Single and Interesting

Are you single and interesting?

While having a casual chat with one of my friends i stumbled upon the problem of 'single and interesting'. Either you are single and not interesting or you are interesting but not single. That's the biggest challenge being faced by some of us. Is it true, are most interesting people already taken? And the ones who are single, are they single because they are not interesting?

Whats the trend nowadays? Are we each suppose to find and lock in on our girlfriends(boyfriends) when we were toddlers? Because by the time you reach puberty all the good ones are already taken! Some people are way too lucky and find love very early on in life and things go sailing all the way and they marry each other. Then they are some who care not to look around at all or are too shy and are just perfect for the concept of arranged marriage. And finally there are those who find love in spurts, its there now and gone tomorrow, back again and oops gone again. It's this last cohort of people that make me wonder ow long do you wait to come across that one single girl(guy) who also happens to be interesting?

In my opinion the concept of 'interesting' has changed and evolved with time. What was defined as interesting in our parent's time are less of issues now. Nowadays we looks for the magic word called "Spark" or "Chemistry". Dunno what that means but let me take a guess, a little bit of physical attraction, lots of ability to flirt and excite you and then maybe the other necessary stuff like education, good family background etc. If the girl is an achiever she will expect the guy to share all responsibilities, on the other hand if the guy is conservative, he will expect the girl to be good looking, a great homemaker plus if she works (not career oriented) that would be good.

So our expectation have changed, the list of qualities that we look for in our partners whether to just date or think of marriage has grown two-folds. While we are less willing to compromise, our expectations are growing in leaps and bounds. No wonder marriages these days are harder to work on and divorce rates are shooting up. Well whatever be the reasons, the question for some of us still remains are you single and interesting

Satisfaction

Satisfaction is defined as a feeling of contentment. Something that puts your body and mind at ease and gives you happiness. Some people get it from working hard, some from having an orgasm while other from simply eating a dark rich chocolate cake glazed with chocolate icing. All varied sources but giving the same feeling of contentment.

I on the other hand have recently noticed that i get satisfaction from Teaching. Being a teaching assistant i have experienced the art of teaching since the past 4 years. Handling on average 100 students was a scary thought initially but now its a piece of cake. I look forward to the days i have to teach. Three hours back to back, kills my legs, leaves me dead thereafter but leaves me super content. For those three hours i forget all my worries, all my tensions, the only thing that's on my mind is how to explain this concept well to the listeners sitting right in front of me. How should i help them out and make sure they understand the material well. How can i best explain what is "Elasticity" and why should it matter to them.

Satisfaction sets in when I ask my students a tricky question and they respond promptly and with enthusiasm. When I see them all do well on the exam and take interest in the course, ask me questions, try to challenge my knowledge. That feeling is truly of contentment, like I did my job right and did my best.

No matter what you are doing or how your are doing it in life, to get that feeling of satisfaction and contentment is in my knowledge paramount. So whether it is eating that chocolate cake or being the CEO of a company, doing your regular chores or just lounging around not doing nothing, make sure you do it well and do it to the point till you achieve that feeling which is called "Satisfaction" .

Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD)

I am in the fifth year of my PhD program. A few months from now i will be graduating and while i spend another weekend writing out my job applications, i am filled with mixed emotions. The joy and excitement that i am finally graduating and the sinking feeling that this will be the last time i will be a "Student", last time that i will be attending an University. My student life is soon going to come to an end forever (and NO i am not planning to do a post-doc).

For as long as i can remember i have lived a life of a student in some form or the other. First it was because i had to be educated so i had to go to high school, then to get a job just a high school degree is not enough, so you go to college. When you complete a bachelor's degree you realize the whole world has it, so you need something more and that leads you into grad school and finally when we are not just satisfied with a masters, we pile ourselves higher and deeper (PhD). So i won't be wrong if i say that i have pretty much spent all my life studying :)

A lot of people hate student life, well yeah, student life is synonymous to being poor, not having a car, enough money to buy good clothes, dine and shine, sharing a house/room with other intolerable people, home works and assignment and of course the pressure to get "good grades". I on the contrary have loved it specially the last five years of my PhD. Lots of flexibility, you work on your own schedule, get up at 10am, sleep at 3am, no tensions of going to "office" the next day, lots of friends that come automatically just because you are in "School" and no "office politics". Life is like a smooth sailing boat just that you are sailing on a small dilapidated boat and not the billion dollar yacht.

