Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog.

So I went to HMUN 2012 after all.
After all that happened.

And I know it's one of those memories I'll cherish forever.
Where I learnt a lot. Including about myself. Where I learnt to be more independent? Where I learnt to have fun (but not do anything I'd regret? :)
No, But I mean it. I met people from all over India and also from across the border. I had great company for most part. I had the opportunity of competing against veteran MUNers, honing my own skills and gaining a wider perspective.

Of course I'd love to give a blow by blow account of all that happened, but given my time constraint, that is highly unlikely.

But I wouldn't like to bore you with bullet points either.

They train journey was fun. The boys were mostly good. And a lot of fun  :)
The hotel was nice. The breakfasts were YUMMMMMMMMM.
The conference was great. Our director, Divya Seth, was really nice. :)
Lunch and Dinner at Novotel were great fun too. :D
And the social events were once again, an amazing experience. :)

Shilparamam
Sorry
Rabbit
Gun
We found Love
Apologize
Slimshady
The Sprite Face
Pseudo-Drunk?
The Madagascar knife
Penguin- PMPD, Antarctica, Happy Feet
Muffins
Puddings
Nestle
Oreo
Squelchy Mess
I could go on. And on...

L-R: Kirthan Pai, Manas Sharma, Anirudh R, Akhilesh A, Sanjana and Me.
At HICC, Hyderabad.
August 19th 2012

Ok I doubt I'll churn out anything sensible.

Tis a pity. When I want to blog, no comp at hand, and when there's one, I don't seem to be able to verbalize.

Life is certainly not perfect. Not even close. Maybe that's why there's the thrill to achieve it?

Maybe I'll do some Bio. Bioenergetics?

Love and Hate.

I'm living a lie.
But the other option is that I resign myself to a future of misery.
When is the solution to all this?
What do I do?

Sanjana and Medha came home today. I felt so happy that the got along well with Di. We spent quite some time in the house and then went out (Di included!) dress-hunting, had lunch, fed Di idlis and then finally made it back home intact :)
I consider this a momentous occasion given the entropy within Di. Nuff said.

It is also a moment to reflect and ponder.
Pa got hurt yesterday. I have no joy in narrating how. Yes, you're hunch is probably right.
And even objectively, It was not anything trivial. He was bleeding. And this happened like inches away from his eye.

And today I woke up, spent the ENTIRE FRICKING morning trying to sort out things, but NO USE.
Nobody wants to change. So now they're at the PS. Why? For What Joy?

I feel exhausted.
Di will wake up very soon.
I'll take her to the park.


Everybody deserves a life of dignity and freedom.
Nobody can deny this birthright to anyone.


But here's a case where it is not so.
What to do?

MUNmunMUNmmmmm

Hello Peebal (I know no one's around, but anyway)
MUN in a WEEK.
Position Papers TOMORROW.
Here's a list of the people who make my day: (In NO order)
Murgi
Soni
Sanjana
Raksha
Priyanka
Medha
Nirupama
Raji
Varsha
Vaishnavi
and so on.


Gah! I'm on a time limit. Bye

iMetPinki

Nuff said.
Ate Nuff.
Lovely hour with the Lowliest thing. (Haha)
Biotech is good.
I'm suffering from a Relapse. SOB.
But...
I'm some kind of optimist eh?



But wait. Then what do I want?
I'll never know what's right.

iBunk

It's not something I do everyday. But sometimes I need it. Or maybe I want it. Either way, given that it's a rare phenomenon, I'm not worried.

Now I have something to say and you may not like it. I'm all for dignity of labor. Why, one of our maids and I were great friends. We played badminton and I tried teaching her English. But then, she left to pursue a career in tailoring and the ones that followed her are an entirely different species altogether. I don't get it.
I'm not overtly talkative with her, but I'm on good terms. At least I thought so, until this squealing business started. And the 'Looks' as I'd like to call them. Bah.
I do my dishes and I maintain my room. I only have to wash my own clothes to be Maid-Independent. I'm seriously considering the prospect. :-/

I read the Wikipedia synopsis of 'A beautiful Mind'. Should watch it, don't know when, though. But I understand why Pa was so moved by it.

