I am writing from a place of privilege, providence, and a pedestal of good fortune but I just feel sad when I open LinkedIn nowadays. The feed is full of people writing about their untimely exit from their jobs due to the ongoing pandemic. I am not an expert to give any advice to people who were working till March/April but not working anymore. The times are unprecedented and until we get a fully functional vaccine, chances of normalcy are bleak. So, we must keep trying, is all I can say.
However, I do have a word or two for Freshers who had job offers but they haven’t been called to report yet, or even if they hadn’t, they were ready to enter the professional arena this year but things have gone upside down, for no fault of their own. I do have empathy with them as I was in the same boat around 2008. I don’t want to mince words but the reality is simple: this time is worse than that time. I have stated this earlier on this blog too that I had 2 Job Offers when I graduated as a Computer Science Engineer. Thanks to the 2008 recession which did all it could to crush my confidence, I had to wait 21 months to get a proper job I preferred. Again being lucky, I got back the job offer in March 2010 from the same company which had sent me a regret letter before imploding due to a financial crisis of their own in early 2009.
In Mahabharat, when Arjun from Pandavas and Duryodhan from Kauravas approach Krishna and request him to fight the war from their respective sides, Krishna didn’t really have any bias. He was neutral and in general reluctant to side with anyone. Both parties knew that Krishna has a large army as well as the most brilliant political mind. So, having him with them would tilt the course of the war in their favor and make it certainly a lop-sided battle. But there’s an interesting story in how Arjun and Duryodhan approached Krishna.
Hindi Diwas was made for the promotion of the Hindi Language in 1953. On this day, CBSE Schools organize Hindi speech contests, government offices across India (including Southern India) tell their staff to use Hindi as much as possible in the official communication, and people try to fake-smile and follow along for a day. Obviously, when something becomes a part of Government Policy, there is a good chance of people not following it.
There’s a nice mini-series of a Documentary on Netflix called: High Score. The premise of ‘High Score’ is the evolution of video games from the 80s until very recently.
Among other things, the game Tetris is discussed extensively in it. 90’s kids would remember how addictive the game was. The aim was to arrange the falling pieces into their place. Sometimes, they won’t fit logically anywhere and one has to wait for another piece to fall which would fit somewhere and get you some relief and a good score. The game might go on for very long and there might be a period that your out-of-the-place piece will be stuck there with no end in sight while you slowly move towards ‘Game Over’.
I have a few potted plants in my balcony. I am not a gardening-is-my-hobby-person but I do tend to them once a day, nurture them occasionally by adding some manure and place them in whatever sun we get. They give a nice ambiance to the small space. There’s nothing better than waking up and observing their growth, isn’t it! Especially since lockdown, this has become a regular practice.
Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist. I mean he is British and he studies biology across the world. He has written several books and is a well-known name. He is also quite an outspoken Atheist who has said a lot about how religion has ruined the world for bad. He was also featured in one of the South Park’s most-mind-maddening episode “Go God Go” (not available legally to be viewed anymore, probably). But he is also known to be the inventor of the important word in this world at the moment:
Meme
An idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture
If your nostrils are still flaring, eyes are still red with anger, blood pressure is higher than your patriotic josh, stay away from the TV News and see these pictures to actually be at peace: https://twitter.com/dog_rates
