Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Why My Choices Make Me Happy

This part of my life..... this part right here? This part is called "being happy". I believe that happiness is a state of mind. We choose whether we want to be happy or not. A person can have all the comforts of life and still be unhappy. Happiness is, in plain economics, managing scarce resources for maximum benefits. What the benefits are is left to the person to decide.

All throughout the eighteen years of my life, I have strived, like everybody else, to keep myself happy. But I have never measured happiness in grades, money or acceptance by others. I have had only one yardstick- to have maximum fun. I have realised that what makes me happy is to be myself, to be an independent thinker and not to strive for anything but to have maximum fun- let everything else take care of everything else.

I make choices that I hope are rational, decisions which I hope will lead me to “greener pastures”, avenues which, I hope, will be great fun to explore. I do not believe that everything happens for the best. I believe that I can do anything to be the best. I know I can count on myself to make choices that will make me happy.

Living a life aimed at having fun can have its drawbacks too. I, in the course of having fun, have neglected stuff that others, correctly or incorrectly, termed as important. I have invited the wrath of a host of people, people who are important to my life, a whole lot of people who come under the category of family, friends and teachers.

At different times, my definitions of happiness are different. Sometimes, it is being curled up with a good book, otherwise a movie, or hanging out with friends. All these acts which give me happiness are acts of my own free will, acts which I have decided to commit, and not those which have been imposed on me. Some activities are fun, disregarding whether they are of my own will. This includes activities like writing an essay (depends on the topic, though), reading a literary work, or even solving math problems.

I would like to end by quoting a character from a popular sitcom. “When I am sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.”

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Deer and Girls

Life in IIT is fun. Super fun in fact. Pseud to use the insti lingo. A major part of the fun is provided by seniors, who, in their quest to have "friendly interactions" and"Personality Development Programmes (PDP)" make life heaven or hell as you may choose to see it.

A few weeks in the insti, and one realises that it is a sort of honour to be "hit on" by seniors. So here is the latest news from that front. A senior, on learning that I am a MA student, and assuming that all MA people speak well, asked me to compare the deer and girls in the campus.

Having a name like Nympho helps. :D Here goes my extempore.

1. I have seen very few girls in the campus and slightly more deer.

2. Deer come out on the roads more in the night, but the girls behave in a diametrically opposite manner.

3. Deer are more near the boys hostel, but the same cannot be said of the girls.

4. Deer abound in leafy, bushy areas, but so far I haven't been able to lure any girl into those regions.

5. Deer can be found all around the campus but the girls are restricted to sharavati and the library.

6. Most deer have horns, but I am yet to meet a horny girl.

7. Deer are more forthcoming and friendly than a majority of the girls.

8. "Misbehaviour" with deer may be injurious to health, but no loss occurs when the same happens with the girls.

9. All deer walk on four limbs, but I am yet to see a girl in campus on all fours.

10. Yea...girls wear clothes.