Friday, September 25, 2015

An open letter to everyone who thinks every student can be unusually great at Academic subjects

Schools and universities are acting ignorant
Creativity and Imagination are thrown out 
Dear Parents, Teachers and Relatives,

                         How would you define Creativity? I know that every one of you hate this word. For me, Creativity is nothing but the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Well, as the cartoon depicts the current education system is not at all bothered about the transformation of innovative ideas into reality. You are squandering the little brains of children ruthlessly knowingly or unknowingly. The ultimate thing that matters nowadays is, Every student must perform unusually great at academic subjects. You are narrowing down the path. The path to inventions, The path to new experiences, The path to taste the victories and failures alike. You must note the "Failure" part more carefully. Let me enlighten you for a moment. The suicide among students has increased 170 percent in the last two decades up to 2005. Coming back to the "failure" part, the truth is "We are not at all prepared for failures". No big deal right? Can you relate it with the student suicide rates? If not, you are still acting ignorant. Just think about all the greatest inventions in history. The telephone, light bulb, penicillin and much more. Each one of those inventions will have a story to tell. I'm not saying about the "success" part. Yes, am still with the "failure" part. Behind all of these successful inventions that changed the world, there is a huge amount of failure rate associated with it. Every educational institution's are forgetting this basic thing. Without making mistakes, nobody will shine at something. The mindset of each of these institutions is, "it's a sin to commit a mistake". I would like to collaborate this part with a strong quote by Napolean Hill, "Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their failure". Stick this into you brain, please. Failure is not the end of everything. It's the progression of "Success".
Universities think of students as mere machines
Wrong education cycle

 Almost every educational institution's running globally has to advertise the same motto, "Let's make 1000 more robots every year who is perfect in everything except thinking". You have  created a trend called, "Careerism". Yes, we need doctors and engineers. But hey we need writers, thinkers, farmers and artists alike. Where is the balance in it? The problem with "Careerism" is that a student will have only limited options. If he or she is technically gifted in painting, music or dancing why in the world, you are pushing them to the path of mathematics, mechanics and science? Let me remind you one thing, If you have ever done this to your children, student or cousin then you have no right to blame them for not performing well in the academics. As an engineering student, I know the hardships of dealing with a bunch of subjects at one go. I'm dealing with more than 50 papers in the four year's time period. The ultimate aim of doing this course is to get placed in a reputed firm or company. And what the company expects from you? A deep level knowledge in programming and the aptitude to run their company smoothly. Let me describe this more in detail. Are you going to say that a person would be able to master in programming by reading textbooks alone? The only way to master in some particular task is by practice. It's human nature, when you practice more you'll attain a certain level of skill unknowingly. I'm asking where is my time to practice something which I love to do? I spend nearly 10 hours a day at college( Including travelling to and fro). Studies says you must sleep 6-8 hours a day to keep you healthy. That gives me nearly 3 hours to spend something of my own. I'm perfectly alright with it. But hey wait. The lion shares of these three hours would be robbed by assignments, home works and records. Now I'm someone who is incapable of improving my skills at something. If there is one reason companies are reluctant to take even proven academic graduate to their firm is, "our incapability in perfecting something". We are a bunch of machines which memorises something and vomits the same into an answer sheet. The fun of learning something new is missing, the fascination of experiencing something new is missing, The satisfaction of learning some new skill is missing. If any corporate heads are reading this blog, this is what happening around educational institutes across the globe. If you want employees with thinking capabilities you are most welcomed to intervene. I'm pretty sure the situation will get only worse even after ten years. But still I have a glimmer of hope that at least some of you reading this might rethink about your deeds. It's high time, else we would be all dealing with Zombie apocalypse soon. 
                                                                                          Thank you.



Friday, September 18, 2015

10 Awesome and useful websites of 2015 that you probably wouldn't have heard about



This is my gift to you. I'm pretty sure most of you are unaware of these web sites am gonna present to you. Yeah, Thank me later. One thing I could guarantee you, These are the most useful as well as Coolest of all the websites on the Internet today. But you know, they are less popular. So I am digging out these gems of websites for you. Fun Reading.

