The boy and his mom

in memorial - the f-1 sleeps forever

Five years ago, to this date, I had obtained the much coveted f-1 visa. It was a dream come true and also a window to many more and larger vistas. Today, after an eventful half decade, it lapses. My f-1 visa breathes its last. That colorful and precious document of the US govt. stayed on my passport as a badge of honor, of a promise for a greater future. After all these days weeks and years, its time to let it die. I shall carry the expired body with me until it gets replaced by the h1b coming december. But the soul of an f-1 will live on.

On this day of mixed feelings, I humbly thank my buddies for making the times past all that more remarkable. We all came with bright eyes, sincere passions, unbending ambitions and a couple of suitcases containing our earthly belongings. These f-1 years saw changes, upward, downward,from city to city from apartment to apartment from cloud to cloud. They say that the world has changed forever. I say that we are instruments of that change.

long live the f-1, long live graduate school and cheers to our unstoppable glorious futures.

in solemnity,
Amit

The Seven Dos and Don'ts

7 things i have mastered to do very well:

sulk at the state of the environment
criticize all and sundry
doze off mid movie
eat, at any time of the day
frown
stress on some personal ideas of perfection
spend countless hours staring into the ether

7 things i still do not do quite well:

sleep like a baby (i used to do so a few years back)
save
share my thoughts
love anybody for too long
be focussed
math
plan much ahead

words of the day

schadenfreude (shäd'n-froi'də) : Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

Schadenfreude is a German expression (from Schaden: damage, harm; and Freude: joy) meaning pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune or shameful joy. The word is often capitalized, however since all German nouns (proper or common) are capitalized it should be possible to spell it lower case in English.

'Taken in a broader sense, it could apply to the feeling of being “blessed” because there are always people who are worse off than ourselves. Instead of compassion or pity for those less fortunate, we are thankful that it is they instead of us.'

epicaricacy/ep"-i-kar-ik'-i-see/ : taking pleasure in another's misfortune

some of this could be true...

Below are your test results, broken down for the ten different personality disorders. You are rated "low," "moderate," "high," or "very high" probability for each disorder. Low or moderate ratings mean that you are unlikely to have the disorder. High or very high means you are more likely to have the disorder.




Disorder | Rating
Paranoid: High
Schizoid: Moderate
Schizotypal: Moderate
Antisocial: High
Borderline: Low
Histrionic: Very High
Narcissistic: High
Avoidant: Moderate
Dependent: Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive: High

URL of the test: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv
URL for more info: http://www.4degreez.com/disorder/index.html

You started UP there..

Impressionists get me. Impressions stay with me, for a while if not all the way. Well, in many ways I hardly shy away from giving the stranger all thebenefit of the doubt, the first time I interact with her/ him. Even He got the same treatment. The endless amazement and reverence. Everything He said/ did was considered the holy word. Ofcourse the way it was said/ done also mattered and I placed all my bets on Him being close to perfect, whatever that standard is. After so many weeks, I have had to withdraw some of that sum from his stocks. Not to say i do not value what He says, but now I do not blindly agree to all what is said. I have bought Him down a level or two to something more Human, like many of us here. Why single out Him. My automatic assigning of that 'Super' status is pretty much a part of my initial reaction to meeting strangers. I start with complete faith, well faith may be a loosely word here. Slowly i climb down and start realising that He or She is not as chinkless as I made it to be on Days 1 to 20.
With Him, its even more drastic, and obviously too, given the frequency of our interactions.
But I already know/ knew this habit of mine. So whats new thats bothering me?
It is Phase II of the relationship. Now that I have got a clearer grasp on the ground realities, I have begun, in miniscule parts, taking Him for granted. I am like: "Oh, Him? He has to behave so and so"; " He is just being his gregarious self, so Do not take Him too seriously"..etc...etc. I fear that the heaps of respect and adoration I had piled up in such short time will start eroding in equally short duration and that I will put myself in a position of lesser trust and seriousness.
But He is just as much flesh and bones as I or You. Its the same Air, the same Milk, the same apparel brands. So Why Do I, in the first place, assign that crown of perfection to all of Them. Is it Me?, is it my Culture? Is it my extra PC nature?
Just wait till I meet the next Him/ Her. My perfect smiling mask gets put on and I subconsciously assign the stranger to the throne.
Got to keep a watch on this, If i have to Do any better in......

Welcome Kyoto

India, China, USA: please wake up to tthe realities of a warmer world.
together you 3 add up to about 35% of GHG emissions.

Kudos to Europe to commit to reductions, however miniscule they may seem to be.