These thoughts are not just some random thoughts, they are pretty important thoughts because they in a way are steering my decision to the type of job that i want to do when i graduate. Do I want to apply to the industry or do i want to apply to academic teaching jobs? Please do not get me wrong the job of a teacher is in no way less stressful and should not be undermined but of course its different from a job of a consultant or an Investment Banker. Do i want to work in an environment that offers me flexibility and work on my own terms, do research on topics i am curious about and educate students out there? Or do i want to work in a fast pace throat-cutting job where each one just looks out for himself, your success is measured by how much you are making or which "brand" of company you are working for? Do i or should i get into that "Rat" race?

When i entered the program i was pretty confident that teaching was not for me, and as i am here about to leave the program i am pretty confident that teaching may also be for me :)

Entries and Exits

I have always wondered why do people comes into our lives and then leave? Is that a part and parcel of life and what is termed as "experience"? The person who was once your best friend in school no longer appears in either your phone books or emails.

Someone once told me "We meet to part and part to meet" and this statement has in fact consoled me on so many occasions. Are friends circumstantial? I don't mean to imply that we cannot have true friends. However most of us meet people or make friends in our local surrounding. We might become close to someone because we see them on a daily basis and spend most of our time with them. The more time you spend the closer you get to them and your mind makes you believe that he/she is a good friend. But are they truly your friend? Or are they just some people you get use to seeing and hanging out with?

Then comes one incidence in life where you have to move/leave/part and friends no longer remain friends. The innumerable hours that you spent with them slowly begins to fade in your mind and your priorities change. You try to keep in touch, in the beginning by daily calls and emails and then those become weekly then monthly and soon even yearly. Where did all those strong feelings vanish? If they truly were so strong why did they fade? Which makes me then wonder were those feeling even real or circumstantial?

Many people have walked into and out of my life. I won't be wrong if i say that i have not forgotten a single one of them but i will be honest, some have faded and some are fading far away. Each one has taught me something good and something bad and even though i cannot figure out why they walked into my life and left, i can figure out the good and the bad that i learned from them.

And while i walk down the road of life, innumerable people will cross my path, some for a second, some for days and some to stay forever. But each one of them will leave an impression behind, impressions that shape me and teach me something as small as a new song, or the meaning of a new word or maybe something as big as how to live life :)

Writing a blog

I have always wanted to write blogs though the reason to write one was never clear to me. What was the intention?

1. Was it to increase my writing skills?
2. Was it awaken the creative side in me?
3. Was it to share bits and pieces of my life with the world outside?
4. Or was it simply to be cool (if at all maintaining a blog is 'cool'?

Whatever be the reason , here I am really sitting and writing my first official blog.
I am excited and at the same time apprehensive. What is it that I write about? What and how much of the information should i divulge out to the world about me or about anything around me that i care about? What are the rules of writing a blog? Are they any? Should i be verbose and pour my heart out or be discrete and keep it precise?

I guess writing a blog is really not that simple, or is it that i am making this too complicated? Isn't this suppose to be when one just simply sits in front of the computer and starts to write whatever comes to their mind :) But my mind is swimming with a million thoughts. Should i randomly select one thought and start writing about it?

I guess I still need to figure out the purpose of writing blogs, why should i sit in front of the computer and type out my thoughts aloud. Or maybe its an advanced way to write diaries. So instead of puring your heart out on a paper, you actually pour it out to the "world wide web".

Whatever it is, for now the feeling is pretty strong and so i am going to try and put something meaningful out here. Though let me warn you, don't get too excited, reasons are week and the emotions strong...so maybe I will or maybe i will not!!!!