1. Coffitivity


Are you a workaholic? A programmer or a web designer? Or at least someone who love's to create new things while spending your time on your laptop and Internet? Well, then you sure must love the ambiance of a coffee shop right? Yeah, we all LOVE the vibe of the Coffee shop. People chattering, coffee glasses muttering, undertones. Yeah, Everything about a Coffee shop is super fantastic. This is a website dedicated entirely to the "murmur" sounds. It's so much fun doing some work tuning to the Coffee shop ambiance. Also, they are providing premium tools like audio tracks from other Environments. 

2. Duolingo


Think about all the Languages you are good at? For me, it would be English and my mother tongue "Malayalam". What about all those other popular languages? Imagine, you are going to Spain for some reason and what if you end up in a place where people could understand only Spanish. Yeah, you are screwed up high time right? Not anymore. I found this website called "Duolingo" where they teach you all the Popular languages including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish, Swedish, Danish and many more. One thing I noticed, this is not a "sake of it" website. They really want you to learn new languages, the website itself is attractive. I've started learning Spanish, "Yo soy un humbre".

3. ShouldIremoveIt


If there is any supernatural out there please bless the guy who made this one. This one is a real time saver, real decision maker, real "I'll manage it" thing. This is actually a software which help you to decide which programs you should purge in order to give your PC a little bit breathing space. It'll only cost you 2 MB or something, but pretty powerful and useful as they advertise it is. Yeah, my laptop is super powerful again. Thank you whoever made this software again. Must have tool everyone, must have tool.

4. PrintFriendly


Ever took a printout of a web page? Then you surely must know the hardships of it right? It will download as a bunch of files and If you accidentally delete one of those files, then it's all a big mess. And even if you carefully printed it out, still you will get the crappy things like unwanted links, ads and other pieces of stuff. By using this amazing Printfriendly website, they offer you to take out a perfect printout of a web page excluding the unwanted images and advertisements. Another must have a thing.

5. Sumopaint


This is the exact replica of MS paint. You might ask why I should use this one since I have MS paint on my PC. Well, you don't have to particularly use this if you are a Windows user. It comes handy when you try out the Linux version of OS's. You need a certain expertise in order to work on GIMP. sumo paint is a beautiful and helpful paint' tool which you can utilize. 

6. Corrupt a File


 Life saver, Job saver and  Grade saver. That's the simplest description for this website. Every student and employee have a thing in common. They gotta submit documents and other paper works on time, most of the time we send the paper works to our teacher or boss through the internet. What if you can't complete that report on time? Use this tool and they'll corrupt the file which you send to them. Mail it your boss or teacher, when they open it the file will be corrupted and they can't blame you at all. Instead, you should blame their virus-driven PC's. 



I suggest this to only hardcore movie buffs. If you are not a serious movie buff then skip it. They have an amazing library of documentaries worldwide. Some of it not available on youtube either. They update this site regularly, so there is a huge content of documentaries available here. Again, you will love it if you are a passionate movie guy. 

8. IFixit


IFixit is a global community of people helping each other repair things. You don't have to google for other alternative solutions for repairing your electronics equipment when you are at IFixit. It's a hub of all the repair techniques and tools of electronics items. They are well organized, will provide necessary tools to buy, Will give instructions as well as pictures included with it. Try it the next time when you want to repair something.

9. Pastebin


Quick, quick and quick is the motto behind Pastebin.com. I often use this one when I find errors in my programs. You can quickly paste your whole code, text or anything here and you will get a corresponding URL for it. What more? send this URL to many people and ask them to help to get rid off the errors. No need to mail, facebook or tweet or anything. 

10. Studio Stupeflix


Make amazing videos in seconds. You just need to add some images, text, and videos. Everything else they'll do. You can pick some default themes which are solid and distinct which give the video a master touch. Another good tool to add to your website list. 
Related reading: Top 7 most popular and useful add-ons for Mozilla firefox of the year 2015

I hope everyone will love this list, I know I missed many more cool and awesome websites. Since this is a top 10 list I could only add this much. Hope you'll share too.






Saturday, September 12, 2015

The Hidden Agenda of Ambiverts and why they are better than Introverts and Extroverts


Ambiverts exhibits good qualities of both Introversion and Extroversion. They are more balanced, consistent and rational. 

