The vastness of time..

Now I search the vast sands of time for answers..

They are hidden.. And waiting for none but time to reveal.

“Who can say
where the road goes
where the day flows.. only time..

Where the road goes..only time

And who can say
if your love grows
as your heart chose
only time..”

Listening to Enya is pure bliss.

I tried it out for a short ten minutes. And I felt refreshed and clearly able to concentrate on my work following it. It left me charged and confident, wanting to do something productive or create something. (Oh well, here is a proof, a post on my blog after a super long hiatus, then you can imagine)

The benefits of meditation can’t be overstated and aren’t alien to us, yet many of us find it difficult to squeeze it into our routines. I realized what prevented me from making it a habit were some preconceived notions that it has to be done at this hour everyday, in this manner, in this order etc etc. Actually its not that complicated. Just get down to it, without any strings attached, and just do what is comfortable with you. I’m not saying you sit down and go to sleep. But just be flexible in your approach. Flexibility makes it enjoyable and you don’t need to have the perfect time+place+equipments to go about it. Just do it.

I learned 2 things from this short experiment:

1. Meditation works. It works really well. I felt peace. No, I’m not yet at inner peace, this is good enough for now.

2. It’s simple. You just need a small space on the floor or a chair to sit down on. A fairly quiet place (Pin drop silence is not necessary, but sitting in a rock concert won’t help either.)

Trailing on the second point,most activities for physical and mental health are fairly simple and straightforward. We just need to break the ice by trying it out once, find the groove and enjoy it. Try this today. Go standby. Let your mind rest in peace and wake up rejuvenated.

A creeper entwined around a palm frond..

In the walkway leading to the pantry at my workplace, an admirable sight has caught my attention in the past couple of days. Before painting the picture with my thoughts, I welcome you all to pen down your musings and interpretations on the photo. I would love to see a variety of ideas and stories cropping up around this picture.

While writing the entry, it just occurred to me to start a series called “Paint a Picture”.  Once in a while, I will put up a picture of something that has intrigued me or caught my attention for some reason. I welcome your interpretations on the picture, and I hope it will brew some interesting ideas and add many dimensions to the picture. It can be anything from a single word to a a few lines, preferably limiting it to 5-6 lines.

No, I don’t drink Nescafe. I’m not a big fan of any coffee. But it’s the Nescafe jingle – they simply got it right and nice.

What got me started on this entry was a perfect Sunday morning. Simply delightful, not overdone, just the right tone for a day to myself.  I’m going to describe here the elements of  a perfect start to my day. It’s my recipe and may not work well for everyone, and may even seem cliched for a few. But believe me, when you have to skip your breakfast and morning news, rush to your office and work in a cubicle for 5 out of 7 days a week, a perfect morning is made up of rather uncomplicated small things that we miss out on.

I love waking up early. I concede that it’s not the easiest thing to do, but once I manage to break the force that holds me down to the bed at 6.00 am in the morning, the feeling is excellent and nothing less. Excellent is the word.

Get moving! Yes, it’s 6 00 am in the morning, and it’s time to get some light exercise. It sure adds some energy to the morning.

Splash! A cold shower will do the trick of weeding out any remains of tardiness that’s left even after exercise.

Reading the news or a book while sipping on a refreshing cup of tea comes next. I like the quiet mornings, watching the dawn break into a lovely blue,  reading, and enjoying the aroma of a classic breakfast tea.

After an hour or so, it’s time to plan my day. Highlight the activities that need to be marked off as done. Mentally go through the chores that serve as breaks amidst ongoing work.

Followed by breakfast time! It’s a Sunday, so time to flip an omelette (or a yummy dosai) and throw in a couple of kiwis or strawberries on the plate.  A good hearty breakfast is the best part of the day!

After that, it’s time to go about the day as planned. When things are as right as above – that’s when the jingle “Ho Shuru Har Din Aise” rings in my head!

There you go, as simple as that. In contrast to a harried weekday, where I have to rush out of the house at 6 40 am, skip my breakfast and stare at my work at 7.30 am, I love my simple Sunday mornings.

Needless to say, chances are bleak that you’ll ever find them in my kitchen. Unless a guest or a friend brings a packet of apples home and I have no choice but to accept them out of courtesy. And that’s how I ended up with a couple of them  in my fridge this week, neglected for days I couldn’t keep track of. Inspired by my strawberry milkshake yesterday (I had to save the almost rotting strawberries); I decided to rid my fridge of the apples by turning it into milkshake and just downing a mug of it. It was a quick affair – definitely faster than getting myself to eat them as they are. Topped with a scoop of ice cream – it turns into a mug full of creamy goodness – waiting to be devoured!

