SOCIETY- BOON or BANE

So this is after a very long break of around 5 years probably that I’m posting a blog. I’ve lost touch and even confidence in writing, something that used to make me feel good about myself. It’s strange how a pen can actually be mightier than the sword. However, few people believe in this and few don’t who actually turn towards violence and a means to show off to prove their point.

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I won’t be boring everyone out with details of it. However, to sum it up, it wasn’t boring at all. Probably, if I continue writing, we might have more exciting details coming up in upcoming blogs. It has been a crazy adventure since I started out my career in Mysore, Karnataka. There have been ups and downs in life throughout the past 5 years. Hell, we have a pandemic going on for crying out loud. 

Amongst everything that has happened in these past 5 years, one thing has awestruck me so deeply; the fact that no matter what happens, whether you explain some people a fact with proper logic and data, they seem to be ignorant of that fact and keep believing in something which should’ve been obsolete considering this is the 21st century we’re living in. But, who am I to stand in between the mindset of some people in our society. 

Yes, SOCIETY. A very decent word, but sometimes, it brainwashes the f**k out of people. A society is expected to grow in all aspects (mentally, spiritually, technically, logically) as the world evolves which in turn will evolve and make your nation what we eagerly expect to become “ A developed nation”. However, from the time I remember reading in school books, I’m only hearing that we’re “a developing nation”. Truth be told, probably our grandchildren will also be learning and teaching their children the same thing if we continue to go forward in this way.

Did you guys know that there are castes in Islam? Forget about Shia and Sunni which probably everyone knows about are the two denominations of Islam . There’s caste in Sunni and probably in Shia too. I myself belong to the Sunni denomination and I wasn’t aware about it myself after living 26 years of my life until last year when someone pointed this out to me because I fell in love with a girl from my same religion, but little did I know that we belonged to different caste. It was then that I asked my parents about my caste and they had to search online and get back to me. LOL!

As Chetan Bhagat had rightly pointed out in his book “2 states” that in India if you love someone, that’s not enough for you to marry that person. He mentioned about both families loving each other’s families, families loving the boy and the girl being together, etc . But the situation I was in was really messed up. There are people who would be ready to let someone’s life go into ruins just for the sake of this decent word SOCIETY. Because “ log Kya Kahenge?”

In today’s world, where we’re fighting a pandemic and rovers are being sent to Mars for finding out proof of existence of water, do these problems leave a freckle on the existence of humanity. Why can’t people be just happy and let others be happy with their lives? More importantly, why can’t people be happy seeing other people’s happiness? There are people like Elon musk who have ushered us to an era with the immense advancement of technology in segments unimaginable in today’s world with booming success and at the same time there are people who are arguing over the fact that the logo of Myntra looks like a woman’s legs spread wide open. I’d actually seen this as a meme probably a year back and laughed a lot but I was surprised to see that it became news and people were actually discussing this seriously. Myntra has been running with same logo for 13 years and suddenly someone points this out and it’s news. I mean, who are these people!!!! Get a life, man!!!

Sometimes it’s just people’s ego that just gets hurt because of which they go to their extremes to prove a point to which you’ll feel like “What do I even say to this!”. But sometimes it is actually what they believe and no matter how much you try, you cannot change their perspective, let alone, God himself came down and probably told them otherwise. Who knows, maybe then they’d change their thoughts because after all, we’re God fearing people. 

Some of us might be feeling that probably the next generation will be different, have a different approach towards everything. But understand this, there are children who are learning from elders with mindsets like these and I’m scared of the fact that even the next generation will have such misfits. I’m not denying that our cultures and virtues are wrong. India is a land of diversity with its rich culture and we all should be proud of that. I’m just telling to think logically and analyse before making a decision about anything. Learn to ask WHY! If someone gives you a valid explanation and you see it fit, go ahead. But if you have a doubt in that, keep asking “why” unless you get the valid explanation that seems logical. 

