You aren't safe. Or are you? Or aren't you?

The latest health news that's doing the rounds is that people who sit for 11 hours a day or more have a 40% higher risk of dying prematurely, and sitting less than 3 hours a day tacks on 2 years to one's lifespan (Poor school students sure are done for). Also, overdoing the exercise might lead to health complications later on (Poor gym heroes sure are done for).

This amidst a clutter of stuff I have saved in my computer about food, habits and other things. We're flooded with this stuff. Mangoes protect against cancer. But they also fatten you and raise your sugar level. Just as I put away the cup that once held tea, Google tells me it could cause cancer.

The same publication that claims almonds are good for you might next week tell you they are poison. They will tell you that walking out in the sun gives you vitamin D and is good for you. Hot on its heels will be an article claiming that this activity causes skin cancer. If you are a regular reader of the Sunday newspaper or magazine, you can probably relate.

One of only two things remaining

I stopped giving these articles time of the day after one point, but some people do double-takes whenever they see sensationalist 'research' published. I have little doubt that the sudden ban on chocolates at my friend's place earlier this year had more to do with them (allegedly) causing lead poisoning than any problem with his waistline (compared to me, he has none).

People at supermarkets have never read the ingredients on packets with such care (my habit of nonchalantly dropping in packets of Lays and bottles of Sprite into the cart and getting out of there in 2 minutes has forever drawn looks of derision). This lady I overheard was asking her husband with genuine worry if they should buy their favourite food anymore because it contained a good amount of calcium and that apparently leads to increased risk of heart attacks.

Going through all that makes me wonder:

The other thing remaining

Self-thought: Maybe I should rush to TOI with this theory. I may be able to afford FIFA13 after that.

Satisfying your taste buds could both kill and not kill you one day. Eating anything is both good and bad for you. If you kick the bucket prematurely, it could well be because you studied too much. There's no end to it!

I'm not trying to say you should eat whatever you feel like. Munch on pizza three times a day and you will most certainly die because it will take you an hour to reach the front door from the bedroom to yell "Snake on my bed!" Eat normally. Be health-conscious but not health-crazy. 5 kg overweight is not really overweight and certainly no excuse to starve yourself. Don't stop drinking tea because it might kill you one day.

For the number one cause of death, undisputedly, is being born.

The grass is always greener on THIS side.

We've all heard that the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. While that may be true generally, this is really not the case when it comes to the fence dividing holidays and working days. While one drudges through the daily routine (which, for me, involves waking up before the sun says hello, and sometimes coming back from college long after the sun says bye), the grass seems greener on the 'holidays' side. And when holidays come around, we realise that, lo and behold, the grass is indeed greener on this side!

One way (my favourite way) of illustrating this is the sleep. I hate waking up at 'odd times' (anything that isn't hh:00 or hh:30 which, by the way, i call a 'nice time'). On holidays, I just carry on sleeping if i don't see a 'nice time' and never get up till I see a 'nice time' when I look at the watch (or till my mom covers my sleeping furniture with copious amounts of liquid ice).

On working days? If I wake up 5 minutes late, I have to become Flash in order to avoid missing first hour of college. Here, the 'odd time' is king. It mocks me. Really. I can swear, as the watch showed 06:05 today (a horribly odd time, and I was also horribly late), it gave a mocking laugh. It knew it could get me jumping and going in a way a 'nice time' never could.

It's a situation summed up perfectly by these pictures. And here's a side rant - on working days (except Friday, which doesn't count as one after noon), i never have time to draw these comics, something I love to do!

WORKING DAYS

HOLIDAYS

Also, there's the relaxed nature. You can do whatever you want with your time during holidays, at your own pace. You can sit on facebook all day, write blogs, play games, text, watch TV... anything. At one point during vacation, you might get bored of this. But when you get bored of getting bored, you can always sleep. Or go out. So much to do. Anything but work!

And anything but work is pure heaven.

At some point during boredom, one's heart yearns for some different activity. Please, never mistake this as a yearning for work. You just want to do something different. Nobody wants to go back to drudgery and limiting routine. Nobody wants to leave the green grass for sand dunes even if it is a bit boring sometimes.

I have three words for those of you who want working days back during holidays - you poor fools

Wading through Indian traffic

Ah, the traffic in India. One striking feature of all Indian roads is the way vehicles move. We Indians have traditionally valued humans more than machines. Hence the absolute disrespect for traffic signals. Unless our lovable motu puliswala is there (Of course, some of the better prepared set aside a few hundred for him too, just in case), who cares if it is red or green?

People become F1 drivers on the road even if they are meek mice at home. If they see a chance, they will drive through red lights. It is not just happening but also expected. At some red lights, I often hear a faculty telling my college bus driver "Be smart. If you see a chance to go, just drive without bothering about the signal!"

