As an organizer...

My B.Tech friends know the best about my abilities and inabilities in organizing events. The first event I organized was the farewell party to seniors in Intermediate. (I was just the anchor for the event and a sort of co-organizer.) From that event till the recently organized Table Tennis tournament, I have been making some mistakes or the other while having new experiences.

The tour in B.Tech, which I organized along with my friends, was the biggest in terms of the budget (Rs. 1.6 Lakhs), time (10 days of tour & 2 months of planning), responsibility, risk, mistakes, learnings and enjoyment. Organizing such a big event was an achievement in itself. (It was after 4 or 5 years that ECE students from my college were going for a tour and I was the main organizer for it!). Focussing on what went well and covering up the mistakes will be another mistake on my part. :) So, here are few things I learnt from the mistakes I made as an organizer.

1) Knowing when to discuss with everyone concerned and when to take a decision independently is a skill. I wish I’ll be able to acquire and master that skill.
2) Transparency and honesty are required, but (over-)sensitivity should have nothing to do with an organizer. Others may doubt our honesty, but we should remember that none of us have any certificate of honesty. Till the event is over, we don’t have any way of proving ourselves.
3) Patience is one more trait required for an organizer. It’s nothing wrong for others to be impatient with an organizer. After all, they are the ones who may be the victims of poor organizing. :D
4) We should not get disheartened when things go wrong. It’s very easily said, but very difficult to follow. I could not enjoy the first few days of the tour as I was dispirited with unanticipated criticism.
5) Before committing to organize an event, we should be mentally prepared for what might happen even if the event is unsuccessful. However, we should be positive by considering the satisfaction and the happiness we get if the event is a success.
6) Organizing an event should not be considered a burden. It’s a responsibility that we have to take up willingly.
7) Organizing an event involves lot many constraints, the main ones being the budget constraints and the time constraints. Focussing on one aspect and ignoring others is a mistake that usually one makes.
8) Plan your work. Work your plan. Be ready with Plan B or be set for ad hoc planning in case plan A is unsuccessful.


Like everyone else, I was an organizer for just few times for different events, but was among the audience for umpteen times. There are few points which are expected from the audience as well.

1) It’s human tendency to focus on a small black dot on a big sheet of white paper. We generally blame the organizer for the mistake which he/she makes and totally ignore the other successfully completed ‘modules’ of the event.
2) Different people have different wish-lists. Something which is of high priority to few in the audience may be of low priority to many others. We can blame the organizer only if he/she ignores something which almost everyone in the audience considers to be very important.
3) Most of the times, it’s easy to criticize but difficult to improve. When we put ourselves in the shoes of the organizer, it’s only then that we realize that this statement is true.
4) We should be proactive in helping the organizers if we think that we can really make the event better than how it goes on.

To conclude, for an event to be successful, it depends not only on the organizer but also on the audience. So, whether we are in the audience or in the organizing committee, it doesn’t matter. It’s WE together who have to make an event a success. :)

Quotations

We come across many quotations everyday in the form of forwarded SMS, emails etc., but only few of them last in our memory for a significant time.We often fail to recognize the power of quotations in influencing people’s mindset. If we can remember and put forward good quotations at the right time and in the right context (in our speech, written communication, casual conversations etc.), it will be really great of us and useful for others.


My interest towards collecting quotations began after a small incident. It was sometime during my second year of B.Tech that I received a very pessimistic email from one of my best friends. (Don’t wonder why he emailed me instead of calling me. Both of us didn’t have cell phones then.) He was very disappointed with his first year results, was struggling in hostel, was finding it difficult to adapt to city life even after a year and was frustrated with many more such unpleasant circumstances.

Seeing that email, I didn’t know how to react. I knew that I was helpless. What I could do was to motivate him with my reply. I wondered how it was possible. I myself was disappointed with my first year results (I was not satisfied in spite of getting 85% - this is a typical case of bookworms :D ) and was only then slowly adjusting myself to hostel life. After thinking for sometime, I replied with a quotation, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” I then added few more simple statements like "Don't worry. All the best." etc. etc.

After a couple of days, I received a reply from him, this time an optimistic one. “Thanks for your support and encouragement. I hope I’ll be able to do well this semester…” I was very happy that I could make a difference. It was in fact, the quotation which really made the difference.

This incident enabled me in finding a new pastime. I started noting down the quotations which I liked and www.quotexite.com, www.wallxite.com found themselves in the list of the few websites I browsed whenever I had access to the internet.

Apart from the aforementioned incident, there are many more such small incidents that take place often and keep my hobby of collecting quotations alive.

Among the quotations in my collection, here are a few which I came across at a perfect time.

1) “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure” – This was the quotation on my orkut home page (Today’s fortune column) during the time when I was afraid that I might not be able to complete the assigned 3 mini projects on time.



2) “Near or far, dear ones are always close to heart” – This was the one I read when I was little disappointed with few close friends leaving India to pursue their higher education and career aspirations. (I don’t know whether I was disappointed because of friendship or because of jealousy. :p)
3) “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” – I don’t remember when I saw it for the first time, but for people like me who keep worrying about petty things, anytime would be a perfect time to read this quotation.
4) “We generally miss the people whom we never want to miss”.