I felt like writing this because I’d never felt so deeply about someone in my life till date for whom I’d written publicly like this. But I lost her even after every possible effort from my side because of this decent word which we all know as SOCIETY. Speak up if you want such mentality to change; to ensure that we actually grow as a society with reason to understand right from wrong and not take everything for granted without questioning. She still means a lot to me and probably always will but sad that I can’t tell her this.

With a heavy heart I bid farewell till next time. And remember “ Always ask why!” Because it’s your right to ask. 

Feel free to leave your thoughts in comments as this is my perspective and I’m always open to criticism unlike the rest of the society.

A Sudden Plan

It was a usual day. I was coming back from office in bus (Yes, I have a job now and I’m living in Mysore, Karnataka. It’s been quite a long time, hasn’t it?) when suddenly a thought struck in my mind. “Are there motorcycles with automatic transmission?”. Yes, I know it’s really random but what can I do; happens to engineers all the time. So I ask my friend if he knew anything about it which led to a discussion about motorcycles in general. Later, I realise that I ended up with the most random plan I’ve ever made in my entire life. 

Okay, so I was never really into bikes as much as I was into cars. I never even knew how to ride a bike properly. But we (me and Shashank) make this random plan of going on a road trip with bikes as we had the next 2 days off from office. We book a “Yamaha FZ” and a “Bajaj Avenger” that night so that we could pick it up early morning. The only thing lacking was the destination. 

The next morning, we leave by around 6.30 am to pick up the bikes at 7 am. Going there, we get to know that the Avenger hadn’t been returned yet. So we take the FZ and a “TVS Wego” to roam in and around Mysore till the Avenger comes back. We ride towards Srirangapatna where we plan on visiting Ranganathithu bird sanctuary. We decided to go there as we had already visited all the main tourist spots in Mysore like Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills, etc. The ride towards the bird sanctuary was via Mysroe- Bangalore highway. It was around 10 kilometres from the place where we picked the bikes from. We roamed around the sanctuary. To be honest, it was a dull place. We then rode to Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. It was comparatively better. We then got a call that we could pick up the Avenger.

By that time, I got a good grip on the FZ. I built up the confidence and set a destination in mind. It was COORG. We took the bikes and went back home. We got all the necessary things required for the trip as it would be cold. We had lunch outside and immediately left for Coorg after seeing the directions on the map.

I completely got the hang of the bike and then it was like a child’s play. My left hand knew when to go for the clutch and my left foot knew when to shift. The road to Coorg from Mysore is one of the best roads I’ve travelled so far with lush greenery and Kaveri river runs alongside you throughout (though not visible from the road).

We stopped on the way when we felt we needed a little rest, had sugarcane juice from a vendor which pumped us up. Once we stopped seeing what looked like an amazing rocket soaring high up in the sky. Later we realized that it was actually some sort of sound rocket probably sent for some data collection. It was a hell of a sight (couldn’t be captured in the camera).

During the ride, we saw a board saying “Harangi Dam- 8kms”. We decided to take a detour and visit the dam. Unluckily, the dam was closed for visitors due to the Kaveri river water issue that was going on between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But we managed to have an amazing click in front of the dam.

Gradually, we entered hilly region when we realized that it was impossible to ride anymore without a jacket. So we took out our jackets and started riding again when it started drizzling. That moment, I was like “This trip couldn’t have been any better”. 

We entered Madikeri (a.k.a Coorg) and searched for a place to stay as it was almost 6pm. There’s nothing to actually do in Coorg at night. So, we decided to crash as we were really tired from the ride and that we would visit every place possible by getting up early the next morning. We got a decent place to stay, had dinner and slept like a log.

The next morning started with an alarm at 6am. We checked out, took our bikes from the parking and went straight for Raja Seat which was the closest to our hotel (around 3 kms). It’s a wonderful viewpoint from where you can see the entrance to Coorg; cars and buses moving in zig zag hilly roads. 

The next place on the list was Abbey Falls. It was around 10 kms from Raja Seat. The ride to the falls was wonderful with drizzle all the way through hills. We parked our bikes at the entrance to the falls, had breakfast with coffee and omelette, then went down the stairs to the falls. It was a very beautiful place. There was a bridge constructed just to get an amazing view of the falls, but sadly the bridge was closed due to some issue. 

