India and Trypophobia.

Disclaimer: Following is a blog post based on too many "could be"s. Definitely, most of the possibilities are absurd, and are open for interpretation as well as discussion.


So, lets begin with a buzzword in the field of biological sciences from last year "Trypophobia". Trypophobia is claimed as the phenomenon of  having a phobia of regular/irregularly shaped and spaced clustered patterns. It was more commonly promoted as the fear of holes among those, who were really busy most the time (pun intended.) checking their facebook news feeds for something new. Rather lets call it on "Social Media" ... sounds official(kind of.. :P).

Trypophobia " not a phobia officially " is indeed quite absurd, Reasons being the strange hype created for it, the usage of photoshop to disguise disgust as fear, and the biggest one of all, circulating it all over the Social media to make even the narcissistic ones think for a while if they "suffer" from this phobia. This was mostly all about the issues from abroad. However, Trypophobia seems a bit more relevant to India.

In India, we have some(I understand this word is an understatement. :P ) roads that may rattle up (in either of the meanings.) any driver from the inside as well as outside. The fear can be seen on the face of the person driving the cars on such roads. The sounds of the internals of the passengers are a story that only the passengers can tell. So, this fear is quite justified, in terms of it's version in India the fear of "great Hol(e)y Roads". Its being called "trypophobia" that is close to '"trip"ophobia'(Just Assuming) fears of trips or voyages.. and the other way, fear of tripping over a hole. :P...

Having stated that, now a days, road travelers face strange kind of issues while driving. Like bloody red fluids floating around their personal spaces and on the roads, special stunts by the local biking "professionals" (pun intended.). And expert comments like "drive while looking behind.." etc.. etc... We'll come to that some other day.

Coming back to India and Trypophobia, India observes it's National flower as Lotus. This could make us call Lotus Seeds as the National Seeds.(Just Assuming.)  Trypophobia has a special relation with India in this sense as well. Lotus Pods have some sort of holes that can be described as "regularly spaced". Moreover, most of the horrifying photoshopped images making people wonder about this phobia were based on these pods, making these holes appear out of no where on strange places. This makes a really strong bond between India and Trypophobia. It could be declared as a national phobia. Although, the phobias of corruption, starvation and proper running of the parliament give it a really tough competition.

There is a very fine line between disgust and fear. You could be disgusted by the things that the people intend to show you in the name of a test for trypophobia and may even feel like throwing up. But the point is that are you really afraid? Or is it just the mind game of some notorious braggadocio that is bothering you. Its just a matter of time and thought that you give to the legitimacy of anything that you see on the Social Media. These things can simply shape up your opinions and challenge the open-mindedness, which becomes a point of vulnerability here.
So just before thinking about being scared of "holes"... just think don't you have something better to be afraid of ?

-Aishwariy.

The Clarity

When the last traces of the excess adrenaline that was released into you for reacting sanely to the Shock you just faced, start fading away, they project a sense of clarity at the back of the head.(Yeah! too deep! read that line again if needed :P (*I did :P)). This sense of clarity is something that leads to serenity. A peace "station" that you had been trying to reach since a long time, but one thing or the other bothered you.(Or maybe only you felt that they were bothering. p(bur)un intended..). The bigger question is why were you trying to reach that spot, when it was right inside your head?(Yes. Going too deep. Take a breath and continue.) Was it because you thought you would accomplish something from where you are standing right now, or maybe a few steps ahead or backwards from here? Or was it because you thought you were on the completely wrong foots (pardon for that grammar but it sounded kind of interesting :) ) all along with everything that you have been doing till now? 

Alright, no more questioning yourself. Let's get back to the point, or rather that unspoken clarity that was just obtained from the bodily chemicals. This clarity is a Game Changer. It makes you do stuff. Stuff that you think you "should". (Mind that word and think again). This clarity is probably one of the biggest driving forces ever that could get your things done by you for you, that too with you not knowing about it. fair enough? Probably yes I guess. Many people will agree too.(I can just hope.. right? :P ). 