5) “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts.” – The above two quotations came as a forwarded email and the image made the quotations even livelier.

If above quotations can be categorized as ‘Perfect timing quotations’ (for me :)), there is another category of ‘Inspiring and thought-provoking quotations’. Few such quotations which I liked are:
1) A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. (Help others.)
2) Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. (Gear up for challenges.)
3) It is better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved for what you are not. (Self-explanatory. ;))
4) Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. (This is an important point to remember.)
5) Argument wins the situation but loses the person. (I am sure that some will hate this. :))


6) Nothing in this world is impossible to a willing heart. (Positive attitude!)

The list of quotations is never-ending. A quotation liked by some, may be detested by some others. Further, a quotation liked at a certain time, may appear silly at some other time. Just because we do not like a quotation, doesn't mean that it is useless. We need to realize that each quotation is useful and can impact the thought process of someone or the other.

But, why do I collect quotations? Is it only to use them at few incidents? The answer to this question is the quotation, “Many things in life will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.”



P.S: Please keep forwarding me quotations. :D I feel that over the past few months, I am losing this hobby.

"Horror Night"

Sometime ago, I saw a forum called ‘Horror nights’, where people shared their horrifying experiences at night. After reading that thread, I remembered this incident of mine, which dates back to the winter of 2002/03.

I was a 10th Standard student then and unfortunately an insomniac. One night, as usual, my parents and my siblings were asleep, but I was still rolling on bed, unable to get closer to the gate of dream world. Everything was calm and peaceful around. Since it was very cold, even fan was switched off and so there was a pin-drop silence in my home.

As an attempt of falling asleep, I said prayers, counted numbers and did all the silly tricks, I knew. As a result of all my tricks, I started feeling sleepy. Till this point, it was a sort of daily routine for me. Suddenly, I heard a sound (from outside my house), which I never heard before. I simply ignored it and tried to sleep. I was about to fall asleep when I heard that sound again, this time a little louder than before. My drowsiness was gone.

“Let me see if that sound repeats again. If it does, I’ll find out what it is,” I said to myself. After a minute or so, the sound was heard again, this time even louder than the previous two times, implying that ‘it’ was getting closer to my home. My imagination went to its peak. “What is it? Where is this strange sound coming from? Is it someone who is making that sound? Or is it a ghost? Or is it an alien? Or is it any supernatural power?” My heart started beating twice faster than normal.

There is no word in dictionary to express how I felt that moment. It was a blend of curiosity, imagination, a little bit of ego and above all, fright. “If I wake up my parents or siblings and say that I hear a strange sound, they may make fun of me. So, let me go out and see what it is.” I got up from the bed and went to the door silently, expecting to hear that sound again.

I was about to open the door when fear gripped my soul. “What will happen if I see a ghost or an alien? Am I not too weak-hearted to see anything paranormal? Am I not putting my life at risk?” With these kinds of negative thoughts popping up in my mind, I came back to my bed and tried to sleep. ‘It’ was heard few more times and each time the sound was heard, my heartbeat could have been heard by anyone meters away.

After sometime, ‘it’ was gone and slowly after some more time, I was asleep. The next morning, after I woke up, I said to my parents and siblings that I had heard a strange sound the previous night. My sister laughed at me and said that I was scared. Indeed, I was scared, but I could not accept it because of my ego.

My parents said that it could have been the sound of an owl or a bat. I was neither convinced nor unconvinced. I was an adolescent then, not a small kid who cannot even recognize the sound of a bird. It was most probably not the sound of a bird or an insect. ‘It’ was something else.

May be, I should have gathered all my courage and found out what it was, then itself. What I did might appear to be a cowardly act, but then, the sound was very strange that many adolescents of that age would have done similar to what I did then.

I don’t know whether to wish to hear that sound again or not. That was the only night I heard that sound; I haven’t heard it again till date. What was ‘it’? That remains to be a mystery for me.


P.S: In each of my previous posts, there was a kind of "lecture" from my end. :D Just to continue that 'tradition', here is a quote which I heard recently. 'Opportunity knocks the door only once, but misfortune keeps on knocking the door till you open it.' I missed out the (good?) opportunity of proving my courage then. :)

Life is precious

“Once, during my college days, I returned to my room late night after watching a movie. My roommate said that my friend, Kumar waited a long time for me and left an hour ago. I thought that it was a casual visit and did not want to disturb him by calling him at that peak time. So, I slept peacefully without knowing then that I was making a grave mistake.

The next morning, I was having coffee when my roommate rushed to me and said with a quiver in his voice, ‘Kumar… Kumar committed suicide.’ I was shell-shocked. Hundreds of questions crossed my mind that moment. ‘Why did he do this? Why did he come and wait for me yesterday night? Did he want to say something to me before dying? Did he really commit suicide or was it a murder?’ I broke into a cold sweat. Coffee refused to go down my throat.

He used to say often that I was his best friend. Probably, his last wish was to see me once before dying. Suddenly, I remembered how much he was worried and upset a few weeks ago regarding his performance in studies, gradually becoming poorer and poorer. My conscience started pricking me. ‘Why was I so careless? Why didn’t I encourage him to perform better the next time, instead of worrying about the past? Why didn’t I soothe him then? I must have contacted him at least yesterday night. May be he would have changed his decision.’ Tears rolled down my eyes.

Not everyone will resort to the extreme step, but everyone will need care and support during their tough times. Show sensitivity and consideration for others. You may not be able to consider everyone to be your friend but atleast feel, just feel that everyone is human. Everyone will have their own emotions, opinions and feelings. We must care for those who are in need of it. The age-old quote ‘A friend in need is a friend in deed’ is true for all the ages to come. I failed as a friend. Please do not make the mistake I made.”

This story is based on a real-life experience of one of my friends. When he was narrating me this sad experience, for the first time, I could notice tears in his eyes.

I fabricate that incident and share it here, not with the intention of spoiling your mood or wasting your time, but to drive home the point that ‘Some things in life can never be reverted and there isn’t any penance for some mistakes that we make intentionally or unintentionally. When needed, take risks in life but never keep life itself at risk. After all, Life is precious. Take care of yours and that of others.’

Lessons Learned in Intermediate

Almost everyone who has done Intermediate Education in A.P consider those 2 years as very strenuous and worst phase of education. Seeing the title of the blog, if you think that I am an exception and that I still remember the formulae of Physics, Chemistry, 1A, 1B, 2A or 2B (Mathematics), you would be totally wrong.

Apart from helping me secure a good rank in EAMCET and thus enabling me to pursue my engineering in a reputed institute, sometimes I wonder if those 2 years had any impact on my life. When I search the back end of my memory related to the times of my Intermediate, I realize that there was an impact on my attitude and thought process, the effect of which continues till date.

Our elders usually give us many messages on various occasions. Most of them enter through one ear and escape through the other, without making any difference. However, some messages are thought-provoking, inspiring and get embedded in our minds. Some of my Inter lecturers gave us a few such messages, which I still remember and follow with my own amendments.

My English lecturer, Koteshwar Rao Sir, was a wise, elderly man who used to say quotations or short stories to make the class interesting. In some context, he gave us this message. “It is important for you to be good and it is even more important that people believe that you are good. Build up a very good character in such a way that, one day, if someone falsely accuses you, none should believe that you could be wrong. It doesn’t mean that you should fool people into believing that you are good, though you aren’t.” I feel it’s very true. What will happen if you are very good, but people blame you to be very bad? You may even end up becoming bad, as you may get the attitude, “Anyway, people think that I am bad though I am good; then what is the use of being good?”

A spark is enough to ignite a fire. I didn’t know till then, that a spark of sarcastic comment could ignite the fire of patriotism in me. It was during my Sanskrit class that we once got an announcement regarding flag hoisting on the next day. Then my lecturer, Srinivas Sir said, “It is only twice a year that we get patriotism and tomorrow is one such day. So, attend the flag hoisting without fail.” I then learned, “Be patriotic always, not just on January 26 and August 15. As a sign of patriotism, attend flag hoisting on those days.”

Be it school or junior college or Engineering College, we have atleast one teacher/lecturer with whom we are very close. Our Maths (1B, 2B) lecturer, Ramnivas Sir was one such person. Bored of the hectic schedule, we asked him (just as a joke) on December 1st whether we all could take out a rally on the occasion of World AIDS Day. He then shared this experience of his.

“I once had to go to Bangalore and there I stayed in my friend’s room for few days. He was hospitable and close to me. I had a nice time there. Few days after I returned from Bangalore, I came to know that he was an AIDS patient. Had I known it before, I doubt whether I would have been as close as I was, during those few days of my stay in his room. What the AIDS patients need is not the rallies or the extra care and financial support. What they need is non-discrimination in the society.” I haven’t come across any AIDS patients till now (I hope I am right with this statement :D). In future, if I come across one, I will (try to) be normal and behave like I behave with anyone else.

In some context, out Maths (1A) lecturer, Kutumba Rao Sir compared the attitudes of Indians and Americans. “If an Indian earns 100 bucks, he tries to save 90 bucks and spend the remaining 10 bucks. If an American earns 100 bucks, he tries to spend 110 bucks by borrowing 10 more bucks. This small difference in attitude makes a big difference. We need to remember that our expenditure is income to someone else. If the rich are saving money without spending, the rich will be becoming richer and the poor the poorer. This is what happens in India.”

I wasn’t worried about the authenticity of his ‘facts’, but I came to this conclusion. Never be a miser. If you are saving money, let it be just to spend at one go, and not to pass on to the next generations. Spend as much as possible but do not waste money. (This statement might be quite confusing, but there is a difference between spending money and wasting money, isn’t it?)

Recollecting those wonderful messages and penning them down here, gives me an unknown excitement and happiness. These lessons learned in Intermediate turned out to become few of my principles of life. Each one of us learn something new even during our tough times and busy schedules, but we don’t recognize them as learning. Let us hope that we’ll be able to learn always and also realize that we have learned something new.