Coming back to our bikes, we realized that we were running low on fuel. We had to travel 10 kms back searching for a petrol pump. During that, we met two people who needed lift and at the same time guided us to the nearest fuel station. We fueled up and then checked the next place on the list.

We realize that one site of attraction was on the way to Abbey Falls and that we have to travel around 8 kms on that same road and take a right and then another 16kms. The destination was a place called “Mandalpatti”. It’s an amazing viewpoint located at the top of some hills. We reached the place and then realized that we’re left with 5 kms but the road was messed up. We tried taking one bike, but ultimately gave up riding for like 100 metres. But there was a very nice viewpoint right beside where we gave up. We then brought both the bikes there. A lot of other people also joined in as even they couldn’t take their cars and bikes. That road was only meant for Off road cars. The view from that place was nothing like I had ever experienced before. It was a straight cliff with nothing on the edge and fog blocking your view making you feel like it’s the end of the world. The drizzle made the view more breathtaking. 

After 2 hours of roaming around, we decided to leave as the drizzle started forming into a proper shower. We then decided to leave for Mysore. On the way, we saw a board saying Dubbare Elephant Sanctuary- 12 kms. We took the detour. On the way, we stumbled upon an adventure sports camp where they had a proper ATV track of 2 kms. I actually wanted to try that even though they were charging Rs. 400 for one lap of 2 kms. But later when I sat on the ATV, the guy was like “You will have a guide with you throughout”. It was the worst ATV anyone can ever ride. It didn’t have a brake. The guide was less of a guide and I was more of a spectator. He was the one who accelerated throughout and left the accelerator whenever he felt that friction can’t stop the inertia of the vehicle. Trust me, if you ever visit Coorg, don’t go to this adventure sports camp on the way to Dubbare.

We then left for Dubbare. Arriving there, we realized that the elephant sanctuary was closed from 2:30pm till 4:30pm. It was around 2.45pm then. But people were enjoying river rafting on the river Kaveri. Unfortunately, we didn’t have extra clothes for river rafting. So, we decided to ride back.

That stretch from Dubbare till the next town was at a constant speed of 75kms/hr but it gave us the feel of our bikes. We stopped after crossing the town and decided to recreate that stretch. Instead, when we started this time, the stretch was at a speed of 110-120 kms/hr. It was the most amazing feeling you can have. It gives you the proper “Roadrash” atmosphere.

We returned to Mysore by 5pm, kept our bags in our apartment and went out for some work that had to be done. After finishing the work, had an awesome dinner, returned the bikes, came back to the apartment and called it a day.

It was one of the most wonderful roadtrips anyone could ever take in bike. Do go for it if you’re in Mysore or Bangalore. I’ll be back with more amazing roadtrips. Till then, stay tuned.

Ambition in life

Long time, no blogs. Just a thought which crossed my mind. Jotted it down.

There are three words which form a very simple question, which every child hears in his life and has an answer to since his childhood. That answer varies from child to child. I hope you guys would have understood which question I’m talking about. Yes it’s “What’s your aim in life?”. There are very few people who actually get to be what they want in life. People who actually become what they want to become in life, I salute you guys.

It’s a very simple question, I agree. But when it comes to India, it’s not a question which you get to answer. It’s a question which either your parents or someone among your family members will answer for you and you spend your whole life bringing that answer come to reality. Yes, I agree that when you’re asked this question by anyone, you answer with a doctor or engineer or whatever, but after you become that you realise what you had done with your life. When someone asks you then, it’s like you’re even confused in telling them that you’re an engineer.

When you enter school, you’re told an answer to this question by your parents. You keep saying that everywhere which forms a mindset that I have to become that. I don’t know why but maybe to prove your parents that yes, we can make you proud. But in all this you never realise what you actually wanted. Before 10th boards, everyone is like this is a very crucial year of your life, study hard, everything depends on you. It’s like if I don’t do excellent in my boards, the world is gonna collapse or some shit. You come out with flying colours in your boards. You face reporters for your excellent performance where they ask you this question and you’re like numb for a moment and then you remember the answer which was told to you and you say that and then everyone who reads the paper gets to know that you want to grow up to be a doctor or an engineer.

