Arjun's Blog

College

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A series of (incoherent) thoughts I have had since joining college.

constantly under editing/updataion/addition.

The curiculum is merely a carcass every student is assigned to drag behind them for the next four years of their life. Even the administration knows this, and they dont put too much effort into not letting the world know about it.
Exams and academics only exist to provide a goal to those who dont have a purpose to live upto (yet).
Perhaps a form of totalitarianism, imposed by their political correctness. Giving us the freedom to have such collectives yet also prioritizing our careers and placements. Making it much harder to rebel against them. It is easy to rebel against tyranny but tough to rebel against the conformism enforced by the very freedom of choice. It is tough to realise when some granted freedoms of extra-curricular activites become the slaveries of imposed curriculum. This brings me to the question, shall we ever be truly free ? I tried to fit in, infact if it has been noticed this webpage was reskinned (shall I say stripped of skin, or soul). For the purposes of looking more professional, to be more squared for professional life I had butchred my own creativity. Now that I have realised the status quo, I am no longer afraid of offending people by merely being not squared. This is some paranoia

!!BEWARE!!
CONFORMISTS ARE OUT TO GET
(((YOU)))

Materialism is the end goal of everything, nothing is purely creative. One might look at it saying that materialism is the goal and creative satisfaction is only a byproduct, the college is only the means.

Books are too old, big and boring to study. They arent really needed for tests that are to be aced just once. The books dont match pace with out fast paced world, there is too much information in the air already. Nobody needs an explanation, just give us the short notes.

The library seems eeiry to me. Especially seeing how the engineering textbooks remain untouched.
Some books have been here since the 60's some since the 70's. Finding a book about model trains that was last issued by someone in 1978 brought up a lot of emotions in me. Creativity, free expression lies in dusty corners, neglected since ages. Once practiced by someone.

Cameras.....cameras everywhere, every moment is to be captured. Maybe to make others feel envious of the college-goer's sheer random luck that he applied for this college out of 16000 others because he had heard its name.
Do not live in the moment, capture it for later.

passion....sलोग पोलिटिकल करेक्टनेस, या मेरी आधुनिक प्राकृत भाषा में "राजनैतिक यथार्थता" के कारण अक्सर कहते है की "follow your dreams" "passion के पीछे भागो।" अपनी इच्छा के अनुसार अपने जीवन की राह पकड़ो। और इसके साथ ही आपके इच्छाओं के विरुद्ध जाने वाली परिस्थितियों/व्यक्तिओं /संस्थाओं की निंदा करते है। परन्तु, कहूंगा कहित असास के विपरीत का कर देंखे। क्या पता आपको कोई नया पैशन मिल जाए।

