After-Life Game Show

At the end of your life, imagine you're a participant of a game show where you are flashed certain images/moments of your life and are asked to identify them. Moments that are not necessarily the highlights like your graduation or wedding day, but random everyday moments. If you were shown first person point of view images of you staring at your plate while eating lunch, or watching TV, or sitting inside a tent somewhere staring at the top where the raindrops are falling, or in a public washroom somewhere, could you identify them? Perhaps specific moments like the latter two can be identified, but it is highly unlikely that you would identify the precise moment for the first two examples. How many moments in our lives are distinct enough such that we can separate them from all the other moments and experiences? What if you see an image of yourself reading this blog? Would you remember this?

One may say that the quality of one's life can be measured in this "game show". The more images you identify, the more eventful your life was. After all, if you cannot remember a moment of your life, would it have made a difference in your life?

There are thousands of people, places and things that we would be unable to identify. Unless it had some significance, as far as we are concerned, it never happened. However, this does not imply that the moment was superfluous, or that it did not make a difference in your life. I believe that a moment of life is defined by it's differential, i.e. the impact of a moment when compared to the impact of all the other moments in your life. For instance, let's say you go to a restaurant and a painting on the wall catches your eye. At the end of your life, if you are flashed this painting, you would perhaps remember it or at the least, acknowledge its existence. The reason for this is that this particular moment had a slightly higher impact than the average impact of all the other moments of your life. The higher this differential, the higher the impact (hence, higher the significance) of the moment. As we go through life, the "running average impact" adjusts itself based on the moments we've experienced. If at the same restaurant, there were 10 paintings that catch your eye, then the "relative differential" will be substantially less for each of the paintings. At the after-life game show, if you were shown one of these 10 paintings, you would probably not remember it. However, if all 10 were flashed in front of you, you may remember the time you were at this restaurant.

Life is about these differentials. The more of these you have, the more moments you remember, and the better you do at the After-Life Game Show. In other words, Life is about change. A privileged person may have had a life full of these "great moments", however this implies that the "running average impact" is also quite high for them, and hence the differential of these "great moments" are small. The impression of a great moment on a great person's mind is not as high as the impression of a great moment on an ordinary person's mind.

Hence the mundane moments (i.e moments we can't identify in the game show) are just as important as the high-impact moments. They help in keeping the "running average impact" low so that the impact of a "great" moment has a higher differential. Life is all about maintaining a balance between the running average and the high-impact moments. The mundane moments highlight the important ones and vice-versa. To win the After-Life Game Show, Life should be optimized to maximize the number of  high-differential moments.

2010, I hardly knew ye..

Note: This is a bit of a personal post with some insights here and there. It is meant to be read as one would read a story.

My resolution for 2011 is to live it like 2010! This past year has been incredibly eventful and it has made a deep impact on my personality. At the end of 2009, I was immersed in the final year of Engineering at the University of Toronto, taking Carnatic vocal classes, and applying for jobs and a good masters program. Now, at the end of 2010, I have successfully completed one semester of MASc. at the University of Waterloo, Carnatic classes are still going strong, and I have a ton of memorable experiences from the past year. Some highlights of 2010 include:

Design Project

Trans-illumination Breast Spectroscopy (TiBS) is a research topic pursued by the Ontario Cancer Institute at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Justin, Taq and I chose to assist the researchers in this project by designing and implementing a power source for the system. While the project required an electrical engineering background, it had implications in the medical field. Perhaps this is what they call Biomedical Engineering. This also worked in nicely with satisfying the requirements for a minor in Bioengineering. However, after this project and taking biomedical courses, I realized that while it is a booming field and has real world implications, the subject matter is not for me and the work itself was not pleasurable, hence it will not be pursued by me in the near future.

The experience of working with medical researchers, phD students and fellow electrical engineering students was an enriching one. This was perhaps the first time that I understood the project in its entirety and was formulate the vision and guide the group towards it. We assembled a system comprised of off-the-shelf and customized parts that satisfied the goals of the project. I will always remember the Pad Thai and Beer nights we had at the end of the day, and our personalities worked well together.

Masters and Job Hunt

2010 was a year of decisions. Decisions that would significantly impact the rest of my life. Whether to find a job, or pursue graduate studies? If job, then what field to pursue, and if grad studies, then what field to pursue. After a successful research experience with Prof. J. Anderson during the summer of 2009, I became more inclined towards graduate studies. I felt like with my personality and skills, I can make a contribution to the research field, specifically the field of FPGA CAD and FPGA architecture. I loved being in the research environment with other like minded people during the summer. The best thing I liked about research was the inherent honesty and passion towards making a genuine contribution to the society. Being in an environment surrounded with such professors and students made me realize that I would be truly happy if I were to be part of such an environment. While a working life has its own rewards, I realized that at the current state of my life (where there were no serious financial obligations, or the need to get 'settled' quickly), a logical next step for me would be graduate studies. Following a series of interesting events, as found in this post, I ended up pursuing an MASc. at the University of Waterloo.

Leaders of Tomorrow - Mentorship Program

In my final year of undergrad, I was the chair of the ECE Mentorship program, which was a program for entering ECE students where they would be mentored by upper year students. I conceived and organized several mentorship events, that were meant to help first year students such as Exam study tips seminar, Job hunt seminar, etc. This was a new and challenging experience for me as the position entailed a lot of responsibility and I really wanted to do a good job. It was a meaningful and learning experience for me and I will always remember it.

Iron Ring

An event that every aspiring engineer looks forward to during their undergrad is the Iron Ring Ceremony. It is a secret ceremony where we are presented with an iron/steel ring that symbolizes our obligation to the society as engineers. The ceremony is a very interesting one, where only people with iron rings are allowed. The students take an oath on cold iron and are then presented with the rings.

The more enjoyable part of the ceremony is the after party. This was organized at our engineering cafeteria called the Atrium, or SUDS (on fridays). This was a night of friends, memories, a feeling of accomplishment, good food, music and alcohol. All in all, an apt way of symbolizing the end of our undergraduate studies and the commencement of our lives as professional engineers. Here are some highlights:

Salsa, Paintball, Shooting Range

I also take pride in the fact that I did a lot of things in 2010 that I wouldn't normally do. Firstly, I joined salsa classes with my good friend, Durwyn. It was an amazing experience where I got to meet a lot of nice and interesting people and also learned a few moves for the next party! It was something I looked forward to every week and I hope to do something similar in 2011 as well.

I also tried various other activities like paint balling with the family and shooting range where I got to actually shoot a 9mm pistol, a 29mm pistol, and a shotgun! The whole experience was really scary and when I got to the shotgun, I started having doubts as to whether I could handle the recoil. However, I just went ahead and tried it and I was glad that I did. Sometimes, you just have to stop thinking and start acting and this was one of those times.

It's not like in the movies where you can hold your gun sideways and shoot without looking. You really have to stabilize your hands and hold it straight so as to not jam the gun.

