Birds, beards, exams, cuss-words, etc.

Immortality

It'd be nice to be young for ever right?

These are a few quick fix and sure fire methods to live a very long life. In no particular order:

Disclaimer: I'm not a medical practitioner. Don't kill yourself by doing something crazy. Even though what I say is, to my knowledge true. Please consult your favorite qualified doctor before doing stuff I say.

1. Bleed

Donating blood one every three months helps regulate the iron levels in the body, specially in men. This goes a long way in keeping bacterial infections in check, avoiding the carcinogenic effects of iron, reducing cell oxidation, reducing the risk of cardiac events and strokes, maintaining insulin sensitivity and earning some good karma.

2. Build muscle

Do this, and earn a life of comfort. Gain confidence, move without pain, feel strong, fall sick less often, eat more still don't grow fat. People with a good layer of muscle just refuse to age.

3. Fast

Certain cells in the body repair their genome only when starved of blood glucose. Intermittant Fasting(IF) is shown to increase the lifespan of lab rats by as much as 15%. Go hungry for 14 hours once a week.

4. Chill

Human beings are the happiest at 13.5 degrees centigrade. Use the AC.

5. Glucosamine + Condroitin 

Steal this from granny's closet and use! These are OTC drugs that are given to people suffering from osteoarthritis, which will naturally happen as you age. Instead of waiting till then, it's a good idea to occasionally supplement on them in a controlled manner. I'm guessing: 3-4 months every 4-5 years should suffice. You judge for yourself though.

6. Fish oil(or Algae oil, for those who can't eat fish)

DHA and EPA are important Omega-3 fatty acids. They help in a thousand different ways. Supplement on this and see the difference in your life. Thank me later. I accept checks and demand drafts too.

7. Creatine Monohydrate

Cause when you live long, it would be nice to have some motor control. 3 grams daily for a month every third month. Again, be you own judge.

8. Meditation

Easier said than done? Definitely. But the benefits are profound. Maybe, one day, I'll follow my own advice :P

9. Use sunscreen

SPF 15(or 30) will keep your skin looking like a school girl when you're well in your 40s. Now, who doesn't like good skin? Make sun protection your daily habit. Water based lotions adhere to the skin better. Get your vitamin D3(chloecalciferol) from oil based capsules instead.

This list is not complete, but I tried to make a concise list of actionable goals rather than abstract things like "eat healthy", "exercise regularly" or "floss you teeth", which, in my experience, makes for good articles but are hardly executable.

And yes, your comments earn you my respect. Thanks.

Black tea

I started my life drinking the standard Indian kind of tea, which is a concoction which is boiled for a long time along with milk and sweetened with sugar.

In one meeting with the in-charge of a local mosque in Santacruz, Mumbai, we were a group of teens then, he advised us not to boil the concoction and rather steep it in the covered vessel. This way, he said, we could avoid the mercury contained in the tea while getting all the good stuff.

I tried this at home with satisfying results, then. My parents quite liked the resultant drink.

One could never think of drinking tea black(sans milk) then. It would be unbelievably bitter. I had tried drinking black tea when in primary school on being insisted by some cruel adults. Frankly, that drink was unworthy of human consumption. I promised myself never to try it again.

Then came the days in which green tea was gaining stardom, circa 2009. Everyday, the newspapers(hash... Mumbai Mirror..) would have a new claim about the almost magical properties of this Chinese way of drinking leaf soup. This didn't fail to douse my curiosity. Often times, I would find myself scanning market shelves for green tea. It was rare then, in our markets.

I'm guessing that at time, researches had nothing better to do than to study tea. Anyway, one day I found myself reading an article about how black tea contains antioxidants and how it is all lost when milk is added to it. Now I knew the idea of drinking tea without milk was not very plesent. I thought, why not steep instead of boil? This way...

So i tried it and added sugar. It was pretty pleasant. And I was hooked. Then on I always made my tea separately apart from my family, who stuck to the old recipe. A few months on, I started putting honey instead of sugar. Later, I stopped sweetening it. No sugar, no honey, plain tea.

Somewhere in the middle, my father got the green leaf. It was pleasent and soothing in it's own right. But the yellow brew had a tinge of sourness. I tried to appreciate it at first, and even succeeded at developing a liking for it. But I realised that I was actually craving black tea very often. When I would get some chai on any off-chance occation or at a resturant or chaiwala stall, I would be relieved and happy. In a few months, I was back to black.

Might I attest to the fact that such a tea habit has contributed to my personal well-being? Yes ma'am. It sure has.

One more thing, steeping tea in water before drinking it is infinately more easier as compared to making kadak chai (boil water, add tea, boil further, add sugar, put milk, boil again). This has simplified my life, considering I drink this about thrice a day.

What do you think? How do you like your tea? Are you into chai masala? Irani tea? Can you make a decent cup?

By the way, coffee sucks.