One arm outstretched, and holding my nose with the other hand, I took one big stride & simply fell freely into the water! The chill waters engulfed me as I broke into them, took me a couple of feet underwater & back to the surface. Like a little child struggling to walk for the first time, it took me a while to gather myself and get into a comfortable state. To be amidst all the beauty, to take in the feeling of being in a huge water body, was overwhelming. Once our group of 6-7 beginners were ‘off’ board, we started our underwater drills.

The first dive commenced with our basic tests like cleaning goggles, managing the regulators etc. We knelt down on the seabed 5 m underwater and performed the tests in a row.  Having completed them, we slowly warmed up to diving around the area in a group. A visibility of only 15 m doesn’t help much when we are already in unfamiliar territory, and more over, one that does not belong to us. Nevertheless, slowly but steadily, I warmed up to the environment, and began to soak in the feeling. I could move around almost effortlessly, feel light and slow and simply amazing. I began to enjoy the experience thoroughly, and by the end of it, I was only craving for more. The maximum depth we reached on the first dive was only about 10 m, and by the end of the 5th dive, we spent most of the dive time at 18 m. That’s about 5-6 storeys, which may not seem that much, but remember, it’s underwater!
On the first day, we performed 3 dives, each of which lasted roughly an hour. At about 6 pm we called it  a day and freshened up for dinner. We dined and chatted on wooden benches on the shore. There we were, in the middle of the sea on a small dot of an island, going about dive stories.
By the end of the next day, we were 5 dives old. And needless to say, exhausted. For the evening tea break, I came to the beach to find some banana fritters being served. Relaxing on the beach, partly wet from the dives, soaking in the tropical sun, and relishing the banana fritters. It just couldn’t get better.
During each of the dive, as a beginner, I was fascinated by the sights of the underwater. Once, I was literally diving amidst a school of colourful fish, ranging from angel fish to clown fish. That was also when I spotted a fairly big sized squid a few feet away from us. And not to mention the really cool tiny christmas trees, which disappeared into the sponges when touched, like an underwater version of touch me not! At one point, when we were making our way back to the surface, I spotted a huge angel fish, that just appeared and disappeared simply, like that!
It was not all smooth, I also had my share of tough and slightly tense moments. It is important to control your buoyancy during the dive, so that you remain a couple of feet above the sea bed and adjust as and when needed. Coarse tuning of buoyancy is done by directly pumping air into or out of the buoyancy jacket that one wears. Fine tuning is actually done by breathing in and out – changing the volume of air in the lungs. During one of the dives, I was so lost in observing things around me , I didn’t realize that slowly I was going up and almost hit the surface. The whole group was ahead of me, way below at a depth of 16 m,  and the assistant instructor failed to notice this. Whoa, I had to remain calm, and join the group. Slowly contracted my lungs, and pumped out air from the jacket and made my way back to the group. Phew.
Sometimes I had a problem exactly opposite to the above, I went so low to the seabed and stirred some sand, creating a haze. That’s a common problem with most beginners though. Barring these hiccups, the dives were fairly smooth.
Nothing less than a unique experience. I had a whirlwind of a time. The trip went by quickly, and I was so craving for more dives. It’s a totally different, almost of out the world experience. And for all you water lovers out there, you simply have to go dive! – at least once in your lifetime.

It all started when Divya and myself decided to go watch The Cove. The documentary moved me beyond words, and I was nothing less than heart wrenched at the cruelty meted out to one of the most lovable and intelligent creatures we know– Dolphins. Scroll back to one of my old posts for a write-up on The Cove.

Putting aside the serious facts of the story, what I also took away from the movie was a deep desire to experience the underwater. The beauty of diving and the challenges involved simply caught my attention. Being “hydrophilic” myself, it just naturally occurred to me to want to go dive. That began my research into everything related, and luckily around the same time I also happened to meet someone who was already an advanced diver.

After some extensive inquiries, I signed up with one of the many dive shops in Singapore. A friend of mine called Stephen also joined me for the dive. We had to go through some classroom training, followed by a test. There was also half a day of pool training to get familiarized with dive equipments and basic underwater techniques. The time had arrived to set off to Pulau Dayang, an island off the eastern coast of Malaysia. I looked up P.Dayang in the map, it’s but a small spot in the middle of the blue expanse.

