My School

It is really very nostalgic for me to come back to this place, my school! There are thousands of memories attached to this place that I would relish all through my life. More than memories, there are emotions. Pure emotions. Emotions of pure friendship, pure love, pure respect and pure innocence.

The memories that I what to relive are not of coming first in my class, or of getting the award for being the best student. The memories that are of the most value to me are of those 30 minutes during the Recess every day, or of those few minutes spent in gossiping in whispers in the middle of the class. Really, life is a lot more about achievements! In fact, life is not at all about achieving medals and glory. Life is indeed about loving. Enjoying the moment. Life is about simplicity, about purity, about innocence.

It has been a long time since I left my school. Many things have changed now. For the society my life has become a lot better, but I know, it is a lot worse. As I climbed the stairs higher and higher the more I felt my happiness dwindling down.

I don’t want style but simplicity. But sadly today this world likes body rather than soul. This world is about more about showing rather than seeing. The world is running, in a race. Every one is busy in being the first one. Nobody can afford to stop. We need fake faces, and false emotions to move forward in life. We need back biting and false respect to get that write-in-resume assignment. We need everything other than purity. That’s what I miss the most about this place.

This place was probably too good to be real. It was rather a different world, strangely different from the real world outside it. It was a world where every single person you talked to was your true friend. It was a place where the respect given to our teachers was not fake. It was a place where no one was a competitor, but a friend who has to be helped at any cost. If he was absent in the last class, I will give him my copy. If he can’t understand this concept, I will give him my time. A place where everyone was still an innocent child, not a polluted mature adult. A place where friendship was a lot more than just “give and take”.

The phase of life that you all are going through, will never come back again. These morning assemblies and “finger on your lips” and “may I come in Mam” may annoy you right now, but when you leave school, these will be the sweetest memories of your life. What you will take from this school are not those awards or certificates that are distributed in the assembly every Friday. You will take away with you endless memories. It will be more than just a school, where you used to come everyday in the morning. You will take away with yourself real friends and real teachers.

Your teachers may scold you. They may even beat you at times. You may criticize them for the way they teach, but remember your school teachers love you. You may not feel the love you have for them and they have for you, but when you will come back to this school one day, you will feel this was your second home. Your teachers were your parents and your friends were your brothers.

There is nothing more beautiful than childhood and nothing is more dearer than your school. It is a place that you can really call your own. A lot like your home! But for enjoying your childhood, you need to be a child. Sadly as I hear these days, students are no longer children. They have become professionals. Classmates are no longer friends but mere competitors. If you are one amongst those who have shed away your childishness then I must better warn you. You are missing the very essence of your school life. FRIENDSHIP. When the next time your classmate comes to you, better think of him as your friend and not as your competitor. That will make your life a lot more beautiful. This is true knowledge and real wisdom.

To conclude I would request you all never to forget-“It is only a child, who can learn!”

Love!

Experiences are like a cup of coffee. Some may be good, while some may be bad. I am like a coffee taster, who tastes the different flavors of life, with a great minuteness.

Ask a normal coffee drinker, the difference between the Nescafe coffee and the Barista cappuccino, and he may find none. He may say “All coffees taste the same!”. But ask a connoisseur and he will tell you what a fine taste a cappuccino has!

In the past one month I have gone through so many fine experiences, that the entire purpose of these vacations seemed to have fulfilled. These are my experiences shared with my friends, my family and my school. When I go back and relive those moments, I understand how precious they are.

What’s different in these experiences, that make them so special? The answer is Love.

Love has been one the only thing that has been common in these beautiful moments of my life. It is not the events that have made the memories so special, it is the people and their emotions.

Love and its free expression is the only thing that makes things happy in my life. They are the oxygen for happiness.

I always feel perfectly happy when I stay in Delhi. There have been times when I have gone through some great moments. But now after going through these experiences, I have realized that those moments of happiness were like the high every alcoholic feels when drunk. They are mere consolation to the sorry creature I am was IIT!

Love-That’s everything that counts. That’s what friendship is all about. Friendship is not just sharing and caring or being concerned. Friendship is about falling in love and everything else is a result of it. You share because you care. When Shahrukh said “Pyaar Dosti Hai” in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I was then probably too young to understand the depth of his words. Now when I understand what it means, I understand the power of love.

Friendship is all about love and its expression. In friendship you do find your love, then fall in love and then live that love all your life. Love is a lot more than mating together in the end. It is not at all about that. It is about sharing a bond all through your life. You can love your brother, your father, your sister, your uncle, your aunt, your grandparents, your teachers and most importantly your friends.

