Why so curious?

“Where’s the party tonight? B-wood shows up at XYZ celebrity’s brother’s daughter’s uncle-in-law’s neighbour’s dog’s marriage.” “We bring to you India’s 1678th kid to fall in a bore well”. “Do stay tuned while we bring to you our exclusive interview with a flood victim who lost his family in the floods”. “ABC was spotted stepping out of a urinal while talking to someone at a desk there!! What could he be possibly doing there? Is he dating someone there? Is there more to it? Are his bowel movements fine?”.
These days we have started getting more attention to stuff like these over KRK’s movies, and that really is scary.

Photo courtesy: Google

I believe everything around us is a result of some curiosity. Or else what could explain the guy who first discovered that cows give milk? Or the fact that a lot of people rely on astrology to know about their future? Or the first thing that most of us want to do after coming home from is the number of likes our latest dp has gotten. Or even putting some of them in ‘the close friends list’ and tracking every move of theirs, and then blaming the government on snooping on us!

Like I mentioned in my last post (https://dharmarajsolanki.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/get-set-click/) we create moments, rather than letting moments create us. Similarly, our curiosity leads us to know what’s happening in everyone’s life, be it the celebs or the ones who we want to stalk. Also this curiosity leads to phenomenons such as Fear-of-Missing-Out (FOMO) and social acceptance, which leads us to doing activities we otherwise wouldn’t have, but we do it so that we feel a part of the herd like updating social networking websites with ‘now trending’ topics to feel that we’re abreast and a part of the action.

There’s nothing wrong with staying curious after all it is the cause of so many wonderful creations around us. Almost all technologies that make our lives easy is the result of someone feeding their curiosity. But like all good things, this has a flip side to it too, like a lot of wrong activities will find their roots in a curios mind gone wrong. Also a lot of things go wrong in the process of feeding this curiosity. Like a good conversation is spoiled by the other person looking into his phone all the time, or while you desperately try to get data connection on your phone while missing out on the beautiful things around you.

Courtesy: Google

Anyway, let’s just look at all things that are positive, or at least we feel are positive. The whole point is anything and everything in excess in dangerous. So, let’s be curious but not feed our minds with thoughts like why has a particular cricketer resorted to a new hairstyle for a particular series, or how much is some blah blahs net worth! Another phenomenon that is picking up trend is the army staying updated on the go, they are to be seen everywhere, doing what they do best: dip themselves in their phones, even though that might lead to them getting run over by a bus, train or even fellow mates from the same community.

Let us all just check-in. Courtesy: Facebook

We should rather use this amazing trait to know about things that actually affect us and the world around us, and strive to be a better person than we were yesterday. For change we could just avoid the constant notification lights on our mobile phones, we could do away with push mails, we could shut Instant Messaging apps for a while, we can afford to miss out on some juicy news, not check-in for a change and let curiosity make the most of the beautiful experience called life.

Get. Set. Click.

Hey! Weekends are here! Long time! Let’s catch up with our cameras and click some pictures, ya! Catching up more or less has become a way of getting pictures clicked with people after checking in with the very same people on various websites and then updating “Had a really nice time statuses”.

We are definitely the most creative generation and that is evident by the fact that we use washroom mirrors as a potential photo tool! Who would have thought people would want to pose and smile at the camera while trying not get suffocated with the ammonia vapours around? Oh wait we aren’t talking about the Sulabh Shouchalayas (Public toilets), they are graphically enhanced with all betel nut eaters trying to pout at the mirror, but end up decorating the objects of beautification.

Source: MySpace

We have so many websites who run solely on people sharing photos, with more hashtags and words than our PM speaks for his entire tenure. Then there are XYZ-I-Own-A-DSLR-photography pages, while some of them are really good, but many of them are as talented as Poonam Pandey.

Also I’m sure HR professionals corroborate that most commonly found hobby/interest is Photography. No wonder we have mobile phones with a minimum of 5 megapixels and with that welcome you’re an amateur, but soon to be ace photographer.

Source: Google

I really admire the ones who really have a flair for photography and are very good at it, because it takes some real skill to capture the right moments, and I’m sure a lot of photogs would agree that you don’t need a powerful camera lens to do so, but it’s about how your eye lens identify the perfect occasion and click wonderful pictures rather than artificially creating moments for some soon-to-be-display/cover photo.

