A Step Closer To My Dreams

A journalist, a photographer, a writer, a public relations professional, a graphic designer, a social media analyst and many more of such out-of-the-box career options pulled me towards a Communications course. But to ace any of these jobs, you need right education, and after my high school, this is where I thought I’d hit a roadblock. Just like my classmates, even I dreamt of entering one of the top global universities. But unlike them, I struggled with my final exams, ending up with, as they say, just average marks.

After researching for a while, I found out about the University of Technology Sydney, one of the best schools for my choice of course. Obviously, I wanted to get there, but ‘how’ was the only stress. I spent some more time trying to figure it out and that is when I stumbled upon UTS:INSEARCH

University of Technology, Sydney

Why would a university enroll me when I don’t have the required marks? With that thought, I was a little apprehensive initially - even you would be, if you were in my position. But fortunately, I came across ‘The Insiders’ who made everything a lot clearer. 

Dipal Patel, Communications Student at UTS

“The path is simple, the journey is a promising adventure and the end will be as I dreamt of!” This is what Dipal, one of the UTS Insiders, told me. Hearing this straight from a UTS student, I convinced my parents to apply for an international university, and then there was no stopping! 

From faculty to campus, assignments to student life, to even holidays, Dipal cleared even the smallest doubts that I had in my mind. All I had to do was follow her on Instagram and directly message her my doubts. Her Instagram feed totally gave me the feel of the UTS life. Every time there was something I wanted to know, I would just randomly drop a message and get a reply. 

What assured me further was their website: http://www.insearch.edu.au/, where I found Dipal and got to know about the other Insiders. I had the freedom to talk to all of them and get multiple perspectives about the university. So for every prominent course that UTS offers, there’s an Insider to help you out at every step. Whether it’s engineering, designing, business or medical science, you can get a student tip for it all! 

By now, I was all up for UTS but living in a new city, by myself, was also another thing on my mind. But as I spoke to Dipal and other university mates, I was excited about being in Sydney. Sydney ranks fourth in the world as per the QS Best Student Cities Survey 2016, which gave me another reason to study at UTS! From safety, to cost of living, to social life, to commutation, finally there was nothing that I was worried about. 

You can also feel assured about all the problems that you might face before going to Sydney by getting in touch with the UTS Insiders. You will gain knowledge and much more by asking the relevant and right questions to them. 

The UTS Insiders

Dipal encouraged me to do things differently and take up this opportunity, and so I gladly say, I did!

UTS: INSEARCH is a stepping stone to one of Australia’s most innovative, international and prestigious universities - the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) which offers degrees in leading academic courses of higher education. 

And the UTS Insiders, is undoubtedly a great platform to connect with the right people who can guide you to a better future at UTS.

I highly recommend you to get in touch with any one of the 12 UTS Insiders on Instagram if you would like to study at UTS or know more about it and experience what I did!

All the best! 

The Story Of Life...

This post has been declared as one of the Winners, albeit Early Bird, in the IndiChange Contest hosted by The Story Of A Suicide and IndiBlogger.

 ~~~

What is Life? 

It is contained between B and D. 

Between Birth and Death. 

But between B and D is a C. 

What is a C? 

It's a Choice. 

Our Life is a matter of Choices. 

 ~~~ 

Each of our lives is a reality to be experienced. It is also true that one's life is not a black box in its entirety. Fortunately or not, we inhabit a society are expected to abide by societal norms and take into consideration, that are deep seated into our mindsets, from the moment we acquire the capability to comprehend them. 

Also, we are one of the two sides of a scale, that is a relationship. We are not solitary beings, but have a multitude of inter-personal relationships to cater to, while subconsciously agreeing to embark on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Each one of us has a role to play in every other person's life, whomever we come across. 

However, the most important fact of our lives remains that each stage of life has a lesson for us to imbibe into ourselves and learn from as we herald one of them and bid farewell to another, throughout our lifetime. 

Charles Swindoll had said that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. I could not have agreed more, as each incident acts as a stimuli for us to react, guided by our heart and mind. More often than not, we are caught at a fork in the road. We are perplexed, confused by the plethora of reactions, sometimes an emotional outburst resulting as a consequence of a stressful situation. 

Often, we are able to navigate our way through the maze. Often, we are not. We end up losing track of how we wanted to tackle a particular situation versus what was meant to be done. The way out is introspection and advice. Advice from our parents, friends, our confidante, someone who is able to comprehend our dilemma and guide us out of it. Introspection towards the pros and cons of the way in way in which we react can often chalk out a way toward the workaround. 

