Category Archives: college

It’s Good to be Bad…sometimes

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Hi,

This is my 2nd post in the 18 again in 2018 series.

Now that my job is somewhat relaxed I could find time to read up a few books. One of those books was ‘Bad Dogs have more Fun’.

At the other side of 25 you realize that you have been a really good girl/ boy and followed what your parents said and your grandparents instructed. You stick by the norms, make notes, study hard for exams, do not spend money on parties (and sometimes even try to save money spent on tuitions and paper).

But then reality hits you when you don’t get your dream job/car/bike or your guy/girl which you desired and doted on. Everyone around you is very happy, with your so-called “accomplishments” and college degrees except for you.

At that time one should introspect. Is there something which she/he did wrong? Did their parents/grandparents successfully made them just like them? Loyal, hard-working, sincere…a perfect Indian corporate slave who must not cross the limits of speaking up in a formal, informal or any kind of setting.

I had written an article some 4 5 years back which some of you may find relevant in this context

https://nandishmalhotra.com/2013/10/02/the-concept-of-magnitude-andor-the-signs-do-not-matter/

https://nandishmalhotra.com/2013/10/04/the-concept-of-magnitude-ii/

Hoping to hear from some of you.

Love,

Nandish

An Innocent Gesture.

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My friends and I often used to dine out on Wednesdays. As a routine habit, we went out that Wednesday too. There we were…the 3 of us seated on a cycle-rickshaw. A discussion was going on about the 2 dazzling sisters from Kashmir. They had recently joined Thapar and were pursuing BCA. And around a hundred boys were pursuing them. Both of them had striking features and it was hard to say who was more beautiful. But the best thing was that they were like ‘Cadbury Dairy Milk Shots’. Whenever one was seen, the other could be spotted right at her side.

“Yaar…samajh ni aata kisko dekhun. Dimaag khraab kar deti hain dono hi! ” said Mohit, for the umpteenth time this week. He was sure that God had answered his prays and sent his lady-luck at the right place, at the right time. It was our final year. We had all the time for wooing girls. Both of us were placed and trying our luck in the wee days left in college. Unlike us, our third companion was well-behaved and never talked about girls. So, I won’t talk about him too.

We had reached close to Heavens restaurant. I asked the rickshaw puller to halt to one side to get my mobile recharged.

I entered the recharge shop and recited my mobile number. I asked him to make the recharge before 9 p.m. and he winked an approval. I gave him a toothy grin and made my way out of his shop. As soon as I pulled the glazed door open a set of beautiful eyes met mine. Her face was fully veiled in her black dupatta. We looked at each other for full 1 second and then I left mesmerized. I overheard her, reciting her number to the shopkeeper and made a mental note.

“Kya dekh rha tha bhai aakhen faad faad ke? ” shouted Mohit.

“Uss ladki ko…abey aankhen bahut sundar hain uski, ” I said turning red.

“Bhai chitkabri hai…haath ni dekhe tune, ” he continued nonchalantly.

I hopped back on the rickshaw without responding. I had noticed the girl’s mother waiting right behind us on her scooter. Besides this, something told me that both the girl and her mother had heard Mohit’s comment. I wanted to disappear out of sight and asked the rickshaw puller to paddle fast.

“Preety…chaliye, ” suggested her mom.

“Hanji Mumma aaii, ” Preety answered respectfully.

***

It was 12 o’clock and I still couldn’t sleep. It was not the cream chicken which was keeping me awake. It was something else. I can’t sleep with a troubled mind. I felt guilty of making Preety and her mom feel horrible that evening. 9888****** the number was still fresh in my memory. Without giving a second thought I touched my keypad multiple times and dialled a message.

I tapped on the ‘Send’ option and hid in my blanket. I was afraid, I don’t know why. After 1 long minute, I heard a buzz on my mobile.

‘Thanks a lot. No one has ever appreciated me before!’ was her reply. I scrolled up to read my message.

‘Preety you have the darkest and prettiest pair of eyes I have ever seen (boy at the recharge shop, our eyes met at the shop entrance…8 p.m.).’

Excited at the quick response, I decided to send another message.

“No buddy…it is wrong.” said my inner voice. I had no option but to listen. I always listen to what my heart says. Rolling up my blanket once again, I closed my eyes. There was a serene smile on my face and I dreamed and slept in contentment.

