Accidental Writers.

A CBSE student scoring north of 99% reminded me of a couple of friends of mine. One boy and one girl. I know them for past several years. Both are immensely talented, creative and hard-working ones. Both are one of the most intelligent people I have ever met in my life. Both went to the same college, shared the same stream and also shared a class for a couple of years. But, their decision-making skills are not similar. Not at all. The girl, who had also scored north of 99 in her 10th standard, is a keen yet populist decision maker. If you go by the public opinion, then she has hardly made a wrong decision in her life. The boy, on the other hand, is more of an outlaw. He prefers to consult his conscience while taking his decisions and is known for taking anti-populist decisions in his life. If you go by the public opinion, then he has taken several wrong decisions in his life. Though I don't have any right to, I'll still compare both of them (coz, you know

It was not my fault. Or maybe, it was completely my fault. The day wasn't much pleasant, but it wasn't going bad as well.  I had met the co-author of this blog that day, and he really inspired me.  I had an easy WAT topic, and I believe I had created a good piece of essay. And I had almost had a good interview. But..... Yes, I couldn't control myself. I just couldn't. I realised it a long after I walked out of the room. Rather, I realised it when I didn't get an admission in IIM L. If only................... Yes, if only I had not said that (sigh!). So, let me do a flashback, and let's revisit that day again: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "May I come in, Sir?" I asked politely. I wasn't much nervous. It was my 6th interview, and I was used to interviewers-asking-me-awkward-questions-and-making-fun-of-me. Rather, I wasn't thinking about &quo

Now that I have your attention, please read through the whole article and the n  enlighten me with your views, so that I can evolve, intellectually. We have evolved  as pioneers  but regressed as humans.  And it’s not a good thing, if you ’re thinking . Let me present my case. We have become so consumed in  the  evolution that we have lost the basic  traits that brought us so far.  We consciously avoid feeling and understanding basic human emotions because they will not be in sync with the fast pacing and self centred life of ours. And the saddest part is that we consider this  as evolution and progress. The E mpowerment. Our definitions have changes according to our comforts. Whatever is comfortable makes sense. If there’s anything that requires effort, it’s not worth your cool life. If it’s a relationship that requires effort, we avoid it because who wants to try and find something special when we can have transient pleasures. If it’s a dream we want to pursue, we’d

The arrogant sea was in a rage. He had allowed his waves to go wild. They were smashing the shore hard. The beach was shaking with fear. The coral rocks were being crumbled into pieces. Any boat that entered the sea would only return to the beach in pieces. Small pieces. With broken wills. Indeed, the sea was in a rage and the waves were on fire. None of the ships could stand in front of that dance of destruction. Big sailors decided to pull their bigger boats inside the safety of dock. There wasn’t even a single ship in the sea. The sea has marked his territory. Every floating object was either forced to return to the dock or had been smashed to the rocks. The arrogant sea has cleared every object from its waters. Now there were only waves, mocking all the sailors, who stood on the dock, with their hands held high and heart sliding down. The sea was smiling. He enjoyed the fear on the faces of those sailors. And all the sailors were watching this rage of the sea with a sea in

What a thriller it was! Who would have thought, that Mumbai will manage to defend the meagre total of 130? That too against the masters like Rahane, Smith and our beloved, mighty Dhoni. Really, who expected them to win? Well, I did. Actually, I didn't. Being a staunch MI fan, I had cursed Rohit and company for scoring such a low total, switched the channel when Krunal dropped a sitter from Rahane and had almost slept. I thank instincts, as they demanded me to witness the loss, which actually turned out to be a victory. And I thank MI (and RPS too) for teaching some of the most valuable lessons of my life! 1.To Human is To Error Rohit has scored the highest ODI score, but yesterday, he fell like a small, hollow soda can. Pollard might be the ultimate destroyer, but he couldn't hit more than a six last night. Dhoni, the best finisher in the world, hardly finished anything. And that's it. This does not mean that they are not good cricketers, it

I came across this question on Quora, and I couldn't stop myself answering it. And to be honest, I felt that citing just a single dialogue from a single movie is an injustice to my 23-years of short yer glorious(?) entertainment life. So, here I present you some movies, which I have watched like gazillion times, and just a single dialogue from each of them, which is I have stored, somewhere in that subconscious mind of mine. 12 Angry Men A Beautiful Mind Bridges of Spies Fight Club Forrest Gump Inception Shutter Island Into The Wild Rush Saving Private Ryan The Pursuit of Happyness (My personal favourite) The Social Network So, tell me, which one is your favourite?

Moonlight is the story of a young gay black man's struggle. For his identity. For peace. Did I just startle you ? Did it make you uncomfortable  ? Yes, it is a controversial subject but one that, in this film, has given us one of the best films of this decade. In a world where we're so divided on race and sexuality, Moonlight is an aptly timed social commentary and though it's about an African American, it could easily have been about you and me. It's a special film. Probably the best of the year along with La La Land. Moonlight is a visual treat. James Laxton has somehow managed to bring searing compassion on the screen in the form of a beautiful poem. It was particularly hard given the stereotypes attached with the African American community. There are three stages in the film and each stage has a wonderful actor playing the protagonist. The process does not flounder anywhere during the transition. The quest of Chiron continues seamlessly to find his

When my serendipitous friend honored me by asking me to write for his widely read blog, he asked me to write about an event that changed my life forever. That’s some friend, asking me to delve into the darkest of spaces in my life. Ahh ! Only if we hadn’t met. But I am glad we did. It’s very tough to come to terms with bad marks when you’ve been a topper throughout while growing up. And I didn’t just get bad marks, I failed. And things could never just improve afterwards. 11th,12th and then the fateful engineering. Mind you, I scored 80% in 12th which in 2008 was still a pretty decent score but it wasn't enough. I had to wait 2 days before my parents spoke to me. Expectations make you sensitive and mercurial. I learned it the very hard way. But the worst was yet to come. 4 years of engineering started with a sense of freedom as I had taken admission in an engineering college in Indore, but the charm of that faded briskly and in a month of starting

Background: I failed to score well in CAT 2015. I had converted a new and baby IIMs, but decided to not join them. Also, I had not taken any placement from my college’s placement process, coz I wanted to start something of my own. I had tried to convert my final year engineering project into a product but failed in that too. So, after graduation, I formed a team of a few like-minded people and started developing Android apps and websites. So, basically, I was neither a fresher nor an experienced person :p WAT: How can we improve the quality of primary education in India? (I think I nailed it. I had already written a similar answer on Quora, so I knew a few stats and I used them profusely. And, fortunately, the writer in me came up with a few good metaphors and analogies. A pat on his back. He deserves it.) Interview: 3 profs. Let's call them P1, P2 and P3. Duration: around 40 minutes (yes, it was a very long interview. So I will share only the relevant part).

During my 23 years of long life and perhaps some 10 odd years of short reading life, I have read plenty of books and some of them have really touched me, just because a few awesome lines in them couldn’t escape my glance and now, can’t escape my heart. At the risk of being repetitive, I would love to share some of those pearls with you. To Kill a Mockingbird “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The Fountainhead “Who will let you? That’s not the point. The point is who will stop me.” “To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul – would you u