Are you an Ambivert? Well, if not you must fall into the other two categories, Introverts or Extroverts. If you still don't know which category you are supposed to be in, I guess this post will help you to know more about Ambiverts, Introverts, and Extroverts. Everyone know what must be the salient features of Introverts and Extroverts. An Introvert is someone who is real quiet, not-so-party minded but still enjoy the life in his/her way. Whereas an Extrovert is someone who appreciates more attention, much bigger friends circle, they express their emotions wildly and they are high-spirited people. Well, Introverts and Extroverts have good qualities. But like everything else in this world they have bad traits too. But what if you fall in that middle category? The "Ambiverts". Ambiverts exhibits good qualities of both Introversion and Extroversion. They are more balanced, consistent and rational. Here, I will try to point out the good attributes of Ambiverts and will give you all a little questionnaire to check whether you are an Ambivert, Introvert or an Extrovert.

They are good in Solitude as well as Companionship 

Introverts are more into solitude
A painting named "Solitude" by  Artdoxa
It's a common misconception that being alone or enjoying solitude is somewhat wicked. That theory is plain wrong. You might have heard the famous quote, "The quieter you become, the more you can hear". When you are in solitude there is a great chance that creativity and thinking capacity will double, you will think once again when you make a decision, you can talk with yourself as you talk with your best friend or buddy. They are more tend to become poets, writers, and thinkers. Sometimes you will need extreme solitude to concentrate in a serious work. So, Happy Solitude everyone. 

FRIENDS
FRIENDS is a popular TV series 
Well, since you are an Ambivert or at least want to know the traits of a good ambivert, as I said earlier they are well balanced. If they spend some time in solitude they will surely come back and enjoy Companionship too. Look how well they played it out right? They took the creativity, thinking capacity and all other good aspects of Solitude. Now they are craving towards to steal the finest features of Companionship. They enjoy engaging in relationships and having fun with one another and recent studies show that companionship is good for your health too. Ambiverts everyone, Ambiverts!!! 

They love social gatherings 


ambiverts
Ambiverts excel in Social Gatherings

Can you believe what I just said? Yes, them Ambiverts love Social gatherings. Well, this is some special skill to acquire. Just think of all those Social gathering you went to and how awkward most of them ended  because you were not a Social gathering material? An Ambiverts scores here. They will engage in great conversations and build good strong connections with all of them. Yes, we could only envy about their marvelous features. 

They are more cheerful and High-spirited 

Ambiverts are always happy
Cartoon by http://www.the-cartoonist.com
The comic above says it all right? We are always in the middle of Anxiety and depression. We can't just 'snap out of it'. An Introvert falls into depression because of too much loneliness whereas an Extrovert falls into it because they get easily bored of their surroundings and people around them. I'm not saying Ambiverts are impregnable to these basic human emotions, just that the probability of them ending up in depression and anxiety disorders are far less when comparing with the other two. 

They know when to respond 

Respond, not react
Learn when to speak up and when to shut up
The word "respond" is much more proper than "react". In our reactions, emotions will take a central place. We lose control. It's more spontaneous and sporadic. It'll eventually end up in spoiling our mood and other's too. Introverts and Extroverts tend to "react" more rather than "respond". Since Ambiverts  give first place for thoughtfulness they'll "respond" only and act wisely according to the mood and situations. They are guided by less emotional drama and more logic. They'll give space for reasoning. 
PS: There are no right or wrong personality types, it's your choice to live your life as you wish. But just remember this quote, 
"There is no such thing as a pure Introvert or Extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum. ~ Carl G Jung"

If you want to test yourself to know what kind of person you are, Kindly click on the link

Thank you for your Valuable time. Be Social, Please Share


Saturday, September 5, 2015

Amazing Life Lessons we can learn from the Life story of Nick Vujicic

Nick vujicic at salt lake utah
Nick Vujicic is a motivational speaker

"IT'S A LIE TO THINK YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH. IT'S A LIE TO THINK YOU AREN'T WORTH ANYTHING"

Nick Vujicic born with no arms and no legs. He had only two options left, Either get depressed or overcome his difficulties by breaking "the walls". It's not at all an easy journey for him. People bullied him, teased him, discouraged him from achieving heights. But one thing he maintained in his life was, He never ever blamed his circumstances. Because more than anybody else he knew that no miracle would bring back him his lost limbs. He concentrated more on his "Abilities" than his "Disabilities".

