From the old

I had gone home for a couple of days, taking a break from PS and in the briefest of lightning stroke that my visit was, I put back into order the computer that I had used in my school days from 2002, which in its hay days was a matter of great pride and wonder to me. Now sitting with a laptop a fraction of the size of that desktop and more than 2 dozen computers whizzing away around me (office), that one comp with which I started my journey retains its proud position as the one that showed me encarta, FIFA, Deltaforce, various nuances of file formats and lots and lots of music.

With an extra half gig of RAM, he (I prefer to call desktops as he and Laptops as she) seems as mighty as ever and a further exploration into its drives showed me that all the old quiz files from my schooldays, songs and games remained there in suspended animation. In fact, the very first songs loaded into the comp while we bought it were still there along with the songs that I listened to while in school- Westlife, BSB, Eminem, Metallica, Linkin Park and U2. I still remember that I had kept a friend's U2 'How to dismantle an atomic bomb' CD for over 6 months inspite of his repeated demands it be returned. I just could not bring myself to give it up and then came BITS and DC where any song, movie, documentary and TV series was available within minutes.

Life could be classified as Pre-DC and Post-DC instead of Pre-BITS and Post-BITS (unlike most of my academically talented friends might suggest) because for me and for a lot of others too, DC was the greatest thing about our campus. Sorely tempted to write about it, but better keep it for some other time as I need to get back to my past! Literally shaking off layers of dust from the old desktop, I saw a time capsule preserving the life of a previous era. Old files on quiz, a few on BITSAT and old school projects were reminders of an era when the world I lived in was much small and the world outside seemed all shiny and far away, the access to which was limited to the information on Encarta and Britannica. I just wanted take a bit of it with me and so transferred all the songs into my hard-disc and listening to those songs all over again, it brings back memories of not specific events, but of what those days were like- preparing and reading up for quizzes, listening to famous speeches on encarta, how entrance came and ruined all the fun and then the abrupt departure to BITS.

It truly was a wonderful time with small dreams, a small world but a really sweet and happy world. Nothing lasts forever but it remains in that computer table in the corner of my room, ready to remind me what it was all about in the Pre-DC era.

Carpe Diem

In the movie 'Guns of Navaroone', Commodore Jensen, the military officer who appoints the team with the unenviable task of doing away the Guns of Navarone says 'Slap in the middle of absolute insanity people pull out the most extraordinary resources: ingenuity, courage, self-sacrifice. Pity we can't meet the problems of peace in the same way, isn't it? It would be so much cheaper for everybody.'

At times of crisis, we do things beyond what we thought we were capable of, strength- both of mind and body- come to us and we get by and survive. I suppose that is the main thing-survival- we will do anything and everything to get by. But then there is another issue, the second part of the sentence, where peace and stability means we do not reach anywhere near our full capabilities. Is it that in times of crisis our attention is fully on the present and everything fades into insignificance and we live today like there is no tomorrow? It is a topic that I have come across and also posted on my blog (At War, They Live Life).

On war footing is another common phrase when disaster relief and rescue or a work is being done expeditiously. Does it mean that we do not want to achieve that same level of intensity on every occasion, or perhaps it is not required. But the fact remains, that statement is indicative of a lot of things wrong with us- complacency and lazyness- for we are happy with the present unless threatened with dire consequences. We achieve maximum efficiency on the eve of exams or when deadlines are near. It is a good thing in the above two situations but it can also mean that we will be blind to all things that happen gradually like global warming or slow inflation or gradual deterioration of our health until one day we reach the tipping point.

A lot has been said about living it today, but it has also been misinterpreted to mean just having a blast and totally freaking out, in which case you would be wise to remember that there is a tomorrow. What living everyday simply means is that we should make the best use of the time given to us and situation we are in. 'If', 'Carpe Diem' and a lot of other works speak about the same thing.

Let us make use of every second, make best use of our situation and become better individuals through the process.

Live everyday like there is tomorrow.
What better place than this to begin
What better time than now....