The time that I spent with my friends, my true friends, had a real simplicity. Everyone was true. No one was fake. Nobody hid anything. Everyone shared their feelings. If you keep on hiding your emotions from someone, watch out, you two are not real friends. Friendship is about confessing your true feelings even when they may not give a very rosy, victorious pictures of yours. Friendship is about being sensitive . It is about caring for others and their feelings too. In friendship feelings both good and bad find a very easy way out. You know how the other guy feels.

If you have someone in life with whom you share such a special bond, then you are lucky. I am extremely lucky too as I have friends that really love me. I love them too. The bond of friendship is indeed priceless. All through my life I have shared a special bond with not just one but many people.

Many priceless relationships have been broken in the past, many new bonds have been created! I was so abundant of friends and their love that I never understood their real value. Now when I am in Delhi, I realize the significance my friends had in my life.

If today I desire something the most it is a reunion of all my friends in the same college(IIMA or HBS) and finding that one special person in Delhi who shares that special bond of love (friendship) all through my life…

With love

Prateek

Wanna have an Apple

In my long quest of self discovery, I have come to know just one thing about myself. I am instinctive in nature. I like what I love and I love what my heart says. Although I may add that I am not an irrational daft, but it's always my heart first. If you haven’t impressed me in the first meet then it is not that easy to leave a lasting impression.

Apple Inc. is one of those few companies that capture my imagination. I am indeed an Apple man and think it’s the best company in the whole world.

The best thing about Apple is its creative out-of-the-world imagination. They create the unexpected. Their latest out of the world creation is the iPhone. The murmur that the iPhone was coming had been there since the end of 2006. One day I was pondering about the design of iPhone. How will the iPhone look like? Not like the normal cell phones. After all its an Apple. How will the keys be placed? I tried to figure out the different ways of having the ten numeric keys on the gadget, but couldn’t find out anything innovative! And then came Apple. How were the keys placed? There were no keys!!! Just breaking the convention! That’s what Apple does. Breaks the rules.

Had anyone ever thought of storing a thousand songs in a small portable device? Apple did it by bringing the iPod. Had anyone thought of stopping music piracy? Apple did it again, by bringing the iTunes. Apple simply brought a revolution in the 21^st century. The iPod revolution!

A few decades back computers were ugly boxes for doing some boring work. Who brought the breakthrough? Apple. It brought the Macintosh. We thought computers can never be beautiful! We got the Macs. The real credit of taking computers and the net to the masses must be given to Microsoft, but it was Apple that really has thought of it.

Apple is a great creator, Microsoft a great statesman!

But now after iPods, along with being great innovators, Apple knows how to sell things. It is one of the best sellers around. Just spend some time at apple.com and you will be enchanted by the beautiful offerings of this great company.

The time is not too far when Macs will give a real threat to PCs. That must be the next thing on the cards of the Apple Inc. Maybe we may start getting Macintosh OS separately, and that will give some tough time to Microsoft Windows.

The way Apple has risen is phenomenal and with their well known creativity and newly acquired marketing skills, the day is not too far when Apple might be the king of the entire computer and electronics industry. Microsoft, HP, Dell, Sony, Nokia, Motorola all of you. BEWARE!!!

Metaphysics

These days I am trying to shed away all my beliefs, and trying to explore things myself.

Metaphysics is one of those areas in which you are supposed to believe more than what you experience. For me metaphysics is synonymous to wasting time. Trying to know stuffs life existence of God or soul or life after death might mystify most of the people, but the question is what is the need of it?

What happens after death? This is a common question that lures everyone. But we will definitely find it out the day we die. If we exist even after that, then we know that there is life after death and what it is like, and there is a soul and God! Till then when we are on Earth lets not waste our time thinking about death or other such metaphysical stuffs.

For me living and loving life and living the moment is everything! One who is able to do that gets it all. If there is something beyond death then he surely goes into the Kingdom of God or breaks the cycle of life(or whatever those sages and so called God men say!).

Living life in itself is a tough task. As it is well said. “Very few people live on this earth, most of them merely exist.”

By answering questions like ‘Is there a soul?’ or ‘Are there Ghosts?’ don’t really help you much in answering the basic question ‘How to live life?’ The answer lies in history. Life of those who really lived their life the fullest give us a glimpse of how to live life. The basic question is not ‘Is there a God?’ or ‘Does he answer to our prayers?’ The more important question is ‘How to feed the billion hungry people?’

