Voices from Within

Hi folks,

The exams are finally over. The projects are done and the reports are turned-in.
This means.... I get to sleep everyday... yay!
And whats more,  I'm on a 4-week Indian vacation right now.

The days are magical. Starts with filter coffee, lovely morning breakfast (the malli idlies and crispy dosas..), the juices and soups, and the amazing lunch. Chennai is known for its fresh seafood and combine it with my mom = wow; the afternoon nap and the evening snack. Life is so good.

Prompts me to think, why? why did I leave all this?

Hope you guys are having a good time in this Holiday season.

cheers,
The V

Hey Guys,

How are ya'all doing?

I have been really busy these days. Even forgot about the usual Diwali post this year. Hope you guys had great fun. I had a pretty good time myself with the UT diwali group. Got to eat some good Indian food on Diwali night.

Ok, this is a quick post to mark one of these little things that make us smile. I haven't gotten to listen to a lot of tamil songs these days. But, happened to listen to this and got hooked on ever since. Playing in an infinite loop these days. This almost beats our "O Vennila" from Kadal desam.

"Sara Sara" from Vaagai Soda!  - Lovely!

~Vinodh

Last week was eazily the bussiest week ever. Juggled multiple assignments, missed sleep for days and finally ..... my robot did not even win the penalty shoot out competition.

I guess the work itself, is the reward!

Reminded me of my undergrad days, where we slogged for 2 months on a robot design, went all the way to Mumbai (unfunded) and came back with empty hands!!
Oh life, you and your ways!!

-V

What if!!!

Hey Guys,

Hope you are doing great!

This is a customary post to mark my birthday, last friday. This is when I try to look at the year gone by and my plans for the future. And, thank you all for the wonderful wishes. Had a great day.

Can't believe I'm 28 already. I was thinking about all the other paths, my life could have taken. The possibilities seem unbounded. We only to live a tiny slice of the range of possibilities.

I think, it finally comes down to the choices that we make and in a way, people we meet.

Read a quote somewhere - "Who you'll be in 5 years depends on people you meet and books you read!!", I guess, I'm in pretty good hands!

Cheers,
-Vinodh

Or the lack of it!!!

This is a short stub of an epiphany, that I had in a morning waiting for the School shuttle.

How amazing is Memory! Of course, I'm talking about our memory. In the brain(may be).

The concept of content addressability is so awesome.  - I can sing a really old song, from somewhere in the middle, with incorrect lyrics. and very likely you'd recognize. This is so darn expensive (computationally). Ask Google - how it would love to have CAM.

We often forget an even more bizarre phenomenon - Forgetting itself.
How painful would it be, if we remembered, every single fight that we ever had? Some how we've evolved to forget the unpleasant things, in the same time remember the important ones.

Just knowing that, it wouldn't matter as much tomorrow, helps.

later,
V

Oh well..

My summer is going well. Hope things are fine with you guys too.

Its been a busy summer so far

• A math course to dig out the forgotten probability theory
• Auditing a Neuroscience/Psychology course on  Cognitive development. Fascinating.
• Teaching Assistant for a basic prog course. My students adore me, obviously.
• Swimming - fish in the see, I know how you feel....
• Salsa dancing - Never knew dancing could be fun. I'm getting pretty good at it too.
• Biking - started biking to school
• Research is going well too. Started a Fun project to generate puns/jokes automatically. Will kill you guys with my auto PJs sometime.

Now, coming back to the title,
There are days when I struggle.. in such pressure.. when I need some support, some pillar to lean on. Times when I long for a good friend, to share and discuss.

I had such a bad week a while ago and was really looking for a break...

And then, on a friday, I got an email from a friend, inviting me to a AOL satsang for Guru Poornima.
Like any other invitation, I didn't RSVP.

Then, later in the same afternoon I landed on a random webpage, with a PDF - DiaryofaDisciple, an everyday journal of a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. It was a eazy, light, happy read and he went on and on about how a Guru knows his followers and gives them what they want. He says, one needn't even ask. Just wanting is enough!

Then, it struck. I realized the Calling!!!

I had to change plans for the evening and made sure I was there. Helpful friends gave me a ride to the place far far away. And well.... I got my questions answered. (kinda)

I have this knack of meeting some really amazing people in the most unusual circumstances. The good evening, turned greater awesome when a gentleman, offered a ride home. Ah, the simple things that we discussed in the car.. well, some things are better left unsaid.

Life has its own way of sorting things out!!

love,
-Vinodh

If you want a quickie of what last-week's AOL Yesplus workshop was about, the title says it all.

The longer version is..
I took the course because, couple of folks, who I highly respect have been recommending this for a while and boy, am I glad that I did?? I had the most awesome time with some of the coolest people I've ever met.

This would probably be the only "spiritual" course, where you run around trees in the parking lot, dance crazy steps and do impromptu skits. I still wonder how it was possible, to make such a serious course, so much fun. It was a good blend of great breathing techniques, the famed SudarshanKriya and some freakish games.

What I liked most is the philosophy of simplicity itself. I tend to clutter myself with a lot of stale stuff. The forgotten saying - 'forgive and forget' restated:: Life is so short to carry around all the emotional baggage. Shed the weight. Travel light. Simplify life! - good concept, I should try.

The course was pretty deep with pranayamas, kriyas and meditation. But, if you just wanna nibble at the surface, you can takeaway a simple view:: Be happy - no matter what! Keep your mind at peace, at any cost! (Does this seem selfish? May be ..)

The homeworks were eye opening too: Make 3 new friends a day, do a nice thing to your parents. I was kinda surprised to see, how friendly strangers are and how even small actions can make someone's day.

On the whole, I got to reflect on myself and the workshop was hugely helpful in calming me down and I learnt some cool breathing techniques.

Until nexttime, be intensely happy
-Vinodh

Oh well,

Long time indeed. How are you all doing?

From my end...
The crazy semester finally ended. Getting back to academia after 5 long years was not as eazy as I thought.  The Industry had 'spoilt' me. But, I shouldn't complain. I had my share of fun in Bangalore. I should have expected this and made room for the initial ramp-up. Once I got into the groove, things started rolling. At the end, things got better and sem went Ok. And one of my papers got accepted to an IEEE conf (this will be my 2nd pub).

The good news is - there is a big tamil gang in UT and the bad news is most of them are like 4 yrs younger. It took a while to stop them from calling me - 'vaanga-ponga'. But still fun gang.


Summer break now. No big plans. Will be on campus doing stuff and taking a minor course in psychology.


And btw, I've registered for Art of Living course this week and looking forward to it.. all excited.


as always, be your super-self

-Vinodh

Hello folks,

Greetings from Austin!!

I've reached Austin and settling in well. Moved in to an apt close to the campus, got a Phone, bought an old bike for commute, registered for courses... and the classes start tomorrow.

2011 has been awesome so far. On new year's day, I got a complimentary upgrade to business class, thanks to BA. :)
Austin has been very kind. - Apt hunting was ok. not tough; Weather is cold, but not severe.

Life is good in general - Making new friends, learning new things, cooking new stuff.

All is well here, except that I miss my morning Filter coffee and Masala dosa.

Until nexttime,
Be awesome,
--Vinodh