Life away from the screen![Part-1]
10:14 PM 22nd, August 2018
One book, one TED talk, one inspiration. Perception switch. A belief and realisation that life is what you make out of it. Spend time counting the blessings there would be many things to smile about.
It was 20th December, 2016. One phone call and all the happiness in the world. Excitement of earning the first internship.
“Hi Mridu, how are you? I called up to tell you. We would like to extend the internship offer. Welcome Onboard!”(If only I remember the exact words). 30 min interview, followed by a 2 hours interview. Cleared. Onboard.
Location? A city which was nothing less than a dream. Even during summer breaks when parents used to ask which place shall we go? Promptly, I only had one answer. City of Gardens. Somehow, we visited every other place except this one. 3.5 years at an engineering college. Thankfully, a lot of self time I got to explore. As a result I managed to search all things worth doing in a city. If internship is in city X, these are list of things to be done. If it’s city Y. Following are the list of things I should do.
January 1st, 2017 was the start of a beautiful journey. It was the start of doing all the things which were meant to be done. One thing at a time. So, this is how it went.
DRUMJAM
This is an open community event organized on 3rd Sunday of every month. From 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Rangoli Metro Station, MG Road. Bangalore.
It’s a free event. No Instruments you have to carry. There are Djembe kept there. Take one and play.
I don’t know how to play Djembe. Will I be allowed?
Yes, the whole experience is for relaxing, having fun, being in the moment. And keep on playing, smiling, dancing for continuous 2 hours.
This is organized by Roberto Narain, Vasundhara Das and team. One has to be willing and not experienced to be part of it. If you wish to learn the instrument. From 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM there is Abhiram who teaches the basics of playing the instrument.
More Info
Official Website — https://www.drumjam.in/
Facebook Page — https://www.facebook.com/DRUMJAMIN/?ref=br_rs
Quora Bangalore Meetup
Quora Bangalore meetup blog was something I was following since college. Each of it seemed to be interesting. It mentioned about the previous event discussions, topics for the next event, a session which involved learning to solve the Rubik’s cube. So on and so forth. Age no bar.
I have nothing to talk about. Can I come?
If a question like this holds you back. Chuck it. Each and everyone is welcomed.
We introduce ourselves, what we are doing in life, happy with the choices, not happy with the choices. Share experiences and knowledge. Talks are on any random topic one can think of. Adventure, Biking, Solo Trips, Programming, Startup’s, Books. It was this place where I met
- Tapaswini Pathak — an avid quora contributor, Open source enthusiast, A strong women who contributes to the Linux Kernal, an Outreachy intern.
- Gopalkrishna Vishwanath — A famous quoran. Who is known for his s signature GV, simple, long answers. About his experiences, structural engineering, language translations etc. BITS, pilani graduate and IIT, Roorkee post graduate. Who is engineer at heart. Eldest amongst all who come by, he silently sits in a corner under the tree, with a smile always on his face. And keeps on writing the names of all the people who joined in. Just for the record. :)
The sudden change from non-informative discussions to informative discussions was amazing that excitement of experiencing this for the first time lasted for so long. We talked about books by Richard Dawkins, Neuroscience, T-shirt slogans, Charles Darwin. We discussed Evolution. Smallest bone in the body. How do humans sense various thinks? How does the brain react to those? and many many other things.
It was this place where I came to know about the renowned book Sapiens.
It will be entering it’s 6th Year now. It is hosted by Aditya and Swateek.
3rd Saturday of every month. At Cubbon Park. From 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
NOTE
If looks like too long or not interesting you can leave in the mid as well. There is no compulsion on anyone. It’s just that everyone leaves by 6:00 PM as it’s the time Cubbon Park closes. Then we head over for delicious dinner.(Only the one’s who are interested)
More Info
Quora Bangalore Meetup Blog — https://quora-bangalore-meetup.quora.com/
Higginbothams, since 1897
One of the most famous and oldest bookstores on MG Road Bangalore, Higginbothams. Overjoyed, by quora meetup experience. I thought to head home walking and exploring everything which I come across on the way. Enjoying the Bangalore weather I decided to head back to the bus stop walking. On the way, I came across this amazing old Bookstore. Which got renovated on the same day. Someone who still enjoys reading books instead of e-books. Bookstores appear to be a good place to go. Architecture of the whole store the old way. I stepped inside. To my amazement. For inauguration of the store after renovation famous author of Shiva Trilogy, Amish Tripathi was there.
A good experience the first time. Calls for a visit next time as well. Since, even the smallest thing had to be made memorable. Happiness of getting life’s first earning credited to the account. Was another special moment. Sapiens was a to read book after Quora Meetup. First stipend, first transaction had to an investment in a book. I still love going to a bookstore, seeing each and every book. Flipping the pages of couple of them. Reading the preface…. Bookstore over Amazon. That too the oldest one. Higginbothams.
Yes, investment was Sapiens. Bookstore Higginbothams. ❤
Cubbon Park
If by any chance you would have ever tried searching things to do in Bangalore. This place would have definitely come up. Quite a large garden tall green trees to your left and right.
Vidhan Soudha
Exit Cubbon Park. Turn towards right and you see white building which was part of school history books. India Gate, Gateway of India, Vidhan Soudha.
A building with beautiful architecture.
Paradise
When I was actually living it. First earning, first transaction was Sapiens. First earning, a treat to self? Enthusiastically, headed out to NH-8. Late. Closed. Hunger and excitement were still in place. Clueless, about which is the next good to eat joint, completely new routes. I asked for the nearest place to have lunch. Paradise Biryani, Indiranagar it was. Now Paradise being a chain and pretty renowned. I thought it did turn out to be good. Unfortunately, turned out to be opposite to my expectations. Still happiness prevailed….. because it was all about living the moment of treating self.
Anthill Creations
A startup working towards the aim of making the playgrounds and outdoors beautiful. Idea is to re-use the huge tyre of truck. Drill, criss-cross the ropes to form a solid net. So, that they are good or someone to sit. Paint the tyres with beautiful colours. This was the place where I first time got my hands on the drilling machine. Drilled holes in the big tyres we had. One of a kind experience. All the work that was done. Was to convert an unused space in IIM-B to a space for e-cell gatherings.
Interested to contribute?
They organise events, workshops were you can volunteer and contribute.
More Info — https://bit.ly/2NafvTp
LALBAGH
A beautiful garden. Famous for it’s flower show.
Visvesvaraya Meseum
All that is mentioned theoretically in the school science and technology book is demonstrated here. From magnets, wright brothers airplane model, lenses, electricity.
TALAKADU
Amidst all of this a memorable road trip with the team where I got the opportunity to intern. Throughout the road trip all we played was UNO. Every time with self made new rules :D
A place whose name I have forgotten. Neither do I have picture. Beautiful backwaters, and a boat ride of different kind.
Bangalore Palace
A place which is a classic example of don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This place looks okayish from the outside. But, has nothing inside.
Journey from January 2017 — June 2017 was more or less all of this. :)
