What People are Made Of.

The human psyche is the most unexplored, and the most disturbingly interesting topic of the universe. What are people? Why do we think the way we do? Is it the mental capacity, or the situations and conditions, that lead to opinions and mindsets? Why the hell am I asking so many questions! -_- Because 42. #Win

Nursery rhymes (ok, no. Powerpuff Girls.) told us that girls are made of Sugar, Spice and everything nice, and guys are made of Slugs, Snails and Puppydog Tails. Then please someone, explain this to me. WHY THE F*@# ARE FEMALES SO MESSED UP? WHY is drama such an integral part of people's life? WHY do the male race appear to be much more sorted out than us? WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST GET THEIR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT? Why can't I? Why can't we all?

*breathes; inhaaale....exhaaale*

I am asking too many, seemingly unconnected and irrelevant questions today. That is simply because I don't know. I don't know why competition is so important today. I don't know why human relationships take a back-seat to status. I don;t know where everybody's moral values went. All we ever do now, is judge each other for what we're not.

People dream big; of changing systems, world peace, "success"; but barely anyone looks out to fix the issues we have on the INSIDE of us. We are all cold, extremely hollow human beings.

Think back to the last time you did something good for someone you barely knew. Count the number of times you've made people happy. Take my word for it, you'll find MANY! Everyone can list at least five in the recent past. Now, follow the same drill for having made someone feel pathetic. You'll barely find any. That's because that's what we do! Put our self on a pedestal for every good deed we do, and erase all memory of the horrible; or worse, ignore it altogether.

And this, my friends, is what judgy music does to me. I would recommend EVERYONE to listen to Demons by Imagine Dragon, and reflect! Nothing is black and white. Nothing should be.

Being Happy

What does a normal 18 year old, high on hormones and bad luck in life, do? If movies and sitcoms were to be believed, it is absolutely necessary for one to drown oneself in a bucket-full of chocolate ice cream, donuts or red velvet cupcakes and just let all the empty calories flow through one's blood stream. But that barely works in the real world. It just makes you fat(ter)! What would I do? Me? Contemplate reality. Look into the past, and look at all the wonderful things I loved.

When I was three, I wanted to be a Dinosaur. And yes, it was my first word! (Ask my mum, if you don't believe me!) I had this sad looking florescent pink and green drum that had a picture of a Black T-Rex on it, and I used to literally spend EVER WAKING MINUTE playing it and yelling d-d-d-d-DYNASHORE! It made me SO happy, that it fixed almost everything else.

Then I grew up a little, and started going to school. Mum started working again, and my whole day revolved mostly around my grandparents. Happiness, for me, was time with them. My grandmother is a classical singer, who has been taking classes since as far back as I can remember. I can CLEARLY remember standing at the gate, 4 feet tall, battling hoards of her students away bravely, yelling "There's no class today! Go away!" More than a decade later now, my not-so-victorious ventures are still brought up in lite conversation. But for every defeat, my grandfather was a pick-me-up! I STILL remember all the great times!  There was a weekly lecture by Swamiji at our Bangalore home every Thursday, when the both of us would pack our lunch in a box, and go up to the terrace or balcony for a 'picnic'. He spent this time teaching me about the universe, and how to appreciate Science, no matter what form it is in! Some things, I can never forget!

As I grew more, different things made me happy. Sometimes, it was my cats, or my friends, or jumping into a pool of stagnant water thriving with insect life, or even a glass of really expensive coffee! I feel, now, that happiness is an amplification of a content being. Nothing more, nothing less. And maybe, I'm just  not satisfied with how my life is going. I haven't come to terms with the fact that I wasn't winning everywhere anymore. Maybe, the right victory is waiting for me behind the wrong door. But I will never know that, unless I try! 

The Physics Fiasco

Monday was THE day for most of us; The HSC Exam, March 2013, Physics. Almost everyone was confident about Physics, putting it down mentally as the subject that would boost our overall percentage. Physics ka kya hai? Tough hai, leking ho jaaega! was what we all believed.We were wrong.

 The main reason most of us picked HSC in the first place was because it was TONS easier when compared to the likes of CBSE and ISC. When the State Board decided to raise the level of the 12th standard to that of CBSE, albeit, pissing off as it was, nobody objected. What had to be done, had to be done. There was no two ways about it. All we could do was work a tad bit harder.

