I am online after more than two weeks of absence. Currently I have the thanksgiving break and finding myself bored to death. I have nothing to do and hence I was reading some random blogs and came across the personal homepage of an Indian graduate student from Caltech. The homepage highlights his academic work, travel-log, training details of a marathon he ran etc. I was happy to see him involved in many activities. Then I visited his friend's homepages listed by him and found very similar things. One interesting thing to note here is that most of these students are engineering doctoral students and maintain a very detailed webpage. I am also an engineering doctoral student and keep a personal webpage with lots of information and pictures of me. I manage my time effectively and that leaves me with plenty of time to kill. I engage myself in watching TV/movie and browsing web for news, current affairs, blogs etc. So mainly I don't do any physical activity except playing cricket (which I can't do in winter due to sever cold climate).
With the introduction about this fellow and myself, he got me thinking that why don't I see similar people around me and do I want to see them around me? These individuals are in a better campus then I am and I find most people around me less inclined to studying (acceptable). Here, most my friends spend time checking their five different emails seven times a day, talking/chatting with friends, orkutting/friendstering/hifi-ing, or celebrating every Amar, Akbar or Anthony’s birthday. There are guys with their phone ringing every few minutes and them talking while walking, driving, eating and even while in the potty. One thing that bothers me a lot is their total disregard to the presence of other individuals around who are bothered by their phone-talk and especially in alien languages. I will never get this fixation to 'stay-in-touch-with-everyone-i-know'.
I don't like doing any of the activities that my friends do. There are a few who indulge in exercising, even I liked it but found it very time consuming and stopped after just a month. I like watching TV for certain intelligent or comic shows and surfing web to keep myself updated but would cut down on these activities if friends who would like to indulge in something different like walking in trails, bicycling, playing chess/carrom, a road-trip in the Midwest or get-away trip to Death Valley. Hopefully some friends read this and help me overcome my monotony.
With the introduction about this fellow and myself, he got me thinking that why don't I see similar people around me and do I want to see them around me? These individuals are in a better campus then I am and I find most people around me less inclined to studying (acceptable). Here, most my friends spend time checking their five different emails seven times a day, talking/chatting with friends, orkutting/friendstering/hifi-ing, or celebrating every Amar, Akbar or Anthony’s birthday. There are guys with their phone ringing every few minutes and them talking while walking, driving, eating and even while in the potty. One thing that bothers me a lot is their total disregard to the presence of other individuals around who are bothered by their phone-talk and especially in alien languages. I will never get this fixation to 'stay-in-touch-with-everyone-i-know'.
I don't like doing any of the activities that my friends do. There are a few who indulge in exercising, even I liked it but found it very time consuming and stopped after just a month. I like watching TV for certain intelligent or comic shows and surfing web to keep myself updated but would cut down on these activities if friends who would like to indulge in something different like walking in trails, bicycling, playing chess/carrom, a road-trip in the Midwest or get-away trip to Death Valley. Hopefully some friends read this and help me overcome my monotony.
2 comments:
Ya man... i understand. And as usual u go back to keep thinking about yurself where u ask the same "Why Me" question again n again... Instead of wondering why we rn't like u... have u wondered why u rn't like us???? simple man... we r not doctoral students. Though I do appreciate your way of handling time n activities...i'm not sure if i would be able to do it someday. but i'll keep trying... promise. :)
Different people like different things. Just like you hate people talking on the phone, I absolutely dislike watching TV. The only reason I wanted a TV at home was to monitor the television commercials. So it always used to bug the hell out of me when someone sat in front of the TV.
And having fun should not be seen as mismanaging time. I do blog, I keep abreast of current affairs, and I do celebrate friends' birthdays. But that's what my priority is. Just like you don't see logic in celebrating someone's birthday being a priority, I don't see logic in studying. The important thing is to respect each other's opinions. I never asked you to give up studying so you can come and party with us. Likewise, it will be great if you don't ask us to stop partying and start studying.
For me, studying is the means not the end. Partying on the other hand is the end not the means. I believe in getting to the end bypassing the means if I can. If I remember correctly, this is existentialism, a doctrine greatly and famously propagated by Woody Allen. My parents told me that if I study hard I'll get a good job which means good money which means a comfortable life. I'd rather avoid all these pit stops before the future good life. Future, you would agree, is uncertain. So why should I waste time working towards something that I am not even assured of? Instead if I party today (given that I enjoy partying), I am at least assured of having a good today. At the same time, this does not mean that I will not have a good tomorrow. Statistics say that it reduces the chance of having a good tomorrow but then.. these particular statistics mean nothing to me.
Post a Comment