No Plastic Challenge

So I was challenged by my friend projected for 5 days No Plastic Challenge. She shared a sheet with set of rules and stuff.
What is this challenge?
It has been initiated by CTC, Chennai Trekking Club. Here are some more links that will give you relevant information!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3llaLjtFDpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFSCa8_XW0s&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltR-oz-H6YU

I already avoid plastic as much as possible. I had to think quite a bit to come up with new things. I told my mom about this challenge and the enthu in her was encouraging.
She was telling me about how some decades ago, they would follow a lot of these practices. Composting, minimum usage of plastic, less wasting of stuff. So I just went ahead, observed where was plastic being used in my daily life and here are some instances.

For me, it is not about throwing away all the plastic that I own/use. I wanted to focus on recycling. Have you heard of plastic being used to lay roads? Yes, that happens here in Chennai, thanks to some organizations like CTC!

I hope to continue these practices as it has given me more awareness about the whole issue surrounding plastic. Also, check out this Ocean Confetti video which talks about the dreadful plastics- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVoFeELi_vQ

So, are you going to take up the challenge or sit around throwing plastic, in spite of knowing about the ill effects? Let me know!

P.S:
Here is what I did for 5 days-
Day 1: ‪#‎ChennaiCoastalCleanup‬ ‪#‎NoPlasicChallenge‬ instead of ordering food, went to Andhra Mess and ate in a banana leaf. Avoided plastic. Also cycled to that place.

‪#‎ChennaiCoastalCleanup‬ ‪#‎NoPlasticChallenge‬ 
Day2 - reusing sweet dabbas and shoe dabbas to store my colours set. Instead of buying plastic dabbas use existing cardboard dabbas. Also carried my own water bottle when I went out.

#‎ChennaiCoastalCleanup‬ ‪#‎NoPlasticChallenge‬ 
Day 3: plastic segregation box at office. Hope to give it to some organization which can recycle. 
And of course I designed my own mug.

‪

Day4 and Day5 #‎chennaicoastalcleanup‬ ‪#‎noplasticchallenge‬- subway in a cloth bag. Using old cartons as book shelf. Paper bag to collect plastic waste at home. Walk or cycle or bus instead of auto or cab.

Slightly more confident noob

Coding. "I love coding" say some while others shout in a louder voice "I hate coding". No points for guessing that I was in the latter group. I did not do well in the first basic computer science course. And that set the tone for hatred. I had this mental block. I somehow survived five years of college in ways that I am not very proud of..

In July'14, I joined a healthcare consulting firm. Well, I was sure that I would not have to code.It was in the domain of my interest. I was put in the sales analytics team where we did segmentation and targeting for a European market. I had no clue until work actually started that numbers are crunched by running codes! They trained us in SAS and a bit of Excel. I found myself reading code, tweaking it, and generating reports from the analysis. I found it interesting every now and then but mundane most of the times. But then, I realised I could write some code and make the computer crunch numbers while I crunched Lays.

I kind of lost that fear of coding. I would compare this to those initial days of venturing into a swimming pool and realising that with bit of effort, one can breathe under water..

I joined a software company here in Chennai and happily resigned my first job, the healthcare "consulting" gig, in 4 months. I was kind of clear that I did not want to code "all the time". I was given a role that satisfied this ignorant criteria of mine.

It has been 4 months here and I have started learning how to code, totally because I was intrigued by it.. I did a teeny tiny bit of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python. I am in love with this new found joy in coding. I could not believe that I have been so rigid all these years. Well, better late than never.

A dear friend suggested that I should solve some problems using Python. I always wanted to do those maths problems from projecteuler.net. I struggled. I used google and followed the path that it laid. I was so happy when I cracked the first problem. I did not do anything else till I cracked it. It was like a new friend that I could talk to whenever I wanted to!

And then I started exploring other things. I am still a noob. Very much a noob. But a slightly more confident one.