Paintballing:

Music Classes

I've been taking vocal carnatic lessons and this year, I got a lot of opportunities to perform. The Sringeri Vidhya Bharati foundation (SVBF) opened a temple here in Toronto and I, along with the family, was heavily involved with the volunteering etc. I have gotten several opportunities to sing at the temple and they definitely gave me a boost of confidence. I hope to continue with the lessons and go deeper into the world of music.

Jamsterz4

I've also been involved with a random fun project with a couple of friends. We have a formed a band called "jamsterz4" and we play english and hindi/urdu songs and post them up on youTube. The youTube thing is only to keep us focused. If we don't post them up, we probably won't take it as seriously. Plus, it gives us a chance to do something creative together. It has been a fun experience so far. Here's our attempt at a cheezy music video :P

India Trip

After finishing up my last exam, I went to Bangalore, India to visit my grandparents, aunt and uncle. Two years ago when I was there, I was completing my internship with Siemens and I was halfway done my undergrad. I wanted my grandparents to see their grandson as a fully qualified engineer: the first in our immediate family. This was the first summer since I started my undergrad where I didn't have to get up early every morning to go somewhere important. It was a much needed relaxing time spent with family and friends.

I met up with my elementary school buddies and visited my old school. It was a weird experience going back there as adults. I noticed that the place had changed as much as we had. The school had expanded into a well-reputed pre-university college and there were lots of construction going on. It was also weird to see that some girls in my class had gotten married and a few also have babies!

SVBF Mahakumbhabishekam

The word can be a mouthful, but this was the grand opening of the SVBF temple in Toronto. This event significantly changed the momentum of the rest of the year. I had never seen anything like this before. 20 some odd priests were flown in from the remote parts of India to conduct the ceremony, and I was one of the people who got the chance to actually bring the idols of the god into the temple. It was 12 days of intense immersion into Hinduism.

I was very fortunate to witness the occasion at this point of my life because I am at the point where I have seen (more or less) what the world has to offer and I have to choose some direction to take. I am naive and open enough to grasp things without any preconceived notions and mature enough to understand them (more or less). The temple is perhaps currently in its purest forms and has had a considerable impact on me and the community at large. Hopefully it continues to do the same.

Convocation

This was actually quite anti-climatic. It was a fairly boring ceremony where we received our degrees and then took pictures with our friends. A milestone nonetheless!

Concerts and Shows -

I also went to several amazing concerts and this time as a music student, the experience was both stimulating and enriching. I got to meet the great Mandolin Srinivas in SVBF. I actually got to transport his mandolin to his car and serve him snacks and drinks. He was very much a down-to-earth guy with a sense of modesty and humility. Not to mention, he is incredibly talented.

During the Mahakumbabishekam, several high profile celebrities were invited from India to perform and I was one of the people who got to pick up the celebrities from the airport! I was fortunate to have Bombay Jayshree and crew, Maharajapuram Srinivasan and his son Maharajapuram Ganesh sit in my car while I dropped them to the hotel!

I also went to the Shankar Ehsaan Loy concert held here in Toronto, and a concert by a local group, Bobby's Naya Afsaana, where my sister performed a few songs.

Recently, the ex-president of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam visited SVBF and I was fortunate enough to see him in such close proximity.

Namma Apthamitra Vishnuvardhan

This was a show that I was involved with where I got to push my dad off the stage, sing with girls dancing around me, dance, and also grow a mustache! To break it down, we put on a show to honour a late Kannada actor, so the program involved a scene from one of the movies, where I played the main role who tries to run off with a girl, and my dad played the teacher who tries to convince him otherwise. The audience loved the show as it brought back some great memories and the performances were flawless. They especially loved our rendition of "Malenada Henna", as you can see in the videos. People were slightly surprised by me as I am usually the quiet introvert type and people never expected me to get on stage.

Other Highlights

Just in case I forgot to mention, we moved into a new house and bought a new car!

So, 2010 has been quite an eventful year. It has had a serious impact on me academically, socially, culturally, musically, spiritually, religiously, artistically, philosophically, and any other "-ally" you can think of. It has set the bar quite high for any year and my goal now is to try to achieve or surpass the bar set by 2010 in all other years of my life!

"Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to!"

2010 was a year of decisions. Decisions that would significantly impact the rest of my life. Whether to find a job, or pursue graduate studies? If job, then what field to pursue, and if grad studies, then what field to pursue. After a successful research experience with Prof. A during the summer of 2009, I became more inclined towards graduate studies. I felt like with my personality and skills, I can make a contribution to the research field, specifically the field of FPGA CAD and FPGA architecture. I loved being in the research environment with other like minded people during the summer. The best thing I liked about research was the inherent honesty and passion towards making a genuine contribution to the society. Being in an environment surrounded with such professors and students made me realize that I would be truly happy if I were to be part of such an environment. While a working life has its own rewards, I realized that at the current state of my life (where there were no serious financial obligations, or the need to get 'settled' quickly), a logical next step for me would be graduate studies.

Secondly, a masters degree opens up doors that I would like to pursue- the doors leading to an R&D position in a company, a phD, or maybe even becoming a professor. There is also this sense of implementation vs. design, where I feel a masters degree would lead (more probably) to a position with more design and creativity, whereas a bachelors degree would lead (more probably) to implementing the ideas of others.

With this mentality, I started applying to some top schools in the US, and a few schools in Canada. For peace of mind, I also applied to a few jobs. Just like in high school, the application process was an enriching experience as I was forced to look back and think about how I arrived at my current position. I think this is an important exercise to stay grounded and gain perspective on things.

The application journey was an adventurous one. Firstly, my marks were not very competitive, so I had to leverage my research experience and publications. While this stirred some interest in a top US school, it did not have enough leverage to get me full funding for a masters program. While I had applied to other schools in Canada, my heart remained at UofT because of the familiarity and the reputation that it has in FPGA research. I had very little doubt that I would not be accepted to this school. However, due to some miscommunication, one of my reference letters did not get through and I was not considered during the first round of admissions. Thankfully, Prof. A was on my side and he notified me soon enough for me to repair the damages. As the weeks rolled on, I became more and more nervous as I had not heard anything but a few predictable rejections.

An interview with a professor at a good Canadian university had some potential, however the professor turned out to be incredibly egotistical and critical as during the interview, he mentioned that I did not have the potential for a good masters thesis, and that I should reconsider my goals in life. He strictly advised me against doing a phD, which was disappointing. However, I did not take it to heart and I mentioned it to prof. A, who reassured me.

As a few more weeks passed, my prospects were looking very grim. Prof. A mentioned that due to funding issues, he will be unable to take any students, which impacted the other professors' decision as well. While I did not have the marks, I had the research contributions. However, if A himself would not accept me, then why would others? While all these experiences were heart-breaking, I recognized that this could very well play to my advantage. I now have to prove myself to the critical prof and all others who doubted me. While they had good reasons to reject my application, they also had good reasons to accept. They fueled my fire to prove to them that marks are only a part of the whole application; that attitude and personality makes a considerable impact in one's success in life; that I am a creative researcher who can make more contributions; and that my publications with Prof. A was not merely a fluke.