This is the main problem with us: We’re looking for creating moments to be captured; rather than just letting moments happen, let them be with us in our minds forever and if luck be, store it on a camera. There’s nothing wrong with trying your hand at it, but let’s not do it for the sake of a few likes, let’s just let life happen, and click a few pictures for our own selves along the way.

P.S: No offence with budding photographers, few of them I know are really really good at what they do, but it’s a general take on what is happening around us.

Thanks for reading! Let there be more photos! 😉

They need you!

So, vacations are here finally? With the advent of these short-lived holidays, begins the season of social networking! Suddenly your timeline experiences a downpour of Awwwwws, superlikes, status updates, check-in’s, hourly change of display pictures while testing of the camera in front of a mirror and memes! While all of this is definitely fun and funny, we could definitely make a lot more out of these days by clicking on links that tells you which profession you belong to according to your birth date or feeding our curiosity of who has viewed your profile in the last 48 hours by spamming their timelines!

Or we could also do something like volunteering/working for some really good NGO’s/non-profit organisations who are trying to bring about some change that we generally talk about being impossible in a country like ours, we could contribute our bit rather than blaming the government for being inefficient, we could help the less privileged by teaching them rather than throwing statistics about how illiterate our country is, we could plant a few trees rather than sharing photos demonstrating the need for a greener planet, we could enjoy the company of a stray animal rather than hurling stones at them.

 

Photo courtesy: Teach for India.

I know, some might find this as a value education lecture on an ideal student’s vacation, but sorry, this is not. I certainly feel that there are a lot of people out there who genuinely feel for the problems that we are facing, and who wish to be a part of the change process, this post is for them, and also for those who are not, but have taken the pains to read this post. This is for the 430 million and counting young population of our country, which consists of 430 million agents of change, and have the ability and the desire (well, in most cases) to live in a better country.

With this thought in mind I have, along with a friend of mine, Manasi Ghogare started a page called iShare on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ishare.mumbai) which is an attempt to bridge the gap between the youth and such organisations, by letting them know about the kind of work that these organisations do, and also post about the different volunteering/internship/job opportunities with them.

 

photo courtesy: Greenpeace India

I know not everyone wants to enter the cesspool and clean it, and its fine if you don’t want to. But all I’m saying is everyone has their own ways of helping such organisations, and we all should do our bit to not just show our support to these organisations, but at least the next time you want to blame others for the pollution, education inequality, child labour and other problems in our society, you make sure that you yourself have something to change about it.

And all it takes is a few hours a week, or a month, or even on weekends or even less. We should try and give as much to the society as much as we can, and as much as you expect from it in return. These organisations can use the most powerful capital that we have to offer them: Human capital! I would like to hereby make a humble request to all to support such organisations which work at the grassroot level in the best possible manner, and take out a few hours from their lives to do something that could benefit not just them, but you as well.

Having volunteered for quite a few organisations, I can assure you that the satisfaction that you get after doing something like this is much more than receiving compliments on your latest photo! Also do share your pictures and experiences if you’re working with any of these organisations, if nothing then you have my awwws, superlikes, shares and ❤ ❤ for sure! 😉

Thank you for reading. Happy sharing, happy caring.

Kitna deti hai?

Hi,

Firstly, thanks to all those who dared reading my first post, which has inspired me further to post another one! And special thanks to those who went beyond that, and liked/commented on the post.

So, here goes my second post, It’s more like an extension to my first one, wherein I had tried figuring out why students take up engineering (some are pushed into it!). But I’ll like to keep this as an open topic, and more relevant to everyone.

I’m sure everyone must have heard this phrase: “Kitna deti hai?” I’m not just referring to the successful ad-campaign by a leading car-maker (the possibility of the person behind the ad being a person who is fed up of the constant use of this phrase is very high), but yes, this is a very general phrase with potential applications almost everywhere. If we start paying close attention, this might even start seeming ubiquitous to us. From people asking the government about the GDP to people asking milkers about their cows’ milk delivery efficiency; from people asking battery life of their devices to students wanting to know the first thing about a company recruiting them: “Kitna deti hai?” 