Nothing happens until we are able to decide as to which way our life moves forward, though. It is also true, that bad decisions make for good stories. Stories that make way for good decisions, as good decisions come from experience, which in turn comes from bad decisions. :)

Ups and downs, highs and lows are all part and parcel of life, as a consequence of the decisions we make and abide by. However, no circumstance is worse enough for one to decide to commit suicide. However evident it may seem that suicide is the way out, it is not. For it is the one bad decision that would not make for a good story and certainly not pave any way for any decisions thereafter! 

Suicidal tendencies are silent killers, finally culminating into the terrifying act, that has repercussions towards one's family, friends, near and dear ones. It leaves them dumbfounded to discover such a harsh truth. After all, suicide appears to be the ultimate escape. However, escapism is easy, no doubt. But, it takes courage to beat adversity in the face! :)

 ~~~

The other day, I had come across The Story Of A Suicide, a novel penned by Sriram Ayer and illustrated by Ghana. The moment I sat down to give it a read, I was impressed by the fact that it brought to the fore, an unexplored dimension of what goes on inside the mind of a person who is led to believe that suicide is the ultimate answer to all questions.

 ~~~ 

How does the mindset work and why does it work in the manner it does? I was intrigued by such queries and I decided to go ahead. The name itself, was interesting enough to prompt me to take the plunge. 

Turns out, it is a narrative encompassing the lives of four individuals, youngsters, whose lives cross each other's path on the premise of love, passion, revenge and deceit. Focusing on the lives of Hari, Sam, Charu, and Mani (in that order). It is a depiction that mirrors real-life. The mannerisms of the youth of today's times have been depicted prolifically, with the extensive reference to gadgets, blogs, social media interactions, Twitter Mentions (using @)  and Twitter hashtags (using #). Quite commonplace, and relate-able in today's social media-savvy era. 

Social media is already touted as the harbinger of change, acting as a bearer of public opinion, and the novel depicts just that. Also, being adolescents, The Story Of A Suicide relates the changeover from school to college life to the dynamism and excitement of a teenager. From the hostel culture prevalent in premier institutes in the country to the typical aggregation of peer pressure to the involvement of youth in new relationships to the affinity towards newer (and often misguiding) passions and desires, the portrayal of these real-life scenarios provide a reminisce of college life for most of us. 

The novel also explores various personalities, mindsets, feelings, emotions, reactions, and incidents in the backdrop of realism across a span of thirty-one chapters. The fact that it begins with a Diary Entry addressing the World, and with the proclamation of the fact that the individual is going to die is itself gripping and leads the reader to explore Who it is and Why is he/she proclaiming so. 

Quoting Kirthi Jayakumar, who is the Campaign Manager for The Story Of A Suicide: 

"A young person decides to commit suicide. Who is this person? Why does he/she want to die? Where do they come from? Why are they upset, depressed and torn apart? And what drives them to it? Does he/she really die?"

 ~~~ 

"I am sad. I am tired. Helpless. Disillusioned. Paranoid. Unhappy. 

Sorry, it would not do justice if I just gave only one adjective to describe my hurt." 

The multitude of emotions in the above line depicts the demotivated, helpless and pained state of mind and heart. The narrative reached its superlative twice, for me.

First, with the letter that Hari writes to Sam, establishing the first connection between two individual characters. 'Our Secret' shows signs of seeing light.

Second, when the drama scales the height and 'Caesar Meets Draupadi'.

 ~~~ 

The fact that The Story Of A Suicide is "the first ever book presented online, the first ever book that you get to read for free, without even having to pirate a copy, the first ever book that you’ll leave bookmarks all over without do-gearing or marking blue flags on" is welcoming. 

The 'How Do I?' pointers that accompany each chapter are reflective, introspective, and serve as a counsel. The questions highlighted would make some of the disillusioned youth, reading the novel, that they too, were seeking answers to some such troubling queries. 

The Story Of A Suicide highlights the fact that today's generation is expressive, independent, fearless, dynamic, but at the same time, spirited. Bound by a world that presents them with unexpected challenges, and pressing expectations, today's youngsters form for a disillusioned lot. Figuring out their purpose in life, today's youth is constantly faced by a predicament. The difference of opinion with their elders also conflicts their personal opinions, at times.

Clouded by concerns the multiple facets that make them the individuals they are, be it about their education, relationships, jobs, sexuality, bullying, or abuse, they are audacious enough to say it in the face of adversity - Try Me! - instead of - Why Me? - thus coming to terms with the vulnerability that deters them from achieving their dreams, and keeping it at bay. They are thus, at a constant war, with their own selves!

