, well, anything? Welcome to IIT. And, how can I forget in Modiji's rule? You, wanna do a startup? We got your back.
There's a lot to do here, a lot of activities, a lot of friends to make, a lot of studies too :P You can take part in anything you wish to do, anything that piques your interest. IIT's won't disappoint you (except the hostels, maybe, but you'll get used to it sooner or later, and enjoy it too.)
So, when everyone tells you," Do saal padhle beta, fir to maje hai.", don't trust them but believe them at the same time. IIT is a platform, a base for you to grow, not the end of your, journey, but the beginning ( as I have been told by every professor whose lecture I have attended ;). )
Hope to see you here in Delhi (Of course, I had to brag :) )
Sanyam Chhangani
P.S. (for boys only) - You'll feel the sex ratio problem of India all those biggies have been talking about, here for the first time ;)
Note-
I am new to this community of bloggers. Since it is human nature to commit errors in any new things which we try, please point out any errors that you find, any suggestions to improve etc. in the comments. Also, if you see that my content is similar to any other content here, know that I am not an avid reader of blogs.
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