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 09:56:29 +0530

[link—standalone] This post was originally published on my blogger blog on 6 February 2022. This is a revised version of that post. The perfect north Indian breakfast, not just north Indian though. Parantha is a thing that possibly is the largest common tie between one of the largest regions of this sub continent. From Lahore to Calcutta, you can see the similar breakfast of parantas with chai. And why not !? isn't it such a great one. So many different iterations to pick from, tastes great when hot and still remains edible when cold. No need to bother about a pickle or a sookhi sabji, the parantha's already stuffed for you ! It's quite possible one of those foods that strike the balance between ease (of making and eating) and comfort. Representational image because parantha. So the question arises, thy mother has asked which paranta you wish to eat. Wanting to have the perfect breakfast ? You might wanna consult this list I made. But before, I'd like to provide some context to the scale I've made. The way I have graded paranthas might seem a bit controversial to many (i.e. the 2 readers of my blog) The points I've considered while grading are: 1. Ease Of Making While I'm usually concerned with eating, the making process is a crucial step in the entire kitchen to thaali supply chain. Making a parantha isn't something anyone can do. From mixing the stuffing to stuffing the stuffing in the dough its a complicated process. Sometimes the stuffing is too bland, sometimes the stuffing is just too much ! And to be honest nobody likes a bloaty parantha does anyone ? Hence in theory there are many great paranthas, but in common practice only a few taste as great as we want them to. 2. Ease Of Eating Now this is the point I am most concerned of. Paranthas can get very messy, there's loads of butter, carbohydrate, and some more carbohydrate stuffed inside carbohydrate. It's sort of deemed to get messy, and personally I don't bathe every morning and come to the breakfast table to get dirty. Nobody likes a parantha with the stuffing just falling everywhere bite by bite. 3. Nutritional Value Something that a parantha eater shouldn't be concerned with but we'll still keep it. 4. Accessibility Again an important factor that is closely related to ease of making. Paranthas are food, unlike music or entertainment people have limited access to food. 5. Taste Obviously when you're grading things you eat you talk of the taste. For the impatient. So we begin with the tier list, like everything else we have the highest stage of honor the S level. The S Level is occupied by the Gobhi Parantha and the Gobhi Paneer Parantha. The gobhi and the gobhi paneer paranthas strike a balance among all categories. Gobhi parantha's are hardly messy or problematic while eating cause everyone knows gobhi is going to fall around while you eat it and henceforth doesnt stuff the parantha too much. Also, it is much better than other paranthas as it isn't just carbohydrate coated in fat. Coming to the A Level we have The Saada Parantha, The Paneer Parantha, The Methi Parantha and The Laccha Parantha. What the saada and laccha parantha lack in stuffing is made up by their simplicity. A simplicity that lets you enjoy the natural flavor of freshly made flat breads coated in butter or ghee. They also receive many plus points for their greater accessibility and ease of making. Mothers usually are happy to see that you asked for a Saada Parantha while the rest of your family throws a tantrum over which Parantha they shall be having for the breakfast, and usually she'll make you a nice one for your cooperation too. Their lack of stuffings also makes eating them a lot less tricky as there are no more stuffing crumbs that fall around you. The Methi Parantha offers something similar to the laccha and saada paranthas, but with a touch of methi making it a very good winter breakfast. And then the paneer parantha, it's quite the king of paranthas in the ideal situation but the problem is that not all can make it that good. Half of the time you eat it it's either too stuffed, or a bit too less stuffed. Sometimes people don't get the stuffing right and it tastes horrible, but nonetheless the supreme filling media of paneer saves the day every time someone messes up a paneer parantha. Starting with the C level, the C level offers us the Aaloo and the Mooli paranthas. Now for mooli it may not be tough to say why but for the one's who don't get why aaloo has slipped down here I have a few, a few small pricky things with the aaloo parantha. The parantha is literally carbohydrate stuffed in carbohydrate coated in oil. Secondly, the aaloo filling gets messy to eat and almost certainly everyone uses too much butter while making an aaloo parantha and lets not forget how no matter which way you stuff it or with what you're stuffing it, it's always gonna be a bloated parantha do whatever you do. Its a potato, the vegetable of bloat. The level B is occupied by the Piyaaz ka paranta for obvious reasons, lack of taste, just pyaaz. Literally pyaaz, isn't pyaaz supposed to accompany something else as well ? And now we reach the bottom two parantha levels the two breakfasts of sin made by sinners who shall be stuffed into dough and then be coated in butter and cooked into a parantha of themselves in hell. At level D reside those post modern work of art paranthas that can be seen on the internet. Those weird recipes including things you've never heard of in a parantha. Conceived by jobless MBA graduates forced to manage their family dhaba and what not. At level E we come across the comical Lauki parantha, the maker of which shall be sent to heaven by an exception. But that doesn't negate the point that it's a freaking lauki parantha. Followed by this is truly the worst form of a parantha I can imagine, the product of a Satanic American Capitalist Ritual, the antichrist of all parantha's (at least on my scale) the Cheese Parantha. There is literally no reason to put cheese in a parantha. And if someone thinks there is some reason cheese might be put inside a parantha, then let me tell you that cheese you need to put in a parantha is called paneer not your American style melty cheese. It absolutely ruins the point of a parantha, is mess as heck, tough to make, tough to eat, not nutritious and probably tastes audacious. And that ladies and gentlemen was my parantha tier list. Don't get too triggered that I placed your favorite parantha at the wrong spot, its a personal scale I think some people may relate to. Also, if you've got a scale of your own, do share it. PS: This is my personal scale of grading. Will not apply to everyone. If you think that the lakui parantha is the best or something please dont get butthurt. Sun, 09 Oct 2022 14:03:01 +0530

Commento chalja

[link—standalone] Commento chalja yaar. Tue, 05 Jul 2022 16:34:02 +0530

Post JEE Feels

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So my first JEE attempt is complete and now I am here, writing a blog post in a (sucessfull) attempt of relaxing and chilling for one day in what seems like months since I have walked without a head full of stress. This I belive must be my reward. The only proof that I need to strengthen this belife is that today, ladies and gentlemen is the day when the south western monsoon finally arrived here in Delhi.