We took a coach to Malaysia via the Tuas checkpoint. The bus ride lasted roughly about 4-5 hours. Somewhere in the middle, we halted for some midnight food at a road side food court. We got to know our instructor, a firefighter by profession. The half hour was spent listening to dive stories over some snack or two. Reached Mersing in the wee hours of the night, and boarded a ferry from Mersing port to P.Dayang. The rolling and swaying over the rough seas lasted another 4 hours. Although dark, it was a lovely sight outside, with heavy rains and a star-studded black sky. I went to sleep with recollections of a similar starry night, during a camp in the Kuantan province of Malaysia, way back in 2005. On reaching the island, we went to our dormitories, and I hit the bunker. The rooms were just a few yards from the sea. The smell of sand and sea, and the gentle whispers of the waves gave me a high. For the next 4 hours, I slept soundly.

Feb 24th, 2010. Arrival.
Rushed back from work slightly earlier, quickly refreshed, grabbed some food & took the train for a long ride all the way to Changi Airport. The leader of the pack led us to staff canteen for supper, I made sure to have something lest I starve later in the night.
Arrived in Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at around 8.30 pm. The airport looked pretty decent, although only slightly better than Chennai airport. One step outside the airport, and we were surrounded by touts for taxis & cars. Totally reminded me of Chennai or Bangalore airport. After a bit of haggling, we finally settled with a sort of mini van from the airport to Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel for about 200,000 Rupiah.(Here starts the arduous counting of zeroes in the Indonesian currency!) Roughly a 45 minute ride. The first thing that caught my attention was the number of cars on the roads. The roads were literally jam packed with cars, and took a little while to even get out of the airport. The in-taxi entertainment was Aditya-Jason sweethearts, with Aditya constantly nagging Jason to take pictures using his camera (Owing to the front-seat advantage Jason had) & Jason wondering why anyone would bother taking photos of toilet signs!! Of course, we can’t leave out dear Prof Loh, who kept insisting that billboards are as common in Singapore as Jakarta! Yeah, billboards, another instance we Indians of the group found very familiar. And not to forget, the occasional road bumps during the ride.

It was not very different from travelling in Chennai. The weather, the crowd, was all too familiar. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s a joy to simply break away from the extreme orderliness of Singapore & sink into the chaos around. The taxi turned into a small lane leading to the hotel from the Mangga Dua main road, and at around 10 p.m, this lane was lined with tent shops (or whatever you call them),  selling stuff from bags, to footwear, and hardwares and what not; also road side food stalls. The lane was only lit by lights from these shops. Brought back memories of walking down the streets of my native place, a town called Pollachi (Tamil Nadu, India)

We finally arrived at the hotel & decided to refresh, rest & meet next day for breakfast. Some of us took a stroll outside the hotel on the streets to find the shops closing down, a few bajai drivers touting, but the place was more or less closing for the day.

March 13, 2011

My first meeting with NTU Alumni Club Toastmasters was on January 15th, 2011. I had little idea of what to expect, but I simply decided to go for it and see what is in store. It was a chapter meeting; And I witnessed some very good speeches, some attempts at public speaking by guests like me and some impromptu speeches too. Overall, it was a FUN day. I actually mustered my courage to do an impromptu 1-minute speech in the segment called Table Topics, where the person gets to pick a chit and speak on the topic on the chit for a minute. The topic for me was Blue – and not being the best at thinking on my feet, I actually fumbled a lot and spent more than half the time thinking. Anyway, it didn’t bother me in the least as we all were there for one purpose – to get over the public speaking phobia & improve with every attempt.

Even before I’d confirmed my membership, one of the VPs-Education took down my name for my first project on March 12. That’s fast, I thought!

It didn’t take me much to decide whether I wanted to join. My second meeting with TMC was a special day with CNY celebrations. Instead of table topics, there was a CNY game & Yu-Sheng (A special kind of potluck in celebration of Chinese New Year). The celebrations replaced the Table topics sessions that are normally held.

March 12, 2011. My maiden speech at Toastmasters. I was giving a prepared speech in front of a group after many years, my last one being way back in high school. That excludes the communication classes in university. I prepared for the speech for about a week, roughly an hour a day.

The outcome was decent for a P1 speech, and I received some good feedback. There was an advanced speech – AP2 with the theme of story telling. Today I actually learnt what a Project day constitutes, and what a Chapter meeting constitutes. Projects day has more prepared speeches, about 7-8 of them with evaluations. Chapter meeting has more variety – with a session on Table topics, President’s speech, and visiting guests. Towards the end, the first timers were awarded with a First Timer Ribbon. Thought that’s pretty cool.

This was just a short write-up on my initial experience with Toastmasters. In the write ups to come, think it’ll also be a good idea to maintain a log of my speaking experiences with TMC.