Residents are proud of this. Surely all of us, at some point, have heard locals proudly proclaim, "You try driving in my city. I can guarantee that if you can drive on my city's roads, you can drive anywhere in the world!"

Of course, this situation is an absolute nightmare for pedestrians. Even with signals, if there is no traffic cop around, you can never be sure where a vehicle is coming from. People driving the wrong way may sneak up on you at any moment (If you get in their way, it's apparently your fault!). 

People who live in my area (or have been there) will agree that getting from CMBT to my house, though a 20 second walk, is filled with death traps. Massive Metal Monsters can come from any one of four directions and make chapati of you.

But some (like me) see the sporting side of it (quite literally). Here is a small graphic I made based on the experience of wading through traffic.

WHAT WADING THROUGH TRAFFIC LOOKS LIKE

WHAT I FEEL LIKE

Best week. Ever.

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

 

 

OVERALL, THE WEEK WAS

 

Meme Comics

9gag.com, DamnLOL.com and the local Tambrahmrage are but a few popular websites bearing those graphic phenomena that are rapidly taking (maybe already taken?) over the internet - memes and rage comics. I am most intrigued by these comics. I'm a self-confessed 9gag addict, and spend hours on other sites like DamnLOL, tumblr, trolldad.com etc looking for the latest comics. I can't get enough of them.

They've even replaced Facebook as my number one destination, so you can imagine! Many an exam has been screwed by this addiction but hell yeah, it's been worth it!

Now I have another awesome timepass idea, based on these memes ... Making them! I present to you two of my creations (sorry for the average quality, I'm a poor MS Paint User. Please click on the pics to see them in all their glory on your screen)

This is semester-end, and we're all a bit pissed off at the moment. Here's one that captures perfectly what happens to most students during the semester. My first ever meme comic!

And this is the second one, based on a real life situation! (Not just mine, I suspect ~_^). Engineering is full of projects and deadlines, and this semester has seen us loaded with 6 of them. Our time management strategy for them all has been the same, and is given below

Feedback is welcome, hope you enjoyed them :)

Looking in the mirror

Ah, self-evaluation. Thinking about oneself, one's faults and strengths. That metaphoric long look in the mirror. The thing we sometimes tend to do when rain scuppers any hopes of time outside, when people aren't responding to calls or texts, or when there's a long power cut. I'm actually a big fan of the exercise (not that I do much about what I find out because everything is gone as soon as the football begins! That's something I'll come to...), but I haven't really thought of putting what I think of me in writing. This idea is from a friend (let's call him M Vijay), so here I go!

1. I am lazy. This cannot be understated. Getting me off my seat to do some work is a Herculean task (this post itself remained in the pipeline for 2 weeks!). But hey, please understand, being lazy and getting away with it takes a lot of hard work!

2. I am funny. This is more other people's view about me than my own. Good to know I make you laugh though. Next time you're feeling down or sick, you know who to turn to, I'll give you the best medicine!

3. My default mood is cheerful. I feel a bit affronted when some people ask "What are you so happy about?". Sirs and Madams, I know you have a lot to be sad about. So do I. Being sad never solved anything, so I choose to ignore the sad things, that's all.

4. I am highly optimistic, and an avid daydreamer (maybe the two are connected?). I like wise words a lot too. When my friends are drooling over steel contraptions in some automobile mag, I am normally found reading Frozen Thoughts.

5. I am nonchalant (look it up, could be your word of the day) to the point of frustration! I just find it hard to really care about most things. Grades? The very top of that list!

6. I am a professional banter merchant, a leg-puller at the top of his league. Your applause cannot be more deserved.

Likes/Hobbies
I like to write (with a keyboard more than a pen, but I don't mind either way), draw (real drawing, not engineering drawing), read (storybooks and articles, not textbooks). I loved math a lot in school, but that is slowly fading away.

Things I'm really addicted to
Football (Watching, reading and playing), Facebook, Texting and Lazing. Any combo of these things = Aki happy, Mommy angry. Her line is always the same - "You can watch the match that ends at 3 AM, you can be on Facebook till 1, will you ever study that long??" Touché, mom, touché!

Nothing good ever came out of these addictions (my sincere apologies to the umpteen friends I made through football. You are nothing but good, I assure you!), but I keep telling my mom (mentally, of course), "Be glad I'm addicted to these things and not some other stuff..."

I can analyze Fantasy Football for hours, even for the most impossible gameweeks, but I'll most likely give up some weird network analysis problem in seconds. It's just me, and I know I'm not alone ;)


That's all I will put down for now. There, a few of my illest-kept secrets, out there in the open, ready to become even more ill-kept! People closest to me will probably find not much new here. Don't worry, I've just started this blog, there is more to come!