Anyways, so what next? What after this clarity and doing all that you actually wanted? Life goes on, Right? So lets better concentrate on the Prequel, rather than the Sequel. It seems that we began with the excess Adrenaline receding. Where from it came into the picture anyways ?  From the shock. The shock that you just felt and which made the synapses go wild passing all the impulses and giving a picture(not a visual, a mental one. yeah going even deeper! :P) of how worse it could be. And its only sane to get the clarity moment after the neurons are back to senses. But the only thing to think is how sane is it to get the clarity moment only and only after the shocks? The nature keeps it all in the equilibrium.(Believe me it does!)  

Brain food is peace of mind. A sense of clarity that allows you to think. But there is no scope for the brain to become obese.(Yeah you got that right. avoid the overeating :P). There can be diverse ways in which your brain feels peaceful. Interact with it, know about it's mysteries.(Caution:Strictly figurative!)  Open it up. And get to know it better. All that you can do is make it free enough to process something. And interestingly, it can even generate it's own raw material. So better keep it healthy with some peace.

All problems "may" have some kind of connection. Maybe the solution to one will solve say another 'n' in your head. Or a miss for some problem may solve another 'K*n'.{Where K>1.}(Couldn't help with that. Math Calls :P ) You never know. But the point here is to follow a regime by which its not the "nature" or  "uncertainty" that desperately "pushes" you to a situation to bring up the clarity moment. But it's you yourself who does that. And yeah in that process try opening yourself up!! (Yeah Right..  NOT Literally!).

-Aishwariy

The Strange Turn of Events.

It all began with the Murders of Activists and Writers of the likes of M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, (the former two dying more recently). Apart from the similarity in how they died, another similarity among them was that two of them were Anti-Superstition activists and one quoted something about idol worship. Yes, apparently the stuff they supported was deemed as Anti-Hindu.

Their murders triggered the "Award Returning Trend".(Yes! it wasn't just an impulsive frustrated call for gaining popularity... (initially at least.)).

Coincidentally, when all this was going on, there was another act of brutality, where a man (a muslim person) from Dadari was lynched for allegedly killing a cow. This again was deemed as Anti- Hindu.

(Just to be precise... Killing the poor Cow... and unfortunately not the Man! :| )

This was the exact point when things started getting Communal, and intolerance got mixed up with communal intolerance.

Meanwhile, gripped in unrest, many of the Artists and writers and Scientists kept returning their awards as a mark of protest against the happenings and against the ways of the Government (and Sahitya Akademi too) who did not condemn these murders, allegedly spreading a sense of insecurity among the people, who apparently wanted to be " reassured" that everything will be fine, and there's nothing to worry about.

And then all of this was continued with playing one-sided "Ink holi" with people whose views were not much appreciated by the "side".

Then this fire was given some Political oxygen for efficient Combustion during the Bihar Elections because by now, the whole attention got focussed against the Hon'ble PM of India, who was deemed as the symbol of intolerance and his party, a promoter of Intolerance.
This fire just got way too much Oxygen resulting to a majority of the Carbon-di-oxide of Bihar, getting exhaled into the Legislative Assembly.

And this brings us to the Present day. Where many are urging to boycott Aamir's movies and the goods that he Endorses.(I know right.. Way too Strange turn of Events :P ).

People feel that he said that all the people in the country are intolerant. Everyone has something to say to him(Well, Not to try to prove that they are tolerant, instead that they are not Intolerant (P.S. Yes These are different.!!!)). And things got so much heated up that a hashtag called #BuildRamMandir creeped up from nowhere and got trending.... preposterous isn't it?(Again.... Way too Strange turn of events).

This strange turn of events is nothing more than Attenuation of thoughts.

