SLEEP........AND DREAMZZZZZ..........

Sleep!!!!!!!!

          It's my most favourite activity in life, other than eating,of course.
It amazing how powerful a tool sleep is. The urge to sleep is sometimes uncontrollable. This I have personally experienced during the proceedings in the lecture hall. It also amazes me that, when it is most necessary to stay awake for important reasons, the more and more drowsier we become. Our eyes slowly droop down and within a minute,we are fast asleep!!!

          During my study holidays this year, my yawning would start by around eight o clock,and by nine, I would be fast asleep on the couch with my book over my head to block the light from my eyes. But today during my holidays, I don't feel even the slightest bit drowsy till about midnight. People say that with will power, anything is possible. But in my case, sleep overcomes my willpower!!!

        Reading, generally anything on the bed,in my case induces sleep. Hence even if I am reading the most thrilling novel with ardent attention, I am usually out like a light inabout half an hour!!! Come to think of it, any thing which I do lying down, from watching tv to playing games on my cell, in the end, insigates sleep!!!!

 
       Generally, during the holidays, I dont like to sleep during the day. This is because, if I do, I have trouble sleeping at night. So one fine day, my mom was calling me downstairs to help out with some work. I was too lazy to anything at that point of time. So I just ran into the bedroom, pulled the blanket over me and pretended to sleep. I may have just been lying on the bed for just a few minutes,but supposedly I had really fallen asleep for about two hours. So at night I just laid in bed, twisting and turning in turmoil for about two hours before feeling the least bit drowsy! That was punishment enough for not helping out my mom that day!!
    Hallucinations are another commonly encountered event for me, particularly when I am half asleep. For example, yesterday, when I was travelling by train, I was occupying the upper berth. In the day triains, I am particularly very fond of the tomato soup being sold. So I didnt want to fall asleep and miss the opportunity of relishing my favourite soup. But sadly, as luck would have it, I began to feel drowsy!!! I then started hallucinating about buying and drinking the soup a couple of times. I must have somehow been able to hear the vendors voices screaming 'soup' and that must have subconsciously been the topic of my hallucination.
However I some how wokeup after about a half an hour. And this time I was determined to drink the soup. So I took out my purse and waited and waited and waited. A dozen vendors selling tea, coffee and biscuits must have passed by about half a dozen times. I was beginning to lose all hopes. Just when i was about to put my purse back into my bag, I heard a vendor screaming 'soup'!!!! And that just had to be the sweetest voice I had heard all day!!!!! The soup tasted amazing,Who knows? My constant daydreaming itself may have increased the savour of the soup.
      Lucid dreaming, wherein I am in control of my own character in the dream, is constantly encountered by me early in the morning after I am awakened by the alarm,but decide to shut it off and go back to sleep!! I tend to instruct my character in the dream to be adventurous and carry out seemingly impossible tasks, for the sake of being made a hero by fellow mates in the end!!!
    Deja vu s also becoming increasingly common in my life these days!! The thing that inrigues me the most is the mystery behind each one. The more curious I become about it, the more hazier it becomes.
    In my childhood, I used to have dreams wherein I was kidnapped. Using my wit and strength I used to somehow overcome the kidnappers and escape. On waking up the next morning, I would e filled with a sense of bravery and satisfaction!!!!!!!
    So to conclude, I would just like to say that dreams may have played an important role in making me the person I am today!!!!!
   As people always say, dream big!!!!!!! And never give up on your dreams!!!
   Which now, in the end, brings me to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous ' I have a dream' speech. His mere outspoken dream could change an entire nation. Taking his example, we should all envisage a brighter future and never take our eyes off our goal!!!!!!!!!!
  
        

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ART OF LIVING!!!

Tell me to climb Mount Everest,I will.
Tell me to go listen to a day full of physics lectures, I will.
Tell me to eat bittergourd for a week, I will.
But if u tell me to sit in one place for the sake of meditation and yoga, I guarantee you that I will run to the other end of the earth and for sure never return until I am assured of no meditation and yoga.