The concept of magnitude. AND/OR (The signs do not matter.)

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Hi friends,

I had prepared this post some days back but was a bit hesitant to post it. I had my doubts regarding this post. And before you read it, I would like to tell you that it would appeal only to a small section of people.

Over some 4 or 5 years, I have had a realization. We Indians, always have a binary way of looking at things; the good and the bad, right and wrong and so on. From our very childhood, we are taught what is sahi and what is galat. Hence till the end of our teenage or even till the end of life, a dual perspective to any object or situation becomes an inherent trait.

Thankfully, of late I have got rid of this bi-fold classification and only concentrate on the magnitude aspect of both. What I mean to say is that ‘+10’ and ‘-10’ are equal in all aspects to me. The modulus or the potential of both is the same.

I have come to this conclusion after a number of observations and personal experiences which I am now going to share in this post.

Why I would love to make you, my enemy?

Let us imagine you are in a fix. There are 3 people whom you can ask for help.

A- A common friend.

B- A stranger.

C- An enemy/fierce competitor.

Now, you are in desperate need of help and your helper would have to undertake a huge risk or discomfort. Who will definitely help you out?

A- Less than 50% probability.

B- Less than 25% probability.

C- More than 50% probability.

Reasons: Expect a half-hearted response from your “common” friend ‘A’. Unless he’s your best buddy he definitely won’t take the risk.

The stranger ‘B’ would be indisposed to take any action at all UNLESS you are an attractive woman and he’s a man.

Let’s focus on ‘C’- he would immediately rush to your help depending on the magnitude of animosity between you 2 guys. I assume that you would be most polite while asking for help (considering the situation), if you don’t it is YOUR ego problem.

Some random examples spanned over different times, categories etc.

To understand this concept I would like you to brain-storm over these sightings listed below. In all the sited instances, you are required to specially focus on 2 things:-

1. The constant magnitude OR potential of a person or personality trait.

2. The unimportant and ever flickering sign or nature of the same as in 1.

 Let’s start with Raavan from our Hindu mythology. He was a great pundit. Then suddenly he became the greatest king of rakshasas.

Lucifer, the brightest angel fell too! He became Satan- the greatest devil in hell.

Macbeth, the most faithful soldier to a king turned a complete 180 degrees.

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Rajat Gupta, IIT Delhi-Harvard Business School Alumnus, acknowledged as a generous philanthropist by Bill Gates himself, suddenly lands up in jail for conspiracy and securities fraud.

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Munna bhai! Involved in 1993 Mumbai blasts; is now spreading Gandhigiri in Yerwada jail.

Sallu bhai! How he has suddenly started ‘Being Human’! We all know his past records; I don’t need to highlight them.

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Natalie Portman(Black Swan)-“ A ballet dancer wins the lead in “Swan Lake” and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan – Princess Odette – but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.”  // Source-imdb.com

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Spiderman 3- Good Spider-Man turns Black Spider-Man.

Beauty and the Beast-Beast transforms into prince.

I have now listed numerous examples for you to ponder over. This post would definitely have a sequel; the realization is yet to be shared. For the time being, re-think over these examples over a cup of coffee or during the 15-min breaks at office or college.

I will be back with the continuing post in some time. Till then…

Respect the magnitude and forget the sign!

If you have any similar experience or thought to share, feel free to post below.

Happy Gandhi Jayanti.

The Power of Memory!

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After your heart-warming response to my previous post

http://nandishmalhotra.blogspot.in/2013/09/the-ill-effects-of-forced-ambidexterity.html

I am so excited to post this one. Some of you, who have gone through my previous post must have read about the magical memory which comes as a positive effect of neural re-circuiting. In this post, I would be elaborating more on it. So read on and have fun!

I knew well, that forced ambidexterity was something that had to be put out of the scene for some time. But, as I said and I repeat…I wanted to have some other superpower in replacement. And Ta-Da!…I decided it was time to unleash the Power of Memory….Huhuhahahaha.

For the past few months, I had noticed that my observation to detail had increased significantly. Now I decided to measure it. Accordingly, I drew a 3 * 3 matrix. Next I randomly plotted 5 black dots in the matrix drawn below. (The matrix has 9 small square boxes.)