The so called enlightened people, if really are full of knowledge, then why don’t they give us the answers of the more realistic questions rather than answering the unknowable, non provable abstract puzzles?

Ask them about issues like poverty, hunger and terrorism, and you must expect a very vague answer like “This is not the real world? Leave the attachment to this world and wake up from your sleep to see the real world.’

In my view the best way of running away from the burden of responsibilities, by proclaiming this world to be unreal!

Science is indeed the most important subject that forms the base of Human knowledge. It includes Maths(for understanding science), Language(for its transmission), Physics(for inventions), Chemistry(for Building things), Biology(for treating the ill), Economics(for meeting our needs), Political science(for running a society),Cultural Studies(for knowing people), Geography(for knowing our planet), Philosophy(for finding the ways to happiness) and History(for knowing our past). Literature and Arts are like the icing on the cake that adds flavor in our lives.

Metaphysics is an area that must be left for sages and hermits who have decided to escape away from this world, as the subject has nothing to do with the world in which we live!

British Historian Arnold Toynbee tells us that “It is recorded of the Buddha that, whenever any of His disciples asked Him to expound the metaphysical basis of his system He always refused to discuss metaphysics.”

I am not opposed to Metaphysics, but I hold that that wasting your precious time on discussing about abstract issues gets us nowhere. Neither do I completely disagree to the existence of God nor am I opposed to the existence of soul. I am only opposed to its discussion, because you can never get to any answer! Its all about your beliefs. Somebody believes in some Guru, somebody in Gita, someone in Quran, someone in orthodox scientists and all have contradictions.

As none of us have rally seen the truth, so somebody denies the existence of God, someone alls him the potter(Christianity) and someone considers him to be a performer(Hinduism). All notions have their own strengths and weaknesses so knowing the absolute truth requires a complete dive in the metaphysical world, leaving this world completely.

Believing in someone is the greatest foolishness as everyone says a different truth. So you have a choice. Either leave these metaphysical questions, or else leave this world.

I have made my decision. Now its your turn.

Religion is the most dangerous brainwash.

Religion is one of the strongest communal forces in the world. People say it unites, but history says it divides.

Religion has done more harm than good in the entire history of mankind. Lets have a brief look at the History of major religions of the world.

Hinduism started as a primitive religion. As the religion got more and more organized, the society became more and more degraded. The rigid caste system was a direct consequence of organized Hinduism. Caste system is one of the most powerful tools of human suppression even today.

If we talk about Christianity, the growth of the Roman Catholic Church was the sole reason for the dark age in Europe. Till the time religion occupied the central position in the European society, it was plagued by obsolete ideas and inhumane social systems. As man moved towards science and logic, the world got a new way of living which is much better than that in the Medieval era.

Religion claims to tell the truth and spread love and compassion but it is unarguable that it is science that has laid the foundation of a real and true world based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.

Islam in the beginning improved the overall lives of the Arabs, but now in this scientific age, the blind faith in the religious principles have made the Arabs one of the most backward communities.

Woman have been given a second hand treatment, for thousands of years, in all major religions. Hinduism might have worshipped women, but their identity has been through their father or else their husband. Without a son, your family’s lineage ends, and this periochial psychology is the root cause of the descrimination against the women. Islam has the most male-centric laws and it seems that it considers women to be nothing more than a commodity.

Religions have been the source of various blood baths and have killed more than what they have healed. Christian Missionaries claim to do service, but being realistic, they have only helped in the expasion of the European Empire and brought hunger and poverty to the nations they have converted(like Ethiopia).

These missionaries and so called religious organisations, do service till they can convert people. Once their job is done, they leave.

The second world war, had its beginnings in the hatred for a specific religion. Islamic Extremism is the biggest concern of the 21^st century. The Gujarat massacre too was the consequence of the brainwash created by religion. The greatest human migration in human history( after Indo-Pak division) that eventually led to the deaths of lakhs of people and almost 50 years of hatred, too was caused by religious brainwash.

Religions have enriched the societies and have given them directions. But when religions start prohibiting reasoning and promoting blind faith, people stop using their mind and end up doing inhumane irrational deed, believing that the act has a divine permission.

There is no harm in being religious, but religion must be followed with an open mind. Rationalization is one of the most important part of Hinduism. If science would have always been as visible as religion, then this world would have been a much better place to live in.

Today people question and this is one of the greatest revolution of European Renascence. We can hope that the future will be even more happier and beautiful.