The novel would aid such youth to come to terms with themselves and resolve to carve an identity for themselves with positivism that makes an effort to oppose the negativity that the world around us is brimming with.

Also, the Audio Book hosted on SoundCloud that is poignantly conveyed across, with the right tone and expressions (narrative alongside each chapter by Uday Danda) is what makes one feel that the screenplay comes alive from across the room! :)

I had listened to the novel rather than reading it, and believe me, it was not your computerized text-to-speech but it was as if the novelist was speaking out the contents of his literary marvel that touches upon a critical subject.

With a team of twelve individuals who have given shape to the novel and brought it out for the world, The Story Of A Suicide makes for a promising read, complemented by fitting visuals, metaphors, tone, and imagery, along with a diction that establishes a firm connect with the dialect of today's youth. 

On the other hand, realization of the importance of 'I' in one's life is essential. As it is 'I' who assumes responsibility for my actions, decisions, emotional outbursts, and it is 'I' who has to bear the consequences of the same. 

It is 'I' who has to care for myself, none else is going to come and do that for me. After all, 'I' live in a big, bad, selfish world. To each one their own, because this is a society that 'I' aspire to survive in, not a factory churning out robots as per a predefined mold! 

'I' must however, also keep in mind, that as rosy as the picture may seem after one takes a spur-of-moment decision, it doesn't take long enough for it to take the shape of regret in the long term.

 ~~~ 

Your skin is not a paper, don't cut it, 

Your face isn't a mask, don't hide it, 

Your size isn't a book, don't judge it, 

Your life is not a film, don't END it. 

 ~~~ 

P.S.: Images attributed to The Story Of A Suicide. This post is written for an IndiChange campaign, hosted by IndiBlogger and NalandaWay Foundation. 

Life Is Similar To A Semicolon

This post has been declared as one of the Winners in the IndiChange Contest hosted by The Story Of A Suicide and IndiBlogger.

 ~~~

L;fe ;s s;m;lar to a sem;colon. 

It could have been ended, but it wasn't. :)

 ~~~ 

The Story of a Suicide is written by Sriram Ayer and illustrated by Ghana. Illustrations are as fabulous as the story. The story is more than what that title says. It is about hope and a stimulus to the youth to bring them to a level where they are empowered to stay alive, motivated, and strong.

Nobody should think about committing suicide as this is not an act of courage. First of all a person should avoid such situations where one's self-confidence borders the extent of void, and the person is forced to believe that it is best not to stay hand in hand with life. There are many ways of doing it. There are many ways of staying alive in this real world without losing a bit of courage and hope. The only thing required is a sound mind - positive thoughts and will-power to stay strong under all circumstances.

The Story of a Suicide by Sriram Ayer is a story of four main characters – Sam, Charu, Hari, and Mani. All four have lead their own life, have their own routine. And none of them on this Earth is devoid of any stresses or issues in life. Each of them has to face a number of problems from time to time. And each one carves her/his own way to deal with such situations and keep negativity at bay.

The most important thing is to never give up under such conditions as depression in life. If we keep fighting and aim towards success, no failure can deter us for long. That is where each of the thirty-one chapters of this fantastic book keeps conveying from time to time. Each chapter intrigues and prompts to introspect. That way the book is a must read for all youth and parents, especially. On a second thought, I think everyone should read this book.

Being a teacher there have been many instances in my life where I have seen students sink into depression and helplessness. They reach to an extent where they see no way out of their problems. This makes them surrender totally and ultimately stop trying to find the way out of the maze.

At times, it is their friends or peers that have an involvement in such situations. Another important factor that can bring youth to this corner is pressure from parents. Though time has changed and parents are much liberal now, but there have been many instances when a young boy or girl is rejected in the family because of various reasons. That rejection causes negative impacts in life. And at time it reaches to an extent where suicide seems the only way out to be away from such situations.

The Story of a Suicide by Sriram Ayer is woven so artistically to create a kind of situation in front of the reader with a set of pointers at the end of every chapter. That set of pointers is a unique feature in this book. These pointers help in realizing the crux of real life where similar kinds of situations arise.

These situations like social anxiety, peer pressure, cyber-bullying, bullying, sexual harassment, rape etc. are such that the victim starts living under guilt. This starts drifting him away from life. This book motivates  and helps to stay away from such guilt and harbor positivism.