A pretty good opportunnity to relax

Ah what could be better than that. And here I am, sitting in my balcony. I havent stepped inside this whole day. Coming to my jee, the test was good. I dont know if it was my lazy arse filling the application form when the deadline was nearing or the randomized center allotment that I got my center alloted to me in the opposite side of Delhi. Which to the delight of my bored JEEtard self came with a one hour long drive across Delhi. Now going out is something that I have rarely done in the last two or three years, and then a drive across most of Delhi that's... overwhelming. Floks, I'd purposefully fill my applications late just so that go out on a little drive. Since the center was located Jamuna paar (across the yamuna) I even got the chance to see the newly built Superior bridge (newly built after a decade or so of construction and delays). Unfortunatley I couldnt click any pics, but I would have loved to. Thankfully the center that was alloted to me was in a decent location with decent facilites by which I mean that they had a little AC in the examination hall.

Now I had never expected myself to be so chilled out while giving JEE. For a person who was having stress induced headaches back in November that he's going to flunk JEE and ruin his career, I was astoundingly chill. It was almost akward that me with what little I have prepared I was still confident that I am going to give the exam while others around me were consoling and probably trying to motivate me that "dude dont worry just go in give the test you're gonna do well I tell you" It was pretty tough explaining to them that guys It's allright, I doing good its going to go great. I woke up at 5:30 that day unlike my regular 0500 Hours. Since I had been alloted the second shift I still had a lot of time to revise formulas for one last time before the test. I pretty much arrived at the center on time, and man the experience from the entry gates to the examination room is one ride. First they check your papers at the gate during the entry and then they let you in. Once you're in you go through a series of checks, first is the guy who rechecks all your papers, takes away your mask gives you a new one and checks your "ears". Yes, they check your ears, just in case some son of a james bond doesn't sneak in a air pod or two trying to cheat. Then they have you take off your shoes to check that you aren't carrying any sophesticated cheating devices which may include, bits of paper. Then they perform a manual check on you. After which you're let in then you step into a room where they click your picture and put a tag on your wrist and send you for your examinaton hall. So thereafter I went to my examination hall, I still remember the numbers that guy wrote that I had to take the help of a security guard to deciper 5206-BKA-143. Room 5206, Computer 143. I found the room and frantically looked for computer 143, and to my surprise I was welcomed by a square, yes square not 16:9 not 4:3 but a square LCD monitor with my name and my pictures on it. The one submitted with the admit card and the one that was clicked downstairs at the checkpost as I may call it. Pretty neah huh. As I looked around, I saw weird golden briefcases hooked to the lab's LAN, probably providing the interface for the test. And talk of the lab! the lab I got placed in was the one alloted to the ECE students of that college.

The seat I was alloted was a corner seat and was pretty airy, I was chilling in the examination center to the point that even the invigilator had to check me out twice that whats wrong with this kid. Now I dont know if it were my self diagnosed ADHD (probably not) or just me being pretty relaxed that made me start rocking and swinging in my chair.

Coming to the test, It wasn't anything exceptional. I think did pretty well in physics, maths wasn't bad either. I could have done a bit better in chemistry though.

Now all's well that ends well, this attempt of JEE wasn't my best surely but wasn't the last either. Hopefully I'd do a bit better at the next attempt whenever I have it. Untill then, I guess stay put folks. I'll try to survive too.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 13:40:56 +0530