I read up the entire synopsis of MIOBI. Dude, what the hell was that about Sasha and Payson? It's a weird world. I used to watch it for the gymnastics and all, but anyway, who cares.

Todsie is Duckie's B'day :)
I might go to her place :)
(But I admit, it feels WEIRD to visit your decade old friend after a gap of 9 months.)

UNIMUNQ :)

Yep, so I've finally begun working on it.
I had a sleepover at Jillu's place. :P It was fun. :)
I also realized how much more I need to do as a part of my research for MUN.


My topic at hand is 'Children and Terrorism'. It is one that I feel strongly for and I believe it must be condemned by all nations. I was watching 'To die in Jerusalem' and I understood how powerful these videos are, by way of influencing citizens to join the fight for their rights. Wafa Idris, I believe set off the wave of female suicide bombers, some of them, in their teens.
I believe in plausible solutions and pro-active resolutions and I'll come up with just that, because I'm no good with fluff. And about the second topic, There is a lot more to do!!


The whole formal atmosphere of it all is something I'll need to adapt to given that it isn't my usual way of talk (unlike Nirupama). I've picked up 3 shirts and I'm guessing the rest will fall in place.


My new favorite word is 'Godspeed'.

Of Inky Records and splitting Headaches.

Water fights (or water therapy as I call it) should never occur in the vicinity of a Record.
A bio record. Written in black Ink. With drawings.


I'm such an UB. Pa's B'day tomorrow. I've got a few songs he might like. I'll write something. That's ALL.
And frankly, I don't feel like writing too. Because that would seem Fake. Earlier, I wouldn't have felt this way, but now, Yes.


Mol.B is something I need to get a hang of.
And Ray Optics on Monday. And AIPMT exam on Saturday, after that the PUC term exam.
Hmm. All that haggling with Gopalan was a waste of time?


I feel like doing something productive. Bye.

Huff. Puff.

I Can Run!

Today

Keerthana spoke in the assembly today. She read the synopsis of her book. And urged us all to pursue writing. When she came forward to speak, I wanted to go jump in a well (yeah, dumb I know), I remembered having a conversation with her months ago. I'd told her I write short stories and I hoped to do something about it in the near future.
And surprisingly, she ended her speech by mentioning this fact (not my name, certainly). 


Its a commendable achievement.


I read the article about Dr.Sarpeshkar in BM. A few days ago, they'd mentioned about the Glucose based cell also. I went around telling everybody about it in college.


I'm not a loner. I'm not a recluse. I am shy though.
It shouldn't matter right? Because every other person at MIT is on the quieter side.


And I nearly died again. Tongue-tied? Aargh.

Bio-energy Cell!

The team of MIT researchers, led by Rahul Sarpeshkar and Jakub Kedzierski, reporteddeveloping a Si-based fuel cell that can break down glucose and harvest its energy. The device operates by collecting the electrons liberated during electrooxidation of glucose at the anode, while the liberated protons travel to the cathode through the solution. The subsequent reduction of protons and electrons, catalyzed at the cathode, restores the net charge neutrality in the solution (or tissue). Since glucose is present in the brain and spinal cord, including the cerebrospinal fluid, the fuel cell can operate autonomously at the implantation site, without the need for supplying the fuel. Moreover, the catalyzing agent for the anodic reaction can be produced by a bacterial biofilm, which has a self-regenerating capability (although this approach might not be suitable for humans due to the biosafety concerns). Researchers calculate that a very small fraction of available glucose will be used, therefore not impacting normal brain consumption of glucose. The prototype device was able to harvest the energy at the power density up to 100 µW/cm², which is sufficient for operation of the ultra-low-power analog electronics that is also being developed by Dr. Sarpeshkar. Harvesting the biological energy is important for removing the batteries or inductive coils from the implanted neuroprosthetic device, and consequently shrinking its size and reducing the number of feedthoughs and leads from the device. Harvesting the energy of organic compounds, such as glucose, it just one possible method of collecting the energy from biological environment, while other groups are evaluating the absorption of light, heat and mechanical vibration.




(Dr.Sarpeshkar is, incidentally a Bangalorean. There was an article about him in BM. He got IIT rank 7 in'86 :))