Some people started by saying that Aamir says India is intolerant and he says his wife wants to leave the country. Others added some more things to make him sound more like a traitor and forwarded the new version of the "view". And some took out some of their precious time to make a Graphical Comparison between a Martyr's widow and Aamir's wife. And then there were the remaining people... Who just saw the things, felt something (maybe :P (can't deny that... India Feels too much you know..)), and then shared the view everywhere, making misconceptions prevalent and spreading strange unrest. Very few actually bothered to go through a simple authenticity check of what was actually said. (Yes! a simple video that could be simply used to simplify the issues that were being raised.)

The main substance drifted far away from where it should have been, and the reason are the people who are ready to believe in everything that they are "told" blindly, without checking the authenticity or the reason behind it. Sounds familiar? relates to Superstitions? Doesn't it? yeah! infact it does.

So in a nutshell, right now what we are doing is something unreasonable to prove that we do not do unreasonable things, and it is exactly the "something unreasonable" which was opposed by some people who were then murdered for opposing it as according to some other people, what they were doing was something unreasonable!! peculiar.(Too big a Nutshell that was :P)

This is a really Strong Example of why literacy should just not only be about reading words and being able to operate a smartphone. Rather it should be something that enables a person to think in some direction that is actually relevant. The right to speech and freedom of expression are all disastrous unless we really understand our Responsibilities with them.

We are still in the denial phase, thinking that nothing is wrong. But actually a lot needs to be worked upon. And to start with, the least that we could do is be a bit more "Tolerant".

-Aishwariy

Round The World

Week 31 of 2015 just passed by. One of the most dramatic weeks ever. 

Monday witnessed the sad demise of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam former Indian President, a retired Scientist by profession, a Teacher by choice and most important of all, an Inspiration for the youth. The biggest highlight of this incident was his place of death...his workplace...a Stage... from where he already had enlightened so many souls and reached out to so many probable future-makers of the Nation.

His most important virtue of working for every single available minute was seen to be respected on the very next day of his death, by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, where, the hearing was held at 3 AM in the midnight regarding the mercy petition filed yet again to avoid the hanging of Yakub Memon, which was scheduled for the very next day. Eventually, the petition was scraped off "again" by the Court, and the culprit of the 1993 Mumbai Serial Blasts was hanged to death on the next or say the same day as was scheduled.The irony being his death on his birthday.

The biggest irony of this whole case was Yakub's involvement in the blasts, in spite of being a an edurite. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he was charged guilty of financing terror operations. Many controversies raised before and after his hanging. Many People came up in support of him, many came up against him, and as usual, many even came up against those who came up for him . These people included actors, Cabinet Members, MPs and even a few Governors, and last but not the least the Common Indians who have been empowered to keep their views now-a-days via the social media. Support for him was also displayed at his final crusade when he was brought back to Mumbai.

Another irony related with these incidents was the burial of Dr. Kalam and Yakub which took place on the very same day.On one hand was a person who devoted his life completely for his country and the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of the people and the society, and on the other was one who felt just too mainstream to be loyal to his motherland, and played a role in disrupting others' lives instead, both sent off forever on the same day. However, one will stay Alive forever and keep inspiring everyone. 

These events clearly indicate, it's not just the Knowledge that matters, but the attitude does too. On a similar note the IPL spot-fixing culprits, in spite of being cleared by the court were shown no mercy by the BCCI. 

Another event of mercilessness occurred earlier this week when Gurdaspur in Punjab was struck by the terrorists on Monday,claiming the life of SP Baljeet Singh of Punjab Police, a martyr to the brutality of Terrorism. This attack was claimed to be executed by 3 gunmen, who were later claimed to be from across the border. Another attack technically not physical but mental and of similar intensity took place in Srinagar where flags of Pakistan, IS and LeT were held high over a Mosque, trying to spark up a rebellion and unrest among the people. This attack was potentially devastating to an extent equal to the other event of the Parliamentary chaos, where the House was fighting over the religion of Terrorism. The Parliamentary Panel suggested mechanism for single-window redressal to all investor Problems.

