Saturday with swimming in Sea

With the weather getting more and more hot one is tempted to take a dive in sea. This temptation becomes more stronger when the evening bus taking you home moves along the sea coast, where you see many others like you enjoying and basking in the sun.

With this temptation difficult to overcome I soon purchased swimming costume for myself. While purchasing I wondered that the costume being a small piece of cloth covering only the required part of body why costs so much. Anyway I still bought it.

I decided to go for swimming on Saturday, as thats the only day when I don’t do any professional work, apart from the house cleaning.

While swimming if you have company of friends then that is very joyfull. Previous Saturday while going for swimming I was looking for a friendly company. Late in evening around 6:00 pm I went to the other building of my institute which is located close by my office, in search for some company. Unfortunately I did not find any. I felt a bit strange in going for swimming alone. But still I decided to go the sea, hoping that may be on the way I would find some friends.

I reached the bus stop located near the sea. There I noticed two familiar person. They were a something like 20 meters away from me. They were standing near the bus. I thought they would take the bus, but when I went near the bus I did not find them there. I just looked here and there, when my eye caught their sight. They were moving towards the area for swimming. I was excited a bit that may be they could join me in swimming. So I followed them. After walking some 50 meters they stopped at a place to change clothes. From back I came to join them. They also felt happy to see me, may be because they thought that a bigger group means bigger fun.

Finally we went to sea. The water was not very deep. It went till my shoulders and when I moved farther away I realized that the slope is not much. Moving some 10meters, it reached till my chin. The sea bed was sandy, which was quite good. Because if it is stony then it becomes slippery due to algae and the presence of sea shells makes them more sharp. A sandy sea bed was like cushion touching your feet. I tried to catch hold of the sand by my feet but it was very loose.

Soon we were joined by another boy who came with a ball (actually a football ).We then stared playing with the ball. This was really funny. Many times sea water went in my mouth. The tongue lost its taste buds.

Obesity Obsession

Yesterday I was reading BBC and I came across a interesting article. The article was about “Fat friends can boost your size”. It sounds funny on reading but after sometime realized that it is very true.

The article can be looked at the following link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7524944.stm

In evening when I was traveling in bus, I was observing and looking fro examples verifying the statements made by BBC. Researchers say that People are subconsciously influenced by the weight of those around them. This is certainly true to some extent. If a thin looking person is in a company where most of members are fat, then after spending days with them he/she would like to be one with them, because the human mind is such that it cannot bear the oddness for long.

Unless the person mind is strong enough to overcome the unspoken criticism, he/she would very likely become victim of bad things.

Thus if you are in a community where most of people are fat then it is very likely that you would also become the same.

Life In Color

I was browsing the site of National Geographic. Came across the photo gallery and found interesting stuff to share. Each gallery has a common color. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown. For each color they put a collection of photos taken from nature. Each of these photos were for me like amazing facts. Beside this each gallery starts with the description of the color.

RED : Red, the color of human blood, symbolizes passion, fire, love, and anger. In Eastern cultures, it also connotes luck and prosperity. Red occurs throughout nature, from dying stars to dying leaves, and humans have evoked its powers for everything from politics to sports.

ORANGE : A balance of playful yellow and passionate red, orange commands attention without overwhelming. This often flamboyant color brings to mind citrus and sunsets, fall leaves, and jack-o’-lanterns. Orange has even been found to stimulate appetite and creativity in humans.

YELLOW : Yellow evokes the shine of the sun and is found throughout nature and the man-made world as a color that commands attention. This highly visible hue is found on everything from bumblebees to school buses, traffic signs to highlighters. Misbehaving soccer players are shown yellow as a warning, and Tour de France racers know the man in yellow is the rider to beat.

GREEN : Green may be the most common color found in nature—it’s everywhere from leaves, grass, and moss to snakes, butterflies, and even the northern lights. Green represents life, vitality, nature, and, of course, environmentalism.

BLUE : The sweeping color of sea and sky, blue is a common thread in nature, seen in the cerulean of a whale shark, the indigo of a stormy night, and the cobalt of a peacock’s feathers. Over the centuries, the hue has come to represent calm, cold, mysticism, and sadness.

PURPLE : Purple is a versatile color. Combining the fire of red with the serenity of blue, it has the ability to soothe as well as excite passion. Purple is prevalent in nature in everything from eggplants to amethysts, and humans have adopted it as a symbol of royalty.

BROWN : Natural and earthy, brown’s warm tones are familiar in nature—think of rough tree bark, fluid mudflows, and dense animal fur, like that of the Kodiak bear. The color, which represents wholesomeness and earthiness, also shows up in man-made goods from clothing to chocolate.

For the glossy pictures check the following link

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/life-color-blue.html

Social criticism of being a vegetarian

Mostly in India people are vegetarian. Actually the form of vegetarianism practiced by most of them is partial. Only a small percentage follow true vegetarianism.

The word vegetarianism is defined by Wikipedia in the following manner : it is the practice of a diet that excludes all animal, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, and slaughter by-products.

Mostly the Indians follow lacto vegetarian: where along with vegetable one can also take milk, honey and other dairy products. This is because Cow is considered scared in Hindu religion, thus the milk is consumed assuming cow to be sacred mother.

Beside this many Indians also prefer to take flesh occasionally. This type of vegetarianism is actually semi-vegetarian. There are many other varieties of semi-vegetarianism.

