End of tenth....

"The end...of another year"

-Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

[And to anyone who's reading this, I would highly recommend my friend Nil's story as well.  You can find it here]

Or at least, the official end of my tenth class.
Yes, yes tenth class really ended more than a month ago, when we stopped going to school. But for me and many of my class mates, our tenth academic session wasn't really over until yesterday, the last board exam.
We had our MCQ (Multiple Choice questions) paper, and I'm glad to report that I wasn't the only one who thought it was confusing or tricky (And to all the others who had a great paper, congrats!). But what really set the seal in on the occasion was the end of the paper,when, after some general discussion about the questions, students began discussing their plans for the afternoon. Most of the people I talked to were heading off to malls, movies and even amusement parks. I had no particular plan myself, but I had fun listening to others grumbling about the questions, autos, time, heat etc. I went back home in a neutral frame of mind. To be honest, I wasn't exactly whooping, cheering or feeling ecstatically happy. The event I'd looked over to all year was over and done, as I knew it would. Good. I don't have to keep re-reading my textbooks. Good. I don't have to sit at home and get bored. Good. The new academic session, rumoured to be one of the hardest, where I don't know half the teachers, where I'm practically guaranteed to have the stuffing knocked out of me, will start soon. Uh huh.


For many reasons, tenth was one of my best classes ever, an unforgettable milestone. I was able to really build relationships with the important people in my life, reconcile the different sides of my own personality and last, but definitely not the least, tenth was like one huge lesson; An interesting one, that I'm sure we all enjoyed. I'd heard a lot about tenth: the stress, the fear, the competition, the slogging, but I have to say, NOTHING in tenth was like what I heard. Most of the kids were chilled out, studies were interesting, teachers were a lot more fun than usual, we were left to our own devices and even the oft-repeated jokes had a new flavour. The joys, the triumphs, the friendships, the lessons, the hard work....all were unique, and non-transferable. So today, when tenth really is over, there's a lot I remember, but I still feel quite happy moving on to 11th. To all who've finished tenth, did you have fun too? To all who're going to start it, believe me, tenth will be as wonderful as you can make it. It's really not all that bad.  

Quotes

Didn't feel much like writing today, so I decided to share some of my favourite quotes. Hope you'll like them as much as I do  :)

1. And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abe Lincoln

2. War to the individual is hardly ever bigger than a hundred yards on each side of him - Ernie Pyle

3. Any activity become right or better, when the doer cares about doing it right, or better - John Updike

4. For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you have gained, you lose something else - Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe - Anatole France

6. You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you - James Allen

7. You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can everyday - Marian Wright Edelman

8. We should never speak at all unless we have something to say - Thomas Carlyle

9. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind - Seneca

10. If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes - Andrew Carnegie

              









Image from : http://graphics.ucsd.edu/~iman/SoapBubbles/

Saving the earth, Part IV - Explore

OK, now you've collected a LOT of information from different sources. Now comes the fun bit: Explore. No, I’m not telling you to go and find more facts. This time around, you need to work with the knowledge you’ve collected. You've already started this in the second step of the last part. Now you have to take it further by experimenting. Compile your observations, brainstorm with buddies, put up your ideas on the internet, pen down your creative ideas in a diary, it’s up to you. Basically, in this step, you should aim to really wok with your information by exploring it fully. There are many different ways to do this. Besides the ones I just mentioned, you can try all sorts of things. If you like, try some of these:

1.     Juggle the location of the ideas around - Put different ideas next to each other, change the chronological order, draw up a mind map or try going through the ideas randomly.

2.     Look harder – Look for new things within the information you’ve already collected. Identify patterns and links, contrast and compare, list problems and solutions, analyze data from different perspectives. But don’t take it at face value straight away.

3.      Draw links – This is very important. Information may or may not be available to you in an ideal format. You should look for links between different bits of information. For example, while studying, many times I find that information linked to each other (say by a common year) is in different subjects. But properly understanding it in one sphere helps me see it in a whole new light.