"A recent census showed that 1.8% worldwide deaths are suicide. Which means on average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world."

Picture and facts from Suicide.org
In the wake of these bitter facts, we must look into the strong recovery of Nick Vujicic for Inspiration. If his life isn't an Inspiration then whose is? 
Nick Vujicic is a motivational speaker who has shared a message of hope to over 6 million people in 57 countries. I hope you will be inspired by his story and his message. 

You are beautiful just the way you are 


Nick Vujicic with his family

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE A GOOD MATHEMATICIAN OR A GOOD ATHLETIC OR NOT GOOD AT ANYTHING. BUT I'M GONNA COME AND TELL YOU'RE AWESOME THE WAY YOU ARE." 

We live in a materialistic world. It's a fact that most of the things we do is to impress others. Because, we think that if the people around us don't think you are cool enough they'll isolate you and you will be all alone. Once you accept that you are 'Imperfect' then there is no space for Inferiority complex in your life. You are set free. We all are beautiful. Not in looks, Not in what we say, Just in what we are. 

Don't ever Give up

Don't ever give up

"IF A MAN WITHOUT ARMS AND LEGS IS DREAMING BIG. WHY CAN'T WE? WHY CAN'T WE ALL?"

You will have to face two kinds of people in your life. One is someone who supports and guides you through your hard times. The other kind is people who always discourage you. No matter how great things you have achieved in your life they'll bring you down. If you think that they are the obstacles between you and your dream, then you are wrong. YOU are the biggest obstacle between you and your Dream. Once you start to convert these discourages as your fuel to chase your dreams then you'll become that one person who is hard to beat. It's your dream, you gotta protect it. Fight hard and never ever GIVE UP.

Have faith in yourself

"FOCUS ON YOUR DREAM AND DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER! YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES"


This picture speaks a thousand words. At age ten, Nick attempted suicide by drowning himself in a bathtub. Because he couldn't see a bright future ahead and became depressed. He then realized that he need to be more thankful for his "Abilities" and less focused on his "Disabilities". He says that when hugs and words aren't enough, that's where "Faith" kicks in. When you have faith in yourself you don't need others to believe in you.

Related Reading: Recalling Christopher McCandless an Inspiring journey of a wanderer

Here's an Inspirational speech Nick gave at TEDx Talks.


            


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Top 7 most popular and new Mozilla firefox add-ons of the year 2015

Logo of Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox new update is available on  its official site
Mozilla FireFox is one of the best browsers out there in the market and it's  "Open Source".  Mozilla is in constant battle with all other tech giants over the "Privacy" issue. Mozilla wants everything transparent, means a user must have the control over the things he's doing on the internet. 

One of the attractions of FireFox is the "Add-ons". Usually, these add-ons are developed by programmers related to Mozilla FireFox Community. The add-ons give extra power to the browser. Here are the top 7 add-ons of the year 2015 which I think are the best, what they do, and where you can find them.

Enjoy! And also let me know if I've missed anything.

NoScript Security Suit

Clickjacking attacks are reduced by NoScript
It'll block all active contents on websites 













If you are one of that person who  really care about or at least aware about the malicious threats and Internet Hijacking, this is 'Your cup of tea'. By using this add-on, you will be able to control the active contents on the websites such as JavaScript, Java, Flash, SilverLight. For those who are unaware, through these plug-ins most of the ClickJacking attacks takes place. By controlling them, NoScript reduces the chance of exploitation. It's got more than 2 million users
You can download this add-on from here

Adblock Plus

Adblock is one of the popular add-ons of FireFox
Remove all those unwanted ads with one button click
 Ever wished for a magic wand that could erase all those popping up, annoying, gateway ads? Well, if that's the case here's your thing to block all those irritating banners. But it's also website friendly, it'll not block unobtrusive ads by default. Unobtrusive means if the Adblock confirms that the ad on the website is not a malicious one. This is one of the popular add-ons with more than 19 million users.
You can download this add-on from here  