My shortcoming was the fact that I went through my undergrad without caring for marks. I genuinely enjoyed the subject matter and always did enough work that I wanted to without consideration for marks. During my exchange in NUS, Singapore, the marks did not count towards my GPA. However, I put in as much effort as I would have had it counted for my GPA. This was because the amount of effort was independent of the mark factor. I felt that this was the purpose of education and to truly learn, the drive and motivation must come from the inherent desire to learn and grow, rather than external factors such as marks, or the prospect of getting into a reputed school for graduate studies. While I realized that this was my flaw, I never regretted this view. I wanted to prove to myself that my outlook towards education is not faulty. For this, it was imperative for me to get into a good graduate studies program.

In my desperation, I realized that I had not applied to University of Waterloo and the deadline had passed. I immediately contacted a professor and explained my situation. After a few exchange of emails and a face-to-face meeting, the professor was nice enough to make an exception and accept me as his student for the upcoming year.

Meanwhile, other forces of fate were at work. While walking down Bay street in downtown Toronto, I passed a professor with whom I had worked in first year. He casually inquired about my application status since he was one of my referees. Soon after, I received an acceptance from him to MASc. at University of Toronto. He is a very renowned professor with numerous international awards and publications. Only catch was that his field of research is not on FPGAs. Also, he had recently started a company which consumed most of his time and it seemed as if he would not be a good research supervisor at this time. However, he had the name and overwhelmingly positive feedback from his past students.

The main case of certainty I had against the renowned prof. was the mismatch in the field of interest. This case became less 'certain' when I got accepted by another professor at UofT who worked on computer architecture. While this isn't FPGAs perse, it is incredibly similar and I was considering making the crossover. However, the professor was fairly new to the university. So now, the two options I had were Computer Architecture at UofT vs. FPGAs at UofW. Both seemed like great choices. A lay person would blindly choose UofT because of it's reputation and seemingly better future prospects. However, with all the information that I had, it was incredibly difficult to make a decision.

I finally gave in to the Waterloo professor's sincerity and belief in me. I realized that not only is he working on something I know most about, he is also a nice guy. People always make a difference in the quality of one's life and I simply felt better (only slightly) energy coming from Waterloo. So, this was a case of "Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to.." Somehow, the forces of fate forced me into pursuing an MASc. at the University of Waterloo. It would be interesting to see how this displacement will impact my life.

So far, the impact has been minimal. I feel socially displaced due to lack of familiarity to the place and environment. Waterloo is a small university town with lots of college students, so the lifestyle is different and it will take some time to get used to. All my current friends in waterloo are international students from India who are also perhaps feeling socially and culturally displaced. In terms of Academics, I would assume that I am having an easier time here since I am taking only 2 courses, as opposed to 3 that I would have taken at UofT, and the difficulty is presumable lower here (although, I can't say this with certainty). In short, the displacement has probably not had a significant impact so far.

Anisuthide Chords

Chords by Chirag R.

Capo 3rd

Am F G Em

Am F

Anisuthide yaako induNeeneyne nannavalindu

Am F
Maayadaa lokadinda Nanagaage bandavalindu

F G Em
Aahaa yentha madhura yaathane

Em Am F G Em Am

Kollu hudugi omme nanna, haage summane

Am

Anisuthide yaako indu

Am F Am

Suriyuva soneyu sooside ninnade parimala

Am F Am
Innyara kanasulu neenu hodare talamala

Am F
Poorna chandira rajaa haakida

G Em
Ninnaya mogavanu kanda kshanaa…

G Em
Naa khaidi neeney seremane

Em Am F G Em Am
Tabbi nanna appiko omme…. haage summane

Tutigala hoovali aadada maathina sihiyide
Manasina putadali kevala ninnade sahiyide
Haneyali bareyada ninna hesara
Hrudayadi naane korediruve
Ninagunte idara kalpane
Nanna hesara kooge omme… haage summane

Anisuthide yaako indu….
Neeneyney nannavalindu….
Maayadaa lokadinda
Nanagaagi bandavalindu
Aahaa yentha madhura yaathaney
Kollu hudugi omme nanna, haage summane…

Life as an NP Complete Problem

Life is an NP complete problem in terms of time. At each instance of time, you virtually have an infinite amount of paths you can take, each leading to a different 'node' or point of life. At most times, we make a greedy selection of path. We select the direction which seems to be most appealing at the time with the information we have. This seems to be the only way of making a sound judgement and selecting a direction to follow. How else can we make decisions? If we were a computer, then we can implement some sort of a recursive solution, where we take a path, and if it does not work out, we back track and take a different path from the same 'node'. But, of course this is not possible. We can't back track through time. Once we make a decision and choose a direction, we only have the current node to work with. This node leads to a different set of nodes that may or may not be the nodes that were previously visited.

Imagine if Life was like the Travelling salesman problem. If we were given these different instances of life and had to choose the most efficient path through them. Here, I am defining an efficient path as the path that has the least obstacles/pain and the most rewards/success. If we can somehow reduce the overall 'pain' factor by taking a small loss in the current selection, then we would be able to increase the overall 'success' (whatever that may be; Love, Money, Fame, Family, Respect). But how do we know which 'current loss' leads to 'overall success'? Through history, we know a few of these 'current loss' paths.

I suppose school can be one such path, which takes many years of one's life, where one is subjected to heavy mental tasks in order to gain something that will be useful in the future (eg. Career)

On a daily basis, one would choose to take the car instead of walking because it is faster, and requires less effort. While this has the least 'cost' in the short term, this may have a higher overall cost. Walking is better for health, good for the mind, one can do some productive thinking that may/may not lead to something productive (not to say that the same cannot be done in the car, but the probability is less)

One tackles NP complete problems through heuristics, which are not solutions, but a method of achieving the best possible result in the given time. These heuristics are formed through extensive experimentation with different scenarios. Is there a 'heuristic' that will allow you to take the right paths in life leading to overall success? This observer thinks that the 'heuristic' is spirituality and philosophy. If one thinks about life deep enough and tries to understand the purposes of the things he does (to a minute detail), then he can make the right decisions in life. In the above example, if one goes to school, not thinking about the end result, but going to school to learn for the sake of learning, then all decisions made during this point of time (i.e. school) will be the more favourable ones for overall success than the greedy method.

If one has appreciation for nature and what it has to offer, then one would choose walking over driving. This choice is made not greedily (to attain success in the end), but infact to enjoy the moment. If one realizes and appreciates the beauty of nature, then one would automatically make the right choice (assuming that walking is the right choice..)

