Zing!

To have that energy and enthusiasm (or zing) is extremely important in one's life. It results inadvertently in livening up your mood, along with the others', makes you have a brighter approach towards things and the 'can do' attitude. So many benefits of just one!

So I'm writing this post so as to not to tell you how to better things for yourself, but more for the other people around you. I read a post recently on Facebook telling about how people settle for things, why it is okay but why one should look for more as well! Now I'm sure there must be many people you yourselves know, or are yourself, who maybe settling for something or the other in their lives, as achieving or accomplishing everything at the same time is also not possible. I get it, we all do it, accept it, settle for it. But something I try to do, and if you don't already then you should try as well, is to add that zing in other people's lives. Add that spark, that excitement and fun, whenever you meet them or talk to them. Bring a smile to someone else's face. You never know how much it may mean to them.

Had recently read a news article, mentioning a young a girl who committed suicide, even after clearing the entrance test for IIT. Any suicide news is just sad, and makes me wonder, that what if that person had someone around them to cheer them up? What if they had even a little bit of joy, to which they could hold on to during their trying times? Each of us can suffer from extreme pressure due to various reasons. Expectations, money, career, studies, deadlines, family, relatives, lovers, the rash driver on the road! Any and more, all of these can very easily add to our stress, make a day going bad go even worse. Why to worsen it, or rather, settle for it? If you see a person not so happy, or the fake happy, try to cheer them up! Become so awesome that they want to meet you, spend time with you, have a friend circle around you. Add that friendly zing in their lives in whichever way you can. You never know, you may be gently helping a potentially troubled soul who may not turn out so just thanks to you, without the either of you maybe even realizing it. Don't do it for the thanks, do it for the goodness of it. Be selfless, be awesome, be the one to bring the zing! ;)


So the last post of the month long challenge is done! Hope you all enjoyed reading my write ups. Things got really busy for me towards the end, and ended up missing 2-3 days in between. Happy to have survived after plunging into this world straight away with such a steep challenge! Thank you for all your support and encouraging words.
Keep in touch.

Cheers,
Signing out..

YouTube

Had been thinking for long as to what to write from Y and then even Z! Then got tired of contemplating among the limited options, opened youtube to listen to some songs, and midway it struck me - YouTube! Since we just can't live without it! Wonder how the Chinese do though. Maybe through their alternatives like youku or tudou (yes I had to google them).

Founded in 2005 and acquired by Google in 2006 (yes googled again), YouTube is only 11 years old, but feels as if we've been using it since time eternity! Where did we see songs and videos before that, or was all that not in then? Today it is such a giant though, and actually pays people. There are several self-made celebs thanks to youtube (real ones not wanna be ones, or..) and they have become millionaires! Well they got endorsement deals to help them too (PewDiePie comes to mind?)
Apparently a successful youtuber earns above 100,000$! Wow! No need for a higher degree then? :D
Source: https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-a-YouTuber-with-1-million-subscribers-earn-a-year

There were reports not so long ago of youtube becoming a paid service. I, like majority of you, hope such a thing never happens and remains free for us all! (Else I'm sure something else free would crop up to take its place :D )

Video for the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsKZd8Y5RvI
Stellamara - Prituri Se Planinata (NiT GriT Remix)
Enjoy!

Cheers,
I.C.

Xenophobia

Xenophobia - Dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

How I wish such a word did not even need to exist in our dictionary! Why did humanity become like this? To develop hate or fear is understandable if the situation is there for it, but why do we just have such prejudice as to how some people would be, without ever having interacted with them. Is it simply because of the stereotypes born out of some other person or people's experiences? Is it because the people we listen to influenced us to actually start believing and sharing the feeling of hatred against people of certain race/religion/origin (all man made facet), without ever even knowing them personally? Forget personally, but even without saying a simple hello, some of us can tend to have a preconceived notion about how that person would be ("since I know" - well not really, you think you know because you heard someone say he knows someone who knows someone who knew) and just continued to believe in that story without ever fact checking.

Well the simple fact is - every human is different, unique in their own way. It is sad to see how cruel or mean we can be to other people at times. Just like you like to think you are special, so is the other religious person, or atheist, or a colored person, or the person of any other nationality. All these barriers, countries and borders, were created by us humans itself. There is nothing natural like that on land, so why pretend or believe just because the person is from the other side of the border, he/she is of a particular type. Experience if you have to before forming your own judgement.