Undo Closed Tabs Button

Undo Closed tabs has got more than 50k users
Undo Closed tabs Toolbar
Imagine if you have accidentally closed one of those tabs. The next possible solution is to go through the history and manually find out the recently closed tabs. Such a tiring job right? By using this extension, it allows you to undo closed tabs via a toolbar button or the right-click context menu. Well, if you think that there's a keyboard shortcut already exists for this purpose. This extension provides easily access to which recently closed tabs you want to undo quickly. This is one of the rising stars with more than 50k users.
You can download this add-on from here 

LightBeam

LightBeam for FireFox
The Graphic visualization of relationship between sites 
This add-on is innovative and useful in many ways. This extension will enable you to check which all the first and  third party sites you interacts on the web. It'll give you a complete list of all the websites you are visited and also the website which watching over you. The UI of this extension is beautifully built, which use interactive visualizations to shows you the relationship between these third parties and the sites you visit. It's got more than 5 million users. 
You can download this add-on from here

Video DownloadHelper

Video DownloadHelper toolbar
One Click and Easy Download

There's no party without a Video Downloading add-on or extension. It's one of the easiest extension which will help the users to download any kind of streaming videos from websites like Youtube, Dailymotion, Vimeo and many others. By using this extension, the user will be able to convert video files and aggregate it easily. It's got more than 4 million users.
You can download this add-on from here

Firebug

CSS Panel with Inline editor
CSS Panel with Inline editor. Picture from Wikipedia

Firebug is your Go-to man when it comes to debugging web pages. If you are into the web programming then this extension is a must. You can edit, debug and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. It's got more than 2 million users.
You can download this add-on from here

YouTube Unblocker

Unlock Youtube videos using this
Oh yes, unblock it like this 

Yeah, it's time for some action. Watch all those blocked videos on youtube using this extension. This add-on will automatically recognize if the video is blocked. Simply saying, it's a proxy server. And it's totally legal. Oh yes, it's legal. It's got more than 2 million users.
You can download this add-on from here







Saturday, August 29, 2015

Women Empowerment ? At least the Indian Advertisements are on the right path


Indian women with detergent
Indian women and detergents
It's an old Indian taboo that women are meant to do all the house chores even if she has got an earning job. This tradition was  part of Indian advertisements too. If it's a woman-centered advertisement it's usually of them doing washing, floor cleaning, ironing, cooking and all these time men pictured as blaming her for not doing it properly. Not much caring about what "her" choices right? Now, it's time to declare "Her choices", not her detergent desires. The recent ads about Indian women showing the changing mind of society towards women. Not just about the fairness creams and powders, these ads establish themselves as the new fearless face of the Indian women.

"The recent ads about Indian women shows the changing mind of society towards women."


Here I handpicked some brave, new, bold commercials which revolutionized the advertisement industry and the so-called "Old Indian taboo".

  • ANOUK - BOLD IS BEAUTIFUL

This ad series of "Myntra" is probably the best of this list. The ad shows two women madly in love with dressing and each other. Obviously the ad triggered controversy but more than that, the positive response this ad gathered from  young netizens is a clear sign that India is ready to accept "Bisexuality". It made the rounds in many discussion forums and social medias. This ad gave the courage to many of the women(also men) to reveal to their family and friends that they are Bisexual and there is nothing abnormal about it. The ad beautifully portrays that "Love is Love" and "Gender" doesn't matter. Kudos to the makers, yes we are on the path of progress.

The ad beautifully portrays that "Love is Love" and "Gender" doesn't matter.

  

  • ARIEL - #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob?

    In this ad an elderly lady comments and shares, her thought to her friend about how far working women have come and  say with great pride that her daughter in law earns more than her son. Not the typical and cliched Mother in Law vs Daughter in Law ego clash right? The ad made the impact by breaking the stereotypes of Indian brands. But wait it's not over. Just as we thought its the end, we witness an interaction between the busy daughter in law and her husband who is only wearing a banian. "Why didn't you washed my green shirt yesterday, yaar?" asks the husband. Three women turn very slowly to look at the guy, asking in silence the ultimate million dollar question: why is laundry only a women's job? Done and dusted. That's Ariels new ad that even bagged  an award for fighting for gender bias!!! Next time when you login into that matrimonial website expect the question "Are you ready to share the laundry?" #SharetheLoad 
       

    The ad made the impact by breaking the stereotypes of Indian brands  

  

  • HAVELLS - Respect the Women

When you talk about innovative advertisement you just can't ignore them. The word creativity and logic gels with them so much. Getting back to the topic, their new set of ads named "Respect the women" is nothing but dashing and thought provoking. A girl-seeing-ceremony, Mother boasting about her son's foreign life and how hard it's for him to get even a cup of coffee. Yes, you know what she meant by it. He needs a "kitchen appliance" and not a wife. The bold girl steps up and firmly places her coffee maker before the boy, saying take this one and settle down, no visa problem, nothing. Everyone, meet Havells the best in the making of amazing advertisements.