My new Laptop

I bought a new laptop just a few days ago. I was planning to buy a laptop for the last six months. But every laptop that I came across had some sort of a compromise. Things that were important for me were mobility(not more than 14‘), performance(must have a dedicated graphics card) and price(less that Rs 70000($1400)). It is not easy to get all three of them in one machine, but this laptop has more than satisfied me. Before buying tx1003, I had earlier considered buying a Dell XPS 1210, a Sony Vaio C-25 and Apple MacBook. But when this laptop came in the market(around April) it was a love at first sight.

Before this laptop, I had been addicted to the beauty of the MacBook. My heart told me to buy a MacBook, while my brain advised me grab an XPS and finally I was about to order a Vaio in March(instead I bought a blue iPod nano then).

MacBook provided great configuration and Macintosh Operating System, but it lacked a Dedicated Graphics card. Along with that, Apple doesn’t have a strong after sales service in India. So I backed off. Although if I had to wait for a few more months I would have waited for the response of OS Leopard. If it would have been much better than Vista, then I could have considered MacBook once again. Or may be not!(tx1003 is great!)

Vaio had everything cool but the price tag was heavy. Around Rs68,000. That was the reason that I decided in March to wait for a few more months.(And the wait was fruitful)

XPS did have a great configuration and everything, but then I was not sure about a 12’ screen. My friends advised me not to go for such a small computer.(At least when it was not a tablet PC).

Until I don’t fall in love of something, I don’t buy it. Somehow I couldn’t get my heart on XPS. Along with that I would have preferred to buy my laptop from a retail shop, rather than an internet store, as buying a laptop was a lot more than just pressing a “buy” button.

I had even considered those HP Pavillion non tablet-PC Laptops. But for a few thousand rupees, I was not ready to buy a laptop that looked as if it was about to break. HP Laptops don’t really have a great built. Thankfully, my HP does not have that problem.

My tablet-PC has everything that I want. OK, its not an Intel, its an AMD, but an AMD is no way inferior to an Intel. In fact for normal purposes(for a college student) an AMD is seen as a better option. The configuration is great and it has a decent nVIDIA graphics card. I haven’t been let down in terms of performance. For more details on this issue, you may better refer to the other reviews of this laptop. I will give this laptop a 9 out of ten in terms of performance.

Adding the touch screen feature and the swivel screen, PC experience gets a new meaning. In just three days, I have become habitual to the touch screen and use the mouse in the most desperate cases. It is even good for writing short notes(you learn in a few hours the exact pressure required) and the handwriting recognition software works fine. After using this laptop for just a few days, the other non tablet PC s look like the last decedents of an about-to-extinct generation. I can guarantee that in less than 2 years, a touch screen and a swivel screen will be a standard configuration. This laptop gets full marks when it comes to the computing experience.

As a pure tablet PC, this laptop may not be the best bet. It gets the input only when you press a bit harder. For writing long notes on computer(like an ePad), or for making designs, this is not the best option. But if you don’t desperately need a Tablet PC, then the touch screen feature is really a different experience. In fact these days many a times I write my documents instead of typing them.

When it comes to its 12’ screen, the screen size is just enough for one person. In fact the portability increased the Movie Experience and I have no complaints. The experience is better than in XPS as the screen can swivel, so you can rotate the screen 180 degrees and it becomes a great hand held LCD screen with the keyboard on the back side acting like a stand. I may add that the swivel screen can have a lot more functionality that what you can think of.

The laptop is light and very handy(less than 2kgs + feature to remove Optical drive to make it even lighter). I will give 9 to this computer for its display and mobility. The monitor is very reflective which may be counted as one of the cons of this laptop.

Battery life seems to be the only disappointment. I haven’t really counted the hours but it seems that the laptop works only for around 2 hours or even lesser. But if you buy a small laptop then you do get a smaller battery. I will give the battery only 6 marks.

As far as Vista is concerned, it is neat and stylish. The PC experience is much better than in Windows XP. It comes with loads to new features that make PC maintenance and organization easier. Vista surely gets a 9 from my side as till now I have not suffered any major problem.

To sum up this is a great laptop for a college student. Nice configuration, beautiful sophisticated built and a great touch and swivel screen. If you are not addicted to mega screens or don’t have an electricity problem then this laptop is the laptop for you.

I will give nine points to this laptop out of ten. Taking away half points for a mediocre battery life and another half for not having the best Tablet PC performance. In fact it will be very mean to deduct the second half marks as you can’t demand more than that at such a price. Tablet PC feature is better than expected and exceptional at sixty thousand rupees(Rs 60000 or around $1200)

Final score- 9.5 out of 10.

Final comment- Simply awesome.