Hitchhiking around the world

Hitchhiking is not a new thing in this world. I can well imagine how man in the olden times would have hiked rides from their friends on horsebacks or sledges. But,I thought hitchhiking world tours were new. It is a fantasy of the XY generation. No man, it isn't! Andre Brugirox has started hitchhiking in the 1960s and hitchhiked around the world for 18 years travelling through 135 countries. When there are still many countries in this world which we call remote inaccessible and dangerous to travel, it is quite a feat to have traveled around the world hitchhiking in those days. He recently visited the newly born nation- South Sudan and is perhaps one of the few persons who has travelled to every country in this world. During his travels, he wrote a book called 'One People, One Planet' and devoted himself to the spreading of Baha i faith which aims at unifying all religions into one. 

The most famous hitchhiker in contemporary times must be Jeremy Marie who is hitchhiking across the world currently on a project 'A helping hand around the world'. Till date, he has travelled 160000 Kms and is presently hitchhiking through China. He has hitchhiked through most remote places in  Africa, got robbed several times, has hitchhiked a helicopter and a plane too. Now that's one hell of an adventure. Isn't it? I have taken the pleasure of communicating with him some time back. He is quite a humble person and is going to be in India within a few months. Indian welcomes you Jeremy. You can find his travel stories on http://www.tour-du-monde-autostop.fr/ . Don't miss the intro video. To quote him, "When someone stop's is like... get full of energy straight away because that's the end of your problems and that's the beginning of something interesting". That is a beautiful statement...

I have done some budget travel lately. It is so much fun than all the pre-booked and luxurious tours. It helps you discover real things of a place which are so unlike the touristy things. If a short talk with a taxi driver can give us so much insight into a place and its culture, imagine what a lasting impression a whole hitchhiking tour would create. These days, there is a whole generation of enthusiastic hitchhikers coming up. Puneet, and Indian hitchhiker hitchhiking across Europe has been featured recently in TED talks too. There are lots of youngsters who are willing to hitchhike across continents and even through war prone and sensitive zones. The encouragement for hitchhikers is quite good too. There is a website called www.couchsurfing.org which has dedicated groups for hitchhikers and hospitality towards hitchhikers. Wikitravel has got a hitchhiking column in every country's article and gives tips for hitchhiking across the country.

I am a traveller by heart and when time permits, I would embark upon a hitchhiking journey. I am sure it would be fun.

Innovation: A new vision for IIT Bhubaneswar

Today, I attended a talk by Prof. P.K. Mishra, Emeritus Professor of IIT Bhubaneswar on Methodology of innovation. It was quite an enthusiastic talk. He explained to us how we should focus on real world problems and how ground breaking technologies can come out from dwelling on simple things. He supplemented his speech with a few TED talks. Two of those really awestruck me and are definitely worth sharing.

The first one is a TED talk delivered by Arthur Ganson, a kinetic sculptor.

The second is a TED talk by Theo Jansen, the famous Dutch sculptor who is reknowned for his Walking mechanisms. Those of you who are not aware of his beach animals , take a look at this video.

If you have watched these two videos, I am quite sure you have been impressed. What should be noted is that both of their accomplishments have come from basic ideas and I do believe, whatever they have done has been very intuitive to their mind. I completely agree with Prof. Mishra when he says that, at the undergraduate level, students should focus on practical solutions to problems by brainstorming and intuition rather than getting down to equation solving. This would not only develop a practical approach towards looking at problems but would also generate an interest for engineering in the students. For a budding institute like ours, I think that is the way to go. 

My experiments with omegle

Stranger: asl?

Me: 19f England

u?

Stranger: Im from England too

whats your name?

Me: Sarah

Stranger: Are you a Muslim?

Me: No. Why do you ask so?

Stranger: The name sounds like that.

Me: Are you kidding me? Tell me the truth where you are from

(True story)

And this goes on... 

Omegle is perhaps the most hilarious example of individual behaviour. To those who don't know what omegle is (you might reconsider getting out of kindergarten), it is a website which allows users to chat anonymously. One of my favourite pastimes is experimenting with omegle. I assume any age, any sex and any nationality and I go about saying different things and gathering different perspectives and opinions. Of course, most of the chats turn out to be nonsense but sometimes, chats get sensible and gives me a glimpse of how people think about different things and people. In omegle, there is always a 50 percent chance that the person chatting on the other end bears a fake identity. Everyone knows this thing. It is interesting to observe how a guy caught in a conversation with a girl will never go back, inspite of the omegle uncertainty principle. 

One more interesting feature that omegle bears is the "try spy (question) mode". In this, you can post a question and see two strangers chat and discuss about that topic. Trying this feature would have been more worthwhile if the majority of omegle users were not perverted cheapskates (yeah! you would probably think I am one too. GTFO). As one of my friend voices, somehow I too feel  omegle is a wasted boon.