In India, if you are a guy, you’re destined to be an engineer and if a girl, then a doctor. I’m not saying it’s always that, but that’s the maximum cases. I don’t know where people get this mentality. If you tell your parents that you want be a footballer or an F1 racer or in a girl’s case, a fashion designer or something, you’re gone for good. They’ll tell you that you don’t have the skills to be that. You need a lot of practice to become a footballer. You have to join coaching for that and there’s a lot of competition in sports. My question is “Was I born engineer? Did I come into this world with ohm’s law and mechanics engraved in my mind?” No, right. I learnt all that. Something which I never knew. And on top of that I did excellent in my boards. So why can’t I go for football or racing. Yes, there are risks, I agree. But what worth is life if you play it safe forever. You get your life only once, make it worth living for.

That’s not it. This is just 10^th boards. Then you have to choose your stream for 11^th and 12^th. That’s another herculean task. That’s just a herculean task if it’s given to you to choose. Or else it’s already chosen for you. There are just three streams: Science, Arts and Commerce. That’s all you have in life. For me, Science was fixed considering my 10^th results. Then comes 12^th boards. Again you get to hear from everyone that it’s the most crucial stage of your life which will decide whether you have to go for medical or engineering. I mean how many crucial stages can be there. Here also once you take Science, you have only two options.

My mom always wanted me to be a doctor. I studied Biology for 3 months, I realized that I’m nowhere close to being a doctor. And if by mistake I became a doctor, then people’s lives would be at great risk from me. So I dropped it and took up engineering.

Now another great stage of your life: choosing your engineering branch. That also, someone or the other from your family or maybe your neighbor would choose for you. And you will be like “Maybe they know better, let’s take that”. I’m not saying this is the case for everyone. It’s the case with most of the students. Then when you start studying in that branch, you realise how messed up your situation is, where you stand in front of everyone else in that branch.

I joined engineering coming from a small town where we were never taught any kind of programming, so I took electronics and communication thinking that computer science won’t be my cup of tea. Then I realise that it’s even worse. You’re neither in complete electronics and neither in complete computer science. The best part comes when it’s time for placements. You spend 4 years in engineering trying to maintain a good CGPA learning core electronics so that you can sit for companies during campus placements and then all of a sudden you realise that all your computer science getting placed with amazing packages and you’re left with nothing. The few companies that come for ECE include CSE and IT branches as well. And even if by mistake, an ECE student manages to go the the interview round, they’ll ask him programming questions where he’ll start to think whether he joined CSE or ECE. I mean if you wanted a coder, then why allow ECE students. If I wanted to be a coder, I would’ve joined CSE. What’s the use of taking ECE if I wanted an IT job.

That’s what people here don’t understand. People even after completing engineering, stand clueless as to how to proceed in life. There’s no shortage of engineering colleges now-a-days in India. There was once a time when an engineer was looked up with great respect. Now it’s nothing.

I had a friend who made every decision whatever she wanted with her life, didn’t matter how many branches or fields she had to change. I know that’s hard, but I respect her for that.

I’ve been through many personal experiences in life which have made me take this question so seriously. Students aren’t just students. They can be anything they want to. Even if that gives them very less income, it’s something they’ll enjoy doing in life. When you make your hobby your job, that’s the life you want.

It’s just a normal topic of discussion in the current scenario of Indian students. Hope you guys liked it.

The Competition: Formula Student

It’s been a while but I’m back with more from my small Eurotrip.

The event kick started with engines roaring and motors spinning. Wherever you look, you could see just cars. The statics started off where all the teams presented their car alongwith the various reports which the competition required and simultaneously whichever teams passed scrutineering were allowed to go for the dynamic events which included skid pad, acceleration and endurance. The event was full of crowd with people of countries from all over the world. I went and stood beside the endurance tracks and watched the cars racing by, some roaring and some silently (both combustion and electric).

