Robot and its impact on my life

Am I ready to blog about the theme for week 44 "Imagine a future in which we each have a personalized robot servant. What would yours be like? What would it do? What would it look like? What would it talk like? What features would it have?

A personalized robot servant! For the generation past us, it would have been the lady of the house. Whether I like it or not, or you like it or not, it is a fact. I cannot imagine how much work the lady of the house does. No robots can ever replace them. To do it day in and day out like those great ladies with that love and affection, our robots would land themselves in repair very soon. I have seen so many people sit and not even move an inch and expect their wife or their mother to do everything for them even today. I do not even understand how they can do that.

What would my robot look like?  I would like it to be child-like and talk in a child's voice.

What about its features? Surely I would not like it to be like a child.

What would I want it to do? It is tough to think, but I would like it to remind me when I have to take my tablets. I am so sleepy and so irresponsible that I forget the tablets at night. I do not eat breakfast and occasionally do not pack lunch to work when I wake up late. Maybe I would like my robot to do that for me. Fix my breakfast and lunch so that the people around me won't bother me that I don’t take care of myself.

It would be nice if it could do exercise on my behalf, but I think that is asking for too much. What fun would it be, if it started doing all my work? Maybe, the robot would start typing my posts too! And comment on yours too. Would that be nice? I guess not. I would be its slave then.

What a thought! Amen to my personalized robot!

Deepavali the ultimate festival for me.

 Am I ready to blog about the theme for week 47: What's your favourite amongst the festivals/ celebrations you regularly observe, and one that's not part of your tradition that you'd perhaps like to adopt (and why).

Undoubtedly, Deepavali as a kid living on the main streets of the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane. What else can be more exciting? New clothes, lots of sweets and lots of crackers to burst!

In our locality, it was the custom to get up early in the morning, have a bath and start bursting crackers by 3.30 a.m. or 4.00 a.m. I used to burst crackers till 6 in the morning along with all my friends and neighbours. It was important for us kids to observe and boast about which house had the maximum amount of litter from the burnt crackers. It was then time to go to my Uncle’s house where I would spend the rest of the day again bursting crackers. In the evenings, sometimes, we would both go back to Triplicane or to his cousin’s place where we would spend the evening.

And now, to think that I have lost  interest in crackers since over 20 years. The reason for that could be the fact that I moved away from Madras to Bangalore for doing my engineering. Those days, Deepavali in Bangalore was nothing compared to what it was in Triplicane.  

Later on, the prices of crackers went up and the issue of child labour cropped up. These two issues brought down my interest in bursting crackers.

I still love watching the fireworks. As a kid, my Uncle used to take me to St. Thomas Mount near the airport from where we could see the fireworks around the city.  Occassionally, we would see the fireworks at the Gymkhana Club. As an adult now, I go to the beach along with my wife and look at the sky for those beautiful colours.

If there are festivals which I would like to adopt, it would be either Ramzan or Christmas. Ramzan for the fact that it is a month-long ritual culminating in mouthwatering biriyani for me and Christmas, the festive mood that comes with it and culminates in the New Year celebration.

What is Life in an Institution ?

Am I ready to blog about the theme "Life in an Institution?" 

I better be. I have so many posts to write, so much of back log. The last week has been very tough on me, being unwell feeling unhealthy.

I think Life itself is an institution. Like in an institution where you teach different things for different people, life also teaches you different things at different times as you grow.

What is Life in an institution? Growing up in school, college and settling down in life in an institution. I have seen Life in an institution from all perspectives. Maybe the best person to write this post!

In school, I  learnt how to fight with children, take sides in the close circle of friends, study,  rant, play book cricket ( I am not sure whether it is still done), play games at school play ground, fight and stand up for yourself among your senior students.

In college, Bunk classes and make others bunk them too. Watch movies without going to college along with friends (I actually preferred to go alone). More play and less study was the motto. Studying together with a core group of friends. Developing team spirit. Always complaining about the lack of facilities in the institution, be it in the canteen, hostel or …That was my Life in an institution as a student.

As a teacher : Envy the freedom with which a student enjoyed his life. Carefree, Not worry about anything atleast till they came into their third year of Engineering. All play and little study. Talking to parents occasionally about their child’s performance.

As an administrator : This was when I started seeing the true colours of students in an institution. In the hostels, I was appalled with the amount of food which would be wasted by students in their plates. And the answers the students would tell the wardens, Are we not paying the money for the food. Over the years, I have taught them the value of food.

I have seen some indifferent students too. One who told his father that the principal would not allow him to college without a Laptop and made his father, a poor farmer take a loan and buy him a laptop, only to watch movies in the hostel. There was one who had not prepared well for his internal exam and gulped mosquito repellant to avoid writing exam. Another, who brought the fees from his parents and spent it on something else and lost one year because of lack of attendance?

As Institutions grow older and make a mark, so does our life, leaving us to cherish the many memories that Life in an institution offers.