If anyone has made any interesting observations regarding this subject, feel free to share with us. 

Racist jokes and comedy

Everybody knows how famous racist jokes are. Anybody who watches stand-up comedy would immediately recognize Russel Peters for his racist jokes. They might be at times be humiliating (for the humiliated) but are funny as hell. What about Maz Jobrani, the Iranian- American stand up comedian? Most of my knowledge about the middle-east comes from him. Come down. You don't need to judge its veracity. He is perhaps the most truthful Iranian (no one else from Iranian descent would agree they had a nuclear program). The entertainment world is too full of racist comedians and I have no need to list them to prove it.

While most racist jokes define people as stereotypes, they also show an identity as part of a culture. What are we Indians proud of? Of brains? Being capable of working 12 hours a day? Even a joke makes a point. These comedians are also the most truthful and fearless critics of people. Who would tell you how bad you are at faking the accent or why the world needs to get out of its stereotypical description of terrorists? I see these guys as mediators promoting friendship and tolerance amongst people of different countries across the world. They act as links between cultures and show us the way we are, instead of the way we are perceived. When we are free and confident about our identity and in the same way learn to accept people of other cultures with different traits, there will be no instances of racist attacks or communal ill-will.

I love being seen as an Indian and confidently agree to it when someone points out to my Indian traits. When ordering in a restaurant in Malaysia and the waiter tells me that particular item is spicy, I always loved to say, "Bring it on! I am from India".

Anger management

This post will not tell you how to control your anger.

I recently watched the movie 'Anger management'. The movie is one with a surprising climax. You get a message that is completely unexpected but the message is well worth it. Maybe the message was not so unexpected but I definitely couldn't smell it.

Our character Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is an extremely patient man but gets sentenced to anger management session due to no fault of his own. His instructor finds out that Dave is prone to passive anger. He tells a story about how a usually calm shopkeeper bears with all the scoldings of the customers patiently, never says a word, but one day, suddenly shoots everyone in the shop with a gun. This kind of anger is most dangerous. I also feel that it is imperative to burst out once in a while and should not try to contain your anger within yourself. First, one should try not to get angry at all. Try to be a monk. Or be the silly clown, you will not get easily offended. Try not to get angry as much as possible. If you get angry, I think there is no reason why you should eat all that negative energy. I feel you can speak out. Again, moderation is the word. Getting into a fist fight means a punch can land up in your face too or even worse, you might land yourselves in a case(cool... not in India. However, be careful).

Filling yourself with anger and not letting out can destroy your confidence, strain your relations and put you under obligations.

P.S: This article is not a free pass for people to get angry at me. I don't like people who get angry easily and for no reason.

P.P.S: Watch ' Anger management'

What the hell is this blog about?

Lately, I have been browsing through a lot of blogs just to see how people think and what people actually want to share. Few people write a blog as a diary. Such blogs are the most interesting ones when they are very transparent. Some people write about specific topics they are interested in or when they want to send messages to the society, like blogs about 'Global warming', 'Crazy hole in the ozone layer', 'Don't eat, meditate' and stuff. I may or may not like them depending upon the subject. But, atleast they are subject oriented and they have a purpose. Then come the ranting blogs. They are the most interesting to me.

But there is one section who write for the sake of writing. Most of these are rant blogs too but in a more indirect way. Suppose, I argue with a friend about effectiveness of the examination system and am vexed with it, I would start writing a post tonight telling how 'different people have different opinions and it doesn't really matter'. If nobody is willing to go out for dinner with me, I would write about 'people having their own priorities'. What do I do when I keep postponing some work? I write about 'How motivated people win?'. I am seriously not interested in what you want to do with yourself. But it is interesting when people you know write such things. Do not agree? I know you will all agree with it. If not, I can prove it to you.

You know what? You are reading one shit of a blog post too. this is exactly the kind of blogs I hate. I don't know what to write. I will keep boring you with uninteresting, unrelated, pseudo realistic nonsense. Congratulations for reading it till here. You are free to unsubscribe from this blog because I absolutely do not know what is coming up next!

Aladaladaa... Aladeen M.................

Signing off...
Your favourite psychopathic blogger

PLEA FOR LIFE - A HEART'S CALL

Children play at my feet,
Hurling stones at the fruits so sweet.
The pain of the stones I endure,
For the love they shower that I secure.


My branches grew to the sun,
And so deep did my claws run.
I am indebted to the Mother Earth,
For her contribution to my growth.


Alas! One day he came,
To strip me off my name.
His cruel axe gleamed with pride.
It took my mom on her final ride.


All the birds at once did flee,
For the woodcutter showed his prowess on me.
Each a stroke, my limbs did fall,
Never a single cry did I call.


My age old breath did at once cease,
To evolve into a vile ash, worth a ten rupees.
Who is answerable to my heart's call?
You, you and you all...