       So when my father instructed me to join the Art of Living basic course, there was of course a humongous amount of resistance from my side. My father basically wanted me to join because I am one of those people who has trouble concentrating on a particular task. I am also basically fickle minded, always hesitating to take decisions on my own, constantly doubting myself and my abilities. So due to all these reasons,my father wanted to me to take up the course, which is believed to help a person control his mind and actions. Also I have been prone to illness, paricularly to common cold frequently over the past one year. For this reason too, to get rid of my illness and vulnerability to diseases, I was asked to atend this course.

  The first day began with an introduction to the Sudarshan kriya and a few warmup exercises. I was highly reluctant to just close my eyes and just sit in one place. I felt like just running out of the hall and never returning. I just coudnt keep still. I coudnt help fidgeting with my arms and legs. At that particular point in time, I felt that even my nightmares were better!

      Another reason that I was so reluctant to attend the course was that it began at six in the morning! I usually wake up at around eleven or twelve on holidays, so you can just imagine how shocked I was when I realised that I had to wake up by atleast five thirty everyday!
   So then the second day of the course followed. The morning began with my usual reluctance to get up, followed by my mother pushing me out the house. I walked sadly to the hall, to be greeted by the friendly smiles of my teachers. So as usual, started with a warm up session, followed by some asanas and then started a discussion on some important 'sutras'. I found the dicussion interesting and suddenly, I found myself getting involved in a deeper and more spiritual manner.
  And then the unforgettable and unimagineable event occured.
 It soon occured to me that there was no escape from this course. So I just decided to accept my present situation as it is, and put in a hundred percent effort while doing the Sudarshan Kriya. It was then that I felt vibrations occuriing throughout my body during the process. At the end of  the process, I felt so relaxed and peaceful. The feeling is something really extraordinary. One has to experience it to really understand what I had been through that day!
    So we had the usual discussions and then regular homework in the form of a few questions to ponder over were given each day. Many beautiful procedures were introduced to us. We were taught many values which, without our knowledge, we have come across in our daily life!
   Yesterday after the session, we shared snacks with everyone. After that we were shown some inspiring videos.
  Today, on our last day of the course, we madeatrip to the Ashram.Our techers guided us and showed us around the ashram. We then had luch at the Ashram afterwhich we continued our course in a small room. After that we attended the satsang, had prasad and returned home.
 So to conclude all I want to say is that the course really broughtabout a change in my perspective and outlook of yoga and meditation. I plan to carry on whatever I have learnt in my future, and just hope that
I deal with everything in my life in a better manner with a cool and composed state of mind!!!
  

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY

                A lot of extremes are encountered in today's world.
                Some people are lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon, while others have to put in their heart and soul into a tiresome daily toil, just to earn a few rupees per day,just being enough to fetch them one square meal a day.
              People say that the instances occuring in a person's life and the type of family that a person is born into depends on the deeds performed in the person's previous life. It is often said that the fate of a person is already predetermined. But I belive that even if a aperson is born into the poorest of poor families, he can die as the richest man on earth. Taking the example of our own former president,Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a boy born in a family of fishermen in Rameshwaram,a boy who used to study under streetlights,a boy who used to deliver newspapers, changed his so called "destiny" by mere hardwork and determination. People might say that superstar Rajnikant sir was just hit by a gust of good luck and fortune, which turned him from serving as a simple bus conductor to what he is today. I agree that initially in the beginning, luck may have favoured him, but I believe that it was his zeal to achieve great heights, along with perseverance that allowed him to become what he is today, a superstar, worthy of worship.
      Just a few days back, I was going through a small advertisement posted by a member of the MFPA(Mouth and Foot Painting Artists). The advertisement had numerous paintings composed by the members. The artists are all those people who have lost their hands, or, are not in a position to use their their hands,due to accident,illness or birth defect. But still, without taking this handicap to their minds, they have devoted their lives to painting with their mouth and feet, and through this they live with dignity and pride,and are contented, by the fact that they are able to support themselves.
     My mother used to run a small school for children with special needs. The children ranged from being slightly autistic or dyslexic, to slight mental retardation.Whenever I was free, during holidays, I would go to teach at the school. While I taught those who had slight difficulty in school, my mother used to teach life skills to those who proved not to be very sociable. She, along with her colleague transformed and touched the lives of many children who were in need of guidance and support. But what really amazes me is the vehemence of most of the children to learn despite their disability. Sometimes my mom takes classes at home itself and when I witness the progress made everyday, I feel overjoyed. I personally love to interact with all my mom's students. Another fact which amazes me is my mom's endless patience. The students sometimes have to be instructed endless number of times to perform a specific task. My mother, without a sign of frustration on her face, tends to their needs willingly.
     So in conclusion, I would just like to say, that, maybe the gods are crazy for creating such despairities among people. But those who succeed are really the ones who utilise whatever they have to their advantage and go on with life, however difficult it may seem!!!
     We, the people who are fortunate to be born into a good family can perhaps help those who are less affluent by, firstly,counting our blessings and then contributing our services.
     At this point, we can take the example of Mrs Sudha Murthy. Her father told her to perform a good deed by opening one library. Today we can proudly look upto her as she has opened more than 18,000 libraries all over Karnataka. We may not be able to make as big a contribution to the society as her, but with what ever we do have, we can offer our services voluntarily whenever possible!!!