Talking about window, Windows 10 was finally Launched in India, this week.. which gained a whooping more than 14 million users all over the world within few days of launch. The highlight of this event was the homage paid to Dr. Kalam on stage, during the launch. The personality that will remain alive and keep on inspiring everyone forever... 

Coming back to Square one ... That's exactly why it's said.. Round the World.

The Next Week Awaits...
Cheers till then..

-Aishwariy

Yes! Maybe! Someday I'll Fly....

The sun has risen up, stars are going down.

I was looking for answers in the night sky.

Tried and found out, the facts that were stout,

Always had a mind completely full of doubts.

Some way I tried to runaway from everyone,

Always tried to wipe off all the mistakes that I'd done.

Maybe I rose, maybe I tumbled down,

But I knew it's never always been for the crown.

Maybe I was dumb, maybe I was the clown,

But never felt the urge just to settle down.

All that I could mean, All that I could say,

Maybe there was a way by which all could stay.

Someday I will rise, again, with a reprise, 

Maybe all that I need is a blessing in disguise.

There will be a day that I won't despise.

And I'll be all through in the blue skies.

Earth keeps turning, Things move on,

stars still come out in my night sky

I have a thought, and I do believe,

that Someday I'll be ready to fly.

Till then in the making, for the big flight

All that I need is to stay uptight. 

Yes I've been wrong,Oh Yes I've been right

And I won't ever give up in between the fight. 

Yes it's been rough, Yes I've seen the tough.

But never ever gave up it all to the fright.

All that I could mean,  All that I could say,

Maybe there was a way by which all could stay.

Someday I will rise, again, with a reprise, 

Maybe all that I need is a blessing in disguise.

There will be a day that I won't despise.

And I'll be all through in the blue skies.

All I know that can be done is to move on.

And on that way, anyone like me will get torn,

I've been through the thorns, I've been through all the wrongs,

Now I know there's no turning back again.

Cause all the turns end up in that alley of pains.

I've had enough, not going there again.

I'll fight for my stars, I'll try for my scars

That's all I can do, I am not from Mars.

Things will keep moving and I will keep proving,

Whatever I've learnt and whatever I've earnt.

All that I could mean, All that I could say,

Maybe there was a way by which all could stay.

Someday I will rise, again, with a reprise, 

Maybe all that I need is a blessing in disguise.

There will be a day that I won't despise.

And I'll be all through in the blue skies.

-Aishwariy

The First NightOut....

It began somewhere in the mid of the 3rd Sem. It was an instinctive wave for everyone to attend the Regionals of The Techfest, people being aware of the awesomeness of the fest were exuberant for it. Rather the atmosphere too was having a petrichor of zest flowing all around. The happiness of being in societies, the sense of accomplishment by organising successful mass bunks, the feeling of freedom as some other friends were not so free to do that.. and the most interesting feel of all.. having a pack of juniors to call ourselves seniors....
Sounds like a treat doesn't it?

This instinctive wave was having some nice media to propagate through. Those who could manage to attend the techfests in the IITs in the previous semester were the sole media of wave propagation.
This wave was in a new frequency range for my frequency filter, which was still stuck in filtering Rotational Motion and Organic Chemistry along with some P-block and D-Block elements. (Post JEE Symptoms). A transition was required to re-define the frequencies for the Filter. This transition had a work function which was something way too greater than what was provided by the usual diversions of Go-Karting or a stroll in the Mall or having Cold-Coffees* at Sharma(Chinese). The transition needed something big. A frequency large enough to make a big energy transition.

So it all melted down somehow to the Vortex (and to a meagre extent, to CodeBlitz too) in Technocalypse(Regional of Techfest at CDGI Indore). The most interesting  feature of this transition was the implicitly enforced Night Out about which nobody knows a why or a how...