So one heuristic to use for the best possible result in the given time would possibly be what the greats have said all through time. Stop and think about your journey, what have you done and why have you done them? Why do we do certain things a certain way, can they not be done in a better way? Where are we and what do we have to enjoy? What is in our mind and what is outside our mind?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Explaining the Downward Spiral of Dishonesty and Insincerity in India

If there is a job that needs to be done, whether it is painting your house, driving your car, cooking your food, or simply playing with your kids, it is quite easy to find people who do that in India. Due to the density of people, most are happy with any kind of job. However, regardless of the number of people involved in doing a certain task, there is a certain lack of quality and sincerity that I would like to address in this post.

It seems like people do not strive for excellence in what they do. They simply want something to do to earn an honourable paycheck. The work itself is least of their concern. As an example, a few rooms in our house needed to be painted so we set out in hunt for a few good painters. Strangely, since it was only a few rooms and day's worth of work, no painter agreed. It seemed like they either had enough jobs lined up, or like they rather not spend their effort on such a small task. After some difficulty, we hired two painters who came for a day and finished the job. They did not have any tools with them, or even old clothes that can get dirty. They not only asked us to get all the material, but also asked us for t-shirts that they can wear while on the job. They did a terrible job painting demonstrating how little they care. This was only one of many instances that I faced of people and their insincerity during my four week visit.

Although the middle class and lower-middle class in India are leading a poor quality life, there was a lack of passion and ambition. They are happy to be complaining and pitying themselves about the life they are leading. No one seemed interested in improving themselves, their skill set, or the number of prospects they have.

After witnessing a few of these instances, I was reminded of my grade 9 business class where I was taught about the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

The basis of the concept is simple. Every human has some needs that should be fulfilled in order for him/her to lead a happy life. These needs appear in a pyramid form where the most basic physiological needs such as food, water and shelter are in the bottom. These needs are vital for survival and are at utmost priority to any person. A person can think of other needs only after the physiological needs are satisfied.

After the basic needs are met, every person has safety needs, where s/he needs to feel secure in the place where they live, in the work that they do, and the people that they interact with.

Once the above two needs are satisfied, a person has social needs, where he looks for relationships with people. This includes friendship, family, community and an overall sense of belonging with other people.

Once the three basic needs are satisfied, esteem needs become prevalent. These are issues dealing with self worth, confidence, reputation and recognition in the community, etc.

At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization needs which seems to be lacking in the lower/middle class Indian population. These are the needs to develop oneself and their personalities. It is realizing one's potential in something and striving to achieve that potential. It is about becoming something more than what one is at present.

In my opinion, the three basic needs in the bottom of the pyramid are not fully met to form a solid foundation required to satisfy the esteem and self-actualization needs. While a person buys a house in India, one is always worried about the legality of the property; whether, s/he bought the house from the rightful owner. While every family gets a maid to help with the housework, there is always the worry of her stealing from the house. While they own a car, the traffic makes the drive intolerable. There is no sense of calm and straightforwardness. Everything is a race where it is not the fastest or strongest that wins; The winner is the one who can cheat the other out of winning. These elements contribute to the vicious circle of insincerity and dishonesty in India. Without these basic needs fully met, people rarely try to improve themselves, their morality, or the quality of work they do.

While there are many examples of people in India who have satisfied all the needs in the pyramid, this article is meant to address the lower-middle class population of India. It is perhaps true that social and esteem needs are perhaps easier to satisfy in India than most western nations due to these needs being inherent in the culture. However, most lower-middle class people are struggling to satisfy their physiological and safety needs, which renders them incapable of developing themselves or their skills. To fix this situation, certain steps must be taken by the government such as fixing a minimum wage for the workers allowing them to make a living from what they do. Also, some recognition and appreciation would go a long way in satisfying their esteem needs, thereby allowing them to concentrate on improving the quality of work they do.

Currently, in light of all the development in cities, the government seems to be taking the top down approach where the wealthy are favoured. The emergence of shopping malls, multiplexes, luxury apartments, bigger cars, etc. are only available to the wealthy, while the lower-middle class are struggling to make ends meet. The government should take a bottom-up approach, where the lower-middle class are allowed to improve their skill and quality of work, thereby satisfying the safety needs of the middle-class, thus improving their quality of life. This appears to be a sustainable way of building a strong foundation for the country.

Making of “Swallowed In The Sea”

Ever since about two summers ago, I’ve been wanting to star in my very own short film or video of some sort. I’ve always wondered what it is like to project a different persona on screen and how it would turn out. About two summers ago, I even started writing a script for a comedy video of sorts. Not unlike Mr. Bean, I wanted to make a situational comedy type video that happens to me everyday. It didn’t require too much creativity because most of the scenes were taken from real life. But alas, the project never got off the desk and was never executed. It required filming in ‘real world’ places like my workplace, the subway, the gym, etc. and I required a cameraman to do that. At the time, I felt really awkward to even tell people about my project. So the Mr.Bean project was shelved along with some other projects that I had planned for that summer.

The following year, I went on exchange to Singapore and I had high-hopes for a successful project. My plan was to document my travels and adventures in Singapore and India and make some sort of music video. The clips were taken using my cell phone, so the quality was terrible. Eventually, I ended up making a video about Bangalore, which was received fairly poorly by the facebook audience. The Singapore video projects are still in the queue and perhaps I will get to them when I get to them. Anyway, on to the feature presentation! Swallowed In The Sea.

I first heard the song in the summer of 2009 when I was exploring new genres of music. I always liked Coldplay but never listened to all of their songs. After listening to 'Swallowed In The Sea', I really wanted to express my appreciation of the song to the world. The lyrics is fantastic and I loved the music.

At the time of making this video (i.e. Now!), I was in a really weird place in my life. All I ever did was go to work, take walks, enjoy being with myself, come back home and spend time on facebook, etc. As much as I love being with people and talking with them, it somehow turned out that I was alone most of the time. Nonetheless, I have always felt comfortable just being with myself and exploring my thoughts so I was happy. I realized it would be really nice if I can document my summer days somehow. So, I decided to take up this ‘one-man’ project to see how I fare in the creative world.

The initial plan was to record the song and just put it up on facebook to see how people react, but later I decided to turn this into a bigger project to satisfy all my cravings at once. For a couple of days, I went over the storyboard in my head while listening to the song. I got a basic idea of what the video should include and the major milestones of the video. At the same time, I started practicing my guitar and singing as I had lost touch over the months. After much deliberation, I decided to film my day on Tuesday, July, 21, 2009.

I guess I was excited, so my internal clock woke me up at 6:50 am for the first time in months. The filming at home was easy as I had the time to make mistakes and explore the knitty gritty parts of filming using a digital camera. The harder parts of filming was on the bus, where I had to point the camera at myself disregarding the awkward looks from people around me. The street videos were also difficult because I had to place the camera somewhere, run back and walk casually in front of the camera!

Overall, I was not terribly impressed by my singing abilities, but it was a great first experience to record separate tracks of myself singing and playing the guitar. The video had a lot of footage and much to be covered, so the video seems a bit more rushed than I would have liked. I was planning a more somber, slow video symbolizing my daily boredom and the monotony of routine, but it turned out a bit different. As I went through the editing phase, the tone of the video started to change from my initial plan. Although different than I had expected, I like how the tone of the video turned out. The climax was supposed to be me singing and playing the guitar, but that turned out to be the end, which worked out well I think.

