I often feel like I have been running my whole life. To me, running is more than the mere indulgence of competitive whims. The steady stride of a long distance runner and the explosive speed of a sprinter vaulting from the blocks are metaphors for life. We are born with the world an open track before us, the starter’s gun unleashing its deafening sound long before our senses perceive it.
Like runners toeing the line, we all choose our own path, whether to take this turn or that, and whether to pass the opposition or simply coast and fall back. Some of us run further; others run faster. The race of the long-distance runner is often lonely, his steady gait unrelenting and his pace even. He endures long trials and has many visions, following a steady path as his endurance is tested. In contrast, the dashing sprinter barrels forth and cuts through life with swiftness and vigor.
We all confront the same hills to climb and descend; life can seem an impossible ascent or a bounding plunge as we run steadily along. We slip and falter, a sprain here or a fracture there. Some will be tested, limping forward until time slowly heals our injuries. Others will find a partner to keep our stride and help maintain the pace. A few will always run well, leading the pack of eager followers. Others may struggle, never seeming to catch their breath as they promise to run better tomorrow.
We all run against the clock, hoping to finish the course long before time is called. Some stop long before they reach the finish line, giving in to the race’s pressures on both body and mind. We run against each other, striving to beat our fellow runners. We also run against ourselves, pushing our limits so that those whose race has not yet begun will remember our feats with awe and pride.
I have not always known the right path, missing turns and struggling through stretches. At times I have run off the path, losing my focus and seeing the race as a means to an end. I have struggled up many hills and careened down many others. I have faced injuries and lost fellow runners. However, through it all I have learned from the race and found the determination not to repeat my mistakes. I have run the race both fast and slow, taking in the view along the route and the emotions of the running.
I now believe that the race of life can be examined in retrospect, but that you must always keep running towards the finish line. Sure, success in this race is important, but the experience itself is a gift. I believe that you must run a race worth running, for as running legend Steve Prefontaine said, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” If the race is run with heart and passion, then the finish will be victorious.
The years 2007. Computers have become FAST. And game consoles couldn't be too far behind, could they? This was something the Big 3 have noticed too. And in the rush to get their consoles ready for Christmas '06, some of them managed to build winners. Of course, their global launch has happened only a few months back. But nonetheless, most folks were talking about Microsoft's XBox 360™ or Sony's PlayStation 3™. But Nintendo seems to have won this round, with it's wildly popular Wii™. Launched around the same time as the XBox 360™, it wasn't expected to make much of a dent in Microsoft's console market, because, face it. The XBox was faster and had higher specs that the Wii, which, on the other hand, shared it's specs with the older generation XBox. But Nintendo seems to have targeted a different market with it's Wii. To compete with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo has re-invented videogaming, making it more social, more intuitive and surprisingly physically engaging. The Wii is indeed revolutionary, and it's potentially the device that will make videogaming as widely enjoyed as board or card games.The feature that sets the Wii apart from both its competitors and its ancestors is the Wii remote, the device's control pad. Instead of a bulky, button-studded joystick, Nintendo has produced a slim wand that looks like a television remote control. It's connected to the console wirelessly, and more important, it's equipped with an innovative motion sensor that detects movement and rotation in three dimensions.
In other words, the Wii remote allows users to get up, move around the room and become part of the game. If you want your character on the screen to swing his sword, you wield the remote and make the thrusts and parries yourself. In a game of baseball, you hold the remote like a bat, and swing for the stands when you want your virtual player to do the same.
By giving players the ability to physically interact with a virtual world, Nintendo has significantly changed the experience of videogaming. It's suddenly more immersive, more compelling and potentially more appealing to consumers who have never considered buying a videogame console before.There's no sequence of arcane button combinations required to throw a baseball: You just wind up and mime an actual throw. Suddenly, videogames are fun for everyone--old or young, male or female, regardless of prior gaming experience.
Now here's something. Sony's and Microsoft's consoles cost $500/$600 and $300/$400 respectively. Compare that to the Wii's $250 price tag, and Nintendo's already got a leg up in the upcoming console war. By concentrating on innovating through game play, and ignoring its competitors' most high-tech features--super-powered processors, support for high-definition televisions and DVD formats--Nintendo has not only been able to keep its costs down, but it's hit upon the single thing that sets apart an entertainment device most: It's fun.
So you're done with 12th grade, and school in general. And now, you're at the threshold. Neither here, nor there. You're not a school kid anymore. So you have to make your choices for yourself. Not your teachers. Not your parents. YOU.