Let us not be judgmental and mean to each other, specially to someone not in his/her region, out of their comfort zone in your area/country maybe. Put a smile on each other's face, and you will for sure be happier, and so would the entire world.
Dreams of having such things becoming a reality.. I wonder if it will ever happen..

Take care & Goodnight, last 2 posts of AtoZChallenge come out tomorrow :)

Ciao 

World of Wine

Oenophile - A connoisseur of wines. Greek for the love (philia) of wines (oinos).
Connoisseur - An expert judge in matters of taste.

I like wine, so why not become a 'connoisseur' of wines. It just sounds so cool and sophisticated. But those charms apart, it is always good to have that extra knowledge, and if of something you love then all the more better. While I do enjoy wines, I have not had those many (thanks to salary and to-not-to-be-a-drunk) constraints. I have the basic knowledge, can tell the types of wines, way to hold, aroma, flavors etc, but not the unique food pairings or origins just by blind tasting.

I found a course to obtain a certification of being a wine connoisseur in India. Would be tough to take out the time for it though with so much on my plate. Having company however always helps, so do buzz me if any of you friends would like to go for one :) I shall share the details then.
The world of wines is indeed truly big, and I do not believe it may be possible to know them all, but the journey to know the majority of them would be fun, and in the end becoming an expert ;)



Cheers,
I.C. 

Vivid Dreams

A lot of us have had vivid dreams in the past, which seem all too real, and we wake up wondering whether this all happened in my dream or in reality, and some even fancy a past life experience! (I used to contemplate on this a lot as a kid.) The idea of having images/memories from a past life seems really exciting. I for one have had dreams which I believe to be telling of how I may die, how I might have probably died in a past life, or of an activity that I should absolutely avoid.

And that activity is cave exploration, during which I get trapped, and die! One heck of a dream to have right?! Seen the creepy semi horror movie ‘The Descent’? 

Imagine getting trapped in a cave, minus the movie’s fictional creepers. That would indeed be one horrible way to die. Thus, I decided pretty early in my life – No spelunking (caving) for me! There could be equally or maybe worse ways to die, have you had any such weird dreams?

Peace,

I.C.

Unreal Tournament

This was the first ever multiplayer game I had played. It was my first love in the gaming world, and I remember buying UT-2000, a 7 CDs pack (yes we did live in a time like that!) I had finished the entire set of course at home, but one fine day my friends took me to a gaming cafe, where I played this game for the first time against humans instead of bots. And I totally 'owned' them. Just seeing those poor other souls surprised faces brought such happiness to me! :)

From there on started my love for online gaming I believe. Next game to conquer were Counter Strike and Command and Conquer. Still love those games to the core, though haven't tried the latest version for CS, the one before it was horrible. Then during undergrad came the game. Defense of the Ancients or DoTA! Picked up this game rather quick, like most other games. We played endless hours on LAN. 1st year personal computers weren't allowed, so it wasn't as much as the subsequent years. They were some really fun moments, all being so intense back then, and in the process also acquiring some of the best of the friends! I believe it helped us all gel and succeed better in a weird way, maybe because we all shared similar interests and passions.

Cheers to gaming, and kudos to Achilles, Real (my first DoTA tutor), Nefarious (the next tutor), Pipu (ever changing gaming alias), Sims, 212, asdfputki, manyu, terabaap, mota kislay and romit (what were your gaming names?) among many others. Sorry if I forgot anyone's name - it might be because I'm just so very sleepy!


Happy Gaming,
Mark Shandong 

To grow

To grow, you've got to try new things! You can't be just doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting to somehow evolve. You should not be afraid of trying out new things, after all, unless you do that, how will you know what suits you the best or what is it that you like the most!

So the next time an opportunity comes knocking, however much different or out of your comfort zone, do give it a try! Even in your same line of work, do try new ways of going about your daily grind. The worst case scenario would be that you just ended up spicing it up :)

Keeping this short and sweet, to put more emphasis on the message - Try out new things, try, try and try until you grow and thus succeed.

Cheers,
GN from the tired me.
#AtoZChallenge