It has been almost 3 weeks since my last post, and I have a
truck load of stuff to say. It has been an interesting 3 weeks, and here I
share my experiences with you.
Time
Time is
the most precious resource we all
have. It may sound cliched but, it is true. To give someone your time (by that
I mean your undivided attention) is one of the most meaningful gifts ever and
vice versa someone giving you their time and attention is the best gift you can
receive. I managed to screw that up. I don’t think they read my blog, but if
they do, I apologize sincerely, and ensure them that it will never ever happen
again.
Arsenal
From an
Arsenal perspective, there isn’t much going on. We were soundly thrashed in
Munich, got an unconvincing draw against Spuds, and headed off into the
international break. The next set of fixtures looks easy on paper, but is never
ever so. The level of competition is too high and the stakes are much higher
this time around. With much less focus on Europe, the Premier League is the top
priority. Let us hope we end this season on a very happy note.
Keyboard
Ah,
keyboard. I learned the song on which I was stuck for a long time. Quite a
pleasant one, to be frank. Then I went home, didn’t practice at all and am now
just getting into the groove back. The next song is good, but not very
challenging. I want to start learning some Hindi songs as well. But it feels
like I don’t have enough time. 24 hours in a day don’t seem enough anymore!
Wow! I never thought I would say this. Life has indeed changed.
Italian
Ciao,
buongiorno! Finally I completed the Duolingo course on Italian. Finishing that
leaves me with 55% fluency (according to Duo). Now I am revising the lessons
and after that it will be translations. I kinda had a look at what is the level
of translation like, and was quite shocked. I mean, the level was quite high. Translations
won’t be a walk in the park. But I am looking forward to it anyway. I am not
one who shies away from challenges (or that is what I say to myself!).
Books
Invincibles
: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten Season: This was one of the most exhilarating books
I have read. This is mostly because the topic is close to me, but also Amy
Lawrence’s style of writing captivated me from the start. A must read for all
Gooners.
James
Patterson’s Kill Alex Cross: Easily one of the most boring books I have ever
read, including all textbooks (Even software engineering!). That book has 2
parallel stories and both are not connected even when the book ends. The protagonist
boasts about himself and the characters do not evolve. I don’t think I can read
his books anymore.
David Baldacci’s Split Second: I
have finished around one third of the book till now, and it is quite
interesting. The characters are just coming into play, and the plot is just
beginning to thicken. This book has the promise of not being a drab bore.
Cycling
2 weeks
ago I went cycling with friends. The Hyderabad Biking Club organizes cycling
trips every Sunday. We were a group of 12 people, not all of them knew each
other, but still a good number to start off with. Me along with 3 other people
rode our bicycles fast and reached Osman Sagar lake very quickly. It turns out,
that one of the rest had a puncture, and one tried to be over smart and injured
himself. He was snake riding on a slope full of winding turns. His head was
protected by the helmet which he thankfully kept it on, otherwise the trip
could have ended badly. What I want to say here is, speed thrills, but also
kills. You have got to be careful.
Cities Comparison
I found
a good website for comparing the cost of living in cities across the world:
numbeo.com. It is quite detailed and the comparison is done in the right way. I
compared Hyderabad and Mumbai first, and unsurprisingly Hyderabad turned out to
be a lot cheaper. Then I compared Hyderabad and Nagpur, which were more or less
the same. Now I wanted to compare international cities. For the initial
testing, I compared Ipoh and Hyderabad, and the predictions were again correct.
Ipoh was 3 times costlier than its Indian counterpart. Satisfied with the
authenticity of its results, I proceeded to compare Hyderabad against the
European cities of Milan, Paris, and London. It turns out that they are way, way
beyond our reach (My company has offices in those cities). Even if we were working there as software engineers, it would
be extremely difficult for us to make ends meet with our salaries. I mean, in
London around 40% of your income would go straight to rent. Not at all a good
place to be, financially. So, Hyderabad rocks. Period.
Home, Diwali
I went
home during the Diwali week for 9 days. They were some of the best days for
quite a long time. I mean, I am used to staying away from home and the related
stuff. But this time, I was really desperate to go home and be with those
people. I absolutely enjoyed my time there and my family enjoyed it as well. We
went out to eat, shop and spent a lot of time together which is becoming a rare
commodity in our busy (read monotonous) lives. I got some financial advice from
my dad, cooking tips from my mom, and fashion tips from my sister. I didn’t
have enough time to go to relatives’ houses, though they did come and visit. It
was nice to meet some old friends after a long time. It seemed that nothing had
changed in Kalyan. But in my life, everything has changed.I was so feeling at
home, so relaxed, so calm and most importantly, so happy that I did not want to
leave for Hyderabad. In the end, the rational side of me brought me to the
airport while the emotional side of me wanted to be at home for another week.
Now there is an element of uncertainty of when I might get to go home, sadly.
Shopping
It has
always been a traditional weakness of mine: shopping. I really need to learn
fashion sense and that too quickly. I realize the importance of dressing well,
but it seems really difficult to shop for. What I like is usually out of my
league. What’s in my league is uncomfortable or does not look good or has some
other problem. I should learn to develop some fashion sense. I don’t know if
that is something you learn, but I have got to try. A man’s first impression is
made by the clothes he is wearing.
Paris, Beirut
Some
sad news coming from the West where in the last week Beirut (Lebanon) and Paris
were hit by terrorists and scores of innocent people lost their lives and many
others were injured gravely. I came across an article in which a man spotted a
suicide bomber, tackled him, took him away from the crowd and died with the
bomber. What a courageous man! A real hero, if you ask me. That degree of
selflessness, that level of bravery is a rare quality. I tip my hat to you,
Sir. Music and sport were targeted, which are some of the very few things that
transcend cultural barriers and all people enjoy. I say we defy the terrorists
by standing united with all human beings, irrespective of religion, race, sex,
etc. Above all we are humans, aren’t we? Retaliating by bombing their territory
is only going to be a short term solution. ISIS may shut down, and in its place
deadlier organizations will come up. The long term solution to this menace, I
feel, is education. We educate everyone that humanity is more important than
religion, race and others. No place is safe now; fear is spreading everywhere,
just like they wanted. It is up to us to stand up to them.
Poetry
When I
was young, I used to hate poetry. I never understood them on my first read. There
were many interpretations of the same lines. Back then, we always wanted simple
sentences whose meanings were straight forward. But poetry makes you think.
What did the poet/poetess mean? Which meaning did he/she want us to take? These
burning questions left distaste in me. But recently I got to read some good
poems and started enjoying this form of literature more. Maybe it is okay to
have multiple meanings. Maybe the poet/poetess wanted you to take the
interpretation you want. I think the whole point of poetry is to make you think
deeper. Those words may seem shallow, but when you delve deep inside, you find
a treasure trove of stuff in there. And the effort is usually worth it. A great source of poems is Medium, which is also good for blogs.
Some questions
I came
up with some questions over these 3 weeks. I have a million more in my mind
1.
If the destination is great, but the road is
lonely, is the journey worth it?
2.
What is the basis of discrimination? Why do
people forget the core values of humanity?
3.
Why is appearance given importance?
4.
Does everybody’s work suck?
I’ll update them as
and when more come up. It has been quite a long post and I will just finish it
here. More to come in the next post. Arrivederci
for now!
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