Now, the last part is what we need to think about (but, sometimes it’s the battery that affects me  a bit more, but, err…anyway!). This phrase, I’m sure, must be omnipresent in colleges as soon as the placement season begins. Now, there’s certainly nothing wrong in wanting to know about the CTC’s that different companies are offering, The problem is that people look at it as the only criteria to measure one’s successful stint as a student. The problem that we look at money as the only yardstick to measure success is very, very wrong, and we shouldn’t blame someone in particular for this, but this thought process has very deep roots inside our society, which we all are a part of.

Now, this is what happens generally: Whenever parents send their kids to a particular college, the major factor while choosing one is “ROI”- Return on Investment. The kids are expected to come out with a fat pay cheque, if they want to be labelled as a “Bright student!”. This is applicable not just to graduates, but to people pursuing higher studies as well. 

The purpose of education is somewhere lost while this transformation ‘From curious souls wandering their across the fields of imagination are made to think of themselves as money minting machines’ takes place. Institutions are places where we expect students to learn, imagine, understand and explore. They should be places which should serve as an incubation center for curious minds to grow, but sadly there aren’t.

As the picture suggests: We have very little value for what curiosity can do to mankind, but we are rather interested on it’s ROI! Sorry, NASA, Pun intended!

Only when we understand that the true meaning of ‘graduating’ is a shift in the level of learning and curiosity is; and not the shift in his bank balance, will we truly care about the real-education. If and when we are able to create such an environment, will we have our share of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Elon Musk and a thousand others in the silicon valley and similar places which help people think beyond the ordinary and make a difference. We need more students to be entrepreneurs- not because they couldn’t do anything else, not because they have a lesser CGPA, not because they are filthy rich; but, because it is important to look beyond what conventional wisdom teaches us. We also need researchers who’ll unravel the different mysteries for us, we also need a lot of thinkers- who can help in policy formation and bring about change; and lastly we need a lot of students wanting to, as Mahatma Gandhi put it: “Be the change you want to see in this world.” 

P.S. What I’ve tried to say is quoted very beautifully by Mark Twain: “I’ve never allowed college to interfere with my education”

Why Engineering?

Hi,

This is my first blogpost, and I wanted this to be about something that I feel very strongly about. And this is the question that I’ve been asking myself and a lot of my colleagues… Why Engineering?

Now, most of the stories have got a similar ring to it. The student works hard in his 10th standard, hoping that getting good marks there would ease things for them. But in reality, it’s just the beginning. Then comes the big question, which stream to choose: Science, Commerce or Arts. Now the general tendency is (Just an observation, might not be true for everybody) if you’re a student with 85% and up, and you don’t take up Science, it’s a sin; 70-85% and you have the liberty to think about other streams, and the rest occupy Arts.

Here is when the discrimination and unjust segregation begins! Some people might have the liberty to choose the stream of their choice, but for the majority of them, it’s you’re grade 10 marks that make the decision for what you want to be in life. Let’s assume that you sail through 10th and then somehow slog through the two years in Science, then comes another question: What next?

Now again you needn’t over-think to get an answer to that. There are a number of exams from grade 12th board exams to the entrance tests whose number tends to infinity! Everybody has a “well-wisher” who might have lead you to think that working hard in 12th will end it the misery, Sorry but you’re mistaken. Again the students with the best of marks have just two options: Engineering or Medicine. Dare to say you want to take up the pure sciences and pursue research, and you invite hell.(Again these views are just general observations).

And then you, like a few lac others get into: Engineering. Now a thousand or more might be the one’s who take it up because they are passionate about it, and for those few: Respect. But for the others who take it because of pressure from parents, peer pressure, lets-do-it-because-every-other-guy-is-doing-it, etc. Some take it up because two quotas made it very easy for them: 1. Minority quota and 2. Monetory quota. All I want to say is ask yourselves- Is this what you want to be and do with your life?

Now, I’m nobody to be guiding you with your career options or to make these decisions or even form opinions for you. But for all those who haven’t, please ask yourself the above-mentioned question. For those who already have, let’s make sure if the answer is not what pleases you, let’s make sure that the next step and the decisions we take, be it studies or the jobs we take up, helps us do just that!

P.S: In case you have no idea which field you’re interested in, take up something that you’re really passionate and start working on that.