Hindi Patrakaarita Ka Patan

[link—standalone] अगर आज के समाने में कोई हिंदी के अखबारों के कुछ पैन पलट के देखे तो पत्रकारों की रटी रटाई अखबारी हिंदी के बीच के भ्रष्टता सी पनपती नज़र आती है।
मानो कैसे समय के साथ इन व्यक्तियों की साहित्यिक क्षमता काम होती जा रही हो। परन्तु केवल साहित्यिक क्षमता ही नहीं, इन पत्रिकाओं की बौद्धिक क्षमता भी समय के साथ गिरती जा रही है।
जहाँ अंग्रेजी पत्रिकाओं में नए विचार, नए सामजिक पहलु और उप्लब्धियों पर टिपण्णी और सोच विचार किया जाता है, हिंदी अखबार तो केवल उन अंग्रेजी न पढ़ने लिखने वाले बदकिस्मत लोगों को देश दुनिया में क्या हादसे-घटनाएं घाट रही हैं इन सब का एक जिसे पिता सरल संक्षिप्त परिचय देने का कार्य पूर्ण करते हैं।
जहाँ पर अंग्रेजी अखबार खबरों को कहीं एक आक्रामकता से जूहजते हैं, किसी नयी प्रगतिशील विचार धरा के अनुसार एक घटना को देखते है, और कभी एक रचनात्मक रूप ले कर हमें अच्छे शीर्षक वाली खबरें ही दे देते हैं, हिंदी अखबार घटना का एक विवरण दे कर चुप्पी साद लेते हैं. Sat, 21 May 2022 16:34:01 +0530

The Only Day Your Dad Will Ever Ask You To Watch TV

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This post was originally published on 27 January 2022 on my old blog. This is a revised version of the post.
Republic Day, its like the only time of the year when your dad asks you to watch TV. Or shall I say that wants you to watch TV with him. For all my life republic day has always been a father son moment type of a thing. Spotting celebrity faces in the republic day crowd, to guessing the aircraft names during fly-by's, and having the annual moment where the Arjun tank comes on screen during the parade (and my dad has to specifically inform me about it's arrival) has always kind of been how I've had and seen Republic Day. Its one of the few times when watching TV for a few hours isn't wasting your time in your dad's eyes, because of course patriotism comes before studies doesn't it ?
Nothing can be a better treat to me than watching the Republic Day parade with my family as we have a breakfast of pooris with aarchaar and chai for everyone. That occasional cup of chai, that half a cup that you get once in a while on a weekend or on a holiday. Discussing stories of wartime blackouts, ranks of the old retired army officers in out families and those conspiracies about what really happened during that war. All these memories they have a special place for me, and for most people. Because why not ? It's the one time of the year when the nation is brought up without falling into the politics whirlpool at the breakfast table, when everyone sits and actually enjoys. The only day when your father/grandfather/uncle would hopefully keep their trap shut about Kaangress and Bhajapa. It's not like other holidays when either you have some kind of a religious duty to perform something or half your family isn't home because the holiday wasn't relevant enough.
There is nothing in this world that seems as blissful to me as Republic Day, its that day of the year when you have a legitimate family moment. To be honest I'd go as far as to say that its even better than Diwali. No stress of getting everything perfect, its just an oddly imperfect day for a family moment.
But that isn't really how we have it now do we ? Hours of action streaming daily on the screens, stimulus as high as it had ever been in the history of humanity the republic day parade which used to be a moment of excitement for everyone has slowly started to fade away from society. As the future generations slowly seem to forget the value of this day.
Being born in the 2000's I can only imagine what kind of an event the parade must have been for the people who grew up in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. Seeing men in uniform march in perfect formation like they were fine tuned machinery, aircrafts fly past you with their engines roaring. Battle tanks on the road, such scenes back then could only be seen on once a year. There were no war films, there was no top gun and there were no videogames. Now I think that there is so much for kids to see, there is no point for the curiosity to develop in them.
I do really wonder, will the excitement ever end once and for all ? Will people ever forget to tune into Door Darshan that one and only time of the year ? Will the parade ever become a thing of the past ?
Thu, 12 May 2022 10:49:42 +0530

Blog Up And Running

[link—standalone] Hey there, so now my blog is finally up and running (upto the point where I wanted it to be as of now.) Its nothing too fancy, but it does the job hopefully. I will keep updating the blog and will keep adding more to it. Currently I think that a list of the most recent posts on the front page would be something cool to have. The blog is techincally just some HTML files that are updated by a small shell script named lb by luke smith (lukesmith.xyz). Its a very simple setup which gets the job done, I keep the blog files on my computer and then when I like to post something new I use the lb shell script to create the new post which then is automatically appended to the blog's files by the lb script. Afterwards I add the edited files to the repository and commit it to the main branch to finally add the changes to my github pages website. I shall now port the contents of my older blog to this new blog on my own website. Thu, 05 May 2022 12:38:37 +0530

Pixel Art is the true 'Digital Art' Form

[link—standalone] This post was originally made on my blogger blog on 01/04/2022. In this post, I shall be expressing my newfound appreciation of Pixel art.