"Respect the women" is nothing but dashing and thought provoking. 

                            

  • TITAN RAGA - WHEN'S THE RIGHT TIME TO GET MARRIED

Film features Katrina kaif as a bride. The ad highlights the issue that Indian women are pressured to get married for all the wrong reasons.  The protagonist tells all the women to don't get married because your friends are married, don't get married due to the pressure of families or because they are being lonely on valentines day and certainly don't because your ex-boy friend is getting married. Finally, she concludes that you should get married when you find someone who "Deserve's your time". 




"Don't get married for all the wrong reasons"


                


  • HDFC - Life Ad Campaign
This HDFC ad spins a heart touching life story. The ad portrays a little beautiful girl wears an artificial limb on one leg and her father who helps his little daughter to realise her dream of becoming a dancer. And the music in the background will melt your heart for sure. The ad highlights the role of a man in his family, not just the financial provider but who is also an emotional binder. The father-daughter relation is what the essence of this ad, how her father backs her in every small thing that she does. What a powerful message boss, "Empowering women"(in this case a little girl) by all reasons.

 The father-daughter relation is what the essence of this ad


          


The era of Fairness creams and powders are over. We are stepping into "Empowered" Era. And I'm happy to say that Indian advertisement industry are on the right path which portrays the "Bold", "new" Indian women.

Related reading : 5 reasons why you should start reading now

PS: If you think this List is incomplete you are welcome to "Enlighten me". Please share your thoughts on this blog and "Fill the list".



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Recalling Christopher Mccandles : An Inspiring journey of a wanderer

"Face your Fears and Live Your Dreams"

Christohper mccandle traveler Alaskan Magic Bus
Christopher McCandless in front of the 'magic bus'

Perhaps this is one of the most fitting and suitable quotes which I can relate to Christopher McCandless' life. Popularly known as Alexander Super tramp among his admirers. Some of you might be thinking why this nomadic, unshaven, homeless looking guy known as an inspiration to thousands of like-minded people around the world right. The word inspiration has many explanations, but the way Chris has defined inspiration is quite different. He is not a billionaire, not a Nobel laureate, not a movie star, not a war hero. The legacy of Christopher McCandless lies was he simply followed his burning desire to live life to the fullest. Many of us are at the grip of angst that what happens if we follow the true desire of our heart and mind. The truth is most of us are not capable of accepting the  aftermath and consequence of such an action. Chris followed his true grit and never wanted to keep his dreams and zeal to the fake guidelines of society. It's a moving story of a young man chasing his dreams to an ultimate Alaskan adventure. Unfortunately, Chris never came back.He was found perished on an abandoned Fairbanks city bus("Magic bus") on the stampede trail in Alaska. His name became popular after Jon Krakauer the famous award-winning writer wrote a book about him of the name "Into the wild".And later Sean Penn made a movie based on the novel of the same name.
Yes, there is a lot of controversy regarding the death and the way Chris went to the Alaskan journey without having  any essential gears to stay alive in the wilderness of Alaska. Let's all obliterate the pessimistic part of his story and unearth the inspirational fragments of his life.

Courage to succeed 


Chris Mccandles Wilderness Alaska Moose
Christopher McCandless and a moose 












The translation of success sense to me as "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition". Everything else  is secondary. The happiness and euphoria of doing what you designed to do are something you can't convey in words. Chris had the courage to take off alone into the wilderness. He experienced the bliss as well as the misery of living alone in the most primitive plight. We have to go beyond our comfort zone, we must strive to have the same courage. Imagine, how hard it will be when we look back on our life thirty years from now and realizes that "I let my dreams pass by me". 