People At Technocalypse :P

So it started with Boarding the bus for Indore at 1:30 AM**. Resulting into one of the coolest ever bus rides that I had. The ride left us Roaming around on the roads of Indore at 4:00 in the morning, searching for a Maggi shop :P . And finally, an awesome Rickshaw ride to the Bus Stand that morning...the cherry on the top :P .... apparently too much for someone having their first NightOut..

Some Place in Indore

This changed a lot of things. But one fact remained constant...

Its always been Sleep that gives energy to the Brain....

Every other speculation about this fact or any such controversy is a myth that is being forcefully created with not even a single evidence of existence or is just a co-incident happening going in some parallel Universe.

Another Place in Indore :P

The day at CDGI witnessed high temperature, that was complemented by the unexpected evening showers. Something quite similar to what happened to Proboteshwar's^ run in the vortex arena***. It went in too hot to handle, but froze up while coming out.In Either case the equilibrium didn't remain disturbed. Hail Le Chatelier's

And When We were Done...

The night out was followed by
The insane hour of trying to code at the CodeBlitz...
Some Messy Canteen Food...
An ultimate battle of who knows it all about Indore....

Cool public transport insanity amidst the showers.....

^ProBoteshwar

Later that evening we boarded the bus back to Bhopal.
Apparently the transition energy provided by this "Night Out" was something that was just at the threshold of enabling new frequencies to be detected through the filter.This trip did open up new horizons, teaching a lot of stuff.

However, The coolest discovery of this trip were Friends :)

And the joy of the Most Technical Night Out Ever...

-Aishwariy

---

References:
*Should be Better Known as Astro-Physics Simulator.
**It was AM. No typo there :D
***This was an Illusionistic Picture :P yes.... just a Picture on which Proboteshwar was supposed to run.
#Pics Credits : Naresh Kumar :D

The Battle Within

In the darkest night before the worst fight.

Just remember what you thought and what you were taught.

Remember how you fought and the victories you caught.

For there will be a moment which will be right And someday in some fight

you will realize the plight of the bright light

which has always glossed and never lost.

But had to prove which it didn’t needed as such,

That it will always conquer the darkness and doesn't need to do much.

The darkness may seem compelling and your inner-self wailing

Keep the warrior alive and keep on the strive.

For someday in some fight when you actually realize the plight

The urge and the surge to fight

The abundance and redundancy to avoid.

Time will pass as it always has, It won't stop you can't ever chase.

This plight will not go away though

All that you have to do is show.

Show how capable you are, For some point in the far,

There will be a day you wont hate, but just sit back and speculate

All that was done was not in vain, but never think of this thought again.

For you have to go long and keep yourself strong.

The strength should keep you apace, for you have to keep a trace.

A trace of every step taken, A trace of all the mountains shaken.

A trace of all the wars fought, A trace of the enemy's every slaught.

This trace will make a base, on which you may someday daze.

You could get what you wanted, you chose something which wasn't granted.

This is what is fate and you make it yourself, don't contemplate.

There is always a high and a low.For there should be a flow.

You may find a remedy, but will know that you aren’t ready

For you are a warrior, FIGHT the war.

Go to the field and take a scar.

This is what you are made for

This is what everyone like you waits for.

Maybe you are different and not comfortable.

But always remember you were and are capable

It's been always and will be a wave, it’s your identity to be brave.

Crests follow the troughs. The troughs will make you tough.

You have the power of the bright light.

The light that is always right.

The only plight of light is to fight.

To keep on fighting is your right.

There will be a battle inside.

Never keep what you stand for, aside.

For every battle will prove your mettle,

And distinguish you, just don't settle

 

The world needs you and is at stake. It's your call to make or break.

The focus that you had lost, should be back by now from the frost.

Keep going for that shouldn't be a strain.

Go ahead there's a Victory to gain.       

 -Aishwariy