All in all, it was a great experience making this video right from the storyboard to the editing phase. I am glad that I finally went through the creative cycle and completed what I set out to do. It truly is a great feeling! Hopefully this will get the momentum going for me to complete some of my other projects. Stay tuned folks!

Yeah, you belong with me… Not Swallowed in the Sea…

When I was a little boy…

When I was a little boy, I believed that everyone except me was some sort of a zombie or monster and they were all fooling me somehow, hiding a great secret. I suppose the reason I thought this was because I always thought I was different from everyone else. It seemed like everyone was “getting it”, and I wasn’t. This “it” was the workings of the world, the people in this world, the societies, the reason for language, the purpose of things like education, teachers, and even the smallest things like food, sleep, baths, clothes, jobs, etc. People, even kids my own age, seemed to be creatures of different species and it seemed like they all had a good understanding of the world and why things are the way they are and I didn’t. I always let myself wonder, allowed myself to think of the most absurd of thoughts never understanding why others don’t think like me. Here are some of the things I thought about as a little boy (and still sometimes do!):

When I was a little boy, I believed that my brain was another guy. This is a great idea. I imagined (and still sometimes do) my brain to be another guy with his own personality. I imagined him to be this fat sarcastic guy who is sitting inside my mind just talking to me. Don’t get freaked. Its not like I needed an imaginary friend back then. I was quite popular and I had enough friends to converse with. But there was something special about this guy. He was kind of annoying and was always up to no good. A part of me thought of him as my OWN mind, and another part thought of me as another entity from my mind. He would pop up more often than not explaining things to me when I am reading, talking things through when I am solving a problem, or he would simply pop up to annoy me when I dont need him there. For example, if I were to hear of a bad news like a friend failing a test, then I would genuinely feel sad for that person and hope it gets better. This is when the dude pops up in my mind and says the exact opposite of how I am feeling. He would say something like “oh good, he failed”.. At this point, I would be like “shut up brain, youre not supposed to say that”. As I get more annoyed, the dude bugs me more by saying more mean things. I don’t think I had a mental disorder or anything, but I think at times my imagination (or whatever it was), took over myself and I didnt know how to handle it. This guy is also responsible for some of my beliefs of the world as a little boy. He would feed me random thoughts to ponder about and just explore. They were quite absurd, but pretty good things to think about.

When I was a little boy, I believed that everyone was wearing fake skin and they were infact something else. I believed that humans, in reality, look like something other than how they look like to me. At one point, I even asked my mother if she is non-human. I even asked if they are all trying to fool me into believing that they are human. I don’t remember her laughing, but I remember her asking me, in a serious tone, to think about it logically. If they were all non-human how could they have fooled me for so many years. They would’ve had to come out of their fake skin at some point, and since I was always in contact with a human at one point or another in my life, I should’ve seen them doing this. Moreover, my mom told me to confirm this my trying to take her skin off! Believe it or not, I tried this. I tried pinching her skin, but it wouldn’t come off. After this incident, I felt more safe in where I was in the world and believed that ATLEAST my mom isn’t one of them (HAHAHA, just kidding, I think I abandoned my whole theory after this).

When I was a little boy, I thought I had figured out why Gods exist in religion. I think it was when I was learning about something in science. Like the the process of evaporation and condensation or something like that and how rain forms. It was then that I realized that people in the past probably didn’t know about all these scientific principles but they knew that they existed. They knew there was some phenomenon causing things in nature but couldn’t explain it. So they attributed it all to a phenomenon, which they called God. So everything in nature that happened, which they could not explain, they attributed it to God. And this is how, I believed, God came about. Now that I think about it, this was a pretty good theory I had back then.. haha… The existence of God was something I thought about throughout my childhood and I was constantly going back and forth about their existence.

When I was a little boy, I think it was when I was in 5th Grade, I believed that Gods did not exist. And the only reasoning I had behind this was that I couldn’t see them, no one has ever seen them. Nothing they have done has affected me in my life (that I can think of), therefore they do not exist. This was in India, by the way, and even thinking this way was frowned upon. I remember many of my friends trying to convince me otherwise, but I wouldn’t budge. They even told my teachers and they would try to convince me of their existence, but I still wouldn’t budge. I was pretty sure that there are no such things as Gods, the afterlife, reincarnation, etc. Yet, I THINK (don’t remember perfectly) I believed in doing the right thing. I had all these ideas about giving to the poor, helping people, etc. and it came from within, it didn’t have anything to do with fearing god or “rotting in hell”. I think this was a pretty good accomplishment.. (but I kept going back and forth)

When I was a little boy, I think it was in 6th Grade, I started believing in God. I had these great notes in my Kannada class an my teacher borrowed them for some reason. Then she lost it and blamed ME for it somehow.. (that I didn’t ask for it back in time, so now she doesn’t know where it is). For all you non-Indians and Indian ABCDs, in India you NEVER ever talk back to the teacher or do anything to anger her (most of the time, its a ‘her’). If you do, you face her wrath and there is nothing you can do about it. So anyway, I was in BIG trouble, cuz these notes were EVERYTHING.. without them, I was doomed. I think it was about 2 weeks that I went without my notes.. Finally, I felt REALLY helpless and I didn’t know what to do. The teacher wouldn’t help me and there was no one I could go to, who will make it all better. So, in desperation, I Prayed.. I prayed with all my might and said that if I were to get my book back, I would start believing in YOU (I was addressing God at this point). And sure enough, within about 2 days, I got my book back. I think the teacher or her assistant found it. So ever since this point, I started believing in God. I would pray to him whenever I was in trouble or needed his help. When I was ok and content with everything, I would simply thank him. Out of all the prayers I knew, I eventually narrowed down to ones I like and to this day, I’ve been saying those prayers everyday (when I wake up, when I sleep, and after a shower).. but there were many occasions when I re-evaluated the existence and purpose of God, but never to as extreme level as before. I think I will write another post about my whole experience with God and his existence.

When I was a little boy, I often wondered the purpose of life (as everyone does, i suppose), and every time I would end up with different conclusions and it seemed like whatever conclusion I end up with makes sense. I don’t remember all the conclusions. But I imagined something like all the Gods have everything- immortality, health, magic, etc., but the one thing they don’t have is the satisfaction one gets after helping someone. I can think of several arguments against this, but somehow, it made sense to me at the time. I thought that Gods (at this point, i believed Gods are just non-humans who live in the sky.. and there are many of them) came down to the earth to live like humans so that throughout their lives they can help people and get the satisfaction of doing so. They help people not for the sake of helping, but for their own sake, which is the happiness and the satisfaction. These Gods are US, so I suppose we are here to help the most people we can throughout our lives.