Beer gut

My belly has been my companion for as long as I can remember. I remember the first time of noticing it being big when I was eight. I had just been eating a meal of rice and yogurt curry, stuffing myself till discomfort. When I stood, my father looked at my swollen gut with amazement. At this, I noticed it too quite pleased with myself.

Time would pass, I don't know the exact time I developed a bulging abdomen, but since then, I don't even remember when i didn't have it. It's always been there.

In my teens, I would hide it with my clothes. People would not notice much, I guess. I would eat less fat and cut down on the butter at breakfast. This would continue for years. But it had negligible effects. Whatever fat I would lose, eventually, I would gain it back. One day in school, when I was about 13, the day in which the mid-term Diwali vacations were over, a teacher tapped my belly approvingly. Many of my friends to did the same throughout the day. It was a clear sign that people were noticing. But I usually did a good job of covering up.

At times I tried yoga, at times I tried belly breathing. I tried jogging a lot. There was never consistency.

About 8 months ago, it had maxed out to the all time high measurement: 37 inches of waist.

Later on, I started exercising hard using the Insanity workout videos. they were challenging, but sadly they didn't make me much fitter. In 2 months, I lost just 1 inch. Later I went on the Slow-Carb-Diet, designed by Tim Ferriss and popularized by his book the 4-Hour Body. This worked wonders. In the past few months I have lost lots of weight. All my pants are now lose. My waist is now 34 inches.

Some time later, I had an epiphany. It's not the fat that makes us fat, but supposedly it is the carbohydrates, which raise the level of insulin an facilitate fat storage. Cutting carbohydrates is very effective for losing stored fat.

But the belly is still there. Off-course, I want to lose what remains of it. let's see what happens. Before Ramzan begins, I want to lose a few kilos of fat and add a few kilos of muscle. Let's see what happens.

Computer Science

I used to like computers, coding and tech things like that when in my early teens. When in 7th standard, I remember being outside a book shop asking for c, c++ and java books. Those days are long gone. I'm now in the end of my third year in computer science engineering. Computing devices are now are seen much more than back in those days. I'm no longer that enthused at the idea of making software for others to use.

In the early 2000s, computing was the new cutting edge. Now it's meh.

To sum it all up, computer science consists of approximately these things:
How electricity works, how information is stored using electricity, how this information is manipulated to form calculations(microprocessors), how is it made into graphics, how abstract calculations can be made(automata theory), how to communicate with machines using various languages developed for the purpose. then you also learn about databases, computing networks, communication, encryption, among other things.

It's a rather versatile thing to know. Very useful and practical.

However, earning a living as a software engineer, or any job, for that matter, is simply not worth it. I can see that. India has become a pool of cheap labor to many an industrialists, foreign and Indian alike. The scenario is too competitive. The pay is scant.

Inflation is high.

I still have some love for computers left in my heart. I don't want to spoil it by making it my occupation to tend to them.

On Being Mediocre.

On Being Mediocre

The mechanism of the universe has brought me here, God be praised! I could be the very definition of mediocrity. In the years past, I have persistently tried to better myself. to make myself more valuable, successful, nice looking, wise and also tried to maintain good morals.

To be more alive.

But here I am! I am not close to where I should be. At this juncture I feel grossly inadequate for just about anything.

I'm 22 years old. The years gone by look so wasted. There have been periods in which I have been very satisfied with the way everything is. Those periods have been fleetingly short. I have very little to be proud of, I feel.

I'm not writing this out because of some depressed mood or transient life event, but after close analysis of my time spent since I remember.

I have been a keen interest taker in science, and always loved to watch science documentaries and read science stuff. An avid reader of books, fiction till about I was about 17 and non-fiction thereafter.

I have always been single. No relationships here yet. Once when I was 15, a girl caressed my shoulder and I went through the roof! That's about it. No sex or anything of the sort.

More than ever now I want to change my life. Every aspect of it. However, I have experienced personal failure a lot. I have set goals just to miss them, repeatedly. I know I will just disappoint myself if I try to set up goals.

I never going to set a single goal. Nope. Wisdom lies in learning from the past and if the past has taught me anything, it's that I will fail to meet my expectations. I will fail to meet my expectations, if I set a goal.

When I look at the years gone by, I see that I have achieved some things. I lost about 5 Kgs. of fat in the past few months.(the Slow Carb Diet by Tim Ferriss) I learnt to read Arabic by myself and now know the language enough to understand what someone is talking about. Got rid of the habit of bathing in hot water.  Other things too. But none with any specific goal.It all came out of individual obsessions and fancies.

That then is what I'm going to do. I'm going to have small obsessions and fancies. For me, I guess, this should be my path towards life. (I use the word life with a philosophical tilt.)

I am acutely aware I'm mediocre. I don't mean much. But that doesn't mean it's always going to be that way.

I shall walk towards life, and life will engulf me within itself. In-sha Allah.