Well, does this strike a chord with you? Do you fear/hate/not like/dislike coding? Maybe you could give it another shot. This time, just keep your mind open. Be open to learning. Be open to the idea of finding your way on your own. Learning is fun.

Codecademy is a great place to start. The odin project is a good compilation of various sources. It lets you explore other tutorials and lectures. Once you cross the threshold, you will find your way based on your needs.

Have fun! Happy coding. 

Now it is

On a Sunday evening, after a duathlon, after eating nutella, nutella with bread, murku, I found myself talking to my friend about how we come up with so many excuses. And how important it is to put ourselves out there. She was nodding, reflecting, smiling. I was talking about how I have my set of excuses at times- how I have been avoiding writing a particular blog post and a thank you note..

That was it. I just got up. I couldn't stand the paradoxical situation anymore. I got my laptop. Settled down comfortably. Music plugged in. Opened the Gmail tab. And then YouTube. Blogger. Web WhatsApp. Facebook. Thanks to the duathlon today, I have the urge to check the social media site for photographs. Well, it has been good so far with the pictures that I got. Oh come on! It was my first duathlon. It was also 'enlightening' to see how I looked when I was on my cycle. A tiny chubby person. (Nevertheless, the nutella jar shall be consumed.)

Getting back, I closed some of the tabs. The thank you note hasn't happened yet. But I figured out a better approach to get that stuff done. So, yay!

So yes, the "NOW" factor is a very tricky one I feel. We have so many excuses popping up in our head. Excuses for not getting physical activity, for not calling up someone, for not doing grocery shopping, for not learning something that we have always wanted to and so on. But then, if we really want to do something, I think one needs to shut up and get to business! If I really want to do something, I should be able to battle the wars, rather issues that keep cropping up before they take the form of well worded excuses.

In this context, I am reminded of what a friend once told me.. Do something about it or stop complaining. True, right?

Personally, this approach has been helping me. Whenever I find myself in these kind of situations, I try to make peace with the facts or I just get them out of my way. Or else I sit and write about them and gain some insights.. What do you do? 

Running encounters

 I am at home today. Leave. I have cold and feel a bit weak and sick. I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday as well. But I totally loved yesterday's run. Because I was running after a long time. It was a run chat with a friend and I think that's good use of time!
I saw this pepper haired lady who was cycling on campus. She had a helmet and a headlamp mounted on it. It certainly grabbed our attention.

After a good 4.8km run and some ballet stretches, I headed back home. This cheerful lady parked her cycle on the side of the road near ED Dept. I went and said "Hi" and began chatting with her. She told me she is an alumni. Chemical Engineer, class of 83! Wow. I have always wanted to meet female alumni and here I was, with her. She told me about some women's cycling group when I told her that I just started my cycling journey. She had so much positive energy! I just couldn't stop smiling. I asked her to run with us and we joked about body parts that hurt when cycling/running.
On the way back, met a junior and it's just the second time that I am meeting him. We quickly made plans about our Sunday run. I also told him about this encounter with Sujatha, the alumni.

I came home. Same levels of excitement. I told my flatmates. I open facebook to search her profile. Google helped me out and there, I found her. What I also found about her was that she is the mother of Akash Dube, the kid who started the Chennai Chapter for Terry Fox run. Akash was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. They started the Terry Fox chapter that year. The annual run was held in my campus, IIT Madras. It was phenomenal. They raised ~50 lakhs. This has been a tradition now. Akash passed away few years back..

This incident, somehow had a deep impact. It was a reminder to forget about all the petty things that bother us. It was a reminder to look at life from a big picture view. To ease off and explore.

Terry Fox has been a special run for me as it kind of marked the beginning of my running journey. It was then my longest continuous solo run with probably 10000 others running, cycling, skating on the same road. I had also dedicated this run to a very dear friend of mine, who was diagnosed with symptoms similar to cancer.

To me, this is the essence of running.. And well, cycling. Rather, being out there on the roads. With people. Sometimes all by myself. To be a part of this planet and to know different stories. Stories that help us in exploring the plethora of emotions within us.

