Priyanka's Scrapbook

Today on this occasion of Independence Day, there are a whole lot of thoughts that are hitting my mind. Every single day of our life, we keep complaining about this country, about its corruption, about how dirty and unorganized this place it and so on. On 15th August every year, we get up, go hoist the flag, feel very proud to be an Indian for a day, enjoy the holiday and then again back to square one...all our complaints begin again. Did  even I ever stop to think why am I complaining? This is my country and whatever it is today, its me who is responsible for it...no one else. Its me who needs to take up the initiative to make it a better place. Have I done my job before I place my complaints? If I haven't, then do I have the right to complain? If my house is filled with dirt and garbage, I am not suppose to complain or leave my home and shift to a better place...I am suppose to clean up my house. But what are we doing with our motherland then?...

I have just returned from Malaysia today. After a 3 months stay in Singapore, I could finally make it to Malaysia, Kuala Lampur. Just a small 3 days trip with my friends. On the second day of our trip, we had decided to visit the Genting Highlands. Early morning we started off for the adventurous trip, only three of us- Sree Lakshmi(my room mate in Singapore), Nishita(my co-scholar from SCMS-UG) and me. We boarded our bus to Genting. Sree and Nishi sat together and I sat alone, taking a window seat. After a while, an elderly uncle, Indian looking, of about the age of 60+, occupied the vacant seat next to mine.  He initiated the conversation by asking me which country I am from. After I answered that I was from India, he said he was from Sri Lanka. My thinking of him being an Indian was proven wrong. He was a very friendly man. After the initial ice breaking, we started speaking about ourselves and our lives. He told that he had finished conquering the entire globe with ...

Today's topic that I am planning to write on is a very controversial topic. Theres a big debate all the time whether we are happier than are previous generations. Somehow I have found most people going against the motion i.e believing that we are not happier than our parents or grandparents. But I strongly support the motion. Theres a very famous saying that "standing on one bank of the river, the other bank always seems greener." Similarly. we often think that the previous generation had a happier life simply because they had a simpler life.  Here are certain points to support and back my thoughts about us being happier than the previous generation. First and foremost I would like to bring up the topic of present day women, they obviously lead a happier life than their mothers and grandmothers did. We finally have the hard - won rights, opportunities, and advantages. Today's women, unlike our previous generation,   have the liberty to choose whichever ...

When coming to Sinagpore, there were many things that I hadn't planned but they had just happened down the time, giving me some new experience every time. But if I were to pick up the strongest one which had the greatest impact on my life, it would be the Night out at Alexandra Hospital, Singapore. One of my friends caught Pneumonia and had to be admitted in the hospital under emergency. Her parents couldn't come down from India obviously in such a hurry, so we students had to take up the responsibility of taking care of her. After the day end, I decided to stay back with her for the night.  It wasn't my first night out at some hospital. I had had one in Pune also. But situation was very different this time. In Pune, I wasn't alone all night, this time I was. In Pune it was a private room where my friend had been admitted but this time it was a general ward. Her bed was surrounded by some 5 more beds in the same cubical. All other beds were occupied by old ladies, who ...

I am no poet to describe love in the romantic and poetic form, I am just an ordinary person, who experiences this beautiful feeling everyday of her life. "Love was God's plan, when he made man...God's divine nature is love"-these lines are from Christian hymn book. Many times I had been wondering what exactly love is? Defined in innumerable ways by innumerable people, but yet so unclear. Its probably felt and taken differently by every different person. Since the first day of our birth, we had been experiencing this beautiful feeling. The first peck on my cheek, holding me in her arms; my mother had expressed her LOVE for me. Every story that dad had told me, every time he had held my fingers to teach me to walk, he had expressed his LOVE for me. Every time my sister approached me with her problem or quietly just whispered in her secrets into my ears, she has expressed her LOVE for me.Each time, I have done well, the patting on my back was noth...

I had come to Singapore on the 17th of January, 2011; as an exchange student from Symbiosis, India. When I had arrived in Singapore, I had several dreams and aspirations. I had come so many miles away, wanted to achieve something really worth taking back home. I still have that dream and aspiration in me. NTU, Nanyang Technological University, unfolds its hidden beauty every single day to me. The first day I went to college here, I was scared, scared of the work load here, scared of the new environment, scared of the new language, scared of everything. Almost 2 months have passed now, I have almost reached half way through my journey here...explored much, had many experiences (not all of them were good, but majority of them were). Today, when I try to look back at these 2 months, I find myself really lucky. Back in my home university, I never got so much exposure to all new Industry oriented subjects like 'Computer Graphics' or 'Computer Game Programming'. They are obv...

Well, I am sure the meaning of IVY is unknown to many. IVY basically means 'Evergreen'. Life for me is like that, evergreen and ever changing. Each day a new. Not all days are equally happy ones or memorable ones but each day leaves behind some new teachings, some new experience. Like said many time-"Har paal yaha ji bhar jiyo, jo hai sama kal ho na ho". I live life that way. Evergreen doesnt mean I am talking about not getting old etc, I am not challenging the scientific ways of life but for me, being evergreen means, being enthusiastic. We physically cant, but the heart can be young always...forever. Thats what IVY means to me.