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Why 5 dots? Because I have read in numerous articles and science journals that the human brain finds it very convenient to associate with 5 things and consequently its multiples such as 10 etc.. Let me just give you a few examples.

1. A toddler conveniently counts from 1 to 5.He struggles with number 6. The mommies must be knowing this quite well. And then again, he struggles to register the number 11 in his brain.

2. Why the decimal system is widely followed? Any guesses?

3. It is very easy to recollect 5-lettered words. Have you ever wondered why a kindergarten kid never struggles with the spelling of Apple? And again moms must be knowing this quite well how Chintu or Pappu or Nandu learned the spellings of Papaya and Banana. They had to literally nod their heads in rhythm with the phonetics to make them learn it…Hehehe.

4. Try remembering a 5 digit number and then a 6 digit number. You’ll know what I’m talking about.

I can site numerous other examples…if you want to know more about the number 5 fixation g-mail me, anytime of the day (or night…:P).

Coming back to the 5 dots on the matrix, I focussed on them for 10 seconds and removed the paper out of sight. I repeated the same process with another 4 randomly plotted 3 * 3 matrix sheets (which makes it “5” sheets).

Then I tried to recollect all the dots’ position on the 5 sheets of paper. I was quite amazed when I got 4 totally correct. I misplaced 2 dots on last sheet. But all in all, I knew what to do next.

I practised the same exercise for about a week after the college classes. There was negligible improvement in this period. I realised the exercise was futile and plotting dots was no fun. I knew I had to visually click something more interesting, something which would give me the kicks to improve and improvise a better method for spontaneous eye-photography. Now, I was strolling on the road to the girls’ hostel where couples used to flock and cuddle and ET CETERA, pondering over these thoughts. Being a shy single boy, I forcibly tried to be oblivious to these things (and because I had no other option). But wait! How could one not notice the perfume in the whiff created just behind my shoulder. Eva Tease definitely! My heart skipped a beat as I turned over to see…I already knew what I should be expecting!

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 Eye-kohl check.Face blush check.Blue star-shaped earrings check.Left cheek dimple check.Lip gloss check…………….. check check check check.

Hardly 2 seconds and more than 10 things scanned! I knew what to practise on in the coming week.

Every day I would give myself 10 seconds to observe and scan a new object (let’s keep it scientific guys…:D). After 10 seconds I would try to recollect as many things as possible.

This activity continued for another 2-3 weeks but then all targets got exhausted. So, I began to lose interest too. Nevertheless, it had laid the foundation stones of developing a better memory.

I then proceeded to mobile phone number memorization. Now I am sure if I tell you my mobile number on the way, you won’t be able to recollect unless you have it noted down (my mobile number is not that simple…:P). I had to come up with a method to feed mobile numbers in the first go. And it took me no time in coming up with one.

Well now my technique is quite advanced but let me put it down from the basics. How do I learn a difficult mobile number?

The Power of Memory!

 

Let’s take my mobile number 9888160902 (don’t try to call ladies it’s no more registered under my name…:D)

How would you remember it? I’ll list down a few ways people often memorize…

1. 9888—-160—902(in this case you are bound to forget the middle or last part.)

2. 9888—16—09—02(this method is ok, but my method is superior.)

3. And there may be many more ways…since I have taken a single number I can’t show you more examples.

Here’s my method – based on the logic of 5-Point someone (kindly take note- I am not referring to any novel).

I register this number as 98—XX—16—9—2. You can very well see that what I have done is broken this number in 2 * 5 digits.

Over the years, I have modified my technique. I now associate numbers with a 10-point teddy bear body and alter his head ears eyes limbs according to the number given to me.

I don’t want to make this article any longer anymore. If anyone is interested in knowing more about memory techniques write to me or post below. I’ll be back with more tips soon. Till then goodbye and LIVE LIFE!

Kollege Karma – II

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 Hey guys!

        I hope you enjoyed my first version of Kollege Karma. Here comes an addition to it.Read on…

She’s out of my league.

Mission: How to make the coolest girl of your class, your girlfriend?

Pre-requisites: She should have a close female friend; you should be smarter than her female friend IN ALL ASPECTS.