The other world

Why do they run? Why do you run? Why do I run?

These are questions that keep coming back to me every now and then. Maybe when I see someone running on the roads. Maybe when I catch myself out of breath with my legs pleading me to stop. When I see people complaining that they missed their target by 43 seconds. By 43 minutes. By 43 minutes and 43 seconds. Surprisingly not many complain for overshooting their target. I wonder why. 

People say that human feet are not meant for running. Yes, some have said that to me. Early men and women used to run to hunt their food. You can a read a lot about that everywhere and  here .
Now that we have established that humans did run, I will go ahead and say that everyone can run. Yes. Look at this for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Wlp1sTnoY 

What is running? What speed classifies as running? Maybe 9-10 kmph is running. Maybe the guy who does a 1:30 HM might say that 13 kmph onwards is running. Any speed less than that is jogging. Well, I would say these are just tags. How does it matter what the world calls as running. Does it? Not after you answer the question that opened this dialogue between us. 

In case you don't run, you might be wondering how you will answer this question. That is if you are generous enough to read through this. Or else you might just close this tab and move ahead to catch up stuff on reddit. Wait, will you? Do you walk sometimes in spite of having an option of taking a vehicle? Do you take those stairs at times? Do you care about what food goes down your food pipe? Why?

Ah, I think I run to stay fit. I think that exercise is necessary for the human body. Well, not just me. A lot of people say that. Even a kid in Class 2 would say that. You can find more proof here. That would have also told you why exercise is important, what are the perks, what are the downsides etc. Let us not get there for now. I have come to believe that exercise is necessary and fun! 

So yes, there are a lot of reasons to run. I started running in an attempt to rectify hypothyroidism. I also started running to beat loneliness I guess. No no. Other way I guess. Never mind. After I started running, I realised that it is awesome, in spite all the struggle. In spite of not being able to run 200 metres. Yes. I did not feel lonely in spite of running solo. Maybe because I could now connect with millions who run. Yes, millions. I could now feel happy and smile at a stranger and even hi-fi as we run past each other. It is a big community out there. A very warm and lovely and vibrant and super excited community. To believe you should go watch a run, hang around near the finish line if you are too lazy to move. 

You know, I felt pretty special when I could run 3.5 km (one of the loops in IITM campus) without a stop. Because none of my other friends could do that. Because I was the chubbiest of the lot, least athletic and I could still do that. Later I did make friends who could run 110 kms in the Rann of Kutch!
I did not feel as special when I ran the first 10km run because that was when I saw thousands of others running! People of all sizes and shapes. People wearing all sorts of attires (read sarees!). And when I went to Stanford, I saw how common it was for people to be out there on the roads and running. It was super common.

So why do they run? Well, a hell lot of reasons. The most basic one being- to stay fit. To be healthy. To delay the onset of health issues. To drive away existing health problems. And only after one starts running, will they discover a whole new world. A world where it is very easy to get lost. A world where people cry for missing their targets by 43 seconds in a 42.195 km run. A world where people cry out of happiness as they run. A world where people push their targets and conquer miles.

So tell me, dear friend, why do you run? 

Hidden you

 I had a tiring weekend. I was at the lit fest. I want to write stuff that I jotted down in my notebook. I don't know when..

Do I really want to write? Why do I want to write and for whom do I want to write? I want to use writing as a medium to express. Same with painting. But I am lazy. I am not writing. Or drawing. Does that mean I am lazy? For now, yes. Maybe.

So what happens in these situations? There are a lot of questions in our heads. We encounter things. People. Experiences. But what do we do with all that? We have that want to share. We usually want to. With people. With faceless people. Nameless people. Unknown people. With ourselves. And how do we express and share? By talking. All forms. Texting. Chatting. Blah. Not often do we have people around us to talk. We tend to miss people. We begin to feel lonely. We feel ununderstood. Misunderstood. Helpless. Frantic in search of something and someone. That's when we resort to other forms of expression. Art. That's what most of us do. That's what we should do.