William Shakespeare

           

        William Shakespeare was the most celebrated playwrites of his time. It was his understanding of the lives and lifestyles of different kinds of people, ranging from the aristocrats to the peasants,which made his work most admireable.His passion for the written word earned him thousands of ardent followers.Each of his plays is mind boggling and  has a different flavour to it.
            His famous tragedies,Julius Caeser, King Lear,Macbeth,Romeo and Juliet,Othello and Hamlet are celebrated as each one captures a wide range of emotion from joy to grief,of death and deceit. Love and hatred are portrayed in unequal proportions in plays. In his most famous play Romeo and Juliet,love in exuberant amount between the two main characters inspite of the bitter enemity between their families leads most unfortunately to both their deaths. In Macbeth,influence from the lies told by the three evil witches along with the greed for power turns the protagonist of the play into a murderer and a tyrant, being dreaded by the  common man.King Lear is a story where the ruler of the country is blinded by the meer flattery of  his two elder daughters. He doesnt realise the true love of his youngest daughter in the beginning. But when he is in desparate need of aid, only his youngest daughter provides a helping hand while his other two daughters
desert him, leaving him to rot on the streets in his oldage.
         Another characteristic feature of his plays is, that those who are good willed also do not live happily ever after. The twists and turns of the plays keeps one at the edge of the seat while watching them. In the story of King Lear, one would expect his good hearted and youngest daughter to lead a blissful life thereafter, but sadly misfortune befalls her and she is also most cruelly killed. Hamlet is a story of treachery where the young prince fights to avenge his father's murder.But most dismally, in the end, the prince too along with the murderer is killed at he end of the battle.Othello is a story of jealousy and cruelty where the protagonist's own friend turns against him and poisons his mind into suspecting his own lover and asphyxiating her. Later, on discovering the truth he thrusts himself with his own sword for commiting such a sinful crime.
     "Et tu Brute"?, who can forget Caeser's famous lines which he recites as he falls to his death, on discovering that his dear friend Brutus was also part of the conspiracy to overthrow him.Embedded with betrayal and misjudgement which in the end is prevailed by justice, this play is appreciated by all.
    A Midsummer Night's Dream which is referred to as a 'comedy', boasts of fairies,ass-headed men and other mythical creatures.A small misunderstanding between the fairy king and queen along with an error made by the fairy chief causes a brawl between two couples.In the end however, by virtue of magic, all ends well.
   The Taming of the Shrew is one of my personal favourites.It has also been made into a movie with a few minor adjustments to suit the modern day problems. It is the story of a man who by his wit and whimsicality turns a hot tempered lady into a gentle, soft spoken wife who obeys his every command.Merchant of Venice  is also a play filled with wit, where, due to appreciable reasoning by his friend, the protagonist is saved from cutting off a huge chunk of his own flesh in return for his overdue payment.
   Measure for Measure is one such play which highlights the importance of witholding one's self respect and esteem even when the life of  someone so dear is at stake.
   These are just  a few of the many magnificent works of Shakespeare.