Karma: Don’t go for her. Instead make friends with her close friend. During all your group meetings never ever give YOUR GIRL the attention she craves for. A point will come when she will compete with her friend to get your attention and even more. Wait till that point. The more delayed it is, the better.

Advantages: Through this Karma you’ll get a great friend and a girlfriend. Dual benefit. And just in case you spoil the Karma midway, still you’ll end up with an awesome friend.

E-Gurukul


Mission: Learn at least 1 thing online.

Karma: The e-learning could be as simple as to make pasta in white sauce to something as obtuse as quantum mechanics.

Suggestion: If you are an engineer, economics is a must. Follow this website http://www.economistsdoitwithmodels.com/  if you are a dummy just like me. Apart from that, the teacher will keep you more than interested…:P.

Be the manager!


Mission: To bring out the manager in you.

Karma: Managing a simple aloo tikki stall in a small college fest also suffices. But try to have an experience of managing people (at least 3 in number).

Live carefree.


Karma: Love someone. Have a crush on him/her. Do stupid things in love, and enjoy paying the price OR reaping the reward of your antics.

Precaution: Don’t get sentimental. Practise love like table-tennis, badminton, cricket etc. Yes! Play it like a sport. You win OR lose doesn’t matter, you always become a better player. (Just picture this. You have a neck-to-neck tennis match with your friend cum opponent in the court. You lose. Do you crib about it? No you don’t.) I think I have made my point pretty clear with this example.

Lift-Jump prank!


Location: A fully operational superior quality lift.

Pre-requisites: The lift should be filled to n-1/n-2 capacity. (‘n’ is the maximum number of persons it can carry.)

Logic: When you jump, you exert a force equivalent to 2 times your weight during the impact. So that will make up for another 1 person’s weight hence the above requisite is a must!

Karma: When the lift is in motion (especially downwards), make ample room for yourself so that you can jump comfortably without tripping on anyone. Ensure that there is no heart patient or serious/non-desirable element (if you know what I mean) in the lift. Now jump madly! Not once…but 2-3 times to give the occupants the fright of their lives…:D.
Guys, just a small request. When you write back to me, kindly give a brief introduction of yourself, your background details, your current profile etc.. So that I can adequately and appropriately credit you at my blog.
I just love to hear from all of you. And yes, I go through every single word of yours (because I have all the time in the world for it…:P).


Kollege Karma – I

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This post in particular, may be useful for anyone going to college, planning to go to college or any other institution. It may also be useful to any boy/girl of any age.
Most of these karmas have been tried and tested. Still it’s never too bad to consider your parents/friends/enemies before taking any risk. Good luck and have fun!


The imaginary steer.

Location: When you are just about to halt your car besides a fancy girl in a fancier car. (Could be very near to a Stop Sign or Traffic Signal)

Karma: Lower your speed to around 10 kmph; approach her car FROM THE LEFT; look the fancy girl in the eye (this is done to seek her notice as well as distract her); without actually gripping your steering wheel make a wild steering action to YOUR RIGHT.

The Invalid Hi!

Location: Lecture Hall.

Karma: Position your MOST TRUSTWORTHY friend right behind the girl of your dreams. With the best and biggest of smiles wave a BIG HI! Her immediate response to your INVALID MOVE will clearly indicate the chances of your going out on a date with her that evening.

Tasty and Free.

Pre requisites: High self-confidence and superior role-play.

Location: Eateries your college students patronize OR have a Mess contract with.

Karma: Role play that you are your college’s mess secretary or senior mess member. Check out all the sweetmeats/pastries/desserts etc. Make an excuse that you have to shortlist some for the mess menu.

Precaution: Only taste them!

Scaring Shaaaabji.

Location: Security guard’s sleeping chair.

Pre requisites: A fake gun/any other fake weapon.

Karma: Sit quietly besides your sweet, innocent guard with your fake weapon. Poke him lightly at his chest. Scare the shit out of him. And then run for your life.

Shudh Desi Romance.

Location: Library (you should basically be sitting next to him/her AND ONLY YOU).

Karma: Sit to your partner’s right. When he/she is poring over his/her book, without your hand being noticed, tap softly on her left shoulder. She turns her neck. Peck her on the right cheek.

I’ll be back with more Kollege Karma very soon. If you have any cool and whacky ideas to share or post, feel free guys/gals. The stage is all yours!