I guess eventually, after all the loneliness, boredom, depression strike us, there would be a state of calmness, equilibrium, peace where we find ourselves. And there would be that hidden artist, out of the shell. 

99 days

One lazy evening few months ago, I decided to sketch a bit in my nice tiny notebook. The one with yellowish handmade paper. I loved the black pens that I kind of took from my dad. He asked me if I would be using them. I was skeptical. But then I wanted them! I didn't know if I would use them ever, but I just said yes and put them in my luggage. And here I was, with the black pen and empty paper. Trying to draw. I had no clue what I wanted to draw. I just doodled a bit and was excited. I took some photos with my old phone.

I came across this blog where a lady drew for some 300+ days. Daily. And she posted the sketches online. Mostly pencil sketches. That's when I randomly decided to draw. For 99 days. Why 99? 9 is my favourite number and 100 is too cliche.

I used MS Excel to determine what would be the last day for the project. Well, it was my friend's idea. Obviously. Dec 18th it said. That's far. Super faaaar was what I thought. But then, one day at a time.

Slowly there was a theme  of sorts. I started drawing whatever inspired me on that particular day. It became this dear diary to me, but with pictures. I made my first tumblr blog. Uploaded them weekly. Learnt some editing techniques on picasa.

It was fun. I discovered myself in ways unknown to me earlier. My parents initially laughed it off. Because they felt that I used to draw much better when I was in 5th standard. I hardly got any feedback from friends. But he did remind me and would ask about my sketches, almost daily for reasons unknown.

Recently when amma was here, I was showing her pics of my latest sketches. And looks like she enjoyed. She really liked them. That meant a lot to me. I did get some feedback from Facebook friends. Not as much as I would have wanted.

Some of the questions that I encountered- Why did I do this? A lot of reasons. Did I plan this? Well, no. Will I do something about this? Maybe. Will I get anything out of this? Obviously. (Why would someone even ask me this question)

We are constantly losing our identity. Getting sucked into the corporate world. Falling prey to the materialistic pleasures in life. And one day, there you are, drinking and getting pained with life. Accusing life to be filled with boredom. Trying to find people to talk to.

If anything, I have learnt to be alone. I have learnt to enjoy my thoughts. I have learnt to keep my phone away and observe the sky and the roads and the traffic. I have learnt to lose myself and feel good about it.

Some small thing to connect to have that sense of belongingness. Some tiny thought to make you smile and feel good. One word to set you into that thinking mode. This is all you need. This is all I need. This is all we all need.

Here is the url-
upadhyaybindu.tumblr.com

Resolutions

Another year comes to an end bringing with it a ton of "top ten" lists. The year end reminds you of your resolutions. Well, remember all those things that you resolved for the new year 2014?

I am soon going to be an year older and probably a bit wiser. This year I am not going to have any new year resolutions. I never predicted 2014 to turn out this way. An international trip, a fundraiser, resigning from my first job, getting my "first pay cheque" for the second time- were some firsts.

I am not going to make any grand plans for my future. None of the well-thought-hundreds-of-hours-spent-in-thinking level five year plans. Why? I think planning to that extent kind of restricts you. It paves a path and forces you to see the route. You see far. Agreed. But do you see the alternate routes? And detours get painful as a lot of things tend to get connected.

What makes me write about this? Well, I saw a friend of mine setting goals for Dec. Pretty lofty goals. I was reminded of the days where I set those kind of goals. It brought upon me a lot of misery. I started feeling bad for not reaching them. I was feeling conscious as I might have mentioned those goals to some people around.

Goals are a way of keeping you motivated. But do we account for the peace of mind and freedom which is much much much needed these days. I read somewhere recently- We are human beings and not human doings. It hit me really hard.

This has been a crappy post. I hope to manage my time better after coming back from work, I need to find ways of spending time in the long bus ride to office and back. I need to.. I have to.. I should.. There goes the loop.