It's a bit hard to comprehend all the choices out there. I mean, after all, the world is a pretty big place right? With over a billion people in our nation alone, and each one following a different career path, how do you know which one's the best for you? There are a few ways to decide, I've discovered. One - you listen to your parents/teachers and do what they think is best. But that's not very interesting, and definitely not highly recommended. What if they want you to become a doctor, and you can't even stand the sight of blood??! The other way, is to choose for yourself what you want to do, and what you want to become. It IS rather hard, but I believe we've seen and done enough to figure out exactly what we're good at!
As a kid, I'd fallen in love with computers, and today, computer science is the subject that I'm best at in school. So for me, the choice was pretty much straight-forward. Computer Science and Engineering. But then there was this big question I had.. what exactly is "Engineering"? So I did some research.. "Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of natural resources to the benefit of man." - Ralph J. Smith , Stanford University
The quote above sums it all. Engineering is about the innovative and creative application of mathematical and scientific principles to the creation of products, technology and services for the good of mankind. Engineering touches almost every aspect of our lives and is at the heart of contemporary life. The dramatic changes of the last century, and even the last decade, are the direct result of engineering.
Engineers are not only at the forefront of making new scientific and technological discoveries, but also actively involved in turning that knowledge into something practical and valued. Everything that is made results from the expertise of engineers; from expressways to the information superhighway, from video phones to digital television, from automobiles to spacecraft and the list goes on and on.
Engineers make a significant contribution to creating wealth in a country. Many successful economies have a high number of engineers. Engineering offers more career options than any other discipline. Engineers are able to pursue a wide spectrum of careers in both the private sector and in government, and in fields as diverse as financial services, logistics, and the biomedical sciences. Engineers may be designers, planners, managers, analysts, researchers, consultants, sales specialists, and much more. Engineering is a distinguished profession and engineers have helped to transform our world with many technological innovations.
That pretty much sums up what I've learnt about Engineering. And thus far, it seems to be pretty interesting.. VERY interesting as a matter of fact! Now, I only need to find out more about Computer Science!
Yup ! You got that right ! We're the CVians Class of 2007 and we've DEFINITELY left an indelible mark on this school of ours.. Our exploits aren't just limited to our school, we've made ourselves popular in almost EVERY city school, and for all that, we could probably claim to be the most rocking batch of CVians EVER !
Here are our **ahem** exploits, in no particular order..
Our amazing Computer Exam results, thanks to kind souls like Balli who've vowed to never EVER pass, and to give Sekar the hardest time ever possible !
Our eagerness to learn Chemistry through practical experiments (in the toilets) .. Sodium + Water --> HEAT + EXPLOSION...
Class 11B , tubelight starters, an absolute mockery of 'modern' electrical fittings.. need I say more ?
MOST number of lovesick people frequenting every empty and non-empty classroom/corridor/restaurant
Commerce Class Math results.. 21 failed out of 28..
Ganga winning the Annual Sports Championship !
Winning the maximum number of Culturals, INCLUDING Reverbs and Orca
The best school band in the city perhaps..
The Punchline Gurus..
The greatest basketball team ever, lead by the ever-famous Gopi
The way we've revolutionised the system of exams and revealed our ingenuity - through our grades
The way we attack food (courtesy Hrushita and Krithika Surya), like we've never seen food before
Ragging the shit out of Kanti and Valsi, our 'beloved' english teachers..
Changing the fortunes of the erstwhile Cafe Coffee Day and the still existent and ever-famous GLB
Ofcourse, the war-cry, GoPiii GoPiii GoPii (pun intended)
Driving a Physics Teacher OUT of school in her very first year (Lakshmi... )
Sameer's Class, AV room...
Making Srilatha sniff and cry at her fate of teaching this batch
Satyamurty Sir + Venkatraman + 12 B.... need I say more ?
The recently constructed jail-like enclosures on the staircase, and the additional bars on the main gate.. all because of us jumping over and slithering thru the gate..
And lastly, the 'pregnancy' case... They TOTALLY suspect our batch for it!
I guess we got quite a lot done in two years, didn't we ? lol
Well! We've finally come to the end, and I mean THE END of school life! (ok, I've made the obvious assumption that none of us are going to have the pleasure of writing the compartment exam). Truth be told, it's not such an exciting prospect - I don't know how I'm going to get used to the fact that I don't have to get up at 6 am anymore, that I don't need to polish my shoes a blinding white every morning, that I don't have to drive down Taylor's Road at 8.05am each morning come rain or RAIN, that I don't have to even dream of Princi... That's going to take a lot of getting-used to acdjually !