So everyone spent a full year slogging, making sure nothing important was left out. Teachers, all with years of experience in dealing with the Boards referred books and notes and cheatsheets to us, so as to make us more and more prepared for everything. By the last few months, it felt like there was nothing left to do, we solved tons of papers, braced ourselves, went to battle , and came back, bruised and broken.

The one question I have is, in a system where it isn't about learning, but about memory, is it even minutely logical to "study" something that that has a very low probability of being asked in the exam? If you ask me, I'd say no! And I bet so would most of my fellow batchmates . Why would anybody in their right senses NOT ask concepts which are actually relevant and important for future study in that subject? Why would they not follow the pattern of important questions, which they have been doing since forever? WHY are they trying to be SOMETHING THEY CAN NEVER BE! Making it more complicated doesn't make it better!

 Fact is, the board screwed up. Despite their justification (read news paper clipping below), I have no one to blame but them. As far as their point about us relying about coaching classes is concerned, Yes, we do rely on their notes more than we do on the sad-excuse-for-a-Text-Book  the State has provided us. Why? Because the text book is pure bullshit. We find the coaching class notes more student-friendly, we use it! It covers everything that we need to know in a chapter, is to the point, and is always better to refer to, because it is in our very own handwriting! Is the board trying to say that it purposely gave questions it knew wouldn't be there in the notes, just to show us our place? Is this some sort of a cheap form of vengeance?  Toying with the future of an ENTIRE BATCH of students is the way the board has of showing us that they are superior?

At the end of all of this, the only people losing out in this mess are the students; especially those who don't happen to have the ability to mugg-up entire books and write it like it is in the "text-books". It's a shame that something people worked so hard for more than a year had to go down this way. The Board doesn't seem to have the common sense to know that just raising the difficulty of an already messed-up syllabus isn't going to "raise it's standards"! If you really want to talk about standards, learn something from the systems in the world that are churning out hundreds and thousands of sound-minded individuals who have been educated in the true sense. Why even the WORLD! In our very own country, we have efficient systems in place. Learn from them!

But then again, I'm probably wasting my time expecting them to "learn". Like that's even possible in a country where everyone just wants to be like everyone else.

                                                    

A Not-So-Lucky's Take on Modern Relationships

There's been a major jump in mentalities behind relationships in the past decade. Lasting for A year together is seen as a major achievement, after which, nothing matters! The "L" word is far too often used; It's almost become like it means nothing at all! Talk about a guy, and someone goes like "Oh that one? I dated him for a couple of months!" The scenario has gone from when to commit meant to stick together and make it through life, to meaning just to try and not cheat on each other. Not that I really support my Generation's crass views on "hooking up", but the modern system has it's pro's too! Here's a 'Love it and Shove it' list on Modern Relationships.

Love It: 

• It's a very good way to find out what you want. The more you see how much you dislike the characteristic qualities of your ex, the more you look out for them, making sure you NEVER pick a guy like that ever again.
• Make mistakes how many ever times you want and learn from it! The chances that you're gonna end up with this guy are slim anyway! 
• When you're not really planning to end up together, there's no guilt in leaving!
• "So, are we dating?" "No, this is just a casual fling, so things won't be awkward between us!" :) (subtext: I'm going to use you for my physical needs, and make you feel like a princess in the process!) "ok! :)" 
• When you don't really attach yourself so much, it's easier to remain friends after!

Shove It:

• There's no hope for the community of hopeless romantics! They'll just be more and more broken hearted!
• You get so used to the Date-Dump cycle, that's it's impossible for you to keep things going when the "real Thing" comes by.
• The more people you have dated, the more the skeletons in your closet! One wrong move, and you'll be faced with too many decaying bones falling on you at once! 
• The basic mentality that "we won't end up together anyway" SUCKS for some people, who are looking for something serious, and getting nothing!
• If one of the two gets attached, things are going to get VERY ugly after the impending break up!

Conclusion:

Although the new system is more carefree and gives one more freedom and options, the fact that someone you fall head over heels for someone who might just think of you as just another fish in the ocean SUCKS! The biggest flaw now is one way love, which, as can be observed everywhere, is the worst of its kind! It's not easy to come to a closure, because you can't really blame anyone, because that's how everyone is now! And looking back honestly, chances that you've broken somebody too, is high. Personally, I believe that if there's something, it should be treated with care, try one's best not to send out a wrong signal, and be clear about one's stand and talk things out as much as possible, and the world will be a happier place! :)