However certain class of Hindu follow Su vegetarianism : in this apart from being Lacto veg one does not eat onions, garlic, scallions, leeks and shallots. Mostly the people who follow Yoga philosophy, they follow this. Why ?? Because the aim of Yoga is to attain a stable, desire-less and focused mind, and ultimately join the soul with God. Eating these things make the focusing of mind difficult and also makes the controlling of desires difficult. Thus this is practiced by them.

There is another related term Fruitarianism : It is a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. This is mostly practiced by people following Jainism. Some times Hindus also follow this occasionally. They follow it during the times of fast.

Whatever the kind of vegetarianism one follows, the reason for following them can be related to morality, religion, culture, ethics, aesthetics, environment, society, economy, politics, taste, or health.

Now you must wondering why I’m talking about all this ? The reason is that I’m a Hindu and practice Yoga philosophy. Thus I’m a Su Veg but sometimes on days of fast I also follow Fruitarianism. Presently I’m living in Italy. Practicing these are really difficult in places where majority of people are non-veg. Its difficult not because I don’t find lot of vegetables in supermarkets, but because the way I’m being treated by society.

Common remarks and words that I hear from public are : ” are you joking that you are veg ” , ” really ” , ” I will not be happy if I practice that ” etc. and the most extreme one : ” are you crazy ” .

Sometimes the criticism comes in an indirect way. Like many times it happen that I’m called for party by my friends, almost all the people going for party are non-veg with me the only exception who neither drinks alcohol nor eats meat. Thus it becomes quite difficult. Either I have to ask them to arrange for something veg for me which appears like asking for favor or I just make any reason that I would not be able to come but then this gives an impression that I’m not a very social person. This type of unspoken criticism hurts more.

Even when people do make something veg for me, they forget to exclude onions, garlic etc. Once I was called for small dinner party, where they made some veg stuff. The host were happy that I would be also coming for party while mostly I say no. I was also happy that I’m going to meet friends. However only when I reached there that I realized that the food contain onions and garlic, while the sweet dish contains eggs. I didn’t want to trouble them nor I wanted to make a joke of myself. Thus I decided to eat the food leaving the sweet dish. I felt bad that I had to violate the rules. But then I also felt happy that I made them feel good by joining them for dinner.

Recently I had to go for a conference related to my research work. There they asked me while registering me for the conference, whether I’m vegetarian or vegan or follow some other. It was quite difficult to explain them the kind of diet I practice. And unfortunately at that time I didn’t have the knowledge of the different terms assigned to various categories of vegetarianism. Somehow I managed to explain them the restricted diet I follow. But after the conversation was finished I realized that almost everyone in the room was staring at me with wide open eyes.

There are many encounters like this through which I have to go. Just because that I’m veg and follow a restricted diet that I have to undergo an unspoken criticism. Practicing vegetarianism in a region where majority is non-veg, is considered abnormal.

Qualifying exam

Yesterday was my qualifying exam. Its an exam that every PhD student over here in SISSA have to give when they are in 2nd year. We are asked to give a presentation (could be slide or blackboard lecture). Its a kind of demonstration of the research work and learning that the individual has done till then. The examiners are professors who work in various research areas but broadly belong to one field. Based on the performance the students are judged if they are suitable to carry on further or not.

I have been preparing for this exam for the past 1 month. I had to read a lot papers in order to grab as much knowledge as possible, so that I could answer the questions raised while the seminar is going on. I decided to give a Blackboard lecture. I prepared the lecture and then I rehearsed in front of my supervisor. There were lot of changes, I was asked to edit it and give one more rehearsal. Finally the 2nd time, it was quite good and my prof was happy.

Even though I practiced in front of my professor, still I was feeling nervous for the exam. The night before the exam, there was a big thunderstorm. Since it was hot, so before sleeping I left the window of my room open. But in night due to the big thunderstorm there was lightening every now and then on my face, and also the noises by the clouds was also quite disturbing. In short I didn’t get a good a sleep. When I woke, my head was dizzy and heavy. This added to my nervousness.

As the time for the exam approaches, I was worried. I was standing outside the lecture room with my other friends, when I was told that now its my turn to give the presentation. In the lecture room there were two blackboards, placed perpendicular to each other, on the adjacent walls. I was thinking to give the lecture on the 2nd one as that was big and it is more easy to write big equations on a bigger board. So I started arranging the seats accordingly, however the seats were previously arranged to follow the lecture on the first board. The professors and audience had already seated themselves. I was expecting the audience to notice me arranging seats, so that they could also start turning their seats towards the 2nd board. But before this happened I was told to start the lecture on the first board.

Before starting I wanted to take a glass of water to ease the nervousness blogging my throat. I started with a heavy voice and felt a little uneasy in the beginning. However as time passed by I gained more confidence over the audience. People asked questions in middle. Before starting I had feeling that less questions would mean more comfort but I was wrong. I realized that questions helped me in gaining confidence and I felt more ease. The lecture was fine. However some questions I couldn’t answer, they were too difficult for me. As a result they are answered by my supervisor.  Finally I finished the lecture. After which I and other non-committee members (which included my friends) were asked to go out so that the committee members (mostly professors) could discus my performance and research work I have done in one year. We (me and my friends) went outside the room and started gossiping. Soon after a small meeting of the committee members, I was called back inside to hear the judgment. At that point my mind stopped thinking, stopped doing anything. I stood motionless with the lecture notes in my hand in front of all the professors to hear the judgment. Soon I was told by the main committee member, “YOU HAVE QUALIFIED”. On hearing this there was a broad smile on my face. I felt quite relaxed as if somebody has removed the invisible stone that was kept on my head.