Personally, I have always been a fan of old 90's graphics and retro computing in general. Old 90's graphics, although a compromise made by the artists for the days low graphics memory have in this age become something people appreciate. Afterall, it still is an art. And what an art ! Trying to express as much as one can with as less they have is truly a skill. To me this digital art form is the best form of digital art, something that at it's core originated on the computer. No fancy brushes that mimic real life brushes and pens, no artificial realism. It's just pixels ! It's something that can only be properly made with the digital, and can only be properly viewed on it.

Now there are plenty of very good artists who work with digital art, but one thing their art lacks is the true essence of digital. Their art may be hyper realistic, it may be a very humanly art they still do not get as near as pixel art because of one reason, its soul. It's art that immediately differentiates itself from other humanly art, neither replicating real life nor looking like something an artist might as well could have made by hand, it gives me a strange blissful yet haunting feeling. Blissful from the marvelous depictions of the world around us, haunting from it's very nature. Its very nature of making one wonder whether they are stuck in the digital. It does not pixel by pixel replicate our world, but mimics it in a way which makes us realize the difference between what lies inside the screen and what lies outside it. It's weirdly euphoric in a way too if one might put themselves into the seat of the observer and just watch the pixel world from their eye.

From depictions of urban cityscapes to quiet forests and anything in the middle, pixel art has a diverse range of styles and depictions. And when one thinks this art is a bit lifeless, you have animated pixel art too ! Some of my favorite pixel arts. In no particular order.





My sincere apologies to all those artists who's art I've used without permission. I got these of some image board. Please contact if you wish me to take these down or if you're generous add the credits. Wed, 27 Apr 2022 08:30:41 +0530

Wearing A Mechanical Watch

[link—standalone] This article was made on my old blog on 17 February 2022.
Having worn almost all sorts of watches, around a month ago I finally decided to make the leap to a mechanical watch. This leap of mine which truly felt like a leap of faith in the beginning, was a lot more reliable than I had expected it to be.

The one thing that attracted me towards a mechanical watch is the fact that it has life. It runs on the energy you give it. I doesn't take cells, it doesn't need charging. All it needs is a few good winds, and it comes to life. The very thing that powers it is you. They are truly unique in their own sense. They aren't any tracking devices, they don't come equipped with navigational equipment, or solar panels. They have one simple use, telling the time (sometimes the date as well). They don't ship you data to anyone, and neither can they be used to surveil you. Put your ear against them and you'll hear a beat, a beat like none other. Ah yes, the beat of the watches heart.

There is nothing better than a mechanical watch for a watch lover. For a person who wear's a watch on their wrist whatever occasion it may be, the kind of a person for whom a watch is a part of their body that melts into their wrist as soon as they don it, what could be better than a mechanical watch. A mechanical watch completes a man, giving him the sense of time nature wasn't quite keen onto giving him, a sense of time powered by him, his own energy.`

After taking off my G-Shock G5600E and wearing a plain Casio Analog watch for around two months, I rediscovered my long lost attraction to mechanical watches. And to be specific mechanical watches from a very special brand. The brand isn't too luxurious, or too expensive. The watches aren't studded with diamonds and plated in gold, the watches simply were (and are) made with one purpose in mind. These watches are the timekeepers of India, yes the iconic Indian brand HMT. A company which sealed its fate by sticking with the cogs and springs, but that's what makes it special as well.

Now HMT to most sounds like a strange name to most, if you have a village background then you might correlate the name to some old tractors you might have seen. Which is true, they did make tractors. Well, well the name says Hindustan Machine Tools, so certainly watches aren't the only thing they've made. But to most older folks this name triggers a memory, the memory of a watch. After all, HMT was kind of the sole watch maker in India from their origin in the 60's until the late 80's. These watches aren't anything special on their own, licensed Japanese designs adapted to the Indian needs of the time. They aren't meant for luxury, they aren't meant to be fancied. They are watches for regular use.