When I was a little boy, I often thought about my future and my life in general. The first think I realized was that I only have one life, and one of each day. So I only have ONE of every day. I believed in spending my life in the most IDEAL way possible. So, since I was a little boy, I’ve always been looking into the future and I’ve been pretty serious with my life. Although that has gotten me away from all the evil stuff, it hasn’t been enough to bring the best in me.. I’ve been good, but not the best. In pretty much every group environment, I’ve always been above average, but never one of the best. So anyway, when I was a little boy, I got serious, and I’ve been the same since.

I think this post has been pretty nice that explains my own psychological mind when I was a little boy. Maybe this will come in handy if I were to ever go crazy with all these random thoughts and they have to dissect through my work to find out what’s wrong with me! But even otherwise, it has been nice because I have documented some of the things I remember from my childhood and it has helped me evaluate where I was and how far I have travelled since I was a little boy. If you happen to stumble on this post and you’re my friend. Please leave a comment so I know you saw this.. I don’t want my friends knowing more about me than I think they know about me.. but why did I make this public then you ask? Firstly, to inspire YOU to evaluate all the things YOU thought about and tell me if I am crazy. Secondly, as I said, me going crazy in the future and people being able to find this! Thirdly, I am motivated to get out of my laziness and write this ONLY because I think it will be read by others. So there you go.. when I was a little boy, my imagination ran wild. I wish I was still a little boy. I’m not a little boy, but my imagination is still rampant!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

What is a Mother?


A mother is the the first person you ever see in the world
A mother is the first person you ever love in the world
A mother is your first word
A mother is your first song

A mother is one who knows your pains
A mother is one who knows your happiness
A mother is one who knows when you cry..
when you are scared..
when you are sad

A mother is one who knows when you are asleep
A mother is one who knows when you are awake and pretending to sleep
A mother is one who knows when you are having dreams
A mother is one who knows when you are having nightmares

A mother is one who can cook your favourite food whenever you ask for it..
A mother is one who can help you with your math homework..
A mother is one who knows the things you need
A mother is one who knows the things you dont need

A mother is one.. She is the only one
She will always be my one,,


Happy Mother's Day!

Ee Sundara Beladingala Lyrics

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Film: Amruthavarshini
SP Balasubramanyam, Chitra
Music: Deva
Lyrics: K.Kalyan

Male:

AAaaaaaaaaaa

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
nanna ninna naduvinalli

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
hrudayada kaanadali

Maunave raagavu
Usire bhavavu
Ninna ee nageya savi shrutiyalli oh ho..

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
nanna ninna naduvinalli


Dina... Dinaa..
Kshana.. Kshana.. Chinna nanna
Ninna hadalli kunisiruve


Female:

Mana Mana, nagothara
kannanchale Nagethiruve


Male:

Valuveeeee.. Aaaaaaa

Vaulvee ninna nalionde,
Varavennuta naa nalive

Valuvee ninna gelionde,
valavennuta naa bereve

nanna yede olegina
svara nudisuva
kayi gale ninnadu
ninna kayiigala jote kayi serisi
jagava kollu manasu nannadu
ee Sundara


Female:

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
nanna ninna naduvinalli


Sama.. Samaa
SareGaMa, Samaagama
Intha vismaya idemodalu

Male:

Ghama.. Ghama,
Yede yella, innu maatu
bari todalu

Female:

Usireeeeeee....
Usire ninna Usiraagi,
Ee Usira marediruve
namma hadige hesaragali
kaaveri talaravare

ninna neralina sani
sani haki nanna koralinadhani harisi harisi,
ninna kanasige hosa hesaranu
barisi meresi nagisaliruve
Ee Sundara.

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
nanna ninna naduvinalli

Ee Sundara Beladingala
Ee Tampina angaladali
hrudayada kaanadali

Male:

Maunave raagavu
Usire bhavavu
Ninna ee nageya savi shrutiyalli oh ho..

Both:

Mmmmmm

Sleepless in Singapore: Life is Beautiful

When I was in Taman Negara, Malaysia, which is apparently the oldest rainforest in the world, I saw and "interacted" with a lot of bugs and such in the place where we were staying. We were pretty much on the touristy part of the jungle where they had a lot of restaurants and stores and such. But it was in the jungle nonetheless.. and there were a lot of these very loud bugs called Cicada. They only come out at night and they make a helluva lot of noise. They are flying creatures and there were a LOT of them. I naturally got freaked out and since we were staying there for 3 nights, I was pretty much counting down the nights. As soon as the sun goes down, you here these disgusting creatures flying around tube lights and things. During the last day, after avoiding and dreading them for 3 days, a Cicada came and sat on my shoulder. I didn't notice.. After a while, for some reason I put my hand near my chest and accidentally touched it. It started making that loud noise and flying around my face.. I tried to get rid of it and wound up falling over my chair, down a platform of a couple of inches. Fortunately, no injuries occurred and the event is now nothing more than an extremely hilarious memory. It was great, now that I think about it.

It was pretty ironic that I was afraid of such small creatures because just a day before, we went to an insect museum and I held a poisonous scorpion about 10 inches! Off course, I didn't know it was poisonous and the insect handler wanted a volunteer to hold the thing. I held it.. It didn't do much, except tickle me as it has these very pointy legs (as you may know). The dude tells me it was poisonous only after I give it back.. It was a freaky experience nonetheless..

Anyway, I think a lot of our fear/disgust comes from within. All of my friends had no problem with the Cicada and they could walk right through it. They were more freaked out about the scorpion than I was, and this was only because I knew nothing would happen (somehow).. and decided to try it. An incident which inspired me to write this was in Teman Negara, when I went to take a shower. I saw this HUGE butterfly.. the biggest I've ever seen in my life in the shower. I got freaked out and came out running. I tried to make it go away by waving at it and trying to hit it. It didn't work, so I ran out of the shower! My friends also saw the butterfly and they wouldn't go into the shower. After a few minutes, I make my way back to the butterfly and I see this older Caucasian man with his $2000 camera trying to take a picture of it. He loved that he was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of such a creature! He couldn't resist from telling me how beautiful it was and how fortunate we are to witness such a thing. Then I started thinking how freaked out I was due to this "magnificent" creature. I was still wondering what makes this so beautiful, and was still slightly freaked out but I couldn't help but wonder what must be going on in this man's mind. There was no trace of disgust or fear for this creature, only appreciation and a feeling of satisfaction. How could the same object that is subject to the exact same conditions create two opposite emotions in us? Clearly, it is US who are different and we feel what we are.

I am trying very hard not to make the inference that "If we want to be happy, we will be happy no matter what" because although this may seem true, to what degree can you control your feelings? I think it also depends on the type of person you have and the type of outlook you have towards things around you. This outlook, while can be influenced by free will, it is largely out of our control and influenced by our upbringing, status in society, the currently structure of society and the circumstances at that particular instance in time. Nonetheless, I suppose we can try to have a positive outlook in life always and this will have a positive effect on our feelings. The only variable is the degree of effect.

