Some of Extended Eosure photography i tried my hand at

Hostel - 6 : The Final Abode

AG7, H6, Sardar Bhavan - To mention explicitly, will be where i'll spend my last days on this lovely campus.

It was a downpouring the day we were alloted this hostel. Now to set somethings straight, this isnt one of those 'dream hostels' that exist on campus. I mean what with the leaking, the falling paraphets, and a long history of spooky affairs. And the greatet part is the let down, that students from Nehru Bhavan are made to accomodate this place. On the cover, it looks like been sent from a five star hotel to railway station side 'Hotel Deshent'. Though, to give a first hand account - This Hostle Rocks. Accepted it doesnt have jazzy flooring and in-refelecting CFL lined up, neither does it has...well wait, there isnt any added extra that H( stay had over in terms of infrastructure. Good the post just got smaller.

Anway, so yeah my room here is what philosophy calls as "perfect". It is in proximity to the bathroom but not adjacent to it. It is near to main enterance but not 'on' it (like bora's), it is the groundfloor with no history of ground sagging or snake infiltrations (zoinks!), it has a good amount of white washed walls with no pesky writings on it. This is just awesome.

About the block, well there are some of the most famous dudes of our insti in here. Vijay, manish, Hitesh, Mohit, akhil...the who's who is surrounding me like a pole dancer on ...err...pole? ...Anwway. they all got their signature things going on. And it's fun to a be part of the spectacle.

The bathrooms are ofcourse the shakesspearoan story of devatation, despair and sometimes agony and desperation. They have water coming from orifices not meant to be facilitating a source. The gensis of dripping is the water on the floor above. it is kind of an view, to stand bellow that sepaged ceiling and wonder "how long does it take for the beams to rust within" Now, just like many things in a developing country....yeh bhi chalta hai. People have stopped complainig, restoration is suspended citing the inevitable demolishing of the hostel itself. Despite all this, i love this place.

The morining sun comes directly in my room, and evenings too are calm and serene around. There is sense of solitude all the time, which can be duly avoided when and how you want it to. Thats in a stark contrast to our stay in the railway platform like h9. There, as it so happend, were more people around you than dust particles. Although that setup had its own fans, it kinda got onto my nerves. And the H4 calmness have seemed to return. Ah!...thanks

The food, well its way better than H9 again. The menu is pretty much the same, or i din't give factual accuracy a rat's fart. but ya the quality is definately better. The laundary practise is yet to be experienced.

So, thats it....all in all a very good room, in a good place, in a good hostel, with many people i have been with all along. so yes, i know am gonna njoy this year of peace, tranquility, and calmnes...coupled intrestingly with placemnts, entrances, sems, and peripherals.!!

Time to sleep now!

Cliche- Beginnig Of The End

So, as i type this, there's this song by Collin Hay playing in the background - "Waiting for my real life to begin" . Although that would have nothing much to do with what i would jabber around here in this post exclusively. But yes, the acoustic's sound does stir up an emotion. That sometime in an year now, maybe i'll have this song stuck in my head. And the difference, it would be relevant then.

Kicked started the final year today. Now, for all the hype and hoopla surrounding this 'Final Year' thingy, i don't know why it hasn't hit me with that force which renders you a bit mellow and senti to the core that yes, you are the next and well, the last now. But i know it will happen. And how! will it, is what i am waiting to see.

It is said that to understand the importance of detachment, you have to be hopelessly, first, be attached to something/someone. And boy, when it comes to that, i am a perfect emotional goofball. I can't even begin count the number of people here who happen to be so very close to me and the place, well, it's another story altogether.

The things that we have done here are, well to begin with crazy. But there so many of them, all different in a extrovert way, but still connected to a shear undying pursuit of doing something crazy, or extra. And thus we had making robots, making miniature IC engine cars, making full sixe hybrid vehicles, running forums related to human resource development, travelling 1053 Kms attending conferences, publishing newsletter, taking plunge into entrepreneurship, organising events pertaining to different intresets, conducting quiz, loiterring around campus every morning, sitting around, sometimes even lying down in canteen doing nothing. Ah!...awesome.

And here stands one more year, with its promise to offer whole of this range again. And for us to do it one more time, if not the last time. But atleast the for the last time a place where this all started. and can no longer be more patient.

Am hopping on this mad crazy bandwagon....expecting good things and being pessimistic alike. SO bring it on. The Begining Of The End.

Some Idhar Udhar ka fotography - Copyrighted

Some random stuff clicked at a morning stroll near my place, back home in....

SOme typography - Copyrighted

How to work smart and not hard

I myself kinda never could this fixed, but wth, advice aftral is free....Some steps mentioned here must be executed at your own risk.

Assess everything that needs to be done.
Before you plunge in headfirst, remember that enthusiasm needs to be tempered with wisdom. Look over every aspect of the job, and allow yourself ample "pondering time" so that you can be sure that every detail is accomplished on time, and accurately.

Make an outline.
Whether it's in your head or on paper, you should have a checklist in mind, and follow it to the letter, and in order - you don't want to repeat steps, duplicate the efforts of others, or make mistakes. Also, you definitely don't want to forget anything.

Consider your materials.
Using inexpensive materials where they are easily installed makes sense. Trying to save a few bucks but spending an extra hour or two because those cheap things didn't install properly doesn't make any sense at all.

Follow your plan and don't deviate from it - unless you must.
Once you've assessed the job and come up with a plan, it's usually best to stick with the plan. However, things come up: all sorts of emergencies can throw a wrench into your plan. Be prepared to think on your feet, and be resourceful. Nimble thinking is essential to working smart, especially when something goes wrong. Following a plan slavishly, in spite of new information, developments, or problems is just plain dumb. Be flexible and change if you need to.