What makes this brand special to people are the emotions, the attachments with this brand. The excitement of receiving your first watch, the proud feeling of patriotism that comes with knowing that the watch you wear was made in your nation. These feelings stick with people, and with the names as well. In the days when industries weren't open to all, it was companies like HMT that served as the nations time keepers. And like all government ventures and internet explorer, they were slow. Slow to adapt themselves to the quartz crystal, HMT slowly scummed to the new contenders in the 90's, cementing itself to the old mechanical watches.

Shutting down in 2014 due continuous massive losses since the year 2000, their watches soon became an attraction for collectors and people trying to relive their old memories. And oh boy did people spare anything that said HMT on it. Soon all HMT watches that were still selling were sold off. To contribute to this was the e-commerce boom that had just began a while ago. Slowly sellers started emptying their stocks of HMT watches online, where they were selling like hot cakes.

Which now brings me to the origins of my watch. My dad, like many others bought some HMT's during that period to relive his memories (there are a few more reasons I which I may reveal in the future) And there was I introduced to HMT watches. Hearing the about the sad demise of HMT Watches on the news, my dad brought dug into his closet to find his own, old HMT Janata Deluxe which he received as a schoolboy and wore until he completed his graduation. A white dial, with black roman numerals. The words PARASHOCK and 17 JEWELS written on the dial below the grand title HMT Janata Deluxe. And now, if someone's about to say that Arjun didn't you say that this was the common man's watch, why is it studded with 17 jewels ? Well, these jewels don't serve any ornamental purposes, their actual purpose is inside the heart of the watch where they serve as gears, cogs and bearings in places of large mechanical stress, all to keep the watch running as good as new for almost 35 years !

The HMT Janata
Later on my dad purchased a few more HMT's, which includes the one that I wear right now, my HMT Arjun. Ah yes, my long lost watch twin. The HMT Arjun serves as a good example of HMT's simple naming scheme. Making a watch for the civilian masses, lets name it the Janata. Making a military field watch, lets name it the Jawan. And sometimes when you cant figure out a name, give it an Indian name. Anything from Prashant, to Tareeq and Kaveri.

My long lost watch twin.

And this is not just the only HMT Arjun I have, accompanying this is another HMT Arjun with a golden face and a metallic band.

It looks like a johari watch
- One of my dear friends on my gold faced HMT Arjun

And perhaps the last HMT we own (me and my dad, like every other collection of ours have a 50/50 share)
drumroll
The center piece of my collection, The HMT Pilot




A beauty isn't it ?
Now well, if the HMT Janata was for the public, the HMT Jawan for the solider
The HMT Pilot, well you guessed it right, it was issued to pilots back in the day.
Unlike other HMT's I own, this one happens to be shockproof ! A contender for the G-Shock perhaps ? Well no, this sleek beauty is no match for the chonky G-Shocks. The teal lettering on the black face, saying Pilot in a smooth streamlined manner as that of a aircraft fuselage.
Now, this has been a long post. And being fairly honest, there have been things that I have missed and couldn't really have integrated into just one post. So for more things about HMT, I guess you'd have to wait for a while.
PS: The pictures arent too great, I couldn't figure out the lighting. Which is surely a tragedy coming from a person who has photography up on his hobby portfolio. Tue, 26 Apr 2022 12:24:13 +0530

NEW POST! NOW USING NANO AS A EDITIOR

[link—standalone] Okay from now on I will be using nano as a text editor. And that's pretty much all that I have to say. I fixed a lot of the HTML, copied some more from some more webpages. And now this is actually getting somewhere hopefully. Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:14:36 +0530

test post 2

[link—standalone] this is the second test post, well the basic site is up now, not on the web atleast. but likned the blog and stuffz to it. aaj git pe daal dunga dekte hain kya hota hai. Tue, 08 Mar 2022 09:19:14 +0530

Test Post: Chalja pls

[link—standalone] chalja pls vro pls pleaj thanku sary. Mon, 07 Mar 2022 16:18:56 +0530