We weren’t that lucky to compete in the dynamic events due to some technical failures in the car but we got to learn a lot from all the teams over there. We participated in the statics though. The experience was something that I can guarantee that all of us who were there will never forget.

During our stay in Hockenheim, all of us slept in tents in the camp-site which was fun. People talking about other people and then realizing that the guy he was talking about is popping his head out from one of the tents and giving him a “I’ll kill you” look.

Breakfast everyday used to be apples and energy drinks from Mercedes and Porsche stalls. We had our dinner at a place called “City Grill” every night. The first day I tried something called “Yufka”. It was horrible. So from the next day it was just pizza or burger or fries. We also filled our tents with food stocks from “Penny’s”, a mart where you get everything to eat in really cheap prices. We spent 4 days in Hockenheim amidst cars that I could only dream of seeing; BMW i8, Porsche 918 Spyder, Tesla cars, Corvette, etc. There were teams playing games at night in the campsite, games that I saw for the first time in my life. During the third day of the event, another event started in the same ring which was some American muscle car event. All funky cars, modified with everything possible showed up, even many biker gangs were there; everything was like we see it in movies.

The best part about Hockenheim was its weather. The cold breeze hitting your face whenever you are out in the open makes you feel so refreshed. One night I stayed up late till 6 am working with some of my friends in the pit. While I was coming back from the pit to the camp-site which was a 15 minutes’ walk, I couldn’t feel my hands even though my hands were deep inside my jacket pockets.

The day the event was over, MAHLE threw a grand party in celebration of the event. They gave away the prizes to the top 3 teams in bot combustion and electric and then the party started. There were drinks, sandwiches, burgers, etc. People asking out random people as if they knew what was happening but in reality had no clue about it. People even exchanged t-shirts of their teams as a remembrance of the event which was an amazing way to show respect to the competitor. Some people realized that they had exchanged t-shirts the next morning when they woke up.

After the party was over, people returned to their camp-sites where the after-party started. Teams playing games against other teams. The games were related to drinking which is hard to explain in writing, so I’ll skip through it.   

So all in all the event was an excellent time for all the people over there. We got to meet new people from across the globe, make new friends and come back with a hell of a story to tell.

The next morning we shipped the car back and then the main trip started. Our whole team split in 3 groups. My group consisted of 6 people. When we had made our itinerary, we kept a buffer day for the competition but as everything went as planned, the competition got over as it should have and we were left with an extra day. Our bus was supposed to leave from Heidelberg the next morning and it was 12 pm by my watch then. Calculating the expense of visiting Stuttgart, we decided not to go as it would kill our budget. So we decided to leave for Heidelberg and decide what to do there on the way.

 

Wait for the next blog for the rest of my trip.

Enter -> Germany

Okay, so where were we? Yes, VENICE. Probably you guys would be wondering how some of our friends landed in Venice. There was a mishap with the flight seat numbers and so some of them couldn’t be accommodated. Hence, they were given flight tickets to Frankfurt via Venice because that was the earliest flight they could take to Frankfurt. They arrived at Frankfurt around 4 hours later.

So, landing in Frankfurt, everyone was really excited about the 17 days ahead of us in a completely new country. We got our luggage and then decided on how to reach the hostel that we had pre-booked. We went to the train station thinking we’ll get a train. But what do you know….everything over there is in German. You try to ask people, they don’t understand English properly…..once in a blue moon you meet a guy who understands English. Luckily we got an Indian family who helped us out with ticket vending machine and got us tickets. The trains are amazing over there. The first sight of Frankfurt city when the train came out of the subway was really great. There was a huge canal that we crossed. It was beautiful. The cars in Germany---there are no words to express it. You look around yourself and you can see just Audis, Volkswagens, BMWs, Mercs, etc everywhere. I even got to see some familiar Suzuki cars over there life Swift, Wagon R, Zen,etc.  We changed our trains from Frankfurt Central. We were looking around everywhere when suddenly I noticed our hostel’s name written somewhere. So we got down at the next stop which was Galluswarte. This was the place we stayed in for the next 4 days.