4.     Find the unconventional – In our world, there are plenty of examples of people who’ve strayed off the beaten path (cliché, I know). In the field of environment conservation, many of these have led to unique ideas and innovations. Try to find out about such cases. In your own sphere, try looking beyond the commonplace. Sure, you can help save the environment by following tips like saving paper, electricity and water, but if you want to really feel satisfied with your contribution, try to do something a little different.


5.     Investigate your options and resources – In this era of technology and internet, you have a incredibly large number of options and resources. There is a large amount of power at your fingertips, and there are many ways you can harness this power to help you help the environment.


a) The internet is a large storehouse or information if you want to fill up the gaps in your knowledge, or gather fresh data.

b) There are a variety of ideas you can find too. Many people have posted ideas and it’s odds that there is something you’ll be able to do too.

c) It’s a good place to spread the word. With the spread of sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. you can easily spread the word among others, concerned or not.

d) Lastly, it’s the best place to explore. There’s no better place to find out about other efforts, keep up with the news, discover new resources etc.

         No picture this time; this post is long enough already ;)

Untitled poem

It's that special something which motivates us
In our innermost hearts, we wait hoping that we might find it
The perfection which ever accompanies it
will be our aspiration, our ambition, our dream
There's nothing that compares to it
or that feeling of reaching it
Clouds may threaten to block our happiness
But along with their silver linings,
a golden one buoys us up just as much
We might dream of it incessantly
We hope to reach it and receive the rewards that come along
We strive constantly to catch it
And believe our efforts unworthy of any merit if they've failed
We might believe that it's a treasure possessed
by everyone we know except ourselves
But it could take a long time to realize that
everyone may be thinking the same of themselves
All of us seek to reach that magical valley
That pinnacle of pinnacles, and bask in the sunshine
Do we fear failure so much that we must need blame ourselves
for not reaching that which always moves upward?
But do not despair, for it's not a stationary thing
In restlessness, it does not wait for us to seek it out
It moves and travels all around us
Truly beautiful, it hides in our lives in humble guise
If we are wise to its ways,
we might even catch a glimpse of it and feel blessed
That things are fine just the way they are
It only remains for us to realise that it's right there,
waiting for us to find it
The ideal
                         - Charu

(  Note: Actually, the poem is called 'The Ideal', but I just wanted to keep the suspense till the end. Please do tell me what you think!  )

Saving the earth, Part 3 - Be aware

Now that you’ve educated yourself about your life and surroundings, it’s time to learn about others. Our world is full of people – some who try to help the environment, and some who don’t or can’t. It’s important that you know what you’re up against, so that you can find workable solutions to environmental problems.

Firstly, you should try to find out what other people are doing to help the environment. Honestly, some of the solutions people have thought up are quite unique, and worth knowing about. Ideas range from new methods of waste segregation and filtering to innovative methods to use renewable sources of energy. It would also be a good idea to stay updated on the latest technological and/or legal advances which are geared towards helping the environment. You don’t have to root through a compendium of eco-knowledge; neither do you have to force yourself where you don’t want to. Just gather the kind of information that interests you (I’ll come back to why this is important in another part). This should provide you with a large number of interesting stories, anecdotes and pieces of information. As for gathering this knowledge, it’s up to you to choose a source with which you feel the comfortable: the newspaper/local paper, a library, email newsletters, relevant website, local NGOs, your office or school etc. 

Secondly, now that you’ve gathered a good amount of information, you should think of some way to use it. To start with, if there's a large amount of information,  you might consider categorizing it in some way. Try to keep your information updated, and stay on track. Go through the ideas occasionally and identify your favourite ones. They might inspire you to come up with something yourself, and some of these ideas might become solutions to the problems in your environment. Also, you should try analysing things from different points of view, as sometimes a method is not the most efficient or useful to ALL the people. Also, with our ideas of development, we should always keep in mind how they can be practically carried out, what are the factors affecting the and how they will affect other things. By going through your collected ideas, you might be able to identify the possibilities in your immediate surroundings. And most importantly, they’ll show you that you’re not alone.

There's something out there for everyone...