    But the real question here is, were all these plays actually written by Shakespeare himself? There is no real proof that Shakespeare was the actual playwrite of all these masterpieces.
 In the movie 'Anonymous' Shakespeare is portrayed as a mere actor.Infact, many people claim that he was infact illiterate. In the film,the real author is revealed as Edward, the Earl of Oxford.In olden days,it was considered improper for noblemen to write.Their only tasks were that of administration and conquests.So the Earl could not proclaim himself as the playwrite.But he could not tolerate the thought of his plays being mere manuscripts. He wanted to infuse flesh and action into his words.Hence it is shown that the manuscripts are handed over to Shakespeare who declares them as his own and has the plays enacted on his stage.

    So until this day, the bewildering question still remains. Who is the real author of all these works of perfection? We may never know! This question may never be answered! But let us honour the author, who so ever he may be, by enjoying and relishing the plays which have provided us with a sense of disdain and comfort both at the same time!!!

ARCHIES-MY FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD COMIC

From my childhood, I have been reading Archie comics with love and passion
The vast diversity shown in the various charcters has always amazed me!

ARCHIE AND FRIENDS

The story is set in the town of riverdale where Archie and his friends attend high school. Each story is different in terms of setting, storyline and brings about a sense of curiosity in the reader.

MAIN CHARACTERS

    ARCHIE ANDREWS 

Archie is the main protagonist of the series.

He can be described as a fun loving accident prone redhead.

His parents are Mary and Frank Andrews who are of Scottish origin.

FRED ANDREWS

MARY ANDREWS

His best friend is Jughead Jones.

His two main crushes are Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper, and the three of them together form the perfect love triangle.

  

  BETTY COOPER

  

Betty can be described as a very sweet fun-loving and humble girl.

Most of the time she is left heart broken by Archie to whom she always plays a second fiddle after Veronica Lodge.

Personally she is my favourite character in the series!!!

She is basically an allrounder, being good in academics(ends up coaching Archie most of the times), sports,cooking and stitching.

VERONICA LODGE

 Veronica can be described basically as a rich spoiled brat(very similar to the Veronica in cocktail,without the drinking though).

She is often called jus "Ron" or "Ronnie" by her friends.

Her favourite hobby is simply shopping.

She often accompanies her father on business tours to different countries so that she can can shop for expensive clothes all around the world.

JUGHEAD JONES

 

 Jughead is Archies best friend.
His main hobbies are just eating and sleeping.
He is always picturised wearing his favourite hat which he never takes off.
He has a lazy dog named  Hot Dog which sleeps and eats just like its owner.

He also has a baby sister whose name is Jellybean.

REGGIE MANTLE

 

Reggie Mantle can be described as one with lots of ego.

He constantly plays pranks on Archie and Jughead for fun.

He gets thrashed by Moose Mason often for flirting with his girlfriend Midge.

MOOSE MASON

Moose is the toughest guy in high school.
But he also acts very dumb.

DILTON DOILEY

 

He is the smartest student at Riverdale High.

The other main characters include

MR WEATHERBEE- principle of Riverdale High.

MRS GRUNDY- teacher at Riverdale High

NANCY WOODS,CHUCK CLAYTON,ETHEL MUGGS,MIDGE KLUMP-are other friends

  

In all the stories, Archie and the gang have alot of misadventures or run into one problem or the other.

But in the end everyone works together to find the perfect solution.

All the stories have a slight sense of humour.

Archie and his friends have also formed a band called "the Archies ".

  

Stories are also written about little Archie(when Archie and his friends were in elementary school)

But there was also this very disturbing video I found in which the characters in the comic change for the worst.

I just hope that such a thing shown in the following video never happens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djRAiiFlCy8

So i would just like to conclude by saying that Archie comics have entertained me till today and hope they will continue to do so in the coming years!!