Delegate the right people at the right times.
Make sure your team is well-ordered. If one person is faster, put him or her on the part of your task that will take longest. If one person is more skilled and accurate, put him or her on the part of the task that is most critical. If you are an aggression-less Virgo and just can’t delegate, then face it that you are a out of luck alsoran like me , so get someone else to delegate work for you. Now even that is ‘delegating’ but keep your fingers cross.

Work parallel.
This something I learned in an industry while at my summer internship program. When talking of teams, there must be layers involved. Like if accomplishment of a work requires steps A-B-C-D, and then assign four people each of it. And command them to do it simultaneously.

Give one to three choices - never more.
When you are expected to do something, and it requires an approval before it could roll on. Stick to this maxim above. For e.g., if you are told to design a flyer or a brochure for certain upcoming event. Design just three variants of it, and show it to the judges. If you give more choices the story for you would never end.


Never willingly trap yourself into accepting a bad job.
You know when you get that "uh-oh" feeling that something is not right. A person above you who pressures you into areas where you are not comfortable, either because it is an unreasonable expectation or because it's outside your scope needs to be aware immediately of your discomfort with the job as proposed. Make any misgivings clear instantly, and in front of others, if possible.

Work as hard and as efficiently as possible
-and finish each job as quickly as you can. Hit every job with everything you've got. Getting it done quickly and efficiently - while you have the time - is much smarter than looking at the schedule and telling yourself you have three more days to get it done, and then going to a long PS3 break. You don't know what will happen tomorrow - you might come down with the flu[if you do, eat ice-creams it helps].

Recognize the point of 'no returns.'
The above steps do not imply that you should work yourself to the point of exhaustion. You need to protect your health and the integrity of your job. Working yourself to a frazzle constantly makes you prone to mistakes. When you're so tired that you realize it's taking you twice or three times longer to do a job than normal, you need to call it a day. Rest at least a few hours, and come back fresher, so that you can be strong at the end of the job. Learn how to power nap. It’s tough to power nap, but it does work for some.

Finish strong.
It's sooooo important! Being dead tired and sluggish at the finish line is not smart - it's foolish. Be sure that you are well rested at deadline time.

Ok, much said…now I am working hard and not smart going on and on with this. I won’t try to teach you anything any more. [Oh boy, can I be cruel or what!!!]

How to Make Work Feel Effortless

Sometimes work feels like a drag. You get caught up in trying to be more productive and suddenly your life turns into a series of to-do lists. You gauge your measure of success by how much you accomplish. You even determine how happy you allow yourself to be by how much you’ve gotten done in the day. When this occurs, work turns into a chore. You don’t enjoy the work, you just to do it so it can be over with. Then you can feel good, right? But work doesn’t have to be like that. The point of work shouldn’t be just to finish. The point of work should be the work itself. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. ‘Anyway’ [as my friend Neeraj would say]. We spend a lot of time trying to find ways to be more productive. To do things faster, better, cheaper and spend our time more effectively. But instead of just doing more in less time, maybe we should focus on actually enjoying the work we’re doing instead. Here are some thoughts, which I think may help you to turn the to-do list mentality around.

Steps

Follow your natural rhythms.
A lot of the time you might resent working because you're trying to force yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing. Naturally there will always be some things you’re not crazy about doing (like cleaning the toilet, lolz). But how often do you force yourself to work more, when you really want to relax? When you force yourself to work when you’ve promised yourself a break, you’ll likely just end up distracting yourself with other things and put off working. Then you get stressed and end up resenting work. Instead, follow your natural rhythms. When you feel like working, work. When you don’t, don’t. Don’t over complicate things.

Do, don’t think. Just do,
Stop thinking about it. Don’t know why or how, this step takes away 87% of the drag. [Sorry, once a mechanical engg, always a mechanical engg]

Remove hidden roadblocks.
What’s making you avoid working? What’s making your
work seem like drudgery rather than joyful? It might have something to do with your beliefs about yourself. Maybe you believe you’re not good enough, smart enough or don’t have enough experience [this one’s as true as it can get]. Question your beliefs about what you can and can’t do.

Only do your best not the most perfect.
Work can easily become a chore when you’re trying to constantly be perfect. The truth is, some of your ideas might not be so great. Others will be mind-blowing. If you can accept that and just do your best, you stop judging yourself. It feels like you can actually enjoy your experience, rather than worrying about how everything is going to turn out. That is working effortlessly.

Act from your gut.
When you think you have a great idea, believe it. Follow it. Chase it until you’re out of breath and can barely hold yourself up. Because if you don’t trust yourself, you’ll regret it later. The best way to live is to follow your intuition and trust life. If nothing else, trust yourself. Because if you can’t trust yourself, how can you trust your mistrust? That’s not very smart, is it? [Yeah, I lost track over that too]

Focus on what matters.
Our minds are constantly pulling us in different directions. We have to wash the cat [purely a metaphor for me], Writing an article before deadline, getting a decent grade for once, atleast [Oh Khhum on!!!], and all sorts of other things. We have a tendency to follow what’s urgent instead of what’s important. In order to get the important things done, we have to be ruthless at removing distractions.

Refuse to do what you don’t want to do.
If you often avoid working because you're trying to do things you think you “should do”, then you are being given a big clue. If your mind says: "I think I should read more because it will make me smarter.", or "I think I should buy new clothes because it will make me cooler.", or "I think I should work on this project because it will be good for my resume.", then you're in a trap. Forget what you think you should do (except maybe brushing your teeth). Do what you want to do. Other people will understand. In fact, they’ll probably envy you. People tell me it’s important for that to happen, Duh!

So, if you could benefit from these points and could work this way-please bail me out too…contact me on +91-982-idntdiscloseit-03.