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" - T.S. Elliot 


Enjoy the gifts of Nature


Stampede Trail Alaska Wilderness Travelling
Stampede trail













Nature can wash your spirit clean. Climbing a mountain, spending a week in the woods, Going for a crazy boat ride. The materialistic thing we care so much about today is nothing compared to this magnificent warmth of nature. His life taught me that we must have the curiosity to explore nature more.  Chris's quoted in his diary that, "The sea's only gifts are harsh blows and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that's the way it's here. And I also know how important it's in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong, to measure yourselves at least once, to find yourself in at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing the blind deaf stones alone with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head." Being in nature will help us to evaluate our true grit, what we want in life, what we want to become.  Appreciate the beauty around us. The true magic around us. I am a pluviophile, it's nothing but someone who finds joy and peace during rainy days.  You can be a selenophile, a person who loves the moon or a ceraunophile, a person who loves lightning and thunder or a thalassophile , a person who loves seas, oceans.

"The earth has music for those who listen" - George Santayana 


Don't let materialistic things succumb your life


Materialistic Society Mccandles Quote Busy living or get Busy Dying
The writing inside the magic bus


 


We live in a materialistic world. Materialism as we call it. It's a tendency to think material objects are more important than people; desire for money over ethics. The whole life or at least the whole north American journey of Chris was to  shrug off the illusion of these materialistic things. He believed that money makes people cautious. Eventually, we will fall into that illusion and will become blind. It's such a great insight. It's to be noted that when Chris lived the popularity of mobile and internet was merely less. But today everybody is so busy checking their notifications, messages, taking selfies and are totally blind of the "reality". At some point Chris was seen burning all of his money, he didn't want money to control his life like some people,  he want to be free from society and civilization. The "ultimate freedom" he called it. We have to realize that materialism is an 'identity crisis' and we should overcome it. 

Related Reading: Five Rocking advertisements on Women Empowerment

"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"- George Carlin  


Passion for Reading


Emile Hirsch as Christopher mccandles in the movie "Into the wild"
Emile Hirsch  as Christopher McCandless in the movie "Into the wild"















Christopher McCandless was a devoted reader. One can't complete his biography without mentioning his love for reading. Chris always found the company in the characters of the books he read. He believed that what the mind can conceive, it can achieve. He saw the great messages and potentials that classic literature's can offer. Yes, stick it in your head "Classic literature".  Some wonderful books of this category are( These books were the favorites of Chris), Crime and punishment( Fyodor Dostoyevsky), Death of Ivan Ilych( Leo Tolstoy), Call of the wild( Jack London), White fang( Jack London), Moon face( Jack London), Brown Wolf( Jack London), To build a Fire( Jack London), Doctor Zhivago( Boris Pasternak), Terminal man( Micheal Crichton), War and peace( Leo Tolstoy), Walden( Henry David Thoreau). I would say Jack London's "Call of the wild" and Dostoyevsky's "Crime and punishment" are the best of this lot.

Related Reading: Five Reasons why you should grab a book and start reading NOW!!!


"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is a man who'll give me a book I ain't read,"- Abraham Lincoln 

About the movie 


Sean Penn directed the movie "Into the wild" in the year 2007
"Into the wild" directed by Sean Penn was released in the year 2007














I don't know how to thank Sean Penn for this amazing creation. It has to be noted that most of the book turned movies failed to do justice to the original script. But this one is an exception. I would say this one is a "Classic" in its genre. Explore the internet if you want to, you will not find something epic as this one. Brilliant casting, Intense screenplay, awestruck frames, astonishing and moving music. Emile Hirsch was living on the screen. I think no one could do it better than him. Whenever we mention the name Christopher mccandles we can't ignore this tribute movie "Into the wild". The music by Eddie vedder is so touching and poignant. My favorites are "Hard sun" and "Society".

The Love for Christopher mccandles never ends. He has been an inspiration for me to try doing new things. For me it's writing, meeting new people, going places. I hope this blog might help you to get the Courage to do new things you are afraid to do. I would be happier if you share this among your friends and spread the name Christopher McCandless to more young people. 
If you want to know more about Christopher mMcCandlessthere's a website dedicated for him , http://www.christophermccandless.info/


forest valley sunset trees forest golden wilderness
Forest valley at sunset, photo by Mathew Maaskant

NOW GO GET LOST IN THE WOODS