I saw the move La Vita a bella (Life is Beautiful), which is a movie about a father who is forced to live in a concentration camp with his son and he pretends that all is well to keep his son happy. Till the end of his life, the son thinks that the concentration camp is some sort of competition, which they are here to win. No matter what the circumstance or condition, the father always saw things with a different perspective and he passed this on to his son. Clearly, the Jewish concentration camps during WWII was the worst thing that anyone could go through in the history of the world. Yet, the father was able to shield his son from it all and make it seem like a fun contest... Great movie.. a must see!

Anyway, the moral of the story is that we are not affected by the external circumstances as much as we think we are. Most of it depends on the perspective within, which can be controlled to a certain degree. Theoretically, one may even gain enough perspective to go through the worst times of their life with a smile on their face and a song in their heart.. It is only a matter of controlling the direction of the mind.

Sleepless in Singapore: IITians - Secrets revealed

Among the many exchange students here in NUS, there are several people from the famous Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). From what I've heard about them, they are the smartest people in India and they are the few who have achieved the Indian dream. It is incredibly competitive to get into the institution as every single Indian student strives to do the same. They have to go through a standardized test called the JEE (Joint Entrance Exam). To prepare for this test, many people give up years of their lives studying. In the last two years of their high school, they start focusing less and less on school work and more and more on the preparation for JEE. Less than one percent of the applicants get selected into the Institution and most of the time, they do not get their primary choice of subject. The top choices are Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering. However, many choose to sacrifice the subject of their choice for the reputation of the institution and they are happy with the subject that they are given.

At the University of Toronto, there are several international students from India among which are some rejects from the Institution. They are incredibly smart people and are among the top 5% of the class. Looking at them, I assumed that the people who got accepted to the insitution must be exceptionally great. One of the rejects who is in my university is incredibly bitter towards UofT and life in general. He cannot stand it when someone scores a higher mark than him in a test. He is ranked 2nd in Computer Engineering and it drives him crazy that he is not ranked 1st! After interacting with this person, I came to Singapore where I met several students from different IITs. They were not as I assumed at all. They were here to party and have a great time and they say that they do the same in IIT. Surely they study a lot and are very intelligent people. However, the assumptions about them is not true at all. Apparently the studying stops at JEE for most people and after they get into the Institution, they want to have a good time like anyone else. They drink, smoke, go to clubs, and generally do things as regular college students should. They are after all participating in the exchange program and clearly they want to travel and see the world..

However, one thing that must be mentioned is that this may be merely one type of IITians who are this way. Surely there are many others back home who may study all the time and are not interested in worldly travels. However, there is this one very conservative guy who doesn't want to go anywhere and simply stays at home and studies or whatever. He is a conservative guy who looks down upon meat eaters, drinkers and clubbers.. But anyway, the rest seem to be fairly active.

It was only after interacting with so many IITians that I realized what goes on behind the admission process of the institution. Apparently there is this place called Kota in Rajasthan which is a place where people go to train for the JEE. Many students dont go to school at all and they simply spend all their time studying for the JEE. In India, it is fairly easy to get a high school degree without attending (If you have the money and contacts..), so they do that. Then there are others who attempt it in their final year of high school and if they don't get in, they take a year off and intensly study that entire year for the JEE. I've heard there are people who attempted the JEE 3 times and they finally go into the Institution. This goes to show how badly they want to get into IIT and it seems that they will have no future if they don't get in. This is the compteitive world of India where they absolutely have to do something regardless of capabilities or aptitude or even passion.

Once you get into the institution, they cannot send you out for failing a course. Apparently there are people who have been in the institution for 7 years or more because they've been failing... Also, this is probably why there is atleast one suicide every year in the institution. The students simply cannot take the pressure of being number one and they finally give in..

Granted the education and opportunities available in IIT is nowhere comparable to any other government institution in India. People go on several internships around the world and get to experience things that Indians can only dream about. However, is it really worth giving up your life for? Apparently it is..

This makes me appreciate what I have in Canada, the country where there are very few engineers and anyone can become anything or do anything with a little bit of hardwork.. Due to the lack of people, anyone that is willing to work can get a decent job and live a comfortable life. It is only after coming to Singapore have I realized how different things are in Asia. To even live a middle class life, you have to fight like no tomorrow and only the fittest wins. This is Asia.. the continent with a hellava lot of people who all want to become something great in life and are willing to give up everything to achieve it..

Sleepless in Singapore: Where are you from?

The very next question followed by "What is your name" is "Where are you from" in the exchange world of NUS. There were many times when I was sort of stunned for a while before giving an answer. This is because if the same question was asked in Canada, I would say that I'm from India without any resistance. However here, I am torn between being an Indian and a Canadian. Most of the time, though, I say that I am from Canada. This is mainly because my home university is in Canada and thats where I come from. Also, I AM a Canadian citizen, so that is also a politically correct statement. However, after that response, many people are surprised because they expected me to say that I'm Indian, I suppose. So some people ask If I am "ethnically" Indian to which, I respond by saying that I was born in India, but moved to Canada when I was 12, followed by the whole story of immigrating with my family and such.

Also, since there are many south Indians in Singapore, I am sometimes mistaken for a local, which is great but they immediately see that I am not from here through my language. One of the locals said that she would've though I was Tamil if I hadn't told her otherwise. One of the people in my hall even asked me if I was mixed. He supposedly thought I was half Indian and half white.. I think another guy asked me the same question and each time, I took it as a compliment because mixed children are usually pretty good looking ;) However, all these queries come from the fact that people have trouble accepting that a person of my colour and cultural background can be Canadian. Clearly, country of originality is not determined by the politically correct citizenship, but by the colour and ethnic background of the person. It is the same case in Canada. It is a very common question to ask a person where s/he is from. Even if they have been in the country for most of their life, or even born there, they do not accept themselves as Canadian and neither do the others. They are either Italian or Slavic or Irish or whatever, but never Canadian. I even know Italians who are 2nd or 3rd generation in Canada, yet they think of themselves as Italian. I suppose this is a good thing when compared to the "melting pot" that is the United States. However, there is this sense of segregation and no one seems to belong to the place in which they are living. This is something that is fairly disturbing.

Taking my national confusion to my advantage, I respond to the question as I see appropriate. If I am talking to an Indian and that person is a mere acquaintance, then I would tell him that I am from Bangalore, India. They instantly seem to see me as someone who is close to them and there is this instant repore. To a local Singaporean or other exchange students in Singapore, I respond by saying that I am from Canada. The Singaporeans especially are fascinated by the western culture so they instantly become more interested in you once you tell them that you are from that part of the world. When I visited Bangkok and Malaysia, I told them that I was from Singapore! Since it is a country very close to them, we didn't seem that foreign to them, so that was great. I told a taxi driver in Bangkok that I was from Singapore and he wouldn't believe me. Then I had to make up the story that I am from India, but studying in Singapore and such. (I didn't want to go into that whole exchange student story because it would just be too long and the language barrier was very frustrating).