Checking in the hostel for the whole team took a long time. Then we went to our rooms and took rest as all of us were really tired. After sometime our friends from Venice also joined us in the hostel.

The next 4 days went on with team meetings and work as we prepared for our car to arrive from India. We also did a lot of surveys for some components which we required during the event and so some of us had to go and buy components. The first day out in Frankfurt was kind of fun. We had no idea where to go for components and also no idea how to reach various places as we had to change a lot of trains to reach various locations. Luckily the locations were narrowed down by a little help from a senior of ours. We roamed around shops hoping to find something but in vain. Most of the shops were closed by noon as it was a Saturday. Finally we took a tram to a mart named “Hornbach”--The biggest mart I have ever been in. From a small screw to a big lawn mower, you will get anything in there. We got what we needed and then came back to the hostel. So eventually we spent the whole day out. The next day went with frequent visits to Hornbach as we required more components. One morning we were in the reception of the hostel and looking out the window I saw a Merceded SLS AMG park right in front of our hostel. Everyone was really excited seeing the car. For me, it was a hell of a sight. This car is among one of my favourite cars. Everyone started clicking pictures. The driver inside realized the craze among the youngsters outside his car and revved the accelerator hard--that sound "My oh my".

Finally our car arrived from India and we worked on it for a day and then we sent it to the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim where half of our team had already reached to receive the car. There were 7 of us left in Frankfurt. It was 4 pm by my watch and we had to reach Hockenheim by 6 pm as there were some registration formalities to be taken care of. We had to rush to the Galluswarte station. We had booked cheap tickets beforehand and so we weren’t worried about the fare. But good things don’t happen always. By the time we reached Frankfurt Central to catch our train to Hockenheim, our train had already left. So we booked 7 tickets to Hockenheim which was a connecting train via Manheim. We reached by 6.30 pm.

As soon as we got out of the station, we saw the cars there and we understood that it was not at all like Frankfurt. There were vintage cars. We were lucky enough to get a lift in a vintage Merc all the way to the racetrack. Being from a right hand sided driving country, it felt pretty weird to see the guy driving sitting in the left seat. We reached the campsite, paid the amount necessary and then keeping our luggage immediately ran to the racetrack. It was around a 2 kms walk from our tents. It was late but the registration for all the teams took a long time and so we weren’t that late. The drivers’ names were registered alongwith the technical head of the team.

All of us were filled with immense motivation seeing other teams. The cars that some of the top teams had- you could just look at the cars and forget everything else. When I looked at one of the cars, I was like “Really, this is built by students!!!”. The European teams have a wonderful way of going to different competitions. They have their own truck, and by truck I mean a huge Mercedes truck where they have their workstation and the car and they roam around Europe going to various events throughout the season.

The next 4 days were spent in the pit or in the campsite, either working or sleeping.

I’ll write more about the event and also about the rest of the trip in my upcoming blogs.

Hope you guys liked it.

Abroad for the first time!!!!

Back with a totally new blog and a wonderful experience. 

It’s a craze among everyone to go abroad atleast once in their lifetime, get to meet new people, know their life styles, etc. But very few people actually get to live it. I was lucky enough to join “Team Ojas” which gave me wonderful experience of making a formula electric car and also give me the opportunity of going to EUROPE. Yes, Europe; the trip of a lifetime and that too with friends. We represented our university in the Hockenheimring in Germany.

The trip started off by taking a “traveller” bus from our university to Chennai International Airport. Everyone was really excited about the trip as it was the first time abroad for many of us. We boarded the Qatar Airways flight at around 5 in the morning. It was such an amazing flight with a hell lot of movies, TV series and songs collection and also a lot of additional features.

 The flight took off at around 6. Excitement rushed through my veins when the flight was picking up speed in the runway. The flight journey was awesome with our next stop being DOHA (UAE). Being tired from the previous night out, I fell asleep in the flight and only woke up when the flight was landing DOHA and what I saw outside my window was simply amazing. The DOHA airstrip is right next to the sea. So you can imagine what the scenery was from my window.