COLORIMETRY AND SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

COLORIMETRY is a technique used to determine the concentration of colored compounds in solution.


   A colorimeter is a device used to test the concentration of a solution by measuring its absorbance of a specific wavelength of light.

 

 

 

 

digital photo colorimeter

  
A SPECTROPHOTOMETER primarily differs from the colorimeter by also covering the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.Further other devices make the spectrophotometer more sensitive
than the colorimeter.

PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE WORKING OF A SPECTROPHOTOMETER

 
 Firsly a beam of light is provided by source.
This light source then strikes adiffraction grating which acts like a prism and splits the beam of light into its component colours.
The grating is then rotated so that only a specific wavelength of light reaches the exit slit.
Then the specific wavelenth of light interacts with the sample.
A detector placed after the sample measures the transmittance and absorbance of the sample.
The transmitted light is then sensed by the detector and then converted into a digital display.
The following video makes the principle of working very clear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxC6F7bK8CU&feature=related

BEER LAMBERT LAW

Coloured solutions have the property of absobing light of different waveletgths.
The amont of light absorbed or transmitted by a coloured solution is in accordance with the Beer-Lambert law.

BEER'S LAW
The intensity of the colour is directly proportional to the concentration of coloured particles in the solution.

LAMBERT'S LAW
The amount of light  absorbed by a coloured solution depends on the length of the column or depth of the liquid(in other words called pathlength) of the liquid through which the liquid passes.

BEER-LAMBERT law combines both these laws.

                   Here,   Io= intensity of incident light
                               I=intensity of emergent light

 The ABSORBANCE so calculated or determined is the OPTICAL DENSITY(OD) of the solution.

BEER-LAMBERT LAW

The following two videos make the Beer-Lambert law very clear and easy to understand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-BcIDKMSzE&feature=related 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GdXyDpR1pw&feature=relmfu

SOME INTERESTING DAY TO DAY APPLICATIONS SPECTROPHOTOMETRY AND COLORIMETRY

Used in scientific research for measuring the concentration of solid material.

Used for measuring phosphorus content of soils.

Used domestically in food preparation. In fact, the advanced CR-410 colorimeter can precisely calculate the colour of cooked french fries.Until the introduction of colorimeters in the food industry, the colour of cooked french fries was measured visibly!!!

So in conclusion I would like to say that both colorimetry and spectrophotometry are fields which provide us a wide range of benefits for our day to day life.
Also further reseach in these fields may even lead to the improvement of our lifestyle,that is, if  we visualize and come up with more applications for the betterment of mankind!!!










 

INDIVIDUALISM

   On the eve of friendship day,let me take this opportunity to wish all my friends and family the same.

   Now i would like to highlight the importance of having a unique and individualistic approach to face all obstacles in life. Every individual is born with unique talents and skills.But what really matters in life is how they use these gifts of life to succeed.

     An individual's success mainly depends on how they look at life.With regard to this topic,I would like to quote my friend's words;"The colour red can signify both love and danger."

Like this, failure in executing a particular task or living upto one's expectations can be looked upon in two ways....either the task is indomitable and not worthy of giving it a second chance.... or thinking of the task as prey and hunting it down like a lioness, not resting till it has eaten to its heart's content.

   A cricketer can  make a catch without injuring himself only when he takes his hands backwards.Like that, if failure pushes us two or three steps behind, then, in this special case of violation of newton's third law, we should struggle and take four or five forward in our pursuit of success.

    A person must not simply trudge along the road that is sighted first.Instead, they must carve a pathway which is suitable for their own needs and necessities.

The pathway must be one which brings them happiness and more importantly satisfaction.But this satisfaction can be brought about by giving the quest for accomplishment cent percent effort. The satisfaction of doing ones best is like none other in this world.

   Criticism is like the neem which we consume along with jaggery on ugadi.We must swallow it immediately without tasting the bitterness.In this case we must perform the task of our intestines, of absorbing the goodness of it.

  So in the end I would like to summarise by saying that a person must lead his or her life according to one's own wishes and work hard to achieve what they envisage as success.