Nonetheless, no matter what nationality I say that I am, they always associate me by my ethnicity, and I don't mind this at all simply because I don't mind being and Indian. As a Canadian citizen, I can conveniently say that I'm from either nationality (as appropriate). After all, in the current flat world, it doesn't really matter much because virtually anyone can emigrate to any place and be part of that country (political details excluded). So I think it is fine as long as you have patriotism and love for the country that you say you are from. I think that is the factor that should determine your nationality. Since I have it for both India and Canada, there is nothing wrong with me considering myself as belonging to both nationalities. In a month, I will go to India and I don't think anyone would ask me that question mainly because that doubt (that I am not from India) would probably never arise in my mind.

So, in conclusion, where am I from? I am from Canada, but originally from India, currently on an exchange program in Singapore..

Sleepless in Singapore: Kiasu

Kiasu is Singlish for someone who is being keen. It can also be the act of being "extra hard-working" or keen. In as sentence, it can be something like "If you're Kiasu, you would read the material for the course during the summed and come prepared". Singaporeans are known for their Kiasu. Every task is performed extraordinarily with several extra features and surprises. They try to go that extra mile to really reflect their hardworking nature. I knew Asians were hardworking in general (And by Asian, I mean the oriental (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc)) because I've experienced their 'Kiasu' at UofT. Now, as I am living in the land of Kiasu, it is only more apparent. I suppose the reason for all this Kiasu is mainly due to the competition that people face here. Everyone wants to succeed and be the best they can be. They are willing to give up everything they have (i.e. their true passions, desires, etc) to pursue this stereotypical success in which everyone is an engineer or a doctor.

I think it is driven mainly from the culture which forces them to become something more than what they are. Asia was always a developing continent. The only difference in the current world is that the Asians have seen what they could potentially have. Through globalization, they've had a taste of life in a developed country and they want more. Another difference is that they now have more opportunities to become something more due to globalization and things like outsourcing and offshoring. So they have this incredible drive to surpass North America and if the west doesn't realize this soon enough, they would definitely go beyond North America's reach. Unfortunately, North America would never realize this because they have no reason to. They are living a great life in all their 'developedness' and are too engrossed in their own problems. I personally don't understand why there are soo many psychologically stressed people in North America. Their family life and relationships in general are fairly stressful and people are very confused about their life. The focus on individuality has been taken to extremes and it will become North America's downfall..

Back to Asia: It seems that everyone that I talk to is an engineer. This is the same case in India. ALL of my friends from middle school are in engineering and they hope to get into Computers or something technology related when they graduate. This is rightfully so because technology is a very lucrative market and thats what everyone strives for. That is what "success" is to Asians and they can do anything to attain it.

I think it was Thomas Friedman who said this following quote: "When I was a little boy, my mother used to tell me to finish my dinner because people in India and China are starving.. but today, I tell you this.. Finish all your homework because people in India and China are starving.. for your jobs!" If you tell someone in North America that youre an engineer, that person is viewed as somewhat of an intellectual and academically above average. In general, the view towards an engineer is completely different in North America and people are impressed by them (I hope). They are a new breed of people and this is the reason for all the engineer pride and weird activities in Universities for engineers.. (I am referring to making fun of artsies, catchy engineer songs, ERTW, dying yourself purple, getting an iron ring upon graduation, etc).. In Asia however, an Engineer is somewhat of a norm. Almost every second person you talk to is an engineer. If you're not an engineer, you are regarded as someone who is below average.. which is very interesting when compared to their status in North America.

So what will the future look like. In as short as 5 years (or perhaps even now), there are 10 engineers in Asia for every engineer in North America. It is the Engineer who designs, innovates, creates useful products for society and in general, makes life simpler. So does this mean that Asia will become the land of innovation and design? Clearly, it is already a land of extremely smart and analytical people when compared to North America (based on the assumption that engineers are smart and analytical, which is a fair assumption..). So I suppose North America is on the verge of its downfall. The North American kids are just too preoccupied with their self-inflicted problems. Compared to the Asians, they are not at all focused in anything and most are clueless about life. Surely, I am not as focused as the Asians either and it is something to consider.

However, the life of an Asian also has several flaws, in my opinion. Many of them give up their passions and real aspirations to pursue something that is seen as success in the society. Many people here love art. Nearly everyone in my hall plays the guitar and sing. They are phenomenal artists and they are incredibly athletic. However, these things are seen as mere extracurriculars and anyone who pursues these fields seriously are seen as potential failures. Off course there are exceptions where the true artsies defy all stereotypical values and pursue what they are truly passionate about, but it is not the case for most Asians.

They are always studying or doing something that is of a matter of consequence. This has rendered them somewhat emotionless and with a very low sense of humour. Many of them are unable to express themselves emotionally and are unable to interact socially. They lack in communication skills and tend to be alone and very work driven. In my opinion, even if this means success in the stereotypical world, it is not a good way to live because life is so much more than studies, academics and getting a well paying job. So in conclusion, I would say Kiasu is good until a point where you need to draw the line and apply the Kiasu to becoming a more well rounded individual. More than becoming something, it must be applied to actually living life instead of pursuing it.

Sleepless in Singpaore: On the road to Malaysia

I am leaving for Kuala Lumpur in 30 minutes and I will be away for 1 week. I will be going to Bangkok as well and it should be an interesting experience. The whole planning process has been pretty tedious because our initial plan was to go to Cambodia and Vietnam. However, due to lack of interest and time, we scrapped the idea and went with this one instead. It is, however, fun to plan out all the different things that one could do in a new country. At the same time, it can be frustrating if we repeatedly change it.

So, our plan is to got to Kuala Lumpur, then Batu Caves and some famous mosque, then go to Cameron Highlands, which is apparently a beautiful place with strawberry and tea plantations. Then we will go to Teman Negara, which is a very big and beautiful tropical rainforest. It will be pretty adventurous and we plan to stay there for 3 days and 2 nights! I hear there are treehouses there and you can stay up there for the night! Sometimes, you can see tigers walking by and such! However, I dont know if they do that anymore and if WE are doing it. But the jungle trip should be a good experience.

Then we come back to KL and fly to Bangkok,where we will stay for 3 days. After that, we come back to Johor Bahru, Malaysia and take a bus to Singapore. It should be a good trip and we seem to have enough time to see the places properly. There is a bit of excitement and a bit of nervousness.. Excitement, for obvious reasons, and nervousness mainly because this is the first time I have planned a trip to ANOTHER COUNTRY on my own and am traveling alone. So, it should be a good experience and it will give me a lot to write about.

I am soo behind on my blog though.. There is still soo much to write about Singapore. I was working on writing about the Chinese New Year, but I got interrupted and never got back to it. I also intend to write about Singaporeans and Kiasu.. So many more things to come.. so stay tuned!

Anyway, I will get going now.. Cheerag up, up and away!!!