Our connecting flight to Frankfurt was 2 hours later. So we walked from one side of the airport to the other side for the next flight. Words will be less to express how huge the Doha airport is. With horizontal elevators and trams running inside the airport, it’s just something you don’t get to see always. After the security check in we had some time to kill. There I bought a cup of coffee for 4 €, it was no longer rupees anymore. Then it was time for us to board the flight for Frankfurt. We boarded and then got to know that some of our friends didn’t board the flight as there were some seating issues. The flight took off and some of our friends were left at Doha. The flight from Doha to Frankfurt was a 6 hour journey. I saw some movies, listened to the songs, had food, etc. The moment we landed Frankfurt we got to know that our friends who were left in Doha were given a flight to VENICE. I was like “WHAAAAT!!”.

Stay tuned for more about my small Eurotrip J

Teenage Life

Exams going on, still feel like writing something. It’s been a long time since I blogged. This time I’m here with no game review but something on life of a common teenager in India.

It’s really weird how something you loved and cared about dearly suddenly doesn't mean anything to you at all. You don’t feel like talking about it. You don’t even feel like looking back into your past and thinking how it was. You just think that it was the past and your whole future is still ahead of you. How does this feeling come when you were this close to someone? The answer lies inside you. It’s just that you don’t know it. You just keep asking yourself this same question over and over again till you get an answer from yourself. People talk a lot, they like to put their noses in your life, spread rumors which even you don’t know about yourself. It’s really funny to even listen to something which you never ever did from people whom you rarely even know. How come they know so much about your life when even you don’t? That’s today’s world. People are so much busy interfering in other people’s life that they even forget what state they are in.

Yeah I’m an Indian, so what!! People are people…who cares whether they are Indians or Americans. I’m not comparing India’s culture with the USA but still just tell me one thing. You see a boy and a girl together somewhere, the only thing that pops into your head is that they’re a couple. You don’t even think once that they could be brothers and sisters or just good friends. This is typical Indian mentality. This is not it. Some people will even start rumors from just seeing them together …. Rumors that when those two get to know about this, they are so ashamed of themselves that they can’t even be good friends. They feel broken from the inside about their position in the society. They start thinking what others would be thinking about them and many times get depressed. Parents start giving restrictions to both of them. Both of them start losing touch and thus a good friendship comes to an end. If I ask the question, how did this happen? The answer takes us back to that time when someone just saw them “together”.

You might be thinking why I’m talking about all these. These are problems that normal teenagers face in India. Parents are afraid that their children might fall in wrong company and even do things that will harm their life. But even the teens need their space. No one cares about that in India. From our childhood we are taught not to talk to even strangers and when you grow up you are married to someone who is a complete stranger to you. And the best part!! You've no say to this.

You tell your parents that you’re in love with someone. They’ll freak out like anything. You’ll find very few families who will act normally to this statement. Love marriage is considered kind of like a crime in India by elders. Just tell me this, parents send their children to colleges and expect them to only study??? People who do only that have no life according to me. A boy and a girl going to the same college come in touch. They come into talking in general and get to know that both of them like each other’s company. What’s wrong in that!! Indian mentality is to take the Pledge very seriously “All Indians are my brothers and ‘sisters’”. Are you kidding me!! Two people going out is common in the USA but why people look at them with weird eyes when the same thing happens in India.

People need to change their mentality. I know our culture is different from the USA but can’t we just give the teenagers their space. I mean come on, it’s their life not someone else’s. Parents start asking questions as if they are interviewing the poor kid for a job. Hell he thinks even a job interview would be easier than this : P

Teenagers also shouldn't cross their limits and not break their parents’ trusts if they are given such freedom. I’m not saying that do whatever you want. Just make your life something worth living for and not be a bookworm and spend every second thinking about studies. Have fun in life, make friends, don't always go with the crowd, think different. Make your life something that when you look back after many years you'll proudly say that "Yeah, that's me!!".  After all, life is neither a trial run nor a simulation. Enjoy every moment and make your parents proud.

This was just a random thought that crossed my head. Jotted it down.