I still can't believe that 9 years have flown past so smoothly and so so very quickly.. it seems like just yesterday, when I was offered admission in Chinmaya Kilpauk and Anna Nagar as well as Chettinad.. The decision to make Taylor's Road my home away from home for the next 9 years, at that time, seemed pretty insignificant - after all, it was just another school for me. It didn't boast of a swimming pool, or a huge football field or even a canteen, which made me wonder what kind of a school it would turn out to be. All I can say now is that THANK GOD I didn't choose to join any other school ! I can't imagine myself having all the fun that I've had in this school in any other institution.. nowhere else! Of course, coming from a convent, the bhagwad-gita chanting took a little getting-used to.
Moreover, the past 9 years, more specifically, the last 3 years have been some of the most memorable years of my life thus far. I will always remember school for all the wonderful people I've met, and the good times that I've had with them. True, the picture isn't all rosy. I might not be all that popular, and I'm generally at the butt-end of most jokes, some of them pretty hurting ones. But I guess all that's part of school life...
I've learnt much more here, not just science and math. I've learnt how to make new friends, learnt new skills, and basically had a great time!Infact, I even became House Leader, and got to lead my house to victory for the first time in 18 years!!!
I mean, the number of wacky things we've done as a batch - the chants of go-pee-e-e-e, the starters and the sodium, the trips to ccd and glb(our friendly neighbourhood bakery), all our jaunts at the various culturals, the fun we have in sekar's class, satya and his pats on the back, our brilliant marks throughout the year - I could go on and on ! I guess the best way to sum all this up is by watching Tariq's brilliant video
I guess I've spent by far the most memorable moments of my life in this place called school.. it's a place unlike any other, and only because of all of you - quirky, fun-loving, crazy, mischevious, jumpy, blabbery, talented - basically just a bunch of oddballs!
The past few years, spent 'studying', working, competing, playing, eating - blabbering.. man, all these things had such a charm of their own! It's always put a BIIIIG smile on my face and these memories.. *sigh*.. will always stay with me forever... like BowlingForSoup says, "High School Never Ends!"
I'd like to say a BIIIIGGG thank you to each one of you who have made this journey unique and truly memorable!
to pritish, for being my best buddy, for sticking by me always, for all the yummy things I've eaten at your place, for all the movies you've lent me... I could go ON and ON..
to barath, for showing me how to be a nerd and still have fun, for the times you've lent me your camera, and for all the p2p sharing..
to harsha, for being a great friend, and for making life interesting in the 12th. period.
to kika, for EVERYTHING. this includes last month's tuition test answers, all the juicy stories, keeping me entertained on sms.. etc etc etc..
to hrushita, for the brilliant food, for being a great pal, for always being there to talk about 'someone'.. and for being one of my first girl-friends in 4th grade (@mom and dad: notice the hyphen.. it changes the meaning!)
to priya, for the endless taunts and retorts.. lol..
to venkat, for those funny convos we used to have in IIT class ( remember Peter and Driver?? )
to vk, for, well, all the doubts [;)]
to adi nair, for always being at hand to put a big smile on my face
to govind, for all the spirituality and vedanta...
to bishen, for making me a TULIP.. lol
to tariq, for, well, just being tariqueee.. lol.. and for sparking my interests in photography and blogging... for the brilliant video, for being a great pal, for putting a smile on my face during valsi's classes...
to kriti, for showing me that even DAV girls aren't all nerds...
to srishti, for showing me how to be carefree.. ABSOLUTELY carefree.. adds a new dimension to the phrase 'no worries'..
to arun, for all the 'help', and for lending me your phone when it was needed...
to viswesh, for being my buddy in the first bench of chem tuitions!
to LN, for those prizes at Reverbs and that iconic photograph.... a BIG thank you man!
to swati, for bringing out the photographer in me...
to sneha, for being the ONLY faithful person who replies to my SMSs at the weirdest possible hours!
to arCHANA, for the lunch, the 'looks', sitting next to and thus isolating me from ms.living dead in rahim's tut..
to sunaina, for being a great foul-weather friend among much else...
to shreya, for being a great co-house leader, and a great person to match wits with... really! :)
YOU'VE GOTTA LEAVE A COMMENT AFTER READING THIS!!!
If you're name isn't here, it's not because I'm not thankful, there are just SO many people to thank, that I still